FALL 2011
Shining Example: Famed Lighting Designer
James F. Ingalls Visits USC By Allison Engel
Acclaimed lighting designer James F. Ingalls had a barely open window of availability, sandwiched between two projects: lighting the Kauffman and Hart play Once in a Lifetime at the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, and flying to Paris to start rehearsals for Toni Morrison’s play, Desdemona, directed by Peter Sellars, with whom Ingalls has collaborated for decades.
Lighting designer James F. Ingalls (second from right) works with students and Associate Dean and Artistic Director Jack Rowe (on right) in preparation for the School’s production of Mansfield Park.
Luckily for the School of Theatre, Ingalls agreed to spend the rare eight days he had free at USC, designing the lighting for the Jane Austen play Mansfield Park, directed by Associate Dean and Artistic Director Jack Rowe, which opened October 6 in the Bing Theatre. During those days, students had an unparalleled opportunity to work closely with Ingalls during long evening and weekend rehearsals. Ingalls, who normally teaches master’s students in his role as an adjunct professor at UC San Diego, interacted with a crew that was primarily undergraduates. He exchanged emails prior to his arrival with student set designer Manuel Prieto (Class of 2012), costumer Hannah Kim (Class of 2014) and sound designer Kelsey Halverson (Class of 2013). For Ingalls, these were not “The details change, the scale of conversations with students. “To me, they were conversathe house changes, but it comes tions with designers,” he said. “I’m impressed with how down to the same idea – we’re they are doing. They’ve been very eager and positive.” presenting a story for people.” During one evening rehearsal, Ingalls and first lighting assistant Sarah Steinman (Class of 2011), a B.F.A. in theatre — James F. Ingalls design, were teaching freshman Leah Koch how to operate a light board. “It’s my maiden voyage,” said Koch, who expressed it was “unbelievable and pretty awesome” that she would be instructed by industry veteran Ingalls. Watching Ingalls’ every move in the row behind the sound board are “students who don’t have to be here,” said lighting design assistant professor Tom Ontiveros, who was responsible for bringing Ingalls to campus. Ontiveros, who received an M.F.A. in lighting design from UCSD, had Ingalls as a professor. Ontiveros said he had long wanted to bring Ingalls to campus, and picked Mansfield Park primarily because Ingalls – who spends about two-thirds of his year in theatres away from his New York City base – could fit it into his schedule. Ontiveros said, “Jim is clearly one CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
A Message from the Dean
Mr. Hacker offers an invaluable set of skills for navigating the world of film auditioning. Every audition of my career, and indeed many times on the job, I have utilized his strategies. They are an excellent way to jump ahead of the pack and start with skills it takes others years to discover through trial and error. Deborah Ann Woll, Jessica Hamby on HBO’s True Blood and a former student. Hacker’s book is destined to replace Michael Shurtliff’s ‘Audition’ as the auditioning guide for the 21st century. I use his methods every time I walk into the audition room and they never fail to leave a great impression. Robert Baker, Dr Charles Percy on CBS’s Grey’s Anatomy and a former student.
Auditioning on cAmerA An Actor’s guide
Since 1996, Associate Professor of Theatre Practice Joseph Hacker has taught one of the most popular classes the School has to offer: Performance for Camera, which redefines the students’ understanding of the similarities and differences between acting on stage and on film. To win a screen role, an actor must learn to contend with an on-camera audition. Understanding how to make the crucial adjustments to one’s craft that this kind of audition requires is vital to the career of any screen actor.
Auditioning on Camera sets out the key elements of a successful on-camera audition and explains how to put them into practice. Joseph Hacker draws on 35 years of acting experience to guide the reader through the screen auditioning process with an engaging and undaunting approach. Key elements examined include: • textual analysis • knowing where to look • dealing with nerves
• on-camera interviews • using the environment • retaining the camera’s focus.
The book also features point-by-point chapter summaries, as well as a glossary of acting and technical terms, and is a comprehensive and enlightening resource for screen actors of all levels.
Joseph Hacker is an Associate Professor of Theatre Practice at the University of Southern California. He is also an actor and producer with over 30 years’ experience, having appeared in such seminal TV series as 24, Quantum Leap and The Twilight Zone. DRAmA AnD THeATRe STUDieS ISBN 978-0-415-61902-8
Joseph hAcker
Joseph hAcker
theme is clearly support and generosity — from our artistic colleagues, our friends, alums, patrons and parents. To have four major artists (Anne Bogart, Tate Donovan, Jim Ingalls and Dominque Serrand) visit our school this fall and share their time and talent with our students is an honor and gift. Anne’s laser intelligence, Tate’s openness and generosity, Jim’s amazing visual talents and Dominique’s adventurous aesthetic taught our students about artistic life beyond their experiences at the School and helped them imagine the future professions they will soon be entering. The importance of the support of friends like the Kalkhurst family isn’t simply the gift of money, although it would be foolish to say that that is not important. But every bit as important is their faith in the School, its work and the direction in which it is moving. And all the alums, parents, faculty and staff who have honored us with putting their names on the seats at the Bing Theatre echo that faith in our work. That faith and support encourages us to continue to dream and to believe we will be able to achieve those dreams. Over the course of this year, I will be having a series of conversations with the faculty to explore what we think makes a great school. Not so much to create an action list but simply to imagine what a great school is because I truly believe if we can imagine it, we can become it, especially if we continue to enjoy the continued support and generosity of our friends, patrons, alums and artistic colleagues.
CMYK
Auditioning on cAmerA
With every Callboard, I am intrigued to realize that no matter the variety of subject matter the articles cover, there is always a unifying theme underlying each issue. In this issue, the
Elements for Success: Joseph Hacker Pens Book on Auditioning
Cover image credit: Betsy Chimento
9 780415 619028
www.routledge.com
Now, Hacker has drawn on 35 years of acting and teaching experience and written Auditioning on Camera: An Actor’s Guide, which sets out the key elements of a successful on-camera audition and explains how to put them into practice. An actor doesn’t go for very long in his or her career without realizing that the way an actor makes a living is by auditioning. The remuneration they receive when they finally do land a job is recompense for all the unrequited auditions that came before. These days an actor must master techniques tailored to the specific requirements of auditioning in front of a camera as opposed to those required for work on stage. As an actor pursues his or her career, they will witness—in workshops and scene study—many actors who are terrific in class but never get an agent, or if they do, they never land a role. The only answer to this contradiction must be because they are doing something in their on-camera
auditions that isn’t effective. To win a screen role, an actor must learn to contend with an on-camera audition. Understanding how to make the crucial adjustments to one’s craft that this kind of audition requires is vital to the career of any screen actor. Hacker explains, “Over my many years as an actor, I have auditioned for the camera literally thousands of times. When I look back on it, I realize that when things went well, the same things always happened. Not necessarily on purpose and not necessarily in the same order…but there they were. Whenever any one element was missing or hadn’t unfolded as a natural and authentic response to the circumstances of the audition, somehow the encounter fumbled and success didn’t materialize. This book identifies those elements, puts them in a sequence, and offers ways to make them work.” He continues, “A friend of mine who read the first draft of this CONTINUED ON BACK COVER
Dean Madeline Puzo P.S. I hope you are enjoying the new look of the Callboard. Over the course of the last year, the School’s students, faculty, staff and alums engaged in a branding process which included an online survey many of you so kindly helped us with. Assistant Dean Tony Sherwood worked with Praxis and IE Design + Communications to achieve this vibrant new look for our publications. More changes will be coming over the course of the year. I want to thank the folks at Praxis and IE Design for their excellent work and Assistant Dean Sherwood in leading us through this process.
School of Theatre Board of Councilors David Anderle
Michael Felix
Donna Isaacson
Andy Tennant
Lisa Barkett
Michael Gilligan
Gary Lask
Allison Thomas
Tim Curry
(Chair, USC School of Theatre Parents Council)
Sheila Lipinsky
Rik Toulon
Lauren Shuler Donner
Robert Greenblatt
Laurence Mark
Joe Tremaine
Tate Donovan
Patti Gribow*
Martin Massman*
Richard Weinberg
Michele Dedeaux Engemann
Susan A. Grode
Jimmy Miller
Paula Holt
Madeline Puzo
(Founding Chair)
2
(Chair)
*on leave of absence
Ingalls’ delicate lighting for Mansfield Park helped set the tone of the play.
More Distinguished Artists Come to Campus 2
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Shining Example: Famed Lighting Designer another challenge. “This schedule is really
James F. Ingalls Visits USC
CONTINUED FROM COVER of the most important designers in contemporary theatre. His command of the lighting medium is part of his nature. It is rivaled only by the generosity of spirit he brings to each project and interaction with every person involved. He brings a level of authenticity to collaboration to which both students and colleagues aspire.” Prior to his arrival, Ingalls did quite a bit of preparation. Although he has designed lighting for hundreds of productions, Mansfield Park was not one of them. So he read both the Austen book and the play, talked with Rowe by phone and studied the set plans from the student designer. The 2-hour and 40-minute play has many scenes, requiring about 150 different light cues. “The challenge is to find the right look for each scene,” said Ingalls, and to have lighting “be part of the fabric of the production, not applied to the production. It should support what’s going on. Excellent lighting is lighting that feels right for the production, and is not doing its own show.” Lighting provides obvious clues to time of day and creates visibility or opaqueness, but it adds much more than that to a production. “Lighting can be subliminally emotional,” said Ingalls. For example, if a fight is escalating on stage, the lighting might build gradually to enhance the feeling of escalation. For Mansfield Park, the Bing’s deep and wide proscenium presented its own challenges, requiring the action to stay primarily downstage in the “hot spot” of the lighting. Action would get lost if too far upstage, Ingalls explained. Side walls that angle into the stage also meant that traditional side lighting wasn’t an option and other solutions had to be devised. The compressed rehearsal schedule was
| Fall 2011
tight, really fast to do a three-hour show,” Ingalls observed. “It’s incredible training.” The veteran of Broadway, top regional theatres, and opera and ballet companies here and in Europe also found time to speak to students in Ontiveros’ undergraduate lighting class. He told the class he did graduate work at the Yale School of Drama in stage management and worked as resident stage manager at Yale, experiences that made him a better lighting designer. Lighting design is supremely collaborative, Ingalls said, and designers, like stage managers, must work closely with the director and all the other designers. After Yale, Ingalls worked for the Twyla Tharp dance company, eventually traveling with the company and lighting the shows on the road. The experience was “wildly valuable training,” Ingalls said. In Ontiveros’ class, he answered questions about backlighting, diagonal lighting, filtering and his rules concerning color. “Less is enough,” he told the class. “And you have to earn the right to use color. It’s the last thing I choose. For me, the first choice is the angle where the light is coming from. And I try to make the colors relate, so actors won’t walk here and be blue and walk over there and be red. You never want to bury the actors or costumes with color.” Ingalls said if he is known for any lighting style, it might be for more abstract and operatic themes and for the variety of his work, covering theatre, dance and opera. He concluded: “The details change, the scale of the house changes, but it comes down to the same idea – we’re presenting a story for people.” Playwright Allison Engel is the associate director of the Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities, based at USC.
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In addition to James F. Ingalls, the School was also visited this fall by distinguished artists 1 Tate Donovan, 2 Anne Bogart and 3 Dominique Serrand. Actor/Director Tate Donovan (B.F.A., 1985) shared his experiences, insights and advice in an afternoon question and answer session with students. Tate has appeared in such feature films as the Academy Award-nominated Good Night, and Good Luck, and on television in Damages, The OC, Friends and Ally McBeal. On stage, he recently starred in the new play Good People with Francis McDormand at the Manhattan Theatre Club, and in Rabbit Hole, which won him an Ovation Award at the Geffen Theatre in Los Angeles. Tate is also a member of the School’s Board of Councilors. Anne Bogart had a conversation with students about her life as a theatre director. She is the Artistic Director of SITI Company, which she founded with Japanese director Tadashi Suzuki in 1992. She is a professor at Columbia University where she runs the Graduate Directing Program. Dominique Serrand conducted master classes with both the B.F.A. and M.F.A. actors. He co-founded Theatre de la Jeune Lune in Minneapolis in 1979 (receiving a Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre in 2005), directing, producing, designing and acting in most of the company’s productions.
theatre.usc.edu
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Kalkhurst Family Scholarship Established for B.F.A. in Stage Management The School of Theatre has received a generous gift of $200,000 from the Kalkhurst family to endow the Kalkhurst Family Scholarship in support of the B.F.A. in Stage Management program. The scholarship will provide tuition and fee assistance to Stage Management students. This marks the second major donation from the Kalkhursts. In 2009, the School was able to open its stateof-the-art Voice Over Studio in the McClintock Building with funds from Eric Kalkhurst and his wife Nora Hui. Their gift helped fill a void in the training of our acting students providing a studio for them to develop voice skills and technique work in all vocal media, including commercials, animation and audio books. Proud parents of USC alumni Jaclyn (School of Theatre B.F.A. in Stage Management, 2008) and Conrad (International Relations B.A., 2009), Eric and Nora are active members of the USC community, including the USC Associates, and split their time between Los Angeles and Hong Kong where Eric serves as Chairperson and Nora is a member of the Executive Committee of the USC Hong Kong Parents Association. Jaclyn is a working professional Stage Manager and was employed immediately after graduation. Dean Puzo said, “This gift will create an important scholarship that will live on in perpetuity to support
USC Friends of Theatre Donor Marquee The USC School of Theatre would like to recognize the tremendous generosity of the following individuals and organizations whose cumulative giving has exceeded $1 million. Their foresight and commitment to the arts and higher education have helped transform the School into a leader in theatre education: VISIONARY CIRCLE
future generations of theatre professionals. The Kalkhursts are dear friends to the School and myself, and I deeply value their support and friendship.” The B.F.A. program in Stage Management is an intensive program that provides training taught by faculty members and professional stage managers. Students stage manage School productions and are provided valuable one-on-one mentoring. Although the curriculum requires students to stage manage a minimum of two shows during their four years, the reality is that students become Assistant Stage Managers as early as their freshman year and are typically the lead Stage Manager of a production by their junior year. The majority of our students manage two or three shows per academic year. Through the School’s professional ties to the Los Angeles theatrical community, we are able to provide opportunities for extra-curricular work as production assistants at theatres throughout the city, as well as occasional entrees into union jobs for graduating seniors. In recent years, several B.F.A. stage managers have been hired by equity producers upon graduation gaining access to the union. In the end, the majority of our graduates find consistent work both within the union and non-union worlds.
members have made pledges of $1,000 or more over the past year. We hope you will consider becoming a member as well by joining these supporters. Please take a moment to return the enclosed reply envelope. For more information about giving to the School of Theatre, please contact Billie Ortiz at 213.740.4634 or email bco@usc.edu. SEASON SPONSORS
Eric T. Kalkhurst & Nora K. Hui Jennifer & Craig Zobelein EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS
Dr. & Mrs. Peter Bing and the Anna H. Bing Living Trust George N. Burns Trust Katherine B. Loker Robert & Elizabeth Plumleigh in memory of Karen Plumleigh Cortney We are grateful to those who have given wisdom, talent, time and financial resources to the benefit of the School’s Annual Fund in addition to scholarship support. The following 4
Anonymous • Lisa & Bill Barkett • Catherine Gousha PRODUCERS
Anonymous • Dawn Balcazar • John & Leslie Burns • Roger & Michele Dedeaux Engemann • Michael & Debbie Felix • Candace & Clement Hirsch • Sheila & Jeff Lipinsky • Gary & Karen Lask • James Low • Martin Massman • Inger A. Armour Ong • Meredith
& Drew Rowley • Robert R. Scales in memory of Suzanne Grossmann Scales • Maria & Mark Schlossberg • Cynthia & Jan van Eck • Jim & Leslie Visnic • Richard & Diane Weinberg DIRECTORS
David Anderle • MaryLou Boone • Lauren Shuler Donner & Richard Donner • Tate Donovan • Margaret Eagle & Eli Rapaport • Michael Gilligan & Anne Helgen• Susan A. Grode • Eleanor Grossman • Marcy & Roger Hahn • Jimmy & Cheryl Miller • Sharon Cawthra Morrison • Fred & Emily Nason • Sally & Howard Oxley in honor of Dean Madeline Puzo • Juanita & Keith Peterson • Robert & Elizabeth Plumleigh in honor of Claire Cortney • Byron & Teresa Pollitt • Bruce & Madeline Ramer • Allison Thomas & Gary Ross • Rik Toulon • Malcolm Waddell & Suzanne Bruce • Linda Yu PATRONS
Anonymous • The Emanuel Bachmann Foundation • Joan
The Kalkhurst family – (L to R) Eric, Jaclyn, Nora and Conrad.
Beber • Dore Brown & Charles Thurston • Barbara Cotler • Lynda & Al Fadel • Joan Gardner • Liz & Ira Krottinger • Laura Langford • Alexander LoCasale • Susan & James Polos • Steven & Sylvia Ré ANGELS
Anonymous • Arts in Action • Annette & Gary Angiuli • Sara Bancroft-Clair & Pierson Clair • Randolph P. Beatty • Dr. Rosula A. Bell in honor of Luisa S. Andaya • Angela & Amir Bozorgmir • Stacy & Clark Brown • Kathryn & Lawrence Bryan • Susan Cymrot • Gail & Jim Ellis • David Emmes & Paula Tomei • Freddie & Andrea Fenster • Debra & Gary Fields • Lynda & Thomas Gorman • Marilou & Mark Hamill • Debbie & Terry Hammer • Peggy Kehr & Jack Catton • The Bridges Larson Foundation • Deena & Mitchell Lew • Stephen M. Moloney • John Mucci • Mary Lou & William Mullin • Robert & Debbie Myman• Christine Marie Ofiesh • Brian Nelson • Elizabeth Noble • Mary Pallares
• Teri and Gary Paul • Tawana & Raul Pedraza • Julie & Larry Peha • Vicky & David Porter • Dean Madeline Puzo • Virginia & Si Ramo •Ana & Dale Rech • Nancy Ritter •Andrew J. & Irene Robinson • Jeanette Shammas • Rick Silverman• Nancy Sinatra, Sr. • Abraham Somer • Karla & Briggs Stahl • Andreas Steiner & Ulrike Stednitz • Danny Strong • Ruth Tuomala & Ernest Cravalho • Jeff & Sharon Walsh • Lynne & Stephen Wheeler • Alan & Hope Winters • Woodell-Mascall Family •Bill & Jeanie Zwiener
We have taken care to list names and gift designations accurately. If you believe there has been an error or omission, please contact Development Assistant J.D. Brown at 213.821.4262 or email at Jeffrey.d.brown@usc.edu. Thank you for your support.
(L to R) Widow Deepa Kirpalani (Lina Patel) is captivated by the much younger Vinod Thadani (Sunil Malhotra) in a scene from the East West Players production of A Widow of No Importance. Photo by Michael Lamont
“I wanted to write a play about a strong woman. When I looked into my family history, there was only one person I could think of to write about and that was my grandmother.” — Shane Sakhrani
M.F.A. in Dramatic Writing Alumnus Shane Sakhrani’s Play Receives World Premiere Master of Fine Arts in Dramatic Writing alumnus Shane Sakhrani (Class of 2010) saw his play A Widow of No Importance receive its world premiere this past September at East West Players in downtown Los Angeles. Originally written and presented concert style during his final year at the School of Theatre and again directed by Shaheen Vaaz, A Widow of No Importance is a smart and sexy comedy about carving new paths and leaping for the stars set against a colorful Mumbai, India, backdrop. The main character, Deepa, has been a widow for a year. Her only desire now is to see her daughter married so she can die in peace. But when her recently divorced neighbor, also her son’s best friend, professes his love for her, her inner-cougar emerges to break tradition and start living again. Director of Dramatic Writing Velina Hasu Houston said, “The M.F.A. in Dramatic Writing
| Fall 2011
in white; she was a widow for the last 13 years of her life. I couldn’t find a picture of her where she was smiling and actually enjoying herself. It forced me to go into the taboo of widows in faculty are so pleased that Shane’s thesis play from India, how they are not really expected to have our program had a world premiere production a life, how they are supposed to live in seclusion at a leading national theatre such as East West and self-sacrifice. From there I went from that Players. To have his USC work fully realized taboo to a more universal one, one that’s not in production – and right on the heels of his so culturally specific, that’s the one of the Maygraduation – is a wonderful validation of his December romance, the older woman and the dedication to cultivating his art and craft, and younger man. And I thought this was a really a great outcome of our professional transition interesting way to deal with two taboos at once, efforts via our New Works Festival.” to raise a lot of questions about a culture and Supported in part by an award from the make it romantic. When I got to that point, I National Endowment for the Arts, the producrealized it was a romantic comedy.” tion was warmly received by critics, with the Los Shane was born in Hong Kong to Indian parAngeles Times declaring it “…a broad, buoyant ents and has also lived in London and Toronto. comedy…anchored by winning performances;” He describes himself as a “Global Indian.” Shane L.A. Weekly calling it “…fun and frothy…clever… is a finalist for the 2010-11 Kendeda Graduate hilarious…” with the Downtown News saying it Playwriting Award from the Alliance Theatre is full of “engaging lead performances.” in Atlanta for his comedy The Doctor Is Indian, Shane said, “I wanted to write a play about written in his second year here at USC, which a strong woman. When I looked into my family will be produced in Singapore this October. history, there was only one person I could think Shane is a Visiting Lecturer at Hong Kong of to write about and that was my grandmother. University, where he teaches playwriting and She died when I was young. In every single screenwriting. He divides his time between picture that I have of her, she was always dressed Hong Kong and Los Angeles.
theatre.usc.edu
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Bing Theatre Take Your Seat Sponsorship Campaign Ends December 31 In celebration of the School of Theatre’s 20th anniversary as an independent school, we
have been offering a unique opportunity for you to become a permanent part of the School’s history by sponsoring a seat in our beautiful mainstage venue, the Bing Theatre, with our Take Your Seat Sponsorship Campaign. But this campaign ends on December 31 and this will be your last chance to honor your family, recognize your business or memorialize a friend, a colleague or a beloved teacher with a personalized, engraved brass plaque mounted on a seat in the Bing Theatre. Please consider becoming a part of the School of Theatre’s legacy and secure your place before it’s too late. Your tax-deductible donation will be invested in the School’s endowment providing valuable scholarship support for our students in the years to come. Sponsorship levels are Platinum: $5,000; Gold: $2,500; Silver ($1,000); and Young Alumni (individuals who have graduated within the last 10 years): $500. Platinum Level Sponsors may choose their seat locations. Gold, Silver and Young Alumni Sponsor’s seat locations will be within their designated section. (All seat sponsors must still purchase tickets to any performance at the Bing Theatre and are not guaranteed seating in the chairs they have named.) All gifts are payable over a 12-month period and are fully tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. For more information, you may log on to http://theatre.usc.edu/TakeYourSeat/index.html to download a brochure or call School of Theatre Director of Donor Relations Kimberly Muhlbach at 213.821.4045 or email muhlbach@usc.edu.
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Here are a few reasons why people have sponsored a seat:
“Hank Amigo is a middle school drama teacher whose original productions leave audiences in awe and inspire his students to achieve amazing results. Honoring him is a way of giving back to someone who is constantly giving of himself.” —MaryLou Boone, who purchased a seat in honor of Hank Amigo
“The USC School of Theatre helped shape me into a creative professional with skills that continue to enlighten my artistic and business life. Purchasing a seat sponsorship allows me to maintain a close tie to the SOT, while helping to facilitate their continued drive to further the artistic development of young students for years to come. Fight On USC, and Fight On SOT!” —Alex LoCasale (B.F.A., 2005) and a member of the USC Board of Governors
“I decided to buy a seat because my experience at USC has given me the ability to pursue a career in the entertainment field that I love. As a young alumnus, I know I would not be doing the work I am without the training and support I received at USC. I believe it is exceedingly important to pay forward the invaluable opportunities that I was given and allow the program to grow and become the absolute best training ground it can be.” —Pranav Shah (B.F.A., 2005)
Alumni Marquee Boni B. Alvarez’s (M.F.A., 2007) play Add Like Poke Tag premiered at Chalk Rep last fall and went on to win the Second Generation (2g)’s National Ten-Minute Play Contest, which has allowed him to develop the short play into a full-length. His new play, The Wall, was part of Playwright Arena’s Playfest earlier this summer. Beck Bennett (B.F.A., 2007), Nick Rutherford (B.A., 2006) and Kyle Mooney (B.A., 2007) continue to perform throughout Los Angeles as Good Neighbor, a sketch comedy group. Annabelle Borke (B.F.A., 2010) was seen in the South Coast Repertory workshop production of the play Between Us Chickens. Megan Breen’s (M.F.A., 2010) play My First, My Fist, My Bleeding, Seeded Spirit (first developed at the School of Theatre’s New Works Festival Year Three in 2010) appeared at the Kennedy Center M.F.A. playwright’s workshop and was selected for the National New Play Network Showcase in Denver. The New Theatre in Miami will be producing the play in 2012. Elizabeth Brackenbury (B.A. 2002) and James Snyder (B.F.A., 2003) appeared in the cabaret show I Want to Hold Your Hand: The Music of The Beatles at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts. Charl Brown (B.A., 2001) recently made his Broadway debut in the new musical Sister Act. Sophia Bush (2001) was seen in a recent Funny Or Die clip parodying the VH1 reality series Mob Wives. Meghan Corea (B.F.A., 2006) was the costume coordinator for the films The Place Beyond the Pines and I Don’t Know How She Does It. Angela Counts (M.F.A., 1992) recently completed the postbaccalaureate program in studio art at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. This fall, she begins the School’s M.F.A. Studio Art program. She directed a staged reading of Dead Man Walking for a daylong event at Harvard University on capital punishment, which honored scholars and activists, including Tim Robbins.
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Andrew Dits (M.F.A., 2010) was seen in Comedy of Errors at A Noise Within Theater. Nancy Ellen Dodd’s (M.F.A., 2006) book, The Writer’s Compass: From Story Map to Finished Draft in 7 Stages, is available from Writer’s Digest. Dodd is a writer, editor and university instructor teaching screenwriting and management communications at Pepperdine University. Sarah Fox (B.F.A., 2010) worked as the assistant costume designer on Fox’s Raising Hope. She currently works at Western Costume. Josephine Ganner (B.F.A., 2010) was seen performing her standup routine in East Coast B*tches! at the Flapper’s Comedy Club earlier this summer prior to her internship at The Williamstown Theatre Festival. Gabriel Rivas Gomez (M.F.A., 2007) has been appointed literary manager at Company of Angels in Los Angeles. Forrest Hartl (M.F.A., 2009) has been hired by Kaiser Permanente’s Educational Theatre Programs to write a new play about healthy eating. Game On will begin touring this fall to elementary schools across Southern California. Laura Howard (B.A., 2006) played Ariadne in the world premiere of Heavier Than… at The Theater @ Boston Court. India Irving (B.A., 2010) and Mario Rivelli (B.A., 2010) wrote, produced and starred in the film Mont Reve. Donald Jolly’s (M.F.A., 2008) play bonded, which was presented this season at Playwrights’ Arena, has been nominated for a 2011 Ovation Award for Best New Play. Brian Jones (M.F.A., 2008) has received a commission with the Saint Louis Repertory Theatre. Mayank Keshaviah’s (M.F.A., 2008) thesis play Rangoon received a staged reading at New York’s Pan Asian Repertory Theatre and has been optioned for production. He became a member of the L.A. Drama Critics Circle and currently serves as Treasurer. Last year, he was chosen as an Arts Journalism Fellow by the NEA and participated in the
NEA Institute in Theatre and Musical Theatre in Los Angeles. Ian Littleworth (B.A., 2010) was seen this past spring in the Los Angeles premiere of the musical Glory Days. Gina Manziello (M.F.A., 2009) was recently seen in the world premiere of the Son of Semele Ensemble production of Wallowa: The Vanishing of Maude LeRay, written by SOT Associate Professor Oliver Mayer, in collaboration with The Company. Shyla Marlin (B.A., 1998) was seen onstage in The Frybread Queen, produced by Native Voices at the Autry which exclusively develops works of Native American playwrights. She can be seen in the films Whatever it Takes, Woo, Grace and Spiritual Warriors. Her recent writing and producing endeavor, A Starbuck’s Story, was featured in the national film festival circuit garnering Best Short and Best of Festival from the FAIF film fest in Hollywood. Still Standing is her first full-length theatre production. Helen Mun (B.F.A., 2007) is an Interior Designer at RACAIA. Joy Nash (B.A., 2003) recently performed her solo show My Mobster! as part of the 2011 Hollywood Fringe Festival. Beto O’Byrne (M.F.A., 2010) was commissioned by Watts Village Theater Company to write a new play and assistant directed the Can’t Stop; Won’t Stop Hip Hop Theater Festival. He was selected as a Maria Irene Fornes Hispanic Playwrights in Residence Fellow at INTAR Theatre, directed a staged reading of Genesis by fellow SOT alum Alexis Roblan (M.F.A., 2009) for Brainmelt Consortium, had a workshop production of Into the Pines at INTAR and was selected to participate in the upcoming Lincoln Center’s Director’s Lab. Julie Taiwo Oni’s (M.F.A., 2009) short play Olympic at the Chair was part of the L.A. Views IV series with the Company of Angels, where she is a member of the Playwrights Group. Michael Premsrirat’s (M.F.A., 2010) play The Girl Most Likely To is a finalist for the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center 2011 National Playwrights
Conference. He is on the board of Playwrights’ Arena and is writing the book for a musical with fellow SOT alum Lisa Anderson (B.A., 2010) and Thornton School of Music M.F.A. Daniel Oberman (2009). Kate Russo (B.A., 2003) received a Tony Award nomination as one of the producers for the Broadway production of The Scottsboro Boys. Janine Salinas (M.F.A., 2007) was a member of Center Theatre Group Writers’ Workshop and a 2010 MacDowell Fellow. Her play, Angel of the Desert, was part of South Coast Repertory’s Inaugural Studio Series. She is working on her first short film, Dulce’s Ashes, with fellow SOT alum Christine Mantilla (B.A., 2007) with their new production company, Lunamar Productions. Michael Schwartz (B.A., 2006) assistant directed the NY Philharmonic production of Company, starring Neil Patrick Harris, Patti LuPone, Stephen Colbert and Christina Hendricks. He recently assistant directed The Homecoming at the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco. Earlier this summer, Schwartz was one of seven directors selected for the 2011 TS Eliot US/UK Exchange where he had the opportunity to direct Lost Cause at the Old Vic Theatre. Pranav Shah (B.F.A., 2005) is serving as production manager of the 2011 New York Musical Theatre Festival. Along with him are venue associate production managers Samantha Gallardo (B.A., 2005), Tony Shayne (B.F.A., 2006) and Nikki Hyde (B.A., 2007), and Heather Gault (B.A., 2007) is the box office manager. Warren Skeels (B.F.A., 1998) made his directorial debut with the film Thespians. He is also the owner of Tigerlily Media, Inc., a Florida-based production company that handles feature films, commercials and postproduction work. Anthony So (B.F.A., 2009) works for Generic Events coordinating marathons and other sporting events. Gary Socol (B.F.A., 1977) created and produced Talk Soup, The Gossip CONTINUED ON BACK COVER
IN MEMORIAM Spencer Belgarian (B.F.A., 1983) was an educator, award-winning screenwriter, actor, director and producer. He taught at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, USC Language Academy and the Marshall School of Business (IBEAR), as well as at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy. He wrote and acted in the film Just Don’t Do It and was seen on television in shows such as Sabrina the Teenage Witch, The Division, Cybill and Cheers, among others. His short films have been featured on Bravo and IFC and won awards for his feature-length films. He served as an official juror for the Palms Springs International Festival of Short Films. Alan Neal Hubbs (B.A., 1972) was the longtime artistic director of Ray Bradbury’s Pandemonium Theatre Company and directed the very first stage adaptation of the Bradbury science fiction classic The Martian Chronicles in 1970. Hubbs also formed an artistic partnership with School of Theatre professor the late John Edw. Blankenchip, founder of Festival Theatre USC-USA, a group of students and alumni that performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and toured elsewhere in Europe. In addition to directing, Hubbs was an accomplished actor and performed in musicals in regional theatre, including several shows with Downey Civic Light Opera. Simon Russell (B.F.A., 2001), aka Josh Peterson, founded a non-profit theatre company, acted on many L.A. stages and was a member of SAG and AFTRA. He is fondly remembered for his outstanding acting and writing skills, inherent kindness and quick wit.
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book asked me, ‘Who is CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2 your audience: experienced or inexperienced actors?’ My answer to him is both, since I wish I had known all this from the very beginning, but also I was a very experienced actor before many of the ideas in this book were evident to me.” The book features point-by-point chapter summaries, as well as a glossary of acting and technical terms, and is a comprehensive and enlightening resource for screen actors of all levels. Key elements examined include textual analysis, on-camera interviews, knowing where to look, using the environment, dealing with nerves and retaining the camera’s focus. Hacker says, “I have taught many hundreds of students in my years at USC. Truthfully, my greatest thrill is when my students come back after an on-camera audition and tell me it all went exactly as I said it would – just how we practiced, exactly as we discussed – and that what they learned from me worked.”
Show and other series for E! CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7 Network. For theatre, he wrote two plays: The Shadow of Greatness, which starred Richard Chamberlain (Berkshire Theatre Festival) and Bicoastal Woman (Pasadena Playhouse). Socol has two books coming out: a collection of short stories called Ear of Lettuce, Head of Corn (Ampersand Books) and a comic novel called Fame & Madness in America (Casperian Books).
“My greatest thrill is when my students come back after an on-camera audition and tell me it all went exactly as I said it would.”
William Storm (M.F.A., 1972) teaches dramatic literature, theory and theatre history at New Mexico State University where he is co-director and dramaturg for the High Desert Play Development Workshop. His new book, Irony and the Modern Theatre, was recently published by Cambridge University Press. He was a former editor and writer for the Callboard.
— Joseph Hacker
Hacker has appeared in over 50 television shows and films, including Winds of War, Call To Glory, Laverne and Shirley and Moonlighting. His resume includes hundreds of television commercials, serving as national spokesperson for major corporations, and numerous voice-over and radio roles. Hacker studied acting with Lee Strasberg, Stella Adler and Peggy Feury.
Mageina Tovah (B.A., 1999) was seen in the film Neighbors and in the new FX series American Horror Story. Peter Vack (B.F.A., 2009) stars in the new MTV series I Just Want My Pants Back. Mary Kate Wiles (B.A., 2009) recently wrapped filming the indie drama Dreamworld. She was also seen onstage playing the title role in Anne of Green Gables for the Main Street Theatre Company at the Lewis Family Playhouse in Rancho Cucamonga.
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Elements for Success: Joseph Hacker Pens Book on Auditioning