The Theatre Arts Management Shop at Catawba College Shuford School of Performing Arts Presents:

MC EPPTHE HOUSE: SPOTLIGHT CATAWBA COLLEGE 2300 West Innes St. September 2014 Vol 21, No. 5 www.catawba.edu/theatrearts Salisbury, NC 28144 TELEPHONE (704) 637-4481 EMAIL THEATREARTS @CATAWBA.EDU

Co-Editor: Verity Pryor-Harden Kicking off the 2014-2015 season [email protected] with and English classic! Co-Editor: Pen Chance [email protected]

THIS MONTH

UPCOMING PRODUCTION: Directed by trivia wizard Dave Pulliam, learn about this English classic and how the cast will not only perform onstage, but also a live radio broadcast! Continued on Page 2

WHAT I DID THIS SUMMER Current students share their experiences working in Jean White, Anna Kate Hall, & Lauren Stacks in Under Milk Wood professional Summer Stock theaters. (Photo by Tracy Ratliff) Continued on Page 5

ALUMNUS OF THE MONTH: JERRY ARCHER Recent 2014 alumnus is living in the land where dreams come true! Continued on Page 6

LITTLE BLUE BOOK Morgan Summers, Laurel Edge, Martha Brucker at the Zach Dietz & Trey Irby Interested to see what goes on behind the scenes? Blue Masque Olympics (Photo by Katlyn Shaw) (Photo by Tracy Ratliff) This new photo feature shows you the students of the theatre department outside the classroom and off stage! Continued on Page 7

Like us on Facebook: /catawbatheatre | Follow us on Twitter: @CatawbaTheatre | Follow us on Instagram: @catawbatheatre THE SPOTLIGHT PAGE2 Under Milk Wood by Sarah Taylor, Sophomore, & David Pulliam, Theatre Arts Professor

Under Milk Wood, 's last work and only play, opens the 2014-2015 Under Milk Wood season for Catawba College's award winning Theatre Arts Department. The production runs at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, September 23rd through Saturday, September 27th in Hedrick by Dylan Thomas Little Theatre on campus. The play was first broadcast by the British Broadcasting Company (BBC) September 23-27, 2014 in 1954, with actor Richard Burton, a Welshman, as narrator. It became an instant classic. Set in the fictional Welsh fishing town of Llareggub, it explores 7:30 p.m. the lives of a variety of characters, including Captain Cat, Organ Morgan and Polly Garter, all denizens of a town which has "fallen head over bells in Hedrick Little Theater love." In a first for Catawba College Theatre, and as playwright Dylan Thomas intended, Under Milk Wood will be broadcast live on the radio on its opening $12, adults night. The production can be heard beginning at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, $10, senior adults and September 23rd, on Salisbury's Memories 1280, WSAT. Additionally, all non-Catawba students performances during the run of this show will be streamed live on the college website at www.catawba.edu/milkwood. The Catawba production of Under www.catawba.edu/theatretix Milk Wood is also being staged this year as an opportunity to commemorate the (704) 637-4481 centenary of Dylan Thomas' birth. Thomas' hilarious account of nobodies in a tiny town brings the characters' innermost feelings to life through their dreams. Captain Cat reveals his life at sea, while Polly Garter pines over her dead lover. As each First Voice: Trey Irby character awakens, they must deal with the fact that their feelings affect Second Voice: Tabitha Bass everything they do. Richard Burton put it much more succinctly when he Multiple Characters: Addison Bevis claimed "the entire thing is about religion, the idea of death and sex." Multiple Characters: Arnold Blohme As with his poetry, Thomas' play Under Milk Wood relies on the clang of its Multiple Characters: Chaz Cable lines and the pictures evoked by its words to communicate meaning. Catawba's cast members are working hard to capture that essential Multiple Characters: Zach Deitz “Welshness” in this production and have spent considerable time learning the Multiple Characters: Eric English* Welsh dialect. The actors will also play multiple roles using multiple voices Multiple Characters: Kayla Guffey with the sound effects coming from the sound table using old-timey, hand- Multiple Characters: Anna Kate Hall cranked wind and rain machines, coconut shells to create the sound of horse Multiple Characters: Duane Leatherberry hooves, and with actors also bleating like sheep or calling like gulls. Multiple Characters: Hannah Lee* Multiple Characters: Shannon O’Donnell* Multiple Characters: Lauren Stacks Multiple Characters: Melissa Tarduno* Multiple Characters: Jean White*

* Denotes membership in Alpha Psi Omega Dramatic Honors Society

Under Milk Wood cast members from left to right: Zach Dietz, Lauren Stacks, Trey Irby, Anna Kate Hall, Jean White, Eric English (Photo by Tracy Ratliff)

Like us on Facebook: /catawbatheatre | Follow us on Twitter: @CatawbaTheatre | Follow us on Instagram: @catawbatheatre THE SPOTLIGHT PAGE3 About the Playwright: Dylan Thomas by Emily Olszewski, Senior, featuring Dr. Janice Fuller

Dylan Thomas was born in the Uplands West End. They were introduced by Augustus comatose around noon on the 9th of area of Swansea, Glamorgan, Wales, on John, who was Macnamara's lover at the time. A November. October 27th, 1914. He was son to David drunken Thomas proposed to Macnamara on John Thomas, and English teacher, and the spot, and the two began a courtship. On July Dr. Janice Fuller of Catawba College’s Florence Hannah Thomas, a seamstress. 11, 1937, Thomas married Macnamara in English department had this to say about Although his father and mother were both Penzance, Cornwall. They had three children Thomas: bilingual in English and Welsh, Thomas and over a span of 10 years. “One hundred years after his birth, his sister were both brought up speaking Often considered his greatest single work, Dylan Thomas is being celebrated only English. Dylan Thomas’ youth was Under Milk Wood, a radio play featuring the throughout the world. Perhaps most spent mostly in Swansea with occasional characters of Llareggub, is set in a fictional compelling to his admirers is his passion for visits to the rural Carmarthenshire Farms, Welsh fishing village ('Llareggub' is 'Bugger All' the music of words. No one can command which inspired a great amount of his work. backwards, implying that there is absolutely both the ethereal and the raucous sounds of In October 1925, Thomas attended the nothing to do there). The play took several years language more than he. Dylan’s father did Swansea Grammar School where his father to write, the first half mostly in South Leigh, not teach him Welsh because he himself had taught. Thomas's first poem was published Oxford, in 1948, and the second half was mostly been reviled and denied jobs because he in the school's magazine in which, he later written in America in May of 1953. spoke Welsh. Yet the English of Dylan’s became the editor of. Between 1930 and Upon his fourth trip to New York City in poems and plays echoes the chiming Welsh 1934, he began keeping poetry notebooks 1953 to partake in a production of Under Milk consonants that he heard around him all his and amassed 200 poems in four such Wood, Dylan Thomas was suffering from severe life. At a time when the English were journals. He left school at 16 to become a chest pains. By November 2nd, air pollution in marginalizing the Welsh more than ever, reporter for the local newspaper, the South New York was at an all-time high with over 200 Dylan’s youthful desire to escape his Wales Daily Post, only to leave the job under people dying from smog inhalation. On homeland was natural. Yet, when he was pressure 18 months later in 1932. Of the 90 November 3rd, Thomas spent his day drinking away, he always longed for the only place he poems he published, half were written heavily until finally contacting a doctor who gave felt he be could fully creative—rural, small- during these first years following his leave of Thomas morphine, resulting in extremely town Wales. By the end of his life, as he was the Post. He then joined an amateur difficult breathing and his face turning blue. He crafting Under Milk Wood, he could not resist dramatic group in Mumbles called Little was taken to St. Vincent’s hospital at embracing the bizarre characters of his Theatre (now known as Swansea Little approximately 2 a.m. in a coma and treated for favorite small towns— and New Theatre), but still continued to work as a “acute alcoholic encephalopathy”. However, an Quay. Today, when the Welsh language and freelance journalist for a few more years. X-ray showed bronchitis in all parts of the culture are more resurgent than ever, we are In the spring of 1936, Dylan Thomas bronchial tree and pneumonia. Sadly, the lucky to get to hear Thomas’s rollicking met dancer Caitlin Macnamara in London's pneumonia worsened and Dylan Thomas died celebration.”

ABOUT THE PLAY by Peyton Glendinning, Freshman Dylan Thomas’ Under Milk Wood takes the audience on a journey through the town of Llareggub, a fictional town in south Wales. Beginning when he was 17, it took Thomas twenty years to complete the piece because he constantly worked on the play in increments throughout his life. His favorite place to write was in his poetry room, which was surrounded by milk wood, hence the title (even though, for a while, the working title was “The Town That Was Mad”). In fact, since this piece was a side project for Thomas’ most of his life, when it first took stage opening night, Thomas hadn’t written an ending. He wrote the ending right after the curtain had gone up and handed out the copies to the actors at intermission. Two weeks before he died, Thomas did a solo performance of Under Milk Wood. The play has never been out of print, has been translated into over thirty languages, and is continuously performed around the world. The play is similar to a bizarre soap opera, but behind the crazy lives of the characters is Thomas’ unique literary style. On opening night of the production, Dylan Thomas famously told the cast, “Love the Words, Love the Words.” This speaks truly to Thomas’ love for the way words sound. Those that worked closely with Thomas claimed that when he would re-read his work aloud, it was as if he could taste the words. When listened to, the play sounds very lyrical; this is mostly due to his use Continued on page 4 Zach Dietz & Trey Irby (Photo by Tracy Ratliff) Like us on Facebook: /catawbatheatre | Follow us on Twitter: @CatawbaTheatre | Follow us on Instagram: @catawbatheatre THE SPOTLIGHT PAGE4

‘About the Play’ continued from page 3 Under Milk Wood Crew of onomatopoeia and alliteration. The really fascinating part about the prose in Under Milk Wood is that the words give the piece texture. This play is unlike any other because it makes the listener feel like it should be a tangible object that you Director: David Pulliam could hold in your hand. As an audience member, it is truly easy to find yourself Stage Manager: Cody Mangum immersed and fascinated by the people in this small fishing town. The characters Assistant Stage Manager: Pen Chance*, speak so musically that the play truly becomes an escape for the listener, lost in the Peyton Glendinning beautiful sounds of words that Thomas has composed. Master Carpenter: Lucas Barrick Lead Carpenter: Holly Fuller Charge Artist: Matt Ensley Q&A WITH THE DIRECTOR: DAVID PULLIAM Lead Scenic: Summer Eubanks by Morgan L. Summers, Junior Master Electrician: Brandon Walls Professor David Pulliam jumps head first into this culture-induced live radio Lead Electrician: George Glass airing/performance of Under Milk Wood for the 2014 fall production season at Video/Sound Engineer: Mark Highsmith Catawba College. Video/Sound Technician: Maggie Saunders* When asked about his motives for choosing this piece, Pulliam quickly replied Props Master Ashley O’Donnell* “Well, if you take a look at my name, specifically that last part, Welsh culture has been Lead Props Artisan: Meggan Campbell, an interest of mine since about the time that name was given to me.” He also notes Emily Olszewski* the degree of interest in Welsh culture at Catawba just in the past year. With courses First Hand: Terrell Jones such as Dr. Janice Fuller’s Wales Honors Course (Spring 2014), student already have Second Hand: Alex Thompson, some knowledge about the poet, Dylan Thomas, who is also the writer of this radio Verity Pryor-Harden* show drama. Publicity: Sarah Taylor Pulliam expressed a desire to reveal more than just the culture but also the community of the people. Elaborating on Dylan Thomas, he describes the poet’s * Denotes membership in Alpha Psi Omega personal life, which was often filled with many doubts about his own hometown: “His Dramatic Honors Society home in Wales was an interesting concept for him because it was there that Thomas received most of his work’s inspiration…when he left, his writings actually decreased in volume… he was just always in a constant pattern of going home, hating home, leaving home, only to return back again and start the cycle over.” Though Welsh society may have had their differences from our own, Pulliam stresses the notion that every individual has had those moments where they could see both the good and the bad in their communities and it is this idea that he hopes will connect most with audiences: “It’s what annoys us most about our neighbors that make us love them all the more.” For the style and nature of this piece, Pulliam hopes to highlight the beauty of voice in theatre. When asked if this goal was prompted by any sort of controversial messages against theatrical presentations today, Pulliam simply replied, “Well, I honestly don’t see how that idea could be interpreted as controversial at all… this show allows for poetry to flow through, not only the textual words of the drama, but in the nature of the Welsh accent, itself.” His goal is to encourage an alternative look at theatre, not to say other forms today are any lesser, but returning to your roots can always lead to some fascinating new perspectives. “There is a certain style to the language,” which he intends to reflect in all fourteen members of his cast, who will be portraying about eighty different roles in this one piece. Commenting with little hesitation in regards to this versatile challenge, Pulliam concludes “this is definitely a new concept for most of my actors and even though mistakes are almost unavoidable when attempting to master different dialects… the cast has been fully immersed in the language for over two weeks now and still have two more to come.”

Left: Jean White, Anna Kate Hall, & Lauren Stacks Right: Trey Irby as First Voice (Photo by Tracy Ratliff)

Like us on Facebook: /catawbatheatre | Follow us on Twitter: @CatawbaTheatre | Follow us on Instagram: @catawbatheatre THE SPOTLIGHT PAGE5 !What I did last summer by Maggie Saunders, Senior

KASSANDRA TUTTLE, Junior | BFA artistic director, Marsh Taylor, and set up auditions with Catawba Design & Production in Costuming voice and musical theatre students. I learned how to put up a show in I was the costume shop intern at Flat a week and half! I learned how to focus and train my brain to learn Rock Playhouse. I helped construct and choreography, blocking, and music extremely quickly in order to keep alter pieces for the summer shows along up with the director's pace. I also learned how to then sustain that with being wardrobe for the two main show throughout three months without getting robotic or indifferent stage summer musicals. I interviewed with to the show. I learned how to keep the show interesting through the Production Manager of Flat Rock at finding new objectives, tactics, and physicalities to play in order to SETC and following that I talked to the keep the show alive and new. Costume Shop Manager/Resident Designer who eventually hired me. SHANNON O’DONNELL, Senior | BFA While there, I learned what it is like to work in a costume shop Musical Theatre, BA Theatre Education, everyday, all day. As far as technical skills, I learned a lot about Minor in Specialty Subjects sewing and construction, better ways to alter clothing for theatre, and I worked in Danville, KY at the Pioneer ways to be a better designer and shop worker. Playhouse. I was the costume designer for their 5 show, 10-week season. I also PEN CHANCE, Senior | BS Theatre performed in two of the five casts. I Administration, Music Minor attended The Institute of Outdoor Drama I was employed at the Children’s Theatre auditions in February and was interviewed of Charlotte. My title was Administrative by the Playhouse there. This summer Assistant. I assisted in running the really taught me about time management while having multiple numerous summer camps we produced. I responsibilities in a professional setting. Being the costume designer, I personally handled registration, had an obligation to fully costume a show within a week and a half. organizing camp rosters, email blasts, Once I began performing in the shows, I had to divide my time customer service, carpool management, between rehearsals and design time. This made for long days and etc. Due to my skill sets/experience in night, but the pay off was amazing. My passion for theatre as a different fields of theatre, I was able to act as a technician and performer and as a costumer has only grown from this summer. I performer as well throughout my time at CTC. I got to know the would recommend Pioneer Playhouse to anyone looking for a great Executive Director of Education at CTC by performing in a professional summer stock experience. workshop for a piece she had written last year. From being in her workshop and meeting her, I was able to get an interview and ASHLEY O’DONNELL, Senior | BA ultimately was given the job, beating out over 100 applicants. Theatre Arts Throughout the summer I learned many important office skills and I worked at Castleton Opera Festival as organization tips. Beyond all the practical tips and tools, one of the the Props Assistant on Don Giovanni and many lessons I will take with me was that hard work pays off, whether Madame Butterfly. I heard of the company it be in getting the job done, or having your hard work recognized by from a Catawba Alumnus, so I sent in my some “higher-ups” in the industry. I also learned the power of technical resume and emailed back and networking. I took advantage of every opportunity I had to meet new forth with the Production Manager. I people, for you never know who you’re! going to meet. Sometimes, it learned a lot about props fabrication and really is all about who you know. some new carpentry skills. The props master was also so talented and helpful. Just by working with him, I MADDY AUCHTER, Sophomore | BFA learned a lot about different ways to build things, do research, and Musical Theatre manage time while working in a group. It is also important that even This summer I was hired at Quisisana though you are busy and have so much work to do, you find a way to Resort in Center Lovell, Maine. I have fun while still getting everything done on time and correctly. We performed in Rent and It's A Grand Night would take days off to relax if we were on or ahead of schedule, and For Singing (a Rodgers and Hammerstein occasionally take two hours for lunch rather than just one. You have revue) at the resort at night while working to find the time to breath and do something for yourself in between as a maid cleaning cabins in the morning! all the work! I got the job through my voice teacher, Martha Bartz. She is friends with the

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Alumnus of the Month: Jerry Archer

Since graduating, whenever anyone asks me where I’m from I instantly smile. Going to Catawba College was one of the most important decisions I ever made. There is not enough time in the year to tell you how grateful I am for Catawba, but I do have time to explain how I got a wonderful start to my career thanks to my alma mater. One key component to my experience at Catawba was the wonderful professors that pushed me, encouraged me, and mentored me from my first visit on campus. From that point on, the name Catawba College paved the road I currently walk on. Once I started school, I worked my way up to earning a Lighting Design position for Catawba’a production of The Life of Galileo. The play ended up being passed on to compete at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF), and there I received an award for my lighting design, which then I led me to my next destination. At the festival I met Jane Childs, owner of the Stagecraft Institute of Las Vegas (SILV). Along with meeting Jane, I had another connection to SILV through Catawba alumnus Jason Duke, who is the head of the Carpentry Department for Cirque du Soleil’s the Beatles LOVE. Jason and Jane are dear friends, and networking with them opened up the gate for my training in Las Vegas in the summer of 2013. In Vegas, I brought with me everything I had learned from Catawba and expanded my understanding about today’s latest technology in stage lighting. Getting to work with some very big people in the industry and pick their brains for a month turned out to be some of the most important training I’ve received yet. After that I returned to Catawba where I continued to work hard and learn and then gathered up enough confidence to apply for a job at Disney World. I was offered a position with Disney before I even walked across the stage for graduation. I even got a call from Brian Gale, a former Disney Imagineer and still a big name in the lighting industry, whom I had worked with in Vegas, who congratulated me on getting the job. My contacts with Brian, Jason, and Jane are very important and I know now that it’s important that I continue to communicate with them. As I said before, Catawba paved the road for me and is continuing to do so. I have two things to say to those who are still attending Catawba: first, the alumni before you have created a great name for your school. Continue to make the name of Catawba a proud name and not a cocky or ignorant name. Second, I would like to address the importance of being able to both lead and follow. As I learned in my role at Disney, one day you may be an assistant, and the next you may be the leader of a crew. You might even be leading the person who you were assisting just hours before. Learn to listen, solve problems, fight the lazy days, and BE NICE! Being kind will triumph over ego and a cocky personality any day. Love what you do and continue to work hard. My future at this point is to stay with the Disney Company for a few years whether it’s the same position I am doing today, a higher leadership role in the company, or transferring to a different part of the business like cruise lines or television. I am looking forward to what the future has in store for me. I can thank the people at Catawba College for their wisdom, willingness to care, and the love they show towards the students and community. Forever, Fair Catawba.

Like us on Facebook: /catawbatheatre | Follow us on Twitter: @CatawbaTheatre | Follow us on Instagram: @catawbatheatre The Little ‘Blue’ Book | by Jacob Hylton 1 ! ! The! Family's ! ! Back! ! !j! ! jjjjjjjjjjjk! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Blue Masque Olympics week ! 2 1.-2. 2014 jello fight ! 3.-4. !Dizzy-bat! ! 5. #Loveyourlittleday! 6. sand! the day away Work ! time. 7. under milk wood Rehearsal time.

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! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 7! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 5 ! ! ! ! 8 ! Blue! Masque Dance ! ! Hippies! Vs. Hipsters ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 8. “i am gonna swing from the chandelier!” hipster decor ! 9. dance dance Dance! ! 10. Bonnaroo (verity pryor-harden) ! 11. Hipster selfie! (Rona-lyn dizon and Mark highsmith) ! 12. aye oh! (terrell jones) ! 13. smile for the picture (sami myers, collette simkins, rona-lyn dizon, and summer eubanks) 14. hottie alert! (Maggie saunders, ashley o’donnell, and shannon o’donnell) 9

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10 12 13 14 Be sure to mark your calendars and Just a few reminders: check out our upcoming productions! Some Girl(s) Have you read our student blogs? by Neil LaBute Student Directed by Lara Williams As a way to reach out and let parents and prospective Florence Busby Corriher Theater students know what it’s like to be a theatre major at October 22, 23, 25, & 26 @ 7:30 p.m. Catawba, we have begun a blog with posts written by a few of our very own, very talented, very busy theatre RENT majors. Check it out! Music, book, & lyrics by Jonathan Larson http://www.catawba.edu/gallery/2013/blog/theatre/ A Collaboration between the Catawba College Theatre Arts Department and Lee Street theatre www.facebook.com/catawbatheatre Co-Directed by Dr. Beth Homan & Justin Dionne November 13-15 @ 7:30 p.m. | Hedrick Little Theater November 20-21 @ 7:30 p.m., 22 @ 2:30 p.m. & 7:30 @CatawbaTheatre p.m. | Lee Street Theater & Performing Arts Center at the Tom & Martha Smith Event Center

@CatawbaTheatre Call the box office at Buy tickets! www.catawba.edu/theatretix (704) 637-4481 or visit www.catawba.edu/theatretix to purchase tickets! Do you have a friend or loved one in a Catawba College or Blue Masque theatre production? Do you want to show your appreciation for all of their hard work? The Spotlight Staff: Then purchase a Blue Masque Break-a-Leg Gift for just $6.00! Verity Pryor-Harden, Senior | Co-Editor

Break-a-Legs include a beautiful mylar balloon with Pen Chance, Senior | Co-Editor an equally exquisite red carnation and a personalized note. Emily Olszewski, Senior To have a Break-a-Leg delivered to your loved one, please send $6 in cash or check to the Maggie Saunders, Senior following address by Monday, September 22: Morgan Summers, Junior Hannah Lee 2300 West Innes St. Box 951 Jacob Hylton, Sophomore | Photographer Salisbury, NC 28144 Peyton Glendinning, Freshman Thank you! Hannah Lee Joe Hernandez | Faculty Supervisor [email protected] The Blue Masque Treasurer