St.
Ambrose University Theatre Department
Newsletter
Edition 5-
’05-‘06
February 6, 2006
518 West Locust St.
Davenport, IA 52804
Department Chair:
Kristofer Eitrheim – (563) 333-6255,
EitrheimKristoferJ@sau.edu
Faculty Advisor:
Dr. Corinne Johnson – (563) 333-6427,
JohnsonCorinneS@sau.edu
Newsletter Editor:
Jenny Stodd, SAU Senior, SAUTheatreNews@Yahoo.com
Contributing
Journalists: Andrew Harvey, SAU Junior
/ Emily Clifton, SAU Junior/ Kathryn Hale,
SAU Junior / Emily Kurash, SAU Freshman /
Seth Kaltwasser, SAU
Freshman
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
In This Issue:
1. February production
of A Lie of the Mind
2. March workshop with
Broadway director Phil McKinley
3. Cast list for April
production Much Ado About Nothing
4. Cast list for March
production Three Days of Rain
5. New Newsletter
Editor to take over
6. American College
Theatre Festival 2006
7. Interview with Grad
Student : Daniel Sheridan ('05)
8. Theatre Around the
QCA This Month
*************************************************************
SHEPARD
PRODUCTION HITS CENTER STAGE
In just a couple weeks,
A Lie of the Mind by Sam Shepard will
be performed on the Galvin Fine Arts Center
main stage. This will be the first main
stage show of the spring semester. Shepard
calls his play, "a love ballad . . . a
little legend about love." The play involves
two families who are connected through their
married but separated relatives Jake and
Beth. At the inception of the play we see
that Beth has been in some type of accident,
and are shown the struggle each family is
having while dealing with it. Through the
duration of the play, Shepard provides a
journey into the families who are facing
insanity, alcoholism, alienation, and abuse.
SAU alumni David Bonde
is guest directing for the show and senior
Amanda Bourn is stage managing. “We've had
a really short rehearsal time, but we were
able to pull everything together. It's been
my first time working with a small cast, and
it's been a lot of fun,” Bourne said.
Don't miss A Lie of
the Mind playing February 17-19
Cast:
Lorraine
Marianna Caldwell
Mike
Joseph Feldman
Meg
Claire Richards
Baylor
Sam Michael
Jake
Andrew Harvey
Frankie
Jack Kloppenborg
Sally
Sarah Foley
Beth
Colleen Winters
A Lie of the Mind
will be performed Friday, Febuary
17-Saturday February 18 @ 7:30pm and again
on Sunday, February 19 @ 3pm. Tickets are
free to St. Ambrose students with a Student
I.D. Adult tickets are $10.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
BROADWAY
DIRECTOR GIVES WORKSHOP TO SAU STUDENTS
Some people seem to
think that the trick to theatrical business
is who you know. A handful of students at
St. Ambrose are learning that it certainly
can’t hurt!
The theatre students at
SAU have always been fortunate enough to
know their three professors (Dr. Cory
Johnson, Michael Kennedy and Kris Eitrheim),
who seem to be “in the loop” with numerous
big names in theatre. Another “who you
know” advantage these students started
seeing are the three members of the SAU
Theatre Advisory Board. Todd Hensley, Bill
Theisen (see additional article) and Denny
Hitchcock are three very successful men in
the theatrical business. Mr. Hitchcock has
recently opened the door to a great
opportunity for the St. Ambrose theatre
community.
When Hitchcock, who now
is the owner and producer of Circa ’21
Dinner Playhouse, taught a directing class
at Augustana College (Rock Island, IL)
several years ago, he had no inkling that
one of his students would someday be a
Broadway director. In 2003, Hitchcock was
lucky enough to attend the premier of the
new hit Broadway show Boy From Oz
directed by Phil McKinley—Hitchcock’s former
student.
McKinley grew up in
Avon, IL and attended Augustana College
where he was involved with the theatre
department. He has climbed the ladder of
success across the years, directing several
famous actors along the way; The Wizard
of Oz starring Phyllis Diller, Peter
Pan starring B.D. Wong, and of course,
Boy From Oz with the Tony Award
winning actor Hugh Jackman. McKinley also
directed Barnum and Bailey’s 128th
Edition of The Greatest Show on Earth
at Madison Square Garden in New York, and
directed the world premier of Rhythm
Ranch, a musical which SAU presented in
the fall of 2001.
Hitchcock has made it
possible, along with Dr. Cory Johnson, for
St. Ambrose students to meet with McKinley
and be given a personal workshop this
March. On Friday, March 17th,
there will be an “Actor’s Studio Style”
Interview with McKinley, lead by Denny
Hitchcock. The event will take place from
2-4pm in Madsen Hall, located in the music
wing of the Galvin Fine Arts Center on the
St. Ambrose campus. The interview is open
to all and admission is free.
On Saturday, March 18th,
McKinley will lead a musical theatre
workshop for any SAU student who would like
to perform. The morning session is from
10am-1pm, and the afternoon session is from
2:30-6pm. The workshop, which was designed
for the musical theatre class currently in
progress at SAU, there are still four slots
left for students wishing to take part in
this event.
If you wish to
participate in the workshop, you must
prepare one complete song from a musical of
your choosing, one 16 bar musical audition
piece (from a different song), and one brief
(2 minutes or less) monologue of your
choosing. To sign up for a slot in the
workshop, you must contact Dr. Cory Johnson
at (563) 333-6427 no later than February 15th.
Remember that there are only four slots
left. If you participate in the workshop,
you must stay for its entirety.
You can still be a part
of this event without performing. However,
Mr. McKinley has requested that audience
members not come and go, and commit to
watching all of one or both sessions.
Denny Hitchcock’s eyes
light up with pride when he speaks of his
dear friend. “Phil McKinley is the single
most versatile, talented theatre person I’ve
ever worked with,” Hitchcock explained. “He
can do it all. I am thrilled he will be
here to spend time with area students and
share some of his knowledge and experience
from his tremendously successful career. I
am proud to call Phil my friend.”
Don’t pass up this
once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, whether you
are a theatre student, or just really enjoy
the theatre. Mark down Friday March 17th
and Saturday March 18th in your
calendars today—these are events you will
not want to miss!
The SAU Theatre
Department would like to send a big thank
you their faculty and members of the Theatre
Advisory Board, especially Denny Hitchcock,
for making this opportunity possible.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
MUCH ADO
ABOUT A CAST LIST
Dr. Cory Johnson is
thrilled to be directing one of William
Shakespeare’s classics on the Allaert
Auditorium main stage this April. Much
Ado About Nothing surrounds the lives of
Signor Leonato of Messina, his daughter,
Hero, and niece, Beatrice. When Prince Don
John pays a visit on Messina, along with
Signor Benedick and the Count Claudio, a
plot full of wit, romance, and false
accusation comes into play. This is a play
you will not want to miss. Much Ado
will run April 21-23, 2006, in Allaert
Auditorium.
The cast list is as
folllows:
Ursula
Emily Kurash
Sexton
Katie Danalewich
Margaret
Claire Richards
Beatrice
Marianna Caldwell
Hero
Jenny Stodd
Antonio
Jim Seward
Messenger/Watch
Jessica Stratton
Dogberry
Rick Sheehan
Conrade
John Riepe
Borachio
Bill Rassel
Friar Francis
Michael Kennedy
Balthasar/Watch
Rachel Mayer
Claudio
Joe Feldman
Leonato
Pat Flaherty
Don John
Suton Edens
Don Pedro
Sean Pankuch
Benedick
Scott Peake
Verges
Amanda Bourn
Watch
Christine Goodall
Watch
Rita Dziedzic
Congratulations to all
who auditioned!
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
MICHAEL
KENNEDY DIRECTS IN STUDIO
Theatre Professor
Michael Kennedy is quite happy to be
directing in the Studio Theatre this
spring. Kennedy has chosen Richard
Greenberg’s Three Days of Rain, which
is a production challenge, since the actors
portray the characters’ parents in the
second act. Three Days of Rain will
be presented in the Studio Theatre March
31-April 2, 2006. The cast list is as
follows:
Walker/Ned: Andrew
Harvey
Nan/Lina:
Colleen Winters
Pip/Theo: Jack
Kloppenborg
Congratulations to all
who auditioned!
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
NEW EDITOR
ON BOARD
In May of 2006, the SAU
Theatre Newsletter will see the fourth
editor of its lifetime. When the
e-newsletter first began in the fall of
2001, work study student Megan O’Connell
(’03) took on the exciting task of
Newsletter Editor. Before O’Connell took
over, it was alum Stephanie Massick’s job to
edit a non-emailed newsletter. When
O’Connell graduated, Daniel Sheridan (’06),
took the job. Sheridan went to London for a
semester and Jenny Stodd, current senior,
took over for him in the spring of 2004.
“Being editor of a
growing newsletter and a theatre student all
at the same time is not an easy experience,”
Stodd explained. “That’s why our faculty
advisor, Dr. Cory Johnson, always has one of
her work study students perform as editor.
Cory (Johnson) and I see each other
frequently because of work, so it’s easy to
communicate about the newsletter.”
The SAU Theatre
Newsletter started out as a small
once-a-month newsletter which was a way for
faculty, students, alumni, and community
members to appreciate all of the Theatre
Department’s accomplishments. Today, the
e-mailed newsletter is constantly growing,
with about 230 recipients, six contributing
journalists, and anywhere between 9 and 15
stories a month.
This May, the crown is
being passed to Freshman Seth Kaltwasser.
Kaltwasser has already shown himself as an
outgoing student; he has appeared in two of
SAU’s Mainstage productions this year,
traveled to the American College Theatre
Festival to perform as an Irene Ryan Acting
Partner, and is the first recipient of the
Michael Kennedy Theatre Scholarship.
Kaltwasser, who has been doing his work
study hours in the scene shop under the
watchful eye of Kris Eitrheim, agreed to do
his work in the studio basement with Johnson
and becoming the new Theatre Newsletter
Editor.
“I don’t doubt that
Seth (Kaltwasser) will do a great job with
the Newsletter,” Stodd shared. “It seems
like he gives everything his all, and is
quite the perfectionist. You need that for
this job—Dr. Johnson notices every little
mistake printed.”
“I am really looking
forward to this job,” Kaltwasser told us.
“It should be an informative learning
experience for me.”
Since the Newsletter is
not as easy to send out as one may think,
Stodd will be training Kaltwasser bit by bit
until he is ready to approach one on his own
in May.
“It will be strange to
receive the Newsletter and not have a clue
what’s in it,” Stodd chuckled. “I think
it’ll be nice for a change.”
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
AMBROSE
STUDENTS ATTEND FESTIVAL IN FARGO
Why would anyone travel
to Fargo, North Dakota in January? Well, to
attend the Region V Kennedy Center/American
College Theatre Festival, of course! 23 SAU
theatre students and faculty traveled north
on Sunday, January 22, to attend the annual
event. This year, the festival took place
on three different campuses: Concordia
College and Minnesota State University in
Moorhead, and North Dakota State University
in Fargo. This week-long event is a great
opportunity for college students in our
region to showcase their performing and
technical talents. Region V consists of
schools from Iowa, Minnesota, Kansas,
Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, and
Nebraska.
First on the week’s
agenda was the Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship
Competition, which began on Monday, January
23. Irene Ryan was an actress dedicated to
helping students reach their dreams of
making a career in theatre - you may
remember her playing Granny in “Beverly
Hillbillies”. Nominated students prepared
two scenes to perform with a partner and one
monologue to perform alone. This
combination of scenes must not exceed six
minutes. Ambrose students Marianna Caldwell
(with partner Joe Feldman), Andrew Harvey
(with partner Claire Richards), Jack
Kloppenborg (with partner Joe Feldman),
Jeremy Pack (with partner Sean Tweedale),
Sean Pankuch (with partner Scott Peake), and
Jenny Stodd (with partner Seth Kaltwasser)
all competed in the preliminary rounds,
after being nominated for their roles in
Ambrose productions over the past year. The
competition was narrowed from almost 300
down to 32 for the semi-final round Monday
evening and finally down to 16 contestants
at final round Tuesday evening. That night,
two winners were announced. These two
students (from the University of
Minnesota-Duluth and Fontbone University)
will represent Region V at the Kennedy
Center in Washington, D.C. this April.
St. Ambrose students
also participated in another competition
this year. Jamie Booher, Madeline Dudziak,
Emily Kurash, and Sam Michael represented
Ambrose in the first annual “Stage Crew
Showdown” at the festival. This event
proved to be a major hit, becoming one of
the week’s highlights and promising a lot of
fun and excitement at upcoming festivals.
After the competitions
ended, St. Ambrose had very busy days full
of great opportunities waiting for them.
Students spent their days attending
workshops, auditioning for theatre
companies, and seeing shows from other
schools around the region. Among these
shows were A New Brain from Minnesota
State University in Moorhead and Henry
VI, Part III from Denver University.
Also, on Tuesday the Festival presented a
showcase of scenes from shows around the
region. St. Ambrose was represented here,
as Jack Kloppenborg and Emily Kurash’s duet,
“Follow Your Heart”, from this fall’s
production of Urinetown directed by
Mike Kennedy was one of eleven scenes
invited to perform.
At Thursday night’s
awards ceremony, two of St. Ambrose’s shows
were honored. Dianne Dye’s work in last
spring’s Blithe Spirit and Shellee
Frazee’s choreography for Urinetown
were both awarded certificates of merit.
Friday morning, Ambrose
students bid farewell to Fargo and made the
10 hour trip back to Iowa to thaw and return
to class. Although the busy week is always
wearing, it never fails to be an amazing
experience for all who attend.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
WORDS FROM SAU ALUMNI IN GRADUATE SCHOOL
Although some
students are thrilled to be finished with
school after finishing undergrad, others put
their nose to the grindstone in grad
school. This year, the newsletter has been
able to hear about such grad school
experiences from Lou Hare ('02), Michael
Schaefer ('03), and Dan Hale (’04). This
month, alumnus Daniel Sheridan ('05) shares
his experiences of entering grad school at
the University of Connecticut (hereby
referred to as UCONN) in Storrs, CT. His is
currently pursuing his MFA in acting and
plans to graduate in 2008.
What, as an
undergraduate student did you fail to place
a significant amount of importance upon
that has effected your studies as a grad
student?
I would say an
understanding of my body, how it functions
and how it moves. It is amazing how
empowering simple knowledge can be. When I
came here I had TMJ and just through
understanding I could fix it and how, the
pain in my jaw is gone. It is the feeling
of realizing that the body you have is an
amazing and beautiful tool.
How do you juggle academia with a
social life and a job?
Well, as far as
Ambrose is concerned I wish I had taken more
time for myself and my friends. You really
need to have a lot of life experience as an
artist so you have a place from which to
refuel and relax. In reality, you have the
time if you make those things a priority.
At UConn I found it extremely difficult to
be social first semester. We were working
five days a week from 7am to 10pm and then
on Sundays. My fellow grads became my
friends, but it wasn't in a "talk about your
family back home relationship." I have
found a couple friends now and that is
crucial to mental well-being.
Compared to undergrad, how much more
focused have you become in graduate school?
I don't think I am more focused, but
refocused. In the last couple years my focus
shifted to directing and design. I sort of
left my base which is my training as an
actor. Refocusing on acting at UConn, I am
exposed to new ideas everyday and have come
to realize that getting to know myself
better is making me a better actor,
director, designer, brother, friend, etc.
How much
interaction do you have with undergrads?
Actually
none really. It's weird because the BFA
acting program here takes 15 majors every
year. So there are 60 actors running around
and probably an
additional 60 technical undergraduate
students. Plus, a puppetry program with
BFA's and MFA's and grads in the technical
fields as well. My first exposure to
honestly working with any undergrads will be
this spring in As You Like It. I
look forward to it greatly because I am bad
with names.
What has been the
most difficult adjustment to make as you
transitioned from undergrad to grad?
You tell
yourself you are prepared. You hear other
people tell you it will be the most
strenuous, enjoyable and confusing time of
your life. Sometimes you snicker because
you know how hard undergrad can get if you
push yourself. However, nothing can truly
prepare you for the rigor. I would never
recommend graduate school for someone who
does not have a strong sense of self. It
really puts you in the pressure cooker and
you find out what your made of and what you
need to add to become better.
Has the education
you received at SAU helped/hindered your
experience at grad school?
There could not
have been, in my mind, a program that
prepared me more appropriately for graduate
school than St. Ambrose. To appreciate the
small
minute details one studies in a graduate
program, you need a strong base in practical
experience. And it needs to be an
experience that makes you well rounded as an
actor. I think in those respects the BA and
Liberal Arts degree are vital to the
artist. We need to constantly be exposed to
more things to enrich us
and our work. A BFA Acting student at UConn
may get their degree in acting without ever
having been in a play. Take advantage of
every opportunity you have in front of you
now. They will never come again.
How did you choose your school and
what advice can you give on choosing a good
program?
Hindsight is 20/20. Now that I am at UConn
I can really tell it is the perfect match
for me and I'm lucky I chose this program.
I think it is crucial to make certain that
the focus of the program is on the grads.
It needs to be about you. Also, who are the
teachers, where have they worked, who can
you call to ask questions about them and
will they be able to set you up to go right
out into the field after
graduation. Don't go to a program that is
not willing to pay for you. While the name
may impress some, programs like ACT take 15
students a year and you will
not leave without accumulating at least
$90,000 in debt. Another big appeal to a
program like UConn is that they offer a
full-ride, $8,800 assistantship and
only take 10 students every three years. So
we are the focus of our professors. They
invest fully in us. Hmm... oh! And call
other students that are currently in the
program. Ask for numbers and do your
homework.
Why did you feel
grad school was a necessity for you, and
what are your plans post graduation?
I felt like I
was at a point in my acting where I was
ready to learn more. Ambrose had prepared
me with a lot of practical experience
working with a diverse
range of scripts and I wanted to search for
a deeper level of acting. I wanted an
understanding that would allow me to compete
with the top professionals in my
field. After graduation plans? Well... it
is still a long ways off. But being here in
graduate school has started to broaden my
horizons on the purpose of art and why we
create theatre. I think for me my work will
lead me into getting our communities to
understand that art (theatre included) is
not about passively going to or viewing
something and disconnecting from yourself.
All of us have a need to
express built up inside and all of us have
artistic desires in some way or another.
Before people will appreciate theatre again
they need to appreciate their own potential
with expression and the power art has to
communicate. As the government continues to
veer away from funding artistic expression
and pulls us closer to only math and
science, we need to look at ourselves as
artists and say, "Why aren't people coming
to the theatre as much anymore and how will
I make a
difference?" I hope my work will lead me
through acting, directing and transforming
our society.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
THEATRE
AROUND THE QCA THIS MONTH
Show: A
Lie of the Mind
Producer: St.
Ambrose University
Dates:
Feb. 17-19, 2006
Friday and Saturday at 7:30pm, Sunday at 3pm
Tickets:
$7, Free to SAU student with current ID
Call
(563) 333-6251 or visit www.sau.edu/galvin
Location:
Allaert Auditorium, located in the Galvin
Fine Arts Center on the
SAU
campus
Note:
Alum Dave Bonde returned to direct this
production
Show:
ComedySportz Quad Cities
Producer:
Circa ’21 Dinner Playhouse
Dates:
Every Friday and Saturday night at
7:00pm
Tickets: $8
prepaid, $10 at the door
Location: 1818
3rd Ave, Rock Island, IL.
Downtown in the District, next to Circa
’21.
Note:
SAU students Andrew Harvey and Don Abbott
are
ComedySportz players. Check with
them to catch them onstage.
Show:
Grease
Producer: Circa
’21 Dinner Playhouse
Dates: Now
thru Sat, March 25, 2006
Wednesday Matinees @ 1pm
Wednesday, Fri, Sat Evenings @ 7:15pm
Sunday
Evenings @ 5:15pm
Tickets:
Prices range from $24.96-$41.60 for dinner
and show
Call
(309) 788-7733 x2 or visit www.circa21.com
Location: 1828
3rd Ave, Rock Island, IL; located
in the District of RI
Note:
Producer Denny Hitchcock is on the SAU
Theatre Advisory Board
Alum
Kimberly (Kurtenbach) Furness is a cast
member
Show:
The Miser
Producer:
Augustana College
Dates:
Feb. 3-12, 2006
Fri-Sat @ 7:30pm, Sun @ 1:30pm
Tickets: $10;
Call (309) 794-7306 for information and
reservations
Location: Potter
Hall, located at Augustana College
3701
7th St, Rock Island, IL
Show:
Boy Gets Girl
Producer: New
Ground Theatre
Dates: Feb.
23-March 5, 2006
Thurs-Sat @ 7:30pm
Sun @
2pm
Tickets: $12
Adults, $10 Students and Seniors
Visit
www.newgroundtheatre.org or call (563)
326-7862
Location: Mary
Nighswander Theatre at the Annie Whitenmeyer
Completx
Located off Eastern Ave. in Davenport, IA
Note:
Alum Jamie Johnson performs in
this production
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
SAU
NEWSLETTER:
NEXT EDITION
The newsletter is
sent out on the first business day of every
month. Next month’s issue will be released
on March 6 of 2005.
To inquire further
about St. Ambrose University and our offered
courses, degrees, events, and staff, visit
www.SAU.edu
for information. Come check out the SAU
Theatre Website at www.sau.edu/theatre. If
interested in learning more about the
Theatre Department, please contact theatre
chair Kristofer Eitrheim by phone at (563)
333-6255 or e-mail at
EitrheimKristoferJ@sau.edu.
There will be no
January issue of the newsletter due to
winter break. However, the newsletter
editor will be currently checking the SAU
Theatre News account over break if you have
questions, comments, or concerns involving
the newsletter, or wish to place your name
on the subscriber’s list.
The next issue
will include a story about the mainstage
production of Much Ado About Nothing,
the studio production of Three Days of
Rain, an interview with alumnus Ted
Stephens III on his graduate school
experiences, information on another advisory
board member, Bill Theisen, and a look at
students pursuing professional work.
DO YOU KNOW ANYONE
WHO WOULD LIKE TO BE ADDED TO THE SAU
NEWSLETTER MAILING LIST? If
yes, contact us at
SAUTheatreNews@Yahoo.com and get
their names put on our e-mail list. If you
would like to be removed from the mailing
list, please contact us at the same
address. Thanks.
