Grand Opening Celebration Held Oct. 30-Nov. 1
The Grand Opening Celebration for the new Theatre 101 and the renovated Henderson Hall was held Oct. 30-Nov. 1. Local residents and more than 100 theatre alumni gathered to celebrate the future and the past with many special events. View the Collegiate Times interview with Patty Raun about the new theatre space: CT video link. Photos will be posted soon.
Othello Opens Nov. 13, Runs Through Nov. 19
Tickets are going fast for the fall production of Shakespeare's Othello, in a modern adaptation directed by Bob McGrath. Check out our YouTube video to get a glimpse of the action. Read ticketing details here.
Open Auditions for Spring Productions Scheduled
Auditions for the first mainstage production of the spring semester and a workshop production take place Nov. 16-17 & 19. Click here for more details.
Department Announces 2009-10 Season of Plays and Special Events
We've built a year-long season of celebration to honor our past and look forward to our future as we cross the threshold into a new era of theatre at Virginia Tech. Alumni performers, directors, designers, and film producers will join with current faculty and students for major productions and special events as we step into our future together. The season begins with an inaugural public performance in the new theatre. It continues with guest artists and alumni designers throughout, then closes with a guest alumni director leading a re-envisioned classic American play. Share the journey with us as we view both worlds at once and cross the threshold of the new. Full season listing.
Department of Theatre Arts Now Department of Theatre and Cinema
Effective July 1, 2009, the Department of Theatre Arts has become the Department of Theatre and Cinema, as the cinema program moves from the Communication department to Theatre. With this change, the department expands to include additional faculty members, majors, and courses. Faculty members added include Paul Harrill, Ashley Maynor, Karl Precoda, and Stephen Prince. The merger brings together academic and creative studies in performance, design, and technologies that more closely align with realities of the professions in today's world and provides expanded training for students interested in these areas of study and work. The restructured department remains in the School of Performing Arts and Cinema, along with the Department of Music, within the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences. The web sites will reflect these changes over the coming months.
Additional Recent News Stories About the Department:
Department Hosts Guest Filmmaker Visit
James M. Johnston, an accomplished writer, director, and producer of independent feature films and shorts, conducted a workshop for advanced cinema students and provided a special screening of St. Nick, with an introduction and post-screening Q&A. Johnston's work as a producer includes David Lowery’s award-winning feature St. Nick, which premiered at South by Southwest 2009, was awarded the Grand Jury Prize at the AFI Dallas International Film Festival, and is the only American film in competition at the upcoming Thesaloniki Film Festival in Greece. He is also the co-producer of Yen Tan’s Ciao, which was distributed by Regent Releasing, and Tom Huckabee's Carried Away (in post-production).
Johnston's films as writer-director include the short films RECEIVE BACON, GDMF, and MERRILY, MERRILY, as well as the omnibus feature DEADROOM -- all of which have screened on the festival circuit.
Alums Return to Visit Classes and Work Shows
• Theatre Arts alum Happy Mahaney ('99) visited classes Oct. 8 to relate his experiences as a working professional actor in Los Angeles. Happy has had success on stage, TV, and film, including four nationally released commercials. Happy's resume link
• Alum Neil Massey ('88) visits Blacksburg Oct. 11-15 to craft fight choreography for the upcoming production of Othello and to conduct classroom workshops for students.
• M.F.A. alum Andy Belser ('95) recently conducted auditions for our spring production of Our Town and is working with Michelle Krusiec ('95) in final rehearsals for the grand opening production of Made in Taiwan.
Current Theatre & Cinema Students Featured in Hokie Videos
Undergraduate students Jarreau Williams and Will Quinn are featured in Viriginia Tech promotional videos. See them here: www.inventyourfuture.vt.edu Jarreau is student #5, Will is #8.
Theatre and Cinema Faculty Receive Awards and Gain Certification
• Paul Harrill was named the 2009 Perry F. Kendig Visual Artist of the Year by The Arts Council of the Blue Ridge in spring 2009.
• In August, For Memories' Sake, a new documentary directed by Ashley Maynor and produced by Paul Harrill was awarded the Jury Award for Best Documentary at the 2009 University Film & Video Conference.
• Cara Rawlings traveled to Frostburg, Maryland, in September where she took The Society of American Fight Directors' Theatrical Firearms Safety Course. The course includes a written and practical test required to earn a certificate. Cara now holds certificates from The Society of American Fight Directors in nine theatrical weapons.
Jane Stein Interviews NYC Designers for DVD Project
In September, faculty member Jane Stein traveled to New York City to interview professional costume designers William Ivey Long (winner of 5 Tony Awards; designer for The Producer, Grey Gardens, and Hairspray), and Susan Hilferty (Tony Award for Wicked; designer for Spring Awakening, Lestat, and Into The Woods) for a DVD project with a working title of "Costume Designers/Directors/Choreographers: How They Communicate with Each Other." The project is intended to create a video teaching aid that has not been done before.
Guest Marianne Kubik Offers Workshop in Meyerhold's Biomechanics
Marianne Kubik, director, choreographer, physical theatre artist, and faculty member at the University of Virginia visited our department Sept. 19 and offered a Biomechanics workshop to all students. While here, she also worked with the cast of Rough for Theatre II. More information on Kubik.
Department Featured in New Undergraduate Research Journal
A Theatre Arts production graces the cover and undergraduate student Adam Ressa is the subject of a feature story in the inaugural issue of Philologia, the undergraduate research journal published by the College of Liberal Arts & Human Sciences. The new journal was inspired and led entirely by students in the college. The on-line version is available as a PDF file (via http://www.philologia.clahs.vt.edu/).
Theatre Arts Reaches Out to Pulaski Students With "Improv Affect"
Faculty member Michael Anthony Williams has been leading an outreach workshops to Pulaski Elementary School students in grades 3-5. Created by Williams, the "ImprovAffect" program uses theatre skills to improve critical thinking and address issues about bullying. Two local media have featured the program in recent days: the Roanoke Times/New River Current and WDBJ-7 television.