Eve Gordon ’81 in You Can’t Take It With You, Antaeus Theatre Company, December 2012. Photo by Karianne Flaathen. ’84, dfa ’98 on the board. They started the company a few years ago with a site-specific Hedda Gabler, adapted by Royston and designed by Chris. John did a production of Strindberg’s one-act, Playing With Fire, also site-specific, last summer at The Box, deconstructed and adapted by Royston; The Seagull last winter at the Harold Clurman Laboratory Theater, adapted by Royston; The Caucasian Chalk Circle at Stella Adler Studio, lit by Chuan-Chi Chan ’10; and Double Indemnity in July at The Old Globe with Chris doing sets and Steve Strawbridge ’83 (Faculty) doing the lights. John also workshopped Ximena Escalante’s bilingual version of Electra, called Elektra Despierta, at CalArts. John’s relations with old and new Yale School of Drama friends continue unabated. Eve Gordon ’81 had a wonderful time meeting the actors of the class of ’13 at Sasha Emerson’s ’84 brunch in May, alongside Amy Aquino ’86 and Tony Shalhoub ’80. Eve recently completed a recurring role on ABC’s Don’t Trust the B in Apt 23, a rare rewarding “mom” part. She is also getting more involved in Los Angeles theatre. She took home awards for Peace in Our Time, enjoyed playing Penny in You Can’t Take It With You at Antaeus Company, and has been teaching as much as possible. Her daughters are almost grown, life is good, and Eve loves seeing old Yale friends everywhere and in these pages. Alisa Solomon ’81, dfa ’95 is still teaching at the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University, where she directs the MA concentration in arts & culture. Eugene Leitermann ’82 (Faculty) is still at Theatre Projects, the global theatre design
consultancy, and is now president of the US office, his seventh title in 18 years. The Connecticut office has moved to new permanent quarters after Hurricane Sandy flooded its former space. His colleagues John Tissot ’81 and Tony Forman ’83 are busy planning performing arts facilities around the country. Jonathan Pellow ’13 is also working with them, bringing the number of YSD alumni to four, just edging out intra-office rival Florida State, which is holding steady at three. Frances McDormand ’82 and Joel Coen are proud to announce that their son, Pedro McDormand Coen, has graduated from high school and begun 12-month course of study at Boulder College of Massage Therapy in Colorado, with plans to attend Ithaca College, where he has been accepted for the athletic training program. Frances and Joel are very excited about his decision. Other than that, Frances has produced a couple of projects this year: Every Secret Thing, a feature film directed by Amy Berg and co-produced by Anthony Bregman, for which location scouting was her favorite part; and Olive Kitteridge, which began filming in August as a four-hour miniseries for HBO, written by Jane Anderson, directed by Lisa Cholodenko, in which Frances will perform as Olive. She is also part of a new project with The Wooster Group based on an audio recording of the last surviving Shakers in Maine. It is called Early Shaker Spirituals, or: I Don’t Want to Be Remembered as a Stick of Furniture. Frances gets to sing in this one. She has also been touring museums with
Suzanne Bocanegra’s conceptual art piece entitled Bodycast, in which she performs an art lecture as Suzanne. Cecilia Rubino ’82 directed for The Moliere Festival in June at the Jerome L. Green Performance Space at WNYC, New York City’s NPR station. She was delighted to have three Yale Drama grads in her casts for School for Husbands and Imaginary Cuckold: Reg Rogers ’93, Laura Gragtmans ’12, and Brian Wiles ’12. From the Fire, which Cecilia wrote and directed, with music composed by Liz Swados, continues to be developed. She also continues to teach in the undergraduate theatre program of Eugene Lang College at The New School. Cecilia had the privilege of collaborating with Fay Simpson (Faculty) on The New School production of As You Like It in April. Geoff Cohen ’83 is working as the executive director of Shen Wei Dance Arts. Having finished a second year as executive director of George Mason University’s Hylton Performing Arts Center, Rick Davis ’83, dfa ’03 is keeping busy on other fronts as well. In May he gave a TED talk at his undergraduate alma mater, Lawrence University, called “A Midsummer Night’s Dreamliner, or, Shakespeare Saves the 787,” on how the practice of collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking that characterizes the rehearsal process can be the cornerstone of liberal education and a way to do things better across all disciplines, including designing and building airliners. Last year Rick directed a double bill, Love and Money, for Washington, D.C.’s In
Sabrina LeBeauf ’83 (second from left) with the Delaware Theatre Company cast of Love, Loss and What I Wore, March 2013.
YSD 2013–14
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