Welcome students, faculty, and staff to the start of the new academic year! The department is in full swing, and I am excited about the many projects taking shape this year and hope they bring even more collaboration and community to our department.
On September 13, the Department hosted the CA-USITT/Disney Day symposium which brought hundreds of design and tech students and professionals to campus to participate in sessions with partners like Disney, Meow Wolf, Rose Brand, Meyer Sound, ETC, and Knotts Berry Farm. This is just the beginning, and our design and tech area will be busy this year, hosting technical workshops in rigging and automation and participating in the USITT 2026 conference this March in Long Beach.
The collaborative project To the Hands directed by Prof. Marty Austin Lamar and conducted by CSUF School of Music professor and Director of Choral Studies Dr. Robert Istad was accepted into the Newport Beach Film Festival. Congratulations to all who participated in this project, including faculty Courtney Ozovek and Omar Ramos, staff, and alumni. For more information on the festival and to purchase tickets to a screening of To the Hands, visit the festival page for the film.
I’m excited to announce several special events happening this season. After the Oct 25 matinee performance of 9 to 5: The Musical there will be a talkback and post-show reception. The Department’s partners such as OLLI, emeriti, and alumni will also be invited to join us for this performance and event. At the end of the fall semester, the Department will be hosting a bowling tournament for students, staff and faculty. Please sign up and spread the word! Later in the spring semester, the Department will host a student playwright festival at Grand Central Art Center. More details on these events coming soon.
Thank you for your dedication and hard work on behalf of the Department of Theatre and Dance. We thrive because of you. I look forward to being a part of these upcoming activities and hope you will join me – and invite others – to be a part of our community.
Did you work on any interesting projects over the summer? Please elaborate.
HEIDI COLE
Over summer, with student assistants Yanira Loera and Mickey Narez, I completed a new painting for the Paint Lab. This year we celebrate Latinx artist, political activist, and feminist icon, Frida Kahlo! Special thanks to Terri Nista for hemming the fabric and Lois Bryan for the gallery lighting. We hope it will inspire anyone passing through. Come by and say, hola!
Enamórate de ti, de la vida, y luego de quien tú quieras - Frida Kahlo
Fall in love with yourself, with life, and then whoever you want - Frida Kahlo
STAFF SPOTLIGHT
JOSH GRISETTI
Did you work on any interesting projects over the summer? Please elaborate.
Yes! I took a group of 11 CSUF students to Italy to study Musical Theatre at the Trentino Music Festival this summer where the students also participated in one of two musical productions. A grand time was had by all!
What are you most excited about this year?
Looking forward to playing “Chris/Capt Hook” in PETER PAN GOES WRONG at La Mirada Theatre this fall and directing ONCE UPON A MATTRESS at CSUF in the Spring!
Did you work on any interesting projects over the summer? Please elaborate.
Yes. I did. First, I attended the Costume Society of America (CSA)’s the 51st Annual National Symposium in June 2025. And I participated in the Professional Development Workshop: ‘Teaching with Virtual Reality’ for the Faculty Development.
HYUN SOOK KIM
Second, I was invited by the Korean Fashion & Costume Design Association to present my new creative costume artwork at the 2025 International Invited Fashion Exhibition in August 2025. The costume artwork titled “Swan Lake Abstraction,” was inspired by the classic ballet “Swan Lake” and created in a newly intuitive and contemporary way to present abstract and organic aesthetics. (Article HERE)
What is your favorite past time or hobby that you were able to do over the summer, and why?
My favorite time during the summer was first the long video call and chatting, called Kakao Talks, with my eldest daughter and grandchildren in Korea, because I missed them much. Second, the working on constructing my Invited Exhibition Costume Artwork, because I love creative design and artistic handcraft working!
What are you most excited about this year?
This year, the 2025’s MFA Costume Design graduates have evaluated my teaching performance very excellently and appreciated the value and quality of the MFA costume design program at CSUF, which was very rewarding as a Professor.
STAFF SPOTLIGHT
BENJAMIN REMPEL
Did you work on any interesting projects over the summer? Please elaborate.
This summer I released an album of percussion duo music called “Live in Prospect Park.”
Listen HERE
About the album: On a July day in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park, percussionists Ben Rempel (LA) and Justin Gunter (NY) set up their drum kits for an all-day, outdoor recording session. Here, they arranged and improvised a series of hypnotic percussion duets, based on short polyrhythmic compositions by Rempel. Even without the confines of a studio, the duo managed to record the rich physicality of their drums in detailed high fidelity, capturing every transient and overtone. More importantly, they “embraced the blending of our music with the rhythms and sounds of the larger park environment”. The entrancing results feel both immersive and spacious; the sounds of wooden sticks hitting synthetic membranes form a rhythmic undercurrent, opening into a broader sonic space that includes the wind, birds, rustling trees, and an occasional siren.
JOSHUA ESTRADA-ROMERO
Did you work on any interesting projects over the summer? Please elaborate.
One major project I worked on was my production of WINEdown and SYNTHESIS VIIIA Choreographer showcase.
“WINEdown,” which was initially choreographed here at CSUF in 2023, was performed by a cast of 12 FUSE Dance Company members, including CSUF Alumni Kathy Duran, Erik Jaimes, Candi Spahr, and Sophia Bernardo.
The second half of the show (SYNTHESIS VIII) featured choreographers’ alumni Sophia Bernardo, Leila Massoudi, Michelle Shear, and Jolyn Lambey, and included another work of mine that was performed by faculty Courtney Ozovek.
Lighting was also be created by CSUF Alumni Jordan Curiel and included stage management by one of our previous Dance Concert ASM, Hailey Thomas.
Performers and Dancers included Alumni: Robinn Jade Titular, Madison Dabalos, Daphne Hu, Julia Atkinson, Jonathan Bahn
AMANDA ROSE VILLARREAL STAFF SPOTLIGHT
Did you work on any interesting projects over the summer? Please elaborate.
I taught acting faculty from other universities at the Alliance of Acting Teachers National Congress; led two workshops at Juilliard; and trained intimacy choreographers at the first-ever Theatrical Intimacy Education Symposium in Chicago over the summer; I also finished devising a new work with my collaborators over the summer, which we will perform in Atlantic City in October and Sweden in March.
OLLI (Osher Lifelong Learning Institute) is an on-campus organization that offers programs designed to enrich our senior members with new learning experiences. OLLI has 1,200 members and is increasing each year. Many of our members are new to the campus, so we have designed a few programs which offer an opportunity to have faculty members and students to present CSUF School of Music and Theatre & Dance presentations.
These presentations have been in the following formats:
1. Professors have brought students to our facility to give members a preview of upcoming events.
2. Students have presented on special projects they are developing to gain experience as they prepare for their goals in teaching; rehearsing for an audition, competition, or performances.
3. Several students volunteer to enhance and participate with the OLLI instructor by take part of educating members (beginning guitar, choir, and piano classes).
4. Students have served as a conductor for our OLLI Orchestra and Chorale.
5. OLLI supports zooming and streaming the Theatre Department end-of-semester recitals.
6. OLLI supports the Theatre and the School of Music through their attendance at events in the theaters and Meng Hall.
7. OLLI offers special tours designed to introduce members to the Visual Arts Complex and Clayes Performing Arts Center.
We are looking forward to designing future programs that highlight the talents of our many CSUF students to the OLLI membership.
Saturday, January 31, 2026 – 2PM • Ruby Gerontology Center, Mackey Auditorium
OLLI presents the premier Staged Reading of the new musical, CRICKETS, written by CSUF Theatre Arts Alumna, Elizabeth (Betty) Redmon (MA, 1977). All are invited to attend free of charge.
A swinging singles apartment complex in 1977 provides the backdrop for lyrical songs, a car crash, escaped toads, pretense, and a love-hate relationship between a Navy Vietnam vet who lives by discipline and logic, and an impetuous, undisciplined model who lives life as a game to cover her hurt. Their antipathy grows as each fights his/her own battles: (He) PTSD and a scientific career, (She) custody of her 7-year-old son and a budding fashion career. Their drama plays out with witty banter, unlikely scenarios, and humorous supporting characters.
The script has been long in the making. After receiving her master’s degree in Theatre Arts, the playwright found a job in cancer research (life does take funny turns). This began her 29-year career as an administrator at USC, first at the Medical School in Pathology and then as Executive Director of the USC Emeriti Center. A very old “theatre-bug bite” began to itch during Covid, and along with the belief that “We’re never too old,” Betty pulled out a story concept she’d written around 1980 and developed it first into a screenplay, then into a stage play, and finally into a musical. The script has been workshopped in a scripting class at The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts and a playwriting class at South Coast Rep, along with OLLI’s Writing with Feedback class. CRICKETS boasts nine original songs, with keyboard accompaniment composed by OLLI member Lisa Nicolay. This public reading features an all-OLLI cast drawn primarily from members of the OLLI Crescendo Chorale and OLLI’s Drama, Improv, Storytelling class.
Invite your theatre friends for a light-hearted musical afternoon!
FALL 2025 CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Oct 1st-31st Theatre & Dance Spring Advising Month
Oct 3rd-4th Joy in Uncertainty: A Glory Chicken Adventure heightened reading at Grand Central
Oct 9th Men On Boats - Opening Night Reception in the Grand Foyer
Oct 9th-18th Men On Boats (Hallberg Theatre)
Oct 17th-25th Hunting & Gathering and A Perfect Couple BFA Acting Sophomore show (Arena Theatre)
Oct 23rd 9 to 5 the Musical Opening Night Reception in Little Theatre Lobby (post performance)
Oct 23rd-Nov 1st 9 to 5 the Musical (Little Theatre)
Oct 25th 2pm 9 to 5 the Musical talkback and reception (post performance)
Nov 6th The House of the Spirits - Opening Night Reception in the Grand Foyer (Young Theatre)
Nov 6th-15th The House of the Spirits (Young Theatre)
Nov 11th-15th The Gradient (Grand Central Theatre)
Nov 7th The House of the Spirits - Opening Night Reception in CPAC Grand Foyer (post performance)
Dec 4th-6th Devised Sophomore Project (CPAC 272)
Nov 30th University deadline for new student applications
Dec 4th Fall Dance Theatre - Opening Night Reception in the Grand Foyer (post performance)
Dec 4th-13th Fall Dance Theatre (Little Theatre)
Dec 9th Department Bowling Tournament
Dec 13th-19th Final Exams
Dwight “Richard” Odle | Costume & Scenic Work
Over the summer, the display case outside the doors to the Little Theatre in Clayes Performing Arts Center was transformed into a showcase for the costume and scenic design work of Dwight “Richard” Odle.
As a professor at Cal State Fullerton from 1967-1980, he relished being an educator and was utterly enthusiastic about helping students perfect their chosen craft here and at Stanford, Cal Poly Pomona, and UCI.
He was a creative force throughout his 50-year career, designing hundreds of theatrical costumes and set designs. His talents enhanced countless university and theatre productions throughout Southern California and the U.S., including Pasadena Playhouse, Geffen Playhouse, and South Coast Repertory. Odle later established an endowed fund for the CSUF Department of Theatre and Dance and remained devoted to Cal State Fullerton well after his official retirement in 1980, serving on the board of the Alliance for the Performing Arts for many years. In honor of Dwight and his service to our university, our Clayes Performing Arts Center’s box office bears his name. We are so pleased to celebrate Dwight Odle and his artistic legacy with this lobby display.
Dance Alumni Shine on Global Stage
Eight recent graduates from Cal State Fullerton’s dance program, each holding a Bachelor of Arts degree in dance, have achieved a remarkable milestone by being selected to present their choreographic works at prestigious international, national and local dance festivals. This accomplishment highlights the program’s commitment to nurturing talent and fostering artistic excellence.
Sophia Bernardo ’24 (B.A. dance and communications-public relations), Leila Massoudi ’23 (B.A. dance), Emilio Castellon and Kevin Olivares were selected through rigorous adjudication to present their work at the renowned DUMBO Dance Festival in New York. This festival is a prestigious platform that features choreographers from up to 40 different countries, making their selection an extraordinary achievement. Their participation not only showcases their individual talent but also places them on a global stage alongside some of the best choreographers in the world.
