Volume LIII Number 3 • Summer 2012 • $8.00 Tony Walton and Richard Pilbrow A Tale of Two Collaborators Roger Robinson Making Opportunity Happen Richard Robichaux Yes, You Can Be ‘Famous’ 1207 SETC ad.qxp 5/17/12 10:24 PM Page 1 Register Now Professional Graduate School Auditions Auditions Sunday & Monday - September 9th & 10th, 2012 Saturday, September 8th, 2012 Application Deadlines & Cost: Application Deadlines & Cost: $35 by July 15; $45 by August 15 $25 by August 27 Representatives from professional stock, regional, Find the best graduate program for you! repertory, touring and dinner theatres, theme parks and cruise lines across the nation seek professional actors, singers and dancers. FREE Workshops by Leading Industry Professionals For more information, visit our website: www.setc.org or call (336) 272-3645. Events will be held at the Hilton Atlanta Airport, Atlanta, GA. 2 VolumeC LIII Number 3 l Summerontents 2012 l Southern Theatre – Quarterly Magazine of the Southeastern Theatre Conference Features 6 Tony Walton and Richard Pilbrow: Departments A Tale of Two Collaborators by Brackley Frayer 4 400 Words 10 Molly Pilbrow Traces Her Successful Career Are You Teaching Prejudice? to the Connections She Made through SETC by Karen Sabo by Deanna Thompson 32 Thanks to our Advertisers 14 Dudley Knight: A Better Alternative to Good American Speech? by Vivian Majkowski Cover 16 Celebrating SETC’s 63rd in Chattanooga Photos by David Humber Tony Walton and Richard Pilbrow, SETC’s 2012 Distinguished Career Award winners, collaborated on this 2008 production of A Tale of Two Cities on 18 Roger Robinson: Broadway. Scene design is by Walton and lighting design is by Pilbrow. See story and more pictures, Page Making Opportunity Happen 6. (Photo by Michael Gottlieb; cover design by Deanna Thompson) by Paul B. Crook 24 Richard Robichaux: Be ‘Famous’ for What You Can Do by Chris Hardin 28 Robert Ankrom Honored with SETC’s Suzanne Davis Award by Rick Kerby 31 2012 SETC Young Scholar’s Award Winners Abstracts by Michal Isenberg and Loren Biggerstaff 3 from Karen Sabo, Producing Artistic Director 400 Words In/Visible Theatre, Boone, NC Are You Teaching Prejudice? American speech as just another accent students need to learn, but also emphasize recently received a postcard from a well- Appalachians in particular. But while rais- that it has no intrinsic worth making it known dialect coach whose recordings ing a child in rural southwest Virginia, I was better than any other dialect. My audience I can be found in theatres and university stopped short by a section of Disney’s The listened politely and nodded in seem- drama departments across the country. The Aristocats. The movie is set in Europe, and ing assent. Then the professor said, “but card was an advertisement that described most characters are French and British. So you’ve still got to be able to get back to recordings titled “Speaking with an Ac- why did the two dumb dogs, scripted for neutral.” “Yeah, that’s important,” added cent” and “Speaking with No Accent.” I comic relief, have accents placing them in the student. found this confusing. I’m also perplexed the American South? Acting students of the South: there is about the claims of those who teach “ac- I was speaking recently with two nothing wrong with the way you talk. You cent reduction.” While I understand what acquaintances, one a tenured theatre should master a General American accent, these dialecticians think they mean, I see professor, the other an MFA theatre stu- just as students in Connecticut and Oregon things differently. I believe that the only dent, and described my realization about should learn to master your accent. Speech way to speak with no accent is to keep your the prejudice against Southern accents. I teachers: Just as white skin or maleness mouth shut. detailed the familiar situation wherein is not “neutral” or “correct,” neither is a For 12 years, I lived in central Appa- speech teachers elevate a General American General American accent. You are unwit- lachia, home of hillbilly references and accent as “neutral” or “correct,” therefore tingly teaching prejudice when you support T-shirts warning tourists, “Paddle faster, implying that other accents are abnormal, this philosophy, and as theatre artists and I hear banjos.” During my childhood in with some teachers actually describing teachers, we have an obligation to root out upstate New York, I unwittingly accepted them as “wrong.” I proposed that college prejudice and challenge assumptions. stereotypes about Southerners, and of theatre teachers not only present General Think about it, y’all. n 4 s o u t h e r n heatre From the SETC President TSETC ExECuTivE DirECTor Elizabeth N. Baun EDiTor Deanna Thompson ADvErTiSiNG Judi Rossabi, [email protected] BuSiNESS & ADvErTiSiNG oFFiCE Southeastern Theatre Conference 1175 Revolution Mill Drive, Studio 14 Each year the SETC Convention gets better and better, and sometimes we just don’t Greensboro, NC 27405 336-272-3645 get to see or hear everything that we would like to experience. In the following PuBLiCATioNS CoMMiTTEE pages, we hope to remind you of the magnificent thoughts and ideas that were Sam Sparks, Chair, Independent Theatre Artist (TX) delivered by our keynote speakers and other presenters. Jimmy Bickerstaff, Valdosta State University (GA) E Annette Grevious, Claflin University (SC) Can you imagine a 50-year collaboration? Theatre legends Tony Walton and Denise Halbach, Independent Theatre Artist (MS) Scott Phillips, Auburn University (AL) Richard Pilbrow have been at it for five decades and then some. These SETC 2012 EDiToriAL BoArD Distinguished Career Award winners and Saturday keynote speakers share the Jesse Bates, Alabama School of Fine Arts evolution of their craft – and some of their ideas on the future of theatre – with Sonya/Tim Bixler, Washington School/Delta Center Stage (MS) Doug Brown, Florida School of the Arts Brackley Frayer. Also, don’t miss the story of Richard’s wife, Molly, who got her Tessa Carr, Lees-McRae College (NC) start through SETC nearly 50 years ago. H. Duke Guthrie, Valdosta State University (GA) Kendra Johnson, Clemson University (SC) Tony Award-winning actor Roger Robinson mesmerized Friday’s keynote Jen Nelson Lane, Alabama Shakespeare Festival audience with his journey from Seattle musician to Broadway actor. Paul Crook Jerry Lapidus, Independent Theatre Artist (FL) Ray Paolino, University of Georgia shares sage advice from Robinson on the actor’s craft and on the important role Scott Phillips, Auburn University (AL) that regional theatres can play in starting and sustaining careers. Richard St. Peter, Texas Tech University Steve Willis, Bennett College for Women (NC) Actor and teacher Richard Robichaux shared his own powerful story about Amile Wilson, Pippin & Maxx Arts and Entertainment (MS) the importance of teachers. Chris Hardin chronicles how Robichaux overcame ProoFrEADErS a speech impediment to become a successful actor and our Thursday keynote Judi Rossabi, SETC Communications and Marketing Manager Philip G. Hill, Furman University (SC) speaker – and Robichaux’s advice on how to be truly “famous.” PriNTiNG Also at the SETC Convention in Chattanooga, we surprised SETC member Clinton Press, Greensboro, NC Robert Ankrom with the Suzanne M. Davis Memorial Award, our most prestigious NoTE oN SuBMiSSioNS award for one of SETC’s own. Rick Kerby outlines his many contributions. Southern Theatre welcomes submissions of articles pertaining to all aspects of theatre. Preference will be given to subject As we continue recapping SETC 2012 in this issue, you’ll also find highlights matter closely linked to theatre activity in the Southeastern of guest artist Dudley Knight’s presentation outlining his new ideas on voice and United States. Articles are evaluated by the editor and members of the Editorial Board. Criteria for evalua tion speech. You’ll get a little different take on speech from Karen Sabo, who argues in include: suitability, clarity, significance, depth of treat ment our 400 Words column that prejudice is at the heart of efforts to change Southern and accuracy. Please query the editor via e-mail before sending articles. Submissions are accepted on disk or via accents. e-mail. Stories should not exceed 3,000 words. Color photos We close out the magazine with abstracts from this year’s winners of SETC’s (300 dpi in jpeg or tiff format) and a brief identification of the author should accompany all articles. Please note Young Scholar’s Award. any photos, disks and other materials to be returned and Please travel down the track of creative thoughts and wonderful ideas that include SASE. Send stories to: Editor, Southern Theatre, 1175 Revolution Mill Drive, Studio 14, Greensboro, NC 27405. we celebrated in Chattanooga. Enjoy! E-mail: [email protected]. Southern Theatre (ISSNL: 0584-4738) is published quarterly by the Southeastern Theatre Conference, Inc., a nonprofit organization, for its membership and others interested in theatre in the Southeast. Copyright © 2012 by Southeastern Theatre Conference, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part without permission is prohibited. Subscription rates: $24.50 per year, $8 per single copy (U.S.); $30.50 per year, $10 per single copy (Canada); $47 per year, $15 per single copy (International). Jack Benjamin, SETC President 5 David Humber Theatre legends Tony Walton (left) and Richard Pilbrow (right) pose after receiving the SETC Distinguished Career Award at the Awards Banquet at the 2012 SETC Convention in Chattanooga. Tony Walton and Richard Pilbrow: A Tale of TwoCollaborators by Brackley Frayer Last October, I was at the LDI conference in Orlando when I came across an amazing program: “Conversations: Tony Walton & Richard Pilbrow.” At the session, I was struck by the camaraderie that these two iconic designers have and by the collaborating that they still do today – more than 50 years after they first worked together on a show in Britain.