Photo by Michael Palma
“There’s a great pipeline that USC is providing not only to theatre, but to the entire entertainment industry … We’re proud to be part of that process and success.”
SPRING 2014
— Tim Dang
Along with celebrating his 20th year at East West Players, Producing Artistic Director Tim Dang was recently honored by the USC Asian Pacific Alumni Association with the 2014 Leadership Award.
Celebrating 20 Years of Success By Lynne Heffley
Photo by Craig Schwartz
East West Players, the nation’s leading professional Asian American theatre company, turns 49 this year. At its helm, Producing Artistic Director Tim Dang (BFA ’80), who led the company’s growth from a small black box space on Santa Monica Boulevard to an operation encompassing an actors conservatory, educational and community outreach programs, a prominent, nationally recognized writers institute and a fully equipped, 240-seat Equity theatre in downtown Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo district. “When I look back upon it, it’s like, wow, I can’t believe that we were actually able to move up,” Dang said. “We’ve been at this level now since 1998. It’s been an incredible journey.” And an unexpected one. As a teenager attending physics and calculus classes at the University of Hawaii while still in high school, Dang had his future pretty much mapped out. But there was that acting thing…. “I had been in a couple of plays in high school at the time,” Dang said, “one of them being The Bald Soprano by Ionesco. I really enjoyed performing.” After some soul-searching, Dang changed course. “I had heard that USC had a really strong theatre program,” he said. A “very strong financial package” cinched the deal. He couldn’t have made a better choice, Dang said. “I had the time of my life there. The theatre department was this wonderful place and the faculty members were totally supportive. In fact, my senior advisor at USC, Jack Rowe, was the one who told me to pursue East West Players.” A few months after graduation, Dang joined East West, then headed by esteemed film and stage actor Mako. “And lo and behold, I’ve been there ever since,” Dang said. Founded in 1965, East West Players was created to afford Asian American actors, writers and others opportunities beyond the stereotypes common in mainstream theatre, film and CONTINUED ON PAGE 6
A Message from the Dean School of Dramatic Arts Board of Councilors Welcome to our Spring issue of Callboard. The talented artists we highlight in this news-
N.Y. has grown thanks in no small part to the continued successes of our talented alumni. We
letter show us that life in the arts can be filled
are confident that our students will find this
with luck and chance. But above the if-then
as integral to their future successes as our Los
moments, their stories reveal that success comes
Angeles showcases have been.
from the opportunities seized. At the School, we
Lastly, we will be presenting the Robert
hope to provide many possibilities for our stu-
Redford Award for Engaged Artists to Jane
dents to find their own success.
Fonda this November. The award serves as an
Among them, our visiting guest artists pro-
inspiration to our students to what they can
gram continues to be a tremendous resource
accomplish, and an invitation for them to utilize
and benefit for our students. This semester has
their art to create opportunities beyond their
brought us Tony and Emmy-winning actor David
field of study.
Hyde Pierce, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright
As we – our students, faculty, alumni, staff and
Paula Vogel, Tony Award-winning composer
I – build on these opportunities and the achieve-
and lyricist Jeff Marx, and famed Shakespearean
ments of the School, we work to create an even
scholar Rob Clare – who shares about his “Johnny
stronger, more vibrant program that continues to
on the Spot” story in this issue.
be committed to excellence. It’s an exciting time.
Also, we are hosting our first New York Acting Showcase for undergraduates and graduates of
See you in the Fall,
the Class of 2014 this month. Our presence in
Madeline Puzo
Richard Weinberg (Chair) Michele Dedeaux Engemann (Founding Chair) Patrick J. Adams David Anderle Lisa Barkett Todd Black Tim Curry Tate Donovan Michael Felix Greg Foster Michael Gilligan Robert Greenblatt Susan A. Grode Paula Holt Donna Isaacson Mark Kogan Gary Lask Sheila Lipinsky Martin Massman Jimmy Miller Madeline Puzo Thomas Schumacher James D. Stern Andy Tennant Allison Thomas Rik Toulon
Welcoming Parent Ambassadors, Ernest and Raphael Morgan The USC School of Dramatic Arts is pleased to introduce Ernest and Raphael Morgan as our newest Parent Ambassadors representing the Dallas region. The Morgans are proud parents to Bachelor of Arts sophomore Deanna. (From left) Ernest and Raphael Morgan
Since 2008, the Morgans have been residents of Dallas. Five previous relocations have been major influences in their lives due to Ernest’s employment with United Parcel Service. Raphael formerly worked for Allstate Insurance Company. “Raphael and I are excited by the opportunities that will come as new parent leaders for the USC School of Dramatic Arts. As the School continues to grow the number of students who hail from Dallas, we look forward to many more opportunities to help build a stronger parent and alumni network and to attract more extraordinary students to the School of Dramatic Arts,” Ernest said. Volunteerism has been a constant in the couple’s lives and retirement has allowed them to take on new volunteer opportunities through their church and now with USC. When they are not volunteering, Ernest is an avid golfer who loves attending auto shows and providing
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feedback on new car models. Raphael enjoys researching family history, writing about the new discoveries, and meticulously planning memorable parties for family events. The Morgans have another daughter, Erin, who just welcomed a son, the first grandchild in the family. We are thrilled to have committed parents Ernest and Raphael Morgan as our new Dallas-area leaders. They kicked off their tenure as new ambassadors with a dinner and theatre gathering at the AT&T Performing Arts Center in Dallas around the new musical, The Fortress of Solitude, in March. This is the first of several parent and recruiting events that the Morgans look forward to being part of in the months and years ahead. If you would like to meet the Morgans or the other Parent Ambassadors in the Bay Area, New York, L.A., Boston or Houston, please email parents@sda.usc.edu for more information or call 213.821.4262.
Photos by Joan Marcus Snyder plays Josh in the Broadway musical.
Idina Menzel and James Snyder in If/Then.
If/Then Moments Lead to Broadway By Evan Henerson
James Snyder is a firm believer in the power of chance, those “only just suppose…” decisions that can take you to New York for an audition, to the party attended by your future wife, to a regional theatre in Connecticut or even, ultimately, to the Richard Rodgers Theatre where the School of Dramatic Arts graduate (BFA ’03) is wooing Tony winner Idina Menzel on a nightly basis in the new musical If/Then. The divergent paths scenario plays out nightly for Menzel, whose character Elizabeth chooses between love and career as the heroine of If/Then. Snyder can relate, since he has a few key If/Then moments of his own. If the fiancée of producer David Stone had not cajoled Stone into seeing a production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel at the Goodspeed Opera House one night during the summer of 2012, Stone might never have seen Snyder in the role of Billy Bigelow, and might never have thought to put Snyder forward for the role of If/Then’s nice guy army doctor, Josh. Then again, Snyder might not have been at Goodspeed to be seen had he not been advised by his agents to take the regional gig in Connecticut. “I can go back all the way to college, to every little funny thing that happened that led me from one job to the next job,” said Snyder. “If I had not flown to New York to audition for The Book of Mormon, I would not have done Carousel. If David Stone had fought a little harder not to see Carousel, then I would not be doing If/Then.” The path leading Snyder from the halls of Troy to Broadway is by no means a direct one, and certainly a compelling case could be made that Snyder has played a major part in creating his own good fortune. The foundation was laid at the School of Dramatic Arts where the Sacramento-raised Snyder earned his BFA. He started his career early, going to the Edinburgh
| Spring 2014
Fringe Festival the summer of his freshman year with John Blankenchip’s Experimentals project, to spend a month with his classmates mounting 13 short plays in repertory. One of those plays was the hugely zany The Star Wars Trilogy in 30 Minutes, written and directed by fellow USC alum Patrick T. Gorman. Snyder became the production’s Luke Skywalker both at the Fringe and for the next 10 years when the play was re-mounted, including an extended run at the Coronet Theatre. Gorman recalls Snyder as young and quite gung ho, a living embodiment of Luke Skywalker. “He was almost like a puppy that is very eager to please,” said Gorman, “but a puppy with a lot of talent. Being that young and having that sort of talent, you can turn into a really unpleasant jerk. James was always a really good guy who was about working hard, and that sort of thing is infectious.” Star Wars in 30 Minutes led to an L.A. production of Sneaux, directed by Andy Fickman, who would go on to cast Snyder again opposite Amanda Bynes in the Twelfth Night-inspired film She’s The Man, where Snyder mooned after a pet tarantula and firmly embraced his inner goofball. But while the character work is well and good, Snyder has been landing leading man duties since college. During his senior year, while taking on Curley in Oklahoma!, the actor learned that with great roles come great
responsibility. That particular lesson came from former SDA Professor Kelly Ward, who Snyder characterizes as a mentor. “Kelly really pushed me to be a leading man,” Snyder said. “He said, ‘This is what a leading man does. This is how you lead a company, and I will fire you if you do not stack up. You have to come in and know your stuff better than anyone else and work harder.’” “When I went on to do my first Broadway show, Cry-Baby, Kelly’s voice was in the back of my head pushing me to lead and to work my hardest,” he continued. “I don’t think I would have been the actor or the leading man that I am now if he hadn’t really pushed me.” Snyder recognizes those same company leader attributes in Menzel around whom If/Then has been constructed. “There is no pretense to her,” he said. “She is honest, she is open, she is committed and she carries the show.” With multiple gigs taking him back East, Snyder and his wife Jacqueline (a fashion designer whom he met at an USC alumni event) have relocated to New York, although they maintain a residence in L.A. for Jacqueline’s business purposes. Sharing the coast-hopping adventure is the couple’s son who turned 1 in February. “His name is Oliver, like the musical,” said a besotted James Snyder. “Mostly because when he turns 2 and asks for seconds, we can sing him a song.”
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In Memoriam Jacqueline Pavlich
Elizabeth Plumleigh
The School was saddened at the recent passing of Jacqueline Pavlich. A dancer, choreographer and instructor here at USC since 2001, Jacqueline was beloved by her students and all of her SDA family. In addition to being an exquisite performer, she was an inspiring and challenging teacher, a genuine soul and a loving friend. We will miss her passion for dance, her love for her students and her beautiful spirit.
Earlier this year, the School of Dramatic Arts lost a close friend and supporter, Elizabeth Plumleigh. Her infectious smile, warm personality and big heart permeated every event she attended. Elizabeth especially loved interacting with students, and attended their performances with great enthusiasm. We are grateful to have had Elizabeth as our dear friend, and we will deeply miss her.
Jacqueline Pavlich
Donor Marquee The USC School of Dramatic Arts would like to recognize the tremendous generosity of the following individuals and organizations whose cumulative giving has exceeded $1 million. Their foresight and commitment have helped transform the School into a leader in dramatic arts education:
Elizabeth Plumleigh
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS
The H.N. and Frances C. Berger Foundation Richard & Lori Berke Michael & Debbie Felix Brian & Dianne Morton Therese Rosenblatt & Marshall Sonenshine Richard & Diane Weinberg PRODUCERS
Teri & Gary Paul Eddie & Julia Pinchasi Robert R. Scales in memory of Suzanne Grossmann Scales David & Rebecca Scaramucci Thomas Schumacher Jeanette Shammas Michael Solomon & Kimberly Nunes James & Kathryn Stern Allison Thomas & Gary Ross
Anonymous
Andy & Sharon Tennant
Barnett Charitable Foundation
Rik Toulon
Suzanne Bruce, MD & Malcolm Waddell Tate Donovan
PATRONS
Roger & Michele Dedeaux Engemann
Patrick J. Adams
Anne Helgen & Michael Gilligan
The Ahmanson Foundation
Mark J. & Elizabeth L. Kogan Philanthropic Foundation
Anonymous
Gary & Karen Lask
Angela & Amir Bozorgmir
Sheila & Jeff Lipinsky
Kathryn & Lawrence Bryan
Ernest & Raphael Morgan
Dr. & Mrs. Peter Bing and the Anna H. Bing Living Trust
Barbara Cotler
Sally & Howard Oxley in honor of Dean Madeline Puzo
Gail & Jim Ellis in honor of Madeline Puzo
George N. Burns Trust
Oscar & Mary Pallares
Paula Holt
Katherine B. Loker
Susie & Alex Pilmer
Elizabeth C. Noble
Robert & Elizabeth Plumleigh in memory of Karen Plumleigh Cortney
Teri & Byron Pollitt
Christine Marie Ofiesh
David & Lauren Rush
Aileen & James Reilly
Jim & Leslie Visnic
Meredith & Drew Rowley
VISIONARY CIRCLE
We are grateful to those who have given wisdom, talent, time and financial resources to the benefit of the School. We would like to acknowledge the following members for their generous commitments of $1,000 or more over the past year.
DIRECTORS
Anonymous David Anderle Randolph & Ellen Beatty Todd Black & Ruth Graham Black
The Emanuel Bachmann Foundation
Ruth Tuomala & Ernest Cravalho Nancy & Peter Tuz J.W. Woodruff and Ethel I. Woodruff Foundation ANGELS
In memory of John R. Bukowiec
Joan Beber
Gregory & Marci Foster
Susan & David Berck
Marvin & Cookie Friedman
John & Leslie Burns
Eric T. Kalkhurst & Nora K. Hui
Susan A. Grode
Sara Bancroft-Clair & Pierson Clair
Craig & Jennifer Zobelein
Pat Haden from The Rose Hills Foundation
Barrie & Kent Dahl
Donna Isaacson
David Emmes & Paula Tomei
Alexander & Megan LoCasale
Freddie & Andrea Fenster
SEASON SPONSORS
Laurence Mark 4
Jimmy & Cheryl Miller
The Del Conte Family
Debra & Gary Fields in honor of Lauren Fields Richard Frankosky & Elaine Eliopoulos Laurie & William Garrett Ashley & Shelley Grant in honor of Zachary Grant Molly & David Helfet David & Debra Jensen James & Margaret Kelly The Bridges Larson Foundation Laura Lee & Alan Michael Friedman John & Laura Langford Marguerite E. Maclntyre Scott S. Mullet & Jenelle Anne Marsh Robert & Debbie Myman Dean Madeline Puzo Nancy Morgan Ritter Living Trust Andrew J. & Irene Robinson Robert & Mary Ellen Rowan Cyndy & John Scotti Rick & Jeanne Silverman Nancy Sinatra, Sr. in honor of my niece Dean Puzo The Steiner Family Carol & Grover Wilson Linda Yu
We have taken care to list names and gift designations accurately. If you believe there has been an error or omission, please contact Development Assistant Kathy Morgan at 213.821.4262 or kdmorgan@usc.edu. Thank you for your support.
We hope you will consider becoming a member. For more information about giving to the School of Dramatic Arts, please contact Sara Fousekis at 213.821.4047 or fousekis@usc.edu.
Discovering Shakespeare
Rob Clare demonstrates the extraordinary richness, dynamism and modernity of Shakespeare’s texts with the aid of alumni professional actors.
By Stacey Wang Rizzo
In this moment, a USC Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences English literature class thinks deeply about the word fadge – used by Viola in her soliloquy in Twelfth Night and, as Clare points out, was very possibly manufactured by the ElizabethanJacobean playwright. Exploring words – especially ones Shakespeare fabricated or are no longer used in modern English – is a powerful way the master teacher engages his actors and students to discover the opportunities and invitations of the text. Specifically with actors, rather than giving them signs and instructions, Clare helps them make it their own. “When we really get on to the human complexity of the Shakespeare characters without worrying about the ‘ye olde’ language – but using it to get to that complexity – the plays come alive in a way that remains truthful,” he said. The renowned Shakespeare specialist was invited by the School of Dramatic Arts for a seven-week artist residency. His spring visit included guest lecturing in the School and in classes around the university, as well as directing the second-year MFA Acting students in Pericles, Prince of Tyre at the Bing Theatre, and conducting a Shakespeare lecture and demonstration as part of Visions and Voices: The Arts and Humanities Initiative.
With about 30 years of professional experience in the theatre, Clare has spent the last 16 or so as a “Shakespeare nomad” – traveling around the world to work with actors, host workshops, guest lecture classes and direct productions. And although his life’s work is by now comprised almost exclusively of Shakespeare, Clare had no plans to work on it at all when he began his studies as a college student. “In fact, I found it pretty tedious. I suffered it as literature and really didn’t get excited about it in any way,” said Clare, whose many accolades include establishing the graduate classical acting course at Royal Central School of Speech & Drama (CSSD), in London, which he led for its first three years. As laborious as it was for him in his younger years, Clare found his encounters with Shakespeare’s works to be continual – beginning in high school, then during his undergraduate studies in English literature at the University of Oxford and eventually in his acting career. Coincidentally, it was the first job he landed close to graduation from drama school (he was himself an acting student at CSSD) that sent him on an exciting path of deepening his appreciation and understanding of Shakespeare. On the final Friday of school, he was contacted by a casting director for the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), whom he had met a couple days prior. In this exchange, he learned that an actor had dropped out in the middle of his contract and there was an opening at the bottom of the company available for him. By
USC President Nikias Visits Trojan Women USC President C. L. Max Nikias and Mrs. Niki C. Nikias met with MFA acting students following a performance of Trojan Women. The modern version of the Euripides epic, created by the MFA Acting Class of 2014 in a creative collaboration with David Bridel, combined movement, music and original text to create a contemporary, smart and powerful tale. Trojan Women – directed by Bridel, who is SDA Associate Dean of Global Initiatives, Associate Director of MFA Acting and Associate Professor of Theatre Practice – was part of the School of Dramatic Arts’ annual ambitious spring repertory, which showcases the graduating MFA Acting class. In addition to Trojan Women, the rep also included Thornton Wilder’s Our Town, directed by Cameron Watson, and Molière’s Tartuffe, directed by Professor of Theatre Practice Andrew J. Robinson.
| Spring 2014
Ryan Miller/Capture Imaging
Inspecting an imaginary item weighted in his grip, Rob Clare poses a question to a particular group of USC students that has helped many of his pupils tackle the challenging text of William Shakespeare’s plays: What does it feel like, this word?
the next Monday, Clare was in Stratford-uponAvon to start work in the RSC. Yet, even after garnering three years of theatre experience with RSC and another three as a Staff Director at the National Theatre in London, Clare’s mind was still full of confusion and questions about Shakespeare’s text. Perhaps cursed with artistic and intellectual curiosity, he wanted to further his understanding of Shakespeare’s work, but do so from an actor’s perspective. “Thinking in terms of opening up creative freedom rather than, as I felt very often from my experience, following guidance that was limiting one or trapping one in. Instead of people telling me what I should do or what one ought to do or the right thing to do, I wanted to be thinking of what one could do,” said Clare, who went on to get his doctorate in practical interpretation of Shakespeare at Oxford. As he got deeper into his research and began conducting workshops, Clare had an opportunity to test his developing ideas – exchanging these with actors, directors and teachers – to evolve an actor-friendly approach to tackling Shakespeare. He compares it to his hobby of mountaineering. “It’s a step-by-step process. You don’t climb mountains by leaps and jumps; you climb them by putting one foot in front of the other gradually,” the Shakespearean performance expert said. “If you haven’t gotten to the absolute top, that’s okay, it’s meant to be climbed another day.”
USC President C.L. Max Nikias and Mrs. Niki C. Nikias with the MFA Acting Class of 2014 and director David Bridel after a performance of Trojan Women.
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It was a performance worthy of Buster Keaton (one of Pierce’s heroes), illustrating why the actor received an unprecedented 11 Emmy Award nominations during the show’s 11-year run, winning four of them. Physical comedy came early to Pierce. Growing up, as the youngest of four, his first acting experience occurred in the morning as he came down for breakfast. “At the top of the staircase, I would get shot and fall all the way down,” he told the dramatic arts students at the Massman Theatre in February. “I’d do it most every morning,”
Celebrating 20 Years of Success
contract in its new mainstage: the David Henry Hwang Theater, named for the Tony Awardwinning M. Butterfly playwright, one of many notable East West Players alums. Among the shows Dang has directed at East West are the world premiere of Imelda: A New Musical, the Los Angeles premiere of Passion and the Ovation Award-winning Pacific Overtures and Sweeney Todd. Dang wrote the book and lyrics for Beijing Spring, and was co-writer for The Nisei Widows Club and The Nisei Widows Club: Holiday on Ice. Dang was instrumental in bringing 200 Asian Pacific American arts leaders and educators from across North America to East West in 2006 for The Next Big Bang: The Explosion Of Asian American Theatre conference. That first-time gathering led to the creation of the Consortium of Asian American Theaters and Artists (CAATA), whose fourth “theatre conference/festival” will be held in Philadelphia in October of this year. “We expect people from Great Britain, China, India and Singapore,” Dang said. “Back in the day,” he added, “because we were so small, we didn’t have a lot of opportunities to connect with each other, and now we do. We’re really proud of that.” In 2009, Dang received the prestigious $125,000 James Irvine Foundation Leadership Award for “increasing understanding of and appreciation for California’s diversity
and creating new opportunities for Asian American artists.” East West’s ongoing challenge, Dang said, is to meet a rapidly changing demographic. “As an ethnic-specific organization, East West Players was created to provide opportunities to Asian Americans,” but as the company heads toward its 50th anniversary, he said, “the stories are changing, because the playwrights are living in a different world than back in the ’60s. And yes, we are looking at Korean stories, Laotian stories, Cambodian stories, Vietnamese stories – all of them are so rich in storytelling.” East West has a commitment to tell more interracial stories, too, Dang said, pointing to the growing numbers of Asians in mixed marriages, whose offspring identify as “Hapa” Asian Americans. The company’s current season included A Nice Indian Boy, a new play exploring issues of Hindu tradition and interracial gay marriage, written by Madhuri Shekar, “who just graduated from the USC MFA playwriting program,” Dang noted. With East West’s production of USC alumnus Shane Sakhrani’s A Widow of No Importance in 2011, “we have world premiered two plays by USC graduates right out of the program. “There’s a great pipeline that USC is providing not only to theatre, but to the entire entertainment industry,” Dang said. “We’re proud to be part of that process and success.”
USC Photo/Gus Ruelas
Actor David Hyde Pierce’s visit to the USC School of Dramatic Arts began with the showing of a wordless clip of Pierce as Niles Crane in the hit TV series Frasier. In a few brilliant minutes, Pierce escalates a tiny worry about the crease on his pants into a disaster involving a couch fire, a ruined dinner and a befuddled dog.
he said, savoring the opportunity to fall and die slightly differently each time. Pierce was in Los Angeles directing the 2013 Tony Award-winning best play, Christopher Durang’s Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike at the Mark Taper Forum. Pierce played Vanya in the Broadway production and directed three of his Broadway colleagues and three others new to the play. Answering questions from students and Assistant Professor of Theatre Practice John De Mita (one of his roommates at Yale, it turns out), Pierce was generous in sharing observations on the craft. Students asked whether he watches himself in dailies (“Yes, it doesn’t bother me, it doesn’t throw me”), what acting medium he prefers (“I love the theatre, I love having that live audience”) and about his influences (“Buster Keaton, Alec Guinness, John Cleese”). Fans regularly tell him that his performances or projects he’s been in have gotten them through tough times. “I didn’t go into it as a service profession,” he said, but he appreciates how theatre expands how people feel about the world or think about themselves. Studying philosophy and literary criticism in college “deeply embedded in me that everything has to do with theatre.” He told his attentive audience: “The whole richness of life feeds what you do.”
David Hyde Pierce, a four-time Emmy winner on Frasier, reflects on his life in the theatre.
His Career Began With a Fall Down the Stairs By Allison Engel
CONTINUED FROM COVER
commercial media. Dang had faced no stigma playing lead roles in the freely diverse atmosphere of the USC School of Dramatic Arts, but as an Asian American actor then, he was aware that such opportunities “in the real world, were very slim.” The mentoring that Dang had received at USC continued under Mako. “He said it would be a lot of hard work, and that the average actor is rejected a lot, but an actor of Asian heritage is going to face even more of that,” Dang said. “He wanted to make sure that I had a thick skin.” Acting in plays and musicals, developing his directorial and producing chops, Dang took the reins at East West in 1993, following founding artistic director Mako and his successor, film veteran Nobu McCarthy. Guidance from both – Mako for his artistry and Nobu, in part, for her business acumen – was invaluable, Dang said. “I learned an incredible amount from both of them.” Applying those lessons helped Dang guide East West’s transition to an Actors Equity union 6
Alumni Marquee Boni B. Alvarez (MFA ‘07) saw the world premiere of his play, Dallas Non-Stop, at the Playwrights’ Arena. Francesca Baer (BA ‘11) was seen on the CBS drama, Intelligence, which stars Josh Holloway (Lost). James Edward Bane (MFA ’12) played Scooter in TRACERS at Rogue Machine Theatre. Adam Blumenthal (BFA ’07) was lighting designer for Above the Fold, which world premiered at The Pasadena Playhouse. Jennifer Brienen (BFA ’06) recently started a new position at Thinkwell Group as a Project Coordinator. Sophia Bush (‘03) stars as Detective Erin Lindsay on the NBC drama Chicago P.D. Steve Cuden (BA ’78) published his first book, Beating Broadway: How to Create Stories for Musicals That Get Standing Ovations. He is also on the board of directors for Pittsburgh Irish & Classical Theatre. Tim Dang (BFA ‘80) was honored with the Leadership Award by the USC Asian Pacific Alumni Association. He also celebrates his 20th anniversary at East West Players. See story on the cover. Veronika Dash (BA ‘10) was recently cast in the futuristic new film Space Samurai and in a supporting role in an upcoming comedy feature film called Gumshoes. She also wrapped her first musical film Fearless, featuring another USC alum Frankie Catalano, while in rehearsals for an experiential theatre gala (in the style of Sleep No More) celebrating the life of Howard Hughes at 72 & Sunny productions.
He also founded a performing arts school, PopRock Academy, in Alhambra – teaching students acting, dance and music.
J. August Richards (BFA ‘96) is seen as Mike Peterson and Deathlok in the ABC show Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Maedell Dixon (BA ‘71) was a guest artist at the University of Arizona School of Theatre, Film, and Television, playing Amanda in The Glass Menagerie.
Christina Linhardt (‘97) produced, wrote and directed the documentary Guantanamo Circus, which won the Hollywood FAME Award for Best Documentary in November.
Kathryn Farren (BA ’07) produced, wrote and starred in a short film called Without Words that was accepted into the Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival.
Kathryn Lochert (BFA ’12) is currently stage managing American Myth by Christina Gorman at American Blues Theater in Chicago, which is her first Actor’s Equity stage management credit.
Karolina Sivas (BA ’10) received two Indie Series Award nominations and has been officially selected into the LA Web Series Festival for her series Broken At Love. Silvas is the lead actress, creator, sole writer, executive producer and frequent director of the series.
Wyatt Fenner (BFA ’07) starred as James in James in the Giant Peach at South Coast Repertory.
Kevin Mambo (BFA ‘95) stars in The Fortress of Solitude at the Dallas Theater Center.
Briga Heelan (BA ‘09) stars in the TBS television comedy, Ground Floor.
Alma Martinez (MFA ’95) was honored by the USC Latino Alumni Association at its annual Alumni Spotlight.
Ken DelConte (BA ’63) finished his fourth independent feature film, a musical comedy spoof on Shakespeare, titled Quill & Ink.
Mark Jacobson (BA ‘11) stars in Keep on Pushing, a digital film about the Jamaican bobsled team. Zach Kaufer (BA ’12) recently made his professional debut working as production assistant on A Night With Janis Joplin at the Lyceum Theatre on Broadway. Devin Kelley (BFA ’08) stars in the new dramatic series, Resurrection, which premiered this March on ABC. She also recently wrapped leading roles in independent features Anchors and Turtle Island. Arthur Keng (MFA ’12) played Lewis in Sheila Callaghan’s Everything You Touch, directed by Boston Court Co-Artistic Director Jessica Kubzansky, at Theatre @ Boston Court. Paul Kwo (’06) plays the supporting lead in the new movie God’s Not Dead. He worked ADR on Pacific Rim, Thor: The Dark World, The Lone Ranger, Gangster Squad and Blacklist in 2013.
Joy Nash (BA ’03) starred in the film The Bang Bang Brokers. Jeff Parker (BFA ‘89) will be appearing in the new musical Days Like Today at Writers Theatre – music and lyrics by Alan Schmuckler, book by Laura Eason, inspired by the plays of Charles L. Mee, and directed by Michael Halberstam. Recently, Parker appeared as Victor Von Frankenstein in Young Frankenstein: The New Mel Brooks Musical at Drury Lane Theatre. He also teaches acting and direct for Cherub program at Northwestern University. Sasha Perl-Raver (BA ’00) hosts FX Movie Download, a reboot of FX’s long running series DVD on TV. Pete Ploszek (MFA ’12) stars in Jonathan Leibesman’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as Leonardo.
Rachel Skytt (MFA ‘12) saw a reading of her play Michael Jackson is Dead (Hee-Hee) at Theatre Asylum, presented by The Vagrancy and Los Angeles Female Playwrights Initiative. Ashley K. Singh (BFA ’08) is a production assistant for the Broadway musical Bullets Over Broadway. James Snyder (BFA ’03) stars in the new Broadway musical If/Then. See the story on Page 3. Marissa Stahl (BA ’12) appeared in the commercial “Drive” for the Grammy’s “Music Unleashes Us” Campaign, which aired on CBS. Elena Torres (BA ‘06) is acting in her third telenovela, Por Siempre mi Amor. Her first two shows, Teresa and La Que No Podia Amar, were well received in the U.S. and worldwide. All three were filmed in Mexico City by Televisa. Jason C. Turner (MFA ‘11) and his twin brother, Victor, will play the Ibeji Twins in the upcoming film Mingus Remixed, starring Obba Babatundé, Mark Christopher Lawrence and Barry Shabaka Henley. Are you an alum of the School? Tell us what you’ve been up to! Email your news to Stacey Wang Rizzo at staceykw@usc.edu.
Adam Ray (BFA ‘05) was LeSoire in the film The Heat, starring Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy.
Photo by Ken Matsui
Velina Hasu Houston Commissioned by LA Opera More than 400 Los Angeles community members joined talents with professional singers and musicians of the LA Opera for the world premiere of Jonah and the Whale, a newly commissioned community opera by composer Jack Perla and librettist Velina Hasu Houston. Houston serves as Associate Dean for Faculty Recognition and Development, Director of Dramatic Writing and Professor of Theatre at the School. The performances, conducted by LA Opera Music Director James Conlon and directed by Eli Villanueva, took place on March 21 and 22 at the Cathedral
of Our Lady of the Angels. Fifteen L.A.-based organizations participated in the prolific event – including talented student musicians, as well as a chorus drawn from schools, churches, choirs, and orchestras. Houston is an internationally acclaimed playwright who has written more than 30 plays, including 17 commissions in a career that began off-Broadway with Tea at Manhattan Theatre Club and American Dreams at Negro Ensemble Company. Most recently, her work Kokoro (True Heart) performed at USC and Cinnamon Girl at Playwrights’ Arena.
Velina Hasu Houston
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Photo by Tony Duran
Jane Fonda to Receive Robert Redford Award The USC School of Dramatic Arts will honor cultural icon Jane Fonda with the prestigious Robert Redford Award for Engaged Artists at a gala benefit dinner on Wednesday, November 5, 2014, at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. Proceeds of the event will provide scholarship support for the next generation of artists at the School.
Jane Fonda
For more information on the gala and to purchase tickets, please call 213.821.4048 or visit http://dramaticarts.usc.edu/RedfordAward2014.
Visit us at http://dramaticarts.usc.edu or call 213.821.2744.
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The multi-award-winning actress/producer is being recognized for her public commitment to social responsibility, to increasing awareness of global issues and for inspiring and empowering young people, as well as for the exemplary quality, skill and innovation of her vast body of work on screen and stage. “The Robert Redford Award for Engaged Artists honors an individual who has used his or her fame to significantly bolster public awareness of important
social issues. It is our hope that this award will inspire our students to be socially engaged in their lives and through their art,” says Madeline Puzo, Dean of the USC School of Dramatic Arts. “Jane Fonda is the consummate ‘Engaged Artist,’ distinguished by her wide-ranging philanthropic work and global impact. An eminent actress, she is a two-time Academy Awardwinner; a fervent advocate for environment issues, peace and the empowerment of women and girls; and a businesswoman and author who revolutionized the fitness industry and has positively impacted the health and well-being of countless people of all ages.” Richard Weinberg, Chair of the Board of Councilors for the USC School of Dramatic Arts adds, “By presenting this award to Jane Fonda, USC recognizes the best that the human spirit has to offer. We applaud her leadership and uncompromising efforts to better our world and strengthen the global community.”