| The New Theatre Program at Emory & Henry College |
The Greenroom |
|
The E&H Department of Theatre Newsletter Volume I, Issue #3, 2004 |
|
|
HEADLINES |
2004 Spring Edition Editor Biliana Stoytcheva-Horissian |
|
DuPont Grant Received by Theatre Program Sarah Crockarell directs 'Dentity Crisis for Student Showcase The Heidi Chronicles, directed by guest director, opens to acclaim Student Teacher helps directs High School One-Act to State!!! Archived Newsletters Here |
5 E&H Theatre Majors qualify for SETC All students who are interested in attending auditions for graduate school possibilities and for summer work options/professional work options at the annual South East Theatre Conference must audition at the state level first. Students audition for their state theatre conferences and are then selected to audition for SETC. SETC conducts the largest audition for national professional job opportunities and graduate school selections. Over 850 students from around the country will be auditioning and representatives from over 100 theatre companies and graduate programs will be in attendance. Emory & Henry theatre students auditioned at the Virginia Thespian Convention in the fall with 140 other students from around the state. Only 55 students were passed on to SETC and 5 of them come from E&H. Emory & Henry Theatre Program Receives a Sizable Grant Earlier this semester the Emory & Henry Theatre Department received a grant of $54,384 to be paid over the next three years. The grant, presented by the Jessie Ball duPont Fund of Jacksonville, Fla., will help expand Emory’s Theatre Department by supporting new faculty and student recruitment. “I think this grant is a great thing,” said Zack Arnold, a sophomore majoring in theatre. “This will give the theatre program the opportunity to expand and to get the Emory & Henry name out there.” While the latest grant is a step in expanding the E&H Theatre Department, the College continues to seek more grants for the program. We have a proposal right now in front of other Southeast regional funding programs to fund other components of the program, “ said Ron Huiatt, Chief Development Officer for Emory & Henry. “The changes in the Theatre Department and its collaboration with the Barter Theatre have allowed us to take the program to a new level.” The Barter and the College’s Theatre Department collaborate to give E&H theatre majors exposure to what it’s like to work in a professional theatre environment. Since the official collaboration began, Emory’s Theatre Department has expended from half a dozen majors to 37. Under the strategic plan for the College, the Theatre Department has plans to expand to as many as 100 students. “The relationship between the Barter Theatre and Emory & Henry is excellent,” Arnold said. “It’s great because it allows the Theatre Department to expand beyond the College and it provides a way for Emory students to get a taste of what it is like to work in professional theatre.” Other plans to expand the Theatre Department include renovations of Byars, converting more of the building into a center for performing arts, and the construction of a new performing arts center. back to top Emory & Henry
Theatre Students Perform North American Premiere of Musical Revue Based
on Life of Glenn Miller Sarah Crockarell directs "'Dentity Crisis". Sarah Crockarell, a sophomore from Nashville, TN, took full advantage of the Student Showcase opportunity offered by the theatre department to all students. The Student Showcase series was set up to allow students to form their own theatrical related projects on their own and have a time frame to be able to present their work. Some students have arranged improv comedy nights, some have done music related events, others have done a collection of scenes and monologues. Sarah took this opportunity to produce the play 'DENTITY CRISIS by Christopher Durang, and presented it to the E&H community in the fall of 2003. Pictures of the production can be found on the the "productions" portion of the Theatre Website. "It was a wonderful and fulfilling experience and I am looking forward to directing even more here at E&H," Sarah said. back to top THE HEIDI CHRONICLES directed by Guest Director John Giampetro John Giampetro, guest director for the fall of 2003, directed E&H's fall production of THE HEIDI CHRONICLES by Wendy Wasserstein. Mr. Giampetro is a New York based director and the principal director for the Accidental Theatre Company. His New York credits include ELVIS ORDERS A MAI TAI with the Breakaway Theatre Company, MR. PIM PASSES BY with the Common Basis Theatre, JOAN OF LORRAINE with the Hudson Guild Theatre, and MISS JULIE at the Chelsea Playhouse. Mr. Giampetro is a graduate of Hoftra University and spent 4 weeks in residence with E&H directing our second fall show. back to top Current Student Helps Takes High School One-Act to State!! A Letter from Tara Wiseman - current E&H student teacher This semester I had the opportunity to work with the Abingdon High School’s competitive One-Act Team. My position was as an assistant director/coach. In the beginning of the semester Melanie Arrington (the coach and an EHC alum) and I choose a play. We then held auditions and cast our show. Since we chose Steel Magnolias we had to cut it down to a one-act play. We spent several afternoons reading through the play and cutting until we had a smooth running one-act. I attended each rehearsal beginning in September and running through December. We rehearsed M-TH from 4-6. We spent several weeks reading through and blocking each scene and working with each girl individually on characterization. I also helped Melanie to design a set and find the pieces that would create our “world” and also travel well, since as a competition team we would be traveling at least 3 separate times. Our first competition was at Farum College. We competed against 9 other high schools and placed 1st as well as taking a best actress award for our actress playing Anelle. Our next competition was at Abingdon High School. This was our district competition which determined who would continue on to the regional competition. Our team took a first place out of 2 schools here, and yet another Best Actor award for Anelle. We next competed in the regional competition, which I was unable to attend b/c of You Can’t Take It With You; however, the girls took 2nd place in the region, with Anelle making the “All-Star Cast”. (I believe 4 schools competed here – one from each district.) We then went on to the State competition where we place 4th in the state out of 7 other schools – the top 8 of the AA division in the stateJ - and Anelle placing in the “All Star Cast” again! This was an amazing opportunity to be able to work with a competition team and place so well my first year. I was able to experience on a small scale what a cast & crew of any theatre production have to endure while traveling. Next year we are looking forward to producing an original work (hopefully a musical) and going all the way yet again! During this time we also work with our forensics team (competitive speaking/acting), which we are both coaching as well. We took our freshman team to their first invitational meet, where our storyteller took a first place out of around 30 people. The forensics team works and travels during the spring semester, we take up to 6 trips with our competitive team of 17. Each trip Melanie & I also serve as judges which gives us a chance to see the material that is out and the talent of the many students. It also gives me a great opportunity to scout for our department. (At invitationals we bring whoever would like to try.) We are always looking for extra hands who are willing to coach, the more people we have helping, the more kids we can have practice more often. I worked with the team last Spring and we took 9/13 to State and we had 7 place in the top 6 in the State. Our teams are extremely competitive and we expect a lot of hard work out of our students. Both teams are very difficult to put together, because we always have many more audition than we have spaces. While time consuming and stressful, this is a very rewarding experience. I get hands-on experience working a cocktail of positions (director/designer/coach/chaperone/judge/production assistant) in a way that shows the fruit of our hard work through the placement of our students. This position also tests my creativity and allows me to work with many different students in many different genres. I feel blessed to have this position and be able to apply all that I’m learning here right now. I don’t have to wait until I graduate to see if I can “make it.” back to top |