The Department of Theater Year in Review 2015-2016
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
PAGE 6 - THURSDAY, MAY 19, 2016 WWW.THEWESTFIELDNEWS.COM THE WESTFIELD NEWS ARTSLEISURE The Arts Beat By MARK AUERBACH details on the UMass Theatre UMass Theatre program: https://www.umass. Grads Get Four edu/theater/ Also of note: Lupita Tony Nominations Nyong’o, Best Actress nomi- Three UMass theatre nee for Eclipsed, is a graduate alums have received four of Hampshire College. The Tony Awards nominations. multi-nominated creator and David Korins, Tony- star of Hamilton, Lin-Manuel nominated scenic designer Miranda is a Wesleyan gradu- for Hamilton, graduated from ate, as is Hamilton director UMass/Amherst in 1999, as Thomas Kail. did Justin Townsend, a 1997 The Tony Awards air live on grad,. a dual-nominee in CBS at 8PM on Sunday, June Lighting Design nominee for 12. For details on the 2016 The Humans (Best Lighting Tony Awards: www. Design for a Play) and DAVID KORINS tonyawards.com American Psycho (Best Yale School of Drama, Lighting Design for a Carnegie-Mellon, NYU, Presto Change-O: Musical). Ben Stanton, also a Emerson, and UCLA have 1999 grad, is nominated for incredible track records. Next Year’s his lighting design for Spring UMass may be undervalued, The Skivvies, a Broadway undie-rock comedy-pop duo, will be performing up close and Awakening. Their bios and because it doesn’t have as Tony Contender ? personal, at Pittsfield’s Colonial Theatre on May 28-29. photos are available at The high a profile or an on-cam- Broadway may be abuzz Tony Awards website, under already announced that Change-O. This exciting new pus professional theatre affil- with Hamilton, but producers’ Anastasia will open on musical, with music by Joel Nominees. www.tonyawards. iation, like UConn, for exam- eyes are looking at three com. Broadway next season. Waggoner and book and lyrics ple, with its highly-regarded Massachusetts and Goodspeed Musicals, which by Eric Price, tells the story of Many people overlook Connecticut Repertory Connecticut theatres as incu- some colleges and universi- has provided numerous musi- three generations of magicians Theatre or the Ballard Puppet bators for possible Tony cals to Broadway including who find themselves under ties when looking for a qual- Institute at Storrs. But, it’s Award next year. This column ity theatre program. Sure, Man of La Mancha and Annie, one roof for the first time in certainly worth a visit. For has already previewed is presenting a revised version years. When the grandfather Hartford Stage’s production of of The Roar of The causes real magic to happen, Anastasia, and Hartford Stage, Greasepaint-The Smell of The they must confront their past which sent A Gentleman’s Crowd, also previously pre- mistakes and re-examine what Guide to Love and Murder to viewed in this column. it means to be a family. Marc New York and a Tony Award Barrington Stage, opens its Bruni, who staged Broadway’s win for “Best Musical”, has new season with a world pre- Beautiful: The Carol King miere musical, Presto- Musical, directs. Vadim BARBARA WALSH ENJOY THE SOOTHING SOUNDS OF Fish & Plants Feichtner is music director. WATER FROM YOUR GARDEN POND. arriving weekly! Presto Change-O stars EVERY SATURDAY Tony Award winner Michael after 4pm Garden Ponds Rupert (Broadway’s A 4 COURSE We have Liners, Pumps, Filters, Falsettos, On The Town) as MEAL WITH Fountains, and Everything you need “Lance,” Tony Award nomi- 4 DIFFERENT to start your Garden Pool! nee Jarrod Spector BREWS! (Broadway’s Beautiful The ONLY TROPICAL (860) 658-5401 Carole King Musical) as “Michael,” Tony Award $ 00 FISH emmonstropicalfish.com PER PERSON nominee Barbara Walsh 25 1612 Hopmeadow St. (Rt. 10) Simsbury, CT • M-F 10-6, Sat-Sun 10-5 Call TODAY to make your (Broadway’s Company) as Father’s Day “Mary,” Jenni Barber reservations! (Broadway’s Wicked) as MEMORIAL DAY PLANTERS “Tina,” Bob Walton 169 College Hwy, Southampton, MA (Broadway’s 42nd Street) as 413-527-0808 opaopasteakhousebrewery.com “Arthur,”and Lenny Wolpe (Broadway’s The Drowsy Let’s Plant! Chaperone, Wicked) as ANNUALS, PERENNIALS, GERANIUMS, “Sheldon.” GERBERA DAISIES, HANGING BASKETS Barrington Stage devel- World Series Tickets! oped and sent the Tony VEGGIE STARTERS Westfield Babe Ruth World Series DAYLILIES – PHLOX Award-winner The 25th The Department of Annual Putnam TheaterCounty – Gift Certificates – August 11-18, 2016 OPEN Mon.-Fri. 9am-6:00pm; Spelling Bee to Broadway, 66 PEQUOT ROAD, SOUTHAMPTON Weekends & Holidays 9am-5:00pm and last season, Barrington’s Billy Bullens Field, Westfield production of On The Town received glowing notices on the Great White Way. Advance Tickets on Sale Now! For details on Barrington Stage’s Presto-Change-O Family Tournament Pass $45.00 (through June 11): 413-236- 8888 or www.barrington- Regular Price $60.00 after June 30th stageco.org. For details on Hartford Single Tournament Pass $20.00 Stage’s Anastasia (through Regular Price $25.00 after June 30th June 19): 860-527-5151 or www.hartfordstage.org. (Tournament Passes Good For ALL Games) For details on Goodspeed’s The Roar of The Greasepaint/ Year In ReviewTickets available online by going to our web site at2015-2016The Smell of The Crowd (May 20-June 26): 860-873- WestfieldWorldSeries.com 8668 or www.goodspeed. org. Or visit one of the following Westfield Businesses: Cassin Insurance - 104 Elm Street Keep in Mind… Westfield Bank – 560 East Main Street Branch Beauty and the Beast, by the acclaimed Stevens or 300 Southampton Road Puppets of Indiana, will be presented by The Ballard Institute and Museum of Advance Purchase Ticket Order Form Puppetry at UConn on May Order Deadline June 30th 22 in the Ballard Institute Theater on the UConn cam- pus in Storrs. For details: “Our Family Cooks For Your Family” Please Send Me the Following Tickets 860.486.8580 or www.bimp. Quantity Extended Price uconn.edu VILLAGE PIZZERIA Playing With Food 4 – Family Tournament Pass $45.00 R E S T A U R A N T Food Fight!, the Hartford College Highway, Rt. 10 & 202, Southwick, MA Symphony Orchestra Pops Individual Tournament Pass $20.00 concert at The Bushnell on PAT IO DEBIT 569-3160 • 569-3403 May 21, combines delicious Total Enclosed: NOW music, under the direction of --------- MAY ---------- Maestra Carolyn Kuan, pits OPEN Grinder of the Month Pizza of the Month three area chefs in an onstage Mail Order Form and Check To: Westfield Babe Ruth, food competition, emceed by Attn: Ticket Sales, PO Box 431, Westfield, MA 01086 8" Veal Parm Grinder Vegetarian with Sauce See Arts Beat, Page 7 Make Check Payable To: Delight Greater Westfield Babe Ruth League Pizza Tickets will be mailed within 10 Days $$ 7595 Mail Tickets To: 3¢ Name: Address: Onions & Peppers 3025 extraextra Check out our LUNCHEON SPECIALS - served 11am to 3pm daily! BEAUTY AND City, State & Zip: Phone: HOURS: Mon-Thur 11am-11pm • Fri-Sat 11am-12am • Sun 12pm-10pm THE BEAST 1 Table of Contents 2015-2016 Our Season Page 3 Our Programs Page 14 People: Faculty News and Achievements and Guest Artists Page 20 Outreach Page 26 Grants, Professional Development and Scholarship Awards Page 28 Development Page 30 Student and Alumni News and Achievements Page 33 Appendices: 1. Departmental Events — a full listing of mainstage and student productions, guest workshops, special events, department guest appearances for the 2015-2016 school year Page 38 2. Audience Survey — an analysis of demographic, advertising, and art consumer questions asked of audience members via program insert during the 2015-2016 season Page 46 3. In Memoriam — remembering Kaz Reed and Doug Kraner Page 61 2 2015-2016 Our Season Box Office This year’s season saw the Department of Theater double down on its commitment to present new works from fresh voices and underrepresented populations. The lack of productions with high name recognition means we did not draw blockbuster audiences, but the strong response from those that did attend confirmed for us that reaching out to new or under-served audiences is worth the effort. We further demonstrated our commitment to this idea by making our school matinee of Collidescope 2.0, a powerful work that engaged important questions about our country’s troubled racial history, free to all students. In the sell-out crowd were students from traditionally-underserved communities who reacted powerfully to the play’s important message. FY16 THE SHOW SPACE EST # ACTUAL +/- Marie Antoinette Rand $4,000.00 $4,400.12 $400.12 Donny Johns Curtain $2,500.00 $2,444.40 $(55.60) Love and Information Curtain $3,000.00 $2,752.70 $(247.30) Play Lab Curtain $500.00 $509.87 $9.87 Collidescope 2.0 Rand $6,500.00 $5,579.53 $(920.47) SUBTOTAL $16,500.00 $15,686.62 Less 7.9% $1,303.50 $1,239.24 TOTAL $15,196.50 $14,447.38 $(749.12) Audience Survey This year, as we did for two years previous, we included a survey in each program we handed out. Our aim was to learn about who our audience is, where people learn about us, and what their priorities are in the arts. This year’s results were in large part confirmations of the patterns that have begun to emerge in the two previous years’ results. We found that our audience members are split between college students and seniors, are enthusiastic arts consumers, and are strongly affiliated with the Five Colleges and most especially UMass. We also saw, again, that our top audience-getter is word of mouth, whether from friends and relatives in productions, fellow arts consumers, or faculty recommendations/assignments. Expense and schedule were cited as the top barriers to attendance last year and continue to be this year.