Scene - Summer 2022

2022 ISSUE

STAR POWER René Barbera returns to UNCSA from the world’s stages as the Fletcher Opera Institute celebrates 20 years.

ALSO Gregg Mozgala leads the charge to provide more opportunities for deaf and disabled actors.

UNCSA alumni fuel the return of live entertainment after the pandemic.

The film school embraces episodic storytelling to open new career paths.

A SEASON OF CHANGE The 2021-22 performance season was filled with rich programming that underscored the university’s commitment to Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging (EDIB). The arts schools showcased works by underrepresented voices, invited a variety of guest artists to our stages, and told compelling stories that help broaden our view of the world.

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2. Dance alumnus Ashley Lindsey (College Arts Diploma ’07) choreographed “Somewhere In a Dream I Got Lost” for the contemporary-focused Fall Dance, exploring the freedom and possibilities that come from dreaming.

3. Fourth-year student film “Sammy, Without Strings” explores the delicate and impactful story of Sammy, a Black puppet who desires freedom from performing for oppressive audiences. Watch co-writer and director Ralph Parker III share his experience crafting the story at uncsa.edu/sammy.

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ON THE HORIZON: THE STEVENS CENTER Stay tuned as the long-awaited renovation of the Stevens Center progresses, at uncsa.edu/stevens.

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4. Artist-in-Residence Thomas Wilkins, principal conductor of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, conducted the UNCSA Symphony Orchestra as it returned after a yearlong absence due to COVID-19 in Gustav Mahler’s massive and triumphant Symphony No. 5.

5. Christopher Chen’s “Passage” was added to the performance season when Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) students requested the creation of a production fully utilizing and orchestrated by the school’s AAPI student population. The show was helmed by Thai American guest director Nana Dakin. Learn more at uncsa.edu/passage.

View our EDIB vision statement and progress at uncsa.edu/edib.

Photos by Kendall Best, James Farley, Peter J. Mueller, Kat Reeves and Wayne Reich

1. Visiting artist Christopher Burris directed Stew’s rock musical “Passing Strange,” one of the few major American musicals written by an African American. “At UNCSA, we have such a diverse student body, and we are committed to finding stories that reflect the lived experience of those students,” said Scott Zigler, dean of the School of Drama.

Letter from the Chancellor

Photo by Amber Rene Photography

DEAR UNCSA COMMUNITY, I am proud to share the latest issue of Scene, the annual UNCSA magazine, featuring a range of stories that demonstrate the varied paths Pickles take — and make. There’s no better example of this than Gregg Mozgala (H.S. Drama ’96), who forged his own path and launched a theater company to use art to initiate critical conversations and create authentic roles for actors with disabilities, including himself (Page 22).

As we emerge from the pandemic, it is heartening to see our graduates powering the return to live entertainment (Page 19). UNCSA alumni are on stages and behind the scenes, literally keeping the lights on as performances and audiences return. Here on campus, we were proud to present an entirely in-person performance season for the first time since 2019. In our performance photo collage (Page 2), you’ll notice an emphasis on showcasing a wide range of voices, including cross-disciplinary and student-generated work (Page 7). The 2021-22 season also marked the 20th anniversary of the A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute, which has produced success stories such as René Barbera (Page 10), who graces this issue’s cover.

As we celebrate these student and alumni successes, we continue to look forward to our future.

With the help of our leadership, faculty and staff, I am proud to have unveiled “UNCSA Forward: Our 2022-27 Strategic Plan” that will set our course for the next five years. The five core strategies of the plan include Health and Wellness; Maintaining and Expanding Industry Relevance; Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging (EDIB); Institutional Sustainability; and Interdisciplinary Work in the Arts.

Because of the hardships and additional stress brought forth by the pandemic, the Health and Wellness core strategy is perhaps foremost on everyone’s minds. We are addressing this by developing initiatives that will help make UNCSA a place where being the best artist you can be is not mutually exclusive from becoming your best self. I want UNCSA to be a leader in developing industrywide changes that focus on putting the well-being of artists first. I look forward to sharing some of the transformational work we are doing in this space, such as the ongoing effort to create a new collaborative calendar that aligns work across campus units and provides space for students to focus on wellness and reflection.

Few things are as critical to the future of UNCSA as staying connected and involved with the arts and entertainment industry of today. Our students must receive training that mirrors the latest developments in our industry and have the opportunity to interact with today’s working artists and leaders to establish connections and gain real-world experience that will help them launch and sustain successful careers.

You can read about one way our School of Filmmaking is staying industry-relevant by preparing students for careers in episodic storytelling (Page 15).

This spring, UNCSA opened its first newly constructed campus residence hall in 50 years. Artist Village is a centrally located, suite-style, artist-centric facility that has already invigorated the residential environment.

In April, we commemorated this momentous occasion with a time capsule buried near the hall to be opened on our 100th anniversary.

UNCSA also received initial state funding to move forward with the planning and fundraising for the long-awaited renovation of our beloved downtown performance space, the Stevens Center. While it is still in early stages, it is exciting to see this important project moving forward, and to envision the possibilities for our students and community.

I hope you enjoy the stories in this magazine as much as I do. They illustrate how UNCSA is creating leaders in arts and entertainment while looking forward to a bright tomorrow.

Brian Cole Chancellor

“ I want UNCSA to be a leader in developing industrywide changes that focus on putting the well-being of artists first.”

— Brian Cole, Chancellor

2021 “Love & Depositions” 4

Photo by Marina Zurita

UNCSA has no shortage of success stories about its students, alumni, faculty and staff. In the following Short Takes, we present a kaleidoscope of talent honed at UNCSA as well as voices from our leadership.

These stories showcase innovative new work being created by students, unique career paths taken by alumni, new leadership in the School of Dance, and a prestigious international honor for a high school dancer. Read more stories like these throughout the year at uncsa.edu/news.

SHORT TAKES SOUND BITE

Photo by Danny Klimetz

Z A C H S EI V ERS Sound Designer Seivers has worked on sound design or as supervising sound editor for everything from television documentaries — he won a Primetime Emmy for his work on the History Channel’s “Gettysburg” — to the Best Picture Oscar-winning “Nomadland.” Along the way, his voluminous credits have included the Sundance selection “Ask Dr. Ruth,” “Flint Town,” “Dietland,” “Studio 54,” “A Chef’s Life,” and “Lady Valor: The Kristin Beck Story.”

| ZACH SEIVERS

Emmy Award-winning sound designer Zach Seivers (B.F.A. Filmmaking ’06) easily traces many of his projects back to some of the earliest decisions he made in his career — including while still a student in the School of Filmmaking.

Fortuitously, he was connected with alumnus Matthew Goldberg (B.F.A. ’04) to work on a short documentary film his senior year. That connection ultimately turned into the launching pad for Seivers’ own business, Snapsound, which is still going strong a decade-and-a-half later.

Here, the Mount Airy-born Seivers, now living in Charlotte with his wife and fellow Filmmaking alumna Setu Raval (B.F.A. ’08), reflects on his entrepreneurial career and how a dedication to thoughtful storytelling has guided him along the way.

On forging your own path…

Choosing the entrepreneurial route allows you to have control of your destiny. You’re not looking to other people to create opportunities for you. You’re hustling from the very first day and it doesn’t stop. There’s an incredible amount of reward that comes from that.

Working for someone else, though, you’re getting direct insight into how someone with experience is doing things. You receive a mentoring opportunity that you would not have as an entrepreneur.

Which way you go is often a matter of recognizing opportunities and being adaptable to whatever unfolds.

On sound as an essential element of storytelling…

Sound is not just about establishing the details in a scene — it’s the most essential magic trick in filmmaking. The people who mentored me at UNCSA always brought it back to story. It’s not about plug-ins, software, what microphone you used, the cool digital trick you were able to use.

It’s about character and making sounds, and it’s about the one sound that tells the story.

How does the filmmaker want the audience to feel? What’s going on in the scene? What are the characters feeling? Every single day I start from that place.

I always ground all my conversations with filmmakers in my own life and experience, because that’s what you do as an artist. That’s what happened with “Nomadland.” . . . In my interview with Chloé Zhao, the director, I talked about Frances McDormand’s character and how I saw parts of my mother in her. And she loved that.

On our close-knit alumni network…

The alumni network is one of the school’s most important resources and assets. You leave UNCSA not just with knowledge and the foundation to be a professional artist, but with this amazing network. Our network provides a unique sense of community and the desire to work with and support one another. We’re really lucky in that way.

As told to Corrine Luthy

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SHORT TAKES

When Winston-Salem native Jett Lecamu first asked his mom to take him to dance classes at the age of five, he fell in love with the art form and has never looked back.

After four years of ballet training, he enrolled in the Preparatory Dance Program and was immediately drawn to UNCSA, its dedicated dancers, the intensity of instruction and, most importantly for Lecamu, the many opportunities to perform on stage. “That’s when I became really serious about wanting to pursue dance,” he recalled.

Now 16, Lecamu is heading into his junior year in the high school dance program at UNCSA, where he takes a host of academic classes — of which he lists math as his favorite — while continuing to train. Audiences had the opportunity to see him as both the Nutcracker Prince and Marzipan during the most recent production of “The Nutcracker,” which featured brand-new choreography by faculty member (and Lecamu’s coach) Ilya Kozadayev.

The beauty of UNCSA, Lecamu explained, is that he gets to “take technique, variations and partnering classes and prepare for several productions throughout the year as part of my regular high school experience.”

Based on Lecamu’s previous performances and success in the Youth America Grand Prix competitions, Kozadayev suggested he send in an audition tape for the Prix de Lausanne, a prestigious international ballet competition held annually in Switzerland. For the 2022 competition, Lecamu was one of only 74 young dancers selected to compete out of 376 who applied. Only 14 were from the United States.

Prior to the competition, Lecamu worked with Kozadayev to develop both his classical and contemporary variations while also continuing to strengthen his fundamental skills and technique. At the end of January, they traveled to Switzerland for Lecamu to participate in the competition, an experience he calls “life-changing.”

“It was a week of wonderful classes and incredible instruction,” said Lecamu, adding that another highlight was being able to meet talented dancers from all over the world. Overall, he said one of the best parts of participating in the Prix was being able to perform. “There is no better feeling than being on stage,” said Lecamu.

When asked about young dancers who will follow in his footsteps, Lecamu’s advice is direct: Don’t give up.

“You will have doubts, and that’s normal,” he said, “but you have to push yourself to do the best you can.”

He added that something to keep in mind when trying to master technique is that “once you get a handle on the fundamentals, it all gets a lot more fun.”

Looking ahead to the future, Lecamu says his goal is to continue dancing and eventually join a ballet company devoted to the classical repertoire. “Some of my favorite ballets I have ever seen include ‘Don Quixote’ and ‘Giselle,’” he explained, adding that his dream is to be able to perform those ballets with a major, national company. Having accomplished so much at such a young age, Lecamu has the determination, dedication and passion for dance to lead wherever he chooses to go.

By6Melissa Upton-Julio

| JETT LECAMU

Photo by Andrew Bowen Studios

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT

SHORT TAKES STUDENT SPOTLIGHT

Photos by Wayne Reich

Marina Zurita directed a sold-out run of “Mother Tongue” in the spring.

Audiences were invited to experience the devised theater production from a unique vantage point: seated close to the actors on the Freedman Theatre stage.

| MARINA ZURITA

It’s not easy for Marina Zurita (B.F.A. Drama ’22) to pinpoint the moment she fell in love with theater and directing.

All she knows is that she’s always loved creating, especially with other people.

“As a kid, I enjoyed making things — my own clothes, stuffed animals, gifts for people, cooking,” Zurita said. “That’s what drew me to directing. Even if you’re directing something that already exists, you’re still making. You’re creating that new performance.”

In her four years as a directing student at UNCSA, she was able to channel that creative energy into her work, finding herself especially attracted to the collaborative nature of devised theater, which the School of Drama has made an area of focus under Dean Scott Zigler. In her third year, she co-directed the devised piece “Love and Depositions” with fellow directing student Acadia Barrengos and faculty member Mollye Maxner.

This spring, she directed her senior thesis project, “Mother Tongue” — marking the first devised theater production conceived and directed by a student at the school. “Mother Tongue” tells the story of waste pickers in Zurita’s home country of Brazil, who salvage materials thrown away by others to sell or use, and explores themes like overconsumption, waste and the treatment of these essential and often overlooked workers. It was inspired by Bertolt Brecht’s “Mother Courage and Her Children” and the diary of Carolina Maria de Jesus, a waste picker living in São Paulo, Brazil, in the mid-1900s.

Zurita created the script with cast members, musicians, and text from interviews with Brazilian waste pickers. “I was more like an editor than a playwright,” she said. To research the piece, Zurita traveled to her home country to conduct interviews of modern-day waste pickers, with funding provided in part by a Semans Art Fund grant. She returned from Brazil just as the COVID-19 pandemic began to shut down borders.

The pandemic, she says, served as a poignant backdrop for the stories she had read and recorded.

As she closed out the first iteration of “Mother Tongue” and her undergraduate studies at UNCSA, Zurita reflected on the process and what it means to “end” something, particularly when devised theater is, by definition, constantly evolving.

“I thought a lot about how you finalize the creative process in a particular moment with a particular group of people,” she said. “I want to practice being careful with that, which means being able to say, ‘This is where we got — and this is ok.’”

A recipient of a 2022 UNCSA Artpreneur Grant for graduating college students, Zurita will soon use her grant funding to bring “Mother Tongue” to the Brazilian community in New York City and use their feedback to further develop the piece.

With the support of faculty members Andy Paris and Carl Forsman, along with her participation in the Studio for Creative Practice, a laboratory for the making of original, transdisciplinary work, Zurita said her time at UNCSA was both intense and gratifying.

“I loved my time at the school,” she said. “I’m beyond grateful for it, and I wouldn’t have been able to have this experience anywhere else.”

By Corrine Luthy

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SHORT TAKES

BILL E L L I S President and co-founder of Candela Controls, Inc. Ellis’ Candela Controls has worked on a range of lighting projects over its 20-plus-year history, including (clockwise): Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.; the James Turrell Museum in Provincia de Salta, Argentina; and the Sunshine Skyway Bridge in St. Petersburg, Florida.

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| BILL ELLIS

When Bill Ellis (B.F.A. Design & Production ’85) graduated from what was then the lighting and audio program, he pictured a career touring the country with live shows or working at a major theater. However, after more than a decade working in the entertainment industry, he was ready for a more predictable schedule while still pursuing his passion. Ellis co-founded Candela Controls, Inc., a company specializing in lighting system integration and control, where he has been able to apply his training to a range of projects, from theme parks to museums and more.

Today, Ellis uses core teachings from his time at UNCSA while working on projects he never imagined: the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum; the Space Shuttle Atlantis; and the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City. His company is currently working on a multiyear renovation of the renowned Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., helping reimagine all the museum’s exhibitions featuring iconic artifacts from throughout aviation history, like the 1903 Wright Flyer and Apollo 11 Command Module Columbia.

Q: Tell us about the Air and Space Museum project.

It is the largest contract we have ever undertaken. We are touching every square inch of the museum, because the building hasn’t undergone a renovation of this scale since it was built in 1976.

Additionally, we’re working around priceless artifacts that haven’t been touched in decades. This poses logistical complications, so all teams involved must take extra care and planning with every step. As of now, the museum is slated to be completed in 2024.

Q: How has Candela Controls evolved over the past 20 years?

What is your most notable project?

Since the founding of Candela, our services have become increasingly in demand because of the evolution of available technology. In the beginning, we did a lot of work in the entertainment industry, but when LED lights came on the market it opened a lot of opportunities for how lighting can become an architectural element. While the Smithsonian is definitely unique because of the scale, another notable project is the Sunshine Skyway bridge in Florida (near the company’s home base). The Skyway project blended the need for safety — the pillars needed to be clearly visible at night — and the local government’s wish for something that is aesthetically pleasing.

Q: Why is it important to maintain a connection with current UNCSA students?

I think it’s important for students considering what they want to do after graduation to understand all the options available to them outside of the entertainment industry.

I like explaining that while we work with companies like Walt Disney World, we also get to work on bridges, museums, airports, casinos and other places they may never have considered. I currently have four Pickles working for me, and I can guarantee that coming from UNCSA they will have a good work ethic, discipline and a solid foundation of skills — which are attributes every employer seeks.

As told to Melissa Upton-Julio

Photos courtesy of Candela Controls, Inc.

ASK THE EXPERT

SHORT TAKES BACKSTAGE

| ENDALYN TAYLOR

ENDALYN TAYLOR has the broad-spectrum experience necessary to lead the School of Dance in today’s rapidly evolving dance world. A former principal dancer with Dance Theatre of Harlem (DTH), Taylor also appeared on Broadway in “Aida,” “The Lion King” and “Carousel” before serving as director of the DTH School and associate professor of dance at the University of Illinois, Urbana/Champaign.

Q: As an incoming dean, what were your first goals?

Aside from the obvious responsibility of familiarizing myself with and understanding the operations of the two tracks of the School of Dance, it was vitally important — particularly coming in on the heels of COVID-19 — for the students to have the chance to get to know me, by getting into the studio to teach every level, both classical and contemporary. The best way to understand an artist is through the work they do in the shared environment of the studio space.

Q: What excites you about the School of Dance?

I have genuinely appreciated the commitment, talent and knowledge of our faculty. I’d love to make space to keep that rigor relevant and moving forward with the times. We, as facilitators, are constant learners. It doesn’t mean changing what we do; it means figuring out new ways to impart that information to our students.

Something that’s ripe for evolution is finding ways to provide access to the range of skill sets taught at UNCSA to all our students. We’re working collaboratively with the other arts schools to provide electives for dancers in film, drama and music, giving them the ability to work in the dance industry with longevity, whether they are performers or producers.

The dean of the School of Filmmaking and I are exploring the idea of creating a course around cinematography and dance, for example, which would be an excellent tool for both dance and film students. Our goal is to show how art forms align in many different ways to provide even more opportunities.

Photo by Peter J. Mueller

Q: How can UNCSA best prepare its dancers for the professional world?

Today’s industry demands that you be able to do it all, and do it well. One of my main goals is to show our students how classical and contemporary can be married beautifully in your body and enhance how you perform in each.

I think it’s our nature to shy away from something that feels unfamiliar. So getting dancers to love other forms means learning the cultures and histories and understanding the backbone of those forms and how they intersect — like the parallels between the polyrhythmic natures of ballet and African dance. Teaching the technique of every discipline builds a love of and appreciation for them.

I also look forward to getting back out to recruit in cities and schools nationwide where I know there are dancers of diverse backgrounds with the skills in both classical and contemporary to succeed in our program.

Q: What influential figures in your dance background continue to inspire you?

Many people mentored me, provided opportunities and validated my right to a place in the ballet arena, but being able to develop into a versatile artist in contemporary dance and other disciplines was equally impactful in shaping the person, educator and administrator I am today. Working with choreographer John Alleyne, whose process was so inclusive and inviting of everyone’s unique abilities, made me realize that leaving who we are at the door is a disservice to ourselves and the art we make. Individuality is to be celebrated. The truth of who we are as humans has the power to undergird, not dilute, the narratives we tell.

As told to Gavin Larsen Gavin Larsen, former dancer and author of “Being a Ballerina: The Power and Perfection of a Dancing Life,” lives in Asheville, North Carolina.

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Alumnus René Barbera outside the Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège in Liège, Belgium, before a dress rehearsal for “La Sonnambula” in March 2020.

STAR POWER

FROM THE WORLD’S STAGES TO WINSTON-SALEM, RENÉ BARBERA’S GLOBAL CAREER IS PROPELLED BY UNCSA

By Lucy Kraus

It was 2004, and students and the School of Music faculty gathered for the “first-of-year hearings” — when faculty become acquainted with new and returning students for assignments and placement. There was great interest in the young tenor from Texas, who was the undergraduate vocal program’s first-ever Fletcher Scholar, receiving significant merit-based financial support.

Barbera sang the famous aria “La donna è mobile” from Verdi’s “Rigoletto,” which ends with a vocally punishing high B. When he finished, one faculty member uttered an expletive in astonishment. Barbera’s soon-to-be vocal teacher, Voice Department Chair Marilyn Taylor, was amazed. “High notes were nothing for him,” she remembered. “I heard how effortless it was for him. This was one of those voices that didn’t have to think about how to achieve the top. That was the voice he had. It’s a natural talent. He was fearless.”

Since that auspicious day, Barbera has appeared on the stages of the world’s major opera houses and concert halls, and has sung, by his count, 35 different roles. He was a winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 2008, and won top awards at the Operalia Competition in 2011. He made his Metropolitan Opera debut in Rossini’s “L’Italiana in Algeri” in 2016, and has been delighting audiences at Teatro alla Scala, Paris Opera, Palau de les Arts, Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège, and Dutch National Opera, among many others. In April of this year he sang the role of Nadir in Bizet’s “The Pearl Fishers” with The Dallas Opera, and will return to the Met in the 2022-23 season as the Italian Singer in Richard Strauss’s “Der Rosenkavalier.”

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Photo by Anna Barbera

RENÉ BARBERA arrived at UNCSA with a double scholarship. And a high B.

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From there it was on to the Florida Grand Opera Young Artist Program, and then to Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Ryan Opera Center. In 2011, he was the first-ever sole recipient of all three top awards of Placido Domingo’s Operalia Competition in Moscow, winning the First Prize for Opera, the First Prize for Zarzuela (a form of Spanish musical theater), and the Audience Prize — an event that he remembers as “an out-of-body experience.”

Barbera, whose family is of Mexican lineage, spoke English and Spanish growing up. “In middle school and high school I took Spanish classes to bolster my skill set.

I worked really hard to master it.” Indeed, his language skills have come in handy when he learns a new role in a foreign tongue. “I speak Italian, not fluently, but very well,” he laughs, remembering how a bartender in Spain asked why he spoke Spanish with an Italian accent! “I’m able to communicate and be understood in German. My French is not so good, although I can pronounce it very well and can understand a fair amount if spoken slowly.”

“He’s still a natural talent.

He’s open-minded; he steps outside the box. He’s very cautious and he does the work; and he’s got a very big heart and will help someone else who is having a hard time.”

— Marilyn Taylor, Voice Department Chair, School of Music His roles have taken him around the globe — to Milan and La Scala, Vienna and the Wiener Staatsoper, Genoa and the Teatro Carlo Felice, Rome and the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Palermo and the Teatro Massimo, Tokyo and the New National Theatre, and Valencia and the Paulau de les Arts Reina Sofía, to name but a few. He has also toured with musicAeterna, performing Verdi’s Requiem in 10 cities, including Paris, Brussels, Cologne, Hamburg, Vienna, and at The Shed in New York City.

As Barbera gained increasingly more engagements in Europe, he and his wife, Anna — whom he met when both were living in Chicago — moved to Berlin in 2017. It was a convenient locale and they loved it. Then the pandemic hit, work dropped away, and he opted not to work. “I decided that the risks for myself and my wife were too high,” he explained. And so, in the summer of 2020, while still in Europe, Barbera finally had the chance to do something he had always wanted to do: He took the undergraduate classes online that he had missed at UNCSA. “I got the official news that I had completed my degree while I was in Sicily,” he recalled. “I’ll never forget that moment.

I called my wife, crying, and she was terrified, thinking that someone had died!”

The Barberas returned to the U.S. in 2021, and René, now 38, was able to continue his scholarship and complete his master’s degree in vocal performance at the A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute at UNCSA, which this year celebrates its 20th anniversary (see Page 14).

Photos by Anna Barbera, Ken Howard / Met Opera, Yasuko Kageyama and Scott Suchman

“I love to perform,” said Barbera. “I tend to be a performative person.

If I get the attention of a room, I will relish it!”

The critics have raved. “Barbera, a fast-rising and increasingly appreciated presence in the world of opera, has a voice every voice teacher dreams about,” wrote the San Diego Union-Tribune after a recital in 2015.

After his performance as Alfredo in Verdi’s “La traviata,” Texas Classical Review commented: “He definitely has a ready-made career niche in roles of this ilk, and, at this point, appears headed toward stardom.” The Seattle Times commented on his performance in Rossini’s “La Cenerentola,” noting that “his high Cs and Ds are as viscerally exciting as his bravura coloratura technique.”

“I love to perform,” Barbera said with a laugh. “I tend to be a performative person. If I get the attention of a room, I will relish it!” And he especially relishes the memories of singing “La traviata” at La Scala — one of three operas he has performed in that famous house — and his Met debut, despite the fact that “Walking out on that stage is one of the most nerve-wracking things you can do.”

Barbera was born Erich René Barbera in Laredo, Texas, and at a young age moved to San Antonio. At the age of 10 he joined the San Antonio Boys Choir as a boy soprano, in addition to studying piano for six years. After singing in choirs throughout high school, he received a scholarship to the University of Texas at San Antonio to pursue a degree in music education. Despite words of encouragement that he had soloist talent, he dropped out and went to Colorado to be with his brother, quickly finding a job doing windshield repairs at car washes. “I moved there to find myself,” he explained. “I had to get out of Texas. I didn’t think performing was the thing I would do. I didn’t want to quit singing but didn’t think it would be a profession.”

Not wishing to close the door, however, he took a voice lesson with Martile Rowland, who urged him to join a summer opera program she directed in Colorado Springs called the Vocal Arts Symposium. It was there that he met Steven LaCosse and James Allbritten, Music faculty members at UNCSA who are now the artistic director and music director (respectively) of the A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute, the school’s graduate-level opera training program. They saw his potential and arranged for his scholarship.

For the next four years, Barbera was in a whirlwind of classes.

“My time as an undergrad at UNCSA was outrageously busy,” he said. “Classes all day, followed by opera rehearsals in evenings, choir rehearsals and concerts, papers to write, tests to study for, operatic roles and song repertoire to learn, and trying to make a little money on the side singing at church, weddings and funerals. The school taught me how to juggle far more than I thought I was capable of.

“Admittedly,” he noted, “I didn’t always manage to keep it entirely together and dropped the ball more times than I could possibly count!”

In fact, he said, “I was a typical college student. I was young; I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life. I was not super-focused. There was a girl,” he laughed. “In my senior year we had a big breakup. I gave myself a week to feel the pain.” At that point, he shifted gears, got a headshot, made an audition CD, and sent out applications for young artist programs and competitions across the country. “It was time to take the momentum and run with it,” he said.

In fact, he didn’t graduate.

“He sang his senior recital and went off to his first audition,” recalled Taylor. “It was for the Merola Opera Program in San Francisco. He looked like a young Caruso.

They took him immediately.”

“Years from now I really want to be able to settle down and teach voice in a university or conservatory setting,” he said.

“Knowing that a bachelor’s degree would be insufficient for such a position, I opted to take this year to get my master’s, which would begin to open those doors.”

Indeed, Barbera has found traveling “the hardest part of the business — everything that comes beforehand and being away all the time,” he said. “It’s exhausting. You’re always in a new bed, too few pillows. The mental load of speaking another language can be pretty tiring. You don’t have the things that make you feel at home.” He manages to unwind, he said, by indulging in one of his nonmusical passions: video games, with his Oculus Quest 2.

In the meantime, he continues to sing internationally — and work with Marilyn Taylor. “I’ve been studying with Dr. Taylor now for nearly 18 years,” he notes. “She’s wonderful to work with — doesn’t let me get away with much, and keeps me honest. She cares so much about our development as humans every bit as much as she cares about our vocal development.”

For her part, Taylor has traveled to see him make his debuts in Chicago and Santa Fe, at the Met and La Scala, and with the Minnesota Orchestra and The Dallas Opera, among others; Barbera flew her to Berlin for a week for preparation of a role.

What does she see as his forte? “Primarily the voice, his inherent musical instincts for it, and the experience that has helped shape him,” she said. “He’s still a natural talent. He’s open-minded; he steps outside the box. He’s very cautious and he does the work; and he’s got a very big heart and will help someone else who is having a hard time.”

She recalled going to Italy to hear him sing the role of Nemorino in Donizetti’s “L’elisir d’amore.”

“At La Scala, people were lined up outside to get his autograph,” she remembered. “He has star power.”

Barbera has traveled the world to perform on some of opera’s most renowned stages — from Teatro alla Scala in Italy to Opéra Bastille in Paris, the Metropolitan Opera in New York, and more.

Lucy Kraus has written for The New York Times and other publications, and is the former senior publications editor at the New York Philharmonic.

RENÉ BARBERA ON STAGE

René Barbera as Nadir in Georges Bizet’s “The Pearl Fishers” at The Dallas Opera, 2022

René Barbera as Lord Percy in Gaetano Donizetti’s “Anna Bolena” at Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, 2019

René Barbera as Lindoro in Gioachino Rossini’s “L’Italiana in Algeri” at the Metropolitan Opera, 2016

FIND BARBERA’S UPCOMING PERFORMANCES AT renebarbera.com/performances.

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2021 “Le Inglesi”

A.J. FLETCHER OPERA INSTITUTE AT UNCSA CELEBRATES ITS

Thanks to a bold $10 million commitment in 2000 from the A.J. Fletcher Foundation, named for businessman and arts advocate Alfred Johnston Fletcher (1887-1979), the Fletcher Opera Institute was established at the School of Music to offer highly personalized and in-depth training at the graduate and post-graduate level, tuition-free. Since its official launch in 2002, the program has flourished, presenting two fully staged operas a season in coordination with the School of Design and Production, and bringing in a who’s who of opera greats to work with Fellows, including Marilyn Horne, Frederica von Stade, Sherrill Milnes and Anthony Dean Griffey. Over the 20 years of its history, the Fletcher Opera Institute has graduated alumni performing internationally at the world’s top opera houses, including the Metropolitan Opera, Chicago Lyric Opera, La Scala, the Paris Opera, and more, as well as district, regional and national winners of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. During the 20th anniversary season, Fletcher Opera presented two fully staged operas: Donizetti’s “Linda di Chamounix,” a bel canto opera reflecting the program’s first-ever production in 2002 (Bellini’s rarely performed “Beatrice di Tenda”); and John Musto’s contemporary comedy, “Volpone,” called “a fizzy, funny romp through a world of vivid characters — each played by a standout artist” by Cultural Voice of North Carolina (CVNC).

2002-2022

2000 UNC President Molly Broad announces a commitment of $10 million from the A.J. Fletcher Foundation of Raleigh to establish and endow the A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute at the North Carolina School of the Arts, as it was then known. Famed mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne conducts a master class at NCSA the following year.

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2002 The Fletcher Opera Institute presents its inaugural production: Bellini’s rarely performed bel canto opera “Beatrice di Tenda,” including performances at the A.J. Fletcher Opera Theatre in Raleigh, North Carolina.

2005 The Fletcher Scholars Program for Gifted Undergraduate Singers is established, offering significant support for students in the undergrad vocal program. Fletcher boasts three Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions District Winners.

2007 A co-commissioner of Ned Rorem’s opera “Our Town,” the Fletcher Institute presents one of the earliest performances of the new work following its 2006 premiere.

2010 Renowned mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade performs in recital, accompanied by faculty member Allison Gagnon, to help establish the Patricia and Malcolm Brown Distinguished Professorship in Vocal Coaching.

2022 The Fletcher Opera Institute celebrates its 20th anniversary with a return to its roots in bel canto opera, presenting Donizetti’s “Linda di Chamounix,” and demonstrating its commitment to contemporary opera with John Musto’s “Volpone.”

Photo by Peter J. Mueller

20th ANNIVERSARY

SERIAL ENTERTAINMENT SHIFTING PARADIGMS FOR AN EVOLVING INDUSTRY

By Kristopher Tapley

Behind the scenes of “Masterpiece”

Photo by Franz Criscione

WHEN UNCSA LAUNCHED its film school in the

fall of 1993, movies were king. Blockbusters like “Jurassic Park” were bringing audiences out to a growing multiplex theatrical market, while an independent cinema boom, driven by the rise of directors like Steven Soderbergh (“sex, lies and videotape”), Quentin Tarantino (“Reservoir Dogs”) and John Singleton (“Boyz N the Hood”), was opening up film to a whole new generation.

Meanwhile, at home, families were clocking most of their television hours in front of sitcoms like “Home Improvement,” “Seinfeld” and “Grace Under Fire.” Though ABC was prepping the launch of “NYPD Blue,” the police drama series that would plant some of the earliest seeds of a new golden age for the small screen, television was still very much seen as a lesser medium. It certainly wasn’t anywhere near today’s realm of “Peak TV,” to steal a phrase from FX Networks Chairman John Landgraf, and it wasn’t a production paradigm that a new film school was likely to focus on, either.

By the end of the decade, HBO’s mafioso epic “The Sopranos” would change the TV game in a big way, sparking a period of evolution and growth for the medium throughout the 2000s. A rising tide of cable networks, including AMC, FX, Showtime and TNT, packed their offerings with distinctive episodic series that kept viewers coming back for more.

Thanks to the advent of online streaming, the audience for serial entertainment has exploded. Since 2013, when Netflix broke ground with the political drama “House of Cards,” the number of new scripted television series has nearly doubled. In 2021, as the COVID-19 pandemic continued to drive interest from an at-home audience, a record 559 shows debuted on screens across the U.S. and Canada, according to data by Statista.

In a reflection of these industry trends, creating work for the small screen is now an important part of the training at the School of Filmmaking at UNCSA.

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“I think it helps, as a TV show, just fleshing out the characters and giving them the space to develop and figure out who they are.”

Above: Behind the scenes of “Masterpiece,” a six-episode series made in the School of Filmmaking during the 2021-22 academic year. The series is the result of a first-time collaboration between the undergraduate and graduate filmmaking programs.

Top: Travis Beacham Bottom: Beacham wrote the screenplay for what would become Amazon Studios’ “Carnival Row” during his final year at UNCSA. The series stars Orlando Bloom and Cara Delevingne.

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“About six years ago, when I first came to UNCSA, it was still very feature-centric,” said Peter Werner, a member of the film school’s graduate screenwriting faculty who brought decades of experience directing series like “Moonlighting,” “Justified” and “Grimm” with him. “Because of my background in television, it was clear to me that this is where the jobs are.”

Since that time, the volume of training for television work has skyrocketed at UNCSA. It’s even become a note in onboarding; one of the things Werner says the school asks of new students, just to get a gauge, is whether their interests lie in feature or series development. At least 50 percent express a preference for being part of a writers room on a series over scripting a studio feature.

“All the students talk about is ‘Euphoria’ or ‘The Witcher’ or ‘Bob’s Burgers,’” Werner said.

“They’re not talking about 90 percent of the feature market.”

Following industry trends is one thing, but it’s also important to work toward versatility in how students are generating their material. Lauren Vilchik, assistant dean of graduate studies, notes how the film school’s entrepreneurial focus has begun to include a multipronged approach so that students can be quick-footed and able to pivot — increasingly important in an industry where development executives often wonder about serialized versions of the submissions they’re receiving.

“I teach financing and independent filmmaking and raising equity, and the business plans used to be, you would put together a fundraiser for a feature,” Vilchik said. “Now, we put together a fundraiser where you pitch the same story for different modalities. What’s the VR experience that can act as a marketing tool for the feature? Think of the feature as the pilot. What’s the story, long-form or short-form? Why wouldn’t there be a limited series version of a feature script? It’s about getting students to wrap their minds around that.”

That kind of creative malleability came in very handy for screenwriter Travis Beacham, who wrote the feature fantasy screenplay “A Killing on Carnival Row” during his fourth year at UNCSA, in 2004. When he graduated the following year, he was fortunate enough to sell the project to New Line Cinema. But for the longest time, Beacham’s murder mystery, set in a Victorian-themed city of fantastical creatures and humans, languished as filmmakers like Guillermo del Toro and Robert Zemeckis merely flirted with bringing it to the big screen.

“It just seemed like the sacrificial lamb, this thing that I love dearly that had to die to give me my career,” said Beacham, who went on to write the scripts for “Clash of the Titans” and “Pacific Rim.” “At some point along the way, Thomas Tull, the head of Legendary Pictures, gave me a call and said he was thinking about buying it from New Line and asked if I could see it as a TV show.”

Photos at left courtesy of Travis Beacham, photos at top by Joshua Campbell and Franz Criscione

— Travis Beacham, Writer, “Carnival Row”

Photo by Franz Criscione

Beacham had indeed been thinking along those lines. He recalls taking an interest in television when he was in film school, as shows like “Lost” and “Deadwood” began to reveal the possibilities of world-building on the small screen. Bolstered by more recent successes like “Game of Thrones,” he dug back into his feature script and expanded it for a season of genre television. It finally debuted as “Carnival Row” on Amazon Prime in 2019, 15 years after Beacham had conceived it.

“I think it helps, as a TV show, just fleshing out the characters and giving them the space to develop and figure out who they are,” Beacham said. “In features, you’re so limited that you never really get to be character-driven. You never get to that level where you can really delve into a character’s psyche.”

The film school’s series focus culminated this year in the graduate program with the first full soup-to-nuts realization of a serial production. Until then, the work had remained mostly on the page. But with “Masterpiece,” a six-episode series about a struggling violin student who finds musical inspiration in committing violent acts, there is a finished product to showcase.

“My big vision for the grad program was to be development-focused,” Vilchik said. “Students would prove concepts, and then they would interact with the undergrads, who mostly would crew for grad projects.

This is the first time we were able to pull that off.”

After the initial concept was pitched by second-year graduate student Sarah Deitrich, who then became the showrunner, the series was developed by students in the “Writers Room” elective course. Vilchik then reached out to third-year undergraduate producer Rohit Lila Ram, who came on board to shepherd “Masterpiece” through a lightning-fast production.

Lila Ram brought in third-year student director Brady Walker, as well as alumnus Jim Boemio (B.F.A. Filmmaking ’20), to helm the six episodes.

He also tapped third-year student cinematographer Summer Sierra, who would find herself dealing with an unexpected but eye-opening situation during the shoot.

“The biggest challenge was that we would be shooting multiple episodes in one day, which meant scene by scene, I’d be switching off which director I was working with,” Sierra said. “The pace of our work was hard to adjust for sometimes. It was a learning curve.”

“Masterpiece” came to life on a tight timeline, with only six weeks between project pitch and production. The six-part series was filmed in five days, utilizing UNCSA campus locations.

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NEW

Third-year filmmaker Summer Sierra served as cinematographer for all six episodes of “Masterpiece.”

“My first job was on an episodic television show, and I didn’t know that they rotated episodes, that they weren’t filming everything all at once,” Lobel said. “But that was network television back then. Now that you have all of the streamers, you have a lot of shows that are all cross-boarded, filmed like a feature, where you’re filming out locations (shooting everything that takes place there before moving on), and you’re not focused on the full structure of an idea of the episode. You’re filming everything all at once.”

“Our goal is to be a space to shift paradigms, not just follow trends. The proliferation of streaming and the advent of so much beautiful work in this area is a wonderful opportunity for our students, and one that exists in synchrony with our training in the process of creating short and feature-length films.”

— Deborah LaVine, Dean, School of Filmmaking It’s all about instilling a knowledge base and familiarity in students who are heading out into a constantly shifting professional landscape.

“It is our job to prepare students not only for the industry of today, but for the future,” said Deborah LaVine, who became dean of the School of Filmmaking in July 2021. “Our goal is to be a space to shift paradigms, not just follow trends.

The proliferation of streaming and the advent of so much beautiful work in this area is a wonderful opportunity for our students, and one that exists in synchrony with our training in the process of creating short and feature-length films.”

Kristopher Tapley (B.F.A. Filmmaking ’04) has covered the film and television industry for 17 years, with bylines at Variety, The New York Times and The Times of London. He now works as a writer and a consultant in Los Angeles, where he lives with his loving wife, lively son and lazy cat.

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Filmmaking alumnae Jennifer Haire (B.F.A. ’02) and Gilana M. Lobel (B.F.A. ’05) unlock the inner workings of the film and television production office with their new book, “Keys to the Production Office” (Routledge/Focal Press), available now.

Haire and Lobel offer a behind-the-scenes guide to individuals beginning their careers in entertainment, and a valuable point of reference for best practices throughout the industry. The contemporary production office is a professional ecosystem, with a unique set of hierarchies, workflows and expectations. In their book, Haire and Lobel level the playing field, allowing someone with little experience to prove themselves a valuable addition to the crew. From the big-picture essentials to such granular details as script collating, office signage and paperwork distribution, Haire and Lobel review every aspect of the job. The Fighting Pickle even appears as the subject of a vegetable-inspired sample movie “script” and more!

An essential chapter, “Reel Life, Unhinged,” covers professional realities such as the challenge of freelancing, how to grapple with unemployment, and advancing your career through the production office.

Lobel said, “The film industry is like this secret society, right? You have to be in it to get in it, to have success in it. We wanted to break those barriers by saying, ‘No, we’re going to tell you all the secrets of how to do this job.’ We’re hoping it will open doors for a whole community of newcomers. The film industry shouldn’t be a secret.”

Haire is a line producer and Directors Guild of America (DGA) production manager with global feature film and television experience. Her commitment to the entertainment industry includes serving on the boards of directors for both the Producers Guild of America and IATSE Local 871, as well as launching international production crew training and safety education workshops. Lobel, a New York-based producer and DGA production manager, has worked on major feature films and television programs in various capacities. She is dedicated to telling diverse stories and creating a more inclusive work environment by collaborating with industry organizations to encourage upward mobility in film and television.

AVAILABLE NO W AT routledge.com

Photo by Joshua Campbell

According to Gilana Lobel, a 2005 graduate of the school’s producing program who has worked as a production coordinator and production manager on series like “Person of Interest” and “Russian Doll,” that kind of deep-end training is perfect, because it reflects real-world television production.

ALUMNI REVEAL THE SECRETS OF PRODUCING WITH NEW BOOK

Photos from “Aladdin,” “Fiddler on the Roof,” “For Colored Girls,” “How I Learned to Drive” and “MJ: The Musical”

Photos by Jason Bell, Jeremy Daniel, Mac J. Franklin, Emilio Madrid, Joan Marcus and Matthew Murphy

A WHOLE NEW WORLD ALUMNI BRING BROADWAY BACK TO LIFE WITH HOPE FOR THE FUTURE

By Hannah Callaway

“IT WAS ABSOLUTELY THRILLING,” Madison McLain (B.F.A. Design & Production ’19)

recalled of the evening when audiences stepped into the New Amsterdam Theatre for the first time in 565 days. There was an air of excitement, nervousness and anticipation. A hair and makeup assistant for Disney’s Broadway production of “Aladdin,” McLain was a crew member on the show before the pandemic, and returned to support its highly anticipated reopening last September.

It was an extremely emotional performance for everyone, and she shared a moment from that evening she will never forget: “A few crew members had gathered backstage around a tiny monitor that displayed a live feed of the show,” she described. “As the orchestra swelled and the curtains opened for the start of the show, I looked around to see we all had tears running down our faces.”

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“The tour was full of exciting moments, and memories I’ve created with my colleagues are ones I will cherish for the rest of my life.”

Top: Madison McLain, “Aladdin” on Broadway, Wig & Makeup Bottom: Lauren Blair Smith, “Fiddler on the Roof” company member

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UNCSA ALUMNI ARE BACK ON THE BOARDS,

bringing both classics and new works to audiences on Broadway, and beyond. As the recent Tony Awards attest, UNCSA is powering the return of Broadway as the pandemic subsides, with three nominated alumni (Camille A. Brown, Mary-Louise Parker and Paul Tazewell) and 13 alumni associated with Tony-nominated and Tony-winning productions.

T. Oliver Reid (B.M. Music ’93), a member of the UNCSA Board of Visitors, was a swing and dance captain on “Hadestown” before Broadway went dark, and returned for its reopening in September 2021. In March, when several cast members fell ill due to COVID-19, threatening to cancel the evening show, he stepped into character as one of the Fates — a role traditionally performed by a female-identifying cast member — and brought the house down.

A delay in rehearsals because of the Omicron surge caused alumna and director-choreographer Camille A. Brown’s take on Ntozake Shange’s 1976 Broadway landmark “for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf” to be postponed. However, it was hailed as a “thrilling and exuberant revival” by The New York Times when it finally opened in April, and received seven Tony nominations.

Five additional hotly-anticipated revivals currently on Broadway also feature the work of UNCSA alumni: “Company” (Terence Archie, B.F.A. Drama ’98), “The Music Man” (Phillip Boykin, B.M. Music ’90), “Funny Girl” (Mariah Reives, H.S. Dance ’14), “How I Learned to Drive” (Mary-Louise Parker, B.F.A. Drama ’86), and “The Skin of Our Teeth (Avery Glymph, B.F.A. Drama ’95; Evan Cook, B.F.A. D&P ’17; and Harley Haberman, B.F.A. D&P ’20).

Among the new works, Drama alumnus K. Todd Freeman (B.F.A. ’87) is part of an “impeccable cast” (Deadline) in Tracey Letts’ “The Minutes.”

On tour, Fighting Pickles have supported productions from “Dear Evan Hansen” to “Wicked.” The latter employed several current students, alumni and faculty members during its stint last October in Greensboro, North Carolina, after being postponed from November 2020. And Jimmie “J.J.” Jeter (H.S. Drama ’12) traveled to Sydney, Australia, in March 2021 to perform in the first production of “Hamilton” in more than a year.

Lauren Blair Smith (B.F.A. Dance ’20) was a company member on the national tour of Broadway staple “Fiddler on the Roof,” tackling the roles of Shprintze and Bielke, among others.

“I am still in awe of having performed with such a gifted group of artists,” said Smith, who completed more than 50 tour stops in six months. “It was an honor to share the ‘Fiddler’ story in so many communities across the United States.”

Mounting enormous productions like “Aladdin” and “Fiddler on the Roof” is never an easy feat, but pandemic safety precautions have made bringing them to the stage all the more laborious — and rewarding — for both cast and crew.

At “Aladdin,” where McLain works in a four-person hair and makeup room with fellow alums Grayson Frazier (B.F.A. Design & Production ’18) and Loryn Pretorius (B.F.A. Design & Production ’15), safety has been rigorously emphasized. In the months after the show’s reopening, cast and crew members took daily PCR tests and wore KN95 masks at all times, unless a performer was on stage. Backstage areas were outfitted with abundant air purifiers and hand-sanitizing stations.

McLain’s small crew continues to split hair and makeup duties for the entire cast, and is assigned certain actors to follow throughout the run of the show: placing mics at the top of the show, managing quick changes during the performance, and taking off and storing wigs at the end.

“My favorite character to work on is Genie,” McLain said. “His makeup involves lots of glitter, gold and precise eyeliner. It requires working very quickly and efficiently, which is a fun adrenaline rush.”

In the case of “Fiddler,” safety measures changed with nearly every tour stop.

“Our COVID-19 safety manager kept us updated on each city’s and venue’s policies and responses to the pandemic,” Smith explained. “We frequently tested to keep ourselves and, more importantly, those around us safe.” At the end of the day, she added, “It’s still about each individual doing their part for the sake of the entire team.”

This ensemble mentality is indicative of the closeness of the entire cast and crew on tour, both in and out of the theater.

“Regardless of what we were doing — from performing to moving equipment to understudying — we needed to be on point with every movement and every line, even if given last-minute notice,” said Smith.

Photos courtesy of Madison McLaine and Lauren Blair Smith

— Lauren Blair Smith, Dance Alumna

Photos by Joan Marcus and Mathew Murphy

Gratitude and emotion are deep themes for McLain and Smith when revisiting how their lives have transformed since March 2020. Their perseverance, along with that of the greater arts community, is undeniable, and they aren’t afraid to recount the challenges of the last two years in tandem with their successes.

When “Aladdin” closed, along with virtually all other arts and entertainment work opportunities, McLain initially had a difficult time expressing her creativity. “I was overcome with so many emotions that I needed to sit with,” she said. “I was grieving my dreams being put on pause and the clear vision I thought I had for my future.” During the shutdown, she worked to meet a longtime professional goal: becoming a member of IATSE Local 798, an arm of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, which spans the United States and Canada and includes more than 150,000 workers in arts, media and entertainment crafts. “I am protected and my work is valued,” McLain said of the accomplishment. She returned to work on the show as a union member.

For Smith, who was still a student when the pandemic began, reimagining postgraduation plans — like her fellowship at Lincoln Center Education — was a focus. Initially slated to start shortly after departing UNCSA, the fellowship was delayed a year and ultimately collided with the “Fiddler” tour.

“My mentors at Lincoln Center worked with me to ensure that I gained the experience and knowledge of everything the program offers,” she said emphatically, adding that she attended many virtual meetings while on tour buses, in airports and between rehearsals.

During a five-day break from touring, Smith skipped out on rest and relaxation to travel to New York City to film her fellowship’s artistic project at Lincoln Center, focused on finding inspiration in the world around us and translating it to choreography.

This deep immersion in the arts is a core value of Smith’s, and she wouldn’t have it any other way — especially when it comes to her work on “Fiddler.” The Tony Award-winning show is nearly 60 years old, yet has found new relevance in light of the war between Russia and Ukraine.

“There is a growing community focused on supporting the power of the arts for social change and the emotional relief it can provide to those who need it most,” explained Smith. “It will continue to evolve, expand and impact, and I am honored to have been part of a production that highlights increasingly relevant topics and opens up conversations in the greater community.”

The first theaters in New York City, predecessors of Broadway as we know it today, opened in the early 1700s and have closed when necessary through the years to support and protect their cast, crew and patrons — during the Revolutionary War, through many labor union strikes, and in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Through many changes, the art has endured, sparking the curiosity and appreciation of Broadway audiences for hundreds of years. That feeling is still palpable now, even in the midst of ever-present uncertainty.

“The arts are important now, more than ever, because we need the arts to understand ourselves and the world around us,” concluded McLain. “We create so that we can find new paths forward.”

The original Broadway production of “Fiddler on the Roof” premiered in 1964.

Five Broadway revivals have followed, with additional productions mounted around the globe. Based on the beloved Disney animated film, “Aladdin” opened on Broadway in 2011 and has delighted more than 10 million audience members worldwide over the last decade.

“The arts are important now, more than ever, because we need the arts to understand ourselves and the world around us.”

— Madison McLain, Design & Production Alumna

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CHANGE AGENT

GREGG MOZGALA HARNESSES THEATER TO OPEN DIALOGUE — AND OPPORTUNITIES — FOR ACTORS WITH DISABILITIES

By Corrine Luthy

the door to critical conversations. Gregg Mozgala (H.S. Drama ’96) has come to rely on that in his work as an actor and as artistic director of his own theater company, The Apothetae.

Mozgala is coming off a national tour of the play “Teenage Dick,” a modern take on Shakespeare’s “Richard III” commissioned by The Apothetae and written by Mike Lew. The play centers around the experience of Richard Gloucester, a high school senior with cerebral palsy, and the lengths he is willing to go in his quest to win the race for class president.

Playing the titular character, Mozgala was able to tap into his own life experiences to inform his portrayal of Richard. As an actor with cerebral palsy, Mozgala said Richard’s fears and anxieties are familiar, and he remembers them well from his days in the high school program at UNCSA. He recalls a time in high school when novelist, screenwriter and School of Drama alumnus Peter Hedges (“What’s Eating Gilbert Grape,” “About A Boy,” “Ben Is Back”) visited the school as a guest artist. A thought-provoking assignment from Hedges served to crack open Mozgala’s sense of identity as a disabled person.

“There was a realization that this would be a part of my life forever,” he says. “And I started to grapple with what it might mean for me personally and in this career. That anxiety and that terror became a major trait of the character in ‘Teenage Dick.’”

In many ways, Mozgala’s sense of his own identity (and his ability to come to terms with it) has evolved over the years — but his frustration with the industry is ongoing. There’s a lack in both the number of disabled actors appearing on stage and in the authentic representation of people with disabilities when they are on stage, he says.

“Once I got out of undergrad,” he said, “I realized I was only being seen for disabled roles. And even though cerebral palsy is a mobility disability, I was called in for characters with Down Syndrome, characters with autism. There was no consideration or real understanding of what it meant.”

All he wanted to do was act. So, he decided to create a path for himself.

“I never saw myself reflected on stage until I was on stage,” Mozgala said. And to see himself on stage more required taking ownership of some of the mechanisms to make that happen. In 2012, he founded The Apothetae to develop new works and roles for deaf and disabled actors. The company commissioned five writers to create new works — one of whom was Lew, who wrote “Teenage Dick.”

Mozgala was recently named an Alumni Artpreneur of the Year

by UNCSA for his work with The Apothetae, with a $20,000 grant going to support the company.

“It was almost as an experiment to say, ‘Well if I’m only being seen this way, then roles need to be created that I can actually play with characters I can inhabit where there’s that seamless integration of disability and character,’” Mozgala said. “Being able to take agency and ownership over one’s experience through storytelling, I think, is very important.”

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Photos by Lori Grinker, Carol Rosegg, David A. Spirakis and Harvey Wang

ART HAS AN UNMATCHED CAPACITY for opening

“Art is the change agent. Art enables the conversation. The play or the content is an entry point. People may not want to talk about disability, per se, but they will talk about the work, or the issue raised in that work.”

— Gregg Mozgala, Drama Alumnus That model is based on the experience of other historically underrepresented and unrepresented populations. “Other communities — communities of color, the LGBTQ+ community — developed their writers, their talents from within,” Mozgala said.

“They may have initially shared them with those specific communities and populations, but those stories eventually branched out into the larger mainstream. Theater was always the tip of the spear for that kind of representation. I was just following that model.”

In that sense, he sees “Teenage Dick” as an achievement.

Although he’s likely done with the role after tour productions at The Woolly Mammoth, Huntington Theatre and Pasadena Playhouse in the 2021-22 season, Mozgala is proud that the play has graced the stages of the Public Theater in New York, Donmar Warehouse in London, Seattle Rep and others, creating jobs for other actors and theater professionals with disabilities.

And, most importantly, it has started conversations.

“That’s what theater can do unlike any other kind of art form,” he said. “It gives people an opportunity to be exposed to people, experiences and points of view they may not be used to. And they have to deal with it in real time — theater is an art of flesh and blood.

“One of the biggest things I’ve learned is that there’s so much fear and anxiety around disability. I always say, ‘Say everything you feel like you shouldn’t say and ask everything you feel like you shouldn’t ask.’ We can always course correct in terms of semantics, but people are so afraid to even speak about it for fear of making a mistake, they won’t even try to engage in a conversation.

“Art is the change agent. Art enables the conversation. The play or the content is an entry point. People may not want to talk about disability, per se, but they will talk about the work, or the issue raised in that work.”

His own work in the space is ever-evolving — and always aimed at moving the conversation forward. It is slow and painstaking at times, but he sees some signs of progress. He’s eager to move into other mediums, to expand the reach and accessibility of his work.

“I’m really interested in developing work for film and television,” Mozgala said, “and I’m a history buff. With the idea of history as a guide, what are our stories from the dawn of time until today? How can we hit a wider audience and bring the diversity of this experience to more people that could potentially be more affordable or accessible?”

While he’s always considering how the stories of deaf and disabled people can become more visible, he shies away from calling his work advocacy. He is, first and foremost, an actor.

This summer he plays King Edward IV/Richmond in the Public Theater’s production of “Richard III” during the free Shakespeare in The Park series in Central Park, and he resumes his role in the Pulitzer Prize-winning play “Cost of Living,” by Martyna Majok, as it moves to Broadway this fall. He also helped to develop Queens Theatre’s Forward Festival of the Arts, a national festival highlighting the artistry of deaf and disabled performers.

“I’ve had to carve my own path,” Mozgala said. “And in doing so, I hope I have helped create opportunities for others as well.

Because I’m an actor at my core, and that’s ultimately what I want to do. I don’t consider myself an activist or an advocate. It’s the art that has driven the change.”

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1533 SO UTH MA I N ST. W I NSTO N- SA LEM, NC 27127-2738

Non-Profit Organization U.S. POSTAGE PAID Permit No. 1 Winston-Salem, NC

ARTIST VILLAGE

creates a welcoming, relaxing and collaborative environment for student-artists as the first newly constructed residence hall at UNCSA in 50 years.

Photo by Wayne Reich

V I S I T U N C S A . E DU/ ARTI S TV I L L AG E F OR A V I RT U A L T O U R.