2014: The Year of J. August Richards SPRING
By Evan Henerson He never followed his mother’s urging to become a doctor or a lawyer in real life, but 1995 BFA graduate J. August Richards played both professions on television as part of a busy and quite successful 2014 calendar year. THE JUST CONCLUDED YEAR saw Richards play four TV roles that were completely dissimilar to each other. Richards went from the disabled but still quite dangerous Deathlok on Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. to the Assistant Secretary of State on The Lottery, the highest ranking role he has ever played to date. The Bravo series Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce finds Richards playing a gay married father of two, and he closed the year by returning to the long-running series Grey’s Anatomy, portraying the younger version of Chief of Staff Richard Webber (played as an older man by James Pickens Jr.). “I’m really at peace with where I am in my career,” says Richards. “I enjoy my work so much, and this past year has been the highlight of my career because I have played four of the most diverse characters any actor could be asked to play...” A native of Washington D.C., Richards set his sights on a career in television from the moment he became hooked by that magical box. As he entered his teens, he targeted Los Angeles as his destination of choice and USC as his go-to school. Why those two locales? According to Richards,Three’s Company depicted California as paradise while the lures of USC’s School of Dramatic Arts and School of Cinematic Arts offered potential proximity to a pair of luminaries: John Singleton and Steven Spielberg.
PHOTO:
Nick Saglimbimbeni, Slickforce Studio
“I was either going to be a film major or a theatre major,” Richards explains. “When I found out that film students didn’t get to make movies until their junior year, I decided to be a theatre major because I really wanted to get right to my career.” A recipient of multiple scholarships including the LeVar Burton Scholarship and through the Black Student Assembly, Richards plunged right in, working with such instructors as Anna Stramese, Timothy Douglas and Allan Hendrick. The classical foundation he received at SDA would prove essential in preparing Richards for roles in, of all things, science fiction. J. August Richards
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“I decided to be a theatre major because I really wanted to get right to my career.”
A Message from the Dean THE TRUE WEALTH of a drama school resides in its people — the artists and scholars who teach, the staff who support, the students who study, and the friends who believe in the importance of what we do. This issue of Callboard celebrates the community of artists and supporters who make the USC School of Dramatic Arts possible, and encourage us to dream the boldest dreams. From our alumni who continue to enjoy careers of depth and longevity, to the Ahmanson Foundation whose generous donation supports the training of our designers, to our dear friends Martin Massman and David Anderle whose loving spirit, longtime council and dedication will be deeply missed, but will live on at the School — they all represent the wondrous energy of creativity and support that surrounds and infuses the School for which we are always, always grateful. Madeline Puzo
USC School of Dramatic Arts Board of Councilors
USC School of Dramatic Arts Parent Ambassadors
Patrick J. Adams Lisa Barkett Todd Black Tim Curry Tate Donovan Michele Dedeaux Engemann (Founding Chair) Michael Felix Greg Foster Michael Gilligan Robert Greenblatt Donna Isaacson Mark Kogan Gary Lask Sheila Lipinsky Jimmy Miller Madeline Puzo Thomas Schumacher James D. Stern Andy Tennant Rik Toulon
Steve & Abbey Braverman Suzanne Bruce, MD & Malcolm Waddell Anne Helgen & Michael Gilligan Ernest & Raphael Morgan Teri & Byron Pollitt Lauren & David Rush
Martin Massman leaves legacy at School of Dramatic Arts Along with his longtime service as a Board of Councilors member, Martin Massman, who passed away in December, has a special place in the School of Dramatic Arts’ history. The prolific Broadway producer was instrumental in helping the former Division of Drama at USC become an independent school 25 years ago (the Martin Massman Theatre in the Drama Center was named in honor of his efforts). He also generously funded the first four annual New Works Festivals for the School’s graduating playwrights, which has helped the MFA Dramatic Writing program thrive.
Martin Massman
Remembering Massman’s lifetime commitment to theatre and new works, playwright and Assistant Professor Luis Alfaro affectionately writes about his dear colleague, whom he met while he was the associate producer and director of new play development at the Mark Taper Forum.
By Luis Alfaro THERE IS A SPECIAL PLACE in heaven for producers. It has a nice Green Room named after you and it is loaded with all your favorite snacks. As you walk through the pearly gates, your name flashes in thousands of pulsating light bulbs on a marquee right above your head, and the size and font on the program you receive when you enter is also bigger than everyone else’s. Whew, about time! Not everyone gets this star treatment but not everyone has done what one such Mr. Martin Massman has done for the arts. He was a generous soul so many knew, loved and respected. Martin was not only an essential member of the ecology of L.A. Theatre but in recent years had taken to producing Broadway shows — including the recent revivals of The Glass Menagerie starring Cherry Jones and Zachary Quinto, Of Mice and Men starring James Franco and Chris O’Dowd, Gore Vidal’s The Best Man, Porgy and Bess and the touring hit of last season Buyer and Cellar with Michael Urie. Clearly Martin had an eye for good work. A native Angeleno, Martin was an alumnus of our university, where he was a member of the USC Scholarship Club, an Endowment Donor to the USC football program and a longtime member of School of Dramatic Arts’ Board of Councilors.
Photo courtesy of Center Theatre Group
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I have a different memory of Martin though. I worked at the Mark Taper Forum theatre in downtown’s Music Center for 10 years, developing and producing new American plays. Martin was a big supporter of Center Theatre Group and it was always fun to run into him at openings, as he was full of life and humor and there was always a wicked little moment where he would bend into your ear and whisper a hilarious observation or naughty comment. What is life without these little moments? One year I was producing a big festival of new work. Not just new work, but a lot of really hard plays that were in the process of becoming. Not ready for production but in desperate need of focused time for a playwright, director and actors to get in the room and wrestle with. I was in need of someone to invest in this process and fund it. I set up a meeting with Martin and he sat patient, smiling. His small probing eyes looking at you with such intensity. “Why now?” he asked. I gave him my big speech about how these writers all had the possibility of being Pulitzer Prize winners, but were six plays away from being that veteran in their craft and work, and it was our job to make that investment in their process now. How else to move the field forward and make a greater theatre if not now at the beginning of an artist’s journey?
Martin sipped his tea and looked at me for the longest time. I laughed. He laughed and asked how much I was looking for. I remember saying $50,000 and even gulping myself at how much it sounded like. He paused and then said, “Oh good, I thought you were going to say a million,” and he ended up producing our big festival. This moment became a joke between us. The last time I saw Martin was in the parking lot under Disney Hall on our way to see a performance at REDCAT. He came up behind me as I was getting out of my car and said, “You should have asked for a million…” Yes, I should have. I also should have told you what you meant to art and artists in Los Angeles, but every time I walk into the Drama Center on campus and pass by the Massman Theatre, I think of you and generosity. I hope you are enjoying that Green Room in the sky. ■
To honor Martin Massman’s deep-rooted impact on the School of Dramatic Arts,
the Martin Massman Memorial Fund is being
established to support the MFA Dramatic Writing program, an area which he was greatly passionate about.
Timothy Omundson gallivants from Psych to ABC’s Galavant
By Evan Henerson
Alumnus Timothy Omundson as King Richard in ABC’s Galavant. PHOTO: ABC/Daniel Liam
THE CONCLUSION of Psych, the USA series on which he starred for eight seasons, put Timothy Omundson on the market again and a little bit at sea over what his next step would be. Psych co-star and good friend Maggie Lawson stepped in to lend an ear. “She was really encouraging, getting me to think about what I wanted to do,” recalls Omundson, a 1991 BFA graduate. “So I made a list. If I could write my own ticket, what would that ticket look like?” By going off to England and going Galavant-ing, Omundson filled out that ticket, and then some. The Omundson ticket included a role on a network show that could potentially attract more audiences than a cable series. He wanted a role which would allow him to grow and keep his beard, and he coveted a period piece that might help him get reacquainted with some of his theatre training muscles.
“It uses all my theatre training. This is why I went to school, to have a job like this and be able to do it.”
“And I said I wanted to sing,” Omundson says. “You look at Galavant and you can practically check off the boxes. “But boy, be careful what you wish for. Here I am singing Alan Menken songs while I have friends on Broadway seething with rage and jealousy that someone who was initially a non-singer would get this job.”
Spring 2015
A half-hour musical comedy fairy tale which began airing on ABC in January, Galavant casts Omundson as King Richard, the villainous monarch who steals away the true love of the hero Galavant (played by Joshua Sasse). An admitting Chris Koch, who directed several of the episodes, calls Omundson “the breakout star of the show.” Omundson won the role after a series of auditions spanning nearly five months. He is the only American among the principal cast. And checked resolution boxes or otherwise, the actor is proud of his work, and credits his SDA experiences with helping him nail the role. “It uses all my theatre training. This is why I went to school, to have a job like this and be able to do it,” says Omundson. “I sent a trailer of the series to Jack Rowe, and said, ‘Tell your students this is why you go to Shakespeare class.’” Omundson was active in his youth theatre in his native Washington, performed in high school plays and spent the summer of his junior year at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. He chose USC — the only school he applied to — for proximity to L.A. and to the film and TV industry. His family drove him down in the 1969 Ford Country Squire and dropped him off, setting him up in his dorm and then leaving him in the big city. “I remember sitting around that first week of school, looking at all the other BFAs and thinking, ‘These are the people I’m going to be with for the next four years,’” Omundson says. “I’m still close with some of the people, and I’ve been able to reconnect with a lot of old classmates through social media this last year. It’s been great.” Omundson earned agency representation immediately out of school, earned his SAG card on Seinfeld, was
promptly dropped by his management and found himself back at Johnny Rockets flipping burgers. He did not book another acting job for a year. Still in his 20s, Omundson gave himself until age 25 to “become an actor,” although he says he had no intention of quitting even if he didn’t reach his age/ success goal. Shuttling between a series of his jobs — sometimes alongside his wife Allison, who helped cover the bills — Omundson worked in bars, waited tables, did roofing, catering and, ultimately, moved furniture into the homes of wealthy people. That last job served as a sort of revelation for Omundson. “I thought, ‘OK. I’m back to physical labor. Fine.’ Something happened, and within two days, I had an audition for Xena: Warrior Princess,” Omundson says. “I got the job and it was several months of work, and it was the last time I worked a regular job. And I swear it’s because I humbled myself to the universe.” From there, the gigs became steady with guest roles and the occasional movie interspersed with recurring roles on Deadwood, Judging Amy, Jericho and ultimately Psych. Those eight seasons on Psych and the accompanying financial stability were welcome for the father of two daughters. The self-described “let’s see what’s over this next ridge kind of person” was only too happy knowing that a return to burger flipping or furniture moving was not in the cards. “There’s been lots of having to remind myself that my career is going in the right direction,” he says. “You always think your last job is going to be your last job. I don’t think that ever changes.” ■
dramaticarts usc.edu 3
Ahmanson gift lights way for students The Ahmanson Foundation gave a generous grant to the School in 2014, which helped fund new state-of-the-art LED lighting (D40 and D60 PARs) for the Bing, McClintock and Scene Dock theatres, a new Genie Lift for the Bing Theatre and a new hatchback vehicle for the Costume Shop. These capital improvements greatly enhance the production experience in these spaces but also gives our students hands-on training opportunities that are imperative pedagogically to what’s expected in the profession.
The Ahmanson Foundation grant funded new LED lights and a Genie lift for the theatres. PHOTO:
Ryan Miller/Capture Imaging
Donor Marquee
Director of Productions and Associate Professor of Theatre Practice Elsbeth M. Collins shares about the impact the Ahmanson Foundation gift has on the students of the USC School of Dramatic Arts.
Donor Marquee
EVERY ARTIST needs a toolkit to support his or her creativity. Some theatre artists work in fabrics and accessories like shoes and jewelry; others’ ideas are rendered in wood or steel structures, spackled and painted and ultimately dressed with accessories like period furniture (Cat Among the Pigeons) or grungy bath tubs and cardboard shacks (In the Blood). At SDA, our students learn an array of methods to express and achieve their visions. Perhaps the ones most difficult to initially explain and ultimately achieve are the lighting designer’s designs.
The USC School of Dramatic Arts would like to recognize the generosity of the following individuals and organizations who have supported the School with a gift of $1,000 or more over the past year towards core annual programs such as production, guest artists, scholarship and the Dean’s Strategic Fund. We recognize at the visionary level those donors whose tremendous generosity has reached the cumulative giving level of $1 million+ and whose foresight and extraordinary commitment has helped secure our role as one of the leading dramatic arts programs in the country.
VISIONARY CIRCLE
PRODUCERS
PATRONS
ANGELS
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*
Anonymous Randolph & Ellen Beatty MaryLou Boone In memory of John R. Bukowiec Tate Donovan Gail & Jim Ellis in honor of Madeline Puzo Roger & Michele Dedeaux Engemann Margaret Eagle & Eli Rapaport Michael & Debbie Felix Brad & Ally Fuller Mark J. & Elizabeth L. Kogan Philanthropic Fund Gary & Karen Lask Sheila & Jeff Lipinsky Aileen & James Reilly
Patrick J. Adams The Emanuel Bachmann Foundation Barbara Cotler George & Barbara Farinsky in honor of Meg Farinsky Laurie & William Garrett Teri & Gary Paul Eddie & Julia Pinchasi J.W. Woodruff and Ethel I. Woodruff Foundation
Dr. Willa Olsen Mark Paluch Joseph & Catherine Phoenix Dean Madeline Puzo Andrew J. & Irene Robinson Meredith & Drew Rowley John & Cyndy Scotti Rick & Jeanne Silverman Nancy Sinatra, Sr. in honor of my niece Dean Puzo Abe & Annika Somer Jeff & Cathie Thermond Ruth Tuomala & Ernest Cravalho Gloria A. Vogt-Nilsen Carol & Grover Wilson
SEASON SPONSORS
The Ahmanson Foundation Steve & Abbey Braverman* Barnett Charitable Foundation* Richard & Lori Berke* Eric T. Kalkhurst & Nora K. Hui* Seth & Vicki Kogan* Steve & Jerri Nagelberg* Sally & Howard Oxley in honor of Dean Madeline Puzo* Susie & Alex Pilmer* Teri & Byron Pollitt* Suzanne Bruce, MD & Malcolm Waddell* Richard & Diane Weinberg Craig & Jennifer Zobelein EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS
Anonymous Kathryn & John Gilbertson Alexander & Megan LoCasale* Ernest & Raphael Morgan* Brian & Dianne Morton Oscar & Mary Pallares* Jim & Leslie Visnic*
*Represents multi-year pledge 4
By Elsbeth M. Collins
DIRECTORS
Todd Black & Ruth Graham Black Dr. Verna B. Dauterive Ken & Kim Farinksy Gregory & Marci Foster Marvin & Cookie Friedman George & Dyan Getz Anne Helgen & Michael Gilligan Susan A. Grode Tom & Noelle Hicks Donna Isaacson Jimmy & Cheryl Miller Christine Marie Ofiesh Robert R. Scales in memory of Suzanne Grossmann Scales David & Rebecca Scaramucci Carole Shammas & Darryl Holter Thomas Schumacher James D. Stern Rik Toulon Nancy & Peter Tuz
ANGELS
Jonathan & Adrienne Anderle Mohammed & Elizabeth Anis Anonymous Susan & David Berck Amir & Angela Bozorgmir Sara Bancroft-Clair & Pierson Clair Linda Chester & Kenneth Rind in honor of Howard & Sally Oxley Caroline Jin Choi The Del Conte Family Scott & Deborah DeVries Richard Frankosky & Elaine Eliopoulos Molly & David Helfet Jeffrey P. McKee Foundation David & Debra Jensen James & Margaret Kelly The Bridges Larson Foundation David & Debra Little Steve & Cynthia Lynch Marguerite E. Maclntyre Scott S. Mullet & Jenelle Anne Marsh-Mullet Robert & Debbie Myman Sylvia Neil in honor of Richard Weinberg & Diane Stilwell Sherri Nelson Elizabeth C. Noble
(CONTINUED)
DONATIONS IN KIND
Jean A. Black Els Collins Jeffrey de Caen Rosemary Gabledon David & Debra Jensen Mark Malan Judith Parker Tamara Ruppart & Kevin Zvargulis
We have taken care to list names and gift designations accurately. If you believe there has been an error or omission, please contact Kathy Morgan at 213.821.4262 or kdmorgan@usc.edu. Thank you for your support.
We hope you will consider becoming a member. For more information about giving to the School of Dramatic Arts, please contact Sara Fousekis at 213.821.4047 or fousekis@usc.edu.
Music executive David Anderle had ‘contagious’ love for USC By Lynne Heffley
The grant also funded a new vehicle for the Costume Shop, pictured with staff. PHOTO: Ryan Miller/Capture Imaging
Their renderings show colors and intensities of light found in nature, often times through evocative photographs or paintings, which convey appropriate effects. Their descriptive adjectives, cool blues and greens, warm ambers, and their use of various drafting tools show specific uses of color and intensity on scenery and figures. Achieving these looks in the area of color has been limited to the now archaic technology of color scrollers, devices that literally contained scrolls of different gels programmed to shift through the roll until the desired color was achieved. Recently a generous grant from the Ahmanson Foundation allowed the School to purchase LED fixtures for each of the theatres. This new technology has provided the tools for our student and guest lighting designers to have almost unlimited variety in the colors in their toolkits. In addition, a new Genie lift makes focusing those instruments quicker and safer. This equipment has energized the lighting student population. So much so that one of the students, G. Austin Allen (BFA ’16), designed a reorganization of the Bing lighting storage area as a project for his work study job. The day that the new equipment arrived, the students assembling the hardware on each of the lights were beaming with excitement. With these new tools, it makes the work achievable and expands the scope of what achievable means. The Ahmanson Foundation gift has also allowed the design faculty to help our students in their fluency of new technologies in the field, as well as provide them with the hands-on learning that is so vital to successful learning outcomes. From the faculty to the students, we are so grateful for this tremendous gift. ■
Spring 2015
AS A MUSIC INDUSTRY executive and producer, USC School of Dramatic Arts alum and Board of Councilors member David Anderle (BA ’63) worked with some of the top Gold and Platinum artists of the 1960s through the 1990s — among them, David Anderle The Beach Boys, Frank Zappa, Judy Collins, The Doors, Amy Grant, Sheryl Crow, Danny Elfman, Circle Jerks and Blues Traveler. Throughout his high-profile career in the music industry, Anderle, who lost his battle with cancer in September at age 77, remained one of USC’s most enthusiastic ambassadors. “He loved it,” says Anderle’s wife, Cathy. “He loved the involvement because it kept him connected to the School, he loved the people that he worked with, and he certainly cherished [Dean] Madeline Puzo.” USC had special meaning, too, Cathy Anderle says, because it was where Anderle met his first wife Sherril, who died in 2008. USC was also where, as a student, Anderle made his mark as a notable set designer, says Jack Rowe, Director of BFA Acting, Artistic Director and Associate Professor of Theatre Practice.
Productions. Joining A&M Records in 1973, Anderle was director of talent development and then vice president of film music; in the latter capacity, he worked as music supervisor on such films as The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink and Good Morning, Vietnam. In 1991, Anderle was named A&M’s senior vice president of A&R (artists and repertoire), a position that he held until his retirement in 1999. As immersed as he was in the pop music world, Anderle remained a devotee of theatre and opera…and whenever he had time, he painted. With retirement, Anderle launched another creative chapter of his life, making the most of his time and freedom to pursue his desire for artistic expression on canvas. What was it like for this high-powered and influential music exec to become a full-time painter? “In a word, bliss,” says Cathy Anderle. “That’s all he ever wanted.” Portraiture was Anderle’s primary focus. Bob Dylan and The Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson, a longtime friend, were among Anderle’s subjects.
“David’s love for USC was just contagious. ... And because of how passionate he was about it, you absolutely had no choice but to love the School.”
“He was sort of legendary as this wonderful art director and scenic designer,” says Rowe, who got to know Anderle at USC after the two met there as fellow theatre students. Anderle stood out as an artist, Rowe says, because “he understood plays, he understood depth and space — all those things — and he was a wonderful, lifelong painter. He had a special eye.”
“He was just extremely creative,” Cathy Anderle says, “and whatever he found himself in, he excelled in. He would say that he didn’t know anything about set design and then he mastered that. He didn’t know much about the music business when he entered it, and he excelled in that.” It was during his graduate studies at USC, that Anderle switched gears after getting a taste of the music business at a company where his focus was the transfer of record labels’ catalogues onto 8-track tapes. “It was the beginning of the whole ’60s rock thing,” Rowe says, “and you could see that David was drawn that way. One thing led to another and it kind of evolved naturally.” Anderle rose high in the music industry. He became West Coast talent director for MGM/Verve, managed Van Dyke Parks and headed The Beach Boys’ Brother Records, Inc. (the first artist-run label) at its inception. Anderle followed a stint at Elektra as West Coast operations director with the creation of his own company, Willow
“He loved people,” Cathy Anderle says. “And he loved to paint the people he knew.” When Anderle exhibited his work in his one-man show, Better Late Than Never, at the Billy Shire Fine Arts Gallery in 2007, she says, “it was so satisfying. David never liked to be the center of attention, but he wanted his work to be.” (A catalog of Anderle’s paintings, published under the title of the gallery exhibition, is available on Amazon and other online booksellers.)
Anderle’s years as a music producer and executive may have taken him away from his early theatrical roots, but he remained staunchly devoted to the School. “His passions were his son [Jonathan], painting and USC,” Cathy Anderle says. In 2008, Anderle established what is now called the Anderle Family Endowed Memorial Scholarship, an annual merit-based scholarship awarded to a female in the USC School of Dramatic Arts theatre program. Stage and film actor Kelsey Siepser (MFA ’13) was the first recipient. “I remember praying that they’d find a way to give me some sort of financial aid so I could go to USC,” Siepser says, “I knew it was the right program for me in terms of what kind of actor I wanted to be.” Anderle made a point of attending some of Siepser’s performances and offered meaningful encouragement. “Having someone who had achieved so much in life believe in me, and tell me not to give up,” Siepser says, “was amazing.” “David’s love for USC was just contagious,” says Cathy Anderle. “And because of how passionate he was about it, you absolutely had no choice but to love the School.” ■
dramaticarts usc.edu 5
WINNIE LOK
Facing pages of the professional world By Stacey Wang Rizzo
PHOTO:
GRADUATING COLLEGE can often be a scary time for students as they transition from classroom studies to the real world. But for alumna Winnie Lok, being a professional stage manager wasn’t a stretch from what she encountered as a student at the USC School of Dramatic Arts. “I feel like I came out of school not being too surprised,” the BFA Stage Management graduate says. “Even though it is a conservatory program, the School treats you like a professional. It prepared me for what stage managing is like in real life.” Since she graduated in 2001, Lok’s work has been both continuous and fulfilling. She is currently production stage manager for the Manhattan Theatre Club’s world premiere of The World of Extreme Happiness by Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig, which opened Feb. 24, and recently stage managed Olivier Award-winning playwright Katori Hall’s new play, Our Lady of Kibeho, which closed at the Signature Theatre in December. Lok’s credits have spanned Broadway (Outside Mullingar, The Big Knife, An Enemy of the People, Venus in Fur) and dozens of off-Broadway productions — including her favorite playwright August Wilson’s How I Learned What I Learned and the Pultizer Prizewinning The Piano Lesson, as well as at regional theatres like Center Theatre Group and The Theatre @ Boston Court. “I’m very lucky to keep working with great people and great theatre companies,” she says. “When you freelance, sometimes you don’t know when the job is coming so it’s good to go from show to show.” Lok is also co-producer of Facing Page Productions, which creates new theatrical experiences from classical works and themes, and serves as a creative outlet for her outside of stage managing. The New York-based production company most notably hosts the annual Company’s Marathon, a nonstop, 85-hour reading of Shakespeare’s canon that was first created by director-playwright Gordy Hoffman in 1996. Facing Page revived the beloved marathon in 2013 and received an overwhelming response with hundreds of writers, actors, theatre lovers and Shakespeare fans participating. At the inaugural event held two years ago, Lok read for 11 plays — doing midnight to 8 a.m. shifts after stage managing, then slept for three hours before heading back to work for a matinee or understudy rehearsal. “It has really rekindled a love of Shakespeare,” she says. “Anyone can sign up and perform. If you’ve never read Shakespeare or anything out loud, it’s okay. We don’t correct you. It’s just about having fun and listening to the bard out loud.” 6
The Hinge Collective
Lok’s passion for performance began as a child, from ballet to painting to violin lessons to drama classes. And although her parents were instrumental in exposing her to the arts, it was the applause that drove her to keep with it. “I knew the applause was something I was not going to get away from and I didn’t want to get away from. … In high school, I did acting and in college I thought to get a bachelor of arts in theatre,” Lok says. While at USC, after working as an assistant stage manager on her first show, she realized stage management was a perfect fit. “Winnie was a terrific student. Her paperwork was top notch. Her interest level was high and she contributed to some very interesting discussions. I was impressed with her,” faculty member Mary K Klinger says. As a student, Lok experienced theatre outside of the academic realm, shadowing Klinger and former professor Jonathan Barlow Lee, production manager at the Mark Taper Forum, as they stage managed shows for Center Theatre Group. “Winnie and all my students shadowed me at one time or another,” Klinger says. “I bring them to whatever show I am doing that semester to watch techs or to watch me call a show (I am usually able to put the students on headset with me), and some students have been invited to sit in on rehearsal. We then discuss in class what was witnessed.” “A lot of the USC faculty are working. They’re working in the city, they know people and it’s really great that they can ease the transition into the professional world,” Lok says. “The paperwork, tech, calling a show — we had exposure to that instead of it being all on the page.” After graduating, Lok was hired by Klinger as a production assistant for Topdog/Underdog, directed by George C. Wolfe, at the Mark Taper Forum. Klinger remembers having to leave the show during intermission due to a family emergency, and assistant stage manager Michelle Blair (BFA ’99) and Lok stepped up to the task. “Michelle went to the booth to call the second act and Winnie took over on the deck. It was such a gift. I was able to leave knowing my show was in really good hands,” Klinger says. Since Lok’s days studying at USC, the former studentteacher pair have not only become professional colleagues, but friends. And although they work on opposite coasts, Klinger proudly says: “I would work with her again in a minute.” ■
J. August Richards CONTINUED FROM FRONT PAGE
“The program was exceptional,” says Richards. “Once you have had to play a Russian aristocrat in 1854 and you have to make his wants and needs your own, you can do that with anything. I feel like a good portion of my work has been in the science fiction genre because of Chekhov, because of Shakespeare, because I had to take these words and circumstances and make them my own.” Dayna Lynne North, a cinema alum, remembers walking into a rehearsal hall as Richards was rehearsing a performance for an evening of soul and being struck by a monologue that Richards was delivering before she even set eyes on him. “I was already kind of star struck by this guy I hadn’t even met,” says North, who became a longtime friend and would work with Richards both at USC and as a TV writer and producer. “He wasn’t a star at 18, but he has continued to grow and flourish as an actor and as a director. I continue to be impressed by him.” As his college career was drawing to a close, Richards remained on campus an extra year serving as a resident hall advisor in on-campus housing. During that extra year, Richards auditioned, but did not book a single job. Just as his tenure as an RA was ending, he booked a gig on a touring educational science show called Chemipalooza. “That kind of boosted my confidence and I sort of started working ever since,” Richards says. His breakthrough role — and the one that allowed Richards to pay off his student debt — was a four-season run as street warrior Charles Gunn on Angel, the hit spin-off to Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Gunn had the actor doing a range of new things including juggling on camera and playing two different characters at the same time. Late in the show, Gunn became a lawyer which Richards feels must have been gratifying to his mother, who had always hoped her son would become a doctor, attorney or priest. Richards, who has ended up playing several lawyers, even took a law course from the late USC School of Law professor Charles Whitebread at USC. “We had such great chemistry that at the end of the semester, he told me, ‘Richards, when you’re done with that acting (stuff), give me a call.’” Needless to say, Professor Whitebread’s phone never rang. ■
Scholarship funding
continues to be at the forefront of the School’s priorities and needs now and into the future. These funds help the School attract and retain the top talent from across the nation into our training programs, a critical step in our ability to remain competitive with our peer institutions and to the continued growth and prominence of our School. Scholarship support helps guarantee that no student who is accepted into the program will turn us down due to economic barriers. If you would like more information on how you can support scholarship giving at the School, please contact Sara Fousekis at 213.821.4047 or fousekis@usc.edu.
Alumni Marquee Boni B. Alvarez (MFA ’07) co-wrote the new play ¡Goat Springs Eternal! with SDA faculty Paula Cizmar and saw the show performed at UCLA. He also worked with several other alums to write plays for Chalk Repertory Theatre’s FLASH exhibit. Lisa Anderson (BA ’11) is the lead character technical director at DreamWorks Animation. Alfredo Avila (MA ‘12) practices Theatre of the Oppressed techniques with homeless youth, teachers, students, and communities on issues of land rights (TRUST South LA) and justice (Changing Ways, ex-lifers who perform for detained youth). He works with students at the USC Keck School of Medicine, and with sailors and marines through the Department of Navy in Japan, Italy and Hawaii. A founding member of the Liberation Arts & Community Engagement (LACE) Center, he guest lectures for the UCLA Arts & Global Health Center. Kristin Avila (BA ’12) is an accomplished choreographer and teaching artist in the San Francisco Bay Area. She teaches youth theatre summer programs at Berkeley Playhouse, and was recently a featured dancer in a production of Candide with the prestigious Lamplighters Music Theatre in San Francisco. Robert Baker (BFA ’02) was recently seen on Scandal. Hayley Brown (BA ’11) co-founded the Mine is Yours Theatre Company and appeared as Paris in their production of their genderreversed Romeo and Juliet. Mary Burkin (BA ’70) partnered with USC’s Visions and Voices to lead a discussion about former USC students and their contribution to the development of horror movies. Her romantic comedy, Finders Keepers, is online on Amazon. Kate Cannova (BA ’03) produced Kander and Ebb’s The Scottsboro Boys in the West End this fall and winter, after last year’s successful run at London’s renowned Young Vic. She was part of the team that brought the show to Broadway in 2010, for which she received a Tony nomination. Meghan Corea (BFA ’06) is the assistant costume designer for ABC’s drama Forever, starring Judd Hirsh, Alana de la Garza and Ioan Gruffudd. Seth Cover (BFA ’98) is the CEO for Mycotoo, Inc., a themed entertainment development company specializing in locationbased and live entertainment. He has worked with Warner Bros. in the making of Harry Potter, designed and developed
Motiongate and Bollywood Parks theme parks in Dubai, and worked with Thor Equities on the historic Coney Island property. Laura Darrell (BA ’11) recently performed in Kander’s Kid Victory at the Signature Theatre in Washington, D.C. Hannah Donovan (BA ’13) completed a month-long acting program in Ecuador with Dramatic Adventure Theatre, followed by a residency at the Grotowski Institute in Poland with Teatr Zar. Tate Donovan (BFA ’85) recently directed an episode of CBS’s Madam Secretary. Tim Dowling (BA ’96) wrote the screenplay for the movie Pixels, starring Adam Sandler, Peter Dinklage and Kevin James. Dawn Ferry (MFA ’91) won the award for Best Dramatic Feature at the G.I. Film Festival in September for her film Field of Lost Shoes. Julianne Yulan Gale (MA ’11) is an embodied art specialist at A Window Between Worlds. She is responsible for the development, implementation and evaluation of these programs with particular emphasis on trauma-informed practices, community building and contextual factors. Jade Gordon (BA ’09, MA ’11) taught at Cal Arts and the Stella Adler Academy of Acting, led Theatre of the Oppressed workshops in L.A. schools, and performs internationally with her art collective, My Barbarian. The group, which enacts historical narratives and rehearses social situations, was included in the 2014 Whitney Biennial. Upcoming projects include performances at LACMA in 2015 and at the New Museum in New York in 2016. Deborah Hathaway (BA ’06) is a lecturer in the School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences at the University of Washington Bothell, teaching acting, improvisation and movement. Lakhiyia Hicks (MA ’12) is director of community engagement at the UCLA Arts & Global Health Center, where she directs the Sex Squad, a group that devises Forum Theatre plays based on personal stories of sexual health and allied topics. Lakaysha Lee Hill (MA ’12) is a full-time drama teacher in Charlotte. She uses Theatre of the Oppressed techniques with the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African American Arts and Culture, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Public Schools. She consults for Thirst 4 Water, and presents at international conferences. During her MA internship she helped co-found Changing Ways, a
Theatre of the Oppressed group for formerly incarcerated men. Greg Holford (MFA ’82) recently directed the world press premiere and grand opening of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Japan. Nikki Hyde (BA ’07) is the stage manager and an ensemble member at the Cornerstone Theatre Company in L.A. Arthur Keng (MFA ’12) recently played Glenn in Year Zero at the Merrimack Repertory Theatre in Lowell, Mass. Vivian Kerr (BA ’05) appeared in episodes of Bad Judge, Criminal Minds, and New Girl and co-stars in the indie feature Improvising. Elisabeth Ledwell (BA ’86) teaches acting, film and English at Falmouth Academy on Cape Cod. She has directed over 75 shows and worked with the Cape Cod Theatre Project, a professional company from N.Y. that produces staged readings of new plays. Alma Martinez (MFA ’95) has supporting roles in the feature films Cake, starring Jennifer Aniston; Strike One, starring Danny Trejo; 6 Miranda Drive, starring Kevin Bacon — as well as the short Selling Rosario, which won the 2014 Napa Valley Film Festival Jury and Audience awards. She was nominated as Best Supporting Actress by 2014 Broadway World Awards for her work in Just Like Us at the Denver Center Theatre. She is featured in the book and cover of Latino Image Makers in Hollywood: Performers, Filmmakers and Films Since the 1960s by Frank Javier Garcia Berumen. She also had a seven-episode arc in Season 1 of F/X’s The Bridge and her voice can be heard doing the Spanish narration for the award-winning documentary Food Chains. Sue McGrew (BA ’05) showcases sand sculpting on the Travel Channel’s show Sand Masters. Ron Morehouse (BFA ’01) was the voice of Spiderman for Target and Carl’s Jr., as well as Andrew Garfield’s voice match for The Amazing Spiderman. Jesse Mu-En Shao (MFA ’14) saw his play, The End Times, performed at The Pasadena Playhouse. Narumi Nakayama (BA ’13) recently performed in The Angel Academy at The Next Stage Theatre, in A Christmas Happening 2014 with the Apollo West Carson Players, and A Christmas Carol with Art-InRelation’s production at the Ernest Borgnine Theatre. Bari Newport (BFA ’97) is in her third year as Producing Artistic Director of Penobscot Theatre
Company in Bangor, Maine. Julie Taiwo Oni (MFA ’09) saw her play Denim produced in Los Angeles. It featured SDA alumni Eric Schulman (MFA ’11) and Taylor Hawthorne (BA ’08). Kimberly Patch (BFA ’08) is the stage manager at the Forward Theatre in Madison, Wis., and is a proud member of Actor’s Equity. Kelly Paul (BFA ’14) is an assistant research analyst on the international film team at Interpret LLC. She tracks box office performances of films across foreign countries to provide marketing strategies for entertainment companies. Jeremy Pivnick (BA ’01) received an Ovation Award for his recent work on Everything You Touch at The Theatre @ Boston Court. He was also nominated for two more awards in the lighting design, intimate theatre category. Tomm Polos (BFA ’10) penned Holding Pattern: Limericks for Air Travel, a satirical safetycard filled with lively limericks regarding the errs of air travel. Shruti Purkayastha (MA ’12) is a founding core member of the LACE Center, a community organizer and activist, and a Theatre of the Oppressed practitioner with Gender Justice LA. She has used applied theatre arts to co-design labor movement work with the United World Congress and the Strategy Center. She continues to do liberation arts work with Dignity and Power Now Freedom Harvest Art Collective. Jaime Reichner (MA ’12) serves as education coordinator of United Cerebral Palsy’s UCPlay Project and is a teaching artist with PS Arts’ Inside Out Community Arts. She has facilitated Theatre of the Oppressed workshops at Occidental College, Youth M.O.V.E. Miami and the center for Council Practice in Los Angeles. In 2014, she taught a course on Theatre for Social Justice at CalArts. She is on the advisory board of the LACE Center. Tony Shayne (BFA ’06, MFA ’09) is the ATD and lighting director for REDCAT Theater, production designer and tech director for Rosanna Gamson Worldwide, and a freelance lighting and scenic designer. Janine Salinas Schoenberg (MFA ’07) is the director of the short Jenny & Lalo. She also worked with other alums to write plays for Chalk Repertory Theatre’s FLASH exhibit. Madhuri Shekar (MFA ’13) wrote a play alongside other alums for Chalk Repertory Theatre’s FLASH exhibit.
Jennifer Skinner (BA ’06) is an associate lighting designer for Walt Disney Imagineering. Jamie Snow (BA ’07) was the casting director for the Nickelodeon shows Cat and Sam and Henry Danger. Danny Strong (BA ’96) is a writer and executive producer for FOX’s new drama Empire. Rebecca Struch (MA ’11) is A.C.T.’s first community producer. She is responsible for designing, implementing, and evaluating the two-year launch of Stage Coach, a participatory arts program working to tell untold and undertold stories through community collaborations. Jason Turner (MFA ’11) recently played Nelson Green in the production of Wedding Band at the Antaeus Company in Los Angeles. He has also had featured roles on Scandal, Criminal Minds and Days of Our Lives, and a recurring role on The Young and the Restless. Joy Vandervort-Cobb (BFA ’81) played Cassandra in the PURE Theatre production of Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike in Charleston, S.C. Anya Warburg (MA ’12) is a U.S. program manager for Move This World in N.Y. She leads partnerships strategy and development, and oversees program design, implementation, quality and evaluation for all U.S. programs. Christine Weatherup (BA ’05) recently played the lead in the indie feature Bread and Butter, opposite Bobby Moynihan and Micah Hauptman, which premiered at the Woodstock Film Festival and won Best Feature at the Big Apple Film Festival. She can also be seen on the CBS show CSI: Cyber. Charlotte Mary Wen (BA ’13) performed in Bronies! The Musical at Third Street Theatre in L.A. and performed with the cast of Inappropriate the Musical at the 2014 Voice Awards. Caroline Williams (BA ’99) is producer and writer for an episode of BoJack Horseman, starring Aaron Paul. Sabina Zuniga Varela (MFA ’11) appeared in Culture Clash’s Chavez Ravine at the Kirk Douglas Theatre. Are you an alum of the School? Tell us what you’ve been up to and we’ll feature it in Callboard! Email Stacey Wang Rizzo at staceykw@usc.edu.
7
New institute to groom actors for global career The USC School of Dramatic Arts is launching an innovative program for international actors to study in Los Angeles. AIMED AT PREPARING ACTORS for a professional career in global co-productions, the Summer Institute for International Actors will be a five-week program combining immersive English-language training with rigorous acting and professional development courses. The first cohort of the institute is scheduled to begin in summer 2015, with applications available online now.
Outings to film studios, theaters and museums in the area will immerse participants in the culture of Los Angeles. Students also will improve their English-speaking fluency through specialized, immersive classes taught by faculty members of the USC International Academy. “I’ve met young actors in all corners of the globe, from China to Eastern Europe to South America, who are hungry for experiences that will connect them to
the Hollywood film industry,” said Associate Dean of Global Initiatives David Bridel, who leads acting workshops around the world. “This program aims to make those connections.” The Summer Institute classes will be taught by the USC School of Dramatic Arts. The School’s faculty of working artists are experts in their field with an intimate understanding of the industry. “There are multiple advantages for the participants,” Bridel said. “The first-class faculty will provide an education that is hard to match anywhere in the world. In addition, the location of the institute, next door to Hollywood’s film industry, means that highly motivated performers from around the world will get their first look at what it means to build an international career that will include Hollywood.” ■
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The new program will offer distinctive opportunities to its participants, including concentrated courses in audition preparation, acting for the camera, voice and improvisation, as well as workshops with leading casting directors, agents, managers and other entertainment professionals.
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“The idea arose from a series of conversations that key members of the School’s faculty and I had with Donna Isaacson [executive vice president of casting for 20th Century Fox and member of the School’s Board of Councilors] and President Han Sheng and his faculty from the prestigious Shanghai Theatre Academy,” said Dean Madeline Puzo. “We realized that there is a bridge that needs to be built between
filmmakers and actors who would like opportunities to work in the global arena.”