Announcements

News and Announcements

2007-2008

Skidmore Theater Alum Yehuda Duenyas

NY TIMES, February 15th, 2008.

‘DON JUAN’ Yehuda Duenyas plays the great seducer in this latest iteration of the 17th-century Molière play, as envisioned by the Obie Award-winning National Theater of the United States of America. It may be the way Mr. Duenyas, above, hops about and gurgles with glee after a conquest. Or maybe it’s his mildly crazed eyes, or the pale, flat expanse of his stomach, which seems to be entirely muscle free. Whatever the reason, he’s irresistible, as is the play.
It is possible that you, an ardent New York theatergoer, are not aware that this great country possesses a national theater company, just as it is within the realm of possibility that you have yet to visit the Chocolate Factory, in Long Island City, Queens, where “Don Juan” is running. You might be forgiven for such oversights, as both the troupe and the theater are only a few years old. No matter. Now is your chance to make amends.
“Don Juan” is the National Theater’s first crack at a classical text; this show even boasts costumes “authentically made out of real materials,” according to the endearingly absurd promotional materials. The set is laid out around the theater’s perimeter, so that the action shifts from scene to scene in time with the Don’s manic sexual overdrive. Doing his best to keep up is the poor servant, Sganarelle (the wonderful Jesse Hawley), who navigates his master through the wreckage of love affairs in various stages of implosion. Eventually, of course, the flames catch up to Don Juan, who exits with a whimper, not a bang. (Through March 1, Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m., 5-49 49th Avenue, Long Island City, 212-352-3101 or chocolatefactorytheater.org; $15, with free Thursday performances for Queens residents.) CLAUDIA LA ROCCO

In addition to Hudi and Jesse, other Skidmore Theater Alums involved in this project include Ryan Bronz, Jon Jacobs, Matt Kalman, Ilan Bachrach, and Ben Kato.

Skidmore Theater Alum
KEIRA NAUGHTON
featured in the New York Times

Contratulations to Theater Alum David Miner

David is Executive Producer of the NBC hit 30 ROCK - winner of this year's Emmy for best Comedy

One Million Moments
in New York City, September 2007

An art installation-street theater hybrid created by former Skidmore Student Yehuda Duenyas (of the Brooklyn-based National Theatre of the United States of America)
Under the auspices of the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council.

The former Skidmore Theater students (from a range of different graduating classes) include Yehuda Deunas, Jesse Hawley, Jonathan Jacobs, Beth Kurkjian, Mariah MacCarthy, Ryan Bronz, Matt Kalman, Jamie Peterson, Adam Lerman, Rachel Richman, Haley Greenstein, Brian Smolin and Ilan Bachrach

New York Times article about the piece.

"One Million Forgotten Moments" Website

Alum Kelly Van Zile appears in BACKSTAGE (August 30-Sept. 5) in an article entitled "When Actors Decide to Quit Their Day Jobs"
In the same issue there's an article about Skidmore Theater friend Rocco Sisto who's currentlt appearing in Iphiginia 2.0 at the Signature Theater in NYC. The play is written by Chuck Mee who was a guest of our when we did one of our plays. Some juniors will remember seeing Rocco as Petruchio in Taming of the Shrew at Shakespeare & Co.

	Fall 2007 Free Hour Theater
Friday, Sept. 14	*MUTE* - a reading of a new piece created in the spirit of Spalding Gray.	Will Bond
Friday, Nov. 2	LAST THE NIGHT - an excerpt from the surrealist comedy "This Play Should Remain Untitled Until Further Notice" - A fallen glam idol encounters a brusquely serpentine G.I. Jane and a disgruntled writer in their search for the immortality that he once had. Directed by Andy Izenson with Meredith Hackman, Emily Harvey Lacroix, and Jaime Martinez.	Andy Izenson

ON AIR OFF!
A number of our former and current students developed and worked on this production in the 2007 New York International Fringe Festival this Summer.
The play was written and directed by Danny Tieger and Adam Lerman. Danny and Adam performed along with Matt Chester and Emily Spaulding. Jamie Peterson designed the lighting and Rachel Roderman designed the graphics. Our own Patty Pawliczak designed costumes.

DIAGHILEV premieres at Bernhard Theater this Past July

DIAGHILEV, a new play written by Skidmore parent David S. Singer and directed by Sheryl Kaller (Christopher Durang’s Adrift of Macao), was presented at Skidmore's Janet Kinghorn Bernhard Theater, Skidmore College on July 20 and 21 as an Equity Showcase Production. The play salutes the upcoming 2009 centennial of Serge Diaghilev’s Ballet Russes and is the culmination of Diaghilev Company’s two-week residency at the College.

     Diaghilev explores the personal and professional relationship between Serge Diaghilev, founder of Ballet Russes, and Vaslav Nijinsky, the greatest dancer of his era. The play follows the two men from their first meeting in pre-revolutionary Russia to their public reunion in 1928 in Paris.
     Dance pieces in Diaghilev were staged by choreographer Robert La Fosse (Tony Award-winner and principal dancer for American Ballet Theatre and the New York City Ballet), and Charles Joseph, (professor of music at Skidmore) served as music director.
      The production featured early 20th-century costumes from past Diaghilev productions, generously on loan from the Joffrey Ballet, which has one of the most extensive collections in the world of Diaghilev works.
      The cast featured Thom Sesma (Broadway star of The Times They Are A-Changin and Man of La Mancha) as Diaghilev; Adam Greer (Death of a Salesman) as Nijinsky; Skidmore theater professor and Department Chair Lary Opitz appeared in multiple roles, and Skidmore students Samantha Hooper-Hamersley '08; Brendan Duggan '10; Alycia Kiley '09, and Maggie Stack '09 performed. Ryan Emmons '08 served as production assistant and Barbara Opitz served as Production Coordinator. Angelica Thornhill '09 worked on costumes and David Yergan was technical director.
      Diaghilev was produced by Andy Sandberg with the support of the College’s Office of the Dean of Special Programs.

2006-2007

Congratulations!
Professor Carolyn Anderson,
Has Been Named the Kenan Chair of Liberal Studies

The Kenan Chair of Liberal Arts was created by the The William R. Kenan Jr. Charitable Trust. The Kenan Chair represents the College both internally and externally as a distinguished faculty member and ambassador to the larger intellectual community.

See The Spring 2007 Student Scenic Design Models

CONGRATULATIONS!
Skidmore Theater Designers Cited by OperaOnline
David Yergan was named for "Best Use of Lighting" and Garrett Wilson was named for "Best Scenic Design" for their designs for The Lake George Opera Company's 2006 production of The Barber of Seville

Faculty member WILL BOND appeared in the SITI production bobrauschenbergamerica
American Repertory Theatre in Cambridge, MA.
September 9 through October 7

History of the World from the Very Beginning
Written and performed by faculty member Will Bond
In collaboration with, composed & performed by Christian Frederickson
November 4 @ 3 pm; November 6 & 7 @ 8 pm
at Caffè Lena, 47 Phila Street, Saratoga Springs, NY

Pretty Polly
written and directed by Theater Department Guest Artist
Josh Chambers
at the Tang
see ANNOUNCEMENTS for information

Aaron Davidman Residency

Aaron Davidman, artistic director of the Traveling Jewish Theatre of San Francisco is on campus from February 10th through February 16th. One of the creators and the original director of BLOOD RELATIVE, Aaron will be developing the text for our Spring Seminar Production of the play. This will mark the East Coast premiere of the piece. He will be working closely with the entire actong company in developing additional material and re-writing some of the original text. The student actors will be actively engaged with him in a full day of rehearsal followed by four nights of rehearsal. In addition to the text itself, Aaron will offer his perspectives on the creation of the piece and wil share his experiences in Israel while researching this play which deals with the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. Aaron will also be meeting with our directing students in our two directing classes. Aaron's residency has been made possible through the Skidmore College Office of Special Programs. He will be a guest or one of our Production Seminar classes during his residency and he will return to see our production of his play. Other Seminar guests this semester include Prof. Hédi Jouaod (FLL), Prof. Steven Hoffman (Government), Prof. Laury Silvers (Philosophy). We will also host Lora Berg form the US State Department and her husband, Karim Chaibi. We also hope to bring Ibrihim Miari to campus. One of the actors in the original production, Ibrahim was the inspiration for the play.

SUMMER INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

On Friday, February 9 in Theatre Company from 2:30-3:30, representatives from a number of local theatres will be discussing opportunities for working locally in professional theatres.

LAKE GEORGE OPERA COMPANY
BERKSHIRE THEATRE FESTIVAL
SARATOGA SHAKESPEARE COMPANY
WILLIAMSTOWN THEATRE FESTIVAL
ADIRONDACK THEATRE FESTIVAL

Visit our Internships website to learn more about how to find summer opportunities.

WILL BOND APPEARING IN NEW SITI PRODUCTION

This month, Artist-in-Residence Will Bond will be performing in SITI's new production, RADIO MACBETH at the Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus, OH

AARON DAVIDMAN of the Traveling Jewish Theatre

As part of our production BLOOD RELATIVE, the co-creator and original director of the play will be in residence from February 10-15. Aaron will be working extensively with the cast and will be offering significant rewrites which will become part of our own production.

Artistic Director of the Traveling Jewish Theatre. Aaron davidman co-wrote BLOOD RELATIVE and was the director of the original production. He is an actor, writer and director. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan and received his formal theatrical training at Carnegie Mellon University. He is a recent recipient of the New Generations Fellowship from Theatre Communications Group. Aaron has worked with ATJT since 1997 where he originated the role of Momik Newman in Corey Fischer’s Kennedy Center award winning play See Under: Love; co-wrote and performed in the critically acclaimed God’s Donkey: A Play on Moses; and was seen in the title role of David Schulner’s Isaac and in the revival of ATJT’s internationally acclaimed Berlin, Jerusalem, and the Moon. Other acting credits include work with the California and Utah Shakespeare Festivals. Directing credits include the original works The Golden Bird, which he also co-wrote, and The Chosen by Chaim Potok, all at A Traveling Jewish Theatre. Other directing credits include projects at theatres in the Bay Area and in New York, most recently, Shotgun Players' Dream House in Lorin, a community-based exploration of the life of a South Berkeley neighborhood. As a playwright, he has collaborated with Israeli playwright, Ro'i Rashkes on Moving, to be performed in both Hebrew and English.

FREE-HOUR THEATER PROGRAM

As announced at our opening meeting, we are starting a new program.

Every Friday afternoon from 3:30pm to 5:00pm (immediately following our Company Meeting), Studio B will be available for presentations, readings, explorations, etc. This could be a short piece (old or new) that has been rehearsed, the reading of an old or new play, the sharing of work being developed in classes, etc.

This work should not involve any departmental technical support.

Anyone interested in presenting something should schedule one of the Friday time slots with Kathy Mendenhall in the Theater Office. Scheduling will be hjandled on a first come, first served basis.

The student who schedules the room is fully responsible for seeing that the studio is cleared out and clean at the end of the presentation.

September 15	A reading of a new play	Matt Chester
September 29	Dear Unknown, This is the First Time We've Met - exploring an encounter of chance music and movement	William Popp & Adam Lerman
October 13	Poetry reading	Peter Maurer
October 27	*A puppet adaptation of The Devil Went Down to Georgia* featuring original creations**	Jessica Lorence
November 3	Sisterhood Originally created for Carolyn Anderson's Advanced Directing class, this piece chronicles the consequences of date rape on college campuses. It includes original text, slam poetry, and a rape suvivor's account of her experience. In only five minutes, this project addresses what constitutes "rape," the emotional ramifications of sexual assault, and the ways in which women do and don't support each other through these situations.	Mariah MacCarthy
November 16	A reading of a revision of Matt Chester's new play entitled Every Pilot	Matt Chester
December 1	*Presentation of Adam Lerman's new play entitled All Right, Here I Go,* with Adam Lerman and Haley Greenstein**	Adam Lerman
December 15	The Little Fish A Shel Silverstein poem set to music featuring original shadow puppets.	Jessica Lorence

STUDENTS:
All you have to do to get some terrific discounted NYC Off-Broadway theatre tickets is to go to the
Ticket Central site and register - http://www.ticketcentral.com/student/
The discounted price is $15 and about 25 shows are usually available including such theatres as: MCC, Theater, Primary Stages, Keen Company, 59E59 Theatres, Lucile Lortel Theater, Playwrights Horizons and the Theatre Row theatres on West 42nd St.
Also - be sure to check-out the student discounts and "rush" policies at: The Metropolitan Opera, The New York City Opera, City Center and Signature Theatre.

All students interested in finding out about
THEATER RELATED STUDY ABROAD and STUDY AT OTHER INSTITUTIONS OPPORTUNITIES
should plan on attending a meeting on
Monday, October 23rd from 5:30 to 6:30 in the Design Studio
All Skidmore and Theater Department approved programs will be discussed
If you have any thoughts about studying abroad in your junior (and in some cases, senior) year you should make every effort to attend this meeting

Take a look at our Study-Abroad page to learn more.

Chris Anderson of NTI will be visiting us on Wednesday, October 25th from 4:45-5:30
She'll be talking about the NTI program at the O'Neill Center and the Moscow PRogram

STUDENTS INTERESTED IN DESIGN, TECHNICAL AND PRODUCTION WORK

On Wednesday, September26th, David Yergan, Garett Wilson and Lary Opitz met with seventeen students who are involved in the all areas of Design, Technical and Production Work (Stage Management, Scenic Design, Lighting, Costume, Sound, Painting, Make-up , Constrution).

Anyone interested in any of these areas should be sure to contact Lary Opitz so that you will be on our contact list for all future announcements.

Our own Stephanie Flieschmann (Playwriting Instructor) appears in the December 2006 issue of American Theatre.
Her work with director Kristin Marting on Orpheus at the HERE Arts Center in NYC is covered.

SPRING BLACK BOX and WORKSHOP PROPOSALS

Friday, October 27th, 5:00 PM — Studio Production and Workshop Proposals Due
Thursday, November 2nd, 5:00 PM — Oral presentations for Studio Production
Tuesday, November 7th, 5:00 PM — Oral presentations for Workshops

Proposal forms will be available from Alma Becker

Students are encouraged to seek advice from faculty members before submitting proposals

Both the Studio Production and the Workshops will be selected prior to Thanksgiving

TIME TO START THINKING ABOUT NEXT SEMESTER!

Check here for a descriptive prospectus of all Theater Department courses that will be available in Spring 2007

The following course being offered this spring semester will full the Theatre Department Major dramatic literature requirement:

EN 229: Postcolonial Drama: All the World’s a Stage
Ross Forman, English
This course offers an introduction to drama written in English from different parts of the world. Through an examination of well-known plays from Australia, Africa, India, East Asia, Canada, and the Caribbean, the course asks what it is that unifies these works: How do they deal with common concerns, such as the legacy of colonialism, the conjunction of non-Western and Western ideas about life and modernity, and the narration of the experience of migration and diaspora? How do the plays engage with issues of race and ethnicity? How are the identities of women and sexual minorities negotiated across the globe? We will pay specific attention to how the medium of the dramatic form affects the message: What specific power does drama, as a genre, have to effect social and political change? What is drama’s special ability to articulate and voice ideas and opinions through dialogue, staging, and costuming? And what relationships are established between the performers and the audience; how does drama define and encourage notions of community? We will undertake this study through the rubric of postcolonial approaches to literature, reviewing key concepts such as the nature of language in the English-speaking world, the effects of globalization on contemporary culture, and literature’s engagement with history. Requirements for the course will include a midterm and final essay and a final examination.

Pretty Polly

written and directed by Theater Department Guest Artist
Josh Chambers
at the Tang

The Tang Museum will present Josh Chambers’ “Pretty Polly”, on Tuesday, Dec. 5th at 8pm.
This piece is the first installment of a series entitled “Flesh Country Ballads”, that explores the theatrical terrain of early American folk songs in a hyperactive and spectacular fashion. “Flesh Country Ballads” was created by Fovea Floods Theater Company over the course of Summer 2005 in Brooklyn, NY.
We are looking for 50+ performers as well as designers and other collaborators to participate in this event. The piece will rehearse approximately 4 times between Dec. 2nd – Dec. 5th with a combination of afternoon and evening rehearsals.
If you are interested in participating, please sign up in the Theater Office.

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Janet Kinghorn Bernhard Theatre
Phone: (518) 580-5430 | Fax: (518) 580-5444 | kmendenh@skidmore.edu