are seeking their fame and fortune in bigger markets: Selena Stair in Chicago; Scott and Christen Susong in New York; and former music director, Cody Ritchie also is working in New York. While the Union Dinner Theatre is a place to hone one's theatrical crafts, the Department of Theater Arts is the place to learn those skills. Charles Fensch, chair, says the department's strong points are in its writing and film studies program, the state-of-theart University Playhouse, and the innovative Studio Theatre.
Technicolor Dreamcoat') I wanted to do, the Union Dinner Theatre might never have happened," said Taylor. "I went to what was then the Student Programs Office and got permission to put on the show. We made it a dinner theater so we wouldn't compete with the theater department's shows." Now, 62 shows later, the Union Dinner Theatre can count on full houses for every production. The theater specializes in the famed musicals of lyricist Tim Rice, who has written what many call the definitive musical dramas of recent years. The theater's 184 seats have been regularly 路 sold out for such Rice musicals as "Evita," "Jesus Christ Superstar," and "Chess." In fact, the theater's production of "Chess" beat out 844 college theater troupes to be selected as one of six shows to perform at the Kennedy Center for The Performing Arts in 1989. And some of its former actors
"Call the Serpent God to Me," a play with strong local relevance. Written by UTEP graduate student, Elena Carrillo, the drama focuses on a Hispanic girl in El Paso coping with family oppression and abuse. Wright nominated the play for the 1996 competition of the 21st Century Playwrights Festival in New York City, where it was honored as one of ten outstanding student scripts and submitted to professional theater companies for production consideration. The theater department also continues to build on its strong
Scenes from the Union Dinner Theatre production of "Tommy" presented Oct. 11 - Nov. 3.
"We're moving more strongly into playwriting. Michael Wright is heading that program and has created the Winterworks and Playworks competitions to encourage playwriting," Fensch said. This spring, as part the University Playhouse offerings, Wright will direct
history through the accomplishments of onetime students who make names for themselves in the business. Of course, the department's most famous graduate, El Paso native F. Murray Abraham, who won an academy award for his role in "Amadeus," heads the growing list. M