Alumni Notes

1940s

Joan Kron ’48 writes: “At 92, I am producing, directing, and playing myself in my second documentar—in production now. My first film, Take My Nose…Please!, about comediennes and plastic surger, is available on Hulu, Prime Video, and other streaming platforms. It was chosen as one of the 25 best documentaries of 2018 by Video Librarian magazine and won awards at the Miami Film Festival and the Berkshire Film Festival. In December 2020, I was selected as one of NextTribe’s Women of the Year.”

1950s

Geoffrey Johnson ’55, a trustee and officer of the Noël Coward Foundation and Archive Trust, took time off from a steady, non-existent Broadway scene and with his former associate, Tara Rubin, cast a unique television special during the current coronavirus pandemic. One segment was cast in England (a benefit for “Acting for Others”) and another was cast in the U.S. (a benefit for “The Actors Fund”). The celebration from the two countries featured music and lyrics and a variety of Coward works performed by the actors recording at home or taping at a number of locations. Participants included: Mistress of Ceremonies Dame Judi Dench, Kate Burton ’82, Alan Cumming, Stephen Fr, Montego Glover, Derek Jacobi, Josh James, Cush Jumbo, Robert Lindsay, Bebe Neuwirth, Kristine Nielsen ’80, Julian Ovenden, Patricia Routledge, Kate Royal, Giles Terera, Emma Thompson, Indira Varma, and Lia Williams. ● Gordon Micunis ’59 is currently enjoying the diminished delights of good old New York. Painting daily in his studio, he would be delighted to hear from fellow alumni. ● Ruth Wolff ’57 writes: “I’ve kept to what I started out to do so, so long ago: writing strong roles for women—though I must admit, I’ve written quite a few strong roles for men along the way. A recent major work is The Seven Ages of DD, a play in which the stor of one woman’s life, from beginning to end, unfolds in seven scenes. The play was given a staged reading at the Jefferson Market Librar in New York under the auspices of the League of Professional Theatre Women. My play A Night of Storm and Danger, in which two academics locked in a room over a stormy night are forced to confront their pasts, their futures, and their relationship, was written for either two men or two women. My newest play is a One Day in the Highlands, a play for one woman. This is a rather unusual play in two acts about art, theater, and life.” ● At the Virginia Repertor Theatre Gala on Januar 25, 2020, Vienna Cobb Anderson ’58 was awarded the Virginia Excellence in Theater Award for being the first woman to direct a professional stage production in Virginia. Vienna directed Boeing-Boeing and Any Wednesday at the Barksdale Theater at Hanover Tavern just outside of Richmond, VA, in 1966.

1960s

Helen Yalof ’60 writes: “So what have I been up to in all these years that I haven’t been sending notes to the Yale School of Drama Magazine? Lots of mischief. I founded several successful regional and alumni theaters. My shows and films have been performed Off-Off Broadway, in educational theater, hospitals, senior centers, hotels, organizations, concerts, cabaret theaters and festivals. I study voice building (The Ernie Castaldo/Esther Fisher method), sing a lot, and sometimes teach. I’ve been awarded commissions, scholarships, and prestigious grants from the Huntington Librar (Long Island), the National Endowment of the Arts, and the New York State Council on the Arts. I am Professor Emerita and former theater chair at Queensborough Community College, City University of New York. Currently, I am polishing song demos for my singles musical, Ludwig’s Apple. It isinspired by Warner LeRoy’s Maxwell’s Plum, the flamboyant 1960s New York restaurant and singles bar. YSD scenic design graduates helped build Maxwell’s Plum and are colorful characters in my musical. I want to thank Janice Muirhead (Staff) for helping 02

01 Joan Kron ’48. Photo by Ramona Rosales.

02 Vienna Cobb Anderson ’58

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03 Abby Kenigsberg’63

04 Puppets by Carrie Robbins’67.

05 William Boardman ’64, YC ’60 presiding at a wedding dinner.

06 Len Berkman’63, DFA ’70. Photo by Troy David Mercier.

07 Helen Yalof ’60

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08 Robert Greenwood ’67. Photo by Brian Burke.

09 Roger Hendricks Simon ’67

10 Susan Horowitz ’69 and Teddly.

11 Lonnie Carter ’69 with André De Shields and Lia Chang.

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12 A watercolor by Ann Farris ’63.

13 Howard Pflanzer ’68

14 Costume rendering for The Bacchae by Santo Loquasto ’72. Photo courtesy of Jim Metzner ’69.

Alumni Notes

place my histor of, and my materials for, studio i and Studio 60 into the Yale archives. If we ever have a Yale Drama Alumni party at the Yale Club again, please do come over and say ‘Hello!’” ● Conari Press published Allen Klein’s ’62 latest book, The Awe Factor: How a Little Bit of Wonder Can Make a Big Difference in Your Life. The foreword is by Jack Canfield, co-author of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series. ● Len Berkman ’63, DFA’70, now in his 52nd year on the Smith College theater faculty, has added to his virtual teaching a series of Zoom-broadcast conversations with playwrights based in NYC. The series has included Kathleen Tolan, David Henr Hwang’83, Lynn Nottage ’89 (Former Faculty), Sarah Ruhl (Faculty), and Charles Mee, Jr. ● Ann Farris ’63 writes: “First of all, I was so sorr to hear of Peter Sargent’s ’63 passing. He was such an effective force and a delightful individual. While our paths did not cross a er Yale, his positive energy was always around. I have been keeping close to home in Vallejo, CA. I am still up to my ears with projects that I have yet to complete with the San Francisco Opera Archive. I have been chatting with former staff to capture on tape their memories of their time with SFO. And, I have been dabbling in watercolors. Lots to learn there. Last year I published an autobiography titled: Two Engines/One Voice. Because my life has been quite diverse both professionally and personally, I decided I wanted to write about it. Chapter Three tells the tales of being an apprentice at Williamstown in 1959 and my three years at the Yale School of Drama, 1960-63. I send you all best wishes for continued good health.” ● Abby Kenigsberg ’63 just published her book, Shenanigans: A Memoir. Abby recorded the audio version which is also available now.

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William Boardman ’64, YC ’60 writes: “My last stage appearance was with Elizabeth Warren in 2019, giving her a copy of my political book, Exceptional: American Exceptionalism Takes Its Toll, and getting my picture on page one of the Boston Globe. All level cruising from there, still writing political columns for Reader Supported News, building cairns and cutting up firewood, working on a book of political comedy sketches from 1976 to the present, and expecting the best from all and sundr, whatever that may turn out to be.” ● Warren Bass ’67 received eight international awards for his experimental film Cuban Queens, plus five citations as finalist for an award, seven as semi-finalist, one honorable mention, and 59 official juried selections at international film festivals across six continents in a total of 33 countries. ● Robert Greenwood ’67 writes: “During the past year, during this time of isolation, our company Sun.Ergos, has been offering numerous Zoom classes in brain-body fitness, Brain-Gym®, and is now preparing visual arts and Zoom acting classes for the upcoming months. It has been a time of great reflection and going back over archives of some of my performances with Sun.Ergos and other companies. My partner Dana Luebke and I have created 62 productions in the 43 years of the company and now have students who have become professionals in the UK, Poland, Slovakia, Croatia, Tunisia, Iran, and the U.S. I chaired acting and directing programs at the University of Oklahoma and the University of Calgar. I was fortunate to teach Ed Harris, Larr Drake, KT Sullivan, and Catherine Tambini, to name but a few. Needless to say, I am proud of their achievements in theater, film, and the arts. The Sun.Ergos mandate has always been to celebrate the differences and recognize the similarities among peoples and cultures through timeless stories expressed in theater, dance, and the visual arts. If we can do anything that enlarges the human experience, the human heart, thinking, feeling—no matter how small that event may be, then, perhaps, we can leave this world something that changes, touches, or makes possible something better for someone somewhere.” ● Carrie Robbins ’67 writes: “As a recovering costume designer I’ve been writing secretly since 2009-ish. My first official ‘outing’ was in 2014 with a showcase that, much to my surprise, garnered six New York Innovative Theatre nominations. I’m now up to play number 20, a piece based on a dark time in Paris, 1942-44, when the Nazis, with the help of the Vichy government, gathered up all the Jewish schoolchildren they could find and took them to concentration camps. This is the stor of one classroom’ s ‘collection day’ and its a ermath. Because it is so painful to envision the scenes of such a play, I began to ‘see’ the classroom of children as doll-puppets. And behind each, a puppeteer, the adult each child never got to be.” ● Roger Hendricks Simon ’67 writes: “First, The Simon Studio is currently in its 43rd year as a training and production center in NYC. Second, I’m happy to announce that one of my newest feature films, the fun-loving off-beat comedy Love in Kilnerr, written and directed by Daniel Keith, is screening virtually at the Newport Beach Film Festival. For this film I was awarded the 2020 International Independent Film Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. I have two other major roles in feature films coming out in 2021: Another Year Together and Linoleum (playing opposite comedian/actor Jim Gaffigan). Another Year Together was directed and co-written by my son, Dan Simon. I made my ballet debut dancing the role of Drosselmeyer opposite my daughter, Abigail Simon (of American Ballet Theatre and the Joffrey), in the Nutcracker. So, if you wait long enough—you get work from your kids!” ● Howard Pflanzer ’68 is the co-founder of Crossways Theatre, a group of playwrights who present staged readings of new plays dealing with the important issues of our times for diverse audiences on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. During the pandemic, Crossways produced virtual readings of plays, including Space, written and directed by Howard. Several more virtual productions are planned, including Howard’s new play, Amicus Fidelis.

● Jonathan Reeve Price DFA ’68 writes: “Since I retired from UCSC two years ago, I have slowly been making short books out of some of the materials I developed for our classes. I’ve just published Write a Use Case: Gathering Requirements that Users Can Understand. My argument is that writers are uniquely qualified to gather functional requirements—not programmers, not suits.” ● Lonnie Carter ’69 recently received a grant from NET/PWC for a play with HartBeat Ensemble in Hartford on the life

Alumni Notes

and times of Aunt Jemima—Mark Twain and Uncle Ben included. HartBeat is across the street from the Mark Twain House Museum. Lonnie’s Obie-winning play, The Romance of Magno Rubio, was streamed this past summer, receiving 95,000 views. ● Susan Horowitz ’69 is producing comedic videos on her YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/drsuecomedian) including “MacBear,” a spoof on Macbeth, and musicals, “Wear a Mask Show You Care,” song and video featuring Teddly the puppet, and a virtual tour of the New York Botanical Garden with Teddly. Susan has also written SssWitch, an original musical comedy. ● Tony Scully ’69, former Mayor of Camden, South Carolina, has just released his second book of poetr, Come into the Light, with Wipf and Stock Publishers. The book is available now on Amazon.com. ● Jim Metzner ’69 writes: “Sacred Mounds, my new novel, is published at last! The audio version was read by me and produced by Stefan Rudnicki ’69, and what a pleasure to work with Stefan— albeit from a distance! Last time we saw each other was at the Island Repertor Theater on Martha’s Vineyard, where Stefan played the Pirate King and I his trusty sidekick, in a production of The Pirates of Penzance—reimagined as a motorcycle gang. In other news, my 40-year sound archive is now reposited in the Librar of Congress. I just learned that the recordings of Samba da Viola that I made in the seventies were the first of their kind. Last, but not least, it’s been wonderful to reconnect with the multi-talented Ev Lunning ’69, YC ’67 on Facebook. Ev and I were Bacchantes in the infamous YSD production of The Bacchae, directed by Andre Gregor and mentioned in My Dinner with Andre. Stanley Rosenberg did a wonderful job of co-directing The Bacchae chorus, introducing us to the work of Jerzy Grotowski.” ● Richard Arthur Olson ’69 is writing a play about a college philosophy class that takes place on Zoom, where it will also be performed and recorded.

1970s

Margaret Gruen ’70 created a website to honor and remember Muriel Sharon, Chairperson of the Children’s Drama Department of the 92nd Street YM-YWHA for 27 years. www.murielsharonremembered. com ● Carol Schlanger ’70 writes: “I was honored to receive the 2020 First Place Golden IPPY Award (Independent Publishers) for my memoir Hippie Woman Wild. I had so much fun recording the audiobook with Stefan Rudnicki’s ’69 Skyboat Media. I welcomed my second grandson into the world and, during the pandemic, have been sequestered and growing my garden in deeply rural Oregon. Prayers for all fellow alumni during our national nightmare.” ● Charles Siegel ’70 writes: “In March of 2020, I directed a production of Anna Bella Eema by Lisa D’Amour. The week a er our run, all of the theaters here in Vancouver were shut by the lockdown. We were ver lucky. The show was nominated for ‘Outstanding Production’ in the local theater awards. Lois Anderson, a former student of mine at the University of British Columbia, was nominated for ‘Outstanding Performance.’” ● Mark W. Travis ’70 writes: “First, I want to send greetings and wishes of good health and safety to all my YSD colleagues and friends. The best news of the last year is that my beautiful Elsha and I were married on October 6, 2019, on Kailua Beach, Hawaii. It was the happiest day of my life, and our marriage solidified that the third act of my life, as promised by many, is going to be a joyful and passionate roller coaster ride. For the past 20 years I have been traveling the world extensively, sharing my revolutionar approach to directing (The Travis Technique, thetravistechnique.com) in film schools, organizations and in private consultations. In Januar of 2020, Elsha and I were looking forward to trips to Sweden, Cyprus, New Zealand, and Australia. But all of that evaporated within a few weeks. We began reimagining our teaching, training, and consulting so that we could deliver our services online. This required constructing a broadcast and recording studio in our home. Ironically, we are reaching more students worldwide than previously. Simultaneously we have discovered many profound advantages of teaching online. Last month I reconnected with Andy Friedlander ’70, and we are launching an online reunion with our YSD classmates in November. I look forward to hearing from fellow alumni.” ● Last season, Charles Turner ’70 had a major role in Will Eno’ s The Underlying Chris at the Second Stage Theatre, directed by Kenny Leon. He also had a principle role in the NBC series The Village. In 2018, Charles was recognized at the 10th-Annual Broadway Salutes celebration for his more than 40 years of work on Broadway. His teenage grandkids, Khari and Aaliyah, are creating a stir playing soccer in Florida.

● Stephen Mendillo ’71 writes: “I am still acting, only now here in LA a er decades in NYC. I had 40 glorious years on the East Coast, including seven Broadway plays and work in almost ever regional theater from Maine to Florida and west to Colorado, even Little Rock for new play by Tom Dulack which won the Kitty Carlisle Hart Award for Best New Play. My last show before ending up in LA to do some television was Lemonade at the Alley Theatre. Though I live out here, I am still represented in NY by A3 Artists Agency.” ● William Purves ’71 writes: “March found the HGP team arriving in Florida to load in a corporate show, only to turn the trucks around and head home. Shortly therea er we joined the rest of the industr in a massive rapid pivot to virtual conventions and meetings. While in Florida, I enjoyed seeing Howard Rogut ’71 and always enjoy catching up with Charles Dillingham ’68, YC ’65 and Herman Krawitz (Former Faculty) on the phone. Here’s to a better 2021!” ● Barnet Kellman ’72 is serving as the Interim Chair of the Production Division of USC’ s School of Cinematic Arts where he holds the Robin Williams Endowed Chair in Comedy. ● Larr Mirkin ’72, YC ’69 writes: “I don’t think I’ve sent any news in since the 70s when I was the literar manager at the Mark Taper Forum. I’ve lived in Toronto since 1975, where I have been a TV producer/showrunner since 1979. I’ ve produced hundreds of fictional programs in many forms: live

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15 Gina Leon, Lois Anderson, and Lucy McNulty in Anna Bella Eema by Lisa D’Amour, directed by Charles Siegel ’70. Photo courtesy of Charles Siegel.

16 Carol Schlanger ’70 and her grandson.

17 David Stifel ’74 opens the Eagles’ Hotel California tour in Atlanta.

18 Barnet Kellman ’72 with USC recent graduates, Jeanne Jo and Thembi Banks.

19 Michael Sheehan ’76 and President Joe Biden at the 2008 vice-presidential debate.

20 Ryan Scott Yuille ’77

21 Charles Turner ’70, Lizbeth MacKay, and Nicholas Hutchinson in The Underlying Chris by Will Eno. Photo by Joan Marcus.

22 Mark Travis ’70 and Elsha’s wedding in Hawaii. Photo by Jehsong Baak.

23 Muriel Sharon. Photo courtesy of Margaret Gruen ’70. 31

24 William Otterson ’76

25 Dick D. Zigun ’78 and Lynn Nottage ’89 (Former Faculty).

26 Kathrn Hunter and John Rothman ’75 in Timon of Athens. Photo by Gerr Goodstein.

27–29 Charles Andrew Davis ’76 photoshopped three times by his students.

30 Larr Mirkin’72, YC ’69 on set in New Zealand.

31 Fall painting by Adrianne Lobel ’79.

action, puppetr, animation, and digital puppetr. Although I still do ‘grown-up’ work I’ve spent much of my time making programs for children. I had a long freelance relationship with Jim Henson, produced Fraggle Rock and The Jim Henson Hour, and was a script consultant on many of his other projects including the feature films Labyrinth and The Witches. Most recently I produced the third season of The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot about That t with Martin Short as The Cat, airing on PBS Kids, and I’m currently consulting producer on Hero Elementar also for PBS. I’ve spoken publicly about kids’ television in Canada, the U.S., and other countries, and co-authored an article in the book, Getting Ready to Learn: Creating Effective Educational Children’s Media. I also taught ‘A Survey on Children’s Entertainment’ for eight years to post-graduate students at Centennial College. Having done much work for children, which wasn’t at all in my mind at YSD, I’m always happy to talk to students or former students who are interested in this kind of work. What young kids see in their media is o en their first experience of professional dramatic and visual arts, so I always think it’s an added responsibility we have that demands the ver best of us. The ideas and words of Robert Brustein ’51, HON ’66 (Former Dean), Herman Krawitz (Former Faculty), Stanley Kauffmann (Former Faculty), Peter Zeisler (Former Faculty), Howard Stein (Former Faculty), and Jerzy Kosinski (Former Faculty) hover in my brain, appearing whenever I need them, and I’ m grateful for all they gave me.” ● Joel Schechter ’72, DFA ’73 (Former Faculty) wrote a new book on satire due out in 2021. ● Ben Slotznick ’73, YC ’70 just published Zoom Reunions, a how-to e-book based on his work helping the Yale Class of 1970 move their 50th reunion online in May 2020. In its first week, it was the #1 new release in education administration. ● David Stifel ’74 writes: “2020 started out stupendously, as I was hired by Don Henley to be the band’s ‘Night Man’ for the 2020 Eagles’ Hotel California tour. The show didn’t start without me! We did 10 concerts, and then the shutdowns…. We are

Alumni Notes

scheduled to complete the tour in fall 2021. In the meantime, I am working 110% full-time as an audiobook narrator, creeping up on 200 titles in ever genre—histor, science, fantasy, horror…Retirement, shmirement!” ● James F. Ingalls ’75 designed the lighting for The Cherr Orchard for Druid Theatre Company in Galway, Ireland, which opened in March 2020. ● John Rothman ’75 writes: “I was performing Flavius in a great production of Timon of Athens, directed by Simon Godwin at The Shakespeare Theater in DC when the theaters were closed. Fortunately, prior to that, we had a six-week run at TFANA in Brooklyn. The play was produced in association with the RSC: director, star, designers—all RSC. It was an association I treasured. I had a supporting role in a horror movie for Amazon called Nocturne released in October on Prime. But with no work on the horizon, my wife, Suzie, and I moved to our family house on Cape Cod. Our daughter, Lily, Senior Editor at Time Magazine and Yale College ’08, is expecting her first child in November. Our son, Noah, produced his first movie, Small Engine Repair. It was to open at SXSW in March, but will premiere at a drive-in in LA in October. Proud father, soon to be a grandfather! Can’t wait!” ● Charles Andrew Davis’76 is teaching at Garfield High School in Los Angeles where his students are teasing him by creatively photshopping his image. ● William Otterson ’76 turned the plotting scene in Hamlet t between Claudius and Laertes into a Claudius monologue with the help of James Bundy ’95 (Dean) and Roger Simon ’67. William continued to film dance projects for the George Balanchine Foundation at Lincoln Center until the work was put on hold by the pandemic. William is also involved with live streaming on Zoom with up to eight cameras that can be switched live. He is currently working with theater companies to live stream their staged readings. And he is hoping to resume the NY Table weekly get-togethers at the Players Club. ● Michael Sheehan ’76 writes: “2020 marked the ninth presidential election with which I was involved from speeches to convention to debates…and it was the fi h successful campaign. While my private sector work continues, my work with Presidents Clinton, Obama, and Biden surely took the most effort and time, but yielded the most important impact. My family’s activities are just as civically centered. My wife, Riki, continues her work with the Women ’ s ’ Democratic Club and support for diplomats’ families. My oldest son, Ben, hit the Amazon Best Seller list in four different categories with OMG WTH Does the Constitution Actually Say?. Jonathan, my youngest, is Senior Policy Advisor to Governor John Carnet of Delaware and was charged with working with its school and daycare systems during the COVID-19 crisis.” ● Edith Tarbescu ’76 sold a myster titled One Will: Three Wives to Adelaide Books of New York and Lisbon, Portugal. ● Ryan Scott Yuille ’77 writes: “Almost a year in South Dakota. Don’t get lost too o en anymore, but still getting used to everthing being three hours away from wherever you are. Aberdeen is a great art town.” ● Dick D. Zigun’78, founder of Coney Island’s Mermaid Parade, led his own section of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and honored Lynn Nottage ’89 (Former Faculty) as Queen Mermaid.

● Adrianne Lobel ’79 writes: “During the pandemic I have been upstate in my countr place painting everday en plein air. I will be showing these paintings at my galler in a year or two. I was supposed to be doing an opera at Glimmerglass this summer, but it was canceled, of course. Hopefully more to report next year!”

1980s

Mark Bly ’80 conducted his annual playwriting workshops in July at the Kennedy Center. He followed that up as the director of the dramaturgy program, doing eight days of workshops as part of the annual Kennedy Center/National New Play Network Playwriting and Dramaturgy Intensive that included dramaturgs from the British Isles, Canada and the United States. This year he created a new series, Alternate Careers for Emerging Dramaturgs, deploying Zoom for the 2020 dramaturgy fellows. The first guest artist was Rachel Rusch Rich ’05, DFA ’08, YC ’00, Senior Vice President of Bad Robot, who spoke about the need to adapt and how she has learned there are many ways for a “dramaturg to dramaturg,” giving listeners newfound energy. ● Jody McAuliffe ’80 writes: “I directed my adaptation of Don DeLillo’s The Body Artist at Abrons Arts Center in NYC, t where I had dramaturged Sibyl Kempson’ s Let Us Now Praise Susan Sontag. I also dramaturged Sibyl’s libretto for David Lang’s Tapestr Room opera project—The True Pearl—at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. As research for that project, Sibyl and I went to Kazakhstan. I performed the role of Euridike in Antigonick for Big Dance Theater at Carolina Performing Arts. I translated three Russian poems for Three Russian Nocturnes, composer Scott Wheeler, for the upcoming New Voices Festival at the Brooklyn Art Song Society. Reconnected with my old friend Tony Shalhoub ’80— he performed in the reading of DeLillo’ s Pa o at the Wall l in NYC and got to see Drew McCoy at Tony’s that weekend. Stayed at Drew’s guest house in LA and got to know the wonderful Amy Aquino ’86; we discovered we are both devoted to hawks and dogs. We recently celebrated Drew’ s birthday on Zoom with many fellow Northwestern alums. Last time I was at YSD visiting my former student Gretchen Wright’17, SOM ’17, I got to see Ming Cho Lee HON ’20 for which I am so grateful. I’m ver sad about his passing, but celebrate his brilliant career designing and teaching.” ● Jane Savitt Tennen ’80 writes: “I retired from a long career in non-profit fundraising in early October. My newly freed-up schedule allowed me to do Get Out the Vote phone calling for the 2020 election. It’ s great—especially in this age of COVID-19 isolation—to be in touch with a number of fellow YSD alums from my era on Facebook. Hoping that 2021 is a good year for all.” ● Alexander Scribner ’80 writes: “Since retiring in 2016, I’ve been painting watercolors again a er 40 years. I thank Michael Yeargan ’73 (Faculty) for my breakthrough during the Saturday classes. Finally, R.I.P. Ming Cho

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32 Amy Aquino ’86 and JanBreslauer ’86.

33 CraigVolk ’88. Photoby Miguel Branas. 34 Mark Sullivan’83 and hiswife, Quita, celebratingtheir wedding anniversar in the Mohonk Mountain House. 36

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35 CherlMintz ’87 and EmilyMann.

36 PeterWallace ’81. Photo by Alex Boehm. 37 Mirirai Sithole in A Clown Called Cherl by Wendy MacLeod ’87. 38 The cast of Family Planning by Julia Edwards, directed by Robert Alford II ’85.

Alumni Notes

Lee HON ’20. You made quite an impression to say the least.” ● Peter Wallace ’81 writes: “My new novel, Speaker, was published in August by Particle and Wave Publishing. Bestselling author Ann Garvin said, ‘Part fable and part adventure stor, Speaker is that rare piece of beautifully written fiction that both enchants and compels. Peter Wallace exalts in the hope and wonder of a child coming of age while exploring the deeper, more adult meanings of language.’ What a year to bring out a book!” ● Cecilia Rubino’s’82 film Remembering Shakespeare which features Margaret Holloway ’80 screened at the New Haven Documentar Film Festival in August 2020. Two versions of the film (a 52-minute and an 80-minute, full-length version) are now available on Vimeo: rememberingshakespearefilm.com. Rubino also created and directed a Zoom theater event for the New York Public Librar called Finding Her Voice: Lorraine Hansberr in the Village which streamed in December. Mickey Theis ’14 and Elia Monte-Brown ’14 were participants. ● Mark Sullivan ’83 writes: “I think that since I le Yale in ’83, I may have sent in one note, so somehow I am going to condense 37 years into this one class note. A er Yale, I became the technical director for the theatre department at SUNY Stony Brook where I met my future wife, Quita. Also, on faculty were Skip Mercier ’83 and Bob Heller ’78. From there, I was recruited (along with Skip and Bob) by the University of Michigan as production manager at University Productions, the theater operations at the School of Music, managed by Jeffrey Kuras SOM ’83. A er 15 years, it was time to move on. We packed up and moved to Boston in the fall of 2000. I managed the Charles Playhouse in Boston for four years. It was the busiest theater in Boston with Blue Man Group doing 10 performances a week in a 500-seat house and Shear Madness (opened in 1980) doing eight shows a week in the 99-seat house in the basement. A er those four years and 2,500 performances, it was time to find something that allowed more time for family which led me to Tu s. Somewhere in the course of all of this we also managed to raise a son, Chingwe Padraig, who has chosen the go into the family trade and is now in the Trinity/Brown MFA Acting and Directing program at Brown University. In August, I retired from Tu s a er 14 years as the Scheduling and Production Manager for Cohen Auditorium, the largest formal theater space on campus. With COVID-19 closing down all public events, it was a perfect time to hang up the keys. ” ● Laila Robins ’84 writes: “Like all of us, I have been tring to stay sane during these challenging times. I was lucky enough to work on Richard Nelson’s Apple Family Zoom plays during the lock down in New York. Started back up with The Blacklist seven months to the day a er our shut down on March 13th. Season 7 is available on Netflix. I’m also returning to Amazon’ s The Boys in Februar. Feeling blessed to begin work on Dr. Death in November. I am ever grateful for these opportunities. Stay creative; stay strong; stay healthy, and remain vigilant.” ● Robert Alford II ’85 recently directed Family Planning by Julia Edwards at Shreveport Little Theatre and American Menu by Don Wilson Glenn in partnership with Angelique Feaster at LSU Shreveport. Robert played the role of Frank in Anniversar, winner of the 2019 Louisiana Film Prize, directed, written and composed by James Harlon Palmer. ● Jan Breslauer ’86 practices entertainment law in Southern California, and her clients include many of her fellow YSD alums. She serves as Vice-Chair, to classmate Amy Aquino’s ’86 Chair, of Arts for L.A., and is also on the board of the Garr Marshall Theatre. ● Beckie Kravetz ’86 writes: “I was packing up my most recent sculpture and mask exhibition (Concealed/Revealed at the MAP Galler in Easthampton, MA), when the quarantine was announced. I had four opera jobs cancelled (wig and makeup design), but feel fortunate to have my studio space and a steady stream of portrait and mask commissions. I am grateful to be sequestering in the beautiful hill towns of western Massachusetts, where I am able to walk for an hour and see mostly cows and sheep. I eagerly await the time when I can once again work with my theater and opera colleagues across the countr.

”● Wendy MacLeod’s ’87 play A Clown Named Cherl was written, rehearsed, and recorded for The 24-Hour Plays: Viral Monologues. Granite Springs, her television pilot about a water company taking over a small New England town, was selected for the Orchard Project Episodic Lab. Her three-hander comedy Slow Food was produced online by Arizona Theatre Company, directed by Sean Daniels, and featuring the cast from its Merrimack Rep premiere. ● Cherl Mintz ’87 was a recipient of the Award of Excellence at the 2020 New Jersey Theatre Alliance Curtain Call. Cherl is in her 29th season as McCarter Theatre’s Resident Production Stage Manager. The 2019-2020 season marked her 35th production with Artistic Director and Resident Playwright Emily Mann with Gloria: A Life. Cherl is in her third season as the Chair of the Stage Managers ’ Association Del Hughes Lifetime Achievement Award Event. For the SMA, Cherl is a Director-at-Large, Chair of the Awards and Recognition Committee and a member of the Finance Committee, being pulled back into her 17th year of service now that her son is a high schooler! Projects found Cherl during the theatrical pause, and she quickly pivoted to become a Virtual Line Producer/Director/Production Stage Manager/Show Caller for such events as “Emily Mann: A Celebration of 30 Years,” in honor of Emily’s final season as McCarter Theatre’s Artistic Director. Cherl is a USITT portfolio reviewer and continues to conduct guest lectures and university programs. She was especially honored to return to the YSD Stage Management department for a series of classes with Narda E. Alcorn ’95 (Faculty) and her brilliant Stage Management cohort. ● Richard Butler ’88 writes: “I am still working in television and film design; but let us pay tribute here to our beloved teacher, Ming Cho Lee HON ’20. The depth of our gratitude will never be adequately expressed. My lucky times in his classroom, his studio, and with him in the theaters will never be forgotten. The Master is silent now, but the work goes on.” ● Craig Volk ’88’s new biodrama book, A Dust Bowl Book of Days, 1932, was released by South Dakota Historical Society Press. ●

Alumni Notes

2020 has turned out to be a busy year for Bob Barnett’89: “As theaters closed down around the globe, I met up with Manchester, UK-based Up ’Ere Productions which produced Zoom readings of my plays Sleeping With the Dead d and One Good Tree. I mentored three playwrights for each of their two Zoom productions. Then Walt Klappert ’79 produced a Zoom reading of my play The Hiroshima Daughter, directed by Fred Sanders YC ’77, with Alma Cuervo ’76 in the cast. Meanwhile, I’m working on my second novel, Josh in the Mirror, and as a communications consultant for Urban Affairs Coalition and Social Impact Commons. ● Robert Russell ’89 has been teaching play analysis at the Yale Alumni College in 2020—from Shakespeare to Lynn Nottage ’89 (Former Faculty)! ● Gail Shapiro ’89 writes: “Hello from Chicago, where I’m in my 17th year teaching acting at Northwestern. Last year I did a production of If I Forget t at Victor Gardens with Andrew Boyce’s ’09 (Former Faculty) spectacular design. Continuing as an executive presence coach—supporting folks in meeting their goals.”

1990s

John Huntington’s ’90 new book, Introduction to Show Networking has been released. It is being sold by Jamie Anderson’s ’93 company, Rational Acoustics. ● Scott Zielinski ’90 writes: “Theater during COVID-19! I was in Paris in September back in tech for the first time since mid-March. It felt great and I hope that we can all get back to work soon! Beautiful show directed by Arthur Nauzyciel with scener by Riccardo Hernández ’92 (Faculty). ” ● Martin A. Blanco ’91 writes: “We were in the midst of the 10th season of The Flagpole Radio Cafe Show, when COVID-19 put us on hiatus. The Blancos downsized and moved from our beloved Newtown, to nearby Danbur. I hope everone remains safe and healthy.” ● Charles Evered ’91 reports 39

39–40 Illustrations by John James (JJ) Hickey.

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41 Evered House, Flamingo Heights, CA

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48 49 47

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56 57

42 Mes Frères at Theatre National La Colline, Paris. Photo by Scott Zielinski ’90.

43 Linda Kuriloff ’91 and Smeralda Abel.

44 The Castle of Magical Dreams at Hong Kong Disneyland Resort. Photo courtesy of Walt Disney Company.

45 Cover of the album Eight Days Across America by Robert Cotnoir ’94. Photo by M. Benabib.

46 A still from the virtual presentation of The Frisco Flash by Julius Galacki’98.

47 Michael Manuel ’92 in Frankenstein at A Noise Within. Photo courtesy of Michael Manuel.

48 David Yick-Koppel ’98

49 Roseli and Shawn Marie Garrett ’96, DFA ’06. 50 Magaly Colimon-Christopher ’98

51 The Weida Family: Danny, Emily, Connor, Rosanne, and Alex.

52 A still from the music video for Soul of the Nation, an original song developed by members of the Broadway community. Photo courtesy of Flora Stamatiades ’94.

53 Ed Blunt ’99 in the studio.

54 Jessica Mann Gutteridge ’94 and husband, Corin.

55 Robin Miles ’94, YC’86 and Stephen DeRosa ’95.

56 Al Espinosa ’94, his wife, Kate, and children, Gustavo and Esperanza, conquering potty training during the pandemic.

57 A screen shot from a rehearsal of Ae-ri in Otherland by Esther K. Chae ’99, to be performed in virtual reality.

Alumni Notes

from the West coast: “We’re on the cusp of starting our fourth year at the Evered House, an artist residency that I co-founded with my wife, Jackie, in 2017, for those who serve. We’ve enlarged our mandate to host frontline workers, first responders, and anyone else affected by this awful pandemic. We also recently completed construction of an outdoor stage on the grounds, where we plan on hosting readings, musical performances, and a lecture series. Contact me at CBEvered@ gmail.com if you’d like a tour (virtual or in person) or would like to get involved. Proud of my children, Margaret and John, who continue to support the effort as well.” ● Linda Kuriloff’91 is releasing a book this November, Rethink and Grow Fans: Go from Yearning to Earning as a 24-Hour Actor, for professional theater actors who want to learn to use social media to expand their audience. Linda is producing an independent project, Shi Happens for IGTV and Shi Happens OVERTIME, with Geoffrey Owens as host and director on YouTube. The first episode was released in October 2020. Follow her on Instagram @ Lindakuriloff to stay updated or search for Shi Happens on IGTV. ● Michael Manuel ’92 writes: “Sending love and hugs to all my Yale family. 2019 was a busy year—I was so honored to win the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle award for Lead Performance in Frankenstein at A Noise Within. 2020 started off with The Father r at Pasadena Playhouse with Alfred Molina and old classmate Sue Cremin ’95. So many of my classmates and friends came out to see the show including Amy Povich ’92, Chris Bauer ’92, and Tony Manna ’04. Busy doing Zoom readings— which are kind of fun—but I really miss live theater.” ● Julie Fain Lawrence ’93 published a four-book genre series entitled One-Hour Shakespeare and is working on volume five—to be published in 2021.

● A er his breakout hit single “Don’t Fall for It” peaked at #14 on the Billboard Dance chart and #41 on the Electronica chart, Robert Cotnoir’94 continues to make great strides with his musical project “Grapefruit Sound Lab.” His new album, Eight Days Across America, was mastered at Abbey Road Studios in London, is available on vinyl, and continues to receive great critical acclaim. Check out grapefruitsoundlab.com. ● Al Espinosa ’94 writes: “OSF, where I’ve been working for the last 10 years (yikes!), is tring to figure out how to move forward during these unprecedented times, but they have the added difficulty of being a destination theatre where people travel from all over the countr to come to our little town...so we ’ll see what happens.” ● “As all of us in the performing arts can attest, this has been a stunningly complicated and challenging time,” writes Jessica Mann Gutteridge ’94. “Corin and I appreciated having a lot of time at home with our kids, especially with our eldest leaving for the University of Toronto. We celebrated our 20th anniversar at our first restaurant dinner a er reopening. I began my role as the Artistic Director of the Chutzpah! Festival of International Jewish Performing Arts and the Rothstein Theatre in Vancouver and my second year on the board of the Vancouver International Burlesque Festival. Making the digital pivot is imbuing all aspects of my professional life right now. Corin has been working more frequently in TV and film production, and we are just grateful to be here and healthy and happy. ” ● Nina Landey ’94 writes: “It’s been a long time since I wrote in! Much has changed: I became a psychotherapist, and I’m living in Portland, OR, with my wife and teen children. A lot has stayed the same: I use my training from Yale ever day in my work with clients—putting my focus on the other person, working moment to moment, and creatively and authentically responding within the bounds of my role to whatever comes up. Sending love to all!” ● Robin Miles’94, YC ’86 has been doing a lot of audiobook narrating and producing: “A godsend during the pandemic,” she says. She is working on a lot of political titles including Caste by Isabell Wilkerson and The Truths We Hold, Kamala Harris’s memoir, as well as allegorical writing like The City We Became by NK Jemisin. “I’m also working on dystopian stories inspired by our current dystopian reality,” she says. “Stephen DeRosa’95 joined me on Presidential Conversations by George S. Corey, playing Trump and 11 past presidents. What a blast to play Hillar opposite his Trump!” ● Flora Stamatiades ’94 writes: “When NYC shut down, I was working as a consultant for Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines. Of course, that soon stopped. So, in casting about for something to do, I reached out to some friends (including Kim D. Sherman (Former Faculty) and Reg Flowers’93, and also Francis Jue YC ’86 and Christianne Tisdale YC ’85). We created an original song/video supporting the Biden/ Harris campaign. I also volunteered as the Director, National Field Organizing of the grassroots organization Broadway for Biden. As we look toward the entertainment industr re-opening, I’ve trained as a COVID Compliance Officer, and hope to find some work in that area. I hope everone is staying well and safe!” ● Narda E. Alcorn ’95 (Faculty) and Lisa Porter ’95 (Former Faculty) published the HowlRound essay, “We Commit to Anti-Racist Stage Management Education.” ● John Harrington Bland ’95 was a triple threat on Showtime’s The Loudest Voice—writer, producer, and actor. “But my greatest co-creation of the past few years,” says John, “is my amazing daughter, Ada.” ● John James (JJ) Hickey ’95 writes: “I have spent this year illustrating and editing Acting for the Camera: Back to One by Peter Allen Stone. This summer was my 37th year teaching theater and film at Camp Scatico in my hometown of Elizaville, NY,

Alumni Notes

and my 18th year at Camp Oasis teaching film and helping to run their Leaders-inTraining program. Camp Oasis is a one-week camp for campers and counselors with Crohn’ s, colitis, or IBD. We were faced with the option of cancelling camp this year or coming up with an alternate solution. I was part of a nationwide team in charge of creating programming for 10 virtual versions of Camp Oasis across the countr—the New York/New England chapter of Oasis was a huge success. In November I will design and direct a szopka, which is a traditional Polish Christmas show dating back to 19th-centur Krakow. I also have been doing a lot of portrait painting for a galler show called About Face exploring the relationship of how we are seen and how we wish to be seen.” ● Chris Weida ’95 writes: “A er almost a year of weekly commutes to Las Vegas and Atlanta, COVID-19 abruptly shut that down...enabling me to spend more time with my family. I’m living in Milwaukee with a houseful of ‘virtual’ students and a ‘virtual’ teacher: Alex (20), is a junior at the University of Minnesota, though living at home this semester; Connor (19) is a sophomore at the University of Wisconsin, living off-campus; Emily (16) is a junior in high school; and Danny (13) is an 8th-grader. Rosanne is back to teaching 3rd grade full-time this year. I’ve never been busier at work, despite the havoc COVID-19 has caused our trade show and event industr.” ● This summer, Matthew Adelson ’96 designed the lighting for the Berkshire Theatre Group’s production of Godspell, which was the first professional, union-sanctioned musical to be produced during the COVID-19 pandemic. The costumes were designed by Hunter Kaczorowski ’14. ● Shawn Marie Garrett ’96, DFA ’06 writes: “In May 2019, in conjunction with Yale’s global alumni service initiative, Yale Day of Service, I launched a 501(c)(3), Long Island Scholars, to support under-resourced public high school students in Nassau and Suffolk counties (in New York) in college and career readiness, access, and success. Neither rain nor sleet nor gloom of pandemic has stopped the amazing young people I work with (like Roseli, see photo) from the swi completion of their appointed applications!” ● Mark Kupferman ’96 was promoted to Senior Vice President of Consumer and Guest Experience for Six Flags, where he is responsible for consumer strategy, insights, and architecting the guest end-to-end experience. ● Douglas R. Rogers’96 completed construction of his second castle for the Disney Company, The Castle of Magical Dreams at Hong Kong Disneyland. The completion of this castle made him the only person to have designed two Disney Castles—his previous castle was The Enchanted Storbook Castle for the Shanghai Disneyland Park. ● Haitian American actress/writer/director/producer Magaly Colimon-Christopher ’98 plays Haitian single-mother Antoinette Pierre in Netflix original series Grand Army. The gritty teen drama premiered in October 2020 to international audiences. Magaly plays the loving single-mother of lead character Dominique Pierre (performed by Haitian American actress Odley Jean) striving to provide for her family. Offscreen Magaly is an award-winning playwright and Founding/Producing Artistic Director of Conch Shell Productions. Her company has been presenting live, virtual readings and full productions of new short plays in collaboration with like-minded arts organizations. The plays address social issues of today—survival, police brutality, systemic racism, race and politics, voting, despair—and pave pathways to hope for audiences. In October 2020, Conch Shell Productions presented dark comedies as part of its #Bluelightseries—in co-productions with HB Studio. The featured plays included I Married a Black Republican written by Magaly, The Customer Voting Service by Juan Ramirez, Jr., Gretchen Suarez-Pena’ s The Arithmetic of Memor and Nelson Diaz-Marcano’ s I Saw Jesus in Toa Baja.

● Julius Galacki ’98 writes:

“I used my pandemic time to finish a full-length play, A Wife in the Shadows, for which I directed a well-attended presentation on Zoom, a revised version of my full-length The Frisco Flash, which I also directed, and I acted with my wife, Judy Victor, in a one-act I wrote called First Night (Redux) which was part of an Alliance of Los Angeles Playwrights Zoom presentation called ‘In Our Own Voices.’ I put that one-act on my Vimeo channel: https://vimeo. com/420124049.” ● David YickKoppel ’98 became an adjunct acting instructor at Ohlone Junior College in Fremont in addition to serving as drama director at Washington High School. Over the summer, he had the privilege of working with Magaly Colimon-Christopher ’98 and Conch Shell Productions on a Zoom production of an original play entitled, The Dark-Skinned Kid Who Hopped the Turnstile by Tylie Shider directed by Magaly as part of the New York City “Reset Theatre Coalition” festival of new plays. In addition, David participated in the #justthework Zoom readings of Chekhov’ s Three Sisters and Ivanov with other YSD alumni. He directed Parallel Lives by Mo Gaffney and Kathy Najimy in December and will direct Heathers, the Musical. This summer, David will play Saul Kimmer in True West by Sam Shepard at San Jose’s Sobrato Center for Humanities and the Arts. ● Ed Blunt ’99 writes: “I’ve been focused on helping people generate income from home more intensely than ever because of the pandemic. I also got back into doing voice-overs a er a long hiatus. The pandemic period reminded me of skills I cultivated at YSD that I hadn’t been using, and when you sit on your gi you can inadvertently rob people of theirs. No matter what, we must keep adding

Alumni Notes

value to the world!!” ● Esther K. Chae ’99 writes:“I’mnoteven sure how totalk about this year r 2020; it has been so hard for allr of us on so many fronts…. I will just stick tosomebrief professional updates. I was set for rehearsalsr for Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 by Anna DeavereSmith HON ’14 at theSignature Theater, but it is postponed, for r now, until fall 2021. I pivoted as fast as I could toexpand my 3 Hearts Coaching business virtually and luckily was able to score Google’s creative team,coaching executive presence and presentation skills. Startingnext year, I will be joining PeterNovak’s’98, DFA ’01 Strictly Speaking Group thatworks with Facebook. Jeong Sik Yoo ’15 and I will be exploring the intersections oftheater/ performance/virtualreality using Spatial. io VR headsetsand my play Ae-riin Otherland (performed at the Yale Cabaret many, many moons ago!)” ● Jeffrey Herrmann ’99 writes: “I turned 50 this past summer r and my wife, Sara, our 7-year-old son, Jonah, the dog, and I spent the pandemic summer inr Seattle swimming in Lake Washington, doing yard work, and executing home improvement projects. I am currently inthe midst of my seventh season as Managing Director r at Seattle Rep. We had to lay off the majority of our staff, artists, and cra speople in the spring, which was devastating, and we are just tring to stay hunkered down and conserve our resources until we can finally get shows back up onstage for r live audiences again. One of the few blessings has been reconnectingwith old friends...and most of the Theater Managementr class of1999 managed toget on a Zoomcall back in the spring. It was a delight seeing everone again, in some cases for ther first time in 20 years!”

2000s

In Februar, Andrew Cassano’01 started a new position as Vice President for 60 61

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66 67 68

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58 World premiere of Ottessa Moshfegh’ s My Year of f Rest and d Relaxation at SchauspielhausZurich directed by Yana Ross ’06 and designed by Zane Pihlström’06. Photo by ZoéAubr.

59 Ittai, Jason Fitzgerald ’08, and Oscar r Wild.

60 Brad Ward ’05 and Hillar Charnas ’05 at the 2019 Wingspace Holiday Party.

61 Rolandoand Karron GravesBriceno ’03 with their children Jon Marvel, Jude, and Jacquelineat their wedding.r

62 NicholasRastenis ’08

63 David B. Byrd ’06 70

64 “My little family”—Apollo, Liz Alsina ’06,and Edith at 10 months old.

65 SimonGodwin, Drew Lichtenberg ’08, DFA ’11, Rebecca Taichman ’00, Patrick Page, and Peter r Marks YC ’89 onthe Shakespeare Hour r Live.

66 Poster forr Macbeth directed by Christopher Carter Sanderson ’05.

67–68 Shana Cooper ’09 and Andrew Boyce ’09 (Former Faculty). Photo by Gregor Linington. 71

69 Rachana Garg ’01 and her family in May 2020. Photo by Tina JaneKrohn.

70 Peter Y. Kim ’04 in The FortyYear-Old d Version. Photo by JeongPark.

71 Susan Finque ’03 (right) and Mariaat the theater r in Florence.

72 Poster forr Quarantined d Faith, a documentar film by Jenn Lindsay ’07. 72

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74

73 (Front to back) Tijuana Ricks’04, Carlos Tesoro ’04, Tony Manna ’04, Nancy Kim Parsons-Borland ’02, and Jessica Ford ’04.

74 Sandra Goldmark ’04 Programming and Education at Omaha Performing Arts, Nebraska’s largest arts-nonprofit. Six weeks later he was overseeing the shutdown of more than 450 events and losses in the tens of millions of dollars. “We launched a successful online series of concerts that have helped us pivot to groundbreaking online educational materials for our state’s schools,” he writes. “And I am producing the largest arts-social justice series in the organization’s histor, creating a new full-service outdoor venue while overseeing COVID-19 operations that allow us to continue doing a few live events to stay engaged with our community until we can come back full force again.” ● Rachana Garg ’01 writes: “From March until May 2020, my husband, Rishi, had been working around the clock at the hospital, while we navigated working from home and homeschooling our children. Currently, I’m still working for Pfizer—and launched AUM: Aim Ur Mind providing yoga, meditation, and coaching to all. I’m also working on my first book! Stay tuned! Love to all.” ● Susan Finque ’03 still makes her home in Seattle. She’s been partnered 18 years with Maria Martinez, and they are raising Maria’ s grandson, Tyler, who is 12.5 and consumed with costumes and gaming. Susan is frustratingly unemployed in terms of academia but making theater in Seattle under the care of Mamches Productions (producers of Disenchanted!). She directed Everett Quinton’s adaptation of Tale of Two Cities in the Rendezvous Underground and is in rehearsal to perform Roberto Athayde’ s Miss Margarida’s Way, under the direction of Woolly Mammoth company member John Vreeke. Susan is teaching directing this year at Salve Regina University as an adjunct. ● Karron Graves-Briceno ’03 writes: “We made it official despite COVID! Celebrating married life and our three beloved kids in Ardsley, NY.” ● Sarah K. (Bartlo) Chaplin’04 is utilizing the COVID-19 closure of State Theatre New Jersey to make critical improvements to the facility including installing an elevator, a new rigging system, new seats, and other enhancements that will allow STNJ to better serve its community when it is safe to reopen. ● Peter Y. Kim’04 is excited to share his most recent project, The Forty-Year-Old Version. The movie won the Best Director Award at the Sundance Film Festival 2020 and was released on Netflix in October 2020. ● Sandra Goldmark ’04 and Michael Banta ’03 work together at Barnard College, developing circular economy solutions to overconsumption, onstage and off. Their stor is recounted in a new book by Goldmark called Fixation: How to Have Stuff without Breaking the Planet. This personal and funny account of their years running repair shops in New York with a band of fellow backstage artists forms the foundation of a call to action for theatremakers (and menders) to help repair a broken world. ● Tony Manna ’04 and Tijuana Ricks ’04 were able to shoot their web series The Corps, a political satire about a fictional White House Press Secretar who, because of the president’ s combative relationship with the press, is forced to hold press briefings from a real estate office in a strip mall in Bethesda. Tony and Tijuana were joined on the project by Carlos Tesoro ’04, Nancy Kim Parsons-Borland ’02, Jessica Ford ’04, LeRoy McClain ’04, and Brian Hastert ’09. To watch The Corps, visit thecorpscomedy.com. ● Christopher Carter Sanderson ’05 completed a feature film of Shakespeare ’ s Macbeth, which was shot completely in closeup and during lockdown. “It’s definitely worth the watch, and some moments will stick with you long a er the final credits roll,” said Rodney Hakim of nyshakespeare.com. Sanderson has given 50% of the film’ s ownership to the creative personnel to help them during the COVID-19 crisis and is committed to the model beyond that. Chris won Best Director for Macbeth at the Berlin Underground Film Festival. ● Brad

Alumni Notes

Ward ’05 is Senior Associate in Auerbach Pollock Friedlander’s NYC studio where he designs sound and video systems for theaters, themed entertainment, and productions around the world. He was the associate sound designer for The Rose Tattoo and co-designer for the upcoming Take Me Out both on Broadway with Fitz Patton ’01. Brad led a session entitled “Exploring the Relationship Between Sound Designers, Acousticians, AV Consultants, and Installers ” at TSDCA’s annual conference. He was also the sound designer for King Lear produced by Bedlam at Bristolr Riverside Theatre. ● Liz Alsina ’06 welcomed a baby girl—Edith—in October 2019! Edith’s ‘big brother’ Apollo is starting to warm up to her. ● David B. Byrd ’06 was named the first Managing Director of Goodspeed Musicals in East Haddam, CT, in Januar 2021. He most recently served as Managing Director at Virginia Stage Company in Norfolk, VA, and Managing Director at Clarence Brown Theatre in Knoxville, TN. With this appointment, David has served on the staff of three of the six Connecticut Flagship Producing Theatres. ● Americans in Zurich! The theatrical world premiere of Ottessa Moshfegh’s cult novel My Year of Rest and Relaxation directed by Yana Ross ’06 and designed by Zane Pihlström ’06 opened in Zurich in October 2020 and received rave reviews. “Genius staging, full of expressive visual layers, stimulating both emotions and intellect,” said the Neues Zuricher Zeitung. Ross and Philstrom have been a dynamic director/ designer duo since graduation and have garnered numerous awards and nominations in European theater, including the 2019 Theater Treffen Festival. Yana is one of the eight permanent artists at Schauspielhaus Zurich until the end of 2022. In 2022/2023 she will work at the legendar Berliner Ensemble in Germany. ● Andrew Nagel ’06 is currently in Chicago, serving as a senior consultant in entertainment planning/system design at DLR Group, a multi-office, multi-sector, integrated design firm with special focus on cultural and performing arts spaces. He is working with fellow YSD alums Raymond Kent ’99, Patrick Barrett ’98, and Joanne Chang ’02. ● Jenn Lindsay ’07 has continued teaching sociology and communications at John Cabot University in Rome. During the COVID-19 lockdown, Jenn saw a unique chance to tell the stor of how Romans coped with being quarantined during Easter, Passover, and Ramadan. The result is her documentar Quarantined Faith, which has won best documentar and special jur prizes at several film festivals.

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Naomi Okuyama ’07 has recently produced several projects for the City of Santa Monica, including a new monumental outdoor sculpture by artist April Banks that will be installed as part of the new Historic Belmar Park. She developed a semipermanent installation of works by artists including Kerr James Marshall and Alison Saar for Santa Monica City Hall and is developing other projects that combine consideration of the role of artists in public space with social and civic practice in response to the pandemic. ● Yuri Cataldo ’08 co-founded Athenian Venture Capital in 2020, which focuses on increasing funding to projects with diverse founders and democratizing access to innovation and capital. ● Jiyoun Chang ’08 writes: “Our cohort reunited to drink to our friend, Nicholas Rastenis ’08, who passed away this year, and realized that we are like brothers and sisters. R.I.P., Nick. You are missed ver much.” ● Director Shana Cooper ’09 and set designer Andrew Boyce ’09 (Former Faculty) are teaching colleagues in the MFA Design and Directing program at Northwestern. They were in the midst of technical rehearsals for Ibsen ’ s The Lady from the Sea at The Court Theatre in Chicago when theaters across the countr and world shut down. The poetic set design has remained in the space at Court Theatre for the past seven months, frozen in time. Boyce and Cooper captured photos of solo artists in the space before the set was taken down, tracking the journey and isolation of artists and our theaters during the pandemic. ● Jason Fitzgerald ’08 writes: “In a strange turn of events, Ittai and I have found ourselves in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where we’re both teaching in the English department at the University of Michigan. In early October, our family was joined by Oscar Wild, a standard poodle, who has been given the awesome task of helping us survive the outcome of this year ’s election (unknown as of the date of this submission). We’ve met some new friends via Zoom but haven’t le our house much at all, so Ann Arbor and University of Michigan are more ideas than places for us. If it ever becomes safe to travel again, please consider visiting and giving us an excuse to better explore our new home.” ● Drew Lichtenberg ’08, DFA ’11 writes: “Since the shutdown started this past spring, I have been co-hosting the Shakespeare Hour Live, a weekly panel discussion on Zoom featuring a series of high-profile guests from around the world, including YSD alums Rebecca Taichman ’00, Liev Schreiber ’92, and Kate Burton ’82, as well as Peter Marks YC ’89, current Yale faculty Madeline Sayet, and Stephen Greenblatt, James Shapiro, Sir Jonathan Bate, Gregor Doran, Maureen Dowd, Sam Waterston, Michael Urie, Bill Irwin, Dame Helen Mirren, Julie Taymor, F. Murray Abraham, Nataki Garrett, Joseph Haj, Francesca Zembello, Harr Lennix, Helen Hunt, and more. ● Barret O’Brien ’09 released his novel Greater Wilder; the book has since been seen in forests, nibbling huckleberr and seeds. ● Amanda Spooner ’09 is launching a BFA program in Stage Management at Ithaca College. Spooner designed the program, and its first students will start in the fall of 2021.

Alumni Notes

2010s

Alyssa Anderson-Kuntz ’10 and her husband, Matt, welcomed their daughter, Evelyn, in April. The family lives in Northern Virginia, just outside of Washington, DC. ● The world premiere of You Lost Me by Bonnie Metzger at Denver Center for the Performing Arts in Januar 2020 was directed by Margot Bordelon ’13, scenic design by Reid Thompson ’14, costume design by Valérie Thérèse Bart ’10, lighting design by Jiyoun Chang ’08, sound design by Palmer Hefferan ’13, video projections by Shawn Boyle ’15 (Faculty), associate costume design by An-Lin Dauber ’17, assistant sound design by Megumi Katayama ’19. In personal news, Valérie Thérèse Bart and husband Rick Ng¸ oc Hὀ welcomed a healthy baby boy, Étienne Xuân HoBart, in Februar 2020. ● Since the COVID-19 shutdown, Jenna Woods ’10 has been fortunate to be able to turn a career in live stage management into work in virtual stage management and event producing. She’ s been working from her home office and getting in way more screen time than her kids are allowed. Jenna is also an adjunct faculty member at NYU Tisch, mentoring stage management students in digital productions. ● Tara Kayton ’11 is the company manager at Oregon Shakespeare Festival. On October 26, 2019, she and her partner, Kierin Harrison, were married at Glacier Point in Yosemite National Park. ● Kirsten Parker ’11 writes: “I stepped away from theater in early 2018 to become a mindset and action coach. I love growing and shaping my own business, and I’ve been grateful to come back to serve my theater people in this new role! I’ ve conducted Stress and Emotion Regulation workshops for groups including Center Theatre Group, the Stage Managers’ Association and Pepperdine University’s theater department. I’m excited at the idea of wellness being more accessible for professionals in my former industr!” ● Kee-Yoon Nahm ’12, DFA ’16 writes: “I led the establishment of the Diverse Voices Playwriting Initiative, a new play development program for BIPOC playwrights at Illinois State University. The winning play of our inaugural year, Even Flowers Bloom in Hell, Sometimes by Franky D. Gonzalez, was presented virtually in a staged reading in October 2020, a er our original plans for a spring workshop were postponed due to COVID-19. The Dramaturgy program and literar office at Yale Rep trained me well for this undertaking!” ● Louisa Proske ’12 has been appointed Associate Artistic Director and Resident Director at Oper Halle in Germany. In December 2019, Louisa directed Der Freischütz, with Heartbeat Opera, the company she co-founded with Ethan Heard ’13, YC ’07 (Faculty), with a new arrangement by Daniel Schlosberg YSM ’13, and lighting by Oliver Wason ’14—it was not only the subject of a New York Times feature but a New York Times critic’s pick! In Februar 2020, for the 100th anniversar of the 19th amendment, Louisa helmed The Mother of Us All, the Virgil Thomson/Gertrude Stein opera about Susan B. Anthony. It was a historic collaboration among the New York Philharmonic, the Metropolitan Museum and Juilliard—a site-specific production created for the Met’s iconic Engelhard Court. Louisa’s production of Rinaldo at Glimmerglass Festival, featuring designs by Matt Saunders ’12 and Montana Levi Blanco ’15 was postponed due to COVID-19. A short film of one aria, directed by Louisa, was published on the Glimmerglass YouTube channel. Heartbeat celebrated its seventh anniversar with a series of seven Zoom Soirées featuring Jeanine Tesori, Anthony Roth Costanzo, Julia Bullock, and others. ● Jennifer Timms ’12 graduated from the YSD intern program in Sound, then received an MFA in sound design from Boston University in 2015. Jennifer has worked as a sound designer and stagehand in SC and the greater Boston area and was the assistant audio supervisor at the International Festival of Arts & Ideas. Jennifer is now in their final year of their Master of Social Work with a concentration in clinical social work at Boston College. They graduated in May 2021 and will be going into the mental health field as a therapist. ● Adina Verson ’12 and Michael McQuilken ’11 welcomed their baby, Zelda, into the world in May 2020. She is ver proud to join the other Wilson babies. ● Ethan Heard ’13, YC ’07 (Faculty) writes: “Annie Middleton ’16 joined Heartbeat Opera where Louisa Proske ’12 and I are Co-Artistic Directors as its new Managing Director in September.” ● A er seven years at The Public Theater, starting as Donor Marketing Manager and rising to Director of Digital Engagement, Reynaldi Lindner Lolong ’13 has moved on to the role of Senior Manager of Annual Giving at Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit organization behind the landmark TV show, Sesame Street. ● Nicole Marconi ’13 is currently living in Hoboken, NJ, with her three cats and her husband. She is pursuing her second master’s degree, this time in Librar and Information Science at Pratt Institute. She is working part-time at the Hoboken Librar and at the Pratt Archives. ● Jabari Brisport ’14 was elected to the New York State Senate and assumed office in Januar 2021. ● instaMiniSeries (iMS) is a New York City-based creative agency specializing in the development and production of stor-driven original programming for the global stage founded by Ceci Fernandez’14, Nikki Borges, and Amanda de la Nuez. It’s diverse collection of content includes collaborations with Questlove, Fred Armisen, Olivia Wilde, among others. ● Shane D. Hudson ’14 spent most of the past year as a volunteer for the Pete Buttigieg presidential

AlumniNotes

campaign. Shane was on theballot as a delegate tothe Democratic National Convention, was captain of the 7th-congressional district ofNewYork, and was both a digital captain for ther campaign, and the NY State social media and eventsleader. Shanecurrentlysplits his time between New York, Sweden, and Denmark. ● This pastsummer, the Berkshire Theatre Group producedthe countr’s first union-approved musical since the pandemic shutdown with costumesby Hunter Kaczorowski ’14 and lighting by Matthew Adelson ’96.

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Ilya Khodosh ’14,DFA ’19 taught playwriting at Williams College, where he created Our r Time, a productioncelebrating Stephen Sondheim’s 90th birthday, and he had the great honor ofr interviewing Mr. Sondheim about his time at Williams. Ilya is writing a stage adaptation of Frank McCourt’s memoirs, in development with New York Stage and Film. ● Jessica Rizzo’s ’14, DFA ’17 first book, Waste: Capitalism and d the Dissolution of f the Human in Twentieth-CenturTheater, was published by punctum books. The project was based on her r DFA dissertation, advised by Paul Walsh (Faculty).

● Shannon Gaughf ’15 is engaged to be married to Ross Dillon. They both work at a private school in Monterey, California, which is also where they met. ● Jessica Holt ’15 kicked off 2020 directing Kate Hamill’s adaptationof Sense and Sensibility at Virginia Stage Company, joyfully collaborating with set designer Alexander Woodward ’16 and sound designer Megumi Katayama ’19. Little did she know that wouldbe the last live, in-person show she would direct in 2020! Her production of The Comedy of f Errors was to have launched Cal Shakes’ 2020 season and featured a gorgeous design by Chika Shimizu ’15. She directed a virtual workshop reading of The Hystericals by Edith Freni at the Cape Cod Theatre Project and directed a virtual production of 72

73 76

74 75

72 You Lost Met at Denver r Center r for r the Performing Arts. Photo by Adams Viscom.

73 Valérie Thérèse Bart ’10, husband, Rick Ng¸ oc Hὀ, and baby, Étienne Xuân HoBart.

74 Ryan Emens ’18 and Nikki Blue-Emens announce that they are expecting their firstr child (Ice Ice Baby). 75 Kineta Kunutu-Rovner ’19 and Andrew Rovner ’19. Photo by A.J. Tamari.

76–80 Francesca Fernandez McKenzie ’18, Jenelle Chu ’16, JulianElijah Martinez ’16, and Sohina Sidhu ’19 co-founded the Encompass Collective. 78

79

80

Alumni Notes

81 82

84 85 83

86 87 88

90

89 91 92

Alumni Notes

81 Jabari Brisport ’14

82 Set designer Alexander Woodward ’16, director Jessica Holt ’15, and choreographer Charlotte Bydwell a er opening night of Sense and Sensibility at Virginia Stage Company.

83 Kirsten Parker ’11 leading a Stress and Emotion Regulation workshop.

84 instaMiniSeries, a creative agency founded by Ceci Fernandez’14, Nikki Borges, and Amanda de la Nuez.

85 Alyssa Anderson-Kuntz’10 and her husband, Matt, with their daughter, Evelyn.

86 Jenna Woods ’10 running an online reading series for Two River Theater.

87 Michael Joseph McQuilken ’11 and Adina Verson’s ’12 baby, Zelda.

88 The Mother of Us All directed by Louisa Proske ’12.

89 Shane D. Hudson ’14 and Mikkel Brogger canvassing for Pete Buttigieg. 90 Shannon Gaughf’15 with her fiancé, Ross Dillon.

91 Stephen Sondheim and Ilya Khodosh ’14, DFA ’19.

92 Hunter Kaczorowski ’14, Nicholas Edwards, and Elivia Bovenzi Blitz ’14 in a fitting for Godspell at Berkshire Theatre Group. Photo by Bran Derballa for The New York Times.

93 Carolina Ortiz Herrera ’17 and Haydee Antuñano ’17 have become organizing members of La Gente: The Latinx Theatre Design Network. Ironbound by Martyna Majok ’12 at A.C.T. in September. In October, she directed a workshop reading of The Code, a new rock musical by The Kilbanes, slated for production at A.C.T.’s Young Conservator in 2021. ● This year, Chalia La Tour ’16 won an Antonyo Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play on Broadway and was nominated for a Tony Award for her performance in Slave Play by Jeremy O. Harris ’19. She also starred in the short film The Future Is Bright by Tate Nova and Courtney Powell, which screened at the inaugural Smithsonian African American Film Festival and was selected for Amazon Prime’s All Voices Film Festival. In September 2020, Chalia directed and performed in a Zoom production of Cadillac Crew by Tori Sampson ’17 as part of Transformation 2020: Popular Democracy Defined. She was thrilled to work with a badass team of artists including Fabiola Feliciano-Batista ’20, Kineta KunutuRovner ’19, Dria Brown, Ashley Brant’08, Elizabeth Stahlmann’17, Rasean Davonte Johnson ’16, Andrew Rovner ’19, and Sophie Siegel-Warren’19. ● Carolina Ortiz Herrera ’17 writes: “My classmate Haydee Antuñano ’17 and I have become organizing members of La Gente: The Latinx Theatre Design Network. We hope that students at YSD connect with us, as our main goal is to increase visibility, engagement, and advocacy for Latinx designers, technicians, and managers. We would love to connect with current students and have their voices be part of this exciting group.” ● Ryan Emens ’18 received a Jeff Award in Scenic Design in 2019 for his work on Dutch Masters at Jackalope Theatre in Chicago; in 2020 he joined Jackalope as a company member. He was nominated for a Black Theater Alliance Award in Set Design for Kill Move Paradise with Timeline Theatre. Ryan and his wife, Nikki Blue-Emens, welcomed their first baby in Januar 2021. ● Francesca Fernandez McKenzie ’18,

Alumni Notes

Jenelle Chu ’16, Julian Elijah Martinez ’16, and Sohina Sidhu ’19 established the Encompass Collective, an ensemble of teaching artists providing online actor training, coaching, and workshops for BIMPOC artists at paywhat-you-can rates. ● Christina Fontana ’19, Josh Wilder ’18, and Olivia Plath ’19 developed The Playwrights Workshop to bring actors and writers together online when the global pandemic struck. Together, they coached playwrights on a new play development process while casting and producing live Zoom readings of the writers’ works. Within the first six months alone, the trio collaborated with over 50 actors and 70 playwrights across the globe. ● Latiana “LT” Gourzong ’19 joined her TD&P classmates Kevin Belcher ’19 and Ross Wick ’19 at the American Repertor Theater scene shop in Januar 2020 as the Technical Director. ● A er falling madly in love while studying for the Drama 6 midterm their first year, Andrew Rovner ’19 and Kineta Kunutu-Rovner ’19 tied the knot on March 13, 2020.

2020s

video along with Brandon E. Burton ’20, Ciara Monique McMillian ’20, Robert Lee Hart ’20, and Reed Northrup ’22. Dramaturgy for the video was by Rebecca Adelsheim’22.

Laurie Ortega-Murphy ’20 was named Managing Director of Pig Iron Theatre in Philadelphia, PA, in Februar 2021. They most recently served as the Director of Customer Success for Trackers Earth in Portland, OR, and as the Managing Editor of the Yale Theater Management Knowledge Base.Laurie also has a background in Scouting and was the first openly queer and non-binar Program Director for Boy Scouts of America a er the organization li ed its ban on LGBTQ+ leaders.

● Erin Sullivan ’20 writes: “I produced and directed a video tribute to honor John Lewis and his advocacy for voting rights. The tribute was part of a gala for the New York chapter of Peace Action. I made the 94 A portrait of John Lewis illustrated by P.S. Spenser featured in a film produced and directed by Erin Sullivan ’20.

95

95 Laurie OrtegaMurphy ’20

Alumni Notes Yale School of Drama Legacy Partners

We invite you to join fellow alumni and friends who have included YSD in their estate plans or made other planned gifts to the School. Through Yale School of Drama Legacy Partners you can directly influence the future of Yale. You are eligible for membership if you have named YSD 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 Yale School of Drama, please contact Deborah S. Berman, Director of Development and Alumni Affairs, at (203) 432-2890 or deborah.berman@yale.edu.

2020–21 YSD Legacy Partners

Cynthia Kellogg Barrington* 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* Richard Diggs ’30, YC ’26* Charles Dillingham ’69, YC ’65 Eldon J. Elder ’58* Peter Entin ’71 Joseph Gantman ’53* James Gousseff ’56* Albert R. Gurney ’58* Robert L. Hurtgen* James Earl Jewell ’57* Joseph E. Kleno* Frances E. Kumin ’77 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* Mar B. Reynolds ’55* Mark Richard ’57* Barbara Richter ’60* William Rothwell, Jr. ’53* Forrest E. Sears ’58 Eugene F. Shewmaker ’49* Merrill 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