David Geffen School of Drama 2022–23 Alumni Magazine

DAVID GEFFEN SCHOOL OF DRAMA AT YALE

ANNUAL MAGAZINE

Side by Side alumni couples

Ru-Jun Wang: a man for all scenes

paul giamatti remembers Lance Reddick

James Bundy ’95

Elizabeth Parker Ware Dean/Artistic Director

Florie Seery

Associate Dean/Managing Director

C hantal Rodriguez

Associate Dean

C arla L. Jackson ’99

Assistant Dean/General Manager

Deborah S. Berman

Editor/Senior Director of Development and Alumni Affairs

John Beinecke YC ’69

Chair

Jeremy Smith ’76 Vice Chair

Nina Adams MS ’69, NUR ’77

Amy Aquino ’86

Rudy Aragon LAW ’79

John Badham ’63, YC ’61

Pun Bandhu ’01

Sonja Berggren Special Research Fellow ’13

Frances Black ’09

Carmine Boccuzzi YC ’90, LAW ’94

Lynne Bolton

Clare Brinkley

Sterling Brinkley, Jr. YC ’74

Kate Burton ’82

James Chen ’08

Lois Chiles

Patricia Clarkson ’85

Edgar M. (Trip) Cullman III ’02, YC ’97

Michael David ’68

Wendy Davies

Michael Diamond ’90

Polly Draper ’80, YC ’77

Charles S. (Roc) Dutton ’83

Sasha Emerson ’84

Lily Fan YC ’01, LAW ’04

Terry Fitzpatrick ’83

Marc Flanagan ’70

Anita Pamintuan Fusco YC ’90

David Marshall Grant ’78

David Alan Grier ’81

Sally Horchow YC ’92

Ellen Iseman YC ’76

David Johnson YC ’78

Rolin Jones ’04

Sarah Long ’92, YC ’85

Cathy MacNeil-Hollinger ’86

Brian Mann ’79

Drew McCoy

David Milch YC ’66

Jennifer Harrison Newman ’11

Richard Ostreicher, M.D. ’79

Carol Ostrow ’80

Tracy Chutorian Semler YC ’86

Tony Shalhoub ’80

Michael Sheehan ’76

Anna Deavere Smith HON ’14

Andrew Tisdale

Edward Trach ’58

Esme Usdan YC ’77

Courtney B. Vance ’86

Donald R. Ware YC ’71

Shana C. Waterman YC ’94, LAW ’00

Kim Williams

Henry Winkler ’70

Amanda Wallace Woods ’03

david geffen school of drama at yale board of advisors

DAVID GEFFEN SCHOOL OF DRAMA AT YALE

ANNUAL MAGAZINE

Dean’s Letter

“I have hoped…to speak of the inner gift that we accept as the object of our labor, and the outer gift that has become a vehicle of culture.”

— Lewis Hyde, The Gift: Creativity and the Modern World Dear Alumni,

As a community of theater makers, we know that stage time is elastic, both intentionally and accidentally. Moments of storytelling may pass with dizzying velocity when Laertes and Hamlet duel, or slow to a heart-rending crawl when the combatants are Burr and Hamilton. Works that engage us seem to take no time at all; those that leave us cold may feel purgatorial in pace, no matter how fast actors might speak.

But no theater experience ever fully prepared me for the vivid lesson in elasticity rendered by the COVID-19 pandemic. More than three years into a public health emergency slated officially to “end” just before you receive this magazine, some days still feel like the last muddy steps of a long slog, while others feel like the rebirth of promise and invention. More than a year spent isolated and Zooming feels now like a blip, and then like the longest, loneliest landscape of a lifetime.

In a polarized and uncertain nation, it is especially heartening to return to a fuller slate of communion in production activity, and to work toward more anti-racist, anti-oppressive practice, in classrooms, shops, offices, rehearsal halls, and theaters on our campus. These are vital ends in themselves, but they gather greater meaning as they express the fuller purposes of artistry connecting those of us in New Haven to those of you living and working world-wide.

Seeking perspective, as I often do, in the words of essayist Lewis Hyde, I find that my treasured colleagues, Deborah Berman and Catherine Sheehy, together with staff, colleagues, and many contributors, have compiled a magazine capturing the inner and outer gifts you have shared—not only during the pandemic and not just in the past year, but across decades.

Indeed, for nearly a century, for students, faculty, staff, and alumni, David Geffen School of Drama has been a community of singular devotions and inspired connections. Could there be more timeless, or timely, objects of our labor than creativity, sustainability, remembrance, and love? And are we not, at our aspirational best, bearers of gifts that make our culture roll on, sail on, and truck on?

The evidence is everywhere in this volume: vivid and moving examples of your experience, accomplishment, and feeling. My deepest thanks to those of you who have shared your endeavors—onstage and off—with us. I fervently hope each and every reader will see here some joyful reflection of themselves.

Sincerely yours,

Editor’s Letter

Dear Alumni and Friends,

Meeting fellow faculty and staff on York Street, welcoming students to the classroom, sharing coffee with colleagues and planning an upcoming event—what was always so familiar pre-pandemic is slowly becoming familiar again. Our campus is alive once more with inspiration and collaboration. One of our students described it as a homecoming. I can’t think of a better word.

In our cover story, we celebrate many of the alumni who found their life partners while at the School. In 18 years here, one of my greatest joys has been to witness the lasting connections— personal and professional—that emerge from our close-knit community.

In the following pages, we welcome home alumni, including Carla L. Jackson ’99, who stepped into the role of Assistant Dean and General Manager, and Christina Anderson ’11, who returned with her poignant new play, the ripple, the wave that carried me home, directed by Tamilla Woodard ’01 (Faculty), that reckons with racism, legacy, and family. It closed our season at the Rep to critical acclaim.

Alas, we also say farewell to some who have transformed the School, among them Ru-Jun Wang (Faculty), brilliant artist and esteemed teacher and mentor, who is retiring after an astounding 31 years. Ru’s work has broken ground in the Design department, and his impact on students and innovations in the field will continue for years to come.

As always, connection is a crucial part of what we do here. Write, share, and post online. No matter where you are, you are always welcome home at DGSD!

Warmly,

Deborah S. Berman

Editor

Senior Director of Development and Alumni Affairs

deborah.berman@yale.edu

DAVID GEFFEN

SCHOOL OF DRAMA AT YALE

ANNUAL MAGAZINE

2022-23, Vol. LXVII

editorial staff

Deborah S. Berman editor

Catherine Sheehy ’92, DFA ’99 (Faculty)

associate editor

Casey Grambo (Staff)

managing editor

Leonard Sorcher

contributing editor

Susan C. Clark (Staff)

contributing editor

Robert DiGioia (Staff)

contributing editor

contributors

Mark Bly ’80 (Former Faculty)

David Budries (Faculty Emeritus)

Ida Cuttler ’25

Paul Giamatti ’94, YC ’89

Lily Haje ’23

Delaney Kelly (Staff)

Chad Kinsman ’18

Henriëtte Rietveld ’22, DFA cand.

Austin Riffelmacher ’25

Mariana Sanchez ’15

Maya Louise Shed ’25

design

SML Design s-ml.org

To make a gift to DGSD, visit www.yale. edu/givedrama.

photo by t. charles erickson

On & Off York Street

A Man for All Scenes

Visionary Teacher and Painter Ru-Jun Wang Retires

by Mariana Sanchez ’15

After 31 years, Ru-Jun Wang (Faculty) is beginning a phased retirement from David Geffen School of Drama and Yale Repertory Theatre.

Ru received his BFA at the Central Academy of Drama in Beijing, China, where he also served as the resident designer for China Central Television. He earned his MFA at University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign in 1992 and joined the faculty and staff at Yale later that same year.

Ru’s extraordinary tenure as Professor in the Practice of Design and Resident Scenic Artist includes more than 500

One afternoon in Mexico City many years ago, I was at Sergio Villegas’s ’04 apartment. I was starting my first gig in theater, and I was going to assist him.

A huge painting in his living room took me by surprise, a beautiful painting of a brick wall with a woman riding a horse. Sergio explained to me he had done it while at Yale, in his scenery painting class with Ru-Jun Wang. I thought I would never be able to do that.

Some years later, I am in Ru’s figure drawing class at the School of Drama:

Two minutes pass.

Five minutes pass.

Ten minutes pass.

By the twentieth minute of the model’s pose, with our minds and hands then relaxed, we would surrender to the pleasure of drawing. Our goal was to get not only the right proportions, but to find our own drawing style, and to bring the human figure into our dreamland of imagined spaces inside the theater box. In a way, this was our own one-person theater, every Friday, for

productions at the School and the Rep and countless hours in the classroom teaching scene painting and figure drawing. His work has been featured at the Kennedy Center, Glimmerglass Opera, Huntington Theatre Company, Cincinnati Playhouse, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Pilobolus, and the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, among others.

Ru has trained and inspired hundreds of students, including set designer Mariana Sanchez ’15, who graciously shared this tribute:

three hours, for three years. This was the only space where we, from all design areas, would meet every week. Now I realize what a gift this was.

Ru’s hand would create beautiful, impressive drawings in an instant, on the whiteboard, effortlessly, to show us the anatomy of the body while in torsion, teaching us how the skin is hiding in all the nooks where things like the eyes are living or how a tensed muscle is the reaction to a certain position. I took from his class the simple pleasure of drawing, the state of mind of blocking out all things around me to take advantage of the luxury of having someone posing for us for hours, and the vulnerability of allowing our work-in-process to be observed. “It’s only fair,” Ru would say. I think about this a lot; sometimes this gives me the courage to show my ideas to a roomful of people. It is only fair to show our messy process as observers of human nature.

His wit and sense of humor gave me the space to talk about everything that was

NEWS FROM THE DAVID GEFFEN SCHOOL OF DRAMA AT YALE

On & Off York Street

“Ru has been an integral part of the life of the DGSD Design Program as an artist, a friend, and an incomparable teacher. He has loved his students, and they have given him their utmost respect. He is an incredible problem solver and has helped many a designer (including this one!) execute what may have seemed to be truly impossible dreams. Bravo, Ru–you are the best!”

— Michael Yeargan ’73 (Faculty)

happening during those intense years. I found myself doing a painting of a brick wall on a canvas, next to Ru, while he was painting an impressive backdrop filled with figures in perspective, talking about theater and life.

Our time with Ru was the link between that dreamland and reality; he helped us materialize the ideas: the aged wood, the impossible wallpaper, the huge rocks, the red dirt, the king’s portrait—all of these would go through Ru’s careful hands, pushing us here and there, from dream to class, from class to production and finally to the stage…and maybe then to a little bit more paint.

Ru-Jun Wang

“Ru was a stubborn teacher, and I mean this as a compliment. I remember I walked into life drawing class in my first year, having just come from a very intensive ‘representational painting program,’ and it was clear that my drawings were trash. I knew it, and Ru knew it, and he let me know—which, at the time, I was really annoyed by, but now I am so glad. Ru made me a better artist through his commitment, and his honesty.”

— Kristen Robinson ’13

“Ru’s teaching style was by far the most unique I experienced while at the School of Drama. It relied on showing us the ‘how,’ instead of convoluted academic explanations. Ru adapted his lessons based on each student’s unique situation, which allowed them to find their own paths and style with kindness and patience.” — Sergio Villegas ’04

NEWS FROM THE DAVID GEFFEN SCHOOL OF DRAMA AT YALE

On & Off York Street

With Deep Feeling

Snapshot

In April, Stephanie Ybarra ’08 joined the Mellon Foundation as its Program Officer in Arts and Culture. The appointment comes after her four-year tenure as Baltimore Center Stage’s Artistic Director, where she broke barriers as the country’s first Latina artistic director of a League of Resident Theaters (LORT) member theater. In this new role, Stephanie will help lead the Mellon Foundation in its racial equity and social justice-centered approach to philanthropy.

Before she completed her 1943 best-selling novel, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Betty Smith ’34 wrote Becomes a Woman, which received its world premiere at the Mint Theater Company in New York in February 2023 — 93 years after it was written. Although known for her novels, Smith, one of the first women to attend the School of Drama, and a student of George Pierce Baker (Former Faculty), wrote some 70 plays. Becomes A Woman focuses on Francie Nolan (who also appears in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn), a working-class young woman and the daughter of Irish immigrants, trying to find her own way in the world. Jonathan Bank, the Mint Theater’s artistic director, described it as “a beautifully crafted, utterly surprising story filled with vibrant characters, lively dialogue, and deep feeling.” The production featured actor Madeline Seidman ’22 and lighting design by M.L. Geiger ’85.

NEWS FROM THE DAVID GEFFEN SCHOOL OF DRAMA AT YALE

Madeline Seidman ’22 and Emma Pfitzer Price in Becomes A Woman by Betty Smith ’34 at Mint Theater Company.

Photo by Todd Cerveris.

On & Off York Street

NEWS FROM THE DAVID GEFFEN SCHOOL OF DRAMA AT YALE

Carla L. Jackson: Beyond the Résumé

by Maya Louise Shed ’25

As Carla L. Jackson ’99 (Assistant Dean) talks, every part of her dances. Her hands fly about, helping to showcase how passionate she is about mentorship. Her large black and white earrings sway back and forth, and her eyes sparkle as she explains how proud and excited she is to be back at David Geffen School of Drama as Assistant Dean and General Manager of Yale Repertory Theatre. She tells stories of her career journey and how she wants to have an active role in the development of students at the School.

Carla grew up in Laurelton, Queens, a low-tomiddle-class neighborhood about 90 minutes from Manhattan via bus and train. It was there she learned how to handle stress, sadness, and bad days: spend time outside. In her mother’s tiny garden, she weeded, got lost in the buzzing of bees, and watched wriggling earthworms in the dirt. Today, she finds peace by escaping to her balcony in New Haven, where she listens to the trees whisper to one another.

When I ask her where she calls home, she pauses. “I’m actually working on where I call home right now,” she says. She knows that one version of home is whenever she is with her twin sister, Carí Jackson Lewis, who works as the Senior Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer of the California Black Women’s Collective Empowerment Initiative. “If that means I’m on the phone with her, that’s home. If I’m standing next to her, that’s home…she is everything to me.” She smiles and shows me a picture of her fraternal twin, making sure that I understand that Carla is the older sibling by 15 minutes, but her sister is the one in charge. Still, Carla is looking forward to making New Haven feel a little more like home—she wants to plant roots and get involved in the community. Living in New Haven now is a lot different from when Carla was here balancing life as a Theater Management student in the late nineties. Today, she has more opportunities to engage with the community, and that is one of her top priorities.

Carla is full of surprises: she co-owns and operates an award-winning film production company (check out bridgingstories.com); is a fiercely loyal Leo; was raised by a jazz/gospel and opera singer; and when asked if she would classify herself as a carrot or a cucumber, she immediately chooses carrot. To support her response, Carla tells me that just like a carrot, she has a little snap, a little sweetness, and does good for people. She later revealed that she doesn’t like cucumbers, so in hindsight, it was an easy answer. Carla admits that she isn’t a big fan of sweets, but that she will make the occasional exception for a bite-sized Snickers bar.

You can’t ignore Carla—both because she’s gracefully tall and the only Black dean at the School. She smiles and tears up while sharing stories about Black colleagues who visit her office or stop her in the hallways to acknowledge that they’re proud of her, they support her, and they see her. Carla carries that love with her each day and is determined to show similar care toward students here at the School. She explains that her mission is to make sure that every student knows their worth. Her enthusiasm about this causes her to dance again—her eyes light up, her fingers tap, and her lips smile. Carla is passionate, kind, gutsy, whip-smart, and good humored, and, like her favorite candy bar, she’s the perfect combination of all the ingredients, every single time.

Carla L. Jackson ’99 (Assistant Dean) and Maya Louise Shed ’25

On & Off York Street

Singing the Praises of Matthew Suttor

by David Budries (Faculty Emeritus)

In 2001, Fitz Patton ’01 came to me saying he loved a class he was taking with Dr. Matthew Suttor (Faculty) in the Department of Music. Fitz was so excited, I knew I had to meet Dr. Suttor, and when I did it was immediately clear that I was going to try to steal him from

little formal training in sound and none in music. Ben Sammler ’74 (Faculty Emeritus), then head of Technical Design & Production, understood there was a growing need for formal training in sound engineering and design, and I was hired to create and teach some basic classes and to develop a robust academic program. Within two years, the School added a new academic/ practical concentration called Sound Design, which eventually morphed into a full-fledged sound design department. But we lacked offerings in music, which I felt was essential. To remedy that, design students were encouraged to take music electives offered by Yale’s music department and School of Music. The results were exciting!

Music (and I did!).

Matthew quickly became the center of music training at the School of Drama, bringing his wit, intellect, generosity, musicality, and compositional skills to our department, firming up our academic and practical foundation.

Allow me to create a little context. In 1983, the School of Drama had a sound department that supported production work but offered very

Snapshot

When Matthew joined our faculty, we were able to add fundamental music instruction and advanced composition to our training. At that time, we were also very aware of the somewhat “siloed” nature of Yale’s professional schools, and we wanted to build bridges across the campus that would expand our students’ connection to the greater world. With Matthew leading the way, we developed relationships with the schools of Music, Art, Architecture, and Medicine, the Institute for Sacred Music, the Yale Art Gallery, and the Center for Collaborative Arts and Media. These connections strengthened our students’ experience, providing new ways of think-

NEWS FROM THE DAVID GEFFEN SCHOOL OF DRAMA AT YALE

The Art of Crime, a podcast created by Gavin Whitehead ’17, DFA ’22 about the “unlikely collisions between true crime and the arts,” was signed to Airwave Media. A recent graduate of the DFA program, Whitehead focused his doctoral dissertation on the rise and demise of horror theater in London, from 1794 to 1931.

Frederick Kennedy ’18, Matthew Suttor (Faculty), Ian Williams ’17, and Tye Hunt Fitzgerald ’18 in class. Photo by Joan Marcus.

On & Off York Street

Snapshot

ing and talking about art, history, music, and humanity. Bringing the academic diversity of Yale University further into the Drama School was wonderfully mind-expanding. So many of the collaborations our students enjoyed were central to their growth as artists.

I also had the pleasure of working closely with Matthew in the classroom. I could not have asked for a better, more dedicated partner. His one-on-one music classes were unique, as he tailored each session to the person, exercising their strengths. He has helped build some of the strongest professional sound designers in the business.

Matthew has a big heart and deeply connects with his students, as individuals and as artists. His contribution to the School of Drama is incalculable. Now it is time for him to focus on his personal growth, including the development of his opera, I Am Alan Turing, a piece that explores the use of artificial intelligence and how we understand our place in the universe.

I speak for the School when I sincerely send best wishes to Matthew as he continues his professional growth as program manager at Yale’s Center for Collaborative Arts and Media and continues his commitment to sharing knowledge through teaching.

In August 2022, Alexander Woodward ’16 began a new role as Area Head for Design and Technical Theatre in the University of Connecticut’s Department of Dramatic Arts. Of the promotion, Woodward shared, “It is an incredible honor to accept this role of stewardship for this program. To date I have had the great fortune of learning from some inspirational designers such as the late Ming Cho Lee (Faculty Emeritus), Riccardo Hernández ’92 (Faculty), Wendall Harrington (Faculty), and so many more, all of whom have instilled in me the importance of an excellent academic system for our industry.”

In February 2023, Kelly O’Loughlin ’22 was appointed Assistant Director of Theater Safety and Occupational Health at the School. During her time at DGSD, she was the recipient of the William J. Reynolds Award for Excellence in Theater Safety. “I am so excited to be back in New Haven and working with the incredibly talented folks here, to be poised to make meaningful change in the way we approach theater-making through the practice of safety,” shared O’Loughlin. “Safety is not a barrier to incredible art, but instead something that forces us to be more creative in our approach to the work, to consider all the possibilities. I am looking forward to helping make the theater magic happen!”

NEWS FROM THE DAVID GEFFEN SCHOOL OF DRAMA AT YALE

Matthew has a big heart and deeply connects with his students, as individuals and as artists.

On & Off York Street

Water Water Everywhere: Diving Deeper into the ripple, the wave that carried me home with Christina Anderson ’11 by

“I’m a big believer that our past is with us as much as our future,” says playwright Christina Anderson ’11 while discussing some of the thematic elements in her play the ripple, the wave that carried me home. That idea also connects

Austin Riffelmacher ’25

with director Jackson Gay ’02, set designer Todd Rosenthal ’93, costume designer Montana Levi Blanco ’15, and sound designer Noel Nichols ’22 at the Goodman Theater in Chicago as part of the play’s world premiere coproduction with Berkley Repertory Theatre, where it opened September 2022.

her to her past as a student at the School of Drama, because the play closed the Yale Repertory Theatre 2022-23 season.

This production follows an impressive year for Anderson as she received the 2022 Horton Foote Prize for the ripple, the wave that carried me home, and a Tony Award nomination for the book of the Broadway musical Paradise Square This won’t be the first time Yale Rep has presented Anderson’s work: Good Goods had its world premiere here in 2012. But she expects this time to be a completely different experience since she is not “frantically re-writing the script.” A number of alumni have been working alongside Anderson. In January, she was in tech

The idea for the ripple, the wave that carried me home began when Anderson received a commission from Berkeley Rep. She was interested in doing a series of plays looking at the elements of water, fire, land, even space, and considering the history of each element in America— more specifically, its relationship to Black American history. She found that water holds multiple layers of meaning, whether it be environmental injustice, its spiritual significance, or its necessity for survival. From there, her thoughts led to the politics of segregated swimming pools. “So much of our history is intertwined,” she said about the relationship between public pools, racial injustice, and the Black community. Inspired by Jeff Wiltse’s book Contested Waters: A Social

History of Swimming Pools in America

and Adrienne Kennedy’s use of direct address in her play Ohio State Murders, the ripple, the wave that carried me home examines the traumas of racism for Black children growing up in the late 1960s and early 1970s. She links this to being a Black American adult revisiting those traumas in 1992, days after the L.A. riots.

Although the play has already been pro -

NEWS FROM THE DAVID GEFFEN SCHOOL OF DRAMA AT YALE

Jackson Gay ’02 (standing fourth from left) and Christina Anderson ’11 (standing third from right) with members of the cast and creative team of the ripple, the wave that carried me home at Berkeley Rep.

On & Off York Street

duced, Anderson is looking forward to exploring its landscape in the ripple, the wave that carried me home in collaboration with Yale Rep and David Geffen School of Drama artists, particularly director Tamilla Woodard ’01 (Faculty), who Anderson says is “very funny, very smart, and a great reader of text.” The two met when Woodard acted in a reading of an earlier Anderson play. Busy schedules made finding their next collaboration difficult, but Anderson says it’s “cool” that they finally get to work together at Yale Rep. “I’m excited to have the opportunity to explore, in partnership with Tamilla and the rest of the creative team, the elements within the play that have yet to surface.”

Snapshot

You Will Get Sick by Noah Diaz ’20 premiered at Roundabout Theatre Company’s Laura Pels Theatre in October 2022. The play was first developed during his time at Yale, where it received a Zoom reading in 2020. Along with Diaz, the production featured a number of DGSD alums: Alicia J. Austin ’20 (Costumes), along with actors Daniel Liu ’22 , Dario Ladani Sanchez ’20 , and Bobby Roman ’18 . You Will Get Sick ’s limited run received rave reviews, earning a New York Times Critic’s Pick.

Daniel K. Isaac and Dario Ladani Sanchez ’20 in You Will Get Sick at Roundabout Theatre Company.

NEWS FROM THE DAVID GEFFEN SCHOOL OF DRAMA AT YALE

06–08 Set design by Emmie Finckel ’23 and costume designs by Aidan Griffiths ’23 for the ripple, the wave that carried me home by Christina Anderson ’11

I’m a big believer that our past is with us as much as our future.

On & Off York Street

Ilia Isorleýs Paulino:

Determined, Confident, and Really Funny by Ida Cuttler ’25

Ilia Isorleýs Paulino ’20 shines bright in the sitcom The Sex Lives of College Girls. The hit television series, created by Mindy Kaling and Justin Noble YC ’07, now in its third season, follows four college girls at a fictional elite East Coast college as they learn to navigate love and friendship, schoolwork and social lives. Ilia plays Lila Flores, a wisecracking, bombastically hilarious, and hyper-confident barista at the girls’

go-to café, where she serves up dollops of realworld wisdom with every chai latte and macchiato.

Lila values authenticity as much as the actor who plays her. Ilia booked Sex Lives and the feature film Me Time only a few months after receiving her Yale degree. Despite this early success, she keeps it cool. Her longevity in this field is sure to be a result of her commitment to being an artist with down-to-earth goals. “When I say, ‘Be yourself,’” Ilia shares, “what I’m actually saying is be the reality of you, not the ‘you’ on social media or the ‘you’ that there is when the cameras are rolling.”

She is glad that shows like The Sex Lives of College Girls are pushing forward the cultural conversation about gender, bodies, and sexuality. And she is anxious for the day when these shows will be less “safe” and push even further, especially when it comes to what plus-size characters get to do on screen. Ilia has a pitch for future episodes: “I want to see Lila having sex!” Growing up, she recalls having a skewed notion of what it meant to be a plus-size working actor.

Snapshot

On February 1, 2023, Janice Muirhead (Staff) retired from David Geffen School of Drama and Yale Repertory Theatre. Her 11 years of service as Senior Associate Director of Institutional Giving is the culmination of a storied career in the theater. She previously served in leadership roles at Long Wharf Theatre, Westport Country Playhouse, and the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center. “Janice has made extraordinary contributions to our work during her time at Yale. She has been a wonderful colleague, and we will all miss her and the enthusiasm she brought to every aspect of what we do,” says Deborah S. Berman, Senior Director of Development and

NEWS FROM THE DAVID GEFFEN SCHOOL OF DRAMA AT YALE

Alumni Affairs.

Janice Muirhead (far right) with the Development and Alumni Affairs staff, (left to right) Casey Grambo, Jennifer Alzona, Deborah S. Berman, and Susan C. Clark

Ilia Isorleýs Paulino ’20 as Lila Flores in The Sex Lives of College Girls on HBO Max. Photo courtesy of Ilia Isorleýs Paulino.

On & Off York Street

She remembers watching In Living Color with Queen Latifah and how the discourse surrounding that show made her seem so much bigger than she actually was. “This is why we need more representation,” Ilia says. At the same time, she is grappling with finding her role in the movement. “I am happy to be championed by people who aren’t a size two, but I want them to understand that I can only do it from my own experience.”

On Sex Lives, Ilia typically delivers some of the show’s funniest lines, but comedy didn’t always come naturally to her. “In undergraduate theater, I couldn’t land a joke to save my life,” she says. “My program was very white, and we would perform the classical American canon. I had a hard time translating my rhythm to that time signature. I thought that meant I wasn’t funny, that I had to only take serious roles. But that’s just technique! And technique can be taught.”

At DGSD, she learned to trust herself. In her final year, Ilia did a show at the Cabaret and remembers feeling like it was a true test— the culmination of everything she had learned in her time at the School. “We were trying to work out two particular scenes, and I remember it was getting dark. By the time we were done it was almost midnight, and I was feeling so good. I thought, ‘I did it! I have the tools. I can problem solve. When I leave here, I am going to be A-okay.’”

These days Ilia doesn’t see the point of putting herself in any genre box. She’s there to do what the scene needs and do it well. The key to that? Staying confident, not taking things too seriously, and keeping her head held high. “I will have days on set when I feel like I am failing. I have to remind myself to go and get a f***ing banana or drink some water and get back in there!”

As she rises to stardom, Ilia is dreaming of a more inclusive future while keeping it real with herself in the present: “This,” she says, “is only the beginning.”

Snapshot

Honored at this year’s Long-Term Service Awards were Michael Backhaus ’13 (10), Deborah S. Berman (20), Elizabeth Bolster (20), Susan C. Clark (30), Daniel Cress (15), Janet Cunningham (25), Maggie Elliott (20), William Ryan Ordynowicz (5), Steven Padla (20), Laura Torino (15), and Mary Zihal (30), were honored at this year’s Long-Term Service Awards ceremony. An enthusiastic cohort comprised of sound design students, technical interns, and lead sound engineer Stephanie Smith ’14, came to cheer on Michael Backhaus, the sound supervisor at DGSD and Yale Rep, with custom T-shirts emblazoned with his photo.

NEWS FROM THE DAVID GEFFEN SCHOOL OF DRAMA AT YALE

top row (left to right) Stan Mathabane ’24, Tojo Rasedoara ’25, Mike Winch ’24, Minjae Kim ’25; middle row (left to right) Joe Krempetz ’24, Stephanie Smith ’14 (Staff), Michael Backhaus ’13 (Staff), Zoey Lin ’23 (Technical Intern); bottom row (left to right) Bryn Scharenberg ’23, Saida Joshua-Smith ’23 (Technical Intern), Evdoxia Ragkou ’23, Joyce Ciesil ’25.

by Side

Long days in the rehearsal room. Long hours working on a show. Long nights painting sets in the UT. Our students are thrown together to collaborate and create. Truth be told, the spark of creativity in close quarters can often ignite the flames of love.

Side

We’ve gathered stories from alumni who met their partners at the School— and whose romantic collaborations have lasted past graduation.

Gordon Micunis ’59 and Jay Kobrin ’61

Gordon Micunis and the late Jay Kobrin met at the Drama School in 1959. Gordon was in his third year, attending on the G.I. Bill, majoring in scenic, costume, and lighting design. Jay was a firstyear student studying costumes. He was assigned to Gordon as an advisee, and the rest, as they say, “is history.”

Gordon went on to design operas for New York City Opera, murals for thousands of Subway restaurants worldwide, and more. Jay created women’s wear for Maisonette.

They were married after 50 years together and were partners in design and life for 63 years.

David Gropman ’77 and Karen Schulz Gropman ’77

David writes: “Karen Schulz and I met our first day of design class, September 1974. We’ve been together ever since—48 years. Moving to New York after graduation to begin our careers, we found a studio apartment which was home by night and studio by day—sometimes including two or three assistants. In 1984, we

married. In 1986, we had our first child, Elizabeth, and our second, Yale, in 1993. In the late 80s, we began collaborating, transitioning into film so we could be together as a family. Elizabeth and Yale now have their own careers. Karen and I still work together, forever side by side.”

Gordon Micunis ’59 and Jay Kobrin ’61

David Gropman ’77 and Karen Schulz Gropman ’77

Stephanie writes: “I met AZ at callback weekend. We got drunk at Yorkside Pizza, and he had the audacity to tell me I was his future wife. He asked me out, but I had sworn off relationships while at Yale, so we agreed to go on a date the day after graduation. This plan failed. One night, AZ cooked dinner at my house, and we kissed. Our love affair became public when I spent three weeks

in hospital and AZ visited me every day. A year later we decided to get married. AZ was the artistic director of the Cabaret, and after the ‘YSD Night’ performance of a play I had written in which the actors spat raw fish all over the floor, he got up to make a speech about ‘our collaboration.’ It ended with him on one knee (the cheeky bastard!), asking me to marry him, and then I opened...my trench coat

and revealed a vintage lace gown I’d borrowed from Tom McAlister (Faculty Emeritus) in the costume department. I said yes, but only if we did it at once. So, Walton Wilson (Faculty) stood up and, in his resounding voice, offered to officiate. This was all planned, but the audience was unaware. We got married in the Cabaret, surrounded by our beloved Yale community,

on a stage floor covered in fish. After a decade of the actor’s hustle in New York, we moved to Sweden, where we live with our daughter, Zada, and our son, Odaiah. We love the theater. It is sacred to us. We made our vows there.”

Stephanie Hayes ’11 and Andrew “AZ” Kelsey ’11

Stephanie Hayes ’11 and Andrew “AZ” Kelsey ’11 on their wedding day.

Pam Rank ’78 and Jeff Rank ’79

Jeff writes: “I met Pam in 1975 at Larraine and Ben Sammler’s ’74 (Faculty Emeritus) welcome party for TD&P students, before it achieved the legendary status of ‘Mandatory Fun.’ When I sat across from Pam at the picnic table, little did she know I had already set my sights on her. A few days later, I left a thumbtack next to her name and a note in her mailbox to ask her out (the precursor to email). Our first date began at the GPSCY bar, now Gryphon’s Pub, for drinks, proceeded to Singin’ in the Rain at the Whalley Theatre, and finished at Durfee’s Sweet Shop. We’ve been married for 43 marvelous years and still counting.”

Katie writes: “While we met during Eric’s first year and it was clear there was ‘something there’ from the start, we did not get together until later. In the spring of 2013, I was the associate managing director for Yale Rep, and Eric was the assistant. Everything was above board, but there were sparks! Our relationship started when I graduated and became general manager of the Laguna Playhouse in

California. Absence does make the heart grow fonder—we’ve been together ever since. We were married in 2016, with more than a dozen alums and faculty at the ceremony. Our son, Toby, was born in 2018. We live in Providence, RI, where I am executive director of Trinity Rep and Eric is an arts consultant.”

Katie Liberman ’13, SOM ’13 and Eric Gershman ’15, SOM ’15

Katie Liberman ’13, SOM ’13 and Eric Gershman ’15, SOM ’15 with son, Toby.

Jeff Rank ’79 and Pam Rank ’78

Evan Yionoulis ’85 and Donald Holder ’86

Evan writes: “I was directing Dick Beebe ’85’s Oh, Cloris! at the Cabaret. It was the first show up, and we didn’t have all our designers. Heidi Schultz ’86, the stage manager, came up to me and said, ‘I found a first year for sound!’ It was Don. Apparently, he’d signed on moments before a meeting in which

Ben Sammler ’74 (Faculty Emeritus) told students to stay away from such projects in their first semester. We continued to work together during our time at Yale, and he lit a show I directed in Winterfest— Dick’s Vampires in Kodachrome. We’ve now been married 33 years and have two terrific adult children.”

Jenny R. Friend ’98 and Erik Bolling ’99

The night John Denver died, we were at a School of Drama party at Janet Cunningham’s (Staff) house and got the news. We walked home together—talking, mourning, singing, and holding hands in the New Haven night. Twenty-five years later, “Country Roads, Take Me Home” still makes us stop, smile, and sing—together.

Donald Holder ’86 and Evan Yionoulis ’85 at the 2022 Tony Awards.

Erik Bolling ’99 and Jenny R. Friend ’98

Catherine Sheehy ’92, DFA ’99 and Katherine Roth ’93

The late, lovely Mark Rucker ’92 was our matchmaker. He called us Kitty A. and Kitty B.: Katherine Beatrice, his favorite designer, and Catherine Ann, his constant dramaturg. With the likes of Reg Rogers ’93, Malcolm Gets ’92, and Chris Bauer ’92 swanning around in Kitty B.’s creations, Stage Door was our first time working together, although we met at a movie

screening in the Rucker living room at what was then the unofficial Drama School dorm: Harrison Court on Park Street. Still, it was Mark’s Macbeth in the redwood glen at Shakespeare Santa Cruz that wound up the charm that has endured for more than 30 years. For us, the Scottish Play has been nothing but lucky.

Catherine Sheehy ’92, DFA ’99 and Katherine Roth ’93

Tom Neville ’86 and Regina Lickteig ’88

Regina writes: “Tom Neville was a super-smart TD&P who could build anything, and I was a stage manager who loved him so much I took Ben Sammler ’74’s (Faculty

Emeritus) Structures class so we’d have more to talk about. We met in college at the University of Northern Iowa but didn’t begin dating until Tom graduated and left

for the Drama School in 1983. When I joined him there two years later, our relationship became more serious and led to an engagement in July of 1986. We’ve been married

for 34 years, and we have three kids, all of whom did theater growing up, of course.”

Baize Buzan ’17 and Ben Anderson ’18

Baize writes: “It wasn’t a play or rolling around on the floor in acting class that brought us together— it was Summer Cab! After a whole school year in which we somehow managed to have nary a conversation, (Ben believes there was a possible nod of recognition) we found ourselves as the de facto

front of house staff for the “Seven Deadly Sins” season in 2016. Serving tea sandwiches, scraping dirty dishes, and unwinding in the garden after our shifts—plus the twinklyeyed encouragement of our pals—set the perfect tone for our totally surprising and still ongoing romance!”

Tom Neville ’86 and Regina Lickteig ’88 in August 2022.

Ben Anderson ’18 and Baize Buzan ’17 at graduation in 2018.

Rasean Davonté Johnson ’16 and Pornchanok Kanchanabanca ’16

One snowstormy night in New Haven, the news spread that Ming canceled his Saturday set design class. So, with cheer and excitement, all first-year designers went out together for the first time on a Friday night.

That is when Nok had her first drink with Davonté. How could they have time to date in school? Not many dates, but they worked together, and that is how they spent time with each other. Assisting the same shows and

Ryan Retartha ’10 and Amy Jonas ’11

Amy and Ryan met in the fall of 2008. Ryan introduced himself to Amy in the scene shop on a Friday afternoon, and the pair spent the night chatting while Amy played Euchre in the UT basement. They realized they had much in common: Ryan went to college in the same town

where Amy grew up, they both have twin brothers, and mothers named Kathy. That fall, they helped each other on a few Cabaret shows and the two have been inseparable ever since. Ryan and Amy married in 2013 and have two sons, Ellis and Quinn.

designing shows at Yale Cabaret, Nok and Davonté ended up on a Yale Rep show together. Now they have their tiny assistant, Déla, with them whenever they design.

Pornchanok Kanchanabanca ’16 and Rasean Davonté Johnson ’16 with daughter, Déla.

Ryan Retartha ’10 and Amy Jonas ’11 with sons, Ellis and Quinn.

Edward T. Morris ’13 and Kelly Kerwin ’15

According to Edward, he met Kelly at Dean James Bundy’s ’95 annual welcome barbecue.

According to Kelly, she met Edward the day before at the UT loading dock. He was a third-year design student. She was a first-year dramaturg. Sparks flew at a party in the Ex. She sent a holiday card to his address at 100 Howe Street. He sent a

silly postcard to her digs at 70 Howe Street. After a few more exchanges through the mail, they went on their first date in January of 2013. When he graduated that spring, Edward moved his desk into Kelly’s apartment so he would have a de facto studio when he visited. They married in 2018.

Amauta M. Firmino ’19 and Maia Novi ’22

Amauta writes: “It was at the last performance of Jeremy O. Harris’s ’19 YELL when I first felt the spark. Near the end of the play, Maia went off-script and berated the audience. She suddenly ran off stage. The show stopped. I leapt down the clattering bleachers and caught her in the hallway. She was

crying — the culmination of the end of her first year, and the end of this play brought on a wave of emotions that bubbled over at the last minute. But we came together at that moment. That was May 2019. We were married in September 2020.”

Maia Novi ’22 and Amauta M. Firmino ’19 on their wedding day.

Kelly Kerwin ’15 and Edward T. Morris ’13 at their wedding in 2018.

Genne Murphy ’18 and Brittany Bland ’19

Brittany and Genne write: “We met during orientation. It wasn’t until our second year that we passed each other outside the Cab, and Brittany’s smile lit up the night. On one of our first dates, Brittany invited Genne to watch Doctor Who during a brief respite between shows. So began our sweet and nerdy romance. We’ve just celebrated our two-year wedding anniversary.”

F. Bergmann ’14 and Kristen Ferguson ’15

Kristen writes: “I ran up the front steps of the Annex at 205 Park Street. It was a crisp March morning in 2012, and I needed to get to my admissions interview with the one and only Wendall K. Harrington, head of the then-new Projection Design program. I rang the doorbell and adjusted my blazer. A creature, with square edges and a warm expression, opened

the door and asked, ‘How can I help you?’ I had no idea that this accommodating fellow would become my closest friend and, years later, my spouse. Michael continues to be a constant help and door-opener to this day.”

Michael

Kristen Ferguson ’15 and Michael F. Bergmann ’14

Brittany Bland ’19 and Genne Murphy ’18 on their wedding day.

Lee Savage ’05 and Brian McManamon ’06

Lee and Brian write: “It was 2004. Lee was a second-year set designer, and Brian was a first-year actor. We had seen each other around (Brian’s crew assignment had him sweeping the floor of Lee’s set for Orpheus Descending) but our ‘meet cute’ was a work-study assignment as tickettakers for Yale Rep’s

production of Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa ’03’s The Mystery Plays. Besides two-for-one-night at the GPSCY (now Gryphon’s Pub), the Anchor was a favorite date spot. We got married 10 years later in 2014, when it became legal to do so in New York State. In 2015 we adopted our son, Lincoln, and live in Brooklyn, NY.”

Michael writes: “Heidi and I met on the first night of orientation week. It was cold, and I was dressed like I came from Chicago, and she was dressed like she came from California. We got to know each other while on run crew for Black Snow by Keith Reddin ’81. My job was to give Alvin Epstein (Former Faculty) a little push when the lights came up, and there was no crossover space, so we had a 20-minute wait! We were friends and collaborators before we started dating. I moved to L.A. to marry her, and now we have an 8-year-old theater maker in the making, Lawrence Barker.”

Heidi Leigh Hanson ’09 and Michael Barker ’10, SOM ’10

Brian McManamon ’06 and Lee Savage ’05 with son, Lincoln.

Michael Barker ’10, SOM ’10 and Heidi Leigh Hanson ’09 at the 2022 Westport Country Playhouse Gala.

Joby Earle ’10 and Charise Castro Smith ’10

Charise and Joby first met at Sullivan’s bar on the first day of orientation for the Acting program in 2007. Joby was sure Reese didn’t like him. However, she cast him as her love interest in a show she wrote for the Cabaret because she “thought he was hot,” which is a direct quote from her 15 years after the fact. During their second year they acted in the fabled “Quintets,” where they performed The Winter’s Tale. They

started dating in their third year and moved in with each other a year after graduation, and James Bundy ’95 (Dean) married them the following year. They have a quote from The Winter’s Tale inscribed in their rings: “It is required you do awake your faith.” They have been married for almost 10 years, have a 4-year-old daughter, Cecilia, and a little boy, Julian, born in December 2022.

Yale Repertory Theater and the Moscow Art Theatre had founded the American Soviet Theatre Initiative to “promote artistic exchanges between theatre groups.”

As part of that initiative, they undertook a collaboration of Chekhov’s Ivanov. Vladimir traveled with the production from Moscow to help guide the design and technical aspects of the production. Connie was a first-year theater management student and met Vladimir through their mutual friend, Geoff Korf ’91.

Vladimir thought he would be staying for a short time (he only had a few pieces of clothing and $3 to his name), but the School invited him to enroll in the MFA program. With Yale’s help (we still don’t know how they pulled it off), he was permitted to stay in the U.S. Over time, Connie and Vladimir fell in love and married. They’ve been together ever since, and in 2023 will celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary with their children, Liev (18) and Sasha (25)!

Charise Castro Smith ’10 and Joby Earle ’10

Vladimir Shpitalnik ’92 and Connie Evans ’93

Connie Evans ’93 and Vladimir Shpitalnik ’92

Anna Jones Davall ’06 and Jamel Davall Rodriguez ’08

Anna writes: “I remember Jamel smiling at me as he installed lights—or, as the actor he is, expertly pretended to—as part of a work-study assignment on my directing thesis, in what was then the New Theatre. Soon after, our mutual friend, Brian

Tyree Henry ’07, brought Jamel along to a party I was having, then gave him my number, not realizing why Jamel wanted it! We soon joyfully worked together (along with Brian) on Tarell Alvin McCraney ’07’s (Faculty) In the Red and Brown

Water and married the following year with three Yalies as our witnesses: Roweena Mackay ’05, LeRoy McClain ’04, and Lucas Howland ’05. We’ve collaborated continually since in the U.S. and UK, as actor and director, co-writers, and

running our production company, NYLon Productions—and on the ultimate collaboration (?!) —our four year old, Otis, and another boy on the way!”

Ken writes: “I was a second year when Christina started at the School. Over the next year and a half, we became friends, doing three shows together, one of which was Little Shop of Horrors at Yale Cabaret. I played Seymour to her Audrey. In the spring of 2009, we were cast in Jelly’s Last Jam, our fourth show together. Christina played

Anita to my Jelly, and she finally fell in love with me. One evening after a well-intentioned, mostly inedible, homemade dinner at her apartment on Davenport Avenue, I asked her, ‘Are you ready?’ ‘Yeah, I’m ready,’ she replied with a smile. We married after she graduated in 2010.”

Jamel Davall Rodriguez ’08, LeRoy McClain ’04, and Anna Jones Davall ’06 on their way to Jamel and Anna’s wedding.

Ken Robinson ’09 and Christina Acosta Robinson ’10

Ken Robinson ’09 and Christina Acosta Robinson ’10 with their daughters, Marilyn and Bennie.

Fabricating the Truth

by lily haje ’23

When a show calls for a four-foot-high pile of dinosaur poop, someone’s got to make it. And that delicious-looking cake that’s on stage night after night? Don’t try it, it’s made of melted plastic pony beads. How would you create a trilobite? Balloons and bubble wrap, of course. These are just a handful of the astonishing objects that graduates of the Design program and the Props Internship are creating for productions throughout the performing arts, from theater to television to the circus, applying the skills, crafts, and artistry they learned at DGSD.

Michael Schermann ’17

At the School and the Rep, the design, fabrication, and management of props is overseen by Jennifer McClure (Faculty), properties supervisor and associate chair of Technical Design & Production. She is joined in this work by her colleagues David Schrader (Staff), whose creativity and invention as props craftsperson has elevated productions for nearly 40 years, and props associate Zach Faber (Staff). At any given time, this trio is responsible for a long and varied list of projects. Sometimes a production requires the hands-on craft Schrader uses to fashion stage food, or the detailed furniture work which he said he finds “very stimulating and very rewarding.” Sometimes the solution is found through Faber’s work with 3D printing, which has opened up new possibilities. Luckily, as Faber puts it, “We are a very tightknit group who likes challenges.” In addition to a yearlong dedicated class co-taught by McClure and Schrader, props interns take

courses across the School, and spend the remainder of their time working alongside these professionals in the shop. McClure’s expertise now reaches beyond her classroom at Yale to the field, with the recent publication of her book Bloody Brilliant: How to Develop, Execute, and Clean Up Blood Effects for Live Performance, which American Theatre magazine called “a great resource for a range of simple to complex blood problems.”

Recent props interns have found their training indispensable even with companies quite different from the Rep. Michael Schermann ’17 works for Cirque du Soleil, where he first worked on touring productions and has recently transitioned to a position at the new fabrication shop in Las Vegas. The world of circus has a different vocabulary from that of theater and frequently, a looser, more cavalier style of communication. Schermann relies on his experience not only in properties, but also in stage management (honed at the Cabaret) to balance the needs of the company’s large scale, global performances with the scrappy, do-ityourself energy that often accompanies traditional circus practices.

As the props supervisor and artisan at The Atlanta Opera, Amanda Creech ’18 found a model more like that of the Rep, albeit often on a much longer timeline. This was necessary when working on large-scale, operatic spectacles, like the recent production of Candide. Producing properties for a show of this scale not only requires time for sourcing— Creech calls this “the chase”— and building, but also for trial and error. In rare cases, with enough input upfront from directors and designers, it’s possible to have the experience in which “you accidentally get something right on the first try and it feels amazing,” says Creech, but more often than not, a complicated

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Laura Copenhaver ’22 and Jennifer McClure (Faculty) in props class.

Photo by T. Charles Erickson.

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Arming swords and combat katanas fabricated by Zach Faber (Staff) for Yale Rep.

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Zach Faber (Staff)

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David Schrader (Staff) and Shaoqian Lu ’22 in props class.

Photo by T. Charles Erickson.

06 Amanda Creech ’18

project will take some figuring out. As Schermann notes, “everything is a prototype,” and even if you’ve done something similar in the past, each project may call for a new approach in response to what is happening in rehearsal. Having graduated from the props internship in 2015 and later returning to the Rep as the properties associate from 2016 to 2018, Ashley Flowers now works primarily in film and television. On a film set, or a TV show like Chicago Med, Flowers collaborates closely with the director as compared to working in theatrical props, which McClure calls “the United Nations of the theater,” because it requires diplomatic communication among many design departments. “I’ve learned more and more throughout the years,” Flow-

ers says, “but my foundation is firmly based in the practices I studied while at Yale.” In particular, she cites McClure’s emphasis on budgeting not only cost, but also hours of labor into each project—plus the time it takes for paint to dry and glue to cure.

People come to props and theatrical fabrication from a variety of artistic backgrounds. When Beckie Kravetz ’86 arrived at Yale, she did so as a Dramaturgy & Dramatic Criticism MFA candidate. After a year in the program, Kravetz was frustrated with the focus of her training. When she stumbled across the description of the Props Internship in the School Bulletin, she decided to make the switch. It was the right call. Kravetz has gone on to a career in masks, costume crafts, and makeup and wig design, working in both theater and opera. Her studio is filled with her creations—or “little friends”—including human, animal, and supernatural masks, along with wax heads and other specialty projects. She credits her background in props as shaping her approach to her mask work, noting that while many mask makers have one medium in which they excel, she has familiarity with a variety of different materials and techniques so that she can tailor her approach to the varied needs of a production. Kravetz is also a successful sculptor and fine art mask maker, but she keeps finding herself drawn to the collaborative nature of the performing arts. As she puts it, “There’s nothing else like it. When I see my masks come to life, under lights, with a costume—it’s thrilling.”

Deb O ’07 is a maker and a scenographer. Her design ethos grows out of years of working in Polish folk

07 Ashley Flowers ’15

craft traditions, studying found art practices, and honing a vision of site-specific work in which she lets “the space speak to the story, and the story speak to the space.” It can be hard for O to find others to execute her vision, especially when she is surrounded by men who “just want to use a screw and a two-byfour.” She prefers using materials in unexpected ways, like creating costume fringe out of rubber gloves or shaving sheets of plastic into ocean foam. Her goal is to show an audience “the internal dialogue” and represent the world of the play as the characters might feel moving through it. That is not to say, however, that reality isn’t fundamental to O’s approach—just ask her about theatrical dirt, “Dirt is not dirt unless it’s dirt. When things are not real, the weight is not there; the smell of it’s not there.”

This belief in the importance of using the real thing is shared by

12–13 Process photo and completed elder robes by Deb O ’07 for Riddle of the Trilobites.

14 Riddle of the Trilobites set design and elder robes design by Deb O ’07.

Photo by Cameron Blaylock. 15 Deb O ’07

many theatrical artisans. In a field where time is always in short supply, it can seem logical to cut corners wherever possible—to leave a chair back unupholstered or to do a rough job distressing a prop that will never be seen up-close. But as McClure notes, “In the world of live theater, you never know when staging might change and that chair might swivel direction.” For Flowers, it is also her experience as an actor that informs her approach. Knowing how much the right object can help performers stay immersed in the world of a play, she considers it her job to “not only give a convincing story to the audience through the props, but also to the actor.” McClure, who likes to put papers in desk drawers and real text in prop newspapers, agrees.

But finding or making the real thing takes time. From research for period pieces to re-engineering a table so it can be danced on, it’s never as simple as ordering something ready-made from the internet and sticking it on stage. Since the COVID shutdown, the time crunch has gotten worse, requiring longer lead times for sourcing the right object or material. As theaters cut budgets and reimagine season calendars, there are new pinch points for production timelines, reduced resources, and limited job opportunities in props and related fields.

COVID has had other ramifications for these makers. There was the total loss of work during the shutdown, which for many, like Creech, was damaging not only fi-

nancially but also to her “sense of self,” which she discovered was tied not just to her creativity but also to being part of a team. Kravetz, too, has felt this as many of the theaters for which she was working before the pandemic have closed permanently. For others, like Flowers, who is now married and living in Chicago, the pandemic was an opportunity to rethink her priorities, focus on mental health, and direct her attention toward the kind of LGBTQ+-centric stories she hopes to champion as a film producer. Similarly, Schermann found that while teaching himself new skills through YouTube tutorials during the shutdown he “calmed down, slowed down, and put more confidence in what he had to offer.”

As the world of live performance continues to reopen, there is enthusiasm for what comes next. At the Rep, the team is finding innovative uses for 3D printing, and artists like Kravetz are excited about “all the new, safer materials available that offer a whole new world of stuff to learn.” Ultimately fabrication remains tactile work, often done collaboratively with skills learned and passed down from one craftsperson to another. Audiences don’t, as a rule, applaud the work of theater’s many backstage artisans, but the simple truth is, the show couldn’t go on without them. There is enormous satisfaction in knowing, as Creech puts it, that your “hands could create something that was stageworthy.” It’s the makers who make it all happen.

Rethink. Reimagine. Regenerate.

by henriëtte rietveld ’22, dfa cand.

Tired of filling dumpster after dumpster for each show they worked on, Michael Banta ’03, Sandra Goldmark ’04, Edward T. Morris ’13, and their colleague, Lauren Gaston, decided to create a comprehensive guide to sustainable theater practices. Making the most of their downtime during the pandemic, the four artists gathered information, interviewed industry professionals, and compiled the Sustainable Production Toolkit, an accessible document—available free online—with suggestions for best practices for almost every theatrical discipline. Repurposing materials, sourcing locally, taking stock, and putting people first are some of the recommendations you’ll find in the Toolkit; there’s also an extensive directory of industrywide resources. The publication underscores that theater artists have a unique opportunity to address the climate crisis not only through storytelling, but through sustainable approaches to producing that benefit the environment as well as local communities.

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Ding

Dong and Stupid Fucking Bird, two shows in repertory at The Pearl Theatre Company in 2016, designed sustainably by Sandra Goldmark ’04. The second show set was designed entirely on the reverse side of the first show set.

At the heart of the Toolkit lies the understanding that sustainability is not only about climate impact. Low income and BIPOC communities across the globe are the most affected by climate change and ecological devastation. Holistic sustainable approaches recognize that social, environmental, and economic forces are intertwined. When Morris worked on Larissa FastHorse’s Vanishing Point presented by the Eagle Project at HERE in New York, it highlighted for him how environmentalism cannot be separated from equity, and conscious buying can directly benefit communities of color. “Putting money back into your own community is an investment that makes a difference,” he said. Sourcing materials locally and from BIPOC businesses doesn’t only help reduce carbon footprint, it creates a deeper relationship between the theater and its neighborhood.

Think holistically.

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03–04

Michael Banta ’03, Lauren Gaston, Sandra Goldmark ’04, and Edward T. Morris ’13

Costume design by Lauren Gaston for Plastic Harvest at Time Lapse Dance.

Think again.

The Toolkit encourages all theater artists to contemplate social and environmental impact in their decision-making just as they do with time and money, and to build these considerations into their process. This way, managers make carbon footprint reduction and human-centered spending a priority. For example, by documenting and utilizing what is in stock and borrowing from other local theaters, reuse becomes habitual. Using reclaimed materials, upcycling, and designing and building in a circular model reduces environmental impact, while at the same time supports local companies and creates work for local artists and artisans.

Think outside the black box.

Adapting this way of working within a company requires a shift in the current itinerant model so that artists can develop a deep connection to an organization and its surroundings. According to Banta, “It’s harder for a designer who is moving from place to place to think about what’s there, so they only think about the empty space.” Inviting artists to be in residence, and to work on several projects, can build awareness of a theater’s ecology. According to Goldmark, there is an opportunity here—for resident and itinerant artists alike—“to really see what’s around us and to live in connection with what we have and what we’re going to leave behind, the way professor and scientist Robin Wall Kimmerer in her book Braiding Sweetgrass invites us into nature but to do that in the place where we work: the theater.”

Reconsidering The Empty Space

In 1968, Peter Brook wrote in The Empty Space, “I can take any empty space and call it a bare stage. A man walks across this empty space whilst someone else is watching him, and this is all that is needed for an act of theatre to be engaged.” His was an important call to consider what is at the core of theater making: a space, an actor, and an audience—and it had a profound and lasting effect on European and U.S. theatre practices and philosophies. However, what his words fail to acknowledge are the existing relationships and histories that shape everyone involved in the production, the audience, and the space. No space is truly empty; spaces are produced by interactions, and in turn, they shape how people behave in them. Theaters and other spaces have character and history; the echoes of past stories still resonate. Taking a space and claiming it as empty ignores those circumstances. This critique isn’t new. Relationality—the understanding that people are connected and responsible to each other, as well as to other living and non-living things, the land we are on, and the space we are in—is central to Indigenous ways of knowing for example. The Empty Space energized artists to explore theater’s essence, liberating them from unnecessary frills. Sustainable and regenerative practices present an exciting opportunity to shift to a relational space, building deeper connections between people and places.

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A sustainable set design by Edward T. Morris ’13 for Carousel, directed by David Jaffe for Connecticut College in 2016. Photo by Nick Caito.

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Reclaimed picnic tables used in a sustainable set by Edward T. Morris ’13. Photo courtesy of Edward T. Morris.

Think big and start small.

The Toolkit purposefully addresses all institutional levels because that’s where the shift to sustainable and regenerative practices needs to happen. Referring to writer and activist adrienne maree brown’s book Emergent Strategy, Goldmark commented: “When you have the energy flowing from the top, thinking about mission, thinking about big leverage points, and from the bottom, from individual small, just-getting-started ways, that’s when you can achieve systemic change.” Structural sustainable practices can be introduced at any scale— from sourcing locally, to being conscious about the use of water bottles in rehearsal rooms, to turning off the lights in all spaces, to including sustainability as an institutional core value. Banta added: “It’s not that the person at the top needs to have this as a guiding principle, that then filters down—you can make change from wherever on the table of the organization you may fall.”

Educational institutions have an important part to play by including best practices in their curricula. For example, when designers leave school, they should have a full understanding of materials: not just their qualities, but also their origins and their social and environmental impact. Similarly, production and theater managers should graduate knowing how to include sustainable targets in their budgets and strategic planning. Educators across the country can lead this cultural shift.

Abbi Hawk and Thomas Muccioli in Vanishing Point by Larissa FastHorse, with set design by Edward T. Morris ’13. Photo by Edward T. Morris.

A call to action.

When asked what the team would like to share with David Geffen School of Drama’s alumni community, Morris responded, “I would encourage people to go to the Toolkit and find three things to incorporate in their practice today.” Goldmark added, “Whatever three things you pick, tell other people, talk about it, share it—because then it moves from what you’ve done personally to community action. And then you’ve started the ball rolling.”

RESOURCES

The Sustainable Production Toolkit can be accessed at sustainableproductiontoolkit.com.

In the 2021 edition of the Drama School’s Annual Magazine, Sabine Decatur YC ’18 and Annalisa Dias spoke powerfully about the relationship between abolition, climate justice, and the theater—and ways to inspire institutional change from extractive to regenerative practices.

The Broadway Green Alliance was founded in 2008— “an industry-wide initiative that educates, motivates, and inspires the entire theatre community and its patrons to implement environmentally friendlier practices on Broadway and beyond.”

In 2010, San Diego-based Mo’olelo Performing Arts Company created the Green Theater Choices Toolkit, published by the Center for Sustainable Practice in the Arts, offering a detailed guide on the pros and cons of specific materials.

In 2020, American Theatre published “Green Theatre: A Reference Guide,” with a valuable list of resources.

Across the pond, The Theatre Green Book offers a common standard for best practices in sustainable theatre production, and a company called Julie’s Bicycle collaborates with cultural and environmental partners to “respond to the demands of the climate crisis.”

Other organizations, artists, and activists to follow include: The Feral Atlas, Slow Factory, Alexis Pauline Gumbs, Mikaela Loach, and Leah Thomas. There are many more.

CELEBRATING JENNIFER TIPTON

On September 12, 2022, colleagues, friends, and former and current students gathered on the rooftop of the Dream Hotel in New York to honor distinguished lighting designer and professor Jennifer Tipton (Faculty

on the occasion of her retirement and to celebrate her 85th birthday.

01 James Bundy ’95 (Dean) and Jennifer Tipton

02

Bona Lee ’11, Kate Valk, Ain Gordon, and Jennifer Tipton

03

Alan C. Edwards ’11 (Faculty), Robert Wierzel ’84, and Oliver Wason ’14

04

David DeCarolis ’24, Jennifer Tipton, Jiahao “Neil” Qiu ’23, and Yichen Zhou ’24

05

Jennifer Tipton and Susan Hilferty ’80

06

Caitlin Smith Rapoport ’15, Don Titus (Faculty), and Miriam Crowe ’05

Jiyoun Chang ’08 and Junghyun Georgia Lee ’01

Nicole Lang ’22 and Blythe Pittman Winger ’05

09

Riccardo Hernández ’92 (Faculty), Ruth Weissberger, Stephen Strawbridge ’83 (Faculty), Jesse Belsky ’09, and Wilson Chin ’03

Emerita)

Bookshelf

08

The

of

27 Essential Principles of Story by Daniel Joshua Rubin ’93 Workman Publishing Company, 2020.

02 Bloody Brilliant: How to Develop, Execute, and Clean Up Blood Effects for Live Performance by Jennifer McClure (Faculty) Routledge, 2022.

Latinx Actor Training Edited by Cynthia Santos DeCure (Faculty) and Micha Espinosa Routledge, 2022.

07

The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man by Paul Newman ’54, HON ’88 Penguin Random House, 2022.

Designing Broadway: How Derek McLane and Other Acclaimed Set Designers Create the Visual World of Theatre by Derek McLane ’84 and Eila Mell Running Press Adult, 2022.

04

Directed by James Burrows by James Burrows ’65 with Eddy Friedfeld Ballantine Books, 2022.

05

Dramaturgy: The Basics by Anne Hamilton and Walter Byongsok Chon ’10, DFA ’20 Routledge, 2022.

Height

Summer: New Plays from Williamstown Theatre Festival 2015–2021 A compilation featuring Cost of Living by Martyna Majok ’12 and Grand Horizons by Bess Wohl ’02 , ART ’98, Methuen Drama, 2022.

PUBLICATIONS BY & ABOUT DAVID GEFFEN SCHOOL OF DRAMA AT YALE ALUMNI

Awards & Honors

Alumni and Faculty Awards and Honors as of March 22, 2023

95th Annual Academy

Awards 2023

Best Picture

Frances McDormand ’82 (Producer)

Nominee, Women Talking

Best Actor in a Supporting Role

Brian Tyree Henry ’07

Nominee, Causeway

Best Actress in a Supporting Role

Angela Bassett ’83, YC ’80, HON ’18

Nominee, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

2nd Annual Antonyo Awards 2022

Best Featured Actor in a Play (Off-Broadway)

Billy Eugene Jones ’03

Nominee, On Sugarland

Best Direction (Broadway)

Lileana Blain-Cruz ’12 (Faculty)

Nominee, The Skin of Our Teeth

Best Lighting Design

Alan C. Edwards ’11 (Faculty)

Nominee, Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992

Best Sound Design

Justin Ellington (Faculty)

Nominee, Clyde’s

Nominee, for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf

Twi McCallum ’21

Nominee, Little Girl Blue

Mikaal Sulaiman (Faculty)

Nominee, On Sugarland

Best Costume Design (Off-Broadway)

Dede M. Ayite ’11

Nominee, Merry Wives Nominee, Nollywood Dreams

Toni-Leslie James (Faculty)

Nominee, Suffs

Best Costume Design (Broadway)

Montana Levi Blanco ’15

Nominee, The Skin of Our Teeth

Toni-Leslie James (Faculty)

Nominee, Paradise Square

Best Digital Theater Production

Patricia McGregor ’09 (Artistic Director)

Nominee, Semblance, New York Theatre Workshop

Best Play Ensemble

Bryan Terrell Clark ’06

Nominee, Thoughts of a Colored Man

Rosalyn Coleman ’90

Nominee, Wedding Band

Edmund Donovan ’17

Nominee, Clyde’s

Best Music in a Play

Justin Ellington (Faculty)

Nominee, Tambo & Bones

Best Book of a Musical

Lynn Nottage ’89 (Former Faculty)

Nominee, Intimate Apparel

Nominee, MJ: The Musical

Best Revival

Lileana Blain-Cruz ’12 (Faculty) (Director)

Nominee, The Skin of Our Teeth

Todd Haimes SOM ’80 (Former Faculty) (Artistic Director)

Nominee, Trouble in Mind

Anna Deavere Smith HON ’14 (Playwright)

Nominee, Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992

Lynne Meadow ’71 (Artistic Director)

Nominee, Skeleton Crew

Best Play

Lynn Nottage ’89 (Former Faculty)

Nominee, Clyde’s

Best Musical

Christina Anderson ’11 (Libretto)

Nominee, Paradise Square

Scott Elliott ’65 (Director)

Nominee, Black No More

Todd Haimes SOM ’80 (Former Faculty) (Artistic Director)

Nominee, Caroline, or Change

Lynn Nottage ’89 (Former Faculty) (Libretto)

Nominee, Intimate Apparel

Nominee, MJ: The Musical

27th Annual Art Directors

Guild Awards 2023

Variety, Reality or Competition Series

Eugene Lee ’86 and Akira

Yoshimura ’71

Winners, Saturday Night Live

Variety Special

Scott Pask ’97

Nominee, Hasan Minhaj: The King’s Jester

76th Annual BAFTA Awards 2023

Best Supporting Actress Angela Bassett ’83, YC ’80, HON ’18

Nominee, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

2022 BroadwayWorld Connecticut Awards

Best Costume Design of a Play or Musical (Professional)

Soule Golden ’15

Winner, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill, Playhouse on Park

Best Direction of a Play (Professional)

Nelson T. Eusebio III ’07

Runner-Up, Kim’s Convenience, Westport Country Playhouse

Best Lighting Design of a Play or Musical (Professional)

Philip S. Rosenberg ’59

Runner-Up, Anne of Green Gables, Goodspeed Musicals

Best Play (Professional)

Nelson T. Eusebio III ’07 (Director)

Runner-Up, Kim’s Convenience, Westport Country Playhouse

Best Production of an Opera (Non-Professional)

Dustin Wills ’14 (Director)

Runner-Up, Alcina, Legacy Theatre/Yale Opera

Best Scenic Design of a Play or Musical (Non-Professional)

Martin Scott Marchitto ’89

Runner-Up, Into the Woods, Curtain Call, Stamford

Best Scenic Design of a Play or Musical (Professional)

Wilson Chin ’03

Runner-Up, Anne of Green Gables, Goodspeed Musicals

Awards & Honors

Favorite Local Theatre (Professional)

David B. Byrd ’06 (Managing Director) Runner-Up, Goodspeed Musicals

2022 BroadwayWorld Off/ Off-Off Broadway Awards

Best Costume Design (Off-Broadway)

Linda Cho ’98

Winner, Harmony: A New Musical, National Yiddish Theater Folksbiene

Best Production of a Play (Off-Off Broadway)

James Jennings ’97 (Artistic Director)

Winner, Mandela, American Theater of Actors

38th Annual Casting Society Artios Awards 2023

Television Series — Comedy

Anne Davison ’02

(Associate Casting Director)

Nominee, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

2022 Chita Rivera Awards

Outstanding Ensemble in a Broadway Show

Remy Auberjonois ’01

Nominee, The Music Man

25th Annual Costume Designers Guild Awards 2023

Spotlight Award

Angela Bassett ’83, YC ’80, HON ’18

Excellence in Period Television

Donna Zakowska ’83

Nominee, The Marvelous

Mrs. Maisel: Maisel vs. Lennon: The Cut Contest

Excellence in Variety, RealityCompetition, Live Television

Tom Broecker ’92

Nominee, Saturday Night Live: Miles Teller/Kendrick Lamar

Connecticut Critics Circle Awards 2021-2022

Outstanding Production of a Play

Jacob Padrón ’08 (Artistic Director)

Nominee, The Chinese Lady, Long Wharf Theatre

David Kennedy ’00 (Director), Mark Lamos (Former Faculty) (Artistic Director), and Michael Barker ’10, SOM ’10 (Managing Director)

Nominees, Doubt, Westport Country Playhouse

Outstanding Production of a Musical Mark Lamos (Former Faculty) (Artistic Director) and Michael Barker ’10, SOM ’10 (Managing Director)

Nominees, Next to Normal, Westport Country Playhouse

James Lapine (Former Faculty) (Libretto)

Nominee, Falsettoland, Music Theater of CT

Outstanding Actor in a Play

Eric Bryant ’09

Nominee, Doubt, Westport Country Playhouse

Outstanding Director of a Play

Mark Lamos (Former Faculty)

Nominee, Straight White Men, Westport Country Playhouse

Outstanding Sound

Uptown Works (Daniela Hart ’22, Noel Nichols ’22, and Bailey Trierweiler ’22)

Nominee, Today Is My Birthday, Yale Repertory Theatre

Outstanding Projections

Camilla Tassi ’22

Nominee, Fires in the Mirror, Long Wharf Theatre

Outstanding Costume Design

Linda Cho ’98

Winner, The Chinese Lady, Long Wharf Theatre

An-Lin Dauber ’17

Nominee, Lost in Yonkers, Hartford Stage

Haydee Zelideth ’17

Nominee, Dream Hou$e, Long Wharf Theatre

Outstanding Lighting

Jiyoun Chang ’08

Nominee, The Chinese Lady, Long Wharf Theatre

Outstanding Set Design

Stephanie Osin Cohen ’19

Nominee, Dream Hou$e, Long Wharf Theatre

Junghyun Georgia Lee ’01

Nominee, The Chinese Lady, Long Wharf Theatre

Critics Choice Association’s 5th Annual Celebration of Black Cinema & Television 2022

Career Achievement Award

Angela Bassett ’83, YC ’80, HON ’18

Supporting Actor Award Brian Tyree Henry ’07

Actor Award for Film

Jonathan Majors ’16

2023 Critics Choice Awards, Film

Best Picture

Frances McDormand ’82 (Producer)

Nominee, Women Talking

Best Supporting Actor

Brian Tyree Henry ’07

Nominee, Causeway

Best Supporting Actress

Angela Bassett ’83, YC ’80, HON ’18

Winner, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Best Acting Ensemble

Kathryn Hahn ’01

Winner, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

Frances McDormand ’82

Nominee, Women Talking

3rd Annual Critics Choice Super Awards 2023

Best Actress in a Superhero Movie

Angela Bassett ’83, YC ’80, HON ’18

Winner, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Best Action Series, Limited Series, or Made-For-TV Movie

Angela Bassett ’83, YC ’80, HON ’18 (Executive Producer)

Nominee, 9-1-1

Best Actress in an Action Series, Limited Series, or Made-For-TV Movie

Angela Bassett ’83, YC ’80, HON ’18

Nominee, 9-1-1

Best Horror Series, Limited Series, or Made-For-TV Movie

Rolin Jones ’04 (Creator)

Nominee, Interview with the Vampire

Best Actress in a Science Fiction/Fantasy Series, Limited Series or Made-for-TV Movie

Moses Ingram ’19

Nominee, Obi-Wan Kenobi

Awards & Honors

2022 Critics Choice Awards, Television

Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series

Henry Winkler ’70

Winner, Barry

Best Movie Made For Television

Liev Schreiber ’92 (Executive Producer)

Nominee, Ray Donovan: The Movie

66th Annual Drama Desk Awards 2022

Outstanding Play

Lynne Meadow ’71 (Artistic Director)

Winner, Prayer for the French Republic, Manhattan Theatre Club

Martyna Majok ’12 (Playwright)

Nominee, Sanctuary City, New York Theatre Workshop

Outstanding Musical

Lynn Nottage ’89 (Former Faculty) (Libretto)

Nominee, Intimate Apparel, Lincoln Center Theater

Outstanding Revival of a Play

Paula Vogel (Former Faculty) (Playwright)

Winner, How I Learned to Drive, Manhattan Theatre Club

Lynne Meadow ’71 (Artistic Director)

Winner, How I Learned to Drive, Manhattan Theatre Club

Nominee, Lackawanna Blues, Manhattan Theatre Club

Nominee, Skeleton Crew, Manhattan Theatre Club

Outstanding Lyrics

Lynn Nottage ’89 (Former Faculty)

Nominee, Intimate Apparel, Lincoln Center Theater

Outstanding Book of a Musical

Lynn Nottage ’89 (Former Faculty)

Nominee, Intimate Apparel, Lincoln Center Theater

Outstanding Scenic Design for a Play

Takeshi Kata ’01

Winner, Clyde’s, Second Stage Center Theater

Wilson Chin ’03

Nominee, Pass Over

Junghyun Georgia Lee ’01

Nominee, Kristina Wong, Sweatshop Overlord,, The Public Theater

Outstanding Costume Design for a Play

Jennifer Moeller ’06

Winner, Clyde’s, Second Stage Theater

Linda Cho ’98

Nominee, The Chinese Lady, The Public Theater

Outstanding Costume Design for a Musical

Susan Hilferty ’80

Nominee, Funny Girl

Santo Loquasto ’72

Nominee, The Music Man

Catherine Zuber ’84

Nominee, Intimate Apparel, Lincoln Center Theater

Outstanding Lighting Design for a Musical

Jennifer Tipton (Former Faculty)

Nominee, Intimate Apparel, Lincoln Center Theater

Outstanding Sound Design for a Play

Mikaal Sulaiman (Faculty)

Nominee, Sanctuary City, New York Theatre Workshop

Outstanding Solo Performance

Arturo Luís Soria ’19

Nominee, Ni Mi Madre, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater

Additional Special Awards

Dede Ayite ’11 and Adam Rigg ’13

88th Annual Drama League Awards 2022

Founders Award for Excellence in Directing Lileana Blain-Cruz ’12 (Faculty)

Outstanding Production of a Play

Lynne Meadow ’71 (Artistic Director)

Nominee, Prayer for the French Republic

Lynn Nottage ’89 (Former Faculty) (Playwright)

Nominee, Clyde’s

Anna D. Shapiro ’93 (Director)

Nominee, The Minutes

Outstanding Revival of a Play Lileana Blain-Cruz ’12 (Faculty) (Director)

Nominee, The Skin of Our Teeth

Lynne Meadow ’71 (Artistic Director)

Nominee, How I Learned to Drive Nominee, Skeleton Crew

Robert O’Hara (Faculty) (Director)

Nominee, Long Day’s Journey into Night

Paula Vogel (Former Faculty) (Playwright)

Nominee, How I Learned to Drive

Outstanding Production of a Musical

Lynn Nottage ’89 (Former Faculty) (Libretto)

Nominee, MJ: The Musical

Distinguished Performance Award

Arturo Luís Soria ’19

Nominee, Ni Mi Madre

Dramatists Guild Awards 2022

Hull-Warriner Award

Martyna Majok ’12 (Playwright) Winner, Sanctuary City

74th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards 2022

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series

Tony Shalhoub ’80

Nominee, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

Henry Winkler ’70

Nominee, Barry

Outstanding Drama Series

Susan Soon He Stanton ’10 (Supervising Producer) Winner, Succession

Miki Johnson ’05 (Co-Executive Producer)

Nominee, Ozark

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series

John Turturro ’83

Nominee, Severance

Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series

Colman Domingo (Former Faculty)

Winner, Euphoria

Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series

Sanaa Lathan ’95

Nominee, Succession

Outstanding Television Movie Liev Schreiber ’92 (Executive Producer)

Nominee, Ray Donovan: The Movie

Awards & Honors

Outstanding Actress in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series

Patricia Clarkson ’85

Winner, State of the Union

Outstanding Variety Sketch Series

Tom Broecker ’92 (Producer) Winner, Saturday Night Live

Outstanding Variety Special (Live)

James Burrows ’65 (Executive Producer)

Nominee, Live in Front of a Studio

Audience: The Facts of Life and Diff’rent Strokes

Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series

Rob Klein ’65

Nominee, Saturday Night Live

Outstanding Production Design for a Variety, Reality or Competition Series

Eugene Lee ’86 and Akira Yoshimura ’71

Nominees, Saturday Night Live

Outstanding Period Costumes

Donna Zakowska ’83 (Costume Designer) and Moria Sine Clinton ’09 (Assistant Costume Designer)

Nominees, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

Outstanding Narrator

Lupita Nyong’o ’12

Nominee, Serengeti II

33rd Annual GLAAD Media Awards 2022

Outstanding Film – Limited Release

Bridget Flanery ’02 (Writer)

Nominee, Gossamer Folds

Outstanding Comedy Series

Alena Smith ’06 (Creator)

Nominee, Dickinson

Outstanding Drama Series

Angela Bassett ’83, YC ’80, HON ’18 (Executive Producer)

Nominee, 9-1-1: Lone Star

Kenneth Lin ’05 (Executive Producer)

Nominee, Star Trek: Discovery

79th Annual Golden Globe Awards 2022

Best Drama Series

Susan Soon He Stanton ’10 (Writer, Supervising Producer) and Mary Laws ’14 (Producer) Winners, Succession

Best Musical/Comedy Series

Kim Rosenstock ’10 (Writer, Producer)

Nominee, Only Murders in the Building

Best Picture – Animated

Charise Castro Smith ’10 (Screenplay)

Winner, Encanto

80th Annual Golden Globe Awards 2023

Best Supporting Actress –Motion Picture

Angela Bassett ’83, YC ’80, HON ’18

Winner, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Best Drama Series

Miki Johnson ’05 (Writer)

Nominee, Ozark

Best Musical/Comedy Series

Kim Rosenstock ’10

(Writer, Producer)

Nominee, Only Murders in the Building

Best Supporting Actor –Television Series

John Turturro ’83

Nominee, Severance

Henry Winkler ’70

Nominee, Barry

32nd Annual Gotham Awards 2022

Outstanding Supporting Performance

Brian Tyree Henry ’07 Nominee, Causeway

37th Annual Helen Hayes Awards 2023

Outstanding Lighting Design –Hayes

Jesse Belsky ’09

Nominee, John Proctor is the Villain, Studio Theatre

Peter Maradudin ’84

Nominee, The Color Purple, Signature Theatre

Thom Weaver ’07

Nominee, The Tempest, Round House Theatre

Outstanding Set Design – Hayes Scott Bradley ’86

Nominee, The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci, Shakespeare Theatre Company

Lee Savage ’05

Nominee, She Loves Me, Signature Theatre

Nominee, Into the Woods, Signature Theatre

Outstanding Sound Design –Hayes

Kathy Ruvuna ’19

Nominee, John Proctor is the Villain, Studio Theatre

Outstanding Performer – Visiting Production

Steven Lee Johnson ’18

Nominee, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Kennedy Center

Outstanding Direction in a Musical – Hayes

Timothy Douglas ’86

Nominee, The Color Purple, Signature Theatre

Outstanding Production in a Musical – Hayes

Timothy Douglas ’86

Nominee, The Color Purple, Signature Theatre

58th Annual Henry Hewes Design Awards 2022

Scenic Designer

Adam Rigg ’13

Honoree, The Skin of Our Teeth

Nominee, Cullud Wattah

Nominee, On Sugarland

Nominee, Man Cave

Matt Saunders ’12

Nominee, Sandblasted

Scott Pask ’97

Nominee, American Buffalo

Stephanie Osin Cohen ’18

Nominee, Ni Mi Madre

Takeshi Kata ’01

Nominee, Clyde’s

Wilson Chin ’03

Nominee, Pass Over

Costume Designer

Dede Ayite ’11

Honoree, Merry Wives

Nominee, How I Learned to Drive

Nominee, American Buffalo

Catherine Zuber ’84

Nominee, Intimate Apparel

Jane Greenwood (Faculty Emerita)

Nominee, Plaza Suite

Jennifer Moeller ’06

Nominee, Clyde’s

Montana Levi Blanco ’15

Nominee, The Skin of Our Teeth

Nominee, A Strange Loop

Awards & Honors

Santo Loquasto ’72

Nominee, The Music Man

Susan Hilferty ’80

Nominee, Funny Girl

Toni-Leslie James (Faculty)

Nominee, Flying Over Sunset

Lighting Designer

Thomas Dunn ’00

Nominee, Is This a Room

Yi Zhao ’12

Nominee, The Skin of Our Teeth

Sound Designer

Michael Costagliola ’18

Nominee, Man Cave

Mikaal Sulaiman (Faculty)

Honoree, Sanctuary City

Nominee, Macbeth

Palmer Hefferan ’13

Nominee, The Skin of Our Teeth

Sinan Refik Zafar ’16

Nominee, Shhhh

Media Designer

Caite Hevner ’07

Nominee, Kristina Wong, Sweatshop Overlord

Fake Friends (Michael Breslin ’19, DFA cand., Patrick Foley ’18, Catherine “Cat” María

Rodríguez ’18, and Ariel

Sibert ’18, DFA cand.)

Nominee, This American Wife

Hannah Wasileski ’13

Nominee, The Skin of Our Teeth

Notable Effects Show

Elizabeth Diller, Peter Nigrini, Robert Wierzel ’84 (Visual Design)

Nominee, Deep Blue Sea

Ming Cho Lee Award for Lifetime Achievement in Design

Jennifer Tipton (Faculty Emerita)

54th Annual Jeff Equity Awards 2022

Production – Play – Large

Tarell Alvin McCraney ’07 (Faculty) (Playwright) and Pornchanok

Kanchanabanca ’16 (Sound Designer)

Nominees, Choir Boy, Steppenwolf Theatre Company

New Work (The Libby Adler Mages Award)

Doug Wright YC ’85 (Former Faculty) (Playwright)

Winner, Good Night, Oscar, Goodman Theatre

Scenic Design – Large

Todd Rosenthal ’93

Nominee, King James, Steppenwolf Theatre Company

Sound Design – Large

Pornchanok

Kanchanabanca ’16

Winner, Gem of the Ocean, Goodman Theatre

Lighting Design – Large

Yi Zhao ’12

Nominee, Life After, Goodman Theatre

Original Music in a Play

Pornchanok

Kanchanabanca ’16

Winner, Gem of the Ocean, Goodman Theatre

Projection Design

Rasean Davonte

Johnson ’16 and Michael

Salvatore

Commendatore ’17

Winners, It Came From Outer Space, Chicago Shakespeare Theater

Rasean Davonte

Johnson ’16

Nominee, Fannie, the Music and Life of Fannie Lou Hamer, Goodman Theatre

Nominee, Her Honor Jane Byrne, Lookingglass Theatre

Friends of AUDELCO 2021

– 2022 Theatre Season:

“The VIV” Nominees

Lighting Design

Emma Deane ’20

Nominee, Confederates

Alan C. Edwards ’11 (Faculty)

Nominee, Twelfth Night

Set Design

Adam Rigg ’13

Nominee, Cullud Wattah

Reid Thompson ’14

Nominee, …what will the end be

Costume Design

Dede Ayite ’11

Winner, Richard III

Mika Eubanks ’19

Nominee, Twelfth Night

Sound Design

Twi McCallum ’21

Nominee, Little Girl Blue

Mikaal Sulaiman (Faculty)

Nominee, Fat Ham

Nominee, On Sugarland

Director of a Musical Lileana Blain-Cruz ’12 (Faculty)

Nominee, Dreaming Zenzile

Featured Actress in a Play

Sharon Washington ’88

Nominee, Richard III

Outstanding Ensemble Performance

Billy Eugene Jones ’03

Nominee, Fat Ham

Lead Actor in a Play

Billy Eugene Jones ’03 Winner, On Sugarland

Best Musical

Patricia McGregor ’09 (Artistic Director)

Nominee, Dreaming Zenzile, New York Theater Workshop

Best Play

Patricia McGregor ’09 (Artistic Director)

Nominee, On Sugarland, New York Theater Workshop

Todd Haimes SOM ’80 (Former Faculty) (Artistic Director)

Nominee, …what the end will be Roundabout Theatre Company

2nd Annual HCA TV Awards 2022

Best Streaming Series, Comedy

Kim Rosenstock ’10 (Writer, Producer)

Nominee, Only Murders in the Building

Alena Smith ’06 (Creator) Nominee, Dickinson

Best Broadcast Network Series, Drama

Angela Bassett ’83, YC ’80, HON ’18 (Executive Producer)

Nominee, 9-1-1: Lone Star

Best Cable Series, Drama

Susan Soon He Stanton ’10 (Writer, Supervising Producer) and Mary Laws ’14 (Producer) Winners, Succession

Michael Engler ’85 (Executive Producer) and Luke Harlan ’16 (Co-Producer)

Nominees, The Gilded Age

Awards & Honors

Best Broadcast Network or Cable Variety Sketch Series, Talk Series, or Special

Tom Broecker ’92

Nominee, Saturday Night Live

Best Broadcast Network or Cable TV Movie

Liev Schreiber ’92

(Executive Producer)

Nominee, Ray Donovan: The Movie

Best Supporting Actor in a Broadcast Network or Cable Series, Comedy

Henry Winkler ’70 Winner, Barry

Brian Tyree Henry ’07

Nominee, Atlanta

Best Supporting Actor in a Streaming Series, Comedy

Tony Shalhoub ’80

Nominee, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

Best Supporting Actor in a Streaming Series, Drama

John Turturro ’83

Winner, Severance

37th Annual Imagen Awards

2022

Best Feature Film

Charise Castro Smith ’10 (Co-Director, Screenplay)

Winner, Encanto

38th Annual Independent Spirit Awards 2023

Best Director – Feature Film

Jared Bush, Byron Howard, and Charise Castro Smith ’10

Winner, Encanto

Best Feature

Frances McDormand ’82 (Producer)

Nominee, Women Talking

Best Supporting Performance

Brian Tyree Henry ’07

Nominee, Causeway

Robert Altman Award

Frances McDormand ’82

Winner, Women Talking

2021 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards

Featured Performance

Sue Cremin ’95

Winner, The Father, Pasadena Playhouse

Ensemble Performance

Sue Cremin ’95 and Michael

Manuel ’92

Winner, The Father, Pasadena Playhouse

Costume Design

Catherine Zuber ’84 Winner, My Fair Lady, Dolby Theatre

2022 Los Angeles Drama Critics Awards

Production

Michael Donahue ’08 (Director)

Nominee, The Inheritance, Geffen Playhouse

Ensemble Performance

Israel Erron Ford ’19

John R. Colley ’19

Nominees, The Inheritance, Geffen Playhouse

Louisa Jacobson ’19

Nominee, Trayf, Geffen Playhouse

Direction

Michael Donahue ’08

Nominee, The Inheritance, Geffen Playhouse

Set Design

Wilson Chin ’03

Nominee, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Geffen Playhouse

Derek McLane ’84

Nominee, Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Broadway in Hollywood/ Pantages Theatre

Rachel Myers ’07

Nominee, Power of Sail, Geffen Playhouse

Costume Design

Catherine Zuber ’84

Nominee, Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Broadway in Hollywood/ Pantages Theatre

2022 Los Angeles Film

Critics Association Awards

Best Supporting Performance

Brian Tyree Henry ’07 Runner-Up, Causeway

37th Annual Lucille Lortel Awards 2022

Outstanding Play

Lynne Meadow ’71 (Artistic Director)

Nominee, Prayer for the French Republic, Manhattan Theatre Club

Outstanding Musical

Lynn Nottage ’89 (Former Faculty) (Libretto)

Nominee, Intimate Apparel, Lincoln Center Theater

Outstanding Ensemble

Tiffany Rachelle

Stewart ’07

Nominee, Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992

Outstanding Scenic Design

Adam Rigg ’13

Winner, On Sugarland

Outstanding Costume Design

Catherine Zuber ’84

Nominee, Intimate Apparel

Outstanding Sound Design

Mikaal Sulaiman (Faculty)

Nominee, Sanctuary City

Outstanding Projection Design

Caite Hevner ’07

Nominee, Kristina Wong, Sweatshop Overlord

54th NAACP Image Awards 2023

Angela Bassett ’83, YC ’80, HON ’18

Winner, Entertainer of the Year

Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture

Jonathan Majors ’16

Nominee, Devotion

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture

Angela Bassett ’83, YC ’80, HON ’18

Winner, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Lupita Nyong’o ’12

Nominee, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Outstanding Independent Motion Picture

Patricia Clarkson ’85 (Executive Producer)

Nominee, Causeway

Outstanding Ensemble Cast in a Motion Picture

Angela Bassett ’83, YC ’80, HON ’18

Lupita Nyong’o ’12

Winston Duke ’13

Winners, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Gilbert Owuor ’07

Nominee, Emancipation

Outstanding Character VoiceOver Performance – Motion Picture

Angela Bassett ’83, YC ’80, HON ’18

Nominee, Wendell & Wild

Outstanding Short-Form (Animated)

Sheila Nevins ’63 (Executive Producer)

Winner, More Than I Want to Remember

Awards & Honors

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series

Brian Tyree Henry ’07

Nominee, Atlanta

Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series

Angela Bassett ’83, YC ’80, HON ’18

Winner, 9-1-1

Outstanding Television Movie, Limited-Series or Dramatic Special

Dennie Gordon ’78 (Director)

Nominee, From Scratch

Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Limited-Series or Dramatic Special

Sanaa Lathan ’95

Nominee, The Best Man: The Final Chapters

Outstanding Guest Performance Colman Domingo (Former Faculty)

Nominee, Euphoria

National Society of Film Critics 2022

Best Supporting Actor

Brian Tyree Henry ’07

Nominee, Causeway

66th Annual Obie Awards 2022

Playwriting

Martyna Majok ’12 (Playwright)

Winner, Sanctuary City, New York Theater Workshop

Performance

Arturo Luís Soria ’19

Winner, Ni Mi Madre, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater

Sustained Achievement in Performance

Billy Eugene Jones ’03

Winner, On Sugarland, New York Theater Workshop and Fat Ham, The Public

Special Citations

Mikaal Sulaiman (Faculty)

Billy Eugene Jones ’03

Winners, Fat Ham, The Public

Sinan Refik Zafar ’16

Winner, English, The Atlantic Theater

Digital + Virtual + Hybrid Production

Fake Friends (Michael Breslin ’19, DFA cand., Patrick Foley ’18, Catherine “Cat” María

Rodríguez ’18, and Ariel

Sibert ’18, DFA cand.), Rory Pelsue ’18, Jeremy O. Harris ’19

Winners, Circle Jerk

Theatre Companies

Adriana Gaviria ’01

Jacob Padrón ’08

Winners, The Sol Project

Olivier Awards 2022

Best Costume Design

Catherine Zuber ’84

Winner, Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Piccadilly Theatre

Blue-I Theatre Technology Award for Best Set Design

Derek McLane ’84

Nominee, Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Piccadilly Theatre

72nd Annual Outer Critics Circle Awards 2021-2022

Outstanding New Broadway

Musical

Christina Anderson ’11 (Libretto)

Nominee, Paradise Square

Lynn Nottage ’89 (Former Faculty) (Libretto)

Nominee, MJ: The Musical

Outstanding New Broadway Play

Lynne Meadow ’71 (Artistic Director)

Nominee, Skeleton Crew

Lynn Nottage ’89 (Former Faculty) (Playwright)

Nominee, Clyde’s

Anna D. Shapiro ’93 (Director)

Nominee, The Minutes

Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical

Lynn Nottage ’89 (Former Faculty) (Libretto)

Nominee, Intimate Apparel

Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play

Lynne Meadow ’71 (Artistic Director)

Winner, Prayer for the French Republic

Martyna Majok ’12 (Playwright)

Nominee, Sanctuary City

Outstanding Revival of a Play (Broadway or Off-Broadway)

Richard Greenberg ’85 (Playwright)

Winner, Take Me Out

Paula Vogel (Former Faculty) (Playwright), Mark Brokaw ’86 (Director), Lynne Meadow ’71 (Artistic Director)

Nominees, How I Learned to Drive

Outstanding Solo Performance

Arturo Luís Soria ’19

Nominee, Ni Mi Madre

Outstanding Director of a Play

Anna D. Shapiro ’93

Nominee, The Minutes

Outstanding Book of a Musical

Lynn Nottage ’89 (Former Faculty)

Nominee, Intimate Apparel

Outstanding Scenic Design (Play or Musical)

Adam Rigg ’13

Winner, The Skin of Our Teeth

Scott Pask ’97

Nominee, American Buffalo

Outstanding Costume Design (Play or Musical)

Jane Greenwood (Faculty Emerita)

Nominee, Neil Simon’s Plaza Suite

Santo Loquasto ’72

Nominee, The Music Man

Catherine Zuber ’84

Nominee, Mrs. Doubtfire

Outstanding Video/Projection Design (Play or Musical)

Jeff Sugg (Former Faculty)

Nominee, Mr. Saturday Night

82nd Annual Peabody Awards 2022

Sheila Nevins ’63 (Executive Producer)

Nominee, Lynching Postcards: “Token of a Great Day”

Kim Rosenstock ’10 (Writer, Producer)

Nominee, Only Murders in the Building

34th Annual PGA Awards 2023

Danny Thomas Award for Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television - Comedy

Kim Rosenstock ’10 (Writer, Producer)

Nominee, Only Murders in the Building

Award for Outstanding Producer of Live Entertainment, Variety, Sketch, Standup & Talk Television

Tom Broecker ’92 (Producer)

Nominee, Saturday Night Live

Awards & Honors

2022 Princess Grace Awards

John Gore Theater Honor

Abigail C. Onwunali ’23

76th Annual Theatre World Awards 2022

Enrico Colantoni ’93

Honoree, Birthday Candles

75th Annual Tony Awards

2022

Best Play

Lynne Meadow ’71 (Artistic Director)

Nominee, Skeleton Crew

Lynn Nottage ’89 (Former Faculty) (Playwright)

Nominee, Clyde’s

Best Musical

Michael David ’68 (Producer)

Nominee, MJ: The Musical

Best Book of a Musical

Christina Anderson ’11

Nominee, Paradise Square

Lynn Nottage ’89 (Former Faculty)

Nominee, MJ: The Musical

Best Revival of a Play

Richard Greenberg ’85 (Playwright)

Winner, Take Me Out

Paula Vogel (Former Faculty) (Playwright) and Lynne

Meadow ’71 (Artistic Director)

Nominees, How I Learned to Drive

Best Scenic Design of a Play

Nicholas Hussong ’14

Nominee, Skeleton Crew

Scott Pask ’97

Nominee, American Buffalo

Adam Rigg ’13

Nominee, The Skin of Our Teeth

Best Scenic Design of a Musical

Derek McLane ’84

Nominee, MJ

Best Costume Design of a Play

Montana Levi Blanco ’15

Winner, The Skin of Our Teeth

Jane Greenwood (Faculty Emerita)

Nominee, Neil Simon’s Plaza Suite

Jennifer Moeller ’06

Nominee, Clyde’s

Best Costume Design of a Musical

Toni-Leslie James (Faculty)

Nominee, Paradise Square

William Ivey Long ’75

Nominee, Diana: The Musical

Santo Loquasto ’72

Nominee, The Music Man

Best Lighting Design of a Play

Jiyoun Chang ’08

Nominee, for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf

Yi Zhao ’12

Nominee, The Skin of Our Teeth

Best Lighting Design of a Musical

Donald Holder ’86

Nominee, Paradise Square

Best Sound Design of a Play

Palmer Hefferan ’13

Nominee, The Skin of Our Teeth

Mikaal Sulaiman (Faculty)

Nominee, Macbeth

Best Direction of a Play

Lileana Blain-Cruz ’12 (Faculty)

Nominee, The Skin of Our Teeth

Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre

Pun Bandhu ’01 and Peter Kim ’04

Winners, Asian American Performers Action Coalition (AAPAC)

USITT Awards 2022

KM Fabrics Technical Production Award

Cam Camden ’22

Bernhard R. Works, Frederick A. Buerki Scenic Technology Award Hyejin Son ’18

USITT Awards 2023

KM Fabrics Technical Production Award

Mia Sara Haiman ’23

Distinguished Achievement Award, Sound Design & Technology

David Budries (Professor Emeritus)

28th Annual Screen Actors

Guild Awards 2022

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture

Meryl Streep ’75 HON ’83

Nominee, Don’t Look Up

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series

Juliana Canfield ’17, YC ’14 Winner, Succession

29th Annual Screen Actors

Guild Awards 2023

Outstanding Performance By a Cast in a Motion Picture

Frances McDormand ’82

Nominee, Women Talking

Outstanding Performance By a Female Actor in a Supporting Role

Angela Bassett ’83, YC ’80, HON ’18

Nominee, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Outstanding Performance By an Ensemble in a Drama Series

John Turturro ’83

Nominee, Severance

Outstanding Performance By an Ensemble in a Comedy Series

Henry Winkler ’70

Nominee, Barry

Adina Verson ’12

Nominee, Only Murders in the Building

The TDF Sharaff Awards 2022

Fred Voelpel ’53

TDF/Irene Sharaff Lifetime Achievement Award

Eugene Lee ’86

Robert L.B. Tobin Award for Sustained Excellence in Theatrical Design

Dede M. Ayite ’11

TDF/Kitty Leach Young Master Award

2022 TCA Awards

Outstanding Achievement in Variety, Talk or Sketch

Tom Broecker ’92 (Producer)

Nominee, Saturday Night Live

Outstanding New Program

Kim Rosenstock ’10 (Writer, Producer)

Nominee, Only Murders in the Building

Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Miniseries or Specials

Marcus Gardley ’04 (Co-Executive Producer)

Nominee, Maid

Awards & Honors

Outstanding Achievement in Drama

Susan Soon He Stanton ’10 (Writer, Supervising Producer) and Mary Laws ’14 (Producer) Winners, Succession

Outstanding Achievement in Comedy

Kim Rosenstock ’10 (Writer, Producer)

Nominee, Only Murders in the Building

Program of the Year

Susan Soon He Stanton ’10 (Writer, Supervising Producer) and Mary Laws ’14 (Producer) Nominees, Succession

Writers Guild Awards 2023

TV & New Media Motion Pictures

Liev Schreiber ’92

Nominee, Ray Donovan: The Movie Honors

Camilla Tassi ’22 received the 2022 Burry Fredrik Design Fellowship.

Charlotte Brathwaite ’11 was honored at Lincoln Center with the 2023 Doris Duke Artist Award, a $550,000 prize.

Christina Anderson ’11 was awarded the 2022 Horton Foote Prize for her play, the ripple, the wave that carried me home.

The Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle awarded the 2022 Margaret Harford Award for Sustained Excellence in Theatre to Center Theatre Group, for which Meghan Pressman ’10, SOM ’10 is the Managing Director and CEO.

esperanza rosales

balcárcel ’23 received the 2022 National Theatre Conference’s Paul Green Award.

Anne Cattaneo ’74 received an Honorable Mention for the NYU Callaway Prize for her book, The Art of Dramaturgy (Yale University Press, 2021).

Lynn Nottage ’89 (Former Faculty) was honored with the Project1VOICE Transformative Trailblazing Award.

Narda E. Alcorn ’95 (Faculty) and Lisa Porter ’95 (Former Faculty) received the Stage Managers’ Association Special Recognition Award, for their writing on an anti-racist stage management practice.

Sarah Mantell ’17 was awarded the 2023 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for their play In the Amazon Warehouse Parking Lot

Janet Cunningham (Staff) received the William J. Reynolds Award for Excellence in Theater Safety.

Graduation

CLASSES OF 2021* AND 2022

Congratulations to our newest alumni — the Class

Master of Fine Arts/ Certificate in Drama

acting

Patrick Ball

Nefesh Cordero Pino

Sola Fadiran

Anthony Holiday

Daniel Liu

Sarah Lyddan

Alexandra Maurice

Maia Novi

Reed Northrup

Julian Sanchez

Madeline Seidman

Adam Siddiqui Shaukat

Jackeline Torres Cortés

Matthew Elijah Webb

m.imani west

Jessy Yates

design

Riva Fairhall

Anna Grigo

Daniela Hart

Nicole E. Lang

Bridget Lindsay

Stephen Marks

David Mitsch

Phuong Nguyen

Noel Nichols

Meg Powers

Jimmy Stubbs

Camilla Tassi

Bailey Trierweiler

directing

Christopher D. Betts

Alex Keegan

dramaturgy and dramatic criticism

Rebecca Adelsheim

Patrick Denney Sophie

Greenspan Jisun Kim

Henriëtte Rietveld

playwriting

Benjamin Benne Angie

Bridgette Jones

stage management

Bekah Brown

Brandon Lovejoy

Amanda Nita Luke

Joanelle Moriah

Kevin Jinghong Zhu

technical design & production

Katie Byron

Cam Camden

Laura Copenhaver

Shaoqian Lu

Dani Mader

Kelly O'Loughlin

Sky Pang

Dominick Pinto

Hyejin Son

Eric Walker

theater management

Sarah Ashley Cain

Madeline Carey

Caitlin M. Dutkiewicz

Emma Rose Perrin

William Gaines

Yuhan Zhang

doctor of fine arts

Taylor Barfield

Maria Inês Evangelista de Oliveira Marques

Charles O’Malley

Gavin Whitehead

of 2022!

technical internship certificate

Christina Dragen-Dima

Jihane Fareseddine

Micah Ohno

Rebecca Satzberg

Alary Sutherland

(left to right) Patrick Ball ’22, Nefesh Cordero Pino ’22, Meg Powers ’22, Patrick Denney ’22, Adam Siddiqui Shaukat ’22, Daniel Liu ’22, Alexandra

Maurice ’22, Julian Sanchez ’22, Maia Novi '22, and Jackeline Torres Cortés ’22.

* The Class of 2021 was listed in the 2020–21 Annual Magazine. Students from the Class of 2021 were invited to campus to participate in the 2022 ceremony.

Graduation

GRADUATION PRIZES

ASCAP Cole Porter Prize

Benjamin Benne ’22

Edward C. Cole Memorial Award

Hyejin Son ’22

Carol Finch Dye Prize

Matthew Elijah Webb ’22

John W. Gassner Memorial Prize

Lily Haje ’23

Nicholas Ruizorvis ’23

The Bert Gruver Memorial Prize

Brandon Lovejoy ’22

Kevin Jinhong ’22

Allen M. and Hildred L.

Harvey Prize

Francesca DeCicco ’21

Morris J. Kaplan Prize

Caitlin M. Dutkiewicz ’22

Emma Rose Perrin ’22

Julian Milton Kaufman Memorial Prize

Alex Keegan ’22

Jay Keene and Jean GriffinKeene Prize for Costume Design

Phuong Nguyen ’22

Leo Lerman Graduate Fellowship in Design

Stephen Marks ’22

Dexter Wood Luke Memorial Prize

Jisun Kim ’22, DFA cand.

Donald and Zorka Oenslager Fellowship

Jimmy Stubbs ’22

Pierre-André Salim Prize

Reed Northrup ’22

Bronislaw “Ben” Sammler Award

Laura Copenhaver ’22

The Frieda Shaw, Dr. Diana Mason, OBE, and Denise Suttor Prize for Sound Design

Daniela Hart ’22

Noel Nichols ’22

Bailey Trierweiler ’22

Oliver Thorndike Acting Award

Sarah Lyddan ’22

George C. White Prize

Yuhan Zhang ’22, SOM ’22

Herschel Williams Prize

Madeline Seidman ’22

Christopher D. Betts ’22

Graduation

FELLOWSHIPS & SCHOLARSHIPS

The recipients for the 2022–2023 academic year were:

Nina Adams and Moreson

Kaplan Scholarship

Anthony Grace ’23

John M. Badham Scholarship

James L. Fleming ’23

John Badham Scholarship in Directing

Bobbin Ramsey ’24

Mark Bailey Scholarship

Mike Winch ’24

George Pierce Baker Memorial Scholarship

Sophia Carey ’25

Austin Riffelmacher ’25

Karoline Vielemeyer ’25

Herbert H. and Patricia M. Brodkin Scholarship

Chinna Palmer ’25

Patricia M. Brodkin Memorial Scholarship

Nakia Avila ’24

Andrew Petrick ’23

Robert Brustein Scholarship

Faith Zamblé ’23

Paul Carter Scholarship

Luke Bulatowicz ’24

Ciriello Family Fund Scholarship

Andrew Riedemann ’23

Class of 1979 and Friends Scholarship

Aholibama Castañeda

González ’24

August Coppola Scholarship

Jacob Santos ’24

Caris Corfman Scholarship

Nat Lopez ’24

Cheryl Crawford Scholarship

Danielle Stagger ’24

Edgar and Louise Cullman Scholarship

Juliana Morales Carreño ’25

Cullman Scholarship in Directing

Garrett Allen ’24

Kemar Jewel ’25

Leyla Levi ’23, YC ’16

deVeer Family Drama Scholarship

Kayodè Soyemi ’23

Richard H. Diggs ’30, YC ’26 Scholarship

Luanne Jubsee ’24

Holmes Easley Scholarship

Marcelo Martínez García ’23

Miguel Urbino ’23

Eldon Elder Fellowship

Kino Alvarez ’25

Constanza Etchechury López ’25

Elihu Scholarship at David Geffen School of Drama

Sky Pang ’23

Wesley Fata Scholarship

Marlon Vargas ’25

Foster Family Graduate Fellowship

Sydney Raine Garick ’24, YC ’18

Dino Fusco and Anita

Pamintuan Fusco Scholarship

Shimali De Silva ’23

Annie G. K. Garland Memorial Scholarship

Charlie Lovejoy ’24

Earle R. Gister Scholarship

Ariyan Kurmaly Kassam ’25

Randolph Goodman Scholarship

Henry Rodriguez ’23

Stephen R. Grecco ’70 Scholarship a.k. payne ’23, YC ’19

Jerome L. Greene Scholarship

Augustine Lorrie

Alexandrite ’24

Whitney Andrews ’24 Michael Allyn Crawford ’24 Caro Riverita ’24

Ameila Windom ’24

Julie Harris Scholarship

Karen Killeen ’24

Stephen J. Hoffman ’64 Scholarship

Mia Sara Haiman ’23

Sally Horchow Scholarship for David Geffen School of Drama Actors

Tavia Hunt ’23

William and Sarah Hyman Scholarship

Graham Zellers ’23

Geoffrey Ashton Johnson/ Noël Coward Scholarship

Isuri Wijesundara ’23

Pamela Jordan Scholarship

Rebeca Robles ’24

Stanley Kauffmann Scholarship

Gabrielle Hoyt ’24, YC ’15

Sylvia Fine Kaye Scholarship

Sam DeMuria ’23

Jay and Rhonda Keene Scholarship for Costume Design

Yu Jung Shen ’24

Ray Klausen Design Scholarship

Kim Zhou ’24

Gordon F. Knight Scholarship

Evdoxia Ragkou ’23

Hannah Tran ’23

Ming Cho Lee Scholarship

Patti Panyakaew ’25

Lotte Lenya Scholarship

Nat Lopez ’24

Helene A. Lindstrom Scholarship

Cindy De La Cruz ’25

Victor S. Lindstrom Scholarship

Cian Jaspar Freeman ’25

Frederick Loewe Scholarship

Janiah Lockett ’24

Frederick Loewe Scholarship for Directors in Honor of Floria V. Lasky

Leyla Levi ’23, YC ’16

Lord Memorial Scholarship

Maya Louise Shed ’25

Edward A. Martenson Scholarship

Annabel Guevara ’24

Virginia Brown Martin Scholarship

Amelia Windom ’24

Stanley R. McCandless Scholarship

Nomè SiDone ’23

Graduation

Alfred L. McDougal and Nancy Lauter McDougal Endowed Scholarship

Marcelo Martínez García ’23

Jason Gray ’23, SOM ’23 a.k. payne ’23, YC ’19 yao ’23

Tom Moore Scholarship Nate Angrick ’23

Benjamin Mordecai Memorial Scholarship in Theater Management

Chloe Knight ’24

Kenneth D. Moxley Memorial Scholarship

Nic Benavides ’24

Alois M. Nagler Scholarship

Sebastián Eddowes ’24

G. Charles Niemeyer Scholarship

Rebecca Adelsheim ’22, DFA cand.

Henriëtte Rietveld ’22, DFA cand.

Victoria Nolan Scholarship Sarah Scafidi ’23, SOM ’23

Dwight Richard Odle Scholarship Aidan Griffiths ’23

Donald M. Oenslager Scholarship in Stage Design

Lia Tubiana ’24 Kim Zhou ’24

Donald and Zorka Oenslager Scholarship in Stage Design

Patrick Blanchard ’25

Christian Killada ’25

Doaa Ouf ’25

Arthur Wilson ’25

Eugene O’Neill Memorial Scholarship esperanza rosales balcárcel ’23

Mary Jean Parson Scholarship

Bobbin Ramsey ’24

Raymond Plank Scholarship in Drama

Jason Dixon ’24

Alan Poul Scholarship

Juliana Morales Carreño ’25

Jeff and Pam Rank Scholarship

Megan Birdsong ’23

Mark J. Richard Scholarship

Rudi Goblen ’23

Lloyd Richards Scholarship in Acting

Law Dunford ’25

Barbara E. Richter Scholarship

Alexus Jade Coney ’24, YC ’20

Chloe Xiaonan Liu ’24

Rodman Family Scholarship

Tojo Rasedoara ’25

03

(left to right) Sarah Ashley Cain ’22, William Gaines ’22, Emma Rose Perrin ’22, Caitlin M. Dutkiewicz ’22, Madeline Carey ’22, SOM ’22, Oakton Reynolds ’21, and Yuhan Zhang ’22, SOM ’22.

04

(left to right) Patrick Denney ’22, Sophie Greenspan ’22, Rebecca Adelsheim ’22, DFA cand., Jisun Kim ’22, DFA cand., and Henriëtte Rietveld ’22, DFA cand.

05

Paul Walsh (Faculty) and Taylor Barfield ’16, DFA ’22

Graduation

Pierre-André Salim Memorial Scholarship

Twaha Abdul Majeed ’25

KIMKIM ’23

Ankit Pandey ’25

Bronislaw “Ben” Sammler Scholarship

Joe Chiang ’23

Scholarship for Playwriting Students

comfort ifeoma katchy ’25

Richard Harrison Senie Scholarship

Travis Chinick ’23

KT Farmer ’25

Daniel and Helene Sheehan Scholarship

Natalie King ’24

Eugene F. Shewmaker & Robert L Hurten Scholarship

Eugenio Sáenz Flores ’24

Shubert Scholarships

Aidan Griffiths ’23

Abigail C. Onwunali ’23

Ashley M. Thomas ’23

Howard Stein Scholarship

Ida Cuttler ’25

Stephen B. Timbers Family Scholarship for Playwriting

M.L. Roberts ’25

Jennifer Tipton Scholarship in Lighting

Yung-Hung Sung ’25

Tisdale Family Scholarship

Matthew Sonnenfeld ’23

Frank Torok Scholarship

Hope Ding ’25

Nancy and Edward Trach Scholarship

Doug Robinson ’24

Ron Van Lieu Scholarship

Malik James ’24

Leon Brooks Walker Scholarship

Patrick Falcón ’23

Richard Ward Scholarship

Roman Sanchez ’25

Zelma Weisfeld Scholarship for Costume Design

Kyle J. Artone ’23

Constance Welch Memorial Scholarship

Malachi dré Beasley ’23

Messiah Hagood-Barnes ’25

Rebecca West Scholarship

Mariah Copeland ’25

Lauren Walker ’25

Audrey Wood Scholarship

Stefani Kuo ’24, YC ’17

David Geffen School of Drama at Yale Board of Advisors Scholarship

Minjae Kim ’25

Albert Zuckerman Scholarship

Rudi Goblen ’23

On May 14, 2022, members of the Class of 2020 returned to campus to participate in a University-wide commencement ceremony for students who graduated during the pandemic.

Members of the Class of 2020.

Photo by Casey Grambo (Staff).

Art of Giving

Woody Taft Understands the Cost of Living

In December 2022, Woody Taft YC ’92 established the Taft Family Scholarship to provide stipends for student living expenses. This matter is close to his heart, because as a graduate student at London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art he found he had seriously underestimated the cost of living in London.

“It was always difficult for my fellow students and me to make ends meet amidst a demanding theater and school schedule,” Taft says of his time at LAMDA, as well of his experiences as a working actor. “When I had classes all day and rehearsals or performances all night, it was impossible to hold a part-time job, or even put in enough work-

study hours to pay the rent,” he said.

Such support is particularly important in New Haven, where the cost of living is a reported 15% to 20% above the national average. David Geffen School of Drama currently estimates student living expenses to be $22,104 for the nine-month academic year.

Taft further illustrates his point with an anecdote that will be familiar to many current and former Drama School students. “Occasionally, LAMDA would throw a buffet dinner so students from different years could get to know each other. My classmates and I would wait until the event was over, then stuff as much food as possible into bags we had brought with us. Usually, we would end up with a ham, a couple of beef tenderloins and a ton of cheese and crackers,” he remembers. “Back at the townhouse, where eight of us lived, we made the food last a week or more.”

Providing resources to spur educational, artistic, and financial growth runs throughout Taft’s philanthropic work. He is a trustee of the Nellie Leaman Taft Foundation and president of the Louise Taft Semple Foundation board of trustees. Both foundations, part of the Taft family’s long legacy of philanthropy, serve arts, educational, and environmental organizations. He is also the chairman of the board at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, where he recently co-chaired its successful capital campaign for a new mainstage theater.

“Having been there, I am thrilled to provide this essential support to students at the School,” Taft says.

— by Chad Kinsman ’18

Woody Taft YC ’92

Art of Giving

New Life to Old Threads

The inventory reads like a soigné’s packing list: Black silk chiffon pleated dress with bolero-length silk linen jacket. Heavy black wool faille double-breasted knee-length coat with notched velvet collar. Black velvet

and her grandmother. It is a fitting tribute as Bena’s love of theater is what led Sarah to her life’s passion as a writer. “My mother brought Sarah to her first play,” shares Laurie. “She was the shepherd of her formative years in the theater, constantly taking her to dramas that inspired Sarah to declare at the age of 10: ‘I’m going to be a playwright!’ She never wavered.”

column evening dress featuring a beaded yoke collar.

A set of over a dozen vintage garments representing decades of fashion, now rests in the School’s costume stock, generously gifted by Laurie Racine. The donation honors her daughter Sarah Treem ’05, YC ’02 and Bena Racine, Treem’s grandmother, who, at 102, is perhaps one of the American theater’s bestdressed ‘devotees.’

This donation celebrates the creative dynamic shared between Sarah

Christine Szczepanski (Faculty), DGSD’s costume shop manager, sees much to appreciate in the wardrobe, from their materials to their wearability. “Every piece in this group is high-end and consistently excellent. All of them are stageworthy,” she says. Many bear the names of wellknown designers: Adrianna Pappell, Dominic Rompollo, Sylvan Rich for Martini, Rickie Freeman for Teri Jon. Several are sans label, one-of-a-kind pieces straight from the runway. Szczepanski identifies a possible

Bena Racine and Sarah Treem ’05, YC ’02.

Photo courtesy of Laurie Racine.

Art of Giving

03–05

Dior or Balenciaga in the cache, and a chic 60s coat that might be an Irene Sargent. The German stuffed-toy manufacturer Steiff provided another coat’s fuzzy lining. The collection also includes a men’s WWII trench coat lining, which belonged to

Sarah’s grandfather Leo Treem, and a vintage brown suede and shearling coat purchased in the late 60s.

“Donations like this are priceless. The impact they can have on students and members of the costume shop is immense,” senior draper Mary Zihal says. “You want a shearling coat for your play set in the 60s? Well, look! This is the real thing!” In addition to using pieces in productions, designers can study their construction techniques, track fashion history, and be inspired to create their own designs. — by Chad Kinsman ’18

Vintage garments donated by Laurie Racine in honor of her daughter, Sarah Treem ’05, YC ’02, and her mother, Bena Racine. Photos by Casey Grambo (Staff)

Art of Giving

The Burry Fredrik Design Fellowship: Ensuring a Bright Future for Connecticut’s Theaters

Marcelo Martínez García ’23 was selected as the recipient of the Burry Fredrik Design Fellowship, an award established in 2017 by the Burry Fredrik Foundation to help launch the careers of graduates of the David Geffen School of Drama Design program. Each year, the faculty selects one designer to

those Connecticut theaters that hire any graduating designers from DGSD within the same two-year time frame.

“We are grateful to the Burry Fredrik Foundation for its generosity,” said Riccardo Hernández ’92, Co-Chair of the Design program. “Its financial support will help our students make their way in the world, giving them an opportunity to showcase their artistry at theaters throughout Connecticut.”

Marcelo is a scenic designer and architect from Mexico. His recent credits include Mojada: A Medea in Los Angeles at Yale Repertory Theatre, Love’s Labor’s Lost and Bodas de sangre at David Geffen School of Drama, and L’Orfeo for Yale Baroque Opera. He holds a degree in architecture from Monterrey Institute of Technology and a specialization in scenic design from CENTRO University in Mexico City.

“Marcelo joins an outstanding group of David Geffen School of Drama designers by being named as a Burry Fredrik Design Fellow,” said Barbara L. Pearce, Chair of the Foundation. “We are proud to be supporting their work and to be able to provide opportunities with Connecticut theaters for all of this year’s talented graduate designers.”

receive a cash honorarium from the Foundation, providing essential support as they enter the field.

The Foundation’s vision continues beyond the award, providing funding to any of Connecticut’s non-profit professional producing theaters who hire the fellow within two years of their graduation. This year, the Foundation has expanded its program and will offer grants to

Previous recipients of the Burry Fredrik Design Fellowship were Camilla Tassi ’22, Evan Anderson ’20, Stephanie Osin Cohen ’19, Frederick Kennedy ’18, and Claire DeLiso ’17

The Burry Fredrik Foundation was founded in 2012 to honor trailblazing Broadway producer, director, and stage manager Burry Fredrik.

Martínez García ’23

The cast of Mojada: A Medea in Los Angeles by Luis Alfaro, directed by Laurie Woolery at Yale Repertory Theatre. Designs by Marcelo Martínez García ’23 (Scenic), Kitty Cassetti ’23 (Costumes), and Stephen Strawbridge ’83 (Faculty) (Lights).

In Memoriam

Lance Reddick ’94

Actor by Paul Giamatti ’94, YC ’89

Prolific actor Lance Reddick ’94, known for his intensity and sophistication on screen, died on March 17, 2023, at the age of 60. He is survived by his wife, Stephanie Reddick, and two children, Yvonne Nicole Reddick and Christopher Reddick. Paul Giamatti ’94, YC ’89 shared a remembrance of his friend.

Yes, he was a big man, my friend Lance Reddick ’94 , it was the first thing you might notice about him. And he looked for all the world like a damn superhero. But then you saw the smile, the kind eyes, heard the warm voice, and you knew you were in the presence of the most human of human beings.

From the second I met him in 1991, first day we arrived at the Drama School, I felt I’d met a guy I’d known my whole life. I’d found an old friend. He was an Old Soul for sure, but he was so damn youthful too. He embraced you immediately because his wise heart was wide open, always. It’s why he was such a great actor, of course.

He was older than the rest of us, he’d had more of life, a wife, kids. He also worked his ass off like no other actor I’ve ever known, he was relentless on himself, and the results were glorious, impeccable. I remember every second of acting with Lance, my favorite scene partner, he lifted you up and made you better, always. I close my eyes now and think of those moments and I feel his acting Presence, it’s palpable. He left the mark of his Gift on you.

He was a Gemini, and he exemplified the best of that strange sign. He was witty, curious, eager for experience, mercurial in persona and mood. As a good Gemini, he could be wonderfully exasperating, we almost never agreed about matters aesthetic, movies, actors, he always made the salient point, asked the tough question, it was fantastic. They were the debates you have with a smarter brother you love like crazy. For 30

years I always knew a visit with Lance, lunch, a phone call especially, was gonna be EPIC. And inspiring and funny and deep, strangely cleansing. Because you could talk about anything. He strove to understand everything, always. As Earl Baker ’95 said to me, when you hung up with Lance the phone was hot, your ear was hot because you had TALKED. And it felt GOOD.

I cannot believe I will never pick up the phone again and hear him shout “Paul!” With joy! In that moment he connected our hearts. He did that to everyone. What a beautiful man.

For the past two years we were trying to make a movie of Othello, because why in God’s name had he never played that role??? And now he never will. It’s just outrageous, truly insane. We did the play in class over a year at the School, and in my imagination and heart and somewhere in the multiverse we DID do it and he IS and will be the only and greatest Othello, always.

How can I possibly encompass him? Musician, father, actor, husband...big man, mere mortal, superhero, great actor, my old friend, Othello, my brother. He was one of those people who was just more THERE than the rest of us. More tangible, more real, more

Lance Reddick ’94

In Memoriam

Present. Where did you go, my friend? How can the stage be empty? It’s not possible. We have work to do, man…

You are loved so much, Lancelot. Wherever you are. And you will be remembered and you will be missed, so damn much, brother. Always.

John W. Jacobsen

Museum Planner, Artist, Author

John W. Jacobsen ’69, YC ’67 passed away in his Marblehead home on January 12, with his wife by his side. He was 77.

John was raised in Pittsburgh, PA, and later Brazil, where his father worked in operations for U.S. Steel. At Yale, John was a resident of Silliman College and a member of Manuscript Society. He was active in the Yale community, participating in the Freshman Chorus and designing sets for the Yale Dramat, where he served as vice president in his fourth year. While he graduated with a BA in art history, it was his involvement in the Dramat that inspired him to pursue an MFA at the School of Drama, studying design.

After graduation, John taught scenic design at several colleges in Boston and designed the sets and lighting for over 60 productions. In the 1970s, John was approached with his first museum project: the Salem Witch Museum. His innovative and immersive in-the-round life-size tableaus depicting the 1692 witch trials attracted massive audiences and to this day the museum remains the most attended attraction in Salem, Massachusetts. The success of this museum venture led him to form White Oak Designs,

which created sound and lighting shows. In 1985, he was appointed Associate Director of the Boston Museum of Science; under the direction of Dr. Roger Nichols, he facilitated the development of the $24 million Mugar Omni Theater acquisition and served as executive producer on the IMAX film, New England Time Capsule. In 1995, John and his wife, songwriter Jeanie Stahl, co-executive produced another IMAX Film called The Living Sea, which was narrated by Meryl Streep ’75, HON ’83. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject in 1995. Following John’s tenure at the Museum of Science, he and his wife morphed White Oak Designs into White Oak Associates, a strategic planning initiative for museums, and later became White Oak Institute, a nonprofit which evaluated museum impact across the country. In his retirement, John kept busy volunteering for the Abbot Public Library in Marblehead, the Museum of Science, and the Emily Dickinson Museum. He penned three non-fiction books analyzing museum impact as well as three unpublished mystery novels.

Albert Brenner Production Designer

Albert Brenner ’50, an Oscar-nominated production designer whose credits include The Sunshine Boys, The Turning Point, and California Suite died on December 8, 2022. He was 96.

Born in 1926 in Brooklyn, Brenner served in the Air Force during World War II before receiving his MFA from the School of Drama. As a young set designer in New York, he worked on commercials and television shows, including The Phil Silvers Show on CBS and NBC’s Car 54,

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John W. Jacobsen ’69, YC ’67

Albert Brenner ’50

In Memoriam

Where Are You? When an opportunity arose to work in Hollywood, he relocated to the West Coast. It was the beginning of a movie career that would span over four decades and include more than 50 feature films.

Brenner earned five Academy Award nominations for Best Art Direction: The Sunshine Boys (1975), The Turning Point (1977), California Suite (1978), 2010: The Year We Make Contact (1984) and Beaches (1988). His movie credits also include The Hustler, The Pawnbroker, Fail Safe, Bullitt, The Missouri Breaks, Pretty Woman, Silent Movie, Backdraft, and Georgia Rule. Over the course of his career, he collaborated with some of Hollywood’s most celebrated directors, often on more than one film. He made eight films with director Garry Marshall, seven with Herbert Ross, and three with Sidney Lumet.

Benner’s innovative design for The Sunshine Boys featured a circular apartment set which allowed the two elderly Vaudeville comedians, played by Walter Matthau and George Burns, to walk around, from room to room, while the camera tracked their movements.

His production design for Peter Hyams’ 2010, the follow-up to Stanley Kubrick’s cult classic 2001: A Space Odyssey, was a big hit with sci-fi fans. The futuristic interiors of the film’s Russian spacecraft were made from a truckload of “anything unusual,” Brenner told Starlog magazine in 1984, all painted over in gray and white tones. They included a lawn mower motor, a child’s car seat turned upside down, a pool filter, a car bumper, and the foam packaging from ice cream cones rescued from a family picnic. It was a tour-de-force of creative ingenuity.

Brenner served on the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Board of Governors and was president of the Society of Art Directors. For his many contributions to the field of production design, he received the Art Directors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003.

Albert Brenner met his wife Susan while

working on The Goodbye Girl — she was Herb Ross’ assistant. They were married for more than 40 years. He is survived by Susan and his children David, Kathryn, Faye, Rachel, Mara, and six grandchildren.

Elizabeth (Betsy) Parrish

Betsy Parrish, a Broadway actor and former member of the Drama School faculty, died on December 16, 2022, at the Mary Manning Walsh Home in New York. She was 97.

A well-known and highly regarded acting teacher, Betsy Parrish served on the School’s faculty from 1970 to 1976; her teaching career also included the Stella Adler Studio—where she held the position of Master Acting Teacher—the High School for Performing Arts, The American Academy of Dramatic Arts, and Circle in the Square.

On the Broadway stage, Parrish originated the role of Jacqueline in La Cage aux Folles and starred in over 1,000 performances of Deathtrap. She appeared in many offBroadway productions, among them Little Mary Sunshine and Riverwind, as well as the films Orphans, Tootsie, and See You in the Morning. Parrish was also a popular performer on the New York City cabaret circuit.

After graduating from Bennington College, where she studied with Martha Gra-

Carmen de Lavallade (Former Faculty), Betsy Parrish (Former Faculty), and Jeremy Smith ’76

In Memoriam

ham, Parrish began her acting studies with Stella Adler (Former Faculty). It was the beginning of what would become a lifelong association with the Stella Adler Studio. In 1969, Parrish came to Yale as a member of the nascent Yale Repertory Theatre company; the following year she began teaching acting at the School of Drama. She appeared in a host of Yale Rep productions — Ovid’s Metamorphosis, directed by Larry Arrick (Former Faculty), Shakespeare’s Macbeth directed by Robert Brustein ’51, HON ’66 (Former Dean), and Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill’s The Seven Deadly Sins, directed by Alvin Epstein (Former Faculty), among them — while earning a reputation as one of the School’s leading instructors.

James Magruder ’88, DFA ’92, MA ’84 interviewed Parrish for his forthcoming book on the history of the Rep. “In her nineties, she was still going strong at the Stella Adler Studio,” he recalled. “As a way to demonstrate the power of the singing actor, she provided an impromptu, tragic rendition of the first two verses of Ado Annie’s ‘I Cain’t Say No’ from Oklahoma! Goosebumps. I’ll never forget it.”

Jeremy Smith ’76 was one of Parrish’s former students who took her Acting a Song class at the School. “Betsy’s class was always our favorite,” Smith remembered. “She was an eternal optimist, a lifelong mentor, and a dear friend. She will be deeply missed by the theater community and all who knew her.”

Michael Feingold Theater Critic

Michael Feingold ’72, dramaturg, translator, and venerated critic, died on November 21, 2022, in Manhattan. He was 77. Mark Bly ’80 (Former Faculty) offers his thoughts on this extraordinary man of the theater.

Many of those who have already written tributes about Michael Feingold ’72, including Charles McNulty ’93, DFA ’95 in American

Theatre, have celebrated his astonishing critical voice and writing. Michael helped to challenge and shape our theater, offering new ways of interpretation and shattering existing expectations for what the critic’s role might be.

I admired Michael’s Village Voice commentary and was inspired by it over the years. I was not alone; he won two George Jean Nathan Awards. Michael was a towering force as critic, but his plays and translations permeated the theater world, as well. He was famous for his work on Brecht’s The Threepenny Opera and The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, and Max Frisch’s The Firebugs among others.

My encounters with Michael Feingold the dramaturg, the translator, and the playwright had the most impact on me.

I was already familiar with Michael before meeting him in 1979, when Joel Schechter ’72, DFA ’73 (Former Faculty) and I interviewed him and Alvin Epstein (Former Faculty) for Yale’s Theatre magazine. Michael was a veteran new play dramaturg at the O’Neill Theater Center and the first literary manager of Yale Rep, whose script reports I had read and absorbed as a student. When we interviewed them, I was terrified. Michael was a major force in the theater: he was the Guthrie’s literary manager following in the footsteps of John Lahr, Barbara Fields, and Anthony Burgess. But Michael was gracious, respectful, and eager to help us.

My favorite moment with Michael was in Seattle in 1991 at the prestigious International Festival of Arts and Ideas. I was working at Seattle Rep when he asked me to direct a staged reading of the American premiere of his extraordinary translation of

In Memoriam

Heldenplatz (Heroes Square) by Thomas Bernhard—the Jonathan Swift of Austrian theater. Taking place in Vienna 50 years after the Nazis were welcomed in that Square, Bernhard’s play explores how antisemitism and nationalism still lie in the shadows, waiting for a new day.

As I write these words on the second anniversary of the January 6th Capitol insurrection, I’m still struck by Michael’s prophetic instincts. In rehearsal for Heldenplatz, he challenged us rigorously to face what may be lurking in our own society today. All of this echoes forward in time for me now. Michael Feingold’s greatest gift as an artist and critic was to shine light on the darkness, leaving us no place to hide. In doing so, he left us sober, and yet more hopeful, for the future.

Eugene Lee Set Designer

Eugene Lee ’86, a Tony and Emmy Awardwinning set designer whose credits include Sweeney Todd, Wicked, and Saturday Night Live, died on February 6, 2023, in Providence, Rhode Island. He was 83.

Over the course of his prolific career, Eugene Lee won three Tony Awards, for the Broadway productions of Candide in 1974, Sweeney Todd in 1979, and Wicked in 2003, and designed the sets for dozens more here and abroad, including Merrily We Roll Along, Agnes of God, Show Boat, Ragtime, Seussical, Glengarry Glen Ross, and most recently, Bright Star.

He was nominated for 18 Emmy Awards and won six for his work as the production designer of SNL; he designed the show’s original set, the now-iconic Studio 8H, in 1975, which is still used today. He also served as production designer for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and Late Night with Seth Meyers. His feature film credits include Francis Ford Coppola’s Hammett, Danny Huston’s Mr. North, and Louis Malle’s Vanya on 42nd Street.

Eugene Edward Lee was born in 1939, in Beloit, Wisconsin. He studied at the University of Wisconsin and Carnegie Mellon University before attending the School of Drama. Although he left in 1967 before earning a degree, he ultimately received his MFA in 1986.

In 1967, Lee began designing sets for Trinity Repertory Company in Providence, and became the theater’s resident designer, first under Artistic Director Adrian Hall and later Oskar Eustis. His design credits at Trinity Rep include more than 100 productions, among them Billy Budd (1969), Peer Gynt (1974), American Buffalo (1978), The Cherry Orchard (1988), School for Wives (1991), Camelot (2010) and A Tale of Two Cities (2020). In 2010, Lee and Eustis collaborated on the world premiere of Compulsion by Rinne Groff at Yale Rep, starring Mandy Patinkin. Eustis told The New York Times that Lee “loved real objects...but used them in utterly nonrealistic ways onstage.” That stylistic signature of Lee’s work could be seen in his award-winning designs for the revival of Leonard Bernstein’s Candide, with its deconstructed circus midway set, and Sweeney Todd, where he filled the Victorian London set with rusty ironworks he found in

Eugene Lee ’86. Photo by Mike Braca.

In Memoriam

an old foundry in Rhode Island. Both shows were directed by his longtime collaborator Hal Prince.

Lee could also take a more minimalist approach, something that the short timeframe of Saturday Night Live required. “‘Wayne’s World.’ What is that? A basement. Oh—how about some wood paneling on the wall and a couch?” he said, describing his instantly recognizable set in the Yale Alumni Magazine in 2017. “Sometimes the simplest things end up being the most important.”

Lee’s theater work was honored by the Drama Desk Awards, the Outer Critics Circle Awards, and the Lucille Lortel Awards, among others. He was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame and the New York Theater Hall of Fame. He received honorary degrees from DePaul University, Rhode Island College, and the Rhode Island School of Design.

Eugene Lee is survived by his wife, Brooke, his twin brother, Thomas, sons Willie and Ted, and two grandchildren.

Robert Kalfin Director and Producer

Robert Kalfin ’57, a director, producer, and co-founder of the Chelsea Theater Center in New York, died on September 20, 2022. He was 89.

Kalfin was a leading figure in offBroadway theater for more than two decades, known for his experimental and innovative productions of both new and classic plays. Among them were Strider by Mark Rozovsky, Yentl, based on the story by Isaac Bashevis Singer, and the 1977 Broadway production of Happy End, a Kurt

Weill and Bertolt Brecht musical comedy that featured Meryl Streep ’75, HON ’83 and Christopher Lloyd YC ’82. His work challenged audiences as well as critics, some of whom did not respond favorably. But the Chelsea Theater Center’s mission, Kalfin told the Primary Stages Off-Broadway Oral History project in 2014, was to “do whatever nobody else is doing and what we think people ought to see.”

Robert Kalfin was born in 1933 in the Bronx. He attended the High School of Mu-

sic & Art in Manhattan and studied psychology and theater at Alfred University. He earned his MFA in 1957 from the School of Drama.

After several jobs in television production, he directed his first play, The Golem, at St. Mark’s Playhouse. In 1965, along with George Bari, who would become his life partner, and David Long, Kalfin founded the Chelsea Theater Center, taking its name from the New York neighborhood where it was first located. When Chelsea Theater

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Robert Kalfin ’57 Photo courtesy of Joshua Royte ’87 FES.

John Shea ’73 as Avigdor and Tovah Feldshuh as Yentl in Yentl, directed by Robert Kalfin ’57

Photo by Laura Pettibone.

In Memoriam

moved its home to the Brooklyn Academy of Music three years later, Michael David ’68 and Burl Hash ’70 joined the company as executive director and production director, respectively. At BAM, Kalfin produced a string of bold and provocative plays, including Slave Ship by Amiri Baraka, directed by Gilbert Moses in 1969, and a five-hour production of The Screens by Jean Genet, directed by Minos Volanakis in 1971. In 1973, he revived Leonard Bernstein’s Candide, with a new book by Hugh Wheeler and direction by Harold Prince. A success in Brooklyn, the show transferred to Broadway where it ran for two years.

John Shea ’73 was one of many actors who praised Kalfin’s directorial skills. He played the male lead, Avigdor, in Chelsea Theater’s Yentl. “Bob helped me turn myself from a New England Irish Catholic into a Yeshiva boy from Poland,” he recalled. “Yentl was a massive hit and moved to Broadway. Bob’s direction of actors—incisive, patient, and inspired—brought audiences to their feet.”

“Bob’s time at Yale was hugely influential to his work on the dozens of creative, critical, and often difficult theatrical productions he was known for,” shared Joshua Royte ’87 FES, Kalfin’s nephew. “He produced what he thought needed to be done; theater that exposed the inequality that permeates humanity.”

The Chelsea Theater Center closed in 1984, but Kalfin continued to direct offBroadway and at regional theaters across the country. In 2015, he was honored as a Legend of Off-Broadway by the Off-Broadway Alliance. He received a Tony nomination for Happy End in 1977 and won a Special Tony Award for Candide in 1974. He was also a three-time Drama Desk Outstanding Director Award winner.

Robert Kalfin’s partner, George Bari, died in 2013. Kalfin is survived by his nephew, Joshua, and niece, Elizabeth.

Virginia Pils Teacher

Virginia Fraley Pils, a graduate of the Class of 1952, died on November 3, 2022. She was 96. Virginia was raised in Los Angeles. She attended Long Beach Poly Tech High School and graduated from UCLA in 1948. She taught high school English in Michigan before enrolling in the School of Drama and receiving her MFA in Acting.

The early 1950s were a noteworthy time at the School; Virginia’s fellow students included James O. Barnhill ’54, YC ’47, Nikos Psacharapoulos ’54 (Former Faculty), and Paul Newman ’54, HON ’88, among others. Like many of her classmates, Virginia moved to New York City after graduation to pursue a career in the theater. To support herself, she found steady work in the personnel office of the General Electric Company. It was there she met George Dewey Pils. They married in 1958 and had four children. Moving often at first for George’s work as a corporate executive, they eventually settled in Westport, CT, close enough for Virginia to regularly attend the Yale Rep productions she enjoyed so much. When her children were old enough, Virginia returned to teaching. She taught English at Fairfield Prep and the Daycroft School in Greenwich and drama at the Seabury Center in Westport.

Long after her days at Yale, Virginia remained a devoted member of our alumni community. In 1979, she was instrumental in establishing a scholarship in memory of Constance Welch (Former Faculty), one of the School’s most beloved professors. Welch, who first came to Yale in 1929, taught acting, directing, play production, and diction for 38 years. The initial recipient of the Constance Welch Scholarship was Frances McDormand ’82. The most recent recipients were Anthony Holiday ’22 and Karl Green ’24.

Virginia’s husband, George, died in 2011. She is survived by her four children, Dwain, Diana, Gary, and Gregg, and four grandchildren.

In Memoriam

Award-winning set designer and art director, William “Bill” Bohnert ’58 passed away peacefully on July 17, 2022, at the age of 90. He worked on some of the most iconic programs in American television including The Ed Sullivan Show, The Electric Company, The Muppet Show, and more.

Art played a significant role in Bill’s life from an early age. His mother and stepmother were both painters, and his father was a commercial

artist who used Bill as the model for a Dutchboy paints advertisement.

Bill was a curious student and had many academic interests. He studied both nuclear physics and architecture at MIT and participated in summer stock theater. At Yale he studied set design, while also taking classes in lighting and costuming.

His big break was The Ed Sullivan Show. The art director Bill was hired to assist quit a few days after he began working, and Bill, who showed aptitude and promise, took his place. He described his 10 years as art director on the show as “heaven” because he was given so much agency. This artistic freedom enabled Bill the space to create one of the signature designs of his career: the “arrow” set for The Beatles during one of their guest appearances. Using rigging principles he learned from his time in the

William “Bill” Bohnert Designer

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The Beatles and Bill’s iconic “arrow” set on The Ed Sullivan Show, February 9, 1964.

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William “Bill” Bohnert ’58. Photo by Vince Duqué.

In Memoriam

theater, Bill designed a stage where many illuminated arrows seemed to “fly in” and point to the members of the band. The resulting image was so striking that The Beatles used it as the cover for their album “Something New.”

Bill was always sure of his calling to his craft: “I like being creative,” he said in an interview with artist Michelle Mangione in 2020. “There’s no question about it. I like putting things together.” Within these words is a legacy, one that reminds Bill’s artistic successors to keep building their art, one piece at a time, and to find their way through doing what they love.

Charles Kimbrough

Charles M. Kimbrough ’61, an Emmy-nominated actor best known for playing the news anchor, Jim Dial, on the sitcom Murphy Brown, died on January 11, 2023, in Culver City, California. He was 86. Also a gifted singer, Kimbrough received a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his portrayal of Harry in the original Broadway production of Stephen Sondheim’s Company in 1971. He also appeared in the Sondheim musical Sunday in the Park with George in 1984. The New York Times hailed his performance in the revival of Leonard Bernstein’s Candide in 1975. “There is a quality of pure sweetness that is utterly beguiling,” wrote critic Clive Barnes. “Even as the lecherous Governor, Mr. Kimbrough leers with joyous innocence... his acting is completely his own and delightful.” Kimbrough’s other Broadway credits include Same Time, Next Year, Hay Fever, The Merchant of Venice and the 2012 revival of Harvey opposite Jim Parsons. He also starred in the original 1995 off-Broadway production of the A.R. Gurney ’58 comedy Sylvia with Blythe Danner and Sarah Jessica Parker.

Charles Kimbrough was born in 1936 in

St. Paul, Minnesota. His family later moved to the Chicago suburb of Highland Park. At Indiana University, he majored in music and theater and went on to receive his MFA from the School of Drama in 1961. He found work on television, including the series Kojak, TV commercials, and films, among them The Front, The Seduction of Joe Tynan, and Starting Over, before landing a part on Murphy Brown alongside Candice Bergen.

Often cast as the upright and uptight man in the three-piece suit, Kimbrough brought humor and heart to his role on Murphy Brown. He appeared in all 10 seasons of the CBS series, from 1988 to 1998, and in sev-

eral episodes of the show’s 2018 reboot. Diane English, the show’s creator, described the perfect pitch he brought to his character as “ramrod posture, anchor voice, slickedback hair—with amazing comic timing.” His performance earned him a 1990 Emmy nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.

Actor

Charles Kimbrough ’61

In Memoriam

Kimbrough and his first wife, Mary Jane Wilson Kimbrough ’61, a Drama School classmate, were divorced in 1991. He later married Beth Howland, who had performed with him in Company and starred as the waitress Vera on the long-running CBS sitcom Alice. She died in 2015.

Charles Kimbrough is survived by his son, John, his sister, Linda Kimbrough, and a stepdaughter, Holly Howland.

Mary Mara

Actor

Mary Mara ’89, an actor known for her performances in popular TV shows, tragically drowned on June 26, 2022, while swimming in the St. Lawrence River, near the town of Cape Vincent in Upstate New York. She was 61.

totally unique and original human being and a blazingly talented artist, passionately devoted to family and friends.”

Mara was born in Syracuse, New York. She attended San Francisco State University and received her MFA from the School of Drama in 1989. That year Mara performed in the New York Shakespeare Festival’s Twelfth Night She also appeared in the made-for-TV movie The Preppie Murder, based on the true story of a young woman murdered in New York’s Central Park.

Mara’s other film credits include Mr. Saturday Night, Love Potion No.9, Prom Night, Blue Steel, True Colors, Doubt, and most recently, Break Even. She was widely recognized for her recurring roles on a number of long-running television dramas including E.R., Nash Bridges, Dexter, and Ray Donovan. Mara also appeared on Lost, The West

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13 Mary Mara ’89

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Mary Mara ’89 and her classmates on Crown Street in 1986. (top row, left to right) Cameron Smith ’89, Dennis Hilton-Reid ’89, Erik Onate ’89, Roger Bechtel ’89; (middle row, left to right)

Mara’s close friend and Drama School classmate Walker Jones ’89 expressed the shock and sadness so many felt upon hearing of her untimely death. “Mary’s sudden passing has hit all of us very deeply. She was a

Wing, Star Trek: Enterprise, NYPD Blue, The Practice, and Ally McBeal.

Bill Corbett ’89, YC ’82 remembered Mary as both an artistic soulmate and collaborator. “She created roles in four of my

Mary Mara, Gail Shapiro ’89, Quentin O’Brien ’89, Jim MacLaren ’89, YC ’85; (bottom row, left to right) Robert Reuven Russell ’89, Walker Jones ’89, Susan Knight Carlin ’89, Babo Harrison ’89, Suzy Fay ’89; (bottom front) Benard Cummings ’89

In Memoriam

early plays, and she was amazing: subtle, fierce, incredibly funny, and able to make everything I wrote feel vibrant and alive. I learned to write so much better for women because of her talent and honest (blunt and kind!) feedback.”

Mara is survived by her sisters Martha Mara and Susan Dailey, and her stepdaughter, Katie Mersola.

Stephen R. Lawson

In 1969, Stephen R. Lawson ’76, then an undergraduate at Williams College, wrote his first press release and sold tickets for the

tor, director, playwright, dramaturg, producer, cabaret singer. He helped create the theater’s Second Company, a training program for up-and-coming young actors, and the Free Theater program, which staged free outdoor productions every summer. Steve also co-founded the Williamstown Film Festival and served as its executive director for 15 years. He wrote for television, including St. Elsewhere and The Dick Cavett Show, as well as for The New York Times, Travel & Leisure, and Saturday Review.

After graduation, Steve left Williamstown, briefly, and came to New Haven. He earned his MFA in Dramaturgy and Dramatic Criticism from the School of Drama in 1976. Steve’s education and training at Yale

Williamstown Theatre Festival. It was the beginning of an association that would last a lifetime. Steve died this past year at his home in Williamstown at age 73. Over the course of almost 50 years, he did just about everything one could do at the Festival: ac-

was an experience that he never forgot, and because of this he chose to remember the School with a generous estate gift.

Producer and Theater Artist

Stephen R. Lawson ’76 in Cabaret at Williamstown Theatre Festival in 1975. Photo by C.G. Wolfson.

In Memoriam

Farewell

Patricia Backlar ’55 / 1.28.2017

Roger Bechtel ’89 / 5.10.2021

William “Bill” Bohnert ’58 / 7.17.2022

Albert Brenner ’50 / 12.8.2022

Thomas Burton Burrows (Former Faculty) / 9.18.2022

W. Dennis Carroll ’65 / 11.25.2021

Katherine D. Cline ’60 / 12.21.2020

Thomas Cooke ’60 / 10.17.2022

Vida Ann Vliet Deringer ’58 / 6.16.2022

G. Stimson Eveleth ’53 / 8.9.2016

Michael Feingold ’72 / 11.21.2022

Josephine “Josy” Fox Goodman ’59 / 2.20.2019

Elizabeth Ann Garfield Greenhoe ’52 / 8.1.2017

Todd Haimes SOM ‘80 (Former Faculty) / 4.19.2023

Herbert Haft ’57 / 7.23.2022

E. Stanley Harrison ’60 / 8.21.2021

William Hjortsberg ’65 / 4.27.2017

Elizabeth Holloway ‘66 / 4.12.2023

Jonathan “Jon” Huberth ’70 / 11.27.2022

John W. Jacobsen ’69, YC ’67 / 1.12.2023

Robert Kalfin ’57 / 9.20.2022

Barbara Joan Kelly ’54 / 4.30.2022

Charles Kimbrough ’61 / 1.11.2023

John Krich ’61 / 9.15.2022

Ellen Browning Lambris ’55 / 1.1.2021

Sandra “Sandy” Jones Langhart ’65 / 1.7.2020

Stephen R. Lawson ’76 / 2.7.2023

Eugene Lee ’86 / 2.6.2023

Michelle N. Lee ’89 / 6.21.2022

Wolodymyr Walter Lysniak ’58 / 2020

Janell M. MacArthur ’61 / 2.1.2022

Lawrence Kinsloe Madison ’68 / 12.16.2022

Mary Mara ’89 / 6.26.2022

Marvin March ’55 / 10.28.2022

Margaret Turrill McCaw ’66 / 10.30.2022

Barbara C. Page ’57 / 4.29.2016

Betsy Parrish (Former Faculty) / 12.16.2022

Virginia Pils ’52 / 11.3.2022

Lance Reddick ’94 / 3.17.2023

Patricia Rochon ’75 / 3.13.2023

Lucia Coulter Scala ’61 / 11.18.2020

Sue Carroll Smith ’54 / 5.29.2019

Gloria Brim Beckerman Stamler ’53 / 4.2021

Robin Davis Wilkins ’67 / 9.5.2021

Alumni Notes

1940s

Joan Kron ’48 writes: “I’m about to be 95 and hoping to finish Weapon of Beauty, my film on the cloak and dagger history of Botox. I’m also writing a memoir of my escapades in the art world in the 1960s. This year, I visited the UK while researching my film and stopped by the police at Porton Down, the spy center in England.”

1950s

Gordon Micunis ’59 is happily residing in New York City, attending theater, exhibiting his paintings at Lilac Gallery, and refining his craft with classes at the Art Students League. He would be delighted to reconnect with old friends and classmates when they are in town.

1960s

Helen Yalof ’60 writes: “My new adventures as a comedian began at the start of the COVID era. Due to the pandemic, the activities at the Greenwich House Senior Center shifted to Zoom. I checked out their new comedy class with comedian Jo Firestone. The other participants were interesting and funny. By word-of-mouth, our class soon expanded to include bi-coastal and international members. Unexpectedly, the class gained worldwide media attention, and Jo was celebrated for teaching comedy to seniors. For a world in distress, it was a unique newsworthy ray of sunshine. Peacock, the NBC streaming service, invited us to make a film about our class. Good Timing with Jo Firestone was shot in Manhattan at the Abrons Arts Center and was nominated for a 2022 Critics Choice Award. We followed up with stage shows at the Greenwich House Theater and at New York City’s Little

Alumni Notes

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Island. I also performed in shows with the Nicole Kontolefa’s Theater for Change and I’m formatting the script of my new musical, Ludwig’s Apple, about New York’s singles scene in the late 1960s at Maxwell’s Plum, a bar designed by young scenic designers from Yale.” ● For James Berton Harris ’66 this has been a lifestyle-changing year. “I sold my house and moved into a ‘retirement community’ apartment. My book, Six Degrees of Betty Grable: Movies, Music, and Murder, was published in January, and the reader responses on Amazon have been awesome. I am working on a third book, 2 Plus One, that consists of a stream of consciousness preface and two unrelated long, short stories. I was hoping to have it done before the holidays, but the move took more time and energy than I anticipated. However, finishing the manuscript during a cold and snowy Michigan winter with a cup of Chief Hole in the Day coffee and a plate of McVitie’s Dark Chocolate Digestive Biscuits next to the computer doesn’t seem all that bad.” ● Estuary, a short experimental animated film by Warren Bass ’67, has received six international First Place awards and 16 Official Juried Selections at film festivals across 10 countries. ● Vienna Cobb Anderson ’67 writes: “I’m having fun creating in various media in my ‘old age.’ As my neurologist said, ‘stay young by doing new things.’” ● Robert Greenwood ’67 performed a one-man livestream production of Shakespeare as part of a fundraiser for Ukraine. He has painted over 60 canvases, preparing them for exhibition in galleries across Calgary and Edmonton. This year also marks the 45th anniversary of Sun.Ergos, an Alberta-based community arts organization he founded with his life partner, Dana Luebke. A performance series and gala celebrating this achievement occurred in January 2022. ● Roger Hendricks

premiered at the Chain Theatre in

Simon ’67 recently starred in the play Love, Sex, and Real Estate, which

NYC and

Joan Kron ’48 at Porton Down, England. Photo by Lucy Sisman.

02 Helen Yalof ’60 03

Don Walker ’69 and Matthew McGee in The People Downstairs at American Stage in Tampa. 04

Jim Metzner ’69 in a bird observation tunnel on the Otago Peninsula in New Zealand. 05

A fused glass plate by Vienna Cobb Anderson ’67

It’s All Greek to Me by Richard Arthur Olson ’69. Photo credit by Rania Ajami.

Ken Waissman, Jim Jacobs, and Tom Moore ’68 celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Broadway production of Grease. Photo courtesy of Tom Moore.

Robert Greenwood ’67 as Prospero in a livestream production of Shakespeare. Photo by Brandon De La Cruz.

Alumni Notes

was produced by the American Renaissance Theater Company. ● The short documentary film There is No Separation features Laura Jackson ’68 and her life in Montana. It is currently being submitted to various film festivals internationally. You can view the trailer at noseparation.net. ● In June 2022, director Tom Moore ’68 and members of the original Broadway production of Grease celebrated its 50th anniversary and the publication of Grease: Tell Me More, Tell Me More with two weeks of events in New York, including two nights at 54 Below, an anniversary dinner at Sardi’s, and multiple book talks and signings across the city. The book sold out 80% of its first printing in just nine days. ● Linda Fisher ’69 writes: “The Harry Ransom Center has asked for contributions from the Tuna shows, including Greater Tuna, A Tuna Christmas, and Tuna Does Vegas, for which I designed the clothes back in the previous century. Evidently talks are underway, so stay tuned—my costumes might be joining Robert DeNiro’s archives!” ● Jim Metzner’s ’69 collection of soundscapes, which was recently acquired by the Library of Congress, captures the broad spectrum of sounds from the natural world. This past fall, Jim traveled to New Zealand, where he served as Fulbright Specialist in Media and Communication. ● Richard Arthur Olson ’69 writes: “I wrote the script for It’s All Greek to Me, about a philosophy class that takes place on Zoom, where it was performed and recorded in 2021. Despite the serious subject matter, it is basically a comedy of manners and can be seen on YouTube.” ● The 2021-22 season had several high points for Don Walker ’69, starting with a leading role in The People Downstairs by Natalie Symons at American Stage in Tampa, a supporting role in Ruby by Michael and Nate Jacobs at Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe, in Sarasota, and finally, Tuesdays With Morrie by Jeffrey Hatcher and Mitch Albom, for Sarasota Jewish Theater.

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Rehearsal for Carmen directed by Patricia Norcia ’78 at High Hopes Riding Center, Old Lyme, CT. Photo by Katrina Gray.

Beyond Brooklyn by Edith Tarbescu ’76.

Bruce Huett ’70 as Father Christmas.

A staged reading of Her Rightful Place by Joseph Capone ’76 at The Stissing Center.

Early Fall Tree by Adrianne Lobel ’79

Alumni Notes 1970s

Now in his 54th year on the Smith College theater faculty, Len Berkman ’70 had two short-stories, “Cordelia Lear” and “My Student,” as well as a memoir, A Beef Stew for Shakespeare, published in Massachusetts Review this year. “Cordelia Lear” was also released as a film, directed by James Barry. Len has written his second opera libretto for composer Marco Rosano and served as play development dramaturg for Josh Radnor’s The Forgiveness Machine at New York Stage and Film’s annual summer season of new works—marking his 32nd year as company dramaturg for NYSF. Two of his essays are scheduled to appear in Chasing the Demons, a forthcoming volume on the staging of trauma from the classics to the present. ● Bruce Huett ’70 writes: “Although I didn’t stay in professional theater for very long after graduation, the skills I learned from the wonderful staff were invaluable for my subsequent career as a management consultant. The acting, speech, movement, and dance classes provided me with the confidence to talk to both small groups and large audiences. I have lectured to local societies and international conferences on my special interests in conservation, local history, and Himalayan travels to China, Tibet, Nepal, and Bhutan. The directing classes gave me the techniques to work with groups to maximize both their individual potential and their effectiveness as a team. Some of the exercises I used when rehearsing for a play worked surprisingly well for motivating a team of accountants! More closely related to my theater studies is assistance with a production of Benjamin Britten’s opera Noye’s Fludde using French and English school children and my recent assisting in the production of a documentary about my local chalk stream in Cambridgeshire, England, in which I also

appear. The documentary can be found at: waterlightproject.org.uk.” ● After 24 years with Harris Goldman Productions, William Purves ’71 is retiring. He looks forward to visiting with friends and fellow alumni in cities across the U.S. ● In 2022, Linda Fisher ’72 and David Toser ’64 were named artistic honorees at the Irish Repertory Theatre gala for their costume designs on over 50 productions in the past 33 years. ● Femi Euba’s ’73 Craters was performed at the LSU Shaver Theatre in February 2022. Incited by an incident in the American Civil War, the play charts a generational family history of racism from the point of view of the central character—a prosecuting attorney. ● John Shea ’73 is Artistic Director Emeritus of Theatre Workshop of Nantucket, where his production of Orson Welles’ Moby Dick Rehearsed just celebrated its 11th sold out season. Grey Lady, his romantic thriller set on Nantucket, is currently streaming and internationally distributed by Lionsgate. He plans to shoot his next film, The Junkie Priest, in New York. ● Her Rightful Place, a play by Joseph Capone ’76 about Queen Elizabeth I’s first meeting with Grace O’Malley, the Pirate Queen of Ireland, received a staged reading at the Stissing Center in February as part of the Local Produce Readers’ Theatre. ● Fredrica Klemm ’76 writes: “After leaving Yale, I found myself working in the backpacking and ski industries, finally retiring as CFO of Swix Sport USA. All those administration and management classes from Herman Krawitz (Former Faculty) and Frank Torok (Former Faculty) really paid off. After 30+ years in the Boston area, I have moved back west to be closer to family. Carson City, Nevada, may not be San Francisco (my hometown), but it’s a great little town. I have managed to bring a few Boston phrases with me—the use of ‘wicked cold’ does get me a few strange looks.” ● Robert Long ’76 is pleased to announce that he is a fellow of the

American Society of Theatre Consultants, and a proud grandfather of one-year-old Woods Long. ● Edith Tarbescu ’76 recently published a memoir titled Beyond Brooklyn, about her experiences growing up in New York. The book is interspersed with short plays, including her one-woman play Suffer Queen ● Prior to the COVID shutdown, H. Lloyd Carbaugh ’78 was working as a consultant to the arts software company, Tessitura, with fellow alumnus Don Youngberg ’83. Now fully in retirement, he serves as a member of the board of directors for the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, where he oversees the activities of the Festival’s large volunteer guild and helps with fundraising efforts, and the Allentown Symphony Association, where he sits on the Education Committee, chairs the Jazz Committee, and will shortly take on the chairmanship of the Artistic Committee. ● Patricia Norcia ’78 directed an adaptation of Carmen for Opera Theater of Connecticut featuring six Spanish dancing horses. The production opened in September to sold-out performances. ● Roy Bennett Steinberg ’78, producing artistic director of Cape May Stage, directed the world premieres of Becoming Satchel Paige by Dan McCormick and America’s Sexiest Couple by Ken Levine, as well as the regional premiere of The Lifespan of a Fact by Jeremy Kareken, David Murrell, and Gordon Farrell ’86. ● Adrianne Lobel ’79 is continuing to work as a full-time painter and tapestry artist. She will have two shows in 2023: one at the Bowery Gallery in April, and one at The Fenimore Art Museum in September.

1980s

Last summer, Mark Bly ’80 served as co-founder and director of the Kennedy Center Dramaturgy Intensive, facilitating a

Alumni Notes

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Robert Alford II ’85 (right) on the set of Notes on the War. Photo courtesy of Robert Alford II.

Barbara Bragg ’87 (left) at the Space Command premiere Photo courtesy of Getty Images.

Wendy Adele Evered ’89

James Bender ’85 and his son, Brandon.

Art Borreca ’86, DFA ’93 and daughter, Elliana.

Terry Witter ’85 (second from left) at the Broadway Cares Flea Market.

Photo by Alfredo D’Uva.

The new home for Michael Bianco’s ’84 production company.

Alumni Notes

series of internationally attended workshops that included ones led by Lenora Inez Brown ’93 and Lydia Garcia ’08. Bly has recently been appointed to the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas AntiOppression Task Force. ● Geoff Pierson ’80, of Dexter fame, will appear in the Apple TV+ series City on Fire, set to premiere in 2023. ● Richard Zigun ’80 recently separated from Coney Island USA, the entertainment non-profit he founded over 40 years ago. His departure was featured in a January 2022 article in The New York Times. In July, he made an appearance in the music video “Omens” by metal band Lamb of God, amassing over one million views on YouTube. He currently serves as a planning consultant for Luna Park and is looking to pitch a reality TV show about Coney Island. ● In January 2023, Ben Cameron ’81 retired from the Jerome Foundation in Minnesota after serving as its president for eight years. He and his husband, Scott, are looking forward to the relaxing years ahead and finding new ways to enrich the local arts community. With this change, Ben has taken his first hiatus in more than 20 years in his role as lecturer in Theater Management at David Geffen School of Drama. While he misses the DGSD family, he happily welcomes any visitors in Minnesota. ● In December of 2021, Steven Saklad ’81 took home the award for Best Production Design for his work on Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar. Most recently, he served as the production designer for Disney’s Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers, which received an Emmy for Best TV Movie of the Year. Steve’s next project is The Deliverance, a Netflix original horror film scheduled to be released in 2023. ● The documentary theater piece, Gage County, NE, that Cecilia Rubino ’82 wrote and directed with community members in Nebraska about the infamous Beatrice Six Case, which led to the largest group DNA

exoneration in U.S. history, is featured in the HBO Max series Mind Over Murder, directed by Nanfu Wang. The show has been covered by American Theatre and Primetimer, and Cecilia is working with HBO to get the rights so that the play can have its own life beyond the series. ● Michael Bianco ’84 purchased a former church in Bethlehem, PA, and converted it into a workshop for his holiday scenery production company, ELF Productions, Inc. ● Robert Wierzel ’84 has a number of exciting projects on the horizon for 2023. In March, his lighting design were featured in The March to Liberation with the New York Philharmonic, with projection design by Rasean Davonté Johnson ’16. This summer, Robert will serve as lighting designer for We Shall Not Be Moved at Pittsburgh Opera, with direction by Bill T. Jones HON ’09 and sets by Matt Saunders ’12, and the opera, Romeo and Juliet at Glimmerglass. In the fall, Robert will light Watch Night, a music-theater piece directed and choreographed by Jones, with sets by Riccardo Hernández ’92 (Faculty) and costumes by Dede Ayite ’11. ● Robert Alford II ’85 directed The Lonesome West by Martin McDonagh at Shreveport Little Theatre in January 2022. He also directed Tidewater by Sheri Bailey at Mahogany Ensemble Theatre in partnership with the Drama Club at LSU Shreveport. Robert played the role of Cyrus in Notes on the War, a finalist for the 2022 Louisiana Film Prize, directed by Stephen Joshua Martinez. ● James Bender ’85 writes: “Forty years ago, in the fall of 1982, I was a callow first-year student assigned as prop master on a School show set in medieval Spain. The king lacked an heir due to his non-performance with the queen. The royal court launched a plan to help him elevate his game. It included an oversized phallus that I was responsible for constructing. Anyone remember that show? I am now a federal business development consultant.

My youngest, Brandon, just went into 6th grade. Rhodessa and I celebrated 30 years of marriage with a trip to Patagonia in February 2022. I am now one of the longer serving deacons at Alfred Street Baptist Church. Come and see me if you are ever in the DC area.” ● Joseph Urla ’85 continues his attempts to rise to the challenge of his most important and demanding role to date, that of devoted husband and father of two girls. Looking back, Petruchio seems easy in comparison. Reviews of his work have been mostly positive, thus far. The good news is his director is open to small changes in the performance over the course of the long run. In other news, Joe has completed writing a fabulous new play and awaits parties interested in directing or producing it. ● Robert Cotnoir ’94 has wrapped the second season as music editor on the HBO Max Gossip Girl reboot. Robert also reunited with Jean Randich ’94 and Bob Murphy ’96 to create and mix the complete motion picture soundtrack for The Chechens by Phillip Christian Smith ’94 Robert’s musical venture, Grapefruit Sound Lab, has enjoyed success with his latest EP release “Original Face” that he produced for the artists Ghosha & Tao. For anyone and everyone interested in the new wave revival, vintage 80s music, LGBTQ+ music history, women in music, and Philly Gayborhood history of the late 20th century, this album is a must-have. With featured vocalist Notorious Pink (née Reg Flowers ’93) Grapefruit Sound Lab and Ghosha & Tao have earned praise from celebrities and political luminaries alike, including the 45th Governor of Pennsylvania, Ed Rendell, WXPN-FM’s Robert Drake, and the one and only Fred Schneider of The B-52s who says, “Check it out!” This album will be available on vinyl, please reserve your copy today at www.grapefruitsoundlab.com or at www.diggersfactory.com/vinyl/252855/ grapefruit-sound-lab-ghosha-tao-originalface. ● Terry Witter ’85 writes: “Living in

Alumni Notes

gratitude that our lives are slowly ebbing toward ‘normal,’ and we are back to doing eight shows a week at Aladdin, in the historic New Amsterdam Theatre. Fundraising for Broadway Cares is a huge part of my life and during the run of Aladdin, we have raised well over $1M for BCEFA. In September 2022, we raised just over $34,000 at the Broadway Cares Flea Market!!!” ● Art Borreca ’86, DFA ’93 is in his 26th year as co-head of the Iowa Playwrights Workshop and artistic director of the Iowa New Play Festival. Art is also on the faculty of the Hollins Playwrights Lab and the International Summer School of the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing. During fall 2022, he has been on research leave to write a collection of essays, Working the Action: Dramaturgy in Theatre, Film, Politics, and Life. Art and his wife, Alison Milburn, a PhD licensed psychologist in private practice, are proud parents of Chinese adoptees: Elliana, an undergraduate at Knox College, and August, a first-year student at West High in Iowa City. ● Timothy Douglas ’86 writes: “On the heels of three years at Emerson College serving as Distinguished Artist in Residence, 2022 directing assignments included the world premiere of Cheryl L. West’s Something Happened in Our Town for Children’s Theatre Company with Junghyun Georgia Lee ’01 and Alan C. Edwards ’11 (Faculty); the U.S. premiere of Natasha Gordon’s Nine Night for Round House Theatre with Tim Mackabee ’09 and April Hickman ’20; The Color Purple for Signature Theatre with Peter Maradudin ’84, and my opera debut with Terence Blanchard’s Champion for Boston Lyric Opera.” ● Adam Versényi ’86 recently stepped down as chair of the Department of Dramatic Art at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He then went to Galway, Ireland, for a month to teach his summer study abroad program, UNC Arts Criticism in Ireland, in conjunction with the Galway International

21 Marshall Williams ’95 in Guys and Dolls.

Photo courtesy of Beaufort Theatre Company.

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Esther K. Chae ’99

23 Paul Niebanck’s ’97 daughter, Grace, at Shakespeare in the Park.

24 Part of an installation at Giant Rock by Karyl Newman ’96

25 aKa, novel and cover art by Gil Kofman ’90

Alumni Notes

Arts Festival, after a two-year pause to the program. Following the conclusion of the program, he and his partner hiked the Great Glen Way across Scotland. He will continue as senior dramaturg for PlayMakers Repertory Company, where he served as dramaturg for Hamlet, which ran earlier this year. Adam also returned to his position as editor of The Mercurian: A Theatrical Translation Review. In January 2022, he published his translation of Chilean playwright and director Ramón Griffero’s book of aesthetic theory and practical exercises, The Dramaturgy of Space. ● Barbara Bragg ’87 recently appeared in an episode of Grey’s Anatomy and just finished filming a sci-fi franchise called Space Command. She is now shooting Space Command: Forgiveness, a film directed by Elaine Zicree. Barb will play Deirdre in the Coachella Rep production of The Humans. In addition to her acting career, she is launching her business, Actology. ● Cheryl Mintz ’87 returned to in-person work last year as production stage manager for George Street Playhouse, Passage Theatre, and with the American Repertory Ballet. She is continuing with the ARB as their production stage manager for the 2022-2023 season. The highlight of the year was continuing her work on The Pianist, featuring actor Robert David Grant ’13, slated for Broadway. Cheryl spent the spring semester as an adjunct professor at NYU teaching Advanced Stage Management, and this fall has returned to Montclair State University as an adjunct professor teaching Stage Management. She continues her service to the Stage Managers’ Association as a director-at large and as host, producer, and event chair of the Del Hughes Awards for Lifetime Achievement in the Art of Stage Management. During the summer, Cheryl and her husband, Harris, escaped to Hawaii and drove the West Coast Highway. ● Bob Barnett ’89 writes: “In October 2021, Walt Klappert ’79 produced a live

reading of my climate change play, A Greenhouse Determination, which has now been significantly revised and submitted to the O’Neill (fingers crossed!). I’ve also been working with composer Brian Wilber Grundstrom as dramaturg on his opera For Whom the Bell Tolls, based on the Hemingway novel. Meanwhile, I am writing a coffee table book for the 50th anniversary of Adirondack Studios and serving as president of Harlem River Community Rowing as we return to on-water programming after two years of being dry docked.” ● Wendy Adele Evered ’89 writes: “I have to first acknowledge our incredible loss with Mary Mara’s ’89 passing. It’s still inconceivable. I know we keep her alive in our hearts and minds. I hope everyone is carrying on with their passions and finding fulfilling work. Since my divorce in 2019, I have dug into my creative work. I am registered with BMI and recently released the song ‘Til Tuesday.’ Since the pandemic, I have relocated to Los Angeles and just wrapped a short film that I directed and co-acted in with Peter Nicholson, written and produced by Catherine Stanley of Drama West Productions.” ● As the new artistic director of the Yeshiva College Dramatic Society in Washington Heights, Robert Russell ’89 directed Lee Blessing’s Oldtimers Game in April 2022. He is also in his third year of teaching “Great Plays, Timeless Ideas” at Yale Alumni College.

1990s

Gil Kofman’s ’90 aKa was published by Parrhesia Verlag in Berlin. He currently has a couple plays in development, one on photographer Eadweard Muybridge, and another play on Amazon workers. ● Daniel Elihu Kramer ’91 writes: “After seven years as Producing Artistic Director of Chester Theatre Company, I’ve stepped down so that I can bring more of my

Alumni Notes

energy to my work as Chair of Theatre at Smith College, and to my freelance work as a theater director and adapter of works for stage and screen. During my time at Chester, I’ve had the chance to work with wonderful theater artists (including so many Yale grads), to diversify the stories we tell and the artists who tell them, to be in conversation with audiences, and to grow the company’s regional and national profile (and its finances). I’m looking forward to the time to focus on work elsewhere, on my students at Smith, and maybe even on taking a vacation.” ● Marty New ’92 writes: “I am beginning my eighth year regeneratively farming on my property—no kill, no pesticide, low tillage, and biodiverse Somerset Vineyards in the Santa Rita Hills. I grow pinot noir grapes and make my wine in what Wine Enthusiast has called the top wine area in the world, Santa Barbara County. There have been many challenges (I could write a book), but I find so much joy in farming and becoming a vintner. My son, Somerset, has begun college at Cal Arts Film School, and the pleasure of discussing films with him almost exceeds my pleasure in cultivating and pruning vines. It is a wonder to be so immersed in nature and to have so many friends come by to visit and share my wine and passion for farming and winemaking. Ming’s documentary, which I have shot over the last 20 years, is in the works as promised. The vineyard gives me a quiet place to edit.” ● Robin Miles ’94, YC ’86 continued to record audiobooks during the pandemic shutdowns and won the 2021 Best Female Narration Audie Award. “Teaching at Pace and UCSD was a lesson in community cohesion and uplift, and in helping young actors in training stay grounded in an ungrounded world. I was very excited to be featured in a New Yorker article about audiobook narration in December 2022. Finally, you can hear me in promotions for the American Masters series on PBS—which I love!” ● In Fall

Robin Miles ’94, YC ’86 at the 2021 Audie Awards virtual ceremony.

Chris Weida’s ’95 children— Connor, Danny, Emily and Alex.

Stamatiades ’94 and Donald Fried ’95

Phillip Christian Smith ’94 (seated, center) and the cast of his play, The Chechens.

“Original Face,” the latest album released by Robert Cotnoir’s ’94 Grapefruit Sound Lab.

Alumni Notes

2022, Phillip Christian Smith ’94 directed the fourth production of his play The Chechens at Pace University, where he is also teaching acting. Phillip is in his second and final year of his second MFA—this time in playwriting at Hunter College. He is the recipient of a Roe Green Commission with Cleveland Play House and will be working on a new play for them in the coming year. ● Flora Stamatiades ’94 has recently been appointed associate vice president of Arts Consulting Group. She previously served as a COVID safety manager on Broadway, working closely with fellow DGSD alum Donald Fried ’95. ● Deanna Stuart ’94 writes: “I’m working as the production manager for Theater and Dance at Concord Academy. I really enjoy working with the great group of designers and choreographers Concord brings in—and the kids are lovely. One of my own kiddos is graduating from high school this year, and the other is graduating from Smith College in May 2023.”

● Suzanne Cryer ’95 joined the cast of the new AMC series Straight Man alongside Bob Odenkirk, based on the Richard Russo novel of the same name. She is currently filming Disney’s Percy Jackson series, recently completed Mrs. Davis for Peacock, and recurs as Maggie Palmer, DDA, in All Rise, on OWN. Suzanne is still based in L.A. with her husband, Greg Luke, and their three children, now 13, 13, and 17. ● Chris Weida ’95 writes: “Living in Milwaukee, watching the years fly by! Alex, our oldest, graduated from University of Minnesota Twin Cities in May 2022, and is living in our basement, figuring out his next step. Connor is a senior at University of Wisconsin-Madison majoring in statistics and has a position with the State of Wisconsin Investment Board.

Emily started her first year at University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and is undecided on what she wants to major in. The house is a lot quieter with her at school. Danny,

our youngest, is a sophomore in high school and still loves to draw. He’s a wonderful artist. Rosanne and I have been married 25 years in June. She stopped teaching full time to gracefully help out my parents periodically. I’m celebrating my 17th year at Derse, an exhibit design and production company, working with operations and production personnel across the country.” ● Marshall Williams ’95 is retired and living in Beaufort, SC, where he paints, plays tennis and bridge, restores the native habitats of shorebirds and sea turtles, and enjoys local theater onstage and off. He recently played Harry the Horse in Beaufort Theatre Company’s production of Guys and Dolls. ● Alex Hammond ’96 spent some time working in New Orleans before returning home to Los Angeles. He designed the pilot and first season of the AMC show Parish, which stars Giancarlo Esposito, Zackary Momoh, and Bradley Whitford. He was excited to design his first show where all the directors have been women and/or people of color. Previously, he designed a “raucous and insane” vampire film called Renfield with Nicholas Cage, Awkwafina and Nicholas Hoult. Of the experience, Alex writes: “Much fun was had, and much scenery was chewed.” ● Positional Projects, an experimental installation site by Karyl Newman ’96 based near Giant Rock, CA, is now in its eighth year. Their first permanent exhibit opened last summer in the Mojave, where they hope to hold quarterly happenings in the newly secured Llano del Rio Silo. Most recently, they’ve begun collaboration with Hoverlay, an augmented reality platform. “Giant Rock – Augmented” opened in September on National Public Lands Day as part of their annual #storiesandstewardship program. Karyl writes: “Check it out should you find yourself near Joshua Tree.” ● Paul Niebanck ’97 played George in the Shakespeare in the Park production of

Richard III, which also included Michael Potts ’92 as Lord Stanley, and Sharon Washington ’88 as Queen Margaret. Paul sends his regards to the rest of the DGSD family, as he takes time to enjoy being a father to 5-year-old daughter, Grace. ● Ed Blunt ’99 is fresh off of training and keynoting for the Department of Defense. He is continuing to do keynote speeches and training for companies and organizations in the U.S. and beyond. Ed continues his voiceover work and, ironically, shot a commercial for Harvard University. ● Esther K. Chae ’99 joined the University of Southern California’s prestigious School of Dramatic Arts as a full-time, tenure track assistant professor in acting in fall 2022. When not on campus, she is zipping around L.A. recording English dubbing for South Korean hit series on Netflix, including The King’s Affection and Twenty-Five Twenty-One. If you want to hear her—change the language to English!

2000s

Luke Cantarella ’00 was the scenic and projection designer for Hometown to the World at Santa Fe Opera. ● Patrick Huey ’01 writes: “After years of traveling the globe working in the spa industry, I’m back in Southern California hosting my video podcast (that has featured many of my Yale peeps), writing a book, serving as the chairman of the Board for the International Spa Association, and getting through this thing called life.” ● Jody Kovalick ’01, spouse Stacy, and problem dog Ripley, recently made the trek east and relocated to New York. All are excited to be near the coast, mountains, trains, and excellent pizza. ● Camille Benda ’02 designed costumes for the new Apple TV+ series Bad Sisters. The show, shot in London and Ireland during the pandemic, is a dark comedy about five sisters in modern

Alumni Notes

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Tijuana Ricks ’04 on set of 9-1-1

Hometown to the World at Santa Fe Opera with set and projection design by Luke Cantarella ’00

Photo by Tira Howard.

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Waiting in the Wings is Amanda (Salchow) Cobb’s ’05 new podcast.

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(left to right) Luis Augusto Figueroa, Brian McManamon ’06, Zuleyma Guevara, Jenelle Chu ’16, Peter DeLaurier, Dante Alexander, Jackson Gay ’02, and Marcia Saunders.

37 Matt Cornish ’13, Rachel Cornish ’08, and their children, August and Elijah at the theater of Epidaurus.

38 Phillip Owen ’09

Alumni Notes

● Courtney DiBello ’02 writes: “I’m finally full time at the Oklahoma City Ballet as stage manager. I still get to teach as the nearby university supplies me assistant stage managers for each MainStage production. The family is healthy and looking forward to moving into our new house in the new year.”

day Dublin.

● Ojin Kwon ’02 moved from UCLA to Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, CA, in May 2022.

● Sandra Goldmark ’04 recently joined the Columbia University Climate School as senior assistant dean for Interdisciplinary Engagement. This builds on her role at Barnard College, where she leads the Office of Campus Sustainability and Climate Action. Sandra continues to work on climate action in theater as well, through her work on the Sustainable Production Toolkit, a free resource to help performing artists and organizations transition to a more sustainable practice. This toolkit is a collaborative effort with Michael Banta ’03, Edward Morris ’13, and Lauren Gaston. On a more personal note, she and Michael Banta are building a family campground, mostly by hand and with solar power, in upstate New York, along with sons Luke, 14, and Eric, 10. Sandra says: “Please come visit and bring your tools!” ● John Hanlon ’04 recently saw the publication of his translation, scenes from Yulia Tupikina’s Inhale-Exhale, published in Asymptote. His translation of Artur Solomonov’s How We Buried Josef Stalin was published in a trilingual book by Danzig & Unfried in 2022, and a revised version appeared in The Mercurian in the fall. He is actively seeking producers of these two new plays, which, John writes, “offer radically alternative views from Russia.” ● David Howson ’04 was honored for 11 years of volunteer service as a trustee and past chair of The Hyde Collection museum in Glens Falls. In October, he was appointed to the board of the Emma Willard School, which recently

broke ground on a new performing arts center in Troy, NY. ● Tijuana Ricks ’04 was selected for the Ryan Murphy Half Initiative Directing Mentorship program, where she shadowed veteran television director, Marita Grabiak, from pre- to post-production on episode 608 of Ryan Murphy’s 9-1-1 on FOX. In front of the camera, Tijuana was cast in a recurring role on Hulu’s upcoming series Tiny Beautiful Things starring fellow alum Kathryn Hahn ’01. ● Amanda (Salchow) Cobb ’05 writes: “Waiting in the Wings: Backstage Shenanigans with Amanda Leigh Cobb is my new podcast where I interview Broadway understudies and swings to learn about their roles and to celebrate their extraordinary talent. If you love theater, you won’t want to miss it! We also have a stage manager wild card episode each season. You can listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you download podcasts.” ● Christopher Carter Sanderson ’05 spent the fall of 2022 working with students at Cortland University on “The Romeo and Juliet Project,” which explores the longstanding practices of diversity in casting. He also continues to pioneer immersive theater techniques with his company, Gorilla Rep. The Rep’s feature film of Shakespeare’s Hamlet picked up media buzz on the festival circuit last year. ● Adam Saunders ’05 recently sold his debut film, Dotty & Soul, which he wrote, directed, produced, and starred in opposite the legendary Leslie Uggams. ● Grand Horizons opened at People’s Light in August 2022, featuring a long roster of DGSD alumni: director Jackson Gay ’02, playwright Bess Wohl ’02, ART ’98, actors Brian McManamon ’06 and Jenelle Chu ’16, as well as set and lighting designs by Paul Whitaker ’02, costumes by Katherine Roth ’93, and sound design by Daniel Baker ’04 ● After a successful three-year tenure in artistic leadership collective at Schauspielhaus Zürich, Yana

Ross ’06 embarks on a long-term collaboration with the Berliner Ensemble. In 2022, she staged David Foster Wallace’s Brief Interviews with Hideous Men at the Venice Biennale and Salzburg Festival’s premiere of Schnitzler’s Der Reigen. ● Rachel Cornish ’08 writes: “Matt Cornish ’13 and I, and our kiddos, August and Elijah, had a phenomenal 2021-22 academic year based in Berlin. Matt spent his sabbatical continuing his work on modern German theater, the trip made possible by a Humbolt Research Fellowship. I taught arts administration students virtually, and the kids ate an unspeakable number of soft pretzels and gelato while enjoying the loose parental reins dictated by German culture. We were able to travel to Greece, Portugal, Switzerland, and finally to Bavaria to witness the famed Oberammergau Passionsspiele. ● Nelson Eusebio III ’07 writes: “In my first year as the associate artistic director at KCRep, I launched a free community tour program called KCRep for All. To start my second season, I was thrilled to direct Twelfth Night for the third time, this time with trusted collaborators Burke Brown ’07, Sartje Pickett ’08, Valérie Thérèse Bart ’10, and Janann Eldredge ’06. The production starred Francesca Fernandez MacKenzie ’18. ● Jessi Hill ’07 is the interim artistic director of The Flying Carpet Theatre based in New York City, producing work in Atlanta and touring devised work internationally. ● Katrina Olson Hopkins ’07 and Tiffany Olson Hopkins (Former Staff) have had a busy couple of years. In 2018, Katrina transitioned from theater to philanthropy and is now Senior Director of Operations & Events at Pop Culture Collaborative. In November 2020, she gave birth to their first daughter, Hattie. In August 2021, the family moved back to New Haven and in February 2022,

Alumni Notes

Alumni Notes

39–40

All’s Well That Ends Well, directed by Shana Cooper ’08 with set design by Andrew Boyce ’09. Photo by Liz Lauren.

41

Sandra Goldmark ’04, Eric, Luke, dog Nina, and Michael Banta ’03 putting design and production skills to work outdoors!

42 Courtney DiBello ’02 in rehearsal for Oklahoma City Ballet.

43 (left to right) David Howson ’04 with Hyde Collection trustees Carl DeBrule and Jason Ward. Photo courtesy of The Hyde Collection.

44 Schnitzler’s Der Reigen, directed by Yana Ross ’06, at the Salzburg Festival.

45 Camille Benda ’02 designed the costumes for Bad Sisters. Photo courtesy of Apple TV+.

46 Professor Figgy’s Weather & Climate Science Lab for Kids by Jim Noonan ’06. Photos by Christine Bohn.

47

The Olson Hopkins Family, Fall 2022.

48

Jody Kovalick ’01

49 Patrick Huey ’01

Katrina gave birth to their second daughter, Birdie. The family is enjoying experiencing New Haven again and getting reacquainted with old friends. “If you find yourself back in New Haven, give us a shout!” ● Andrew Boyce ’09 and Shana Cooper ’08 teamed up to work on several productions together last year as the theater world emerged from the pandemic: All’s Well That Ends Well at Chicago Shakes, The Lady from the Sea at Court Theatre and The Taming of the Shrew at American Players Theatre. ● Phillip Owen ’09 writes: “I just started my second year on the faculty of the Department of Theatre and Dance at the University of Texas at Austin. I’m thrilled to be working in my hometown and making some amazing music, sound, and theater with a truly wonderful department of students, faculty, and staff. Hook ’em Horns!”

2010s

Walter Byongsok Chon ’10, associate professor of Dramaturgy and Theatre Studies at Ithaca College, was awarded the 2022 Grant for the Translation of Korean Literary Works from the Daesan Foundation. With this grant, he will translate four plays by South Korean playwright Myung-Wha Kim into English, working with dramaturg Anne Hamilton, who will serve as a translation consultant. Walter also published his Korean translation of “A Manifesto for the Future Stage” in The Korean Theatre Journal. ● Alyssa Anderson-Kuntz ’10 recently joined the team at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County. Thrilled to be back in her home state of Florida, Alyssa has joined the Center as Director, Programming. ● Martha Jurzak ’11 writes: “In November 2022, I joined the University of Maryland School of Medicine as director of business development and research alliances. While

I’ve departed the performing arts (for now!), my work is focused on building productive collaboration, a pursuit for which the Theater Management program under Ed, Vicki, and Joan prepared me exceedingly well.” ● Blake Segal ’11 was fortunate enough to act in three productions at Syracuse Stage this past season: Eureka Day, Matilda the Musical, and The Play That Goes Wrong. He’s also proud to teach in the Syracuse University Department of Drama alongside fellow DGSD grads Katie McGerr ’14, YC ’07, Carmen Martinez ’14, Izmir Ickbal ’16, and Randall Steffen ’01 ● Emily Trask ’11 has been promoted to the role of associate artistic director of the Pacific Conservatory Theatre (PCPA). In addition to taking on senior leadership duties, she will continue acting and directing in select productions, as well as serving on faculty for the attached conservatory. Emily is proud to be serving as the first female associate artistic director in the company’s 60-year history. ● Martyna Majok’s ’12 Pulitzer Prize–winning play, Cost of Living, had its Broadway premiere this fall at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre. This was Martyna’s Broadway debut. ● Ethan Heard ’13, YC ’07 (Former Faculty) moved to Washington, DC with his husband last summer. As the new associate artistic director of Signature Theatre in Arlington, VA, he will be directing Ana Nogueira’s Which Way to the Stage as well as Sondheim and Weidman’s Pacific Overtures. ● Palmer Hefferan ’13 was nominated for a 2022 Tony Award for Best Sound Design of a Play for the Broadway revival of The Skin of Our Teeth at Lincoln Center Theater. The production was directed by Lileana Blain-Cruz ’12 (Faculty), and the design team also included fellow alumni Adam Rigg ’13, Yi Zhao ’12, Hannah Wasileski ’13, and Montana Levi Blanco ’15. Palmer also designed Audible Theater’s production of Long Day’s Journey into Night, which can be streamed on

Alumni Notes

50 University of the Philippines Chancellor Fidel R. Nemenzo, Maree Barbara TanTiongco ’13, and UP Theater Complex Director José Estrella.

51 James Lanius III ’15, Kelly Kerwin ’15, Edward T. Morris ’13, Jenelle Chu ’16, William Langan ’90, Jessica Holt ’15, Michael Costagliola ’18, and Nahuel Telleria ’16, DFA ’20

52 Molly Hennighausen ’15

53 Adam Rigg ’13, Lileana Blain-Cruz ’12 (Faculty), Palmer Hefferan ’13, Hannah Wasileski ’13, and Yi Zhao ’12 at the 2022 Tony Awards.

54

Jack Daniel and Annabelle, children of Emily DeNardo ’15.

55

Carly Zien ’14, YC ’08 and husband, Andrew Krepow.

56 Pornchanok Kanchanabanca ’16, Rasean Davonté Johnson ’16, and Michael Salvatore Commendatore ’17

Photo by Katie Travers.

57

Francesca Fernandez McKenzie ’18 and Jennifer Lim ’04

Photo by Anthony Vazquez.

58

Jocelyn Williams and Al Heartley ’18 on their wedding day.

59

Ryan Emens ’18, his wife, Nikki, and their toddler, Lydia.

60

Reynaldi Lindner Lolong ’13, Elmo, and Cookie Monster.

61

Blake Segal ’11 in The Play That Goes Wrong at Syracuse Stage. Photo by Mike Davis.

62 Stephanie Rolland ’15 and Taylor Barfield ’16, DFA ’22

Photo by Christopher Sprowls.

63

On the set of The Gilded Age, HBO. (left to right) Michael Engler ’85, Louisa Jacobson ’19, and Luke Harlan ’16.

64

Cost of Living by Martyna Majok ’12 premiered on Broadway at Manhattan Theatre Club. Photo courtesy of Martuna Majok.

65 Emily Trask ’11

Alumni Notes

audible.com, the world premiere of Emma at the Guthrie Theater, Nollywood Dreams at MCC Theater, and the New York premiere of Peerless, directed by Margot Bordelon ’13. In October, Palmer and Michael Braun ’07 celebrated their four-year anniversary in Ireland. ● Reynaldi Lindner Lolong ’13 was promoted to the position of Director of Individual Giving for Sesame Workshop, the non-profit organization behind the TV show Sesame Street. ● Since November 2021, Nicole Marconi ’13 has been working as the access services manager of Hoboken Public Library. Through her new job, she has brought more performing arts-related programming to the library. Nicole has also started her own cooking tutorials and knitting club! ● Maree Barbara TanTiongco ’13 is a senior lecturer and University Extension Specialist of the Theatre Complex at University of the Philippines in Diliman. ● Ceci Fernández ’14 has a lead role in the HBO pilot for More, which centers around a tightknit family of Latina social media influencers. ● Carly Zien ’14, YC ’08 married Andrew Krepow in Brooklyn on July 16th, 2022. The couple’s officiant tested positive for COVID the week of the wedding, so Matt McCollum ’14, YC ’11 stepped in to officiate for them. ● Artistic Director Kelly Kerwin ’15 hosted fellow Yalies at Oklahoma City Repertory Theater for the opening of The Great Leap by Lauren Yee YC ’07. ● Molly Hennighausen ’15 has utilized the training they got at the Drama School to start two separate businesses. On the creative side, Molly is an award-winning elopement and birth photographer. In 2022, Molly was named one of the top nine elopement photographers in New York. Molly also owns MM Strategic Advising, a personal finance consulting company geared towards creatives. In addition to personal finance, Molly consults with small businesses and creative

Alumni Notes

entrepreneurs to become legally legit and grow their businesses with a “life first” philosophy. ● Emily DeNardo ’15 and her husband, James, welcome their second child, Jack Daniel, in May 2022.

● Stephanie Rolland ’15, Lilly Award-winning producer, joined the August Wilson African American Cultural Center in Pittsburgh, PA, as theatre curator. She conceived, and is designing and producing, their inaugural theatrical event series “Beyond the Red Door,” inspired by the life, work, and artistic practice of August Wilson. Taylor Barfield ’16, DFA ’22 joined as dramaturg and program researcher to help her bring this new series to life. Stephanie is also an inaugural CCI

2.0 Producing Fellow with Urban Bush Women in Brooklyn, NY.

● Michael Engler ’85, Luke Harlan ’16, and Louisa Jacobson ’19 have been working together since 2020 on HBO’s The Gilded Age. Michael directs and serves as executive producer, Luke serves as co-producer, and Louisa portrays the character of Marian Brook. The show is currently in production on its second season.

● Rasean Davonté

Johnson ’16 and Michael Salvatore Commendatore ’17 took top honors for their projection design of Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s production of It Came From Outer Space at the 54th Annual Jeff Equity Awards. Pornchanok Kanchanabanca ’16 was also recognized with a win for her sound design of Gem of the Ocean at the Goodman Theatre. ● Theater.Academy is a new online theater education platform founded by Yagil Eliraz ’16. It offers on-demand acting courses, as well as live acting coaching. The coaching team includes Jackson Gay ’02, Margot Bordelon ’13, Eugene Ma (Former Faculty), among others. ● Helen Muller ’17 has accepted the position of resident production stage manager for the Anchorage Opera in Anchorage, Alaska, where she was born and raised. In addition to stage managing the company’s season, she will serve year-round as the office manager. ● Ryan Emens ’18 continues to design in Chicago and now lives in Evanston with his wife, Nikki, and their toddler, Lydia. He has joined United Scenic Artists Local USA 829 and started teaching Scenographic drafting at DePaul University. ● Al Heartley ’18 married Jocelyn Williams on November 11, 2022, in Atlanta, GA. They celebrated with a honeymoon in Turks and Caicos. ● Francesca Fernandez McKenzie ’18 and Jennifer Lim ’04 starred in the world premiere of Vichet

Chum’s Bald Sisters at Steppenwolf Theatre Company in November 2022.

2020s

An article by Alexander McCargar ’20 on the history of stage design, titled “Copy or Coincidence? Pietro Righini and the Bibiena Legacy,” was published in the Summer 2022 issue of Master Drawings, where it was honored with the Annual Ricciardi Prize. Alexander writes: “Thank you to Donald Oenslager and the incredible collection of prints he left the Design program at DGSD, which began to inspire me the moment I first set foot in the Annex!” ● Erin Sullivan ’20 received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Visual Effects in Television for her work on the Visual Effects Team of AppleTV’s See ● Jon West ’20 works as a technical designer for Global Scenic Services in Bridgeport, CT. He provided the technical design for a 10' diameter rotating mirror ball that was commissioned by the Lincoln Center Plaza Association. The mirror ball was suspended above the Lincoln Center Plaza fountain as the center piece for the Summer 2022 free social dance series and concerts.

66

A large mirror ball by Jon West ’20 in process. Photo courtesy of Jon West.

67

Jon West’s ’20 mirror ball design in action at Lincoln Center Plaza.

Photo courtesy of Lincoln Center.

Alumni Notes

David Geffen School of Drama at Yale Legacy Partners

We invite you to join fellow alumni and friends who have included DGSD in their estate plans or made other planned gifts to the School. Through David Geffen School of Drama at Yale Legacy Partners, you can directly influence the future of Yale.

You are eligible for membership if you have named DGSD as a beneficiary of your will, trust, life-income gifts, IRA or other retirement plan, life insurance policy, or other planned gift.

To learn more about making a planned gift to David Geffen School of Drama at Yale, please contact Deborah S. Berman, Director of Development and Alumni Affairs, at (203) 432-2890 or deborah.berman@yale.edu.

2022–23 DGSD Legacy Partners

Cynthia Kellogg Barrington*

Ezekial H. Berlin ‘53*

Donald I. Cairns ’63

Raymond Carver ’61

Elizabeth S. Clark ’41*

Bill Conner ’79*

David M. Conte ’72

Converse Converse YC ’57

Sue Anne Converse ’55*

Nicholas Diggs*

Richard Diggs ’30, YC ’26*

Charles Dillingham ’69, YC ’65

Eldon J. Elder ’58*

Peter Entin ’71

Wesley Fata (Faculty Emeritus)

Joseph Gantman ’53*

James Gousseff ’56*

Albert R. Gurney ’58*

Robert L. Hurtgen*

James Earl Jewell ’57*

Joseph E. Kleno*

Frances E. Kumin ’77

Stephen R. Lawson ‘76*

Richard G. Mason ’53*

H. Thomas Moore ’68

Tad Mosel ’50*

Arthur F. Nacht ’06

George E. Nichols III ’41, YC ’38*

G.C. Niemeyer ’42*

Dwight Richard Odle ’66*

Joan Pape ’68*

Mary B. Reynolds ’55*

Mark Richard ’57*

Barbara Richter ’60*

June Rosenblatt*

William Rothwell, Jr. ’53*

Forrest E. Sears ’58*

Eugene F. Shewmaker ’49*

Merrill L. Sindler ’57*

Kenneth J. Stein ’59

G. Erwin Steward ’60

Edward Trach ’58

Carol Waaser ’70

Elaine Wackerly ’03 and Patrick Wackerly*

Donald R. Ware YC ’71

Phyllis C. Warfel ’55*

William B. Warfel ’57, YC ’55*

Wendy Wasserstein ’76*

Elmon Webb ’64 and Virginia Webb ’65

Zelma H. Weisfeld ’56*

Edwin Wilson ’57, DFA ’58

Albert J. Zuckerman ’61, DFA ’62

*Deceased

Donors

1950s

Ian Cadenhead ’58

Joy Carlin ’54

Sami Casler ’59

Robert Goldsby ’53

Bigelow Green ’59

Marian Hampton ’59

Evelyn Huffman ’57

Amnon Kabatchnik ’57

Jay Keene ’55

Beverly May ’50

David McNutt ’59

Ellen Moore ’52

Kendric T. Packer ’52

Raymond Sader ’58

James Smith ’59

Edward Trach ’58

1960s

John Badham ’63, YC ’61

Steven Barbash ’63

Peter Barton ’66

Warren F. Bass ’67

Carol Murray-Negron ’64

Arvin Brown ’67

James Burrows ’65

Mary-Jane Cassidy ’69

King-Fai Chung ’62

Patricia S. Cochrane ’62

David Copelin ’69, DFA ’72

Robert Darling ’63

Michael David ’68

Ramon L. Delgado ’67

Robert H. Einenkel ’69

John Ezell ’60

Ann Farris ’63

Richard A. Feleppa ’60

Linda K. Fisher ’69

Terry S. Flagg ’61

Hugh Fortmiller ’61

David Freeman ’68

Richard Fuhrman ’64

Bernard Galm ’63

Ann Hanley ’61

Stephen J. Hendrickson ’67

Vernon Hinkle ’61

Elizabeth Holloway ’66*

Derek Hunt ’62

Laura Mae Jackson ’68

John W. Jacobsen ’69, YC ’67*

Abby Kenigsberg ’63

Richard Klein ’67

Elizabeth W. Lewis ’61

Irene Lewis ’66

Fredric Lindauer ’66

Everett M. Lunning, Jr. ’69, YC ’67

Margaret McCaw ’66*

Robert McCaw ’66

Donald Michaelis ’69

Ruth Hunt Newman ’62

Janet Oetinger ’69

Richard Olson ’69

Michael Posnick ’69

Janet Ruppert ’63

Georg Schreiber ’64

Talia Shire Schwartzman ’69

Suzanne Sessions ’66

Helena Sokoloff ’60

James Steerman ’62, DFA ’69

John Wright Stevens ’66

G. Erwin Steward ’60

David F. Toser ’64

Russell L. Treyz ’65

George C. White ’61, YC ’57

Helen Yalof ’60

Mitchell L. Kurtz ’75

Rocco Landesman DFA ’76

Michael John Lassell ’76

Stephen R. Lawson ’76*

Charles E. Letts ’76

Martha Lidji Lazar ’77

George N. Lindsay, Jr. ’74

Jennifer K. Lindstrom ’72

Robert Hamilton Long II ’76

Brian R. Mann ’79

Jonathan Errol Marks ’72, DFA ’84, YC ’68

Barry Marshall ’75

Neil Mazzella ’78

John McAndrew ’72

Caroline A. McGee ’78

Deborah McGraw ’76

Stephen W. Mendillo ’71

Jonathan Miller ’75

Lawrence S. Mirkin ’72, YC ’69

James Naughton ’70

Patricia C. Norcia ’78

Richard Ostreicher ’79

Jeffrey Pavek ’71

Bill Peters ’79

Mark Bly ’80

Sharon Braunstein ’82

Katherine Borowitz ’81, YC ’76

Bill Buck ’84

Kate Burton ’82

Richard W. Butler ’88

Jon Carlson ’88

Lawrence Casey ’80

Joan Channick ’89

Geoffrey Cohen ’83

Scott Cummings ’85, DFA ’94

Richard Sutton Davis ’83, DFA ’03

Kathleen Dimmick ’85

Terrence Dwyer ’88

Anne D’Zmura ’89

Sasha Emerson ’84

Michael Fain ’82

Jon Farley ’83

Terry Fitzpatrick ’83

Tony Forman ’83

Raymond Forton ’85

Walter M. Frankenberger III ’88

Randy R. Fullerton ’82

Judy Gailen ’89

J. Ellen Gainor ’83

Sarah Albertson ’71, ART ’75

Donna Alexander ’74

Michael L. Annand ’75

Anne Averbuck ’70

Richard Beacham ’72, DFA ’73, YC ’68

John Lee Beatty ’73

Ian Calderon ’73

H. Lloyd Carbaugh ’78

Andrew Carson ’79

Charles Andrew Davis ’76

Dennis L. Dorn ’72

John Duran ’74

Nancy Reeder El Bouhali ’70

Peter Entin ’71

Mary C. Estabrook ’76

Femi Euba ’73

Lewis A. Folden ’77

Robert Gainer ’73

David Marshall Grant ’78

Stephen R. Grecco ’70

Michael E. Gross ’73

William B. Halbert ’70

Barbara B. Hauptman ’73

Jane C. Head ’79

Carol Schlanger ’70

Jennifer Hershey ’77

Nicholas A. Hormann ’73

Eugene R. Kimball ’72

Fredrica A. Klemm ’76

Daniel L. Koetting ’74

David Kranes DFA ’71

Frances E. Kumin ’77

William Purves ’71

Jeff Rank ’79

Pam Rank ’78

Ralph Redpath ’75

William J. Reynolds ’77

Peter Roberts ’75

Steven Robman ’73

Howard J. Rogut ’71

Robin Pearson Rose ’73

Ben Sammler ’74

Robert Sandberg ’77

Joel Schechter ’72, DFA ’73

Carol Schlanger ’70

Michael Sheehan ’76

Benjamin Slotznick ’73, YC ’90

Jeremy T. Smith ’76

Carol M. Waaser ’70

David Ward ’75

Eugene D. Warner ’71

Henry Winkler ’70

Ryan Scott Yuille ’77

1980s

Michael G. Albano ’82

Sandra Albers ’89

Amy Aquino ’86

William Armstrong ’80

Clayton Austin ’86

Michael Baumgarten ’81

James Bender ’85

Michael Bianco ’84

Steven J. Gefroh ’85

Charles F. Grammer ’86

Rob Greenberg ’89

James W. Hazen ’83

Sara Hedgepeth ’87

Kathleen Houle ’88

Charles R. Hughes ’83

David Henry Hwang ’83

Chris P. Jaehnig ’85

Jonathan Kalb ’85, DFA ’87

Edward Kaye ’86

Kiernan Kelly ’87

David K. Kriebs ’82

Max Leventhal ’86

Kenneth Lewis ’86

Peter Lewis ’87

Andi Lyons ’80

Wendy MacLeod ’87

Cathy MacNeil-Hollinger ’86

Gayle Maurin ’85

Cheryl Mintz ’87

David E. Moore, Jr. ’87

Tina Cantu Navarro ’86

Regina Neville ’88

Lynn Nottage ’89

Arthur E. Oliner ’86

Erik Onate ’89

Carol Ostrow ’80

Ross Richards ’88

Joan E. Robbins ’86, DFA ’91

Laila V. Robins ’84

Lori Robishaw ’88

APRIL 1, 2022–APRIL 1, 2023

Donors

Russ Rosensweig ’83

Steven A. Saklad ’81

Kenneth Schlesinger ’84

Alec Scribner ’80

Charlotte Sheffield ’87

Teresa Snider-Stein ’88

Bernardo Solano ’88

Barbara Somerville ’83

Mark Stevens ’89

Marsha Beach Stewart ’85

Mark L. Sullivan ’83

Thomas Sullivan ’88

Bernard J. Sundstedt ’81

Jane Savitt Tennen ’80

Sarah L. Tucker ’89

John Turturro ’83

Courtney B. Vance ’86

Adam Versényi ’86, DFA ’90, YC ’80

Jaylene Wallace ’86

Darryl S. Waskow ’86

Robert M. Wildman ’83

Alex Witchel ’82

Steven A. Wolff ’81

Dianah Wynter ’84

William McGuire ’91

Richard Mone ’91

Kay Neale ’91

Dw Phineas Perkins ’90

Amy Povich ’92

James Quinn ’94

Doug Rogers ’96

Peggy Sasso ’96

Robert Schneider ’94, DFA ’97

Jennifer Schwartz ’97

Patrick Seeley ’93

Paul Selfa ’92

Thomas W. Sellar ’97, DFA ’03

Jeremy Shapira ’97

Jane M. Shaw ’98

Catherine Sheehy ’92, DFA ’99

Vladimir Shpitalnik ’92

Erich Stratmann ’94, YC ’93

Sy Sussman ’94, YC ’87

David Sword ’90

Patti Thorp ’91

Deborah L. Trout ’94

Erik Walstad ’95

David Yick-Koppel ’98

Robert Zoland ’95

2000s

Narda E. Alcorn ’95

Jenny Bolling ’98

Tom Broecker ’92

James Bundy ’95

Katherine Burgueño ’90

Kathryn A. Calnan ’99

Vincent Cardinal ’90

Aaron Copp ’98

Robert Cotnoir ’94

Sean P. Cullen ’94

Michael Diamond ’90

Fran Egler ’95

Connie Evans ’93

David Gainey ’93

Leah C. Gardiner ’96

Naomi S. Grabel ’91

Connie Grappo ’95

Regina Guggenheim ’93

Susan Hamburger ’97

Alexander Hammond ’96

Scott Hansen ’99

Jeffrey C. Herrmann ’99

John C. Huntington ’90

Clark Jackson, Jr. ’97

Kristin Johnsen-Neshati ’92, DFA ’02

L. Azan Kung ’91

Sarah Long ’92, YC ’85

Tien-Tsung Ma ’92

Paola Allais Acree ’08, SOM ’08

Chuck Adomanis ’04

Alexander Bagnall ’00

Pun Bandhu ’01

Michael Banta ’03

Ashley Bishop ’02

Frances Black ’09

Mattie Brickman ’09

Colin Buckhurst ’04

Sarah Bartlo Chaplin ’04

Shoshana Cooper ’09

Derek DiGregorio ’07

Camille Benda-Elam ’02

Dustin Eshenroder ’07

Andrew Farrow ’06

Sarah Fornia ’04

Rachana Garg ’01

Hannah Grannemann ’08, SOM ’08

John J. Hanlon ’04

Brian Tyree Henry ’07

Amy Herzog ’07, YC ’00

James Guerry Hood ’05

Melissa Huber ’01

Candace Jackson ’00

Rolin Jones ’04

Jody Kovalick ’01

Drew Lichtenberg ’08, DFA ’18

Elena Maltese ’03

Tarell Alvin McCraney ’07

Beth Morrison ’05

Matthew Moses ’09

Neil Mulligan ’01

David Muse ’03, YC ’96

Grace O’Brien ’04

Adam O’Byrne ’04, YC ’01

Phillip Owen ’09

Jacob G. Padrón ’08

Gamal Palmer ’08

Michael Parrella ’00

Jonathan Reed ’07

Kevin Rich ’04

Brian Robinson ’00

Christopher Carter Sanderson ’05

Pablo Souki ’05

Carrie Van Hallgren ’06

Brad Ward ’05

Elaine Wackerly ’03

Kristan Wells ’05

Nathaniel Glen-Henry Wells ’06

Barbara Wohlsen ’00

Tamilla Woodard ’01

Amanda Wallace Woods ’03

2010s

Shaminda Amarakoon ’12

Kaitlyn Anderson ’14

Michael Backhaus ’13

Michael Barker ’10, SOM ’10

David Joseph Berendes ’10

Em Bertelli ’15

Joseph Brennan ’15

Andrew Burnap ’16

Christopher Brown ’10

Walter Byongsok Chon ’10, DFA ’20

Caitlin Crombleholme ’19

Brett Dalton ’11

Matt Davis ’18

Anne Erbe ’11

Laura J. Eckelman ’11

Shannon Gaughf ’15

Latiana “LT” Gourzong ’19

Shaina Graboyes ’12

Ashton Heyl ’14

Bryanna Kim ’19

Chiara Klein ’17, SOM ’17

Steven Koernig ’17, SOM ’17

Eric Lin ’12

Reynaldi Lolong ’13

Peter Malbuisson ’10

Belina Mizrahi ’10, YC ’02

Leora Morris ’16

Jason Najjoum ’18, SOM ’18

Jennifer Harrison Newman ’11

Dan O’Brien ’14

Jonathan Pellow ’13

Nathan Roberts ’10

Jonathan Seiler ’16

Rachel Shuey ’18

Rachel Spencer Hewitt ’10

Steph Waaser ’18

Jonathan Wemette ’13

Sarah K. Williams ’15

2020s

Sarah Ashley Cain ’22

Cam Camden ’22

Caitlin M. Dutkiewicz ’22

Samantha Else ’20

Will Gaines ’22

Carl Holvick ’21, SOM ’21

Tatsuya Ito ’20

Jonathan Jolly ’20

Matthew Lewis ’20

Aura Magnien ’25

Bobbin Ramsey ’24

Kamal Sehrawy ’25

Matthew Sonnenfeld ’23

Ashley M. Thomas ’23

Caitlin Volz ’20

Jon West ’20

Yaro Yarashevich ’20

friends of dgsd and yrt

(Gifts of $500 and above)

Nina Adams GRD ’69, NUR ’77 and Moreson Kaplan

Laura and Victor Altshul

Americana Arts Foundation

Anonymous

Debby Applegate GRD ’98 and Bruce Tulgan

Rudy Aragon LAW ’79

Paula Armbruster

Alice GRD ’72, Ph.D.’74 and Richard Baxter GRD ’72

Ed Barlow YC ’56, LAW ’64, P ’80

Lisa Barlow YC ’80

John B. Beinecke YC ’69

Sonja Berggren and Patrick Seaver YC ’72

Santino Blumetti SOM ’99

Carmine Boccuzzi YC ’90, LAW ’94 and Bernard Lumpkin YC ’91

Lynne and Roger Bolton

John and Suzanne Bourdeaux

Estate of James T. Brown, Jr.*

Reginald J. Brown YC ’89 and Tiffeny F. Sanchez

Burry Fredrik Foundation

1, 2022–APRIL 1, 2023

Donors

Anne and Guido Calabresi YC ’53, LAW ’58, HON ’62

Lois Chiles

Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development

Audrey Conrad

Daniel Cooperman and Mariel Harris

Bob and Priscilla Dannies HON ’90

Wendy Davies

Elwood and Catherine Davis

Robert Dealy YC ’70

Estate of Nicholas Diggs*

Kelvin B. Dinkins, Jr. and Alexis Rodda

Robert and Mercedes Eichholz Foundation

Indira Etwaroo in honor of Neville and Dorothy Etwaroo

Lily Fan YC ’01, LAW ’04

The Foundation for Enhancing Communities

Anita Pamintuan Fusco YC ’90 and Dino Fusco YC ’88

Geballe Family

David Geffen Foundation

Howard Gilman Foundation

Melanie Ginter

Eric M. Glover

Bill and Marcy Grambo

Mabel Burchard Fischer Grant Foundation

Betty and Joshua Goldberg

The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation

Claudia and Dr. Eduardo Groisman

MAH ’11

The Hastings and Barcone Trust

F. Lane Heard III YC ’73, LAW ’78 and Margaret Bauer ’86, ART ’91

Cheryl L. Henson YC ’84

Dale and Stephen J. Hoffman YC ’64

Mark Hollinger LAW ’85

Sally Horchow YC ’92

Ellen Iseman YC ’76 in memory of Marjorie Frankenthaler Iseman

Jana Foundation

David G. Johnson YC ’78

Pamela Jordan

Ann Judd and Bennett Pudlin LAW ’78

Dr. Harvey Kliman and Sandra Stein

Blair Kohan

The Ethel and Abe Lapides Foundation

Lucille Lortel Foundation

Nancy F. Lyon

Cheryl MacLachlan and Fred Gorelick

Victoria B. Mars YC ’78

Drew McCoy

David and Leni Moore

Family Foundation

Janice Muirhead

James Munson YC ’66

Jim and Eileen Mydosh

National Endowment for the Arts

NewAlliance Foundation

Victoria Nolan and Clark Crolius

Barbara and William Nordhaus

YC ’63, MAH ’73

F. Richard Pappas YC ’76

Louise Perkins and Jeff Glans

Jeffrey Powell HON ’87

Kathy and George Priest YC ’69, HON ’82

Princess Grace Foundation

The Prospect Hill Foundation

Alec Purves YC ’58, ARC ’65

Faye and Asghar Rastegar HON ’88

Anne Renner

Sharon Reynolds

Virginia (Wendy) Riggs

Elaine Ring

Estate of June Rosenblatt

Robin M. Sauerteig

Abigail Roth YC ’90, LAW ’94 and R. Lee Stump

Tracy Chutorian Semler YC ’86

The Sir Peter Shaffer Charitable Foundation

The Shubert Foundation, Inc.

The Carol L. Sirot Foundation

Anna Deavere Smith HON ’14

Matthew Specter and Marjan Mashhadi

Dr. and Mrs. Dennis Spencer

Shepard and Marlene Stone

Matthew Suttor

Estate of William Swan*

Woody Taft YC ’92

Stephen Timbers YC ’66

Julie Turaj YC ’94 and Robert S. Pohly YC ’94

Trust for Mutual Understanding

Esme Usdan YC ’77

Donald R. Ware YC ’71

Shana C. Waterman YC ’94, LAW ’99

Vera F. Wells YC ’71

gifts in kind

David G. Johnson YC ’78

Laurie Racine in honor of Sarah Treem ’05, YC ’02

Andrew and Nesrin Tisdale

Showcase

During their course of study, costume designers create many practical and theoretical designs for class projects and academic and professional productions. Here are a few examples from the portfolios of the graduating class.

Designed by (clockwise from left) Kitty Cassetti ’23, Travis Chinick ’23, Kyle Artone ’23, and Aidan Griffiths ’23