The Theatre Department Newsletter
Edition 8, Issue 7
April 2008 |
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Stop Kiss is a Success!
 Jessica
Stratton and Stephanie DeLacy star in Studio Theatre’s March production of Stop
Kiss.
The final Studio Theatre production of this season was a great success. Stop
Kiss, directed by SAU adjunct instructor, Lou Hare, ran March 27-29. Despite
scheduling changes and opening on a Thursday night, all three performances sold
out and the positive response was overwhelming.
Stop Kiss tells the bittersweet story of Callie and Sara and chronicles
their friendship as it grows into romance. The audience is kept on their toes as
the story quickly jumps time and location from Callie and Sara’s growing
friendship to the violent aftermath of their first kiss.
This production was not without challenges. Two run crew members were
responsible for the constant scene changes. Costumes (designed by Dr. Cory
Johnson) had to be changed between all 23 scenes. These quick changes were run
repeatedly until there was no room for error and the play was able to run
smoothly.
Stop Kiss was a very rewarding production for both the cast and crew and
was an enjoyable event for audiences.
The cast was as follows:
Callie...Jessica Stratton
Sara...Stephanie DeLacy
Detective Cole...Katie McCormack
Mrs. Winsley/Nurse...Rachel Mayer
George...Tim Connley
Peter...Mike Kline Back to Top |
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SAU Welcomes
One of Their Own
The past year has seen a few Ambrose Theatre Alumni returning to their old
stomping ground and sharing their talents that have grown and developed in the
years since they were undergraduate students. Most recently, Brian Hemesath, a
1993 graduate, is working on the current SAU Mainstage Production of the musical
Pippin as the costume designer.
Brian is currently based in New York City, and returns occasionally to design
for SAU. Of designing for Pippin, he says, "It was a good opportunity to
come back to SAU to see the faculty and students I know, and it is a musical I
have always loved." His favorite part of working on Pippin so far is "the
students and faculty, always the best part of any production." Although
Pippin is a large project, it is not the only thing Brian has on his plate.
He also works at Sesame Street, Saturday Night Live, and The Today Show in
addition to doing custom tailoring and design work. With all of these projects,
Brian makes the trek to the Midwest a few times during the rehearsal process,
doing fittings and building costumes both here and in New York. How is returning
to a university setting different from his other work?
"Designing at SAU is sometimes a challenge because there are limited resources
and the production team has limited time together to create and share ideas in
person. It’s challenging to come into any university setting where the
rehearsals are spaced out for such a long time and the project keeps evolving
over that time." He credits SAU’s Theatre Department for preparing him to learn
to schedule his work in the costume design world. "SAU is a place where you need
to be creative in your time management to get everything done for both school
and theatre requirements. That is the most important thing I learned there." His
advice for current students considering a future in costume design? "Be prepared
to work very hard and listen to a lot of opinions."
Be sure to mark your calendars for April 18-20 to see Brian’s costumes for
Pippin!
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The Galvin
Mainstage Season for 2008-2009!
Get ready, ladies and gentlemen! Next year’s
mainstage season has been announced!
First up on the list of fabulous plays is Inherit the Wind by Jerome
Lawrence and Robert E. Lee. The play’s title comes from Proverbs 11:29 which, in
the King James Bible, reads, "He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the
wind: and the fool shall be servant to the wise of heart." Inherit the Wind
is a fictionalized version of the 1925 Scopes "Monkey" Trial, which is the
story of the prosecution of schoolteacher John Scopes, who violated Tennessee
law by teaching Darwin’s Theory of Evolution to his high school science class.
The play will be directed by SAU Theatre Faculty member, Dr. Corinne Johnson.
Look for Inherit the Wind in early October.
This year’s children’s show, Seussical, Jr., by Stephen Flaherty and Lynn
Ahrens will be directed and choreographed by Shellee Frazee. Seussical, Jr.
involves a plethora of Dr. Seuss’ most famous characters, which include: Horton
the Elephant, Gertrude McFuzz, the citizens of Whoville, and everyone’s favorite
feline, The Cat in the Hat! The overarching plot of Seussical, Jr.
follows the story from the book Horton Hears a Who!, where the title elephant
finds a speck of dust which contains the world of Whoville and all the Whos.
Horton, against all odds, knows he must protect the speck from the dangers of
his world because, "A person’s a person, no matter how small." Seussical, Jr.
will go up in late November or early December.
The February slot will be filled with a comedy, Lettice and Lovage, by
Peter Shaffer, author of Equus and Amadeus. The story surrounds title character,
Lettice Douffet, a tour guide in the most boring house in all of England.
Lettice attempts to "spice things up" on her tour by adding a little theatrical
flair to her storytelling. Enter Charlotte (or Lotte) Schoen, a woman from the
Preservation Trust, sent to evaluate Lettice’s tour. Lotte is horrified by
Lettice’s "creative" version of history, and, though Lettice ultimately loses
her job, the pair become unexpected friends, due to their love of history.
Lettice and Lovage will be directed by Dr. Corinne Johnson and will prove to
be an exciting addition to the mainstage season.
In April, Michael Kennedy will be directing this seasons’ musical, Sweeney
Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. The story revolves around the
character of Benjamin Barker, or Sweeney Todd, who, at the beginning of the
story, returns from fifteen years of imprisonment on false charges. When he
learns that his wife poisoned herself after being raped by Judge Turpin (the man
who wrongly imprisoned him), and that his daughter is now the ward of the judge,
he vows revenge. Todd teams up with Mrs. Lovett, baker of the worst pies in
London, and the two become conspirators in several murders, which incidentally
result in booming business in Mrs. Lovett’s meat pie shop.
With this wide range of styles, next year is sure to be filled with many
memorable theatrical moments!
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Studio Season
for '08-'09 Chosen
The '08-'09 Studio Theatre season will open with SAU senior Rachel Mayer
directing David Lindsay-Abaire’s poignant play, Rabbit Hole. In this
prize-winning play, the Corbetts have everything a family could want, until a
life-shattering accident turns their world upside down and leaves the couple
drifting perilously apart. Rabbit Hole charts their bittersweet search for
comfort in the darkest of places and for a path that will lead them back into
the light of day. The play will be performed Thursday, Sept. 4th and Friday,
Sept. 5th @ 7:30pm with a Sat, Sept. 6th 3pm matinee. Auditions will be held
this semester so be ready! Dates for auditions will be Monday, May 5th 7-9pm and
Tuesday, May 6th 3-5pm ---both days in the Studio Theatre. The play calls for 2
men and 3 women. For more information call Rachel Mayer at 815-973-2632.
In March 2009, senior Seth Kaltwasser will direct a production of John
Pielmeier’s Agnes of God. In this provocative play, the unearthly Sister
Agnes gives birth (she says it's a virgin birth), but the child dies. The police
soon are involved because of the death of the baby. However, the main conflict
of the piece is between Mother Superior Miriam Ruth, who believes Agnes is
touched by God and seeks to protect her from the roughness of the outside world,
and Dr. Martha Livingston, a psychiatrist determined to help Agnes gain a
stronger grasp on reality and uncover any wrongdoers. Performances are slated
for Thursday through Saturday March 26-28, 2009. Information on auditions will
be forthcoming.
The November 2008 slot is still in negotiation and will be determine within the
next couple of weeks.
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Alumni Updates!
Dan Sheridan, Class of
'05
"This summer I will be directing Hamlet at the Antioch Classical Theatre
Company (ACTC), just outside of San Francisco. It is a company that is going
into its third season. They are a small house that employs an Equity stage
manager and four Equity actors each season. The rest of the cast is made up of
local professionals and students. They will be running Hamlet and As You Like It
in repertory.
I got involved with the company because of a fellow grad actor here at UConn,
Heddy Lahmann, has worked with the company the past two seasons. ACTC had three
directors for Hamlet fall through due to other commitments and obligations. So
Heddy told Sean J. O'Neil, Artistic Director and actor playing Hamlet, that I
may be available. O'Neil directed me to a podcast he has been working on for his
students about the process of putting up Hamlet. After listening to the Podcast,
I knew immediately that I wanted to work with O'Neil on the project. O'Neil and
I have the same belief in art serving a community, while at the same time
deepening our exploration of humanity. After an hour long phone interview, the
job was offered. I had to square away a few things, but accepted a couple days
later. The rehearsal process is five weeks and the production will have a
limited run, July 18 - 26.
I'm really excited for this project for a number of reasons. First, it has been
almost three years since I have been in the directing chair and I am dying to
take a break from acting. Second, it will be nice to apply the three years of
skills I have learned as an actor, back into my skills as a director. I think
the biggest trick as a director is creating the circumstances in which everyone
can rise to meet themselves, and succeed. Third, I have never been to
California. And lastly, it's Hamlet! That alone makes it one of the biggest and
most exciting challenges of my life. It's fun getting out all my old material
from class back at Ambrose, the prompt books of shows I directed, and design
presentation materials. It's really important to hold onto that work. If you do,
it will act later as a guide and tool for the future. Thank you Ambrose!
After Hamlet, I am toying around with a number of career possibilities. Scary
time, as the sky is the limit."
 Ted Stephens, Class of
'04
Since graduating from SAU with a
theatre major in the winter of ’04, Stephens has been working towards his Master
of Fine Arts in Acting at the University of Florida. For the final semester of
the UF MFA program, students are faced with the challenge of integrating into
the professional world. Stephens is now living in New York City, and is set to
graduate in May.
Since moving to the Big Apple, Stephens has been auditioning quite a bit for New
York and regional theatre, and has received a number of callbacks. He has also
had the opportunity to participate in some readings of new plays in NYC for the
off-Broadway NCC Theater Company. He calls this a positive experience and says,
"This is a great way to get work. If down the road, the company decides to
produce the play and they liked your read, you might get a call." Stephens is
also currently on hold to be in the World Premiere Production of a new musical
titled "College: the musical" at the Hippodrome Theatre in Gainesville, Florida.
Stephens also filmed a commercial for Scope Mouthwash that will be tested in
certain markets. If all goes well there, the commercial could go national.
Back in Florida, Stephens was named the Outstanding Graduate Student of the Year
for UF’s School of Theatre and Dance and will be acknowledged in May’s
commencement ceremony. This is an honor chosen by faculty to award one actor or
designer each year based on their contributions to the program, talent, career
potential, and academics.
Congratulations to Ted!
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Farewell to the Frazees: Part II
In last month’s issue of the theatre newsletter, we bid farewell to the SAU
Theatre Department’s Assistant Technical Director, Brad Frazee. This month,
we say goodbye to Brad’s wife and Ambrose theatre adjunct and choreographer,
Shellee.
Shellee originally became involved in theatre and choreography not as an
undergrad, but following her studies at the University of Iowa, where she
majored in music, as a percussionist. From there, she became involved in
community theatre, and started dancing as an adult when her daughter, Shae,
started dance as a three year old. It was then that she realized dancing was
truly her passion, and it took a large role in her life from there on out.
Shellee taught at a few dance studios around the Quad City and served as the
Assistant Drama Director at North Scott High School in Eldridge before
opening her own business, Center Stage Performing Arts Academy, in 2002. Her
goal is to not only teach students of all ages how to dance, but how to
become well-rounded performers who love what they do, a value that she has
tried to pass on to everyone she works with.
Not only has Shellee run her own business, she has worked in virtually all
aspects of performing in the Quad City Area. She has done choreography for
almost all the high schools, several junior high schools, some show choirs,
and directed and choreographed at many of the community theatres.
Shellee first became involved with St. Ambrose after she got married to
Brad. She decided to return to school to get her degree in Theatre. Did she
have any inkling that her future would include working for SAU when she
started? "No! Not at all! That’s one of the best things about SAU; when you
attend here, you become part of the department. You create a family and
connections which are a constant support. Being a [non-traditional] student
made things a little different for me. I had experience when I made the
decision to go back to school. They appreciated that and allowed me to use
it." Shellee served as choreographer for many shows before becoming an
adjunct faculty member in 2005. She taught Movement for Actors I and II,
Dance Fundamentals for Music Theatre, and this past fall she taught a Fosse
Dance class, which prepared students for the movement and choreography that
would be done in the spring musical Pippin, which Shellee is
currently choreographing. "It’s great to get to know the students better,"
she says of becoming an adjunct. "There’s more time and more connection in a
classroom situation. The other thing that was great is that the classes I
taught tied in really well to what I was doing with the shows—I was teaching
movement and dance fundamentals. I could apply those things when I came to
choreograph."
What has Shellee loved the most and will miss the most about SAU? "The
people. The faculty have given me constant support and encouragement and
opportunities. I am very grateful for that. Friendships developed, and I
have so much respect for the faculty, and view them as mentors. I have
learned so much from them. The students; are so committed and have an
attitude of wanting to give you everything you ask for and more, and there
is no better situation to work in—when you get more than you ask for every
time they hit they stage. They are such a pleasure to work with."
When asked about what her favorite show at SAU Shellee says, "Pippin
is ranking right up there. I know I am in the heat of the moment, but it’s
been an amazing experience so far. Urinetown was also great. Starting out I
wasn’t that gung-ho about the script, but it ended up being one of my
favorites." Shellee received a choreography award from the Kennedy
Center/American College Theatre Festival for her work with Urinetown.
"My Favorite Year was an old fashioned musical I had a lot of fun
with. It fit my style well."
Following her move to Chicago, which Shellee sees an "adventure", she says
she hopes to continue working in the arts. "I can’t imagine not dancing
every day. Right now my plans included applying to colleges in Chicago for
an adjunct position and to contact as many theatres and dance companies as I
can, hopefully to garner a position as a director/choreographer somewhere."
Although Shellee is moving on to new adventures, Ambrose will not be without
her for too long before we are graced with her enthusiasm. "You can’t get
rid of me that easy!" she laughs. Next year, Shellee with direct
Suessical, Jr. for the SAU Annual Children’s Show.
We thank Shellee for her work and the dedication she brought to the
department, and she will be greatly missed.
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"Galvins" Notice
The annual "Galvins" banquet, which celebrates the year in SAU Theatre, has been
schedule for Saturday, May 3. The evening, which will be held at Thunder Bay
Grille on North Brady Street in Davenport, will start with a cocktail hour at
5:30 p.m. Dinner will be served at 6:00 p.m. and the awards ceremony will begin
at 7:00 p.m. Watch for your invitation in the mail!
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ATTENTION SENIORS!
If you are graduating from St. Ambrose this year and have been involved in
any way with SAU’s theatre department over your time here, it’s your turn to
be recognized at the annual Galvins ceremony! Please email
Seth
Kaltwasser by April 10 to ensure that your name gets on the
list. This year’s ceremony will be held the evening of May 3. Watch for your
invitation in the mail!
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Senior Spotlight :
Emily Christiansen
Emily
Christiansen in 2006’s mainstage production of “The Threepenny Opera”
 Previous
Productions at SAU: "Charlotte's Web", Threepenny Opera, Urinetown,
and "Dear Edwina"
Latest Project: Pippin
Why did you come to SAU? Honestly? The scholarship money.
Favorite SAU Experience? Living in the Spanish House
Dream Job: Ambassador for the United Nations
Favorite Actor/Actress: Ewan McGregor (because of his role in
Trainspotting)
Favorite Word/Phrase: Hey kids!
Biggest Pet Peeve: People that confuse the words 'itch’ and
'scratch’. You can't 'itch’ something. You CAN scratch an itch. Same thing
with 'lend’ and 'borrow’
Advice for Incoming Freshmen: Get involved!!!! You'll be miserable if
you don't go out and meet people.
What will you miss most about SAU? My friends. I've met some wicked
awesome people here, and it'll be hard to not see them everyday.
What are your plans after graduation? I'll be attending law school at
the University of St. Thomas
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Freshmen Spotlight : Will Shaw
 Major/Minor: I am majoring in General Business and minoring in
Theater. I am also trying to create my own minor in Aquatics.
Previous Productions: God's Favorite and Charlotte’s Web
Why did you come to SAU? For the smaller class sizes
Favorite SAU experience so far? My favorite experience would have to
be when I learned how to weld so I could help make the webs for 'Charlotte’s
Web’.
Dream Job? I’d love to be a lawyer so I can become a drowning
investigator for the life guarding company I currently work for.
Favorite Word/Phrase? Everyone that’s been around me for at least an
hour has heard me say, 'That will happen’.
Biggest Pet Peeve? I absolutely cannot stand people who take
themselves too seriously.
What do you hope to accomplish at SAU? I would like to graduate in
the usual four years.
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Theatre in the QCA This Month
Show: Pippin
Producer: St. Ambrose University
Dates: Friday, April 18 & Saturday, April 19 @ 7:30 p.m.;
Sunday, April 20 @ 3:00 p.m.
Tickets: Call the Galvin Fine Arts Center Box Office at
(563) 333-6255.
Location: Allaert Auditorium, located in the Galvin Fine
Arts Center on the SAU campus.
Show:
Smoke on the Mountain
Producer: Circa ’21 Dinner Playhouse
Dates: Now through May 24, 2008; Wednesday matinees at
1:30 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday evenings at 7:45 p.m., and Sunday
evenings at 5:45 p.m.
Tickets: Prices range from $24.96 to $44.20. Call the
Circa Box Office at (309) 786-7733 or visit Circa’s web site at
www.circa21.com.
Location: 1828 3rd Ave, Rock Island, IL; located in the District of RI
Note: Cast includes SAU Alumni Jenny Stodd and Kim Furness
Show: ComedySportz Quad Cities
Producer: Circa ’21 Dinner Playhouse
Dates: Every Friday and Saturday night at 7:00 p.m.
Tickets: $8 prepaid, $10 at the door
Location: 1818 3rd Ave, Rock Island, IL. Downtown in the District, next to Circa ’21.
Show:
Coppelia
Producer: Ballet Quad Cities
Dates: Saturday, April 26 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, April
27 at 2:00 p.m.
Tickets: Prices range from $12 to $24; children 6 and
under are free. To reserve tickets, visit The Adler Theatre Box Office or
visit
Ticketmaster.
Location: The Adler Theatre, 136 E 3rd Street, Davenport.
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SAU Theatre Newsletter Next Issue
The next issue of the theatre newsletter will feature an article on the Galvins
ceremony and a recap of Pippin. Please use our convenient signup page to manage your subscription to SAU e-newsletters.
Visit the St. Ambrose University Web site for more information about courses offered, degrees, events, and staff. And also check out the SAU Theatre Website for more information about the Theatre Department, or contact theatre chair Kristofer Eitrheim by email or by phone at 563/333-6255. |
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Department Chair: Kristofer Eitrheim - 563/333-6255
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Corinne Johnson - 563/333-6427
Newsletter Editor: Seth Kaltwasser, SAU sophomore
Contributing Journalists: Emily Kurash, SAU Junior / Rachel Mayer, SAU Junior / Katie McCormack, SAU Sophomore |
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