LETTER TO THE GRADUATING CLASS OF 2024 GRADUATION PARTY!
CSUF DANCERS & CHOREOGRAPHERS AT THE AMERICAN COLLEGE DANCE ASSOCIATION
BAJA REGION CONFERENCE ALUMNI
BIOS MAY EVENTS CALENDAR RETIREMENT
As the semester comes to an end and the anticipation of graduation is getting closer, we all find ourselves in a time of transition. It is a time for excitement and celebration, trepidation about what the future holds, and a time for reflection on what has unfolded over the past year.
When I was a student, I didn’t appreciate all the fuss or the ceremony that went into a graduation. Now I realize that a graduation is a milestone that you can’t go back and redo. You have to cherish the moment in the moment. Take the time to think about all the steps that got you to this point, the challenges, the victories, the memories, and the friendships. They are worth more than gold.
As you prepare to graduate, it is both exciting and scary to think about what the future holds but know that the future is what you make it to be. Remember that you made it this far and that you couldn’t have gotten here without the challenges or the growth. Believe in yourself and reach for what YOU want.
I am proud of all of you for making it this far. I can’t wait to hear about what you do next.
Congratulations!
Katie Wilson Chair - Department of Theatre & Dance
The departments of Theatre & Dance, Art and Music would like to celebrate the graduating class of 2024.
Date: May 15th
Time: 4pm-6pm
Place: CPAC Grand Foyer
RSVP Here
CONGRATULATIONS to the CSUF Dancers and Choreographers Selected to Present at the American College Dance Association Baja Region Conference! Click here for more info
Together
We Can
Theatre & Dance
Can Do So Much
Dance Spring 2024
ALUMNI BIOS
MICHAEL ANDREW BAKER
‘00 (B.A. Theatre) • TV/film actor
I have been a working actor in TV and film for more than 20 years and teach acting and acting for the camera at Orange County School of the Arts. I am incredibly proud of my most recent film, “Oppenheimer,” which won seven Academy Awards and a SAG/AFTRA award for best ensemble.
How did your time at CSUF shape your career?
My undergraduate training at CSUF surpassed the curriculum of most of the graduate acting programs I applied for at other universities. In the program, I learned how to prepare for every role that was thrown my way which imbued each performance with a new level of depth, authenticity, and honesty.
What do you wish for today’s students?
My hope is that students focus their training on growing as performers and, ultimately, have fun.
They’re called “plays” after all!
Photo by Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal Pic/Melinda Sue Gordon/ Universal Pi - © Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved.
GARY BOLEN
‘74 (B.A. theatre) & ‘79 (M.A. theatre)
Retired educator and administrator; actor, director
While officially retired from my full-time teaching career at Monterey Peninsula College, I occasionally teach a theatre class or workshop. I’ve also kept my hand in directing and acting and most recently played Gaston in “Picasso at the Lapin Agile” for the Western Stage, and Gemio in the New Canon Theatre Company’s production of “The Taming of the Shrew.” Last summer I directed “The Addams Family Musical” for Pacific Repertory Theatre at the Outdoor Forest Theatre in Carmel, California where I will be directing their “The Wizard of Oz” this summer.
How did your time at CSUF shape your career?
I simply cannot imagine having the career that I’ve had without the training that I received at CSUF. Although I went on to attain an M.F.A. degree in acting from UCLA, it was my years at Fullerton that made me the performer, director, and educator that I am today. The degree of rigor and focus that my professors demanded of me shaped and formed my philosophy for teaching, directing, and acting that sustained me throughout a 45-year (and counting!) career in theatre, TV/film, and higher education.
What do you wish for today’s students?
My wish for students going forward is that our governmentboth local and national - recognizes the critical role that the arts play in our society and increases the funding necessary for their continued growth and expansion. I eagerly look forward to seeing what the generation currently studying in the same halls that I walked brings to the future of theatre and the performing arts. I’m sure it will be dazzling!
RUFUS BONDS JR.
‘19 (MFA Directing) • Actor, director, writer
Assistant Professor, Musical Theater
Syracuse University
How did your time at CSUF shape your career?
At CSUF, Mark Ramont enhanced my passion and skill of directing by providing technical nomenclature and tools that catalyzed my ability to create magic on the stage. Coming to the university as a working artist with a large body of work was unwelcome by some, but these encounters prepared me for the various challenges I have encountered in the world.
What do you wish for today’s students?
Students, FEEL EVERYTHING, DO NOT BE SAFE! DEVELOP A DEEP WELL OF EMOTIONAL EXPERIENCES TO GIVE AWAY AS A GIFT TO THE AUDIENCE.
As artists, you are vessels used to inhabit the issues of humanity. You are healers.
MARI CATALDO
‘09
(B.A. Design/Technical Theatre)
Senior Manager, Technical Direction & Design
Disneyland Resort
Mari Cataldo leads the west coast Disney Live Entertainment team of technical directors and designers who bring to life Disney’s most iconic parades, shows, fireworks, and spectaculars. Mari started her Disney career in 2009 as a stage technician at Disneyland Resort, installing and integrating the nighttime spectacular “World of Color.” Her extensive knowledge of automation and show control systems led to an assignment integrating a new park-wide control system for Magic Kingdom Park at Walt Disney World Resort in 2014. Over the years, Mari has worked on a variety of projects across Disney’s theme parks and resorts including Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, the Shanghai Disney Resort expansion, and park-wide control system designs for Shanghai Disneyland, Disneyland Paris, and Tokyo Disney Resort. Most recently, Mari contributed to the development of “Believe! Sea of Dreams,” the newest nighttime spectacular at Tokyo DisneySea.
MELANIE (JACOBSEN) HEARD
’98 (B.A. theatre)
Artistic Director/ Founder Children’s Repertory of Oregon Workshops (CROW)
In 2009, after a busy semi-professional arts career acting, directing, choreographing, teaching, and performing at regional and small theaters, I moved from California to the small coastal town of Florence, Oregon. Two years later, I founded Children’s Repertory of Oregon Workshops (CROW) – a non-profit youth performing arts program that aims to inspire, educate, and empower youth through professional caliber arts education and performance opportunities in a safe, inclusive, and welcoming environment. In our rural community, students do not have regular arts exposure in school and CROW fills this important niche.
How did your time at CSUF shape your career?
I am so grateful for my time at Cal State Fullerton. I learned a lot and made incredible personal connections. One of my most lasting friendships was with Jim Volz, my former mentor, who is still an amazing influence in my life. I am so grateful that I walked into his office one afternoon and introduced myself, later becoming his assistant.
What do you wish for today’s students?
My advice for future students is to simply listen to your heart, stay true to your course, and be brave. You may not “make it big” by other people’s standards, but if you are doing what you were meant to do and making a difference, you have succeeded far more than you know.
Please reach out if you have any questions. I’d love to hear from you!
MARLA LADD ’92 (M.A. Theatre)
Theatre director, producer, and educator
How did your time at CSUF shape your career?
I am honored to be included in the alumni of CSUF. I have been working as a theatre director, producer, and educator for my entire career. I was the owner of Mysterium Theater for 13 years in California and have now relocated to the East Coast, where I continue doing productions and teaching theatre. It has been a fabulous life working in the field I love and continuing to grow the friends I have made since my time at CSUF.
ARMINA LAMANNA
‘00 (B.A. Theatre)
Artistic Director
Imagine Theatre
I am the Artistic Director of Imagine Theatre and a staunch advocate for fair wages for stage artists.
How did your time at CSUF shape your career?
I have many fond memories from my time at CSUF, especially of my mentor Dan Kern (who continued to guide me in grad school). My classes and experiences at CSUF allowed me to have an in-depth understanding of how theatre functions in America and strengthened my commitment to storytelling and directing.
What do you wish for today’s students?
My message to today’s students is to commit to erudition in our field and to view the role of theatrical storytellers in society globally. I believe it is imperative to expose oneself to as many stories as possible. A voracious reader, after all, has the open mind that she can use to breathe complexity and immediacy into the stories she creates on the stage.
ANI MARDEROSIAN
‘15 (B.A. Theatre Teaching)
Actor, technician, voiceover artist
I am currently in my ninth year of touring as an actor and technician with Educational Theatre, and my fourth year as a voiceover artist for Santa Monica public radio station, KCRW. As a freelancer, I perform as a soprano soloist at a local church, and act and direct regionally, Off-Broadway, and in educational settings.
How did your time at CSUF shape your career?
My time at CSUF prepared me for this intimidating, wild world. I owe a great deal to my professors who invested in, challenged, and supported me in my creativity. I developed a great deal of grit, discipline, and tenacity at CSUF, and built a network of artists that I collaborate with to this day.
What do you wish for today’s students?
I hope today’s students enjoy their time in college. Be a sponge and soak up everything. Take opportunities that scare you. Build skills that you think are pointless. Trust me, those are (ironically) the skills you will use once you graduate. When you do graduate, remove the pressure to be successful on anyone else’s terms but your own. Create your rules and forge your path – you can change course at any time. It doesn’t make you a failure; it makes you a vulnerable, honest human in touch with your needs. Remember: you only get these years once, so make them count!
HEATHER
(CHRISTIANSON) WIN
‘99
(B.A. Theatre) Educator; master’s degree candidate
When I graduated in 1999, I began teaching at a small private school in Los Angeles. Over the past 20 years, I have taught English, creativity courses, and theatre to ELL, middle school, and high school students in California, New York City, and Vermont, where I now live with my partner and two sons. Over the years, I have directed plays and musicals and even discovered my affinity for performing improv comedy. I am currently finishing a master’s degree in school leadership.
How did your time at CSUF shape your career?
CSUF solidified my of love working with and inspiring young people through the freedom of expression found in theatre. I credit CSUF’s Kaleidoscope Players (a group of CSUF students that presented award-winning youth-oriented plays to elementary through high-school students for more than two decades) for teaching me the importance of always being on time and to committing 100% of yourself to what you do. Although I have dabbled in a few other careers, I have never found anything as fulfilling as working with youth.
What do you wish for today’s students?
CSUF theatre students: I hope this experience teaches you the importance of commitment to your work; the value of different perspectives; and the power of empathy. These are some of the gifts I took with me from my CSUF education and that I hope you will take with you and give back to your audiences.
MAY EVENTS CALENDAR
Spring Dance Theatre
5/2-5/4 and 5/9-5/11 8pm in the Little Theatre
Shakespearze Projects
5/6 & 5/8 11am in CPAC 121
Forces and Figures (DANC 324) showcase
5/14 11:15am-12:40pm in CPAC 281
THTR 342B performance “The Greeks”
5/15 at 3pm in the CPAC Grand Foyer
Graduation Party
5/15 4pm-6pm in the CPAC Grand Foyer
Filmapoloza
5/15 7pm in the Titan Theatre (TSU)
Design/Tech Grad Expo
5/16 2pm-5pm in the Young (Alumni Q&A from 2-3pm)
Spotlight on Broadway
5/16 6pm in the Hallberg Theatre
Musical Theatre Bigs & Littles Concert
5/17 12pm in the Recital Hall
COTA Commencement
5/20 5pm on the Intramural Field
CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR EMERITUS PROFESSOR’S RETIREMENT!
Bill Meyer is an emeritus professor and has been a part of the Department of Theatre and dance for 40 years. He has been the Technical Director, supervisor of the department’s computer design lab, and professor of theatre within the department and has contributed greatly to both the department and the university over his 40 years at CSUF.
He is a former member of the Board of Directors of the United States Institute for Theatre Technology and a former vice-commissioner. His past experience includes work as Technical Director for Center Stage in Baltimore and the Baltimore Opera Company, Director of Technical Production for the Grove Shakespeare Festival and Shakespeare Orange County, and Shop Foreman of National Scenery Studios. Mr. Meyer has an MFA from the University of Georgia and a BS from the University of Wisconsin.
Jim Volz is an award winning emeritus professor and has been a part of the Department of Theatre and Dance for 33 years. Among the classes he has taught are Theatre History, Theatre Management, Production & Performance, and Oral interpretation of Shakespeare. Jim has spent the last 33 years at CSUF continuously advocating for the arts in the department, the university and in the greater community.
He is an international arts consultant, author, and producer. He served as a longtime critic/arts columnist for New York’s Back Stage and is the founding editor of the Shakespeare Theatre Association’s international publication, Quarto. He has produced over 100 professional productions, consulted for over 100 arts institutions and published more than 100 articles on management, arts criticism, Shakespeare, and theatre in Oxford University Press’. From 1982-1991, Jim orchestrated the tremendous growth of the Alabama Shakespeare Festival as managing director in partnership with Artistic Directors Martin L. Platt and Kent Thompson. Dr. Volz was also inducted into the esteemed College of Fellows of the American Theatre at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. in 2014.
