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Alumni Newsletter
Newsletter
Issue No 9 August, 2015
Faculty Notes
Faculty and staff want to keep up with
majors, alumni, and friends of the
department on current and past events.
We hope you find this newsletter a
reliable source of alumni news and
events.
Page 2
2015 Graduates & Alpha Psi
Omega Members
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Alumni Updates
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We would love to hear from you.
Please email psmith@wooster.edu
And did you know we’re on
Facebook? Like us for the latest
news in the Theatre and Dance
Department.
Featured Alum - Page 3
Aaron Schwartzbord ’03
A Message from
our Chair
Hello to all of our Alumni! I’ve returned as
department chair, and I’m delighted to fill you in on
the terrific year we’ve had! I hope this finds all of
you well and living fulfilling lives in and out of the
theatre. I had the pleasure of catching up with some
of you throughout the year, and I even got to see
Cheryl Farney (’00—one of my very first IS
advisees!) and Yining Lin (’06) when they returned
for Alumni Weekend in June. I look forward to
seeing many more of you over the years and would
love to connect with you on Facebook if we haven’t
already.
So what have we been up to? As our
brochure said, the 2014-15 Production
Season offered Something For Everyone!
I began the year directing Bill Irwin
and Mark O’Donnell’s adaptation of
Moliere’s Scapin, a frolicking commedia
dell’ arte piece that delighted sold out
crowds. Sidney Martin’s (’15) IS set
design highlighted the great fun we
had while playing with the physical
and verbal devices of the commedia. We
were also fortunate to have movement
and vocal coach Denice Mahler with us
as a replacement for Jimmy Noriega
who was on leave in the fall. Our Fall
Dance Concert, directed by Kim Tritt,
stimulated audiences as students
demonstrated their talents as
beginning choreographers and
dancers. In the spring we returned
with a lovely performance of Water by
the Spoonful, by Pulitzer Prize winner
Alumni Newsletter
Quiara Alegria Hudes and directed by Jimmy. And,
of course, we finished off our season with the Spring
Dance Concert, directed by Kim and featuring
Northeastern Ohio’s Inlet Dance Theatre as our
guest artist.
As always we were very active in ACTF. We were
delighted when Women of Ciudad Juárez, directed
and translated by Professor Noriega, was selected
by judges from the Kennedy Center American
College Theatre Festival as one of the top seven
productions from the region. Jimmy and the cast/
crew presented the piece at the KCACTF Region III
Festival in Milwaukee in January. The play first
began its tour in January 2014 and has so far been
presented at 14 locations in the U.S. and Canada,
and the actresses—Janna Haywood ('14), Summit
Starr ('16'), Stephanie Castrejon ('16), and Marisa
Adame ('17)—have performed the show 20 times to
over 4,000 people. We’re equally delighted to say
that Jimmy has received a Hewlett-Mellon grant for
an international festival tour of the production next
year. We’ll have to keep you posted! In addition,
Summit Starr, along with her partner Colin Martin,
participated in the Irene Ryan acting scholarship,
Sidney Martin shared her work from Sacpin in the
design competition, and Audrey Platt (theatre minor
’15) was selected as a finalist for the Stage
Management Fellowship.
Beyond to our dedication towards a strong
production season, the Department continued its
tradition of bringing a variety of guest artists to
campus. In September of 2014 we were honored to
have Jyoti Dogra, an Indian performance artist,
!
!
!
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Scapin - Fall 2014
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Faculty Notes
Kim Tritt, Professor
Another busy year has flown by with exciting dance
events that were made even more so because of the
fabulous dance students who are engaged in our
theatre and dance department! Our current majors
who have an emphasis in dance are diverse in their
interests; Emily Baird ('16) is focused in
choreography and performance with a minor in
Spanish; Emily Donato ('16) shares her interests in
dance with anthropology. Her travel to Thailand
and semester study at the University of Hawaii
brings a global perspective to her work. Maria Witt
('17) has devised her academic concentration at
Wooster so that can pursue a career in physical
therapy for dancers; and Leiden Doma ('18) from
Bhuton spent her summer at the American Dance
Festival so that she may learn a culturally expansive
scope of dance forms. I am so pleased they are in our
department as each of them greatly contributes in
significant ways because of their varied interests and
commitment in dance.
The fall semester was eventful as my work was
selected for presentation at the National Dance
Education National Conference in Chicago, I taught
a First Year Seminar titled, B-boys And Ballerinas:
Examining Culture Through Dance, and, as always,
assisted students to create yet another exciting Fall
Dance Concert. Yet, the spring semester was
particularly enjoyable.
In February a group of twelve students and I
attended the Ohio5 Dance Festival, where everyone
particularly enjoyed the West African dance class
taught by Solo Badola. April always features the
Spring Dance Concert in which this year's guest
artists from Inlet Dance Theatre taught a fabulous
contact improv class and presented work that
totally amazed our audience due to the dancer's
suspenseful lifts and balances. I had a great time
choreographing the dance piece, “Luminescence.”
Dale introduced to me the brilliance of battery
driven EL wire that Charlene and her costume crew
(by hand!) stitched onto black hooded unitards
forming the dancers into brilliantly colorful
sculptural shapes. The hours spent with dancers in
the studio watching magic happen with movement
and light were the highlight of my semester!
Dale Seeds, Professor of Theatre/Designer
This past January, Dale served as technical advisor,
traveling with the Teatro Travieso cast and crew of
Set of Water by the Spoonful
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Women of Ciudad Juárez to the American College
Theatre Festival’s Regional conference in
Milwaukee. The production, directed by colleague
Jimmy Noriega, received special recognition from
the festival for “Making theatre an important
catalyst for sociopolitical change.” Additionally, he
served as scenic and lighting designer for the Spring
production of Water by The Spoonful, also directed by
Noriega, and had the privilege to advise senior
Sidney Martin’s most excellent Senior Independent
Study based on her scenic design for the
Department’s
Fall
production of
Scapin,
directed by
Department
Chair, Shirley
HustonFindley.
This past
November, he had the opportunity to work once
again as a visual artist with the Dallas-based
performance collective, Dead White Zombies. Their
most recent production, kaRaoke MoTel, was
produced in an abandoned early twentieth-century
icehouse located in south Dallas. (See photo). The
collective creates site-specific productions utilizing
spaces such as a defunct iron works shop, an empty
warehouse and a former crack house. One unique
feature of their evolving dramaturgy includes the
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Somewhere in all this, his summer list includes some
long neglected home improvements, a play writing
project, cycling and travel.
Dale is especially looking forward to next year’s
season, which includes all new works, which should
prove to be very exciting!
Jimmy Noriega, Assistant Professor
I am happy to report that I had a fulfilling and
successful research leave for Fall 2014. Over the
course of two trips, I spent six weeks in Mexico
City working with and interviewing theatre artists
that write on the topic of the feminicidios (femicides)
taking place along the U.S.-Mexico border. I also
watched several new performances and conducted
research at two universities. I was especially lucky
to interview the renowned company Teatro de
Ciertos Habitantes and wrote a critical review of
their latest production, La vida es sueño, which will
be published in Theatre Journal. I also spent a month
at Dartmouth College where I worked with a
colleague on the proposal for an anthology on Latin
American and Latina/o performance history.
The spring semester started off with a trip to
Milwaukee to perform Women of Ciudad Juárez. The
show was selected as one of the top seven
productions from the region—which consists of
schools from Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin,
and Ohio—to be presented at the Kennedy Center
American College Theatre Festival Region III. In
April we continued on tour and presented the play
at sold-out houses in Goshen College and Indiana
University of Pennsylvania.
continued on page 4
Production of kaRoake MoTel
ways in which they merge their performances with
the ecology and urban environment of their
performance spaces. This has inspired his most
recent work-in-progress, an article entitled, Dead,
White and Green: The Performance Ecology of the Dead
White Zombies Collective.
Dale is currently developing his First Year Seminar
course entitled – Toolmakers, which will explore how
humans have created tools to solve problems, to
survive and thrive. The course contends that tool
making and tool use was, and arguably still is,
embedded in communities, their environments and
often defined by class and gender.
This summer, Dale will serve as scenic designer for
West Side Story, produced by CAMEO at the Medina
Performing Arts Center, Medina, Ohio. The
production opens on July 16, and is a personal
favorite of his.
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Cast of Women of Ciudad Juárez presented at
the Kennedy Center American College
Theatre Festival Region III. L-R: Summit
Starr, Janna Haywood, Jimmy Noriega,
Stephanie Castrejon, Marisa Adame
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Featured Alum: Aaron Schwartzbord
I’ve probably had a
much different path
and journey than most
of the people who have
written in this
newsletter. One thing
that I love about a
career in the arts is
that there is no one
way to accomplish
it. There’s no such
thing as a direct
path.
I spent most of my
time at Wooster figuring out what I didn’t want
to do with my life. I knew I loved theatre and
the performing arts but I definitely did not want
to be an actor, director, or stage manager. I spent
my first two years focused on scenic design. I
loved working creatively to set the scene and
visually transport an audience beyond just the
story and the acting. But after exploring the career
of a designer for two years, I knew it wasn’t for me.
So what do I decide to do my IS on? Dramaturgy of
course! I guess I figured that while I could, I should
study what I was interested in. I have always loved
the research and history of a piece of theatre. In my
last year at Wooster I dove into the world of a
dramaturg. Alas, that experience showed me again
what I didn’t want to do with my life.
How could I combine my creative and analytic
mind? Incorporate the research, history, and context
of a piece of theatre? What would allow me to be
involved with creating an experience for an
audience without ACTUALLY being the one to
create it? The answer was marketing. I’ve always
been drawn to the posters and graphics used to
promote productions and I thought it would be
great to have a hand in that. I’ve also been
fascinated by the convergence of promotion and
experience. If you don’t sell the play honestly, you’ll
have a lot of angry audience members. If you don’t
entice people, you’ll have NO audience members.
How do you strike this balance? How do you get
“butts in seats”?
As the semester continued on, the pressure
increased and my classmates began to freak out. The
whole time, though, I was confident. I knew I would
be able to complete this task, which included
turning in three bound copies of the finished
product. As my plan grew to over a hundred pages,
I continued to stay calm and focused. I received calls
late at night from other members of my cohort
agonizing over how they would finish this, blaming
the professors for assigning something that felt so
impossible. But I was never phased. In fact, I found
the project exhilarating.
Then, a few days before it was due, as I was racing
to the finish line, I realized why I wasn’t as phased
as my colleagues. This was just a repeat of my IS. It
was similar in length and scope, it was bound, and
it was a benchmark for my education: a single
document to illustrate my knowledge, interest, and
drive for the subject.
Marketing allows me to harness my love for theatre,
using that to bring others in. If I can get someone as
excited in a production as I am, then I’ve done my
job. As a marketer, I also have to be close to the art.
If I can’t understand the vision of the director or the
process of the actors, I am unable to truthfully
communicate this production to the audience. I have
to care about everything from the first ad placed all
the way through to the audience member getting
home and telling their friends how good the
production was. To me that’s a more full and
complete experience than I could have gotten in a
production-focused role.
I couldn’t believe it. I had ACTUALLY gotten
something tangible from my college experience.
Lo and behold, I passed the class with flying colors.
In fact, about a week later I was hired in my first
management role as Marketing Director for The
Pearl Theatre Company, a mid-sized off-Broadway
Theatre. That marketing class and my experiences in
graduate school had a direct impact on getting that
job. And of course, my experiences at Wooster had a
direct impact on my performance and success in the
marketing class.
When I began my MFA in Theatre Management I
was so excited to start earnestly studying how
theatre is funded, marketed, and produced. I
couldn’t wait to really learn how to budget, read
contracts, and negotiate.
During my second semester in graduate school, I
took the dreaded marketing class. While I was
thrilled to formally learn skills I had been starting
to pick up in my 4 years of working, all the alumni
and “second years” in my program reveled in
scaring us with how hard this class would be.
The class culminated in a marketing plan. Each
student had to select a real performing arts
organization, contact them and get in-depth
information about their organization (including
how many tickets they sold, what their budget was,
etc). Then we had to put together a plan for how we
would market the organization over the coming
year and include budgets and financial projections,
a fully designed brochure for our season, and a
narrative of the types of promotions and advertising
we would do.
Alumni Newsletter
And in the “real world”? I am constantly having to
Directing
TLP
work under pressure. Every day is
a race toat
the
finish line to accomplish the impossible. Isn’t that
true for all jobs in the theatre?
So what’s the lesson in all of this? Work hard. Trust
your mentors and teachers. Explore and enjoy
learning what you don’t want to do as much as
what you do want to do. But also a career in theatre
(to reiterate) is much more than acting on the stage.
It’s applying your passion to your work and your
work to your passion.
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continued from page 1 - Chair’s Note share her piece Notes on Chai in Shoolroy Theatre,
and in March 2015 Indian playwright and novelist
Manjula Padmanabhan worked for three weeks
with the Devised Performance class on developing a
script. In addition we held a reading of her play
Lights Out and she provided a lecture on Cultural
Hybridity and the Artist. Jyoti and Manjula were both
women I interviewed while on leave in India, and I
hope we can continue to make those kinds of
connections in years to come. For example, our
2015-16 season begins with the world premier of
Migdalia Cruz’s Latins in La-La Land, which will
provide us with an opportunity to bring the awardwinning playwright to campus.
In fact, our entire season next year is comprised of
new works! From Cruz’s piece to fall dance concert
to our biannual Festival of New Works, the
offerings promise to provide an exciting adventure.
Perhaps most interesting is that in place of the
spring dance concert (Kim is on leave and we did
not get a replacement L) I will be directing the
premier of Music Professor Peter Mowrey’s new
opera, Sangreal, which will provide us all with an
opportunity to work with professional opera
singers as we learn via a genre that we rarely get to
experience first-hand.
Of course we can’t complete our overview of the
year without mentioning some exciting things
happening in the classroom as well. As part of its
course offering in Green Theatre, taught by Dale
Seeds, the department has undertaken a
sustainability audit, reviewing its power
consumption, use of environmentally friendly
materials and recycling practices. Based on these
findings, we will initiate specific improvements next
year, including increased use of LED lighting and
the elimination of construction materials that
negatively impact the environment. As mentioned
above, I taught a Devised Performance class for the
first time, which resulted in a very interesting
sharing—both in the art museum and Lowry—that
focused on memory, identity and technology. I look
forward to developing the course further, working
out the kinks, and continuing to provide students
with an opportunity to explore the world of
devising.
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you’re working in theatre or dance or you’ve moved
in an entirely different direction we would love to
catch up. So stay in touch!
Conference. Outside of Wooster, I designed
costumes for Baldwin Wallace's productions of
Ruddigore and Hansel & Gretel (Ben Smith, director). Cheers,
Shirley
This past summer was my 11th (!) season as
Resident Costume Designer for Ohio Light Opera
and her 7th season as Production Manager. This
summer she was designing Brigadoon, Can-Can and
Friederike. As Production Manager for OLO, she is
extremely pleased to have Stefanie Genda (’08) as
her colleague as Costume Designer for 3 shows, and
8 current College of Wooster students on the
production staff. This is the most Wooster students
she has ever hired as part of OLO summer season. continued from page 2 - Faculty Notes
I taught The Physical Text and Latina/o Drama and
Performance in the spring. I also directed Water by
the Spoonful, by Quiara Alegría Hudes, for which she
won the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The cast
consisted of nine men and women, which included
veterans from the department as well as several
newcomers. I was very proud of all their hard work
This upcoming year I am thrilled to work on a
premier of Latins in La-La Land with the Theatre and
Dance Department (Jimmy Noriega, Director), A
Christmas Story at Florida Repertory Theatre (Jason
Parish, Director), and have the opportunity to do
scenic design for Peter Mowery’s world premier of
Sangreal (Shirley Huston-Findley, Director) on
the Freedlander stage. Cast of Women of Ciudad Juárez: Stephanie
Castrejon, Marisa Adame Summit Starr, Janna
Haywood, Jimmy Noriega,
Aside from costumes, costumes and more
costumes, I can be found chasing Max (now 2 ½),
gardening, sailing and every once in a while,
sipping a cup of tea.
and dedication! I was also very lucky to work with
two new stage managers this year who were
phenomenal: Sidney Martin (’15) and Helen Rooker
(’18). After a long summer of researching and
working on theatre in Puerto Rico, Argentina, and
San Francisco…. I am looking forward to 2015-2016
at Wooster!
Charlene Gross, Resident Costume Designer,
Costume Shop Manager
This past year I designed and constructed costumes
for Water By The Spoonful, Scapin & all the dance
pieces. Most noteworthy in dance was Kim Tritt's
Luminance. This piece was a yearlong collaboration
with Kim and her dancers using el wires to make
bodies form shapes and sculptural pieces as moving
color. Nationally Charlene presented the Scapin
costume designs at Kennedy Center's American
College Theatre Festival Regions III's conference
and United States Institute of Technical Theatre
Finally, we are truly excited to have our new
Technical Director, Michael Schafer, joining us in
the fall. Mike received his MFA in Theatrical
Design and Technology at Northern Illinois
University and comes to us via Troy University
where he served as TD and instructor since 2007.
In addition to all of his TD duties, Mike will be
designing scenery for the fall production and
assisting us in establishing a strong stage
management program, which is his specialty.
So there is our year. Now we want to hear from
you! Where are you and what have you been up
to since you walked through the arch (or the
gym doorway) that last time? No matter whether
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2015 Spring Dance Concert
Stage Make-up Class - Spring
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Class of 2015
Erika Daun
I will be attending Colorado
University at Boulder to
complete my Masters in Theatre
and my MBA. Colin Martin
Sidney Martin
Sidney will be in Logan, UT with
the Utah Festival Opera and
Musical Theatre as a props
artisan this summer and
Philadelphia, PA mid August for
a props management
apprenticeship (unofficial
assistant props master) with the
Walnut Street Theatre.
Public Relations Student Assistants Susannah Montgomery and Lara
Sinangil with Shirley Huston-Findley
Nora Yawitz
I'll be heading back home to New
York City immediately after
graduation. I plan having an
internship or two at a non-profit
theatre before applying to
Masters programs in Performing
Arts Management/
Administration.
Since graduating, Nora got a
producing internship with NY
Musical Theatre Festival.
Seniors Celebrate I.S. Monday L-R: Colin Martin, Nora
Yawitz, Eliza Somsel, Sidney Martin, Erika Daun
2015-2016 Alpha Psi Omega Officers L-R: Maria Witt,
Emi Donato, Emily Baird
Alpha Psi Omega Seniors
The Department of Theatre and Dance at The College of Wooster is proud to
announce that this past May, 2015 the third class of the National Theatre
Honorary Society, Alpha Psi Omega, was inducted in Freedlander Theatre.
Inductees included L-R: Audrey Platt, Hanna Redding, Eliza Somsel, Erika
Daun, Nora Yawitz, Colin Martin, Sidney Martin
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understandings, create new work and be inspired to
become agents of change.
Elizabeth Claire Alberts ’04
This past week I have
hosted three young new
artists who are writing a
musical. Tonight will be
its first public reading at
the local civic theatre
followed by a reception
for 50 at the new spaces.
You can see pictures of
the move @ https://
www.facebook.com/
Theater.Masks The
website for the studio is
www.theatre-masks.com
September 2015, I will be graduating from
Macquarie University with a PhD in creative
writing. I have also spent the last five years
lecturing and tutoring in creative writing at
Macquarie University in Sydney, and working as
a freelance writer. Next month I’ll launch my
next big project - EarthVoice Podcast - a creative
audio storytelling project that strives to give a
voice to people and organizations who work on
the front lines of animal rights and
environmentalism.
Jonathan Becker ’86
Big new development, dreams being reached for,
change afoot all prompted by a meeting 31 years
ago!!!! Mary Beidler Gearen ’79
In 1984 I was in pursuit of an internship in the area
of clown theatre or new vaudeville. I flew to NYC to
see if I could find an artist or an arts organization to
study with. I was given the new vaudevillian and
juggler Michael Moschen’s name address and phone
number as a person to start with. He agreed to meet
with me and I set out to find his loft on Bank Street
in the village. Michael asked me the following
question: What do you have to offer or what do you
want to offer as an artist?
Had the pleasure of almost 10,000 miles since
February pulling my tiny new 13' SCAMP trailer. Went from St. Paul to Florida and back via Ohio,
and from St. Paul to Ventura, CA, via Route 66 with
Sisters on the Fly outdoor women's group.
Reunited with Wooster pals Sarah Buck, Cameron
Carver Maneese, Leslie Keating, Deborah Behrens,
Bunny McKee Alvis and Dr Richard Figge!
Also enjoyed acting in two films and directing the
staged reading in NYC of a new musical "Hit Her
With the Skates!"
Michael asked me this question about a half hour
into our first meeting. I was 19 and a junior
undergraduate at the College of Wooster. I have
asked myself the question nearly everyday since. The answer that surfaces most often is: “I wish to
offer something of worth that might create change. I want to give back what I learn.”
The work surrounding my mask studio, TheaterMasks.com has become the stepping-stone in a
reach for understanding and a desire to give back to
the global theatre community. In the past 15 years I
have been a teaching artist at 29 institutions in 6
countries and over 10,000 masks from the studio
have found their way into actor training programs,
onto the stages of professional theatres, onto the
screen in both film and television and into the works
of individual artists in 45 countries. The studio has
grown and has now facilitated a new beginning.
This spring has seen the opening of The North
American Laboratory for the Performing Arts as the
mask studio moved into its new home at 825 East
Washington Street in the heart of Muncie, Indiana’s
historic district. This move will be the realization of
a dream to create a space where artists can share
work, create work and learn together.
Here is the first draft of the mission statement: The
North American Laboratory for the Performing Arts
is dedicated to a cultural exploration and
integration of expressive forms wherein professional
artists, teachers and students can explore
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Fun to be in touch with Woo via Facebook. Keep in
touch! Love to hear your news! Mary Beidler
Gearen mbgearen@aol.com
Stefanie Genda ’08
Last September Stefanie became a member of the
design union United Scenic Artists, Local USA 829.
She has since worked for the television show The
Americans as a shopper and assisted at The Public
Theater. Stefanie continues designing in both the
tristate area as well as regional theaters. She
returned to Wooster during the summers of 2014
and 2015 to design for the Ohio Light Opera.
Lora Heller ’92
Spending my 7th summer directing the youth
musical theatre program at Eisner Camp in the
Berkshires with ages 8 - 15. This summer includes
Willy Wonka, Aladdin, High School Musical, Mary
Poppins, Wizard of Oz, Guys and Dolls. Past years
have included some of my favorites, such as A
Chorus Line, Into the Woods, Pippin, and Cinderella.
Yining Lin ’06
This year has been a big one for changes. I attained
ABD (all but dissertation) status at University of
Hawaii. We also moved back to Ohio because my
boyfriend, Andy, got his dream job, which means
we're 40 minutes away from Wooster and look
forward to many visits! I will be leaving for China to
conduct fieldwork in Beijing and Shanghai in
September and look forward to conducting my
research and finishing my program.
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Sarah McGraw (Krushinski) ’85
It has been thirty years since I graduated in the class
of 1985 with a BA in theatre and I am greatly
looking forward to going back to the Wooster
campus and celebrating this milestone! I spent
many wonderful hours onstage in the Freedlander
Theatre, both as a theatre major and performer in
the Ohio Light Opera for five summers. I cannot
even describe the feeling I get walking into the
building and going backstage and onstage and into
classrooms and UNDER THE STAGE where
Annetta G. Jefferson taught us, & where
other teachers, directors and performers helped
form and shape me as an actor in the beginning. Currently, I am starting my tenth year of teaching
130 or so students at my Wexford Acting Studio as
sole owner and proprietor/instructor. Our fall
show at the end of October, 2015 is Oklahoma! Can't
wait to start~our cast is outstanding! We just
finished up our Spring Studio Showcase and our
last classes are this June until we start them up
again after Labor Day. This past March I directed
my 9th spring musical production at North
Allegheny High School in the Pittsburgh area (42nd
Street)... and all I can say is, this new crop of actors
who are graduating and going off to colleges and
universities, are talented! We will be lucky to have
them in our college programs as performance
majors!! I look back
on my
years at
Wooster as
some of
the best
times of
my life. It
is so great
to hear
about
everything
that is
happening
in the
theatre at
my
beloved
school!!! If
you would
like to be in touch with an old friend, my email is
mcgrawactor1@aol.com and I can be found on
Facebook at Sarah McGraw Krushinski, so FRIEND
ME!!
My first show ever, at The College of Wooster. David Walker is pictured with me as I am
rehearsing the role of Ruby in Dames at Sea, Barb
Brown's Senior I.S. production. The man who
wrote the show came to the production!!! (I
know...what's with the hair? Well, it was the 80s!!!)
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Patrick Midgley ’07
Patrick Midgley ('07) lives and works in Staunton,
VA. He is a member of the resident troupe of The
American Shakespeare Center, where he has
performed more than 70 roles in over 30
productions, including two consecutive year-long
national tours. He is currently playing Demetrius in
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM and Florizel in
THE WINTER'S TALE, among other roles. Patrick
received an MFA in Acting from Purdue University's
Professional Actor Training Program in 2010 and has
worked with The New York Shakespeare Exchange,
The Michigan Shakespeare Festival and The Ohio
Shakespeare Festival. He recently traveled to Tokyo
and is a competitive CrossFit Athlete in the MidAtlantic Region.
Jamie Morris ’09
I am going into my
fourth year teaching 2nd
grade at Parkview
Elementary and this
year, I started the
Edgewood Middle
School Drama Club for
grades 5-7. We had a
great first year with over
50 kids participating!
We did improv and
other intro to theater
activities in the fall, we
even had a stage make-up day at COW ( thanks
Charlene!)
I was able to
bring a small
group of
students to the
fall production
of Scapin
which they
enjoyed
immensely!
( thanks
Shirley!) we
had our first
production of
Dorothy in
Wonderland in Feb. Lots of help from COW theatre
dept. as Charlene loaned costumes and Dale helped
me with set design! I am beyond thankful to have a
chance to teach and introduce kids at a very
transitional and critical age about theatre! I think
many of them will remain thespians for life! I am
deeply grateful for the connections I made through
the Theatre and Dance Program and overwhelmed
that they were still so helpful and caring, even six
years after graduating! What a testament to how
much they truly care about their students!! I love
you all!!!!
George Myatt ’11
George Myatt continues to live in Austin, TX while
working at Charles Schwab as a technical analyst by
resolving technology issues and managing projects.
He is also a member of Schwab Talks, a local
Alumni Newsletter
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Toastmasters club, which has further enhanced is
public speaking skills. Also at Schwab, George is the
Schwab Austin Pride Co-Chair. The purpose of this
employee resource group is to promote LGBT
related events on Schwab’s Austin campus and
assist with recruiting local talent with diverse
backgrounds for the firm. Outside of his work life,
George has been modeling on the side in the local
Austin community with designers, photographers
and artists. To view his portfolio, visit
www.georgemyatt.com
Aviva Neff ’14
I am currently living in London, England attending
Goldsmiths College and earning a Master's in
Applied Theatre. I just finished assisting with a
show at the Young Vic theatre called Turning a Little
Further. It was an original piece of devised work that
starred unpaid caregivers in the Lambeth and
Southwark boroughs and used stories from their
difficult, yet indispensable jobs. I am also
volunteering with several youth theatre programs,
mostly doing devising work. I will be in London
indefinitely, so if any current students have
questions about living abroad/in the UK do send
them my way! As for some inspirational thoughts about how
Wooster helped me, I have MANY, but I'll try to sum
them up quickly!
I was taught to identify myself as an "artist-scholar"
while at Wooster, and that unique badge of
academia and creativity gave me the confidence to
write papers at the Master's level about subjects in
the arts world that I experienced practically in
classrooms at Wooster. I could not imagine my
undergraduate education without the experience I
gained in the Theatre department. I learned how to
be punctual, responsible, and professional, as well as
flexible, innovative, and passionate. I routinely find
myself reflecting on the plethora of conversations I
had with faculty and students regarding the
importance of an interdisciplinary education. Just as
they suggested when I began my freshman year,
there is truly nothing I cannot do after the Wooster
experience. I am so glad that I chose to be a part of a
department that encouraged me to be curious as
well as diligent with my studies.
Prester Pickett ’87
I am pleased to announce that as a member of the
College of Wooster's graduating Class of 1987 that I
recently had the success of producing Season's to
Win, Against All Odds: The Ted Ginn, Sr. Story at the
Cleveland Playhouse in their Hannah Theater
through the Cleveland Treatment Center and a
Grant from Cuyahoga Arts. It was a tremendous
success and has led to some discussions about
another run. I've also been asked to write and
produce a play on the history of The Call & Post
Newspaper in Cleveland to correspond with their
100 year anniversary celebration next year. Meanwhile, I put a smile on my face when I
auditioned for Ed Ridley from the College of
Wooster, when he held auditions for the WIZ as part
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of Karamu's 100 year anniversary. I didn't get the
part, but it was exciting to keep my craft active and
have a chance to fellowship with a COW classmate
who used to be my roommate.
Just as a reminder about my background, I was one
of the many students that Annetta Gomez-Jefferson
took under her wings. She supported me during my
efforts to become the first African American to
acquire an M.F.A. in Acting from Case Western
Reserve University, where I also completed a
curriculum in their American Studies Ph.D.
Program. I later advanced to become the Assistant
to the Director of Black Studies at Cleveland State
University and the Coordinator of the Howard A.
Mims African American Cultural Center. I still hold
that position and have had the chance to teach
courses in the College of Urban Affairs on the Black
Experience in Cleveland and in the College of
Liberal Arts and Social Sciences in their
Anthropology Department on Black Culture at CSU. I've continued to utilize my voice training to
participate on President Ronald Berkman's platforms for various graduations as a reader of
citations for honorary doctorates for individuals like
Mayor Frank Jackson, Albert Ratner,
Congresswoman Marcia Fudge, Congressman John
Lewis, and Diane McIntyre.
I just recently celebrated my 50 year birthday in the
Little Theater in Cleveland Playhouse Square, where
COW classmates like Daine Brown-Young, M.D, and
Josephine Ridley, Ph.D. (Ed Ridley's wife) joined
other members of my casts, family, and friends to
celebrate a golden year. I have a lovely wife
(Bertha) of 23 years and two sons (Prester II and
Richard Lee) who all support my efforts in Theater. We work together to keep my activities with Pickett
Line Productions in the forefront of the
"Edutaintment" Movement here in Cleveland, Ohio,
where we've recently been asked to consider joining
Regennia Williams, Ph.D. in her European tour
concluding with engagements in France. My wife
Bertha was featured as Mahalia Jackson in my piece
that was produced at Trinity Cathedral in
downtown Cleveland. I wrote that piece,"The Duke
on the Queen's Court", to cover the legacies of Duke
Ellington and Mahalia Jackson and their
collaboration on the song, "Come Sunday." My
oldest son also played the main character for my
play When Poh Pih Finds Hope in last year's Station
Hope Celebration of the Underground Railroad in
Ohio City at the St. John's Episcopal Church, while
my youngest son played Ted Ginn, Jr. in Seasons to
Win, Against All Odds and has also served with his
brother as Junior Sound Technicians and Prop
Masters for some of my shows.
I look forward to reviving my two sister pieces,
Fragmented and Eighth Day of the Week, for our next
season 2015-16 and dream of one day producing my
musical on weight loss in conjunction with the
efforts of First Lady Michelle Obama. There seem to
be prospects for me to advance my
continued on page 8
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Stage Door:
Fall Dance
Concert
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SANGREAL
NOVEMBER
19, 20, 21, 2015
7:30 PM
FREEDLANDER
in-the-Round
Directed by Kim Tritt
The World Premiere of
Latins in
La-La Land
An Electronic Opera
by Peter Mowrey
Festival
of NEW
Works
Based on the
story of the Grail
For tickets, visit the
Box Office or call
330-263-2241
By Migdalia Cruz
7:30 pm
Directed by Jimmy A. Noriega
April 14, 15, 16, 2016
October 29, 30, 31, 2015
7:30 pm - Freedlander Theatre
Photo by Sidney Martin ‘15
For tickets, visit the Box Office or call 330-263-2241
W
COMMUNITY
PARTNER
DEPARTMENT OF THEATRE & DANCE
2015-2016 Performance Season
March 2, 3,
4, 5, 2016
For tickets, visit the Box
Office or call 330-263-2241
@ 7:30 pm
W
COMMUNITY
PARTNER
Freedlander Theatre
Shoolroy
Theater
The composition of Sangreal was
supported in part by a grant from the
Luce Fund for Distinguished Scholarship.
For tickets, visit the Box
Office or call 330-263-2241
Directed by Shirley
Huston-Findley
DEPARTMENT OF THEATRE & DANCE
2015-2016 Performance Season
W
COMMUNITY
PARTNER
DEPARTMENT OF THEATRE & DANCE
2015-2016 Performance Season
W
COMMUNITY
PARTNER
DEPARTMENT OF THEATRE & DANCE
2015-2016 Performance Season
For ticket information for the 2015-16 production season please visit: wooster.edu/
academics/areas/theatre-dance
continued from page 7 - Alumni Updates
work through the interests of Governor Kasich
advancing his career. Fragmented and Eighth Day are
works that received grants from the Ohio
Commission on Minority Health and were
produced within the span of my first ten years after
graduating from the College of Wooster and
addressed the topics of drug and gang violence as
well as Alzheimers in the African American
community. Hence, I look forward to continuing to
expand my works across the nation as a sample of
the representation of what the College of Wooster
can produce by investing in students who come
from lower income families from Cleveland, Ohio
or the urban villages across the State of Ohio and
this great nation.
Stephen Quandt ’85
I designed the lighting for a production of the
Pulitzer Prize winning play Ruined by Lynn Nottage
at The Everyman Theater in Baltimore, MD and will
be designing a new play Naked Influence at Capital
Rep. in Albany, NY. Most of my efforts these days is
devoted to animal welfare specifically I work for the
ASPCA's Field Investigation and Response Team
where I deploy nationally on cruelty cases and
disasters on a regular basis. Theatrical website:
stephen.quandt.com
Ada (Lizzie) Smith ’05
With Season 3 coming to a close, I am wrapping up
here on the TV show Elementary as the assistant art
director. We are going on a 7 week hiatus before
starting prep for Season 4. I have not figured out
what I will do for the 7 weeks besides train for 2
triathlons, the Port Washington sprint and the NYC
Tri, which is olympic distance; get certified in
coaching Olympic lifting thru Catalyst Athletics;
and entertain my 90 year old G’ma and parents
when they come in June. I have spent the last two
months trying to navigate the rental market in the
city and it is a nightmare. Big changes in my life. 8
Great things are happening. Ideally Elementary
will take me to next May 2016 and then I will hike
the El Camino de Santiago with my dad. 2016 will
be my Jesus year and my 10 year anniversary for
hiking the Appalachian Trail, so it seems rather
appropriate. Big plans, small plans, transition, and
getting better at life.
Kent Sprague ’14
After finishing up the season at Florida Repertory
Theatre (As well as making a quick stop back in
Wooster to design for their wonderful production of
Scapin), I'm working two jobs this summer. The first
as an assistant lighting designer for an opera,
Paradise Interrupted, at the Spoleto festival. After that
I am designing lighting for the first 3 shows in
Timber Lake Playhouse's summer season: Hairspray,
The Big Meal, and Peter Pan. I think I'll take a
vacation, and then I'm planning on moving
somewhere in the New York area to continue
assisting and designing.
Liz Staruch ’95
Liz Staruch '95 is an Associate Professor in
the Department of Theatre and Dance at West
Chester University, just outside of Philadelphia. In
addition to directing and choreographing for the
university, I free-lance as a choreographer, dancer
and singer. Elected to the Board of Directors of the
American College Dance Association (formerly
ACDFA) as a Northeast representative. Had the
GREAT pleasure of attending my class reunion at
Woo this past June (Freedlander looks good!) and
also catching up with Drew Williamson '92 in
person as he passed through Philadelphia on tour
this summer.
Laura Vandiver ’10
projects for e-learning companies in Sweden, L.A.,
and Brazil. I'm also helping a startup in Silicon
Valley develop an audio news app. That's basically
all that's going on with me!
David Ward ’82
Just finished two-year appointment as interim
opera director at University of Arizona in Tucson. Starting new appointment as Visiting Opera
Director at University of North Texas in Denton. Will be directing Don Giovanni this Fall.
Currently directing at Opera in the Ozarks in
Eureka Springs, AR - Rossini’s La Cenerentola and a
young people’s version of Cinderella which I wrote. It’s my fourth season at OIO. I will be returning to
College Light Opera Company in Falmouth, MA to
direct Hello, Dolly! and The Gondoliers later this
summer. Last summer I directed HMS Pinafore for
them.
Visit our website
wooster.edu/academics/
areas/theatre-dance
for updated news & events.
AND
Email: psmith@wooster.edu
to send your updates for the
2016 Alumni Newsletter
I am now a full-time voice actor in New York. I
record commercials, audiobooks, training videos,
and basically anything else that falls under the
voice acting umbrella. I'm currently working on
Alumni Newsletter