In Memoriam

Ming g Cho Lee

Designer

01 Ming Cho Lee HON ’20

02 Ing Tang and Ming Cho LeeHON ’20 Ming g Cho Lee HON ’20, a a brilliant artist renowned in the theater, dance, and opera spheres,received many y prestigious awards in his lifetime.But his name is not well known by y the general public.This amazes and frustrates me.Why,despite allhis exquisite designs and trendsetting innovations, was Ming not a a household name?Perhapsit’s because he neversought that kind of recognition. Ming Cho Lee’s legacy y is securely y ensconced because he was one of the best and most influential teachers of theater artists.And because this legacy deserves to be more widely y celebrated and seen, I’ve spent the past18 years documenting Ming’steaching.

Neverhave I heard a clearer account of the creative process than that expressed by Ming Cho Lee.And neverhave I seen an artist so humble and self-deprecatingly funny, yet so vital for so many yearsy through so many y changes of f style and approach. In this era a of f advertisement and selfpromotion, Ming was the rare modest man in a sea a of f salesmen. He elevated the field as have very y few, withskill, high standards, unerring goodtaste, and the willingness to leap into new w territories of f expression. And he encouragedhis students to do the same.

Ming was an exemplary y human being— deeply y ethical and capable of f scouring selfreflection. He was outspoken on censorship, racism, corruption, and hypocrisy.Ming brought both serious intent and fun to class, using a Socratica method of f questioning to help his students delve into the text of f a play. He was a superb dramaturg without being

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In Memoriam

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Ming was a captivating storteller who shared his own life stor freely, making his instruction profoundly personal.

prescriptive. He would often say, “I don’t know. Try it, and let’s see how it looks.”

Ming was a captivating storyteller who shared his own life story freely, making his instruction profoundly personal. He arrived as an immigrant to this country at age 19. His mother, Ing Tang, was a huge influence on him. He called her one of the first “modern women”—educated, beautiful, a talented actor and fashion designer. She divorced his father, Tsu Fa Lee, which was a shocking act at the time in a very conservative China. As a child, Ming was immersed in the complex political turmoil of his native Shanghai, endowing him with an early understanding of the fragility of freedom. His favorite uncle was forced to jump out a window to his death by the Communist Party, while another uncle was killed in a 1931 assassination attempt on Chiang Kai-Shek’s finance

03 (left to right) Myung Hee Cho ’95, Stephen Strawbridge ’83 (Faculty), Anita Yavich ’95, Brian C. Haynsworth ’97, Jane Greenwood (Faculty Emerita), Ming Cho Lee HON ’20, and Ritirong Jiwakanon ’95. Photo by T. Charles Erickson.

In Memoriam

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In Memoriam

minister, T.V. Soong, of the Nationalist Party. His mother left for America with her new husband. His father, a successful businessman who had attended Yale as a young man, moved to Hong Kong.

Despite his father’s wealth, Ming was decidedly not materialistic. Like his mother, Ming chose self-expression over wealth and security, yet he counseled his students, “You must have a roof over your head or you cannot paint—everything will get wet!” With a mixture of idealism and practicality, he envisioned a good artistic life—hard work, but fulfilling and joyful—a vision evinced by "Ming's Clambake," the showcase of design students' work he and Betsy hosted at Lincoln Center for 19 years.

Ming’s support of women in the field of design is without precedent. In women artists, he recognized courage and talent. He foresaw a theater world that would be more inclusive, and he helped make it so.

Ming saved my life. He let me audit and then participate in his legendary Saturday design class. It changed me as an artist and made me jump into new creative possibilities. He dared me to create in whatever form it took.

Preserving Ming in action, speaking with enormous clarity about the process and technique of creating art, has been my purpose: to share his incredible gifts with the next generation of artists. More than a labor of love, this was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to observe a great artist at work and to experience the pleasure of his and Betsy’s company.

When I heard of Ming’s passing, I was struck with grief for the loss of this most singular person and monumental artist. Those of us lucky enough to be in his and Betsy’s sphere have unreserved respect, admiration, and love for both of them and, of course, gratitude for what they have given so unstintingly to the community of American theater and to the world. — Marty New ’92

He dared me to create in whatever form it took.

The trailer for Marty New's documentar, The Essence of Ming, is available at https://vimeo. com/548255006.

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04 Ming Cho Lee HON ’20. Photo by Joan Marcus.

05 Ming Cho Lee HON ’20 and Betsy Lee. Photo by Samuel Stuart Hollenshead.

06 Ming Cho Lee’s HON ’20 set design for Nine Songs by Lin Hwai-min produced by Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan in 2014. Photo courtesy of Marty New ’92.

07 Ming Cho Lee HON ’20 and Marty New ’92. Photo by Somerset New-Stein.

In Memoriam

Bernard Gersten

Producer

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10 Bernard Gersten (Former Faculty)

11 David Rosenberg ’54

12 Eugene Shewmaker ’49

13 Forrest Compton ’53. Photo credit: Walt Disney Television via Getty Images © 1982 American Broadcasting Companies, Inc.

14 Forrest Compton ’53. Photo by Charity Robey. Bernard Gersten (Former Faculty), the former managing director of the Public Theater and executive producer of Lincoln Center Theater, died on April 27. He was 97. Bernard Gersten was born in Newark, New Jersey. He attended Rutgers University before enlisting in the U.S. Army following the attack on Pearl Harbor. He was assigned to the Army’s Special Services branch, which staged theatrical productions for troops stationed around the world.

In 1960, Joseph Papp (Former Faculty) hired Bernard as associate producer of the New York Shakespeare Festival, which would later become The Public Theater. The two men formed a potent partnership, staging a run of successful shows—Two Gentlemen of Verona, Hair, That Championship Season, and for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf—wf hich would establish The Public as one of the most important nonprofit theaters in the country. Perhaps no production was more significant for The Public than A Chorus Line. Bernard’s innovative plan was to have the theater provide its own financing for the show and receive 100% percent of the prof-f its. The musical won nine Tony Awards and ran for 15 years. Its revenues made possible hundreds of other works at the theater.

In 1985, Bernard became executive director of Lincoln Center Theater, where he produced a string of award-winning plays, musicals, and popular revivals, including Carousel, The Heiress, The Light in the Piazza, Speed-the-Plow, Six Degrees of Separation, and South Pacific.

From 1973 to 1979, Bernard was a member of the Yale School of Drama faculty, teaching a number of classes in Theater Management. In 2003, he was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame, and in 2013 he received a Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement. Bernard is survived by his wife, Cora, and daughters, Jenny and Jillian.

David Rosenberg

Theater Critic and Director

David Arlen Rosenberg ’54, an awardwinning theater and arts critic and a theater director, died on July 15, 2020. He was 90.

A well-known and widely respected theater critic and writer, David contributed reviews and articles to Backstage, as well as to the Hearst Media Group of Connecticut, which includes the New Haven Register, Connecticut Post, Greenwich Time, Stamford Advocate and The Norwalk 11 Hour. He also wrote for a number of magazines in Greenwich, Hartford, and New Canaan. He was a frequent presence at Yale Repertory Theatre in his role as a critic.

David was a co-founder of the Connecticut Critics Circle and a longtime member of the Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, and the American Theatre Critics Association. In addition to his reviews and reporting, he directed more than 65 plays, musicals, and staged readings at the Theatre Artists Workshop in Norwalk, Wilton Playshop and Square One Theatre in Stratford. He also taught English and drama at Fairfield University and at a number of Fairfield County

In Memoriam

high schools.

In a 2008 article published in The Hour, David reflected: “After all, theater is a luxury.Still, the arts can help us out of f the morass by y revealing what’s eternal, not ephemeral,about living.”

David Rosenberg is survived by hisy husband of f 62 years, H. Edward Spires.

Eugene F.Shewmaker

Editor

EugeneF. Shewmaker ’49, a distinguished editor, who early y in his career had been an actor and teacher, passed away ony February

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15, 2020, at the age of f 97. He was a generous donor to Yale School of f Drama, having made a legacy y gift to support financial aid.

Shewmaker attended Drake University, served in the U.S. Navy, and then came to YSD, receiving his MFA degree in 1949.After graduation,he moved to New w York City,k where he acted in a a number of f productions. He laterspent four years as a membera of f the professional stock companyk andy as an instructor of f theater and literature at StephensCollege in Columbia, Missouri.

Returning to New w York, Shewmaker began a career in publishing. He worked at Theatre Magazine, the Crowell-Collier Publishing Company, and eventually Randomy House, where he served as the senior editor of f the Random House Unabridged d Dictionary as well as many othery titles.

After his retirement in 1990,Shewmaker began a project that united his love of f theater with this expertise as an editor.His book, Shakespeare’s Language, A Glossary of Unfamiliarf r Words inthePlays and d Poems, was published in 1996. In 2008, a second edition was issued. Reviewing the book, School Library Journal praised it as “a a scholarly work fork students who are trying toclarify uncommon words and/or usages fromthe Bard’s dramatic and poeticworks.”

When Shewmaker was considering his estate plans, he told Yale: “Iwonder how present-day studentsy make it through to graduation without financial help. Itwas tough enough when I was there inthe late 40s, but expenses have skyrocketed since then. I feelthatthose of f us whomade it through are really y obligated to help those coming along to whateverextent our means will allow.”

The School of f Drama a mourns the passing of f this longtime member of f our community. We are extremely gratefuly for his kindness and generosity.

Forrest Compton

Actor

Forrest Compton’53, a well-known television actor who played Col.Edward Gray y on theseries Gomer Pyle: U.S.M.C. and District Attorney y Mike Karr on the daytime soap opera TheEdge of f Night, died of f complications

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In Memoriam

15 Harr Clein ’63, YC ’60. Photo by Michael Jacobs from COVID-19. He was 94.

Forrest Compton was born in Reading, Pennsylvania, in 1925. He served with the 103rd Infantry in France during World War II, and upon returning attended Swarthmore College, where he initially studied political science in preparation for a career in the law. After a number of appearances in theater productions, Forrest switched his major to English. Following graduation, he attended Yale School of Drama, along with fellow student and friend Paul Newman ’54, and received his MFA in 1953.

The sitcom Gomer Pyle aired on CBS from 1964 to 1969. Compton’s character, the straight-laced Col. Gray, would regularly reprimand Sgt. Vince Carter (Frank Sutton), who would in turn vent his wrath on Private Pyle, played by the popular entertainer Jim Nabors.

An extremely versatile actor who could take on comedic as well as dramatic roles, Compton also appeared in the soap operas As the World Turns, One Life to Live and All My Children, and had a recurring role on the NBC series The Troubleshooters. His long list of TV credits includes The Twilight Zone, That Girl, My Three Sons, Mannix, Hogan’s Heroes, and 77 Sunset Strip.

Forrest and his wife, Jeanne, bought a house on Shelter Island, NY, in 1978, and eventually made it their full-time home. A devoted member of the Shelter Island Friends of Music since the 1980s, Forrest became its president in 2012, organizing concerts for the island’s fellow music lovers. Forrest is survived by Jeanne.

Harold H. Clein

Publicist

Harold “Harry” Clein ’63, YC ’60, a highly regarded Hollywood publicist, died of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease on June 18, 2020, in Atlanta. He was 82.

Harry was an integral part of the commercial success of a long list of major studio and independent films, due in no small part to his skill and ingenuity in public relations and marketing. Among them are Oscar-win-

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ners Places in the Heart, Kiss of the Spider Woman, and The Trip to Bountiful, as well as She’s Gotta Have It, Dirty Dancing, Heathers, sex, lies, and videotape, The Joy Luck Club, Dazed and Confused, The Player, and The Usual Suspects.

One of Clein’s most notable projects was the publicity and marketing campaign for The Blair Witch Project in 1999. He orchest trated both the Sundance Film Festival launch and theatrical release of the film, using both traditional approaches and the still-emerging internet to turn it into a blockbuster hit. Filmed for an initial cost $35,000, Blair Witch was purchased by Artisan Entertainment for just over a million dollars and went on to earn $249 million globally. The project won Clein the 2000 AMPAS Publicists Guild Career Achievement Award.

Born and raised in Atlanta, Clein attended Phillips Academy and received a bachelor’s degree from Yale College in 1960 and an MFA from Yale School of Drama in 1963. After graduation, Clein worked as a page at NBC’s Today show in New York. He then moved to L.A. where he took a job at a detective agency that involved posing as an em-

In Memoriam

ployee at Disneyland for a summer. He worked briefly at Jay Bernstein Public Relations, as an assistant to gossip columnist Joyce Haber, and as a writer for the Los Angeles Times and TV Guide before starting his own PR agency with Bruce Feldman in 1981. Clein + Feldman (later Clein + White) quickly became a go-to shop in Hollywood, known for its innovative and highly effective campaigns. Clein also directed PR campaigns for American Ballet Theatre, Sundance Institute, and the launch of DreamWorks SKG, founded by Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and David Geffen. In 2000, Clein closed his agency but continued to work as a marketing consultant, producer, and as a teacher at the Los Angeles Film School.

Harry Clein is survived by his brother, Warren, and nephews, Donald and Lee Clein.

James Earl Jewell

Lighting Designer

James Earl Jewell ’57, an influential West Coast lighting designer, passed away on February 15. He was 90. Among his many projects were lighting the Hearst Castle in San Simeon, the San Francisco Art Institute, and the Golden Gate Bridge.

Jewell was born in Los Angeles and raised in Sutter Creek, California, in Amador County, not far from Sacramento. He graduated from the University of the Pacific (formerly the College of the Pacific) in 1951 with a degree in theater arts. Jewell then served in the U.S. Army, and was stationed at Fort Bliss, Texas. Following his military service, he came to Yale School of Drama and earned his MFA in Technical Design and Production in 1957.

James knew his talents were on the technical side. “I’ve been in two plays,” he recalled at a 2017 Pacific reunion. “One play in high school and one when I was in New Haven, and both were living proof that I’m not an actor.” His work as a lighting designer for theater eventually led to a distinguished career in industrial lighting.

From 1992 to 2003, he was a member of the board of directors of the Pacific Alumni Association, and in 1994 established the James Earl Jewell Scholarship for Technical Theater at the university. He also served as president of the Illuminating Engineering Society from 1984-85, and was treasurer of the International Commission on Illumination (CIE) for several years.

James was predeceased by his life partner of more than 50 years, David Lauer.

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16 James Earl Jewell ’57, seated, with Justin Ginger, Larr Meredith and University of the Pacific Dean Rena Fraden in 2017. Photo courtesy of the University of the Pacific.

In Memoriam

Joan Pape

Actor

Long before I knew w what the phrase ‘transforming actor’meant, I saw w it in action as I first saw JoanPape’68 perform, when I naively joinedy the theater world during my junior year at Purdue University,having realized that perhaps law w wasn’t the career forme.

Joan was quiteunforgettable in a whole series of f performances that year, once one

figured out who she was—but that was difficult because she was never the same. Yes, the hair color seemed to change by they week in those days as she took k on one role after another, but it was more than that.Each character was a thing unto itself, and not having a a name for it at the time, I found it wondrous, and even sometimes miraculous.

I think k Joan and I were only y in one play together at Purdue, a rather mediocre Twelfth Night t in which she playedViola/Cesario and I gave one of f the worst performances ever on a university y stage—perhaps any y stage—as Feste.It was the beginning of

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17 Joan Pape ’68 and Tom Moore ’68 a few years a er graduatingr fromYSD.

18 Joan Pape ’68 in Ex-Miss Copper r Queen on a Set of f Pills by Megan Terr, directed by Tom Moore ’68. the end of myf actingy career, butthe beginning of f a life-long friendship.

In my seniory year, realizing directing was my future,y I directed my firsty play,Edward Albee’s, The Sandbox. Fortunately, even then I instinctually y knew thatw the director’s most vital decision was thecasting. I immediately y chose Joan. It would bethe firstof our many, many collaborationsy over the years.

In time, we became friends, then good friends, and by y the time we both left forYale and the School of f Drama, great friends. When we arrived at Yale, I still didn’t have a name forwhat kind of f an actor Joan was, but I knew shew was going to be a YSD star.And indeed she was, from the very y beginning.

In those days there was a first-year class called Drama 10, taught by y the remarkable

Nikos Psacharopoulos ’54 (Former Fac-

ulty). The directors (15 in the first year,winnowed to five by they third year) were gathered together with all the first-yearactors; during each class the directorswould present scenes using thatpool of f incredible acting talentwhilethe actorsbenefitted by y being exposed to all kinds of f directorial styles. Some actorswere in demand all the time and would be in rehearsal whenever they y weren’t in class or on crew. Needless to say, Joanie was at the top of f everyone’s list. And she was in greatest demand forthe character parts which few w young actors can inhabit, bringing them all off f in complete believability. Comedy y or tragedy, classical and contemporary— they y were all her forte.

At Yale, I soon learned how w to describe what I had only instinctivelyy y known before. Joan was that kind of f rare ‘transformative’ actor who disappears into each and every role. She and David Clennon’68 were in pretty muchy every sceney and every y major project I directed. Among the many:Albee’s Ballad ofd f the Sad Caféd ,é Meghan Terry’s ExMiss Copper Queenr on a Set oft f Pills, (which we were invited to perform at the Martinique Theatre in NY), and my thesisy production, Funeral l March for r a One ManBand d by Ron

In Memoriam

Whyte ’67. I have often said without exaggeration that I owe at least half of my MFA degree to Joan Pape and David Clennon. O.K., maybe three quarters.

When Robert Brustein ’51, HON ’66 became dean and was transforming the School, he also quickly recognized this ‘transformative’ talent and cast Joan often with the professionals he started bringing to Yale for mainstage productions—the precursors of the soon-to-be Yale Rep.

One of Joan’s roles was as a Seabird in the dazzling Jonathan Miller production of Robert Lowell’s adaptation of Aeschylus’s Prometheus Bound, with Irene Worth and Kenneth Haigh. It was a time of great excitement and possibility at YSD. Professionals from New York were at the School weekly, and the frisson within the student body was palpable.

It is hard to convey just how brilliant Joan was. One reaches for comparison and only the greats come to mind. She was, without hyperbole, the Meryl Streep ’75, HON ’83 of our day. Bob Brustein certainly recognized that when he chose her as the first actress from the School to be part of the Yale Rep company. A unique and singular honor.

Joan became an annual presence at the Williamstown Theatre Festival and other regional theaters and worked often in New York and was soon on Broadway as Mae (Sister Woman) in Michael Kahn’s production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof f with Elizabeth Ashley. She also played another May in my production of Once in a Lifetime with Ed Herrmann at Arena Stage.

But just as offers were coming in, Joan married, and delivered what turned out to be her most important production, Dagan Uhle; and later as a single mother turned all her force and focus to giving him the best life possible.

When Dagan was in college, Joan had finally aged into the roles she was always destined to play. Everyone was encouraging her to re-enter the theater world, and she was giving it serious thought, when cancer came to visit. Although she and the doctors were able to wrestle it under control, and she would live fully and happily for decades more, the cancer left an occasional neurological response that as Joan would joke, that just like in Dr. Strangelove, her arm would suddenly go straight up out of control. Even though very infrequent, it was difficult to take on a theater role, knowing that was always a possibility. Such does fate rule our destiny.

So the world never got to know the exceptional talent of Joan Pape as we, her friends, fellow students, and collaborators did. I think the theater world is a bit the less for it.

I can’t put it any better than our good friend Gordon Rogoff YC ’52 (Faculty Emeritus), a major force at YSD during the Brustein years:

“Joan was one of the best at YSD who, in Brando’s ‘Waterfront’ words, ‘could have been a contender.’ Should have been is more like it. From the first, she reminded me of both Geraldine Page and Kim Stanley, strangely merged and therefore entirely original.”

Although in the big scheme of life, it was only for a short time, Joan’s performances were indelible for audiences lucky enough to see them, and an inestimable gift for those of us fortunate enough to have created and worked with her.

And as her friend, it was an honor to have shared the journey. —Tom Moore ’68

Lee Breuer

Director

Lee Breuer (Former Faculty), the influential theater director and co-founder of the legendary avant-garde theater company Mabou Mines, died in his home in Brooklyn, New York, on January 3. He was 83.

Breuer was a longstanding member of the YSD faculty, teaching at the School during 1977-79, 1986-1990, and 2005-06. He also

In Memoriam

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19 LeeBreuer (Former Faculty). Photo by Maria Baranova.

20 Marilyn Jeannette Sterling Gondek (Former Faculty) and her r grandson, Matthew. served as a co-chair of f the Directing department.

In1970, Breuer foundedMabou Mines with actressRuth Maleczech (his first wife), directorJoAnneAkalaitis, composer Philip Glass, and actor David Warrilow.Mabou Mines would become an integral part of f New York’s burgeoning downtowntheater scene along with CharlesLudlam’sRidiculousTheatrical Company, Richard Foreman’s ’62 Ontological-HystericTheater, Richard Schechner’sPerformance Group, and André Gregory’sManhattanProject.

Over more than four decades, Breuer directed dozens of f Off- and Off-Off-Broadway productions with Mabou Mines,oftenpushing the boundaries of f theater with radical reinterpretations of f classic works. “Mr. Breuer’saudiences had to be willing to embrace, or at leastshrugoff, some quantity ofy abstruseness,”wrote Laura Collins-Hughes in The NewYork Times.

Breuer’s best-known work k is perhaps The Gospel l at t Colonus, a 1985 Pulitzer Prize finalistthat ran on Broadway y in 1988, starring Morgan Freeman, Isabell Monk k ’81, and the Blind Boys of f Alabama. Theshow, an adaptation of f the Sophoclestragedy Oedipus at Colonus, had debuted at the Brooklyn Academy y of f Music in 1983,garnering an Obie Award for bestmusical. Breuerreceived a Tony y nomination for best book k of f a musical; a version filmed for the PBS series Great t Performances won an Emmy. Breuer was the recipient of f the prestigious Chevalier der l’Ordre des Arts et dest Lettres, and a Helena HayesAward. He was alsoawarded fellowships from the Bunting,Guggenheim, and MacArthur foundations.

Gordon Rogoff f YC ’52 (Faculty y Emeri-

tus) remembered Breuer as “a relentlessa experimenter or explorer—whateveryou want to call him. He was never lessthan genuine, so much of f his work hard-fought and so usefully y provocative.”

Breuer is survived by hisy wife and artistic partner, MaudeMitchell, his daughter, his sons,and three grandchildren.

Marilyn Sterling Gondek

Theater Administrator

Marilyn Jeannette Sterling g Gondek, an arts administrator, historian, author, and formermember of f the Yale School of f Drama faculty,passed away ony April 18,at Midcoast Hospital near her home in Topsham, Maine. She was 69 years old.

Marilynwas born in Waterville, and was raised in Bingham,Maine. She attended the Dana a Hall School in Wellesley, MA, and graduated summa cum laude from Bowdoin College, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.Marilyn further pursued herstudiesof art history andy religion, earning a a master’s degree from Harvard Divinity y School.

After working in management at The Theater Project and the Maine State Music Theater, both in Brunswick,Maine, Marilyn joined YSD as the Director of f Finance. From 1998 to 2000, she taught classes inthe School’s Theater Management department, drawing on herextensive experience in theater management and the nonprofit sector. “She was a terrifica thoughtpartnerand extraordinary colleague,”y remembers Vick15 i

In Memoriam

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Nolan (Former Deputy Dean). “Marilyn was thoughtful, kind, and deeply philosophical.”

Marilyn also worked for the innovative Institute for Global Ethics in Camden, which was founded in 1990 by Rushworth Kidder. The Institute’s mission is to promote ethical behavior in individuals, institutions, and nations through research, public discourse, and practical action. Vicki recalled, “It was the perfect place for Marilyn to bring together her extraordinary financial acumen with her intellectual curiosity and high ethical standards.”

Marilyn had an enduring passion for the Upper Kennebec region of Maine, where her family had resided since the 1830s. In 2017, she published The Forks of the Kennebec: Sources for an Early History, the first in a planned series of works on the history of the region she knew so well. She also helped found the Old Canada Road Historical Society in Bingham, served as a long-time member of its board of directors, and actively enlarged and maintained its archive of historical documents and artifacts.

Marilyn is survived by her husband, Richard; son, Jason; daughter, Meggen; grandson, Matthew; and her sister, Martha.

Peter Hunt

Director

Peter H. Hunt ’63, YC ’61, who won a Tony Award for his direction of the now-classic musical 1776, passed away in April 2020, at his at home in Los Angeles from complications of Parkinson’s disease. He was 81.

Hunt achieved his directorial breakthrough with 1776. The show was a huge hit, and in 1969 won the Tony Award for best musical and for best director. Many of the original Broadway cast members reprised their performances for the 1972 film version which Hunt also directed.

Peter Huls Hunt was born in Pasadena in 1938, the son of Gertrude and George Smith Hunt II, an industrial designer from Minnesota. Peter was the brother of the late Gordon Hunt and the uncle of actress Helen Hunt. Peter attended the Hotchkiss School, graduated from Yale College in 1961, and received his master’s degree from the School of Drama in 1963.

Peter began his theatrical career as a

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21 Peter H. Hunt ’63, YC ’61

In Memoriam

22 “In the fall of 2002, I brought René, Míriam Colón, Artistic Director of Puerto Rican Traveling Theater, and Max Ferrá, Artistic Director of INTAR Theater—the three giants of Latin theater—to speak at my Management Issues Forum seminar at YSD (see photo). They spoke about the challenges of running Latinx theaters, but they also celebrated the progress Latinos had made in theater. It was the last time René would visit his alma mater, and it was the last time they would all be together. Funny how some of the eternal moments in theater happen right in front of our eyes, but we don’t know it at the time.” — Juan Carlos Salinas ’03 lighting designer, working at Williamstown Theatre Festival in Massachusetts at the urging of his former YSD teacher and cofounder and artistic director of WTF, Nikos Psacharopoulos ’54 (Former Faculty). It was there that he met not only Barbette Tweed ’66, who would become his wife (now Barbette Hunt), but also a group of young actors with whom he would work many times over the course of his career, among them Blythe Danner, Frank Langella, and Olympia Dukakis.

After Nikos passed away, Peter took over the role of Williamstown’s artistic director, a position he held from 1989 to 1995.

Peter returned to Broadway in 1970 with the musical Georgy, and in 1975 directed Goodtime Charley, starring Joel Grey and Ann Reinking, which received seven Tony nominations as well as a Drama Desk Award nomination for direction. Peter’s last Broadway show, The Scarlet Pimpernel, was nominated for three Tony Awards, including best musical.

“Peter Hunt was a fireball that blazed through my life,” said Austin Pendleton YC ’61. “We met the first day of our freshman year at Yale. He said we’d make theater together all our lives. We never lost touch. I never had an interaction with him that didn’t excite me artistically and warm my heart. I still feel him. I always will.”

Peter Hunt is survived by Barbette, son, Max, daughters, Daisy and Amy, and brother, George.

René Buch

Director, Writer

On April 19th, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the theatre industry lost one of its giants, René Buch ’52. It is hard to encapsulate the legend of René Buch in one tribute. His life remains an exemplar of the phrase “a life less ordinary.”

In April 2001, as a student in the Theater Management program, I began my search for a semester-long fellowship. At the time, Ben Mordecai (Former Faculty) encouraged us to let him make the introductions with theater professional whom we didn’t know personally. I spoke with a few artistic directors and explored various opportunities, but nothing felt right. I had an impulse and made a cold call to Repertorio Español, where René was Artistic Director. I don’t know why, but they put me straight through to René. We had a brief conversation, and he asked me to come and meet him in NYC that same week. Having met René, I can only describe him as the grandfather I never had. He was incredibly warm and humorous, but what I most remembered was that this man was clearly someone who had lived a storied life, a life that was a constant influence in his artistic creations. He asked me to be his ar-

tistic intern that fall, and the rest, as they say, is history.

The week before I was to start my internship at Repertorio Español, the tragic events of 9/11 occurred. As a kid from a small Texas town, I found living in NYC during that particular time terrifying. René was determined to make sure I still had a great experience. I served as his assistant for three shows. One of the shows, Calderón’s The Phantom Lady, was being produced at the Pearl Theatre. He knew I was scared of the subway system, so every day we walked from Repertorio down to the East Village so that I would feel comfortable. Even though René was 74 years old at the time, he was a fast walker, and I often15

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In Memoriam

found myself struggling to keep up with him.

Watching René lead a rehearsal was like watching a great magician, except the magic was real. I often saw that actors and designers were baffled by his direction, but the end product was always pure perfection. Federico García Lorca has always been my favorite writer, and I had seen a number of productions of his work during my time in Texas, but it wasn’t until I sat with René during rehearsals for The House of Bernarda Alba and Yerma, that I fully understood the true power of Lorca as a poet and playwright.

René was a champion of the Spanish language. Of all the lessons he taught me, his most powerful words were, “Never forget, mijo, our culture is second to none!” He will always be my hero. — Juan Carlos Salinas ’03

Walter Dallas

Director

Walter Dallas ’71, a director and playwright, and a leading voice in African American theater whose career spanned more than 50 years, died of pancreatic cancer on May 3, 2020, at his home in Atlanta. He was 73.

Walter was a well-known figure off-Broadway and in regional theaters across the country. He directed more than 25 world premieres, among them August Wilson’s HON ’88 Seven Guitars at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago in 1995, a production praised by Time magazine as one of the 10 best of theater events of that year. He also directed plays at the Public Theater, Lincoln Center Theater and the Negro Ensemble Company in New York, the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles, Baltimore Center Stage, and at Yale Repertory Theatre, including Pill Hill by Sam Kelley ’90 and Bricklayers by Elvira DiPaolo.

But Walter was best known for his work at the Freedom Theatre in Philadelphia, one of the foremost African American theater companies, which he led from 1992 to 2008.

Walter Edward Dallas was born on September 15, 1946, in Atlanta. His mother died of cancer, and he was raised by his aunt. He graduated from Morehouse College in 1968, then studied at Harvard Divinity School before attending the Drama School, where he received his MFA in 1971. He also studied traditional African dance and theater at the University of Ghana in Legon.

Walter taught at Philadelphia’s University of the Arts for 10 years before taking over the helm of the Freedom Theatre, where he had previously directed Langston Hughes’s Black Nativity to critical acclaim. During his tenure, the Freedom opened its new 299seat John E. Allen, Jr. Theatre. In one of the first productions on the new stage Walter directed Eugene O’Neill’s Desire Under the Elms with a Black cast and transported the drama from New England in the 1850s to 1930s Georgia.

Walter developed strong ties to Philadelphia, and in 1993, appeared in Jonathan

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23 Walter Dallas ’71

In Memoriam

24 G.W. “Skip” Mercier ’83 Demme’s movie Philadelphia in the role of Denzel Washington’s father. In 2002, he wrote and directed the critically acclaimed musical Lazarus, Unstoned d at the Freedom. Based on the biblical story of Lazarus, it included music from Stravinsky to Elton John to Aretha Franklin.

In 2008, he left the city to become senior artist-in-residence and co-director of the MFA program at the University of Maryland’s School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies. With his long list of directorial credits and his working history with, among others, James Baldwin, August Wilson, Denzel Washington, and Viola Davis, Walter was a highly regarded colleague and widely popular teacher at UMD, affectionately known to his students as “Dr. D.” A wealth of tributes on the School of the Arts website attests to the impact Walter had on so many whose lives he touched as both mentor and friend.

Walter Dallas was the recipient of many awards, including an honorary doctorate from the University of the Arts, a 2016 AUDELCO Special Pioneer Award for Excellence in Black Theatre, and a 2017 AUDELCO Award for Best Director for Autumn by Richard Wesley. He was recognized with two Creative Genius Awards from the Atlanta Circle of Drama Critics, and his production of Emily Mann’s Having Our Say at Los Angeles’s Mark Taper Forum received an NAACP Theatre Award nomination for Best Director.

In 2012, Walter spoke about his lifelong love of the theater in an interview in The Clarice, a publication of the University of Maryland’s School of the Arts. “I find that theatre is a powerful force that can change the course of my life and the lives of others,” he said. “The thing about it is you might know instantly—but often you never know—how deeply it affects people. I often hear from people who say, ‘You know, what you said that time really turned my life around.’ Sometimes I don’t even remember what I said and sometimes barely remember the person. But theatre powerfully affects people.”

Walter Dallas is survived by his husband, Paul Siler.

George W. Mercier

Designer

G.W. “Skip” Mercier ’83, a Tony-nominated set and costume designer died on March 11 of pancreatic cancer at his home in Rowayton, Connecticut. He was 66.

Skip Mercier was born in Methuen, Massachusetts, graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a BA in Dramatic Art from the University of California, Berkeley, then earned an MFA from Yale School of Drama in 1983.

During his career, Skip designed nearly 400 stage productions, among them August Wilson’s HON ’88 Fences at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, Sarah Ruhl’s (Faculty) Dead Man’s Cell Phone at Playwright’s Horizons, the Laura Nyro jukebox musical Eli’s Comin’ at the Vineyard Theater in New York, and The Loman Family Picnic by Donald Margulies at Manhattan Theatre Club. In 1997, he created the sets and costumes for Julie Taymor and Eliot Oldenthal’s Juan Darién: A Carnival Mass at Lincoln Center, earning him a Tony nomination for Best Scenic Design. He was a resident designer for the National Playwrights Conference at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center in Waterford, Connecticut, the Vineyard Theatre in New York, and Geva Theatre in Rochester.

Skip’s first New York production was Lanford Wilson’s Lemon Sky, starring Jeff Daniels, Cynthia Nixon, and Jill Eikenberry ’70 at Second Stage Theater in 1985. His recent work included Head of Passes by Tarell Alvin McCraney ’07 (Faculty) at The Public Theater, which received both a Drama Desk nomination and an AUDELCO award for Outstanding Set Design. He was also honored with the Bay Area Critics Award for

In Memoriam

his work on William Saroyan’s The Time of Your Life directed by Tina Landau and received the Daryl Roth Creative Spirit Award for Outstanding Talent and Vision in Design.

His film and television credits include the award-winning Nickelodeon series Eureeka’s Castle, the 1998 film Southie, and Fool’s Fire for PBS’s American Playhouse. He designed Finding Nemo—The Musical, which opened in 2007 at Walt Disney World and played five times a day until the pandemic shutdown in 2020.

Like many of his fellow alumni, Skip had a distinguished career as a teacher; he taught design at the National Theater Institute at the O’Neill and held faculty positions at the State University of New York at Stonybrook, the University of Michigan, and the University of Washington School of Drama.

“Skip’s passing has left a big hole in our community and in our hearts,” said Stephen Strawbridge ’83 (Faculty). “He was a beloved collaborator and friend, known for his openness and generosity. He and I graduated in the same class, so this hits especially close to home for me, but I know many share the feeling of loss. He will be greatly missed.”

Skip Mercier is survived by his husband, Robert Frazier; children, Molly and Wil; grandson, Jack; and brother, Michael.

Pat Collins

Lighting Designer

Pat Collins ’58, an award-winning lighting designer whose theater career spanned nearly 50 years and included more than 30 Broadway productions, died of pancreatic cancer on March 21 at her home in Branford, Connecticut. She was 88.

Pat won a Tony Award for I’m Not Rappaport in 1986, and received Tony nominations for The Threepenny Opera (1977) and Doubt t (2005).

Patricia Collins was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1932. She attended Brown University’s Pembroke College before coming to Yale School of Drama. She began her theater career as a stage manager at the Joffrey Ballet, and then became an assistant to lighting designer Jean Rosenthal ’34 at

25 Pat Collins ’58. Photo by T. Charles Erickson.

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In Memoriam

26 Brian MacQueen ’00. Photo by Werner Elmker. the American Shakespeare Festival Theater in Stratford.

Pat’s big break came when Joseph Papp (Former Faculty) gave her a job designing the lighting for the New York Shakespeare Festival production of The Threepenny Opera at the Vivian Beaumont Theater at Lincoln Center and at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park in 1977. It was the beginning of a long run on Broadway that would include Ain’t Misbehavin’, The Heidi Chronicles, A Moon for the Misbegotten, The Sisters Rosensweig, A Delicate Balance, Proof, and Execution of Justice, for which she received a Drama Desk Award.

“Pat was incredibly vital,” said Michael Chybowski ’87, who worked with her at Alaska Rep in the early 1980s when he was an aspiring designer. “The entire room would come to attention when she arrived because everyone knew that things would be great since she was there. Always a consummate pro, she created beauty on schedule and with great joy and shared that joy with everyone she worked with.”

Pat worked regularly at regional theaters throughout the U.S., including Long Wharf Theater in New Haven, Steppenwolf in Chicago, the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles, McCarter Theatre in Princeton, and Arena Stage in Washington, DC. She also designed lighting for productions at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the San Francisco Opera, the Royal Opera House in London, and the Bavarian State Opera in Munich.

“Pat was an extraordinary designer whom I had the privilege of working with many times over 40 years in New York, but mostly in regional theaters along the Northeast coast,” recalled Jess Goldstein ’78 (Former Faculty). “I’ll never forget sharing a table with her during a long Sunday night technical rehearsal at Baltimore Center Stage when the stage manager stopped everything to announce to all of us that Pat had just won a Tony Award. Everyone cheered, but in typical Pat fashion, she preferred to spend the evening with us in tech—always all about the work she truly believed in.”

Pat is survived by her partner, Dr. Virginia Stuermer.

Brian MacQueen

Sound Designer and Engineer

26 Brian MacQueen ’00, a sound designer and engineer who received his MFA from Yale School of Drama in 2000 and later served on the YSD faculty, passed away on March 1 in Iowa City, Iowa. He was 63.

Raised in Iowa City, Brian attended the University of Iowa, where he earned a degree in theater in 1980. He wrote, directed, and engineered several award-winning radio plays for National Public Radio Playhouse, as well as a popular children’s radio show, “Chip the Squirrel,” before coming to the School of Drama.

After graduation, Brian worked at a number of theaters across the country as a sound designer. He returned to YSD as the

In Memoriam

sound supervisor for the School and the Rep, and from 2002 to 2009 also held the position of lecturer in the TD&P department. Brian also taught at Dongguk University in Seoul, South Korea.

“Brian was a calm, passionate, friendly person, deeply invested in his studies as a designer,” said David Budries (Faculty). “His time as a student was filled with a balance of hard work, intense energy, as well as joy. He loved solving technical problems and was always willing to offer his assistance. Later, as sound supervisor, Brian worked tirelessly to support the young designers in their process. His warmth and connection were well appreciated by all. ”

In 2009, Brian moved back to Iowa City to take care of his aging parents. He later relocated to Fairfield, Iowa, to become the technical director of the Stephen Sondheim Center for the Performing Arts at the Fairfield Arts & Convention Center.

Brian was a much beloved colleague, teacher, and friend. His creative energy, dedication to his work, and his generous spirit will be greatly missed.

Margaret Holloway

Actor, Director

Margaret Holloway ’80, known as “The Shakespeare Lady,” died May 30, 2020 from COVID-19, at age 68, in Yale New Haven Hospital.

A Bennington College graduate, Holloway entered Yale School of Drama as an acting student, left for a time, then returned to study directing. Her thesis focused on a “theater of hunger,” an all-too-apt intimation of what lay ahead.

Three years after graduation, Margaret’s schizophrenia emerged. She was resilient, surviving for nearly 40 years as a street performer whose recitations of Shakespeare monologues enlivened the city, despite occasional panhandling arrests.

After periods of homelessness, Margaret lived for a decade in a supportive housing facility on Park Street and then, in April 2018, moved to a nearby nursing home.

Though she regretted her loss of independence, the nursing home provided stability: physical therapy and health care, meals, showers, clean clothes, and her own television. When I once suggested that we go out into the courtyard to enjoy the sunshine, she said that her room was “the cleanest place I’ve lived in 30 years” and she had no desire to venture out of it.

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27 Margaret Holloway ’80. Photo by Tom Kaszuba.

In Memoriam

Although medication kept her schizophrenia superficially well controlled, she was fully aware of the impact the disease had on her life. She was assailed by hallucinations and had no peace except when asleep. She couldn’t concentrate well enough to read, a bitter irony for someone who loved literature.

I visited her monthly, bringing toiletries, notebooks and pens, and treats. We talked about theater. She reminisced about performances she had given or directed. She’d wonder “whatever happened to” colleagues, and I’d tell her what I knew about their careers or would Google them on my phone. She recalled attending the holiday party at the Yale Club several years ago; someone bought her a new dress, a winter coat, and a train ticket, and she held court amidst generations of YSD alums.

We last met in early March 2020, after which visitors were prohibited, but stayed in touch by phone through April. Margaret was afraid of contracting COVID-19 and being stuck in the nursing home, unable to see the few friends who visited regularly. Sadly, those fears were realized. After two weeks of unanswered phone calls, in mid-May I reached a nurse who told me she was in the hospital.

Two short films document Margaret’s life and work. Her college friend Richard Dailey’s God Didn’t Give Me a Week’s Notice, https://vimeo.com/7501821, was screened at York Square Cinema in 2001. More recently, Cecilia Rubino ’82, who acted in Margaret’s YSD thesis, directed Remembering Shakespeare, https://vimeo.com/404414105 (password RS1509), and gave Margaret a sneak preview in the nursing home before its 2019 public premiere.

Margaret Holloway’s love of theater sustained her. Memories of Bennington and Yale, where she was young, healthy, and creative, remained vivid. She could speak authoritatively about directing Macbeth or animatedly recite speeches from Hamlet. Performing was a way to maintain her dignity – seeking an exchange with an audience rather than a handout. She generously shared her art with friends and passersby. She is missed. — Joan Channick ’89 (Faculty)

In Memoriam

Farewell

Lawrence Arrick (Former Faculty) / 9.21.20 Zeke Berlin ’53 / 4.28.20 Lee Breuer (Former Faculty) / 1.3.21 René Buch ’52 / 4.21.20 Harr H. Clein ’63, YC ’60 / 6.18.20 Forrest Compton ’53 / 4.4.20 Walter Dallas ’71 / 5.3.20 Allen Davis III ’56 / 8.9.19 Jerr Douglas ’60 / 1.9.21 Gerald Freedman (Former Faculty) / 3.17.20 Bernard Gersten (Former Faculty) / 4.27.20 Marilyn Jeannette Sterling Gondek (Former Faculty) / 4.18.20 Michael Harrison ’65 / 11.21.20 John M. Hay ’73, DIV ’68 / 12.19.20 Patricia Ann Helwick ’65 / 1.4.21 George L. Hickenlooper DFA ’67 / 7.18.19 Margaret Holloway ’80 / 5.30.20 Peter Hunt ’63, YC ’61 / 4.26.20 James Earl Jewell ’57 / 2.15.20 Brian MacQueen ’00 / 3.1.21 George W. “Skip” Mercier ’83 / 3.11.21 Joyce P. Langelier ’59 / 12.19.18 Ming Cho Lee HON ’20 (Faculty Emeritus) / 10.23.20 Frederick J. Marker DFA ’67 / 8.23.19 Franklin Metzler Nash ’59 / 10.19.20 William M. Ndini ’65 / 10.5.20 Joan Pape ’68 / 6.30.20 Portia Patterson ’68 / 11.10.19 Nicholas Rastenis ’08 / 10.19.20 David Rosenberg ’54 / 7.15.20 Eugene F. Shewmaker ’49 / 2.15.20 Daniel A. Stein ’64, DFA ’67 / 3.16.19 Betsy B. Watson ’53 / 6.20.19 G. Randall Will ’68 / 11.18.20 John. L Wilson ’63 / 6.12.20