Alumni Notes 1940s Joan Kron ’48 writes: “At 92, I am producing, directing, and playing myself in my second documentary—in production now. My first film, Take My Nose…Please!, about comediennes and plastic surgery, is available on Hulu, Prime Video, and other streaming platforms. It was chosen as one of the 25 best documentaries of 2018 by Video Librarian magazine and won awards at the Miami Film Festival and the Berkshire Film Festival. In December 2020, I was selected as one of NextTribe’s Women of the Year.”
1950s Geoffrey Johnson ’55, a trustee and officer of the Noël Coward Foundation and Archive Trust, took time off from a steady, non-existent Broadway scene and with his former associate, Tara Rubin, cast a unique television special during the current coronavirus pandemic. One segment was cast in England (a benefit for “Acting for Others”) and another was cast in the U.S. (a benefit for “The Actors Fund”). The celebration from the two countries featured music and lyrics and a variety of Coward works performed by the actors recording at home or taping at a number of locations. Participants included: Mistress of Ceremonies Dame Judi Dench, Kate Burton ’82, Alan Cumming, Stephen Fry, Montego Glover, Derek Jacobi, Josh James, Cush Jumbo, Robert Lindsay, Bebe Neuwirth, Kristine Nielsen ’80, Julian Ovenden, Patricia Routledge, Kate Royal, Giles Terera, Emma Thompson, Indira Varma, and Lia Williams. ● Gordon Micunis ’59 is currently enjoying the diminished delights of good old New York. Painting daily in his studio, he would be delighted to hear from fellow alumni. ● Ruth Wolff ’57 writes: “I’ve kept to what I started out to do so, so long ago: writing strong roles for women—though I must admit, I’ve written quite a few strong roles for men along the way. A recent major work is The Seven Ages of DD, a play in which the story of one woman’s life, from 13 0
beginning to end, unfolds in seven scenes. The play was given a staged reading at the Jefferson Market Library in New York under the auspices of the League of Professional Theatre Women. My play A Night of Storm and Danger, in which two academics locked in a room over a stormy night are forced to confront their pasts, their futures, and their relationship, was written for either two men or two women. My newest play is a One Day in the Highlands, a play for one woman. This is a rather unusual play in two acts about art, theater, and life.” ● At the Virginia Repertory Theatre Gala on January 25, 2020, Vienna Cobb Anderson ’58 was awarded the Virginia Excellence in Theater Award for being the first woman to direct a professional stage production in Virginia. Vienna directed Boeing-Boeing and Any Wednesday at the Barksdale Theater at Hanover Tavern just outside of Richmond, VA, in 1966.
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1960s Helen Yalof ’60 writes: “So what have I been up to in all these years that I haven’t been sending notes to the Yale School of Drama Magazine? Lots of mischief. I founded several successful regional and alumni theaters. My shows and films have been performed Off-Off Broadway, in educational theater, hospitals, senior centers, hotels, organizations, concerts, cabaret theaters and festivals. I study voice building (The Ernie Castaldo/Esther Fisher method), sing a lot, and sometimes teach. I’ve been awarded commissions, scholarships, and prestigious grants from the Huntington Library (Long Island), the National Endowment of the Arts, and the New York State Council on the Arts. I am Professor Emerita and former theater chair at Queensborough Community College, City University of New York. Currently, I am polishing song demos for my singles musical, Ludwig’s Apple. It is inspired by Warner LeRoy’s Maxwell’s Plum, the flamboyant 1960s New York restaurant and singles bar. YSD scenic design graduates helped build Maxwell’s Plum and are colorful characters in my musical. I want to thank Janice Muirhead (Staff) for helping
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02 01 Joan Kron ’48. Photo by Ramona Rosales. 02 Vienna Cobb Anderson ’58
