David Geffen School of Drama, 2024 Alumni Magazine

James Bundy ’95

Elizabeth Parker Ware Dean/Artistic Director

Florie Seery

Associate Dean/Managing Director

Chantal Rodriguez

Associate Dean/Associate Artistic Director

Carla L. Jackson ’99

Assistant Dean/General Manager

Nancy Yao som ’99

Assistant Dean

Deborah S. Berman

Editor/Senior Director of Development and Alumni Affairs

David Geffen School of Drama at Yale

Board of Advisors

John B. Beinecke yc ’69

Chair

Jeremy Smith ’76

Vice Chair

Nina Adams grd ’69, nur ’77

Amy Aquino ’86

Rudy Aragon law ’79

John Badham ’63, yc ’61

Pun Bandhu ’01

Sonja Berggren

Special Research Fellow ’13

Frances Black ’09

Carmine Boccuzzi yc ’90, law ’94

Lynne Bolton

Lois Chiles

Patricia Clarkson ’85

Edgar M. Cullman III ’02, yc ’97

Michael David ’68

Wendy Davies

Special Research Fellow ’21

Sasha Emerson ’84

Lily Fan yc ’01, law ’04

Terry Fitzpatrick ’83

Marc Flanagan ’70

Anita Pamintuan Fusco yc ’90

David Alan Grier ’81

Sally Horchow yc ’92

Ellen Iseman yc ’76

David G. Johnson yc ’78

Sarah Long ’92, yc ’85

Cathy MacNeil-Hollinger ’86

Brian Mann ’79

Drew McCoy

David Milch yc ’66

Jennifer Harrison Newman ’11

Richard Ostreicher ’79

Carol Ostrow ’80

Maulik Pancholy ’03

Daphne Rubin-Vega

Tracy Chutorian Semler yc ’86

Michael Sheehan ’76

Anna Deavere Smith dfah ’14

Woody Taft yc ’92

Andrew Tisdale

Edward Trach ’58

Julie Turaj yc ’94

Esme Usdan yc ’77

Courtney B. Vance ’86

Donald R. Ware yc ’71

Shana C. Waterman yc ’94, law ’00

Kim Williams

Henry Winkler ’70

Amanda Wallace Woods ’03

On the cover: The

cast of Nikolai Gogol’s The Inspector, adapted and directed by Yura Kordonsky (Faculty). Yale Repertory Theatre, March 2025. (see story on page 15). Photo by Joan Marcus.

(left to right) Samuel Douglas ’24, Karl Green ’24, Caro Reyes Rivera ’24, Giovanna Drummond ’24, Malik James ’24 in Ruzante by Christopher Bayes (Faculty) & The Company based on the writings of Angelo Beolco, adapted by Christopher Bayes & Steven Epp, directed by Christopher Bayes. Designs by Kyle Stamm ’25 (Lighting). David Geffen School of Drama, April 2024. Photo by Maza Rey.

Dean’s Letter

Dear Alumni,

In his extraordinarily wise guide, The Actor and the Target, Declan Donnellan posits that actors have both visible and invisible work to do:

1. All the actor’s research is part of the invisible work, while the performance is part of the visible work.

2. The audience must never see the invisible work.

3. The rehearsal comprises all the invisible work and passages of visible work.

4. The performance consists only of the visible work.1

This formulation may be useful when thinking about other enterprises as well. Watching the Alumni Magazine come together is a humbling reminder of how much work of both kinds has been done to gather the reflections herein and make them visible to you. Many of our fellow alums have been generous enough to write for this issue, and the faculty and staff team have overseen a handsome redesign. This issue is a particularly powerful demonstration not only of our connections as Yalies, but also to many other kinds of communities in which we have lived and worked, for periods short and long. More than any issue in recent memory, this one makes clear how many alums

have, in their personal and professional lives, mined unexpected veins of meaning in which they remain inspired by (not to say, bound by) certain traditions of theatrical training and production.

In these pages, we may celebrate the varieties of visible work among alumni of all disciplines, for whom training at DGSD is now part of their invisible work. As practitioners of an evanescent art form, which can live longer in memory than in even the longestrunning musical, we may also recognize the mighty contributions of those who have passed from this earthly plane, leaving a reservoir of inspiration— conserved and reimagined—for generations to come.

Such a reservoir might do us golden service at a time when universities and arts organizations face uncertainty without precedent, possibly to include radical reordering of governmental priorities with little regard for consequences or for the rule of law. Just last month, Yale Rep’s production of Nikolai Gogol’s seminal play The Inspector, adapted and directed by faculty member Yura Kordonsky (and pictured on the cover), unleashed a blizzard of theatrics limning not only hilarious corruption, but also the fear and longing of the corrupt.

There is both consolation and hope in the opportunity to make art that speaks to the current moment. So as we near this fall’s 100th Anniversary of the arrival of Yale’s first drama students in 1925, this publication stirs my hopes. It represents not just a reminder of the promise of that beginning, but also of the legacy of accomplishment and generosity of spirit that have kept our school and its alumni in the vanguard of those invested in the life of the dramatic imagination, posing the most compelling questions of the day, here in the United States, and around the globe.

Sincerely yours,

James Bundy ’95 (Elizabeth Parker Ware Dean)

1. Donnellan, Declan. The Actor and the Target. New York: Theatre Communications Group, 2005.

24 A Perfectly Winding Road: Lessons from alums who work outside the lines

By Mark Blankenship ’05

The Humanity of High-Tech Wonder: How projection designers provoke emotion

Projection rendering of The Lehman Trilogy at Guthrie Theater by Hannah Wasileski ’13

Kate McConnell ’05. Photo by Nathan Amondson.

Editor’s Letter

Dear Alumni and Friends,

The publication of the DGSD Annual Magazine presents a unique opportunity to take a close look at what we’ve accomplished in the past year. Our achievements, I am happy to report, are plentiful: graduating a class of 70 extraordinary students last Spring; noteworthy appointments to our faculty, including DGSD alumni Joshua Borenstein ’02 as Chair of Theater Management and Donald Holder ’86 as Head of the Lighting Design Concentration; and alumni garnering a host of prestigious awards and leading many exciting projects. Not to be overlooked was the Rep’s critically acclaimed production of Yura Kordonsky’s (Faculty) adaptation of Nikolai Gogol’s The Inspector with a cast comprised of eight alumni and four current students (and featured on the cover!). You’ll find more about these and other significant events in the following pages. Looking—from a different perspective—is what the first feature article in this issue is all about. As we’ve discovered, some of our alumni are putting their training to use in surprising and unconventional ways. Mark Blankenship ’05, Contributing Editor, turns his investigative eye on 13 recent graduates who have steered their careers following what he

calls “A Perfectly Winding Road.” Our other feature looks at the art of projection design in “The Humanity of High-Tech Wonder.” Simply put, it’s not always what you think it is.

We also acknowledge faculty members Joan Channick ’89, Stephen Strawbridge ’83, and Jessica Wolf on their retirements. I’m sure you join me in thanking them for their decades of commitment to the School.

As always, I encourage you to stay connected to our vibrant alumni community. Write, email, post online and share your stories. I look forward to seeing you at one of our gatherings!

Warmly,

Deborah S. Berman Editor

Senior

Director

of Development and Alumni Affairs

deborah.berman@yale.edu

P.S. You may have noticed our new look. We made the Magazine a little bigger, changed our typefaces, and redesigned some of our regular sections. We hope you like it!

David Geffen

School of Drama at Yale Annual Magazine

2024–2025, vol. lxix

Editorial Staff

Editor

Deborah S. Berman

Associate Editor

Catherine Sheehy ’92, dfa ’99 (Faculty)

Managing Editor

Scott Bartelson (Staff)

Contributing Editors

Mark Blankenship ’05

Leonard Sorcher

Contributors

Andreas Andreou ’26

David Bruin ’16, dfa ’21

Cayenne Douglass (Staff)

Alan C. Edwards ’11 (Faculty)

Sasha Emerson ’84

Jason Gray ’23, som ’23

Sarah Haufrect

Edward A. Martenson (Professor Emeritus)

Cheryl Mintz ’87

Gavin D. Pak ’27

Gaby Rodriguez ’27

Roman Sanchez ’25

Lee Savage ’05

Tom Sellar ’97, dfa ’03 (Faculty)

Kavya Shetty ’26

Karen J. TenEyck ’91

Ilinca-Tamara Todoruţ ’13

Mia Van Deloo ’26

Ron Van Lieu

(Lloyd Richards Professor Emeritus)

Rob Weinert-Kendt

Davon Williams ’27

Leandro A. Zaneti ’19

Design

Gregg Chase

Yale Printing & Publishing Services

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An Extraordinary Tenure

Celebrating Joan Channick ’89

by Leandro A. Zaneti ’19

exploring the evolution of non-profit regional theater and its leadership model. Her case remains a seminal teaching tool today and exemplifies Joan’s ability to translate complex organizational challenges into accessible lessons.

Joan Channick ’89 (Faculty), who is retiring from her position as Chair of Theater Management, has long exemplified the transformative, rigorous, and empathetic leadership that is critical to the field. Behind her infamous poker face lies a no-nonsense yet playful leader whose humility and commitment to connecting and uplifting those around her has played a key role in fostering community among students and alumni.

Though Joan’s passion for theater started early, (she is credited as one of the Highland Park high school students who helped Gary Sinise and Jeff Perry transform their cafeteria for a production of Philadelphia, Here I Come! by Brian Friel, which later inspired the founding of Steppenwolf Theater Company), her path to the industry was anything but linear. After studying anthropology at Harvard and earning a law degree at the University of Pennsylvania, Joan began practicing law in Boston. She left the law behind and enrolled at DGSD in 1986 and has had a connection to the School ever since.

As a student, Joan authored the first-ever case study. It was centered on the Guthrie Theater,

Upon graduation, Joan was appointed Associate Director of Institutional Development and later became Director of Marketing at Yale Rep and began teaching Law and the Arts, which remains the most popular cross-university class at DGSD. “Law and the Arts was one of my favorite classes,” said Joshua Borenstein ’02 (Faculty), incoming Chair of the Theater Management program. “It was informative and rigorous, and I used the coursework almost immediately after graduation.

I don’t think you can overstate how influential Joan has been to nearly 40 years of theater managers.”

After leaving Yale Rep, Joan became Associate Managing Director at Baltimore Center Stage and four years later joined Theatre Communications Group (TCG) as Managing Director. While there, she worked closely with Executive Director Ben Cameron ’81 (Former Faculty) to push the organization forward. Their agenda was aggressive, including forming an online presence, establishing new grant programs, making the conference an annual event, and growing nationally. “We could not have done what we did without Joan,” Ben recalls. “We were in a comprehensive moment of reconfiguring how TCG operated and its relationship to the field. Joan was absolutely the person who drove the internal reorganization and reanimation. And she was remarkable. Joan listened deeply to everybody and had the absolute purest, strongest sense of loyalty from the staff.”

After eight transformative years at TCG, Joan was named Managing Director of Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, where she immersed herself in the local nonprofit landscape and created pathways for new voices and new audiences. Two years later, when the position of Associate Dean at DGSD was created, Joan embraced the opportunity to take on this leadership role at the School. “It truly represents my dream job,” she mentioned in a Playbill article at the time.

As Associate Dean, Joan oversaw student life,

Joan Channick ’89 (Faculty) (center) with second-year Theater Management MFA candidates.

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including recruitment, financial aid, professional development, post-graduate placement, and Title IX. She also served as Chair of the Board of the Yale Cabaret. Her support of the student-run theater was unmatched. She and her late wife, Ruth Hein Schmitt, were familiar faces at nearly every production. “Her efforts as Associate Dean fundamentally reshaped the way DGSD supports its students. She revolutionized the way the School attends to student life,” said James Bundy ’95 (Elizabeth Parker Ware Dean)

As an administrator, one of her greatest strengths was her ability to identify great candidates for the program. “Whenever we had a search at the School, I wanted Joan on the search committee. She has an unbelievable eye for spotting talent and was an incredible voice to have in the room discussing selections,” said former Deputy Dean and Managing Director of Yale Rep, Victoria Nolan (Professor Emerita).

When Joan was chosen to lead the Theater Management program as Chair in 2017, her impact was immediate. In her first year, she increased the representation of BIPOC faculty members, reduced the first-year workload by 60 hours, and added four new workshops. “Joan did a remarkable job of broadening the faculty, bringing diversity, depth, and a range of experience to every spectrum of the program,” reflected Naomi Grabel ’91 (Faculty). She also led a comprehensive review of the curriculum and was committed to what she called “the social purposes of theater.”

“She didn’t just tread water in the conversation— she really moved the needle,” said Jason Najjoum ’18, SOM ’18 who worked closely with Joan on curriculum review. One of her explicit goals was to strengthen the training of people with an artistic focus because, as she said, “there is no real training for artistic directors in the field.”

Throughout her tenure, Joan modeled a leadership style that promoted increased empathy and an unwavering commitment to her students. She regularly welcomed students into her home, embracing both their professional and personal lives—and even officiated at an alumni wedding!

“The thing I’m proudest of is the phenomenal cadre of students that I’ve taught over the years and what they’re doing in the world now. I think of teaching as a different kind of service to the field. For the last 16 years, my role has been helping to support, train, and launch future theater leaders. Through their work, a little bit of what they learned from me is influencing the impact they are making,” she said.

Joan’s extraordinary legacy will live on in the countless students and colleagues she taught and inspired. Reflecting on her journey, she shared, “I remember making the decision to apply to the School and quit my job as a lawyer and the excitement of coming here and making my life in theater, because that’s where my heart is. I’ve never regretted it. It was the best thing I ever did, and it’s never felt like work to me. What a joy and privilege to be able to make a life in the theater and do the work I care about at a place that I love and believe in.”

Joan Channick ’89 (Faculty) sailing through the air on an indoor zipline during a Theater Management program outing.

1987 Yale Summer Cabaret team including Joan Channick ’89 (Faculty) (second row, fourth from left). Photo by Paul J. Penders.

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An Illuminating Legacy: Stephen Strawbridge ’83

After 32 years of teaching at DGSD, Stephen Strawbridge ’83 (Faculty) is retiring from his post as the Head of the Lighting Design Concentration and Lighting Design Advisor at Yale Rep. Strawbridge joined the faculty in 1993 and began co-chairing the Design program with the late Ming Cho-Lee DFAH ’20 (Faculty Emeritus) in 1996, then in 2012 with Michael Yeargan ’73 (Faculty), stepping down from that role in 2021. He supported his students with a keen and compassionate eye, navigated complicated inter-departmental relationships with clarity and calm, and found time to continue his exemplary professional work as a designer. This included 28 shows at Yale Rep—more than any other artist in the theater’s history.

“I’ve known Stephen since he was a student at the Drama School, then as a fellow faculty member and co-chair of the Design program. He has been a cherished colleague on many productions. His work has a subtle precision that always captures the essence

of whatever he is working on,” said Yeargan. “I love watching him meticulously focus lights one by one, sculpting the shape of the world of the play. I say ‘world of the play’ because when he works he is not just illuminating the set, but also the essence of all the discussions we have had to arrive at that moment.”

In addition to teaching myriad students throughout his tenure, Strawbridge has designed well over 300 theater, opera, and dance productions world-wide, including at nearly every resident theater in the country. “It has been an extraordinary privilege to have a colleague who begins by reading plays with a lively imagination for their theatrical poetry in action, and who brings habits of technical mastery and respectful sensitivity to his collaborators with every production process,” said James Bundy ’95 (Elizabeth Parker Ware Dean), who has worked alongside Strawbridge six times, including on productions of Happy Days, Hamlet, Death of a Salesman, and Ladies of the Camellias at Yale Rep.

Stephen Strawbridge ’83 (Faculty). Photo by T Charles Erickson.

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(pages 9–10) Photos featuring the lighting design of Stephen Strawbridge ’83 (Faculty).

Strawbridge is acknowledged as a professor and mentor whose commitment spans the personal and professional lives of his students. Alan C. Edwards ’11 (Faculty) says, “Steve has an innate ability to make sure everyone feels included, and he has inspired a new generation of artists. Because of him my own education has continued well past my time as a student, not only as a designer and teacher, but as a human in the world.” Kyle Stamm ’25 agrees: “Stephen is always here for his students and willing to hop all over campus to help at a moment’s notice. He is a joy to be around, making us laugh through learning and providing feedback—which is always offered with kindness and love. He wants us to improve and will do anything to help us reach that goal. And even when we fail, there is always a moment of encouragement to learn what to do better next time. Stephen creates an environment free of the fear of hierarchy—you can go to him with any question or even a joke. His knowledge of theater (and boats!) is impressive.” Alumnus Yi Zhao ’12, who studied under

both Steve and Jennifer Tipton (Professor Emeritus), noted that “Steve’s hands-on, pragmatic approach and wry sense of humor perfectly complemented Jennifer’s teachings. He cared about his students as much as any devoted teacher. To this day I still deeply miss our Friday seminars.”

This sense of connection and admiration felt by students is mirrored in the relationships Strawbridge has built in the industry. He has worked with a

Democracy in America, developed and directed by Colette Brooks ’78 and Travis Preston ’78 at Yale Repertory Theatre, 1992. Photo by Gerry Goodstein.

Jessica Frances Dukes and Jerod Haynes in Native Son by Nambi E. Kelley, adapted from the novel by Richard Wright at Yale Repertory Theatre, 2017. Photo by Joan Marcus.

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remarkable group of directors and choreographers including Martha Clarke, Graciela Daniele, Barry Edelstein, Richard Foreman ’62, Athol Fugard DFAH ’83, Loretta Greco, Mark Lamos, Kenny Leon, Emily Mann, Kathleen Marshall, Tarell Alvin McCraney ’07 (Faculty), Trevor Nunn, Diane Paulus, Seret Scott, Bartlett Sher, Rebecca Taichman ’01, John Tillinger, Eric Ting, Robert Wilson, Mark Wing-Davey, and Robert Woodruff. His work extends to dance, where he has designed for the companies Pilobolus Dance Theatre and Alison Chase/Performance.

Reflecting on his time at Yale, Strawbridge said: “It has been an enormous privilege to be part of the Drama School community for so many years.

I feel extremely lucky to have been accepted as a student (on my second time applying) and even more lucky to have been made part of this great faculty. I was, I’ll admit, somewhat intimidated taking my place alongside such giants as Ming (Cho Lee), Michael (Yeargan), Jane (Greenwood), and Jennifer (Tipton), having been their student, but they treated me like a colleague, and for this, I am forever grateful. The job has been rewarding beyond measure. My fellow faculty are an inspiration, and the students never stop opening my eyes to fresh perspectives and ways of approaching the work.”

Strawbridge will continue to teach half-time until June 30, 2027.

(above) Jarlath Conroy and Dianne Wiest in Happy Days by Samuel Beckett at Yale Repertory Theatre, 2016. Photo by Joan Marcus.

(top right) Charles S. Dutton in Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller at Yale Repertory Theatre, 2009.

Photo by Joan Marcus.

(right) Paul Giamatti ’94, DFAH ’23, YC ’89 and Marc Kudisch in Hamlet by William Shakespeare at Yale Repertory Theatre, 2013.

Photo by Christopher Ash ’14.

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Jessica Wolf: Always in the Moment

by Ron Van Lieu (Lloyd Richards Professor Emeritus)

“I put my hands on, and I listen with my hands to the shape changes,” says Jessica Wolf (Professor Emerita), Alexander Technique teacher extraordinaire. How I love that image; how beautiful it is to realize that one could listen with one’s hands. With patience and respect for individuality, Jessica offered her hands to the students of the acting program from 1998 to 2024; lucky them and lucky me. I arrived in 2004 to assume the responsibilities as Chair of the Acting program. Jessica had been there for five years, a one-person department of Alexander for actors. She greeted me with warmth and openness, and I knew immediately that the program was in the right hands. I soon went to work to expand and better support her needs.

Jessica produced the first three-dimensional animated film of the respiratory system, a companion tool to her book Jessica Wolf’s Art of Breathing: Collected Articles. In addition to its educational value, the film depicts the way humans access and release breath with grace and ease in our natural and undefended state. I recently learned that the damage resulting from an automobile accident at the age of 16 is what ultimately led Jessica to seek Alexander work. The joy she found in slowly being able to reclaim the natural function of breath as a support for sound must be one of the reasons she is so dedicated to passing on the technique. Such delicate and deeply personal work takes time. I sometimes needed to be reminded of this, especially when I was expressing impatience with a particular student’s progress during an evaluation. In a quiet, but firm and decidedly non-negotiable tone, Jessica was the defender of the student’s needs. “I have time” was her mantra—time to be present, in the moment, and free from the demands of a fast-moving universe. Progress and change are not to be rushed nor determined by the clock or calendar. Although patience is hardly the hallmark of a young, ambitious actor, Jessica’s faith never wavered when time and patience were offered and accepted.

Despite the international respect she has garnered for her work, one of Jessica’s accomplishments is quite particular to me: she is the only Alexander teacher in my 50 years of teaching that has gotten me on an Alexander table. I am not an easy candidate; tension

is the only thing holding me together. Ignoring my threats, however, in her seductive way, she lured me into the small Alexander room at 305 Crown. It was during that session that I got a glimpse of the quiet calm that came from those hands listening to the changes in my body. Freed from the stress of academic administration, my mind was released to live in the present. It was not a change, but it was certainly an opening. What a gift she offered me and countless others.

I regret that we had little time to work as a team in the classroom, though Jessica would occasionally stop in to watch me teach and lead some hands-on work. I always felt that her greatest desire was to release actors—open their hearts, breath, feelings, and imagination so that the natural gifts they possessed were seen and heard—a goal she so beautifully accomplished.

James Bundy ’95 (Elizabeth Parker Ware Dean), Jessica Wolf (Professor Emerita), and Tamilla Woodard ’02 (Faculty) at a retirement celebration for Jessica.

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Donald Holder ’86 Appointed Head of Lighting Design

In July 2025, Donald Holder ’86 will join the faculty of DGSD as Head of the Lighting Design Concentration and Lighting Design Advisor at Yale Rep. Holder is renowned for his groundbreaking lighting design. His work has been seen in more than 60 Broadway productions and hundreds of American regional theaters, international venues, and opera companies including the Metropolitan Opera, English National Opera, Dutch National Opera, and the Berlin Staatsoper. A partial list of Holder’s notable Broadway productions include South Pacific, My Fair Lady, M Butterfly, Ragtime, The King and I, A Streetcar Named Desire, and The Lion King.

Joshua Borenstein ’02 Named Chair of Theater Management

by Davon Williams ’27

Joshua Borenstein ’02 (Faculty) has been appointed Chair of Theater Management and Assistant Professor Adjunct. He succeeds Joan Channick ’89 (Faculty)

Borenstein brings to the position more than two decades of leadership in nonprofit theater. He was awarded a TCG New Generations grant, launching the start of his career at the Huntington Theatre Company in Boston. He returned to New Haven, rising through the ranks at Long Wharf Theatre, first as General Manager in 2003, then as Interim Managing Director followed by Associate Managing Director. In 2007 he

He has been recognized with two Tony Awards, 14 Tony nominations, an Obie Award, and a Lucille Lortel Award. Holder’s work in film and television includes Smash (NBC), The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon), and Gossip Girl (HBO Max).

A lighting educator for nearly 20 years, he has served as the head of lighting design at Cal Arts and Rutgers University. While at DGSD, he studied with Jennifer Tipton (Former Faculty). His connection to Yale has remained strong over the years, designing nine productions at Yale Rep. Don’s wife, Evan Yionoulis ’85, YC ’82 (Former Faculty) is an Obie award-winning director and chaired the Acting program at the School from 1998–2003. She is currently Richard Rodgers Dean and Director of the Drama Division at Juilliard.

Holder will continue the tradition of merging technical expertise with dedication to training the next generation of artists in the field.

left the theater to be a consultant with AMS Planning & Research before returning to Long Wharf as Managing Director from 2011–2019. He founded Odyssey Associates, a firm which advises arts organizations shortly thereafter.

A faculty member at DGSD since 2017, Borenstein currently teaches Theater Organizations, and Introduction to Financial Management, and he serves as a case study advisor. In this new role, he will continue to strengthen commitment to antiracism, equip students for leadership in a shifting landscape, and enhance career support for alumni.

Channick expressed her enthusiasm for the appointment: “Josh and I have known one another since he was a student. We worked together at Long Wharf, and he was one of the first people I invited to join the Theater Management faculty when I became Chair. He is the ideal person to assume leadership, as he is a seasoned theater manager with extensive knowledge of the field, as well as a brilliant teacher.”

Theater Management student Maya Louise Shed ’25 echoed this sentiment, saying, “Josh has been a formative part of my continued development as a leader and changemaker. I cannot wait to see his influence on the future of the field in this new role.”

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Leading with Vision: Teresa Eyring’s ’89 Transformative Years at TCG

The alumna recently stepped down from her position as Executive Director of Theatre Communications Group. Rob Weinert-Kendt, Editor-in-Chief of American Theatre, offers a tribute to his colleague.

by Rob Weinert-Kendt

On a trip from her native Baltimore to New York to see a Broadway show when she was age 10, Teresa Eyring ’89 looked away from the action onstage toward the audience and wondered, “Who gets the people here?”

It was a sophisticated thought for a tween, but it pointed a straight arrow to her adult career, first as an administrator at several major U.S. theaters, then as executive leader of the national arts service organization Theatre Communications Group (TCG) from 2007 to 2024. At that influential post, Eyring helped lead the theater field at large through several challenges, including a recession and a pandemic. Under her watch, TCG prioritized antiracism and equity well before the racial reckoning of 2020.

A crucial step in Teresa’s ascent was a Theatre Administration degree from DGSD (the program is now called Theater Management), where Ben Mordecai (Former Faculty), Associate Dean and the program’s Chair, gave her some crucial encouragement. At the time, her sights were set on a position as “chief development officer at some big

theater,” she recalled, but Mordecai pushed her to aim higher. “He said, ‘You know, I think you have the potential to be an executive director. You’ll do plenty of fundraising in that role—but you have what it takes.’”

What did Mordecai see in her? “I think it was the ability to contemplate the big picture,” Teresa said, “and at the same time the ability to navigate the details to get things done.”

Teresa got plenty of things done in her tenure as managing director at Philadelphia’s Wilma Theater and Minneapolis’s Children’s Theatre Company.

And certainly, leading TCG was all about the big picture. “I loved working at one company, serving one community,” she said, “but I also had this desire to be able to climb up the mountain and look out and survey the landscape.”

At TCG, of course, she didn’t just survey the landscape—she also had a role in shaping it. For her, these two jobs are inseparable. “I’ve always been a listening leader,” she said, “listening to what people are trying to get done as leaders themselves and supporting that as much as I can.”

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Theater Kid at Heart

by Jason Gray ’23, SOM ’23

Chiara Klein ’17, SOM ’17 is a self-described “theater kid.” As a teenager, she directed a children’s production of Fiddler on the Roof at her synagogue, performed in her high school’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and attended the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival’s apprentice program, where she took master classes and performed with professional artists.

As a theater major at Dartmouth, Chiara learned the real meaning of “the show must go on.” Just before tech rehearsals for a staging of Little Shop of Horrors, the show’s iconic puppet, Audrey II, was no longer available for use in the production. Undaunted, she flew to Virginia (where she had located a replacement), rented a U-Haul, and drove the prop sixteen hours back to campus. While in school, she organized the Dartmouth Rude Mechanicals, a theater collective that still thrives today. And after graduation, Chiara founded MaineStage Shakespeare, an outdoor repertory company and youth theater camp in southern Maine, which she ran for seven years as artistic director.

Eager to enhance her artistic and management skills, Chiara enrolled in the dual MFA/MBA program at DGSD. She was elected class speaker at the School of Management’s commencement and received the Drama School’s George C. White Prize,

acknowledging her extraordinary contributions to Yale and her level of professionalism and collegiality.

Chiara’s first job after school was at the Public Theater, working on the Mobile Unit, a project that brings performances to communities in New York’s five boroughs. It didn’t take her long to expand the program, taking theater across the country with an 18-stop tour of Lynn Nottage’s Sweat. When her Public Theater colleague Stephanie Ybarra ’08 became the artistic director of Baltimore Center Stage, Chiara enthusiastically joined her there as Director of Artistic Producing.

Recently, Chiara returned to The Public as Director of Producing & Artistic Planning, a job whose responsibilities sit comfortably for her at the intersection of art and business. She oversees artistic operations, including the Mobile Unit tour and the much-anticipated renovation and reopening of the Delacorte Theater in Central Park. This year, The Public will celebrate the 50th anniversary of A Chorus Line and the 10th anniversary of Hamilton, milestones that Chiara is excited to program. She couldn’t be happier with the assignments, because as she says, she’s still a theater kid at heart.

Oskar Eustis and Chiara Klein ’17, SOM ’17 at Hell’s Kitchen opening night at the Public Theater. Photo by Simon Leuthi.

Chiara Klein ’17, SOM ’17 inspired by Lucy’s doctor booth in You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.

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Alumni and Current Students Join Forces in The Inspector

by Gaby Rodriguez ’27

A production of Nikolai Gogol’s The Inspector, newly adapted and directed by Associate Chair of Directing, Yura Kordonsky (Faculty), premiered at Yale Rep in March. The cast and creative team were made up almost entirely of students, faculty, and alumni—Whitney Andrews ’24, Edoardo Benzoni ’25, Samuel Douglas ’24, Brandon E. Burton ’20, John Evans Reese ’20, Malik James ’24, Annelise Lawson ’16 (Faculty), Chinna Palmer ’25, Grayson Richmond ’25, Darius Sakui ’26, Nomè SiDone ’23, and Elizabeth Stahlmann ’17 rounded out the cast of Russian characters. “The rehearsal room was such a supportive environment because we all understand each other’s work and share a common language,” remarked Sakui.

The design team included Matthew Armentrout (Hair), Silin Chen ’25 (Scenic), KT Farmer ’25

(Costume), Minjae Kim 김민재 ’25, EPH ’19 (Sound), and Masha Tsimring ’13 (Lighting). Sophia Carey ’25 and Georgia Petersen ’26 served as Production Dramaturgs; Adam Taylor Foster ’25 served as Stage Manager; Caileigh Potter ’26 and Hannah Louise Jones ’25 served as Assistant Stage Managers; Cian Jaspar Freeman ’25 served as Technical Director; and Arseniy Gusev MUS ’24 composed original music for the production.

The collaborative process began early with a workshop led by Kordonsky on campus last year. Chen, Scenic Designer, emphasized the dynamic: “A trusting relationship existed within the team; while Yura adapted and translated the script, we worked together on design elements. It truly was a joyous joint effort.”

(top row, left to right) Malik James ’24, Edoardo Benzoni ’25, John Evans Reese ’20, Grayson Richmond ’25, Brandon E. Burton ’20, Darius Sakui ’26, Whitney Andrews ’24; (bottom row, left to right) Chinna Palmer ’25, Elizabeth Stahlmann ’17, Samuel Douglas ’24, Nomè SiDone ’23, and Annelise Lawson ’16 (Faculty). Photo by Thomas Mundell, Marathon Digital.

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DGSD Alumni and Students Create Chinese-Inspired Immersive Exhibition

by Cayenne Douglass (Staff )

Inspired by historic Chinese mailrooms—vital community hubs before the advent of modern technology—The Mailroom was a partnership among the New Haven International Festival of Arts & Ideas, Yale-China Association, and DGSD. This 2-day interactive exhibition celebrated spaces of connection, belonging, and shared experience.

Conceived by eleven current students and recently graduated alumni, the project was the first-ever collaboration among international colleagues from mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Designerled, the exhibit fostered immersive, open-ended storytelling shaped by sensory experience.

At the entrance, visitors encountered a large window—a hallmark of traditional Chinese mailrooms, where attendants managed letters, parcels, and phone calls. Beyond the communal entryway lay the heart of the exhibit: 116 mailboxes, each one varying in material and size, ranging from approximately one to four square feet. The artists hand-painted each mailbox, transforming them into tactile archives that honored Chinese culture and collective stories.

The eclectic nature of the wall mirrored traditional multi-dwelling homes where each family had a mailbox that uniquely represented their household. In the exhibit, some boxes did not open; others were empty, introducing an element of unpredictability. They transported visitors to distinct, but undefinable memories. For example, one box evoked a nighttime seashore. Its interior was pitch black and its floor was filled with sand, infusing it with the scent of the sea. When opened, a rush of wind blew through the box, joined by the sound of waves crashing in rhythmic time. Another mailbox served as a portal to a Chinese corner store reminiscent of the 1970-80s—a nostalgic tribute to a place that felt like a little slice of heaven for many Chinese children. Inside was a colorful assortment of sweets and treats, toys and trinkets piled high in metal baskets and plastic egg crates. The smell of familiar candies perfumed the air, and the sound of youthful chatter and cheer emanated from within.

Xi (Zoey) Lin 林曦 ’26 peering through the opening of one of the mailboxes before installation.

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Many mailboxes were poetic in how they addressed memory and time. Inside another box was an old pocket watch. When a visitor picked it up, the sound of ticking began and grew louder while the lighting shifted, altering the atmosphere. The moment the watch was returned to its place, the ticking stopped, and the lighting reset. This simple but powerful interaction reinforced the exhibition’s theme: memory as something ephemeral, yet deeply felt.

The Mailroom fostered individual engagement and collective reflection. No two audience members experienced the mailboxes in the same way, leading visitors to compare their interpretations. Set Designer, Jennifer Yuqing Cao 曹语晴 ’26, a Yale-China Arts Fellow, spoke about this, saying, “Hearing conversations about how people share memories that are triggered by the mailboxes was beautiful and was one of our intentions—we wanted to see how people connect with each other.”

In addition to Cao, collaborators included Joy Xiaoyue Chen ’26 (Producer), Hope Binfeng Ding ’25 (Associate Producer), Yung-Hung Sung 宋永鴻 ’25 (Lighting Designer), Lyle Laize Qin ’26 (Costume & Fabric Designer), Xi (Zoey) Lin 林曦 ’26 (Sound Designer & Composer), Steph Lo 盧胤沂 ’26 (Production Manager), Cathy Ho 何家寶 ’26 (Technical

(left) Steph Lo 盧胤沂 ’26 constructing one of the mailboxes.

(below) Treats and sweets inside one of the mailboxes, bringing memories of a 1970–80s corner store in China.

(b0ttom) Jennifer Yuqing Cao 曹语晴 ’26 painting a mailbox frame.

Photos courtesy of Joy Xiaoyue Chen ’26 and Celia Weiqing Chen ’26.

Director), John Horzen ’24 (Projection Designer), Chloe Xiaonan Liu ’24 (Stage Manager), and Celia Weiqing Chen ’26 (Lighting Designer).

Reflecting on the project’s significance, Cao spoke to how rare it was that Chinese students at the School got to work together on something so connected to their culture. “In our productions, our teams are assigned, so we rarely get to work on a story that is so deeply culturally relevant to us individually.” In this way, the project itself mirrored the essence of mailrooms—bringing people together within a community.

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Burry Fredrik Design Fellowship Benefits Graduating Student and Connecticut Theaters

The Burry Fredrik Design Fellowship is dedicated to launching the careers of graduates from the Design program at DGSD. Each year, one graduating student is selected and awarded a $10,000 grant. For the next two years, any Connecticut producing theater where the graduate is hired will receive funds in an equal amount to the standard designer’s fee. The fellowship is a visionary philanthropic endeavor, fostering intergenerational collaboration and increased recognition of a new wave of talent from the School. In 2024 the Foundation awarded fifteen design fees to Connecticut theaters, signifying the popularity and success of the program.

This year’s fellow is third-year MFA candidate in costume design Athur Wilson ’25. Wilson is a

Dramaturgy and Dramatic Criticism student

Tia Smith ’26 was given the S. Randolph Edmonds Young Scholars Award at the 38th Annual Black Theatre Network Conference in WinstonSalem, North Carolina, recognizing her for her paper “The Making of Eden: An Exploration of the Black Theatrical and Political Climate of Steve Carter’s Pan-African Romeo and Juliet.” In honor of Shepperd Randolph Edmonds, a leading Black theater scholar, the award “seeks to encourage young researchers to pursue scholarship in Black theatre.” Tia first wrote the paper as her undergraduate thesis at Duke University before presenting it at the conference last July. Tia proposed Eden to the Yale Repertory Theatre season planning committee

Southern California native whose credits include Cactus Queen, Uncle Vanya, and Marys Seacole at DGSD, and the spring production of Notes on Killing Seven Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Board Members at Yale Rep.

“Attending DGSD was a huge risk I took to follow my dream. I am speechless and very moved to be awarded this fellowship from The Burry Fredrik Foundation. After studying with the most innovative and influential designers, receiving this honor is the cherry on top of three incredible years at Yale,” said Wilson.

“We are so pleased to offer the Burry Fredrik Design Fellowship to Arthur Wilson—the first costume designer awarded since the program’s inception in 2017,” said Barbara Pearce, Chair of The Burry Fredrik Foundation Board of Directors. “This Fellowship, named after Burry Fredrik, who herself was a designer and had many other roles in the theater, has enriched the Connecticut theatrical community, and promoted the careers of exceptional designers from Yale. We are so looking forward to Arthur’s future creations.”

With this honor, Arthur joins a prestigious list including Claire DeLiso ’17, Frederick Kennedy ’18, Stephanie Osin Cohen ’19, Evan Anderson ’20, Camilla Tassi ’22, Marcelo Martínez García ’23, and Omid Akbari ’24.

last year. The play was staged at the Rep this January and Tia served as one of the production dramaturgs.

“One of the reasons why I proposed Eden is that the play focuses on how we, as Black people, see each other. I am passionate about plays that reveal the diversity of the Black diaspora. More than any other play, I related to Eden as I am the descendant of both Black Americans and Black immigrants living in the U.S., which is also true of Steve Carter himself,” said Smith.

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Technical Design and Production student Twaha

Abdul Majeed ’25 received the William J. Reynolds Award for Excellence in Theater Safety, given to a DGSD community member who best typifies the qualities of William J. Reynolds ’77 (Former Faculty), who served as Director of Theater Safety and Occupational Health from 2008 to 2017. Recipients must show a commitment to the highest standards of health and safety practices in the theater through professionalism, dedicated service, and kindness. Nominations come from the DGSD community, and the final recipient is selected by a panel of judges. Anna Glover (Faculty), Director of Theater Safety and Occupational Health, said: “Twaha is an innovator and constantly thinks outside the box to craft new ways of working that center physical, mental, and emotional health.”

Directing student Alexis Kulani Woodard ’25 received the Princess Grace Award, an honor stewarded by the Princess Grace Foundation USA, which is “dedicated to upholding the legacy of Princess Grace of Monaco (née Grace Kelly)… and recognizing artists who demonstrate exceptional promise in the early stages of their respective fields of theater, dance, or film.” Reflecting on the award, Woodard said, “I have long been moved by the extraordinary support of the Princess Grace Foundation for some of our nation’s emerging and inspirational artists. To be counted among the number of so many I have admired is deeply artistically affirming and pushes me further toward my purpose as a director and theater maker.”

The Dramaturgy and Dramatic Criticism program welcomed Kee-Yoon Nahm ’12, DFA ’16 as a Visiting Associate Professor this past fall. Nahm is also Associate Professor of Theatre Studies at Illinois State University and Festival Dramaturg for the Illinois Shakespeare Festival. At DGSD, he is teaching Asian American Theater, Criticism Workshop, as well as the School’s oldest class, Drama 6: Survey of Theater and Drama. “I’m excited to be back and teaching at the program that made me who I am as an artist and a scholar,” Nahm shared.

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The Play’s the Thing Goes on Tour

by Gavin D. Pak ’27

The history of Yale Repertory Theatre has been immortalized in The Play’s the Thing: 50 Years of Yale Repertory Theatre, a publication of Yale University Press by award-winning dramaturg and playwright James Magruder ’88, DFA ’92. This diligent and delightfully dishy read is divided into four chapters, each covering the tenure of one of the Rep’s four artistic directors. The Play’s the Thing weaves a tapestry of the countless artists who have contributed to the Tony Award-winning theater’s legacy as informed by interviews with 127 people, as well as Magruder’s own research.

“I spent weeks at a time in the Pamela Jordan Scrapbook Collection at the Haas Family Library,” Magruder explains. “I was around for the Richards, Wojewodski, Jr., and Bundy regimes and saw nearly all of the shows in their tenures that I cover in the book.”

Since its publication, The Play’s the Thing has gone on tour. Last September, Magruder visited Washington DC’s Shakespeare Theatre Company to speak with Artistic Producer Drew Lichtenberg ’08, DFA ’11 about the book. “It was especially meaningful to have Drew, my former student, be the host in Washington. I felt as if I had passed the dramaturgical torch to him, one that Robert Brustein ’51, MAH ’66 (Former Dean) lit originally when he rebooted the School over a half-century ago,” Magruder shared. In a celebratory homecoming in early November, Magruder spoke with DGSD Chair of Dramaturgy

and Dramatic Criticism Catherine Sheehy ’92, DFA ’99 (Faculty) at Yale Repertory Theatre, with an audience comprised of faculty, students, and local fans of the Rep. Shortly after, Magruder appeared in a program alongside Angels in America playwright Tony Kushner at the New York Performing Arts Library, where Executive Director Roberta Pereira ’08 introduced the conversation.

When Artistic Director James Bundy ’95 (Elizabeth Parker Ware Dean) approached Magruder in 2015 with the project, Magruder remembers thinking, “I could use the money.” Now having written the preeminent text on the history of the institution’s first 50 years, he reflects: “It was only toward the end of the eight-year process that I realized how important the assignment was. The money gig had become a labor of love, and I was proud of being entrusted with what became a very special job.”

The Play’s the Thing: 50 Years of Yale Repertory Theatre was published on September 24, 2024.

(left to right) James Magruder ’88, DFA ’92, author of The Play’s the Thing: 50 Years of Yale Repertory Theatre with Drew Lichtenberg ’08, DFA ’11, Catherine Sheehy ’92, DFA ’99 (Faculty), and Tony Kushner.

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Alumna Joined EU Critics-in-Residence at Kyoto Experiment

by Ilinca Todorut¸ ’13, DFA ’18

In Fall 2024, I was one of eight European critics selected by the Delegation of the European Union to Japan to take part in a residency during the art festival Kyoto Experiment (KEX). The opportunity brought cultural critics together for three weeks to discuss the current state of art criticism, exchange ideas with Japanese critics, and facilitate engagement with the public. The residency embodied the spirit of KEX 2024’s chosen motto “ētto ētto,” a repetition of the Japanese filler word that can be roughly translated to English as “um” or “er,” a marker of verbal speech denoting someone in the process of composing a message to another person. The slogan signaled the festival’s invitation to discuss works and ideas in progress.

Writers flew in from Austria, France, Hungary, Italy, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, and Romania; four Japanese critics and one from Taiwan also took part. The cohort was a mix of academics, journalists, and artists, but all had extensive experience writing about the arts in public forums. I attended in my capacity as Artistic Director of the International Online Theatre Festival 2023 and as writer and critic for The Theatre Times

Christina Anderson ’11

Wins Steinberg Playwright Award

Christina Anderson ’11 received the 2024 Steinberg Playwright “Mimi” award, which honors outstanding early-to-mid career playwrights. The accolade is presented annually to playwrights who have distinct and compelling voices, and whose work exhibits exceptional talent and artistic excellence. Anderson has taught at DGSD in the Playwriting program and her plays the ripple, the wave that carried me home and Good Goods have been produced at Yale Rep.

Topics such as the media landscape, political divisions, and marginality dominated the symposia. Journalist and activist Daisuke Tsuda talked about the challenges posed to discourse and dialogue by contemporary media mechanisms and political realities. The length of the residency allowed participants to connect beyond the larger continental or global aspects they encounter. We explored our unique standpoints as the very ground on which to build solidarities. The experience renewed in me a belief in the necessity of forming resistance networks and supporting mechanisms beyond disciplinary boundaries and national borders.

Ilinca Todorut¸ ’13, DFA ’18 with a fellow EU critic at the festival.

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AIDS Memorial Bench

by Gavin D. Pak ’27

This summer, DGSD installed a new bench in the garden of the Yale Cabaret. A gift from the friends and family of alumnus Thomas Gardner ’77, the bench commemorates alumni whose lives were tragically lost to AIDS. Gardner, a key player in the Yale Cabaret during his time at the School, died of complications

Beinecke Fellow Connects with Students

Tony Award nominee Whitney White, who wrote and starred in Yale Rep’s production of Macbeth in Stride in December 2024, was awarded a Beinecke Fellowship. Beinecke Fellows support the work of the School and engage directly with students through classwork or rehearsal. White is also being honored this season by the Broadway League with the Founders Award for Excellence in Directing. Following the Rep’s production, Macbeth in Stride was presented at Brooklyn Academy of Music in February.

from AIDS in August 1995. “He was a beloved friend to so many and a great lover of theater,” recalled classmate David Marshall Grant ’78, who organized the effort to establish the memorial.

Grant shared: “We spent a lot of time in that garden, thinking about whatever show we were doing that night or dreaming about our futures, daring to imagine all the things we wanted to be. Sadly, for some, that future never came. The bench is a place for those who are envsioning their own tomorrows. It’s also a place to rest when life gets difficult, to gather strength in the knowledge that those who came before you fought and loved not just for their own sake, but for yours as well. Please take strength from their memory. Honor them as they honored you. Your future is their happy ending.”

Whitney White in Macbeth in Stride at Yale Repertory Theatre, 2024

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South Coast Repertory Has New Leader

Suzanne Appel ’11, SOM ’11 has been named the new Managing Director of South Coast Repertory (SCR). She succeeds Paula Tomei, becoming only the second person to hold the position. Appel joins SCR after a notable seven-year tenure at the Vineyard Theatre, where she successfully led the organization through the pandemic, developed a four-year plan that increased arts worker wages by over 30% and established the company’s first strategic EDI initiatives. Selected from a nationwide search for her exceptional blend of passion for the arts and business acumen, Appel brings a wealth of experience and

A Well-Deserved Recognition

by Cheryl Mintz ’87

The Stage Managers’ Association (SMA) honored Mary Hunter (Former Faculty) with the Founders Award at the annual Del Hughes Awards for Lifetime Achievement in the Art of Stage Management on October 28, 2024. Mary was selected by the SMA Awards & Recognition Committee from nominations submitted by industry members for her careers in both stage management and theater education. Narda E. Alcorn ’95 (Faculty), current Chair of the Stage Management program at DGSD, and Cheryl Mintz ’87 hosted the event; Diane DiVita (Former Faculty) introduced Mary at the ceremony, and students from Mary’s many years of teaching created tributes in her honor.

During her bustling career, Mary stage managed productions at many of the leading regional theaters in the U.S. and Canada, among them the Guthrie Theater, American Repertory Theater, Santa Fe Festival Theatre, Seattle Rep, the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, and the Stratford Festival.

Mary’s tenure at DGSD spanned 23 years where she was instrumental in the creation of the Stage Management program and was its first Chair. Current Associate Chair James Mountcastle ’90 (Faculty)

enthusiasm to her new role. She said of the appointment, “Yale’s joint degree program from the School of Drama and School of Management allowed me to build the skills I needed to adapt to a changing environment for theater.

After working Off Broadway, I’m excited to be joining SCR in this new role. We will begin with a strategic planning process to determine how to rebuild audiences for the new play commissioning, development, and production program we are best known for across the country, while serving the unique needs of Orange County.”

reflects on the impact she had: “Mary’s steadfast leadership will be felt in the industry for years to come. As a selfless teacher and champion of the art of stage management, she inspired many students to achieve their dreams, both in their professional and personal lives. They now work as stage managers around the world and inspire others to help create the kind of loving theatrical community that was always Mary’s dream.”

Mary retired from the School in 2019.

(left to right) James Mountcastle ’90 (Faculty), Cheryl Mintz ’87, Mary Hunter (Former Faculty), Diane DiVita (Former Faculty), Narda E. Alcorn ’95 (Faculty). Photo by Jackie Leibowitz.

scott smeltzer/scr

Perfectly A Winding Road

Lessons from alums who work outside the lines

Sara Holdren ’15, YC ’08.

Photo by T Charles Erickson.

by Mark Blankenship ’05

Charise Castro-Smith ’10 employed a little subterfuge when she applied for the Drama School’s Acting program. “For my audition, I decided to perform a piece that I had written,” she says. “I just told them it was by someone else. I used a pseudonym.”

She got in. But even though she spent three years training as a performer, it’s that formerly hidden skill that made Castro-Smith’s career. A celebrated playwright and screenwriter, she’s written blockbuster films like Disney’s Encanto, cult-favorite television shows like Netflix’s The Haunting of Hill House, and Feathers and Teeth, one of the scariest plays in recent memory. A hopeful acting student could easily audition with one of Castro-Smith’s scenes without realizing she once did the same thing herself.

Castro-Smith’s journey—from acting student to full-time writer—illustrates one of the most fascinating things that happens to alums after graduation. Yes, some of us leave Yale and pursue the very thing we studied, charting a straight course that can be inspiring to behold. But there are loads of us whose paths veer wildly left or right. We might be directors who become critics, playwrights who become lawyers, or dramaturgs who reimagine the purpose of the Richard Nixon Presidential Library. What does that mean for the training? Does the time spent in a specific Drama School department even matter to the people who ultimately get pulled in other directions?

According to the folks I’ve been asking, it does. I’ve spoken to over a dozen grads with fascinating careers, and they’ve collectively described a life made richer by the theater. From the application of nuts-and-bolts skills to the framing of what one calls “the big, hairy questions,” they’ve all found fascinating uses for the things they learned.

Surprise Training

Sometimes the training directly impacts the new job. “As a writer, I feel like I hit the jackpot going to the Acting program,” says Castro-Smith. “It gave me a deep, embodied understanding of story that has completely informed the way I write. Understanding dramatic action from an actor’s perspective—that

means I immediately know if a scene isn’t working. I can immediately tell if a character isn’t active enough.”

Tamilla Woodard ’02 (Faculty) also went through the Acting program, and she sees similar benefits in her prodigious work as a director. (An associate professor at DGSD, she’s also the Chair of the Acting program.) “I’m grateful for my rigorous acting training every time I step in the room to direct,” she says. “Because when I’m with actors, there are things I understand about the cost to the body and soul that doing this work requires, and that may not be present for other folks. I know actors are co-creators. They’re not puppets for me to move around the stage. They are authors of their performances, and if I hadn’t learned that first-hand, I don’t know that I’d be able to work the way I do.”

Likewise, Carol Kaplan ’89 notes that her playwriting background influences her approach to the law. While she still writes for the theater, she is also a respected entertainment lawyer, and she sees plenty of overlap between the two.

For instance, legal arguments sometimes need to be buttressed by a persuasive story, and just as a playwright can struggle to crack a scene, lawyers may find that a negotiation has hit an impasse. Kaplan explains, “As a writer when I’m struggling to break through an obstacle in a scene or a story, I often pull back and say, ‘How do I approach this from a completely different angle? What if I don’t write the scene that way? What if the dominant character who seems to be driving the scene steps back, and the other character takes the lead instead?’ I find myself

making a similar assessment as a lawyer. If we’re negotiating something and we get stuck, I think, ‘Okay, let me step back and try to understand the real obstacle here, see if we can change the narrative around this point.’ That type of thinking can encourage both sides to find a new approach, to break through and reach a compromise.”

Leslie Kramer ’02 also spends her days teasing out stories. Since graduating from the Playwriting program, she’s built an extensive career in financial journalism, both as a reporter and a PR director. “The writing and storytelling are kind of obvious parallels,” Kramer says. “But one way I didn’t necessarily expect my theater training to help me was when I’m sitting in a room trying to create a PR strategy. It’s similar to getting around the table for the first reading of a script. Everyone is throwing out ideas, and I have to listen to what they’re saying, give my own ideas in an articulate way, and then shape the best story that comes as a result.”

And just as Kramer’s playwriting classes helped train her for PR work, Sara Holdren’s ’15, YC ’08 time in the Directing program laid the groundwork for her life as a critic. She’s currently the theater critic for New York magazine and Vulture, and she says her work with Liz Diamond (Faculty) prepared her for the role: “When I was in school, Liz would have us write these things she called ‘a letter to a friend,’” Holdren says. “After we saw a show, we were supposed to describe it as if we were talking to a theater-literate friend who hadn’t seen it. We were supposed to offer thoughts and assessments.”

Ron Van Lieu (Lloyd Richards Professor Emeritus) and Tamilla Woodard ’02 (Faculty)

Charise CastroSmith ’10. Photo by Jackson Davis.

(left to right)

Carol Kaplan ’89 with Elena Magula, Head of Business and Legal Affairs for Netflix.

“Actors are co-creators. They’re not puppets for me to move around the stage.” —Tamilla Woodard ’02

Holdren concedes that’s awfully similar to writing a review. “But the words ‘review’ and ‘criticism’ were never used, which I think shook loose our ideas,” she adds. “It was criticism, of course, but Liz helped us approach it in a generous and curious way. It was incredibly meaningful to experience that type of criticism in action. I try to bring it into everything I write.”

Holdren still directs—in the spring of 2025, she’s helming a production of Faust for Heartbeat Opera— and she says both sides of her career inform one another. “All that critical training is also essential to my directing,” she explains. “When I’m making a piece as a director, I have to feel like my critical faculties are engaged.”

The Urge to Expand

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and feature films including If Beale Street Could Talk. “That is not something I thought my dramaturgy background was preparing me for,” she says. “But they’re absolutely related. The first thing casting directors do is read scripts and try to imagine the world that’s being created, and dramaturgs do that, too.” She cites the essay “E.F.’s Visit to a Small Planet,” by long-time dramaturgy professor Elinor Fuchs (Former Faculty), who died last year, as an invaluable tool for analyzing a project. “It’s a great dramaturgical resource. It reminds you to take in the whole world [of the script] and figure out how to populate it in the most interesting way.” Some might say dramaturgs aren’t “supposed” to

When she first began working as a critic, Holdren struggled to reconcile it with her role as a director. Then she decided not to limit herself. “I know who and what I am, and I know that I am a maker in my soul,” she says. “For me, criticism is really another form of making anyway. [And] at the end of the day, it doesn’t really feel like a balancing act. It just feels like trying to live a creative life, and trying to make sure it feels like a life, not like a hustle or a collection of gigs.”

Anne Davison ’02 has a similar perspective. After leaving the Dramaturgy and Dramatic Criticism program, she was drawn to work with actors. An internship in a casting office led to her thriving career as a casting director, working on TV series such as

be casting directors or that directors aren’t “supposed to” be critics, but Davison dismisses that idea. “People should ignore the suggestion that they are ‘supposed’ to do one specific thing or not pursue other things after they’ve studied in a particular field,” she says. “You have to embrace the fact that there are many possibilities, including things you didn’t know were there.”

Consider what happened when Kate McConnell ’05 was in line for a roller coaster at Disney World. She saw installations that told the ride’s “story” to those waiting to board, and she had a revelation. “Looking around at all that, I thought, ‘I don’t know what they call them, but dramaturgs worked on this roller coaster” she recalls. “I knew that the people who do what I do had worked on it.”

That launched McConnell toward her life in

Kate McConnell ’05 at The Richard Nixon Library & Museum. Photo by Chuck Roberts.

Anne Davison ’02 and Cindy Tolan at the 2020 Artios Awards. Photo by Keith Barraclough.

Leslie Kramer ’02.

Photo by Greg Scaffidi.

location-based and experiential design. After working for many years at Thinkwell, a company co-founded by Cliff Warner ’87, she’s now the Senior Creative Director at THG Creative. She works with clients to craft all sorts of immersive experiences, from museum exhibits to theme park rides to concerts, and she brings a dramaturgical eye to the entire process. (She’s behind the aforementioned refresh of the Nixon Library, which now includes a replica of the Oval Office and a “tunnel of turmoil” that surrounds visitors with turbulent videos from the ’60s.)

McConnell’s instinct in that roller coaster queue was correct. “When you think about what dramaturgs do, we are helping be the voice of the audience,” she says. “We’re thinking about the choices made by the playwright and the designers and how they interact. That’s what I’m doing now. It’s just that I’m working in environments where you’re walking through it, getting immersed in it. I am not called a dramaturg, but I was trained to do this job, too.”

You could argue that Al Heartley ’18 and Leandro A. Zaneti ’19 trained to be consultants, even though they both went through the theater management program. For Heartley, once the racial reckoning of 2020 clarified

his calling, he realized that traditional theater management jobs wouldn’t let him do what he needed to do. “I wanted to test out my ideas and ask some of the questions that my BIPOC colleagues and I were starting to ask about the field,” he says. “How are theater organizations keeping their promises? What do these statements about diversity and inclusion actually look like in practice? I didn’t know if I could ask those questions the way I wanted from the perch of a single, specific institution.”

Instead, he followed a lesson gleaned from the late Greg Kandel (Former Faculty), a long-time faculty member in the management program. “Greg founded Management Consultants for the Arts, and I saw that he was able to talk to everyone,” Heartley says. “He was able to get this incredibly broad view of what was happening and push for change from that perspective. I decided that was where I needed to go.”

Heartley is now a partner and co-founder at Evolution Management Consultants. He co-founded the company with Zaneti, who also discovered that consulting speaks to his professional disposition. “Even before Yale, I was working in production, and I could feel myself getting pigeonholed,” Zaneti says.

Roberta Pereira ’08

Photo by NYPL/ Jonathan Blanc.

Sandra Goldmark ’04. Photo by Hallie Easley.

(left to right) Evolution Management Consultants team: Tiffany Vega, Leandro A. Zaneti ’19, Al Heartley ’18.

“ We’re thinking about the choices made by the playwright and the designers and how they interact.” —Kate McConnell ’05

“I am not someone who likes to be put in a box. I never wanted to just think about marketing or just think about development. I offer more to a theater when I sit at the crossroads and think about the entire system of an organization. That’s where my brain naturally goes.”

A Theatrical Mindset

All these alums have interesting jobs, but as much as they do good work, they also embody a “theatrical mindset.” It’s something I heard about in every conversation I had for this story: As much as any career, a theater education prepares you for a way of living

“The most valuable thing I learned in school was how to be flexible,” says Roberta Pereira ’08. “Even if people say, ‘This is the path’ or ‘These are the jobs that

are available for people with your degree,’ you have to be able to say, ‘Well, what if there’s something else?’ If we can imagine how to get productions on stage, then we should also be able to imagine different paths that are in line with our values and what we want to do.”

To that end, Pereira is fusing her passions for producing, dramaturgy, and literature in her role as the Executive Director of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. “I’ve spent most of my career doing things that are very finite,” she says. “When you’re producing shows, they happen for a few months, if you’re lucky, and then they go away. With the Library, I’m in the business of forever, which is a very different business. But even here, I’m calling on my past experience to imagine how we can bring the theater’s sense of experimentation into the world of the library. That’s a way of thinking I am very interested in carrying over.”

(left to right) La’nette Searcy, Joanie Anderson, and Tendayi Kuumba in Dream Train by Mendi and Keith Obadike ’04

Along with a flexible imagination, I was told again and again that the theatrical mindset is defined by collaboration. “I came to [DGSD] to learn some technical things about sound,” says sound design graduate Keith Obadike ’04, who works with Mendi Obadike, his life and artistic partner, to create multidisciplinary, large-scale public artworks. “And I did thankfully get that balance of technical information and creative work. But the underestimated component of what I learned was about collaboration. I thought I knew a lot about collaboration. Maybe we all think that. But I learned so much more from being on those teams and working on shows.”

That’s a crucial skill, given how Obadike creates. Take a project like DreamTrain, a music-centered, public art piece that uses an orchestra, singers, and video to explore the train as a metaphor for freedom. “All the protocols and the language vary from field to field,” he notes. “Theater people think one way. Visual artists think another way. Musicians think another way.” To keep everyone united, he must embrace the nuanced process of deep collaboration.

That process applies outside the art world, too. Sandra Goldmark ’04 internalized the collaborative spirit when she studied as a set designer, and while she still designs productions, she’s also dedicated to addressing climate change. In particular, she’s the associate dean of interdisciplinary engagement at the Columbia Climate School. (In her spare time, she is also a professor of professional practice at Barnard College.) “Every day, I call on that theater practice of collaboration, of imagination, of iteration,” she says. “You are trained to come back in the room every day in the service of the thing that must be made. It must be bigger than any one contributor, and that is also what the climate crisis demands. Working on climate solutions demands collaboration that’s almost like devised theater, where you really need everybody in the room to have a voice in shaping that vision and making it real.”

Goldmark adds that she and her former classmate Chloe Chapin ’05 sometimes dream about teaching a class called “What Are We Really Teaching When We Teach Theater?” And honestly, it’s a good idea. She need only look at her own life to see the breadth and depth of where this training can take us. That same goes for thousands of other alums, finding thousands of ways to transform a theater background into a meaningful life.

Warner Brothers Studios Tour Hollywood, one of the many projects led by Kate McConnell ’05. Photo courtesy of Thinkwell Group.

The Humanity of Wonder

Camilla Tassi ’22 can turn a building into a canvas. In 2023, when the Los Angeles Master Chorale performed at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, Tassi designed projections that seemed to bloom from the walls. As the choir sang, patterns of light and color swirled not on a screen, but on the ceiling, the fixtures, and the doors. The room looked alive.

How projection designers provoke emotion

Felicia Curry in Sandra by David Cale at TheaterWorks Hartford in 2024.

Creative content, video design, and photo by Camilla Tassi ’22.

That was the point. Tassi designs for theater, dance, classical music, and more, and she always wants to integrate her work with the rest of a production. “Projection can be very flat, and it can feel cold,” she says. “It is digital light, after all, so I really push my collaborators to think beyond using a screen, especially in a site-specific performance. When an audience sees a screen, they’re going to think the projections are separate from the performers. But there’s something about projecting on architecture that makes it feel like the performance itself is conjuring what we’re seeing.”

This highlights something crucial about the field: Though they are masters of technological wonder, the most successful projection designers serve the human aspects of a performance. “I am using computers, but I’m looking for that analog energy,” says Wendall K. Harrington (Faculty), who is both Head of Projection Design at DGSD and a projection designer with over 40 years’ experience. “In the theater the only thing we have going for us is the human connection. To break that human bond with the audience is, for me, just a complete failure.”

That’s why Harrington likes disrupting the digital precision of her designs. As she says, “Projections are

“I always want to learn by listening to the people around me. You can learn something from a conversation, something that someone might even say in passing, and get a clue to where the show is going.”—Brittany Bland ’19

perfect. Humans are imperfect. You can’t put the two next to each other without shrinking the human, so that’s why you’ve got to get the projections out of the way. You have to think, ‘How can I interfere with this in a way that makes it feel like it’s breathing?’”

For a 2019 revival of Anna Deavere Smith’s DFAH ’14 one-person play Fires in the Mirror, Hannah Wasileski ’13 quite literally wanted her projections to seem like they were breathing. The production ended with the actor on stage speaking directly to the audience, while life-size videos of all the characters he played appeared behind him. “It was a moment of uncanniness,” Wasileski says. “At first the projections

(left) Elijah by Felix Mendelssohn at The Kennedy Center. Projection design by Camilla Tassi ’22.

Photo by Ryan Maxwell Photography.

(below) Wendall K. Harrington (Faculty). Photo by Vi Dang.

played a trick on the eye, and even after you realized that it all had to have been pre-recorded and projected, there was an element of feeling that all those characters from earlier scenes had come back to haunt the final seconds of the play.”

Brittany Bland’s ’19 projections similarly “haunted” a potent scene in Cats: The Jellicle Ball, a 2024 production that placed the blockbuster musical in New York City’s drag ballroom scene. When Grizabella sang “Memory,” Bland surrounded the character with projections of real people who influenced ballroom culture. But she didn’t do it alone. Two renowned ballroom photographers—Chantal Regnault and Gerard H. Gaskin—gave her access to their archives, and ballroom vets in the cast of The Jellicle Ball advised her on who should be memorialized in the montage. Collectively, these artists brought a community’s past back to life. “I was able to make something that felt human because I had collaborated with the performers,” Bland says. “I always want to learn by listening to the people around me. You can learn something from a conversation, something that someone might even say in passing, and get a clue to where the show is going.”

This type of collaboration defines the training that projection designers receive at DGSD. Under Harrington’s guidance, students are challenged not only to articulate their personal aesthetics, but also to understand how their work serves a production’s specific needs. Just ask Doaa Ouf ’25: “I’ve worked on at least three productions [at DGSD] where every time projection was used it was to do something different. I might work with the lighting designer to make projections that look like light on stage. And then there are collaborations with sound designers, where projections can heighten the mood of music. That’s where my love for this lies. You get to be a deep part of the production, and you always find a new way to add texture and meaning to what’s on stage.”

But here’s a paradox: Though they need to be informed by the reality of human connections, projections shouldn’t simply mimic the real world. On the homepage of Harrington’s website, a quote reads, “Projection is an act of transformation, more poetry than prose.”

That’s one reason Ke Xu 许可 ’26 is drawn to the work. Despite starting her career as a scenic carpenter— and there’s nothing more tangible than that—she enjoys the abstraction of projection design. “I like to

(above) Ke Xu 许可 ’26 in technical rehearsals for Overplayed / 玩 瘫 (ShavasaNah) at the Yale Schwarzman Center, 2024.

(right and below) Doaa Ouf ’25 in technical rehearsals for Fucking A by Suzan-Lori Parks at University Theatre, 2023.

play with and convert specific objects or symbols that are easily recognizable into something metaphoric and bold,” she says. And that was certainly the idea behind Jae Lee’s ’27 designs for a 2024 production of Hamlet at the Hongik Art Center in Seoul. Using both an LED floor and LED panels, he created “interactive light sources” to augment the storytelling. “I intentionally avoided creating realistic spaces that would provide too much visual information,” he explains. “[I was] focusing instead on highlighting the nuance of the dialogue.”

Harrington is equally committed to abstraction. She’d rather imply a house or a tree than create a photorealistic image, and she argues this is better for

the audience, too. “There’s a kind of excitement that the audience feels when they know you trust their intelligence,” she says. “They can tell that you’re letting them make their own connections, instead of slapping them in the face with a dead fish.”

In other words, when spectators have room to interpret a design themselves—to fill in the rest of that abstract house or give meaning to those swirling forms on the wall—they’re more likely to invest in what they’re seeing. Thinking provokes emotion. “As designers, we want to invite people to experience our work without bludgeoning them,” Harrington says. “The idea is that it slips into your eye as easily as music slips into your ear.”

Michael Benjamin Washington in Fires in the Mirror at Signature Theatre in NYC. Projection design by Hannah Wasileski ’13

Photo by Yi Zhao ’12.

Events los angeles alumni party 2024

James Bundy ’95 (Elizabeth Parker Ware Dean), Joe Hamlin ’07, Meghan Pressman ’10, som ’10, Snehal Desai ’08

Alex Vermillion ’20, Estefani Castro ’21

Chantal Rodriguez (Associate Dean) and Spencer Jamison ’18

LeRoy McClain ’04 and Adam Saunders ’05

Stephen Godchaux ’93 and Deborah S. Berman (Staff)

Ilia Isorelýs Paulino ’20 and Tavia Hunt ’23

Rafeal Clements ’90, Wendy Evered ’89, Lori Robishaw ’88, Phil Kaufmann ’90

Daniel Chace ’87 and Philip Moon ’87

Darlene Kaplan YC ’78, Eve Gordon ’81, Brian Mann ’79

Anne Tofflemire (Former Faculty) and Tijuana Ricks ’04

Events new york alumni party 2024

William DeMeritt ’12, Patricia Fa’asua ’18, Riw Rakkulchon ’19, Whitney Andrews ’24

Taylor Barfield ’16, DFA ’22 and Melanie Field ’16

Nancy Thun ’78, Robert Schneider ’94, DFA ’97, Sergei Nerubenko grd ’96

James Bundy ’95 (Elizabeth Parker Ware Dean) and Michael Yeargan ’73 (Faculty), recipient of the 2024–25 DGSD Phyllis Warfel Award.

Risa Ando ’24, Stan Mathabane ’24, Doaa Ouf ’25, Melvin James Anderson ’24

Members of FOLKS, an affinity group at DGSD founded by Angela Bassett ’83, DFAH ’18, YC ’80

Sarah Machiko Haber ’25, Aura Michelle ’25, Maya Louise Shed ’25, and Adrian Alexander Hernandez ’25

Jeremy Smith ’76, Andrea Risoli, Frances Black ’09, Devon Smith ’10, SOM ’10, Carol Ostrow ’80

Newest Alumni

Master of Fine Arts / Certificate in Drama

Class of 2024

acting

Whitney Andrews

Michael Crawford

Samuel Douglas

Giovanna Drummond

Safwon Farmer

Karl Green

Lucas Iverson

Malik James

Karen Killeen

Janiah Lockett

Nat Lopez

Augustine Lorrie

Max Monnig

Caro Reyes Rivera

Rebeca Robles

Amelia Windom

design

Omid Akbari

Risa Ando

David DeCarolis

T.F. Dubois

Forest B Entsminger

John Horzen

Joe Krempetz

Stan Mathabane

Suzu Sakai

Kiyoshi Shaw

YuJung Shen

Sam Skynner

Lia Tubiana

Mike Winch

Kim Zhou

Yichen Zhou

directing Garrett Allen

Bobbin Ramsey

Samuel Zeisel

dramaturgy and dramatic criticism

Sebastián Eddowes-Vargas

Rebecca Flemister

Hannah Fennell Gellman

Gabrielle Hoyt

playwriting

Stefani Kuo

Doug Robinson

Danielle Stagger

stage management

Nakia Avila

Alexus Jade Coney

Xiaonan (Chloe) Liu

Charlie Lovejoy

technical design & production

Ro Burnet

Nicolás Cy Benavides

Aholibama Castañeda

González

Jason Dixon

Sydney Garick

Luanne Jubsee

Miguel Angel Lopez

Eugenio Sáenz Flores

Luke Tarnow-Bulatowicz

Cameron Waitkun

theater management

Samanta Cubias

Annabel Guevara

Jake Hurwitz

Natalie King

Chloe Knight

A.J. Roy

Jacob Santos

technical internship certificate

Nicole Goldstein

Amani Jaramoga

Destany Langfield

Isaac Lau

Robert Salerno

Laam Tsang

Annie Wang

(top) Karl Green ’24, Janiah Lockett ’24, Michael Crawford ’24

(middle) Class of 2024

(bottom) Liz Diamond (Faculty) and Garrett Allen ’24

Graduation Prizes

Prizes are given each year as designated by the faculty.

ASCAP Cole Porter Prize

Stefani Kuo ’24, YC ’17

Doug Robinson ’24

Danielle Stagger ’24

Edward C. Cole Memorial Award

Cameron Waitkun ’24

Carol Finch Dye Prize Giovanna Drummond ’24

John W. Gassner Memorial Prize

A. B. Orme ’25

Bert Gruver Memorial Prize

Alexus Jade Coney ’24, YC ’20

Allen M. and Hildred L. Harvey Prize

Sydney Garick ’24, YC ’18

Chimmy Gunn ’19

Alan Hendrickson Award

Luke Tarnow-Bulatowicz ’24

Lawrence and Rita Holder Lighting Design Award

Yichen Zhou ’24

Pamela Howard Prize

John Horzen ’24

Morris J. Kaplan Prize

Chloe Knight ’24

Julian Milton Kaufman Memorial Prize

Sammy Zeisel ’24

Jay Keene and Jean Griffin-Keene Prize

YuJung Shen ’24

Leo Lerman Graduate Fellowship in Design

Risa Ando ’24

T. F. Dubois ’24

Dexter Wood Luke Memorial Prize

John Horzen ’24

Donald and Zorka Oenslager Travel Fellowship

Forest B. Entsminger ’24

Suzu Sakai ’24

Pierre-André Salim Prize

Aholibama Castañeda González ’24

Bronislaw (Ben) Sammler Mentorship Award

Nicolás Cy Benavides ’24

Frieda Shaw, Dr. Diana Mason OBE, and Denise Suttor Prize for Sound Design

Joe Krempetz ’24

Stan Mathabane ’24

Mike Winch ’24

Oliver Thorndike Acting Award

Samuel Douglas ’24

George C. White Prize

Annabel Guevara ’24

Herschel Williams Prize

Whitney Andrews ’24

(top) LT Gourzong ’19 (Faculty) and Samanta Cubias ’24, som ’24

(middle) Samuel Douglas ’24, Amelia Windom ’24, Karen Killeen ’24

(bottom) Omid Akbari ’24, David DeCarolis ’24, Lia Tubiana ’24

Fellowships & Scholarships

The recipients of the 2024–2025 academic year were:

Nina Adams and Moreson Kaplan Scholarship

Olamide Oladeji ’27

John M. Badham Fund

Juliana Morales Carreño ’25

John Badham Scholarship in Directing

Andreas Andreou ’26

Mark Bailey Scholarship

Dwight Bellisimo ’27

George Pierce Baker Memorial Scholarship

Austin Riffelmacher ’25

Karoline Vielemeyer ’25

Herbert H. and Patricia M. Brodkin Scholarship

Yishan Hao ’27

Patricia M. Brodkin Memorial Scholarship

Colleen Rooney ’25

Ellora Venkat ’25

Robert Brustein Scholarship

Austin Riffelmacher ’25

Paul Carter Scholarship

Leo Surach ’25

Ciriello Family Scholarship

Nickie Dubick ’25

Class of 1979 and Friends Scholarship

Shannon Dodson ’26

August Coppola Scholarship

Andrew Aaron Valdez ’25

Caris Corfman Scholarship

Tyler Clarke ’26

Cheryl Crawford Scholarship

comfort ifeoma katchy ’25

Edgar and Louise Cullman Scholarship

Héctor Flores

Komatsu 小松輝 ’27

Cullman Scholarship in Directing

Kemar Jewel ’25

Destyne R. Miller ’26

Andrew Rodriguez ’27

deVeer Family Drama Scholarship Fund

Aura Michelle ’25

Richard H. Diggs ’30 Scholarship

Adam Taylor Foster ’25

Holmes Easley Scholarship

Romello Huins ’27

Ruei Cian Lee ’27

Eldon Elder Fellowship

Constanza Etchechury

López ’25

Kino Alvarez ’25

Cathy Ho 何家寶 ’26

Yun Wu 吳昀 ’26

Nat King Taylor ’27

Christian Killada ’25

Elihu Scholarship

Lilliana Gonzalez ’26

Wesley Fata Scholarship

Ameya Narkar ’27

Foster Family Graduate Fellowship

Aaron Magloire ’27, YC ’23

Dino Fusco and Anita Pamintuan Fusco Scholarship

Patti Panyakaew ’25

Annie G.K. Garland Memorial Scholarship

Rethabile Headbush ’26

Earle R. Gister Scholarship

Shawn Bowers ’27

Randolph Goodman Scholarship

Christian Killada ’25

Stephen R. Grecco ’70 Scholarship

Andrew Rincón ’26

Jerome L. Greene Scholarship

Lauren F. Walker ’25

Chinna Palmer ’25

Marlon Alexander Vargas ’25 (Vin) Tré Scott ’25

Lawrence Henry ’25

Julie Harris Scholarship

Rosie Victoria ’26

Stephen J. Hoffman ’64 Scholarship

T Morris-Thompson ’26

Sally Horchow Scholarship for Actors

Catherine Young ’27

William and Sarah Hyman Scholarship

Jae Lee ’27

Geoffrey Ashton Johnson/ Noël Coward Scholarship

Mark Yarde ’27

Pamela Jordan Scholarship

Minjae Kim 김민재 ’25, EPH ’19

Stanley Kauffmann Scholarship

Tia Smith ’26

Sylvia Fine Kaye Scholarship

Dorottya Ilosvai ’27

Jay and Rhonda Keene Scholarship for Costume Design

Lyle Laize Qin ’26

Ray Klausen Design Scholarship

Anthony Robles ’26

Gordon F. Knight Scholarship

Xi (Zoey) Lin 林曦 ’26

Ein Kim ’25

Ming Cho Lee Scholarship

Patrick Blanchard ’25

Lotte Lenya Scholarship

Jack Kelley ’27

Helene A. Lindstrom Scholarship

Jazzmin Bonner ’27

Victor S. Lindstrom Scholarship

David DiFabio ’27

Lord Memorial Scholarship

Mithra Seyedi ’26

Frederick Loewe Scholarship

Jack Kelley ’27

Frederick Loewe Scholarship for Directors in Honor of Floria V. Lasky

Kemar Jewel ’25

Fellowships & Scholarships

Edward A. Martenson Scholarship

Claudia Campos ’26

Virginia Brown Martin Scholarship

Henita Telo ’26

Stanley R. McCandless Scholarship

Joyce Ciesil ’25

Allison Morgan ’25

Alfred L. McDougal and Nancy Lauter McDougal Endowed Scholarship

Mariah Copeland ’25

KT Farmer ’25

Tom Moore Scholarship

Hannah Louise Jones ’25

Benjamin Mordecai Memorial Scholarship in Theater Management

Jeremy Landes ’25

Kenneth D. Moxley Memorial Scholarship

Cian Jaspar Freeman ’25

Alois M. Nagler Scholarship

Karoline Vielemeyer ’25

G. Charles Niemeyer Scholarship

Jisun Kim ’22, DFA ’27

Sophie Siegel-Warren ’19, DFA ’24

Victoria Nolan Scholarship

Roman Sanchez ’25

Dwight Richard Odle Scholarship

Jennifer Yuqing Cao ’26

Donald M. Oenslager

Scholarship in Stage Design

Arthur Wilson ’25

Yung-Hung Sung 宋永鴻 ’25

Donald and Zorka Oenslager Scholarship in Stage Design

Sveta Morozova ’27

John Pete Hardy ’27

Wiktor Freifeld ’26

Caleb Krieg ’27

Eugene O’Neill Memorial Scholarship

Ida Cuttler ’25

Mary Jean Parson Scholarship

Jasmine Brooks ’26

Raymond Plank Scholarship in Drama ty ruwe ’26

Alan Poul Scholarship

Andrew Rodriguez ’27

Jeff and Pam Rank Scholarship

John Simone ’25

Mark J. Richard Scholarship

Nia Akilah Robinson ’27

Lloyd Richards Scholarship in Acting

Juice Mackins ’26

Barbara E. Richter Scholarship

Hope Binfeng Ding ’25

Rodman Family Scholarship

Nicky Brekhof ’27

Pierre-André Salim Memorial Scholarship

Ankit Pandey ’25

Twaha Abdul Majeed ’25

Steph Lo ’26

Md Fadzil “Fed” Hanafi

Md Saad ’27

Bronislaw “Ben” Sammler Scholarship

Keira Jacobs ’25

Scholarship for Playwriting

ML Roberts ’25

Richard Harrison Senie Scholarship

Emilee Biles ’26

Micah Ohno ’25

Daniel and Helene Sheehan Scholarship

Taylor Ybarra ’26

Eugene F. Shewmaker and Robert L. Hurtgen Scholarship

Cindy De La Cruz ’25

Shubert Scholarships

Ariyan Kassam ’25

Silin Chen ’25

Doaa Ouf ’25

Howard Stein Scholarship

ML Roberts ’25

Taft Family Scholarship

Bekka Broyles ’27

Stephen B. Timbers Family Scholarship for Playwriting

Matthew Chong ’26

Jennifer Tipton Scholarship in Lighting

Gib Gibney ’26

Tisdale Family Scholarship

Anne Ciarlone ’25

Frank Torok Scholarship

Rosemary Lisa Jones ’26

Nancy and Edward Trach Scholarship

Messiah Cristine ’25

Ron Van Lieu Scholarship

Lolade Agunbiade ’26

Leon Brooks Walker Scholarship

Jahsiah Mussig ’25

Richard Ward Scholarship

Iyanna Huffington Whitney ’26

Zelma Weisfield Scholarship for Costume Design

Kristen Taylor ’26

Constance Welch Memorial Scholarship

Amrith Jayan ’26

Hiê'u Ngoc Bùi ’26

Rebecca West Scholarship

Erik Manuel Robles ’26

Hiê'u Ngoc Bùi ’26

Jessica Wolf Scholarship

Henita Telo ’26

Audrey Wood Scholarship

Emily Breeze ’26

Board of Advisors

Scholarship

Tojo Rasedoara ’25

Albert Zuckerman Scholarship

Surrey Houlker ’27

Art of Giving

Robert D. Mitchell Scholarship Supports Scenic Design Students

The legacy of stage designer Robert D. Mitchell, YC ’51, who passed away in 2006, is now immortalized in an endowed scholarship named in his honor. The scholarship supports students in scenic design.

While at Yale College, Mitchell had the opportunity to study at the School with legendary Tony Award–winning set designer Donald Oenslager (Former Faculty), who shepherded ideas of symbolism over realism in American theater design. So consequential was this experience for Mitchell that he wanted to ensure that future students could also have the type of transformative opportunity he had while taking classes at DGSD.

After graduation, Mitchell assisted Boris Aronson on the Broadway productions Cabaret and A Little Night Music. His career spanned Broadway, Off Broadway, regional theater, ballet, and concerts around the globe. Some of his best-known designs on Broadway include the musical Beatlemania,

Medea starring Irene Pappas, and The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel starring Al Pacino. He also designed the English-language world premiere of Jean Genet’s The Screens at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

Classical theater became central to much of Mitchell’s work. He was the first American to design a classical play, Sophocles’ Oedipus Tyrannos, in the ancient theater of Epidaurus. The production became the official entry of the Greek nation to the 1983 Europalia Festival in Brussels and to the Los Angeles Olympic Arts Festival the following year.

In his later career, Mitchell consulted on theater design, including on Broadway’s Ford Center for the Performing Arts, now known as the Lyric Theatre. He was appointed Director of Design and Theatre Technology at the Annenberg Center at the University of Pennsylvania in 1970.

New Scholarships Honor Mentors and Roots in Eastern Europe Art of Giving

After establishing a scholarship in his name in 2020 for playwriting students, Stephen R. Grecco ’70 was inspired to continue making a difference by celebrating those who supported him throughout his career.

The Michael and Anna Kalafut Scholarship honors the memory of Grecco’s maternal grandparents, offering awards with preference for students from Eastern Europe who are studying acting, directing, or design. “The current border crisis reminds me of U.S. immigration acts from the early 20th century that imposed strict quotas on people not from the British Isles or Western Europe. My maternal grandparents, Michael and Anna Simansky Kalafut, emigrants from Slovakia, would be pleased to know that the DGSD scholarship established in their names will perpetually provide young people from Eastern Europe the opportunity to study here without the xenophobic barriers that they and others faced,” said Grecco. If honoring his own family were not enough, Steve also established the Mollie Gassner Scholarship, a tribute to Mollie Kern Gassner. Mrs. Gassner became a friend and mentor to Grecco throughout and after his time at Yale. She was the wife of John Gassner (Former Faculty), Sterling Professor of Playwriting at DGSD, who passed away shortly before Grecco began his first year at the School in 1967. “At the start of the fall semester,

I visited Mollie to express my condolences, and from that initial meeting until she passed away in 1995, she was a warm-hearted host who always made me feel like family. Her endowed scholarship is a fitting way for her many kindnesses to continue.” The scholarship will preference those students studying playwriting or dramaturgy and dramatic criticism.

Grecco is an established playwright and educator. He has received two National Endowment for the Arts fellowships in playwriting and a National Endowment for the Humanities fellowship for the study of Polish and Soviet Drama. His plays have been produced at venues across the country, winning awards including a Shubert Playwriting Prize. He also received the Outstanding Teaching Award at Penn State, where he is Associate Professor Emeritus of English and Comparative Literature.

Mollie Gassner

Michael Kalafut

Anna Kalafut

Stephen R. Grecco ’70 on Stromboli Island, Italy in 2024.

In Memoriam

Jacques Cartier Director

Jacques Cartier ’61, founder of the Hartford Stage Company, head of the directing program at Boston University, and award-winning director, died in December at the age of 94.

While at Yale, Cartier was interested in starting his own theater, inspired by Theatre-in-the-Round by Margo Jones. John Gassner (Former Faculty) told him the city of Hartford would be a good location for a theater. Cartier was not even sure where Hartford was, but on to Hartford he went.

After establishing a founders committee and raising nearly $100,000 from local bankers and lawyers, Cartier became the Artistic Director of Hartford Stage in 1964, mounting a production of Othello in a 225-seat converted grocery store on Kinsley Street. Word of this inventive new theater spread, giving way to a rapidly growing subscription audience. Cartier remained at the theater through 1968 before Paul Weidner ’62 took the reins and oversaw the construction of a larger building on Church Street several years later.

Cartier also served as Artistic Director at Center Stage in Baltimore, helping to rebuild the theater following a devastating fire. It reopened with Cartier’s production of Tartuffe, which Mel Gussow in The New York Times noted was “a major artistic event for Maryland—and also for the American theater.”

Cartier directed across the country and won the Elliot Norton Prize for Sustained Excellence for his work at Huntington Theater Company, while also overseeing the directing program at Boston University for nearly 25 years.

Jacques Cartier is survived by his wife of 66 years, Diana, and his son, Nicholas.

In Memoriam

Robert Cohen

Professor, Director, Playwright

Robert Cohen DFA ’64, a professor of theater and a director, playwright, author, and drama critic, died on November 15, 2024. He was 86.

Cohen was a distinguished professor whose career at the University of California at Irvine spanned more than 50 years. He was also an accomplished playwright and a prolific author of books on theater as well as scholarly articles that appeared in leading academic journals.

Robert Cohen was born in 1938 in Washington, D.C He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of California at Berkeley and received a DFA from the School of Drama in 1964. He joined the University of California’s new campus at Irvine (UCI) in 1965, where he was the founding chair of the Department of Drama, a position he held for the next 25 years. He received UCI’s highest honor, the UCI Medal, and its Distinguished Faculty Award for Research. In 2016, UCI’s School of the Arts renamed its performance space the Robert Cohen Theatre.

Cohen’s writing ranged from acting theory to theater history to dramatic criticism, as well as nine plays of his own. His books include the widely acclaimed Acting One, Acting Power, Acting in Shakespeare, and Acting Professionally. His book Theatre, now in its eleventh edition, is one of the leading textbooks on the history of world theatre.

Cohen’s articles and essays appeared in Theatre Journal, Theatre Forum, Modern Drama, The Drama Review, and many others.

An accomplished director, Cohen staged productions at theaters across the country, including Colorado Shakespeare Festival, Stages Theatre Center in Hollywood, Theatre 40 in Beverly Hills, the Virginia Museum Theatre, and Boston’s Image Theater. His play Machiavelli: The Art of Terror, has been produced in New York, Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, and Budapest; his dramatic translations of Molière’s The Bourgeois Gentleman and The Misanthrope, and the operas The Magic Flute and Carmen, have been widely published and produced worldwide.

James Calleri, an award-winning casting director and head of the Acting program at Columbia’s School of the Arts, studied with Cohen at UC Irvine and coauthored Acting Professionally. He remembered Cohen as a mentor, colleague, and dear friend. “Robert was always orbiting in an elevated space of joy, enthusiasm, authenticity, and curiosity. His reverence for the art of acting, his passion for theater—it was all transformative.”

Robert Cohen is survived by his wife, Lorna, and his children, Michael and Whitney.

In Memoriam

Christopher Durang

Playwright

by Sasha Emerson ’84

Pip Lupatkin Explains It All for

You

I met Christopher Durang ’74 once in my life, but I believe he gave me and many of my peers the great gift of PERMISSION. For a shy, bookish girl like myself, secretly mad for Monty Python, Durang’s creative emergence in the late 1970s was the first time I could follow an American playwright whose signature obsessions—world literature, religion, the movies and the “cinema,” bad parenting, animals, foreign languages, and messy food, all treated satirically with a born maestro’s confidence—lined up with my own clandestine absurdism. He granted all of us the freedom to grapple with youthful rage and insouciance and do so with hats and fake mustaches— in almost French. He made life and art a cabaret.

That Durang packed it all within fully realized dramatic vessels, beyond sketch (mostly), and got us to feel emotion and pathos in the midst of his insane, playful literary dexterity, was no small feat. To be at Yale right as Durang came to minted national prominence was also to re-experience his Park St. legacy, both directly, and through dramaturgical osmosis. I can look back at some of my classmates: Anna Theresa Cascio ’83, David Ives ’84, Dick Beebe ’85, Richard Greenberg ’85 and trace Durang’s influence and PERMISSION. We all longed to crack that mix of subversion and intellect, with real characters to boot; to be angry, funny, nonsensical, witty, and do it in a kaleidoscopic pastiche form. Durang was there first, and we worshiped at Sister’s altar.

Before Yale, as a senior at Brown, I was in a production of The Vietnamization of New Jersey, Durang’s blasphemous satire of war like David Rabe’s Sticks and Bones. Not much of an actor, I was cast because the role called for a Vietnamese prostitute who is revealed to be a Caucasian go-go dancer from

New Jersey in the second act. I could both dance AND with my dark hair and almond shaped eyes looked sufficiently Asian. Yikes. Though a sharp play, is it any wonder why this exercise in yellowface has been locked in the vault?

My castmate Nancy Carlin and I ventured to see Durang and Sigourney Weaver ’74 in Das Lusitania Songspiel, their Brecht/Weill parody cabaret act. We carried a picture of ourselves in the Brown production (see above) and waited in the lobby like deranged bobby-socked stage-door Johnnies. We soon realized we were the ONLY stage-door Johnnies. Durang was immensely gracious and in twinkly good humor took the picture and told us he’d heard our production was “tops.” We later learned we were the only other production of Vietnamization that whole year after its premiere. We talked about Yale Drama. Nancy and I couldn’t believe a “famous playwright” would hang with us in the lobby and talk shop. That seemed as hilarious and incongruent as his plays.

Within a few months I’d applied to be a dramaturgy student, and a few months after that I was spending long nights at the Yale Cabaret putting on plays. PERMISSION indeed.

I once asked the playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis about his “influences.” I’d been guessing Chekhov for sure. He laughed and said: “Durang. All I wanted to be. Durang.” He’d seen Sister Mary Ignatious with his eighth-grade Catholic school class and that was that.

Recently, my daughter gave birth to a boy they’ve named Philip Spyridon Lupatkin, aka Pip. I looked at this preemie beauty, temporarily in the NICU, with dark skin and almond shaped blue eyes—a cross between a roasted peanut and Timothée Chalamet— and I pondered the improbable moniker “Pip Lupatkin.” Wherever you are Christopher Durang, thank you for making me laugh and cry for 40 years. I know you’d have made up Pip Lupatkin as a character, and approve this message.

Sasha Emerson ’84 and Nancy Carlin in The Vietnamization of New Jersey by Christopher Durang ’74 at Brown University.

In Memoriam

Richard Foreman

Avant-Garde Theater Maker

by Tom Sellar ’97, DFA ’03 (Faculty)

When people asked Richard Foreman ’62 about his days at Yale School of Drama, he would occasionally mention his experiences studying under the esteemed playwriting teacher John Gassner (Former Faculty) More often, though, he would regale listeners with a tale about director Nikos Psacharopoulos ’54 (Former Faculty), who complained to him that “your plays give me a headache.” That early reaction fascinated and emboldened Foreman, who radicalized his heady impulses and went on to become a central figure in the New York avant-garde and a leading light for generations of experimentally inclined theater makers. Foreman, who died in January at the age of 87, reveled in challenging his audiences as well as transporting them to uncategorizable psychic realms. (You had to see it to understand.) Raised in Scarsdale, New York (né Edward Friedman and renamed by his adoptive parents), Foreman graduated from Brown University before coming to DGSD. From Gassner’s playwriting atelier, which clarified his preferences for the unconventional, he made his way to SoHo, attracted to New York’s alternative film scene and to a flourishing community of “downtown” performancemakers then crossing disciplines and pushing boundaries. When he could interest few directors in his consciousness-centered writing, Foreman founded the Ontological-Hysteric Theater in 1967 and began staging his plays himself, filling notebooks with his thoughts—culled from reading philosophy, mysticism, and theory, and excavated from his subconscious mind upon waking. In rehearsals—first in postindustrial lofts, later in the Ontological’s cloistered space in the back of St. Marks Church-in-the-Bowery—Foreman would assign lines to an ensemble while designing handmade hallucinatory scenic environments and adding his deep voice and conspicuous presence as the “maestro” of every performance. He created and produced more than 50 productions of his work (usually one each year), sometimes claiming, ironically, that he’d been repeating the same play his entire career. The Village Voice described his indescribable oeuvre as “radical dissections of the mind’s processes and comic celebrations of behavioral impulses,” and audiences found themselves spellbound, baffled,

awakened, and entertained by his idiosyncratic, hyperstimulating shows.

In addition to touring his own Ontological works worldwide, Foreman directed productions of everything from Molière to Brecht to Kathy Acker with the Wooster Group, Lincoln Center Theater, the Vienna Festival, New York Shakespeare Festival/Public Theater, American Repertory Theater, Guthrie Theater, Paris Opera, and many others. (He returned to Yale Repertory Theatre in 1996 to direct Suzan-Lori Parks’s Venus.) Foreman collaborated with composer Stanley Silverman on eight music-theater librettos and stagings for The Music Theater Group, and he made short independent films throughout his career, returning frequently to the form that first nourished his aesthetic.

His work was recognized with honors including a Lifetime Achievement in the Theater award from the National Endowment for the Arts, and a MacArthur Fellowship. His many books of playscripts, libretti, and essays remain essential documents of the 20th-century stage. For decades it was an annual rite for many theater people to trek to the Ontological to see his newest mind-bending creations, which also attracted generations of young artists to the experimental stage.

One of the signature flourishes of Foreman’s disorientating mise-en-scène, at moments of high mental intensity, was to flash bright lights at the audience for a jolting instant, forcing us to adjust our viewing and then return our gaze to the play with fresh eyes. It’s an apt emblem of his contribution to the American theater, where he unfailingly called on us to see the stage’s potency anew.

joseph

moran

In Memoriam

Elinor Fuchs

Professor Emerita of Dramaturgy & Dramatic Criticism

by David Bruin ’16, DFA ’21

Elinor Fuchs, who began teaching at Yale in 1994, died on May 28, 2024, at the age of 91. A celebration of her life was held at the Iseman Theater in December 2024.

For Shakespeare, all the world’s a stage; for Elinor Fuchs, every stage was a world unto itself. This insight animates her famous essay “E.F.’s Visit to a Small Planet.” Honed over decades of teaching, the essay gives anyone the tools to make sense of a script or a performance. Rather than focusing on the dialogue and character, she tells readers to “mold the play into a medium-sized ball” and “squint.” Now you are ready to ask the play some questions about space, time, weather, light, sound, and much more.

In class, Elinor would do this literally. As an MFA student in her criticism workshop, I remember her forming a small orb with her hands and discussing the color palette of jet black, ghastly white, blood red, and sickly yellow in Adrienne Kennedy’s Funnyhouse of a Negro.

With a simple squint, one can stand undaunted before avalanches of text and images. The harder the text, the better. Her syllabi spoke to her desire for intensity, density, and lucidity in the theater, comprised as they were of Ibsen, Brecht, Witkacy, SuzanLori Parks, Reza Abdoh, and others. These plays required pilgrimages, and Elinor blazed the trails.

Elinor’s approach offered not only rigor but pleasure. She could smell, touch, and taste a play. For her, there was no semiotics without sensuality. She once called theater people the “most semiotically aroused people in the world.”

For all her unparalleled gifts as a theorist, Elinor was, first and foremost, a theater person. She recalled fondly her time as an actor. She taught her final theory course (an astonishing achievement of pedagogy) in a room that doubled as the dressing room of Yale Cabaret. She didn’t seem to mind discussing The Prince of Homburg surrounded by costumes that the night before had been soaked in sweat and sprayed with diluted vodka. I think this is one reason why she made DGSD her academic home. Her students included not only tenured professors and prolific writers, but also dramaturgs, producers, playwrights, and directors. Her mark on the field is everywhere.

There is an end to every life, but, as the final sentence of “E.F.’s Visit to a Small Planet” reminds us, so long as there is theater upon this earth, “There will still be more to see.”

In Memoriam

Robert W. Goldsby Director and Professor

Robert W. Goldsby ’53, a director, author, and professor of theater and dramatic literature, died on October 26, 2024, at his home in Oakland, California. He was 97.

Robert Goldsby was born in 1926 in Brooklyn, New York, and grew up in nearby Maplewood, New Jersey. After high school, he enlisted in the U.S. Army, serving in the Philippines for two years. He earned a bachelor’s degree in comparative literature from Columbia University and received his MFA from Yale in 1953.

After a brief stint as an actor in summer stock theater, where he met and later married actress Angela Paton, Goldsby turned to directing. He directed more than 150 productions, including 11 plays by Molière, at the American Conservatory Theater, Antaeus Theatre Company, South Coast Repertory, and LA’s Odyssey Theatre Ensemble, among others. Goldsby and Paton founded the Berkeley Stage Company in 1974, producing and directing new plays and introducing new playwrights to American theater audiences.

A widely recognized authority on Molière, Goldsby’s book Molière on Stage: What’s So Funny (Anthem Press, 2012) is considered one of the definitive works on the French playwright. “Goldsby has provided an invaluable service to Molière scholars, instructors, and practitioners alike,” wrote one reviewer.

Goldsby began teaching at the University of California at Berkeley in 1957. He was a member of the faculty for 30 years, served as chair of the Department of Dramatic Art, and was later honored as professor emeritus. He taught as a visiting professor at Columbia, UCLA, Pepperdine, the University of Washington, and USC.

Robert Goldsby was predeceased by Angela, his wife of 65 years, and is survived by three children, five grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.

Alan Haufrect

Actor

Alan Haufrect ’67, an actor and innovative sports marketing executive, died at his home in Los Angeles on August 17, 2024. He was 83 years old. Haufrect grew up in Texas, where he attended Bellaire High School and was eventually inducted into the school’s hall of fame. His first film role was alongside Fabian in the 1968 cult classic The Wild Racers. In his almost 30-year career, Haufrect established himself as a character actor in over 60 films and TV shows. He was inducted into the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences in 1987. During the second half of his professional life, Haufrect served as VP of sports marketing for two major corporations and popularized the now ubiquitous pin-trading kiosks at stadiums across the country. He is survived by his daughter, Sarah, and son-in-law, Jared Cote; two brothers, Eric and Dale Haufrect; four nephews, Adam, Ian, Brian and Mark Haufrect; and an entourage of friends whose lives he filled with joy, laughter and meaning.

In Memoriam

Joseph Hardy Director and Producer

Joseph Hardy ’58, a Tony Award-winning theater director and an executive producer of television soap operas, died on June 6, 2024 at the Actors Fund Home in Englewood, NJ. He was 95.

Hardy directed the original 1967 production of You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown at Theater 80 St. Marks in Manhattan’s East Village. It ran for 1,597 performances. Based on Peanuts, the popular comic strip created by Charles M. Schulz, the production featured music and lyrics by Clark Gesner and an original cast that included Gary Burghoff as Charlie Brown and Bob Balaban as Linus. Hardy also directed the musical when it transferred to Broadway in 1971 for a limited run.

In 1970, Hardy won a Tony for his direction of Child’s Play, Robert Marasco’s drama set in a prestigious boys boarding school; Ken Howard ’69 received a Tony for Best Featured Actor in the play. Hardy also directed the play when it was staged at the Queen’s Theatre in London’s West End.

Born in Carlsbad, New Mexico, Hardy graduated from New Mexico Highlands University and then earned his MFA from the School of Drama in 1958. He studied in Paris on a Fulbright Scholarship and served in the U.S. Army in Korea. After a stint as a script editor on TV soap operas, Hardy found his calling. In addition to You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, he directed the 1969 Broadway productions of Woody Allen’s Play It Again, Sam, garnering a Tony nomination, Children! Children! (1972), Gigi (1973), and The Night of the Iguana (1976). He directed Johnny No-Trump, with a cast that included Bernadette

Peters making her Broadway debut. The play had the unfortunate distinction of opening and closing on the same night.

Throughout his career, Hardy remained a much sought-after television director and producer. His credits include several popular and long-running daytime soap operas, among them General Hospital, Ryan’s Hope, and Love Is a Many Splendored Thing. He directed Lily Tomlin’s first television special, Lily, in 1973, and a critically acclaimed movie adaptation of Great Expectations starring Michael York and Sarah Miles.

In 1979, Hardy directed his last Broadway show, Romantic Comedy with Mia Farrow and Anthony Perkins. He continued working Off Broadway, staging Strindberg’s The Dance of Death for Red Bull Theater and Grace with Lynn Redgrave for MCC Theater, as well as Redgrave’s solo show Nightingale at New York City Center. He served as an Associate Artist at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego and directed at Williamstown Theatre Festival and the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles.

Joseph Hardy is survived by his sister Caroline Rackley of New Mexico.

In Memoriam

Greg Kandel

Lecturer in Theater Management

by Edward A. Martenson (Professor Emeritus)

For 40 years, Greg Kandel (Former Faculty) was the leading consultant for theater and dance organizations through the work of his firm Management Consultants for the Arts, which he founded in 1983. He led hundreds of artistic and managing director searches at theaters across the country and supported organizations through strategic planning processes. From 2004 to 2020 he brought his wealth of knowledge to DGSD, teaching and mentoring theater management students. He was a selfless leader, earning people’s trust by understanding their needs and respecting their confidences.

dynamics, standing for the primacy of the artistic director. He reinforced that value at Yale in his class Governance and Strategic Planning.

When Greg’s career began, leadership structures in the field looked quite different—with the board and managing director relationship in ascendancy over the artistic director. Greg helped balance the power

L. Azan Kung Costume and Set Designer

by Karen J. TenEyck ’91

Originally from New York City, my classmate L. Azan Kung ’91 spent her early childhood around movie sets. Her grandfather, Henry Kung, led Central Motion Picture Company in Tawain and produced and pioneered modern Asian cinema internationally. This experience led Azan to attend the School of the Visual Arts, studying film, multimedia, and graphic design. After working in the corporate world post undergrad, she earned an MFA in Design at DGSD in 1991. Azan designed costumes for Underground at Yale Rep and set and costumes for other shows across the School including Mississippi Nude, Sardanapalus, Glengarry Glen Ross, Speedthe-Plow, and Pill Hill. She received the Gordon J. Micunis Scholarship.

After graduating, Azan worked as a costume designer and art director on several film and TV projects including Six Degrees of Separation, Oleanna, and Summer of Sam. She also was an assistant for

Greg founded the Evanston Theatre Company (now Northlight Theatre) inspired by his MFA thesis. He also was a co-founder of the League of Chicago Theatres, a critical advocacy organization in the city. Along with his wife Louise Kane, he was a world traveler, cyclist, pianist, meals-on-wheels volunteer, Temple leader, and Rangers fan. In addition to being a husband, he was a brother, father, grandfather, and very good friend. Alzheimer’s took his life on April 18, 2024, at the age of 76.

Yale costume professor Jane Greenwood (Former Faculty)

In 2001, she married cinematographer Philip Volkoff and moved to Los Angeles. She and Phil had a daughter, Anastasia, who is now a freshman at Barnard College.

Azan and her husband were living just north of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Although they were told that it was safe to be there, she later developed cancer from exposure to the contaminants from the site and was given only one to two years life expectancy. She lived another six-andhalf years and died in 2024 at the age of 60.

It was my great fortune that Azan ended up living near me in Pasadena, CA, allowing us to reconnect. I will greatly miss her determined spirit and positive outlook on life, even in the worst of times. Azan was a very fast walker and even near the end I could hardly keep up with her.

In Memoriam

Giving thanks to (and

for)

Betsy Lee: Mentor & Friend

by Lee Savage ’05

Betsy Lee died on August 3, 2024, at the age of 89.

Over the past 20 years, I had the privilege of working closely with Betsy as one of Ming Cho Lee’s DFAH ’20 (Faculty Emeritus) last studio assistants. Together, we planned exhibitions of his work in China and the U.S., and, more recently, sorted and identified his countless sketches, drawings, and models for their archival home at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Through it all, I was profoundly fortunate to spend so much one-on-one time with Betsy. She touched my life deeply, as she did with so many others. Betsy was a wife, a mother, a grandmother, a manager, a designer, an artist, an advocate, a teacher, a friend—and so much more to all of us who had the honor of knowing her. When I was an assistant, she showed me how to carefully wrap a roll of drawings in craft paper and how to pack a model so precisely that no part would move or break. Her meticulous attention to detail and skill with a soldering iron was a master class in itself. But her care extended far beyond the studio. Betsy had a genuine interest in my life, my family, and my career. Every visit to the studio began not with work but with catching up over tea and an endless supply of cookies. She wanted to hear about my husband, Brian, what my DGSD classmates and colleagues were up to, the projects I was working on, and what my son was interested in. These conversations weren’t just small

talk, they were a reflection of her warmth, her care, and her ability to make you feel truly seen.

I’m especially grateful for her unrivaled dedication to Ming and his students. Without Betsy’s fierce support and encouragement, I likely wouldn’t have a career in design. She poured her energy into “Ming’s Clambake,” an annual event showcasing the work of graduating designers from Yale and other programs across the country. It was “Team Betsy” magic—her vast mailing list and her ability to draw industry professionals, directors, agents, and theater creatives together—that made it such a gift and opportunity for all of us.

More than anything, I’m thankful for Betsy’s steadfast presence in my life. Even if months passed without a call or email, I always knew she was there— just a phone call away. When I did come for a visit, she was ready with one of her mighty hello and goodbye hugs. Her twinkling eyes and that steadfast sense of connection will remain with me forever.

For anyone who knew Betsy, it’s no surprise that Thanksgiving was one of her favorite holidays. Last Thanksgiving, only a few months after her passing, I reflected on all that I’m grateful for, and gave thanks to Betsy Lee—for the lessons, the memories, and the enduring love she shared with all of us lucky enough to be in her orbit. The thanks will continue for a lifetime.

julie brown

Ming and Betsy on their wedding day in 1958.

Ming and Betsy at Ming’s retirement celebration in 2018.

In Memoriam

Jonathan E. Marks

Professor

Jonathan E. Marks ’72, DFA ’84, YC ’68, a professor emeritus at the School of Theatre & Dance at Texas Tech University, died on February 15, 2025, in Palm Harbor, Florida, just three weeks after Tova, his wife of 42 years, had passed away.

Marks was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio. He received a bachelor’s degree from Yale in 1968 and then earned his MFA and DFA from the School of Drama. He was a member of the DGSD faculty from 1974 to 1981, and also served as editor of yale/theatre, the forerunner to today’s Theater magazine. His teaching career spanned over 30 years, including appointments at Harvard, the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, San Francisco State University, Stanford, and Texas Tech in Lubbock, Texas. He retired in 2018.

As an actor, Marks appeared in over a dozen productions at Yale Repertory Theatre, including The Government Inspector, The Bourgeois Gentleman, and Troilus and Cressida. He was the company’s literary manager under Robert Brustein ’51, MAH ’66 (Former Dean), and co-authored, with Jeremy Geidt (Former Faculty), The Tragical History of Samlet, part of the Rep’s 1973 satirical show Watergate Classics Highly regarded by colleagues and popular with

farewell

Billie T. Alban ’46 2/2020

Lynne Albright ’62 7/2024

Steven Barbash ’63 12/2024

David Bell ’88 9/2024

Oscar L. Brownstein ’60 1/2024

David J. Burke ’61, YC ’58 2/2023

Jacques Cartier ’61 12/2024

Robert Cohen DFA ’64 11/2024

G. Kerry Comerford ’76 6/2024

Philip DeLony ’81 9/2024

Jose A. Diaz ’52 2/2022

Christopher Durang ’74 4/2024

Philip Eck ’59 6/2024

Fred Euringer ’61 7/2024

Richard Foreman ’62 1/2025

Elinor Fuchs (Former Faculty) 5/2024

Robert W. Goldsby ’53 10/2024

Joseph Hardy ’58 6/2024

Alan Haufrect ’67 8/2024

Barbara Hauptman ’73 8/2024

students at Texas Tech, his courses included acting, directing, theater history, and dramaturgy. He directed a number of University productions, among them Angels in America, Twelfth Night, Anything Goes, and A Chorus Line. “One of the great joys of my career at Tech,” he said, “was that my favorite production was always the most recent one. It kept getting better and better.”

Marks was instrumental in the founding of TTU’s College of Visual & Performing Arts, serving as its second dean. He also headed the University’s first Ethics Initiative.

Jonathan Marks is survived by his three children, Rick, Tina, and Karen; several grandchildren and great-grandchildren; a brother, Ed Marks of Florida; and three sisters, Helen Waits and Doris Rodier of Cincinnati, and Peggy Marks of New York City.

Michael Heinlein ’80, ’93 7/2024

David A. Jenkins ’67 2/2023

Greg Kandel (Former Faculty) 4/2024

Olive D. Keene ’46 2/2017

L. Azan Kung ’91 8/2024

Betsy Lee (Friend) 8/2024

Jonathan E. Marks ’72, ’84, YC ’72 2/2025

Stanley Moss ’48 7/2024

Obi Ndefo ’97, YC ’94 8/2024

Grace T. Noyes ’54 8/2023

Carrie Robbins ’67 4/2024

Joel Rubin ’51 12/2023

Georg Schreiber ’64 8/2024

Benjamin Zev Shecter ’65 2/2025

George L. Sherman ’56, YC ’53 7/2024

Russell Treyz ’65 8/2024

Suzanne Sessions ’66 4/2024

Aleta Staton (Former Faculty) 7/2024

Vassilis Vassilikos ’62 11/2023

Billy Edd Wheeler ’64 9/2024

In Memoriam

Obi Ndefo

Actor

Obi Ndefo ’97, YC ’94, best known for his roles on Dawson’s Creek and Stargate SG-1, died on August 28, 2024. He was 51. Ndefo was a fan favorite on Dawson’s Creek portraying Bodie Wells, the brother-in-law of the character played by Katie Holmes. Ndefo appeared on the WB series from 1998 to 2002.

Ndefo also had a recurring role on the longrunning Stargate series, appearing as Rok’nor, a Jaffa warrior, in Stargate SG-1. The sci-fi action-adventure drama was a showcase for the physical acting ability he had been honing since his time at DGSD. His other credits include Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Crossing Jordan, NYPD Blue, The West Wing, The Jamie Foxx Show, Angel, and 3rd Rock from the Sun.

In 2019, Ndefo lost both his legs in a hit-and-run accident that took place in front of a health food store in Los Angeles. He underwent multiple surgeries, months of rehab, and was fitted with prosthetic legs. With determination, tenacity, and his characteristic optimism, he learned to navigate his new world. He resumed the practice and teaching of yoga, and he returned to acting, appearing on NCIS: Los Angeles He saw his altered circumstances as an opportunity to focus more on his writing and began to work again

on a series he was already developing, a comedy he called “Juice Bar” that took a fresh look at New Age spirituality, healthy living, organic food, and yoga. His last project was co-writing and directing “Dream Big,” a limited series that unveils the power of human imagination through the interconnectedness of everyday lives.

“This is just so horrendous what happened to me—why would I compound this by feeling bad about it?” Ndefo told the Los Angeles Times in a 2020 article. “I couldn’t live in this world without becoming sort of like an Olympic athlete of certain things, you know— of kindness and of health—because there is no other choice for me.”

Obi Ndefo ’97, YC ’94 (center) with friends and fans.

In Memoriam

Carrie Robbins

Costumer

Designer

Carrie Robbins ’67, an award-winning costume designer whose career included designs for more than 30 Broadway shows, died on April 12, 2024. She was 81.

Robbins received Tony nominations for Grease and Over Here! and four Drama Desk Awards for costume design for Grease, Over Here!, The Beggar’s Opera, and The Iceman Cometh.

Her work also included the original Broadway productions of It Had to Be You, Agnes of God, Anna Karenina, and A Class Act, as well as successful revivals of An Enemy of the People, The Crucible, The Plough and the Stars, and The Shadow Box. She designed costumes for Sweet Bird of Youth, starring Lauren Bacall in London’s West End, and an Off-Broadway production of Cyrano with Frank Langella. Her designs for opera include Death in Venice and Samson et Dalila.

“Critics hailed Ms. Robbins’s costumes over the years for transporting audiences to the Spain of Don Quixote, the underworld of early-18th-century London and the ruined South during the Civil War,” wrote The New York Times. “For Grease, she studied high school yearbooks from the 1950s. For a 1992 musical version of Anna Karenina, she found ball gowns from the turn of the 20th century.”

Robbins (née Carolyn Fishbein) was born in 1943 in Baltimore. She studied art and drama at Penn State, earning a bachelor’s degree in 1964, and received an MFA from the School of Drama in 1967. In 1969, she married Richard D. Robbins, a surgeon. He died in 2003.

In addition to her stage work, Robbins was a costume designer for Saturday Night Live, and she created the uniforms for New York’s Rainbow Room and Windows on the World, the restaurant that was located at the top of the World Trade Center.

She taught costume design at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts for 32 years, retiring in 2004. In 2012, she received the Irene Sharaff Award for Sustained Excellence from Theatre Development Fund. She was also a member of the League of Professional Theatre Women, receiving its Ruth Morley Award.

Last year, Carrie was honored to present her play For the Lost Children of Paris, told with life-sized doll-puppets she designed and outfitted, at the Prague Quadrennial-23 Exhibit. The play recounts the story of French-Jewish children taken by the Nazis to the Auschwitz concentration camp. Reflecting on the war in Ukraine and the U.S. border situation, Carrie wrote: “Maybe now is the rare time when events like these are part of our normal news cycle, and maybe a play like mine, which tells true events from 78 years ago, can have a purpose for today.”

In Memoriam

Vassilis

Vassilikos

Director and Writer

by Andreas Andreou ’26

Vassilis Vassilikos ’62 was born in Kavala, a seaside city in Northern Greece. He moved to neighboring Thessaloniki at a young age, graduating from the renowned American Anatolia College. After studying law at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, he traveled to the States, enrolling at Yale and studying directing for television at the School of Drama. He then worked as an assistant director, documentary director, screenwriter, and actor, but his work as a writer and journalist brought him international renown.

In 1966 Vassilikos published his seminal work Z: Fictional Documentary of a Crime, reconstructing the 1963 events of the political assassination of Greek MP Grigoris Lambrakis. The book was immediately translated into several languages and became an international symbol of the struggle against the “Dictatorship of the Colonels” who ruled Greece between 1967 and 1974. Greek-French filmmaker Costa-Gavras adapted the book into a feature film with a screenplay by Jorge Sempún and music by Mikis Theodorakis. The film earned several accolades, including the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1970.

Vassilikos was a prolific writer and activist, creating a multifaceted body of work about contemporary Greek experience, expatriation, and the existential

question of the place of the individual within the wider context of history. He lived and worked abroad for nearly 30 years, and after returning to Greece permanently in 1994, he both continued writing and resumed his work for radio and television. Between 1996 and 2004, he was the Greek Ambassador to UNESCO, and more recently he served as MP with the Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA). He remains one of the most widely translated Greek authors, alongside C.P. Cavafy, Nikos Kazantzakis, and Yiannis Ritsos.

Vassilikos died on November 30, 2023, at the age of 89. He is survived by his wife, soprano Vasso Papantoniou, and their daughter, Eurydice.

In Memoriam

Billy Edd Wheeler

Playwright, Poet, Songwriter

Billy Edd Wheeler ’64, a multi-talented artist who wrote plays and musicals, poetry, novels, humor, a memoir, and a long list of hit songs died at his home in Swannanoa, North Carolina, on September 16, 2024. He was 91.

Wheeler was born in Whitesville, West Virginia. He attended Warren Wilson Junior College and graduated from Berea College, in Berea, Kentucky, in 1955, where he met his future wife, Mary Bannerman. After serving as a Navy pilot, and as Alumni Director at Berea, he was encouraged to enroll in the School of Drama by Thornton Wilder, whom he met at Berea during a production of Wilder’s Our Town.

Wheeler authored more than a dozen plays and musicals, among them the long-running Hatfields & McCoys and Young Abe Lincoln. His folk opera Song of the Cumberland Gap was commissioned by the National Geographic Society. His poetry collection Song of a Woods Colt was published in 1969; Travis and Other Poems of the Swannanoa Valley appeared in 1977. He wrote six books of humor, including Laughter in Appalachia, and in 2018 published his memoir Hotter than a Pepper Sprout, a title taken from his hit song “Jackson.”

Wheeler may actually be best known for his music. His songs were recorded by a veritable who’s who of pop and country artists, among them Neil Young, Judy Collins, Nancy Sinatra, Hank Snow, Jefferson Airplane, and Elvis Presley. Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash regularly performed “Jackson,” which was featured in the hit movie Walk the Line, sung by Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon. The song was named one of the Ten Greatest Love Songs of Country Music. “Coward of the County” was a No. 1 hit for Kenny Rogers and was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1980. Elvis Presley recorded two of Wheeler’s songs, “It’s Midnight” and “Never Again.”

Wheeler himself recorded 13 albums; his single “Ode to the Little Brown Shack Out Back” reached No. 3 on the country chart in 1964.

Wheeler was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2001, the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame in 2007, and the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame in 2011.

“Billy Edd Wheeler was a songwriter who could pack an entire cinematic experience into a few short minutes. Perhaps it came from his West Virginia upbringing or his Yale Drama School pedigree,” said Kyle Young, CEO of the Country Western Hall of Fame and Museum. “His writing had the power to do what only the best creative works can: transport the listener.”

Billy Edd Wheeler is survived by his wife of 61 years, Mary Bannerman Wheeler; daughter, Lucy Wheeler; son, Travis Wheeler; and brother, Robert Stewart.

Alumni Notes

1940s

Joan Kron ’48 is enjoying Miami and making progress on her memoir Pop Art in the 1960s, that includes memories with Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, and Robert Indiana. She hopes to see it published this spring, when she will be 97.

1950s

Amnon Kabatchnik’s ’57 two latest books are Murder in the West End: The Plays of Agatha Christie and Her Disciples Volume I and Volume II Volume I includes 15 Christie “whodunits,” including Ten Little Indians, The Mousetrap, and Witness for the Prosecution Volume II features plays penned by William Saroyan, Tom Stoppard, Terence Rattigan, Tennessee Williams, and many others. Both thoroughly researched volumes include plot synopses, production data, critical reviews, as well as biographical sketches of playwrights and key actors and directors.

1960s

A fifth edition of Janet Burroway’s ’60 book Imaginative Writing came out last summer. She also had a reading of her most recent play Headshots at Rivendell Theatre Ensemble in Chicago. Her new novel Simone in Pieces is being published by the University of Wisconsin Press. Her musical Morality Play, adapted from the novel by Barry Unsworth, is in negotiation for a concert reading at Atheneum Theatre. She says: “It was a lingering summer in Chicago—Peter and I don’t really travel, and I’m on a walker, but am still busy at 88.”

Helen Yalof ’60 won first prize in the Chelsea Street Fair Talent Contest. (Yes, she did!). She climbed the rickety stairs of the Visiting Neighbors’ Bandstand with great difficulty (having recently had two knee replacements), her voice,

alas, not in its fullest bloom, and engaged the audience with a wacky version of “It’s Raining Men.” She received the first prize blue ribbon! Now on to other events: Jo Firestone, head writer of the CBS comedy game show After Midnight has been leading the Greenwich House Comedy Class that Helen attends. Jo has directed the class in game shows and in several award-winning short films. Helen is also active in Nicole Kontolefa’s Theater for Change class. This innovative concept was developed from Augusto Boal’s Theater of the Oppressed. Helen recalls that John Gassner (Former Faculty) mentored Boal in the creation of his people’s theater. In the class, actors write scripts, perform, and improvise with the audience. Helen sang her original songs: “Suddenly There Are Roses” and “Pigeons Are So Loverly, But People Not So Hot!” Lastly, Helen performed stand-up comedy on Danny Dechi’s Good Timing Zoom shows. She says: “I do like being funny!”

Abby Bogin Kenigsberg ’63 was awarded the Gloria Bond Creative Aging Award for “being an artist 85 or older, who, in their body of work, demonstrated willingness to explore new art forms.” She has written a memoir, Shenanigans, a poetry collection called Cold Cuts on Wry, and more recently wrote two short plays inspired by Groucho Marx.

The play King of the Jews by Leslie Epstein ’67, adapted from his novel of the same name, was staged at the HERE Arts Center.

Ray Klausen ’67 has been writing a series of murder mysteries. To date, he has completed four novels centered around a fascinating character named Inspector Willis. They can be found on Amazon Books. They include Duplicity; Duplicity in 3 Acts; Deep Duplicity; Duplicity, Care to Die. He says: “They would make a terrific TV series!”

The film Abdo and Saneya directed by Omar Bakry premiered at the Red Sea Film Festival in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, starring Roger H. Simon ’67. Many of Roger’s students from his training

center in NYC, The Simon Studio, also starred in the film, including Inji El Gammal.

Lonnie Carter’s ’69 most recent piece is a two-hander, Thin Air, about Elizabeth Freeman, the first enslaved person to receive freedom in 1781. His play The Book of Gwen, about Gwen Reed, the actor who worked in Connecticut’s tobacco fields and played the character of Aunt Jemima throughout the Northeast from 1956–1974, had a workshop by the Hartbeat Ensemble in Hartford.

Linda Fisher ’69 is pretty nearly 100% retired/out to pasture.

Everett Lunning ’69, YC ’67 continues to work in Austin theater. He appeared in two productions: O. Henry Stories, adapted by Ann Ciccolella, Artistic Director of Austin Shakespeare, and The Tavern by George M. Cohan, produced by Different Stages at the historic Austin Scottish Rite Theater. Ev and his wife, Deloise, visited classmate Kelly Monaghan ’69 in Stratford, Ontario and attended several performances at the Festival.

Poetry, Anyone? by Richard Arthur Olson ’69 is a play about a poetry salon taking place on Zoom. It was performed and recorded in 2022. The play is a sequel to It’s All Greek to Me (2020), about a philosophy class that also takes place on Zoom. The final part of the trilogy, which uses characters from the first two parts, is about a séance and was written for live performance. Despite their serious subject matter, all three plays are comedies of manners. More at www.richardarthurolson.com.

Don Walker ’69 appeared in Three Sisters at FSU/Asolo Conservatory in Sarasota, directed by renowned Chekhov expert Andrei Malaev-Babel, along with a cast that included current conservatory students plus graduates, faculty, and local guest artists. Don says: “My wife Jenny and I were in the roles of Anfisa and Ferapont. I also played Ed, the father of three sons, in Straight White Men at The Tampa Repertory Theatre.”

Alumni Notes

01. Janet Burroway ’60

02. Helen Yalof ’60

03. Everett Lunning ’69, YC ’67 (right) in O. Henry’s “The Pimienta Pancakes.” Photo by Clay Leben.

04. Lonnie Carter ’69 at the statue of “Mum Bett” in Sheffield, MA. Photo by Ingeborg Knottek Hecht.

05. Snapshot from Poetry, Anyone? by Richard Arthur Olson ’69 featuring Joanne Edelmann, Haydn Harvey, Dominic Williamson, Amy Hart Nguyen.

Photo by Daniel Cohen.

06. Don Walker ’69 as Ferapont in Three Sisters

07. Straight White Men at The Tampa Repertory Theatre, including Don Walker ’69 (far left). Photo by Ashley Emrick Photography.

Alumni Notes

08. Kathy Gray ’70, Henry Winkler ’70, Carol Schlanger ’70

09. Stones in his Pockets at Cape May, directed by Roy Bennett Steinberg ’78. Photo by Aleksey Photography.

10. Richard Ostreicher ’79 (right) with husband, Robert Sleasman.

11. Barnet Kellman ’72 in his USC office. Photo by Roberto Gomez.

12. Analysis Through Action for Actors and Directors by David Chambers ’71.

13. Beyond Brooklyn, a memoir by Edith Tarbescu ’76.

14. Barnet Kellman ’72 with Candice Bergen, Diane English, and Korby Siamis on the CNN set.

15. (left to right) Sally Kindleberger, Nancy Sullivan, Jan Hales, Katy Blair in The Cat That Walked by Himself, directed by Eugene Warner ’71 at Paper Maché Cathedral, Bread and Puppet Theater. Photo by Mag.

16/17/18. Paintings by Adrianne Lobel ’79.

1970s

Carol Schlanger ’70 writes: “At nearly 80, my gratitude to DGSD for lifelong friendships sits on my slightly stooped shoulders. Kathy Gray ’70, Henry Winkler ’70, and I loved each other’s company at a fabulous Italian restaurant in Beverly Hills. Then there’s Jill Eikenberry ’70, Charlie Siegel ’70, Roger Simon ’70, Tony Scully ’69, Honor Moore ’70, David Akroyd ’68, Susan Yankowitz ’68, Asaad Kelada ’64, and the late Gordon Rogoff YC ’52 (Faculty Emeritus) … a friend to the end). (Marc Flanagan ’70, I’m sorry I left you off the list, but you could have given me that outside assignment when you were producing Murphy Brown). I miss Ben Mordecai (Former Faculty) and thank Andy Friedlander ’70 (Former Faculty) for trying to get our class together again. I was so happy to reconnect with David Clennon ’68 at the DGSD West Coast party. And Talia Shire Schwartzman ’69, it was great talking to you. What is your son’s phone number again? On the work front, my award-winning memoir Hippie Woman Wild has been optioned twice, and I’m currently writing the first draft of my first novel, Our Little Town. You can catch me as Sally on the pilot episode of Night Court, and as Rita the Yenta on Nobody Wants This. On the home front, I have three beautiful grandchildren, with one on the way, and a beloved husband of 52 years, Clinton Helvey MEd ’70, whom I met at Yale!”

Analysis Through Action for Actors and Directors by David Chambers ’71 was published by Routledge including a book launch in London and a weeklong workshop with spectacular actors, all grads of top UK/Ireland drama schools. This year at Yale Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies, David will produce two major events: a Queer Theatre lecture-demonstration by renowned scholar Laurence Senelick with scenes prepared by Yale College students, and a daylong workshop with Dmitry Krymov.

Bob Montgomery ’71 is teaching writing at The New School in NYC. His

latest works are More, a “musical takeaway” from William James’s The Varieties of Religious Experience, and an exorcism titled The Rise and Fall of Macrumpus Rex, featuring the voices of many DGSD alumni (viewable at www. macrumpus.com).

After retiring from 50+ years of design and teaching, Eugene Warner ’71 came across Kipling’s The Cat that Walked by Himself, which spoke so vehemently for staging that he took it upon himself to organize a group of senior citizen actors (who became The Belle Nanas and the Poppops) and adapted, designed, and directed a staged version. They performed the work around greater Boston culminating in a performance at the Bread and Puppet Theater’s home in Glover, VT. The experience expanded Eugene’s perspective on design and revealed the wonders and joy of collaboration.

David Copelin ’72 is living in Warwick, New York, after teaching at San Jose State University and the University of California, Davis, followed by years as a literary manager and dramaturg at the Mark Taper Forum, the Phoenix Theatre, Arena Stage, and other places. He’s now writing plays, some of which have been produced in professional theaters. David keeps in touch with classmates Steve Robman ’73 and Carol Schlanger ’70, and misses the late Michael Feingold ’72, a good friend of many years.

CNN aired the first episode of its series TV on the Edge which focused on the “Birth 101” episode of Murphy Brown, directed by Barnet Kellman ’72, for which he received two Emmy Awards. The show reviewed the controversy surrounding Murphy, a single mother, choosing to give birth to a child and Vice President Dan Quayle’s infamous attack on the sitcom character. Barnet is featured alongside Candice Bergen and show creator Diane English. Also this year, Barnet donated 50 years’ worth of professional papers, scripts, tapes, and memorabilia from his career in theater, television, and film to the USC Cinema and Theatre Library Collections. He continues to teach

Alumni Notes

directing at the USC School of Cinematic Arts, holding the Robin Williams Endowed Chair in Comedy.

Ben Slotznick ’73, YC ’70 notes that having spent his career outside theater (most recently in internet technology development), it’s pleasantly surprising (and sort of a homecoming) that in the past year he has obtained six patents on auto-tracking for follow spots and video cameras.

Michael Cadden, ’76, DFA ’79, YC ’71, age 75, retired after 40 years of teaching in the English department at Princeton, and later serving as the Director of the Program in Theater. Michael followed in the footsteps of School of Drama colleague Alan Mokler MacVey ’77, and worked with many DGSD alums, including Bob Sandberg ’77 and the late Tim Vasen ’93, YC ’87 (Former Faculty). He served as Chair of the Lewis Center for the Arts and was among those who initiated the development of the 350-seat Roger S. Berlind Theatre now shared by the McCarter Theater and Princeton. During his tenure, Michael’s courses ranged from ‘the Greeks’ and Shakespeare in performance to modern and contemporary theater to a recent and much-loved offering, Films About Theater. In 1988, he taught Princeton’s first course in what was then referred to as ‘gay and lesbian studies’ (a fact that was recently celebrated at a confab of LGBTQ+ alums!). He says, “I rejoice that, among my many coteachers, I can count Athol Fugard, Edward Albee, Toni Morrison, Christine Jones, and Christopher Durang ’74.” Michael received the President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching in 1993. For over three decades, he was Princeton’s ‘Reader’ for the George Jean Nathan Award, the nation’s most prestigious and remunerative prize for theatrical criticism. Michael continues: “I’m a lucky man, and I thank my School of Drama teachers and colleagues and the many School of Drama alums who did so much to help build a theater program at Princeton—now in the hands of the miraculous Jane Cox.”

Edith Tarbescu’s ’76 memoir Beyond Brooklyn was a finalist in the 2024 New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards and won third prize in the South West Writers Contest.

Bob Sandberg ’77 is the series editor of Methuen’s Global Theatre Anthologies and the co-editor of each volume. The second volume, Classical and Modern Plays from India, is out as of February 2025, following the 2024 Ancient, Indigenous, and Modern Plays from Africa and the Diaspora. Bob continues to advise and mentor playwriting and directing thesis students at Princeton.

Roy Bennett Steinberg ’78 directed Stones in his Pockets by Marie Jones in Cape May.

Dick D. Zigun ’78 is a 2024 Playwriting grantee from the New York State Council on the Arts. He has been commissioned to write a new rock opera libretto, Open the Door, Richard, about disgruntled baggy pants burlesque comics.

Thomas Bruce ’79, YC ’75 ended his stage management career in 1987, finishing the production management of a number of industrial shows for Eastern Airlines. About a year later, he took a job as a computer technician at Cornell Law School. In 1991, he wrote Cello, the first web browser for Microsoft Windows. Later on, he established the Legal Information Institute and spent time as a consultant traveling all over the world. A paper on metadata that he co-authored in 2004 is still being cited in international journals. Thomas retired from Cornell in 2019 and has spent the time since selling antique tools, woodworking (he built a fair amount of furniture that’s now in his house), and playing electronic music with friends all over the country. He has a national tour currently scheduled, including a stop in Berlin. In 2024, he was included in Who’s Who in America

Colly Burgwin ’79 retired in the summer of 2023. He says: “It was my 3rd try, and this time it stuck.” After the School of Drama, Colly’s career in the performing

19. (left to right, bottom row): Sarah Gancher, Pete Simpson, Jen Tullock, and Tone Johansen. (left to right, top row)

Anne Hamburger ’86 and Jared Mezzocchi.

Photo by Jeff Harris.

20. Tone Johansen and Anne Hamburger ’86 in Sunny’s Bar.

Photo by Jeff Harris.

21. Mark Bly ’80 and Cat Witschey at their wedding in Houston.

22. Steve Saklad ’81 (right) with husband, Paul Hartman at the AMPAS induction.

23. The Routledge Anthology of Women’s Theatre Theory & Dramatic Criticism by J. Ellen Gainor ’83.

24. Architects of the Taj Mahal by Allan Havis ’80.

25. Jaylene Wallace ’86 reuniting with her friend after many years.

26. Chameleon Film Studio’s first feature opening, including Jaylene Wallace ’86 and family.

27. DGSD alumni event at USITT24. (left to right)

Mary Louise Geiger ’85, Beckie Kravetz ’86, Michael Chybowski ’87, Cheryl Mintz ’87, and Michael Giannitti ’87

28. Cheryl Mintz ’87 and Vicki Whooper ’16 at USITT24.

Alumni Notes

arts included assisting in founding Oregon Contemporary Theatre (OCT) with Craig Latrell ’78 and Bruce Siddons ’78 and serving as General Manager through the first two summer seasons in residence at Lewis & Clark College. He was then invited to join the National Endowment for the Arts for a 3-month Arts Management Fellowship which ended up being almost three years. One of his many NEA duties was working in the Theater Program under Edward A. Martenson (Former Faculty), the Yale Rep’s former Managing Director. Colly went on to become an Assistant Professor of Theatre Management at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, FL, also managing the department’s Ring Theatre. He writes that after deep financial and child-arriving discussions with his wife Linda, he left UMiami and pursued an MBA in Finance and Accounting at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. He spent the remainder of his career in finance for different Philadelphia-based nonprofits. Two School of Drama graduates whose work he is truly missing, like many fellow alumni, are gravel-voiced Reg E. Cathey ’81 and Lance Reddick ’94, especially for his performances as the Hotel Concierge in the John Wick film franchise. Colly currently divides his time between Paoli, PA, on the Main Line outside Philadelphia and a beach house in Rehoboth Beach, DE.

Adrianne Lobel’s ’79 paintings and needlepoints have been shown at The Century Club, where she is a new member, and Anita Rogers Gallery in Tribeca.

Richard Ostreicher ’79 is living on the “Big Island” of Hawaii and serving as a volunteer First Medical Responder for public health emergencies and disasters. He shares: “Come visit our beautiful state and say ‘hello’!”

1980s

Mark Bly ’80 dramaturged the workshop of Keith Reddin’s ’81 play Pierre, produced by Carol Ostrow ’80 and directed by Tony Award-winner Doug Hughes at Atlantic Theater Company in June. Mark further celebrated his summer by marrying Catherine Witschey in a Houston wedding joined by friends from Boston, Maine, Minneapolis, and Peru.

Allan Havis ’80 is happy to plug his third novel in the last three years, Architects of the Taj Mahal (Willow Creek Press 2024) and a new libretto commission, Pancho Rabbit & Coyote, from Bodhi Concerts San Diego which will be his third opera collaboration with composer Anthony Davis YC ’73. The opera will premiere in Tijuana and San Diego in early 2026. He is in his 36th year on the theater faculty at UC San Diego.

Steve Saklad ’81 had a good news/bad news 2024 by capping an incredibly UN-fruitful year in Los Angeles with his happy induction into the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Sharon Braunstein ’82 received an Emmy for Outstanding Art Direction/ Set Decoration/Scenic Design: News for The 17th Annual CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute. “It’s especially rewarding to win as part of the talented team that created this program, which gives awards to everyday people who do good things, expecting nothing in return.”

Cecilia Rubino ’82 shares: “It was lovely to be at Red Bull Theater in NYC in person to hear School of Drama classmate Kate Burton ’82 interviewed by Randy Cohen for the Person Place Thing podcast. Kate chose Anton Chekhov as her ‘person’ and remembered details I’d long forgotten about our first-year drama school production of Three Sisters which Earle Gister (Former Faculty) directed with two different casts in the studio space on Park Street. We both played Masha

in Spring 1980. Jane Kaczmarek ’82 was Olga to my Masha and Kate’s Olga was Fran McDormand ’82. An Associate Professor of Theater, I currently direct the Arts in Context Program at Lang College, The New School. Another unexpected School of Drama connection was the opportunity to take the TIE (Theatrical Intimacy Education) workshops hosted by my New School colleague Glynis Rigsby ’01.”

Anna Theresa Cascio’s ’83 one-person play Godzilla’s Prince: Surviving Monsters, Ghosts, and Nuns was produced at NYC’s cabaret Pangea and at LA’s The Bourbon Room. Her play The Human Question Mark, about Edward and Jo Hopper, will have a reading at NYC’s Yale Club in the spring.

Geoff Cohen ’83 notes: “Interesting times in my corner of Brooklyn! In the past 6 months, I have had photos selected for three international juried art exhibits, and the theatrical side of my life takes me to Cuba, where I am working with a mixed USA/Cuban team to create a new musical celebrating the music of Cuban legend Benny Moré.”

Rick Davis ’83, DFA ’03 is starting his third term as Dean, College of Visual and Performing Arts at George Mason University. The song cycle Stations of Mychal, for which he wrote the libretto (music by Kevin Salfen), has just been released by Centaur Records as a CD and on all the usual streaming platforms. A course that he developed for Mason’s Honors College, focusing on the Silkroad Ensemble’s American Railroad project, was adapted as a three-episode webcast for the 92nd Street Y’s Roundtable series.

J. Ellen Gainor ’83 is a newly elected fellow of the College of Fellows of the American Theatre. Her co-edited volume The Routledge Anthology of Women’s Theatre Theory and Dramatic Criticism won the George Freedley Memorial Award Special Jury Prize from the Theatre Library Association.

Anne Hamburger ’86 is excited to report that En Garde Arts (founded as

Alumni Notes

her third-year thesis project at Yale) produced the world premiere of The Wind and the Rain, a site-specific production by the Obie-winning team, playwright Sarah Gancher and director Jared Mezzocchi. Three DGSD designers worked on the show: Mika Eubanks ’19 (Costumes), Marcelo Martínez García ’23 (Set), and Jane Shaw ’98 (Sound).

Adam Versényi ’86, DFA ’90, YC ’80 serves as Senior Dramaturg for PlayMakers Repertory Company. He worked on two plays this season, What the Constitution Means to Me and The Christmas Case of Hezekiah Jones. He is still teaching at UNC, Chapel Hill where he introduced a new course called Kinesis as Mimesis: The Martial Arts and Theatre. Adam continues to publish, including his translation of Chilean playwright Ramón Griffero’s play Prometheus, The Beginning which appeared in Latin American Theatre Review and the article “Exploring Advocacy Strategies to Increase Works in Translation on US Stages” in HowlRound

Jaylene Wallace ’86 writes: “The following note is 100% professionnews-free. We are retired, just living vicariously through our offspring’s jobs. In 2024, we traveled to Georgia, Pennsylvania, and White Earth Lake, MN, for family visits. Eldest son William is happily designing and building custom doors for the 1% in Genessee, CO. Younger son Phillip is co-founder of Chameleon Film Studios, which is about to premier its first feature. Daughter Jaylene has finished several embroidery projects and reconnected with a dear old friend from middle school—they last saw each other in 1985. More travels are planned: a favorite New Mexico mineral hot spring, Cincinnati, maybe a European trip, or Australia, or both.”

Some 47 years after building his first piece of scenery, Ed Fisher ’87 finally decided to retire in May. He spent most of his career working at Hudson Scenic Studio building scenery primarily for Broadway, where he also had the chance to work with many School of Drama alumni along the way (too many

to remember or name!). Now it’s time to kick back and work on the yard and his “to-be-read” list.

Cheryl Mintz ’87 returned to American Repertory Ballet and New Jersey Ballet, the two leading ballet companies in the state, as their Production Stage Manager during the past two seasons, managing works choregraphed by Twyla Tharp, George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Justin Peck, and world premieres by Ethan Stiefel and Harrison Ball, among many others. Cheryl continues at Montclair State University as an adjunct professor teaching Stage Management, and as the Stage Managers’ Association’s Director-atLarge and Host, Producer and Event Chair of the Del Hughes Awards for Lifetime Achievement. Cheryl and her husband Harris escaped to Greece and Atlantic Canada for extended adventures. Her son Jake is thriving as a sophomore architecture major at Syracuse University.

Until 2005, David Moore, Jr., ’87 led two companies in Minneapolis: Playwrights’ Center and 3-Legged Race: New Theater & Performance, which he also co-founded. After many years of wonderful experiences working with hundreds of gifted, mostly American playwrights and theater artists, he has returned to painting (five exhibits in the past decade), while serving as trustee at Guthrie Theater, Walker Art Center, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. “My wife Leni and I also are active politically. We each have two children from prior marriages, all four now thriving adults, and one grandchild. Warm best to all.”

Bernardo Solano ’88 just wrapped up his 12th and final year as department chair at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. He is extremely happy to have more time to teach and write. He hopes to run into you in the future!

In June 2024, Teresa Eyring ’89 left Theatre Communications Group, where she had served as Executive Director/ CEO since 2007. Her tenure was marked

by a commitment to racial equity, as well as attention to guiding the theater field through some difficult and transformational periods. In March 2024, she was celebrated at TCG’s Gala for 17 years of service, receiving her award from André De Shields. In July, she received Special Recognition from the International Black Theatre Festival in Winston-Salem. She is currently working on a number of projects both locally and globally.

Mark London ’89 is enjoying his first full year of retirement from Broadcast Lighting Systems Design. He has made time for new dance projects, including a continued collaboration with Zvi Dance, new designs and touring with Noche Flamenca, designing the DUMBO downtown dance festival, and working on a new season for Cherylyn Lavagnino Dance. Mark is volunteering with Habitat for Humanity and enjoying some travel with his wife, Gail London ’87 (née Burns), who is also semi-retired, currently a part time consultant for the New York State Council on the Arts. They are happy to report that their daughter, Rachel London YC ’12, is still the contracts manager for the Public Theater and son, Ian, is a senior software engineer at Target. “Greetings to all our classmates and friends!”

1990s

Gil Kofman’s ’90 play about Leni Reifenstahl, Leni’s Last Lament, was at the Edinburgh festival, starring Jodie Markell and directed by fellow Yale playwright/director Richard Caliban ’88. Dickhead had its world premiere at Theater for the New City, also directed by Richard Caliban.

Fourteen Short Plays and Monologues by Charles Evered ’91 was published in November. In addition, his plays have been added to the permanent Public History Collection at the Massachusetts Historical Society. This past summer he was named Artist-inResidence at the George Washington Birthplace National Monument in

Alumni Notes

Bob Schneider

32. Catherine Lloyd Burns and Ken Cheeseman in Will Sacrifice by Julie McKee ’96 at Chester Theatre Company. Photo by Andrew Greta.

33. Artwork by Karyl Newman ’96.

34. The Diplomat mix crew (left to right): Robert Cotnoir ’94, Michelle Micara, Zack Booth, Dan Brennan, Sean Garnhardt, Brad Carpenter, Gary Levy, Matt Nichelson, Serrantos Madimenos. Photo by Carlie Bergman.

35. Chris Weida ’95 and family. (left to right): Danny, Alex, Emily, Ashton, Connor, Rosanne, Chris.

36. Reunion celebration of the Dwight/ Edgewood Project in summer of 2024.

37. Clark Jackson ’97 and partner, Jamie Wilber, skiing Lake Tahoe.

38. Clark Jackson ’97 and his mom, Ann Jackson, brunching in South Orange, NJ.

39. FilmCrash founder Matt Harrison presenting First Prize Comedy Feature Screenplay to Julius Galacki ’98 Photo by Colleen Dodson-Baker.

40. Ed Blunt ’99

41. Paul Niebanck ’97 with his daughter, Grace.

42. (left to right) Maya Louise Shed ’25, Kendall Driffin, Carla L. Jackson ’99 (Faculty), Ricardo Morris ’97, and IfeMichelle Gardin.

43. Julius Galacki ’98 with statuette for Best Screenplay 3rd Place at the Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival.

44. The Scenographer featuring the work of Alexander Dodge ’99.

45. Mark Bly ’80 wearing a baseball cap with the logo of 3 Body Problem by Alex Woo ’97

46. Poster of the Conch Shell International Fim Fest, produced by Magaly Colimon-Christopher ’98.

47. Tatlin’s Tower by Evan Yionoulis ’85, YC ’82 (Former Faculty) and Thomas Cabaniss YC ’84, directed by Karen Lordi-Kirkham ’92, ’97.

29. Jodie Markell in Leni’s Last Lament by Gil Kofman ’90. Photo by Francis Krow.

30. Julie Lawrence-Edsell ’93 Photo by Jess Osber.

31.

’94, ’97 acting as a zombie in a student film.

Alumni Notes

Pope’s Creek, Virginia. His work continues for the Evered House, a non-profit artist residency for military veterans that he founded. Recently, his play Adopt a Sailor completed a tour of all 50 states in support of Evered House. New projects include a music video based on Alan Doyle’s song “Laying Down to Perish,” and a film version of his Christmas play, An Actor’s Carol

Karen Lordi-Kirkham ’92, DFA ’97 is currently directing Angels in America, Part I at Dickinson College with Trui Malten ’93 as the set and light designer. They first did the show together in 2005 at Pendragon Theatre. This is their ninth director/designer collaboration. They reunited in 2021 in Norwich, UK, where Karen directed an outdoor production of Tatlin’s Tower by Evan Yionoulis ’85, YC ’82 (Former Faculty) and Thomas Cabaniss YC ’84 on the day theaters could reopen after Covid. The play premiered at the Yale Summer Cabaret when Karen was the artistic director in 1991!

Julie Lawrence-Edsell ’93, Program Head for BFA Acting at Sands College of Performing Arts at Pace University, has been appointed Director of Intimacy and Consent-Based Practices. Julie first began exploring consentbased practices in 2021, with the help of a Kenan Award grant, and brought these approaches into her classroom. Julie reports that the positive impact on her students was immediate, as they developed the ability to recognize and articulate their physical and emotional boundaries, learned tools for self-care, and adopted a shared vocabulary for consentforward scene work, leading to stronger collaborations, more inclusive practices, and braver spaces across classes and productions.

Laura Perlow ’93 writes: “Hello all. I joined Northlight Theatre last spring as Director of Advancement. We’re building a new theater in downtown Evanston, IL, with plans to open in fall 2026. Please reach out if you’re ever in Chicago! Email me at lperlow@ northlight.org.

After wrapping Season Two as music editor on Netflix’s The Diplomat, Robert Cotnoir ’94 is gearing up to start Season Three this fall. He shares: “Please check out this amazing series and our original score composed by Marcelo Zarvos.”

After 23 years teaching in Illinois, Bob Schneider ’94, DFA ’97 retired and moved back to New Haven. He says: “Francoise has also retired from the Yale French Department. As a result, we’re finally getting down to real work—a host of projects we called ‘work,’ but which is now revealed to have been merely the pressure of our jobs. The house, the yard, and my sailboat all need attention. Our granddaughters demand attention. Books to read, plays to see, reviews to write. I stubbornly persist in writing and sending out plays which theaters stubbornly decline to produce. Take a look, they’re all on New Play Exchange. My most whimsical ambition at present is to act in student films. I think it will be fun to be directed by a population I used to direct. Reading their screenplays, I note their curious ideas about age and aging. I want to show them that an elderly character can do more than represent the sins and misapprehensions of the past.”

Phillip Christian Smith’s ’94 Roe Green Commission, Standardized Patient, about actors who help train healthcare workers to act with empathy, was workshopped at Cleveland Playhouse, Florida Rep, The Valdez Conference, and The Brick. His theatre company, the Omnivores, put up its first production, Sex and the Abbey by Diana Ly. Phillip has been teaching at Sewanee, Pace University, and Hunter College. Upcoming: a Sloan Commission and DGF Fellowship.

This summer JJ Hickey ’95 celebrated his 40th summer teaching acting, directing, and filmmaking to children and adults at Camp Scatico in New York’s Hudson Valley. He also celebrated his 20th year volunteering at Camp Oasis for summer campers and counselors with an IBD, run by the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation. “It’s my favorite week of the year!” he says. Back

in L.A. he’s writing a very theatrical musical adaptation of Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

Chris Weida ’95 shared some family news: “Connor married Ashton on June 1! She’s an elementary school teacher with a heart of gold and a wonderful addition to the family.”

Danny is a senior in high school with an eye toward some sort of designrelated career. Emily is a junior at UW-La Crosse studying marketing. Alex started his 2nd year of pharmacy school at UW-Madison. Rosanne is a part-time office manager for a small property management company and Chris is still at Derse, Inc., an exhibits and events marketing company.

“In our spare time we chase our children around the state as they move in and out of new apartments.”

Alec Hammond ’96 writes: “It has been a pleasure to drop by New Haven and Yale and see the changes, and occasionally even drop in on old friends! My son graduated from Yale College last spring so those visits will become less frequent. On the family front, all are doing well.” Alex recently designed The Corp for Netflix and co-designed The Sympathizer for HBO. Working in Thailand was a joy. Meanwhile, lots of sculpting and art making between paying gigs to keep himself challenged. “Miss you all.”

Jennie Israel ’96 just finished working on Leopoldstadt at The Huntington Theatre with Brenda Meaney ’13 and Samuel Douglas ’24. Next is Miss Bates in Emma by Kate Hamill at the Actors’ Shakespeare Project!

Will Sacrifice by Julie McKee ’96 received a World Premiere production at Chester Theatre Company with Keira Naughton directing, and featuring Catherine Lloyd Burns, Ken Cheeseman, and Greg Stuhr.

Karyl Newman ’96 has been awarded funding through the CA Creative Corps, a program funded by the California Arts Council, that supports artists working at the intersections of art and social change.

Alumni Notes

Elizabeth Bennett ’97 shares: “Big changes at our house this year. In March 2024, I landed a dream job as program manager at the Martha’s Vineyard Community Foundation, so I’m back to grant making and learning the world of scholarships and donoradvised funds while engaging more deeply in the critical needs of housing and food security. I’m grateful to continue freelance work as a grant writer with Andy Hamingson (Faculty) in his consulting firm, where I get to collaborate with more School of Drama grads than can be named. Every morning begins with a long nature walk with Cookie the Horse Dog, our “foster fail” chocolate Labrador retriever. I’m glad to be where I am right now and am grateful to the people who got me here.”

Clark Jackson ’97 made the move from Brooklyn to South Orange, NJ, during the height of the pandemic. “The climb to ‘conquer’ first-time homeownership was pretty steep, but we did it! Found out that Johnny Sparks ’98 and Kyle Rivers ’98 both live nearby, so maybe a YSD reunion in Essex County is in order. In the meantime, look out for me in the upcoming film Eugene the Marine with Scott Glenn, Jim Gaffigan, and Annette O’Toole. Holla!”

Robin MacDuffie ’97 accepted a job with Upstate Scenic in Chatham, NY, as Production Manager. He also recently published the acting script for Too Depressing for Words, A Romantic Comedy. You can find it, and many of his self-published plays on Amazon.

This summer, Ricardo Morris ’97 had the privilege of returning to New Haven to take part in a truly remarkable event: the celebration of 28 years of the Dwight/Edgewood Project (D/EP), “thoughtfully curated and flawlessly executed” by Executive Director Maya Louise Shed ’25 and Project Coordinator Kendall Driffin. A particularly poignant moment for Ricardo was the tribute paid to Emalie A. Mayo (Former Staff), the project coordinator whose work over the past decade profoundly shaped the program, and whose unexpected passing left a

considerable gap at D/EP. Ricardo shared: “I am immensely grateful for the opportunity to participate in both the conference and the reunion, and for the honor of being recognized as the program’s founder. It was truly overwhelming to witness the love and dedication that has flourished over the past 26 years. Bravo to D/EP, the Drama School, and all the past directors, mentors, and students who are changing the world, one child at a time.”

Paul Niebanck ’97 was honored to be part of Jelly’s Last Jam at New York City Center, Las Borinqueñas at Ensemble Studio Theatre, and Our American Queen at The Flea!

Mark Bly ’80 shares that 3 Body Problem by Alex Woo ’97 has been renewed for a second season on Netflix!

Tessa Auberjonois ’98 was deeply saddened to hear of the loss of Obi Ndefo ’97. She took to social media to connect with fellow alumni. Brandy Zarle ’97 happened to be staying at a hotel around the corner from where Tessa and Adrian LaTourelle ’99 were visiting family after having dropped off their oldest son for his first year at Bennington College. Thus, an impromptu reunion after 26 years, and some needed tears and hugs for Obi. Tessa was also thrilled to attend the alumni gathering last spring in LA (thanks to CTG) and to see so many colleagues. She is currently playing Joan Rivers in the world premiere of Joan at South Coast Repertory, running a self-tape production studio (auditioning in the modern world), teaching, and making a couple quick appearances in Monster(s) on Netflix. Deep condolences to the class of ’97 and the Ndefo family.

Conch Shell Productions (CSP), founded by Magaly Colimon-Christopher ’98, presented its 3rd annual Conch Shell International Film Fest at Regal Cinema in Forest Hills, Queens. CSP’s mission is to develop, present, and produce new plays and films by artists of Caribbean heritage. Board members include Evan Parke ’97, Clark Jackson ’97, David

Yick-Koppel ’98, and Jeff Bartos LAW ’90. The Film Fest featured over 35 films by artists of 13 Caribbean nationalities, workshops, industry panels, and networking gatherings. Kyle Leland Rivers ’98 heads the film festival’s digital marketing campaign. Visit www.conchshelliff.com.

Julius Galacki’s ’98 play The Frisco Flash was a finalist for the 2024 Ashland New Play Festival. Three of his very short plays were in a One-Minute Play Festival at the Victory Theatre in Burbank, CA last fall. His latest comic screenplay Don’t Eat Paper! won Best Comedy Screenplay at Film Crash and was honored by the Woods Hole Film Festival and Final Draft’s Big Break. Additionally, his comedy-drama Limping Towards Babylon, his thriller Pray With a Bullet, and his comic action-adventure script The Lost Treasure of the Mayans, garnered finalist mentions in screenplay competitions.

Ed Blunt ’99 recently took on significant ownership of KonnectMD, a virtual healthcare company that reduces health care costs for millions of people in the U.S. He continues to do keynote presentations and communication coaching. He calls his training “the gift that keeps on giving!”

A monograph about the design work of Alexander Dodge ’99 in the book The Scenographer was published in 2024.

2000s

Vinnie Olivieri ’01 and Sara Clement ’05 collaborated on Dear Jack, Dear Louise at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival. Vinnie and Sarah Hodges Olivieri ’08 continue to collaborate on their marriage and raising their awesome daughter, Hallie.

Apple TV+ hit show Bad Sisters, with costumes designed by Camille Benda ’02, is back for a second season. Camille enjoyed working in London and Dublin where the show was filmed, while also doing research throughout

Alumni Notes

the UK for her second book on fashion and gender identity due out in Fall 2025.

Joshua Borenstein ’02 shares: “2024 was a banner year for our household! My wife Kate, became an assistant attorney general for the State of Connecticut. Our older daughter Naomi, graduated high school and started her freshman year at Mount Holyoke College. Odyssey Associates, my consulting practice, celebrated its fifth anniversary. Now, Kate and I spend our free time shuttling our younger daughter Sophia, to her various activities and hiking with our dog, Casper.”

Kate Bredeson ’02, DFA ’06 is a full professor of theatre at Reed College in Portland, Oregon. Her second book, a French-to-English translation of the 1968 Théâtre de l’Aquarium student play The Inheritor, was written in collaboration with her student Thalia Wolff. Current DGSD student Fanny Abib-Rozenberg ’25 contributed to the first draft of the translation. It was published by Northwestern University Press in Fall 2024. Bredeson’s next book, the four-volume The Diaries of Judith Malina, is scheduled for publication in 2026.

Clara Rice ’02 recently joined Adirondack Studios (ADKS) as its Director of Global Marketing. ADKS is an award-winning creative studio that provides design, fabrication, art direction, and installation for some of the world’s most iconic entertainment destinations, cultural exhibits, performance venues, real estate developments, and brand experiences. Recently, Clara launched the Themed Entertainment Association’s Wellness Council. Its mission is to destigmatize mental health conversations and provide industry professionals a community in which they can thrive physically, mentally and emotionally.

Elena Maltese ’03 shares that she is happy and well in Worcester, MA. “Not much theater to update anyone on since stepping away in 2005. My career has been in project management for as long as I can remember, and for the last

3 years I have been running my own consulting firm, enjoying working for myself. I did want to say to all my classmates from 2001-2005 that I adore you all. I follow your careers, your family updates, your successes, and your failures. Please know I am still just a complete fan of all you do. Your brilliance feeds my soul. Be good to yourselves and know I am here if you ever need anything. I’m your biggest cheerleader.”

Sandra Goldmark ’04 continues to work in design, sustainability, and higher education. She serves as Associate Dean for Interdisciplinary Engagement at Columbia University’s new Climate School; this role is an amazing opportunity to bring people together from all disciplines around climate solutions. Sandra continues to teach at Barnard, offering classes on circularity and sustainable design and production alongside her husband, Mike Banta ’03, who is Director of Production. Last year she had a fun opportunity to return to her theater roots, designing a (sustainable, of course!) set for the world premiere of Galilee, 34 by Eleanor Burgess YC ’07 at South Coast Rep. While there, she also got to work with Lori Monnier ’01 Sandra stays plugged in to theater by serving on the board of Hudson Valley Shakespeare, where they are building a new LEED platinum theater and rewilding a former golf course. It also allows her to regularly cross paths with many other DGSD alums.

David Howson ’04 was recognized with the Skidmore College President’s Award for Leadership and Service in May 2024. He was also appointed to the board of the Charles R. Wood Foundation and is a trustee at the Emma Willard School. His biggest 2024 achievement? Getting a new dachshund puppy, Hero!

Tony Manna ’04 co-wrote and starred in the second season of the web series The Corps along with Tijuana Ricks ’04, LeRoy McClain ’04, Carlos Tesoro ’04, Jessica Ford ’04, and Nancy Kim Parsons-Borland ’02. It can be seen at www.thecorpscomedy.com. He

continues to produce the podcast Ask Ronna with Ronna (& Bryan) for Dwight Street Book Club with Rolin Jones ’04 and Adam O’Byrne ’04

Chloe Chapin ’05 received her PhD in 2023 from the American Studies program at Harvard. Her book SUITS: The Making of Modern Men will come out in July 2026. The book examines the modern suit as a history of power, tracing the materiality of white American masculinity from Revolutionary America to the midnineteenth century, where suits constrained white masculinity and excluded other identities from rational modernity and political selfhood. The book will be published by Oxford University Press.

Roweena Mackay ’05 teaches at the Tohono O’odham Community College and the University of Arizona, where she also serves as Area Head for a BA program in Live and Screened Performance in the School of Theatre, Film & Television.

Christopher Carter Sanderson ’05 spent most of the year working on what he hopes will be his second published novel, June, Julie & August. One of the characters in the novel writes a translation/adaptation of Chekhov’s The Seagull, so Christopher translated and adapted the play himself. A scene from Christopher’s version will be published in the April 2025 issue of Asymptote, and readings by fellow School of Drama alums are scheduled for both coasts. An additional excerpt from the novel, a poem titled “Broadway & 116th,” won the London Independent Story Prize in Poetry. Peter Macon ’03 and Marion Young ’05 have joined Christopher’s short film TITANIA as Oberon and Titania, for 2025 festival release.

After serving in leadership positions in the American regional theater for two decades, David Byrd ’06 has transitioned the skills he has amassed to a new medium. In October, he began his tenure as Chief Operations Officer at Arrowmont School of Arts & Crafts in East Tennessee.

Alumni Notes

A murder of DGSD alums came together to create Weston Theater Company’s fall production of The Woman in Black. The group included Jacob Basri ’23 (Director), Marcelo Martínez García ’23 (Set Designer), Aidan Griffiths ’23 (Costume Designer), Evdoxia Ragkou ’23 (Sound Designer), YiChen Zhou ’24 (Lighting Designer), Lucas Dixon ’12 (Actor), and Susanna Gellert ’06 (Executive Artistic Director, Weston Theater Company).

Eric Gilde ’07 co-wrote the film Damned If You Do with his wife Ellen Adair, which was filmed in Paulsboro, NJ, over the summer. The horror comedy is about a group of friends who sold their souls to the devil in high school and now must try to escape hell’s grasp before payment is due: their 25th high school reunion. The film stars Molly Bernard ’13 giving a memorably hilarious performance. A release is planned for 2025.

September 2024 saw the world premiere of the So Fare Films feature documentary, Simulating Religious Violence produced and directed by Jenn Lindsay ’07. Jenn will be traveling with the film to screenings throughout the U.S. and Europe. She is also directing a new documentary, Minding Shadows, currently in post-production alongside a number of other short films and media projects that will see their premieres at the end of the year. In the meantime, Jenn maintains her position as Professor of Sociology at John Cabot University in Rome, and welcomes all for a visit over gelato. Reach out to her at jenn@sofarefilms.com.

Chris Brown ’08 is currently serving as Executive Director of Orlando Family Stage, central Florida’s only professional theater dedicated to young audiences. Recent projects include the world premiere production of Junie B. Jones in BOO… and I Mean It! and A Charlie Brown Christmas: Live on Stage, produced in partnership with Gershwin Entertainment Corp.

L M Feldman ’08 is busy! Here are a few past and upcoming activities: hand foot hand @ The Playwrights Realm; S P A C

E @ Central Square Theater; LIMBER, a love story @ Emerson Stage; Thrive, Or What You Will [an epic] @ University of Washington; Venturous Playwright Fellow @ The Playwrights’ Center; The Philly Cycle @ InterAct Theatre.

Carter Gill ’09 began a position as a full-time professor of acting, teaching Movement, Clown, Commedia at Southern Methodist University’s Meadows School of the Arts. He directed a new play by Gonzalo Rodríguez Risco ’09, co-taught with Blake Hackler ’06, and co-directed alongside Stan Wojewodski, Jr. (Former Dean).

Barret O’Brien ’09 wrote and plays the co-lead on the new Duplass Brothers TV series The Long Long Night. The series premiered at this year’s Tribeca and SXSW Film Festivals.

2010s

Valérie Thérèse Bart ’10 is proud to have won the 2024 Houston Theater Awards for Best Costume Design for the adaptation of Jane Eyre by Elizabeth Williamson at the Alley Theatre. The production was directed by Eleanor Holdridge ’97. Scenery was designed by John Coyne ’97, and the costume shop director was Mike Floyd ’06

Walter Byongsok Chon ’10, DFA ’20 was awarded a Bogliasco Foundation Fellowship in Spring 2024, along with his wife, dramaturg Anne M. Hamilton. During his residency in Bogliasco, Italy, he worked on the English language translation of four Korean plays by Myung-Wha Kim, with Anne as the English language consultant. For this project, they received a grant from the Daesan Foundation. Walter completed his sabbatical from his position as an associate professor of dramaturgy and theatre studies at Ithaca College. He served as a visiting professor at the Korean National University of Arts for the Fall 2023 and Spring 2024 semesters, where he taught Dramaturgy, Translation and

Adaptation, Theory and Criticism, and Play Analysis. His book Dramaturgy: The Basics (Routledge 2023, coauthored with Hamilton) received a rave review in the LMDA Review: The Journal of Dramaturgy and has been a consistent best seller on Amazon.

Joby Earle ’10 and Charise CastroSmith ’10 celebrated 11 years of marriage this year and in a sign of relationship health both completely forgot it was their anniversary until the day arrived. They have two beautiful children: Cecilia (6) and Julian (2). Charise received an overall deal from 20th Century TV and continues to write for television and film. Joby performed at the Echo Theater Company this summer in a new play and recently signed with new management after taking time off to raise the kids. Everyone is happy and healthy in Los Angeles!

Elizabeth Barrett Groth ’10 had the privilege of being the first ever team tailor for Paralympics Australia during the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. She and her team outfitted over 300 athletes, coaches, and staff, and made sure the athletes’ ceremonial and competition uniforms were adapted to their unique needs and abilities. She altered everything from compression swimsuits to equestrian hunt coats, as well as helping an athlete to adapt their wheelchair seat for competition. Australia’s Channel 9 featured her in their coverage of the Paralympics. Truly honored to have played a small part in the success of the 2024 Paralympics, Elizabeth hopes to continue working with para athletes in France and Europe. She has lived outside Paris since 2019.

Karen Hashley ’10 and her dog, Rosie, are moving back to New York!

2024 celebrated Shakespeare on the Vine Theatre Company’s tenth and final year at Brice Station Vineyards in Murphys, CA. Founded by Tara Kayton ’11 and Janet Cunningham (Staff) the Company's 10 years were an extraordinary achievement. Both are so proud of the excellent theater produced, the generous audiences,

Alumni Notes

50. Clara Rice ’02 at View Boston as part of the Themed Entertainment Association’s Boston TEA Party.

51. Tijuana Ricks ’04 and Tony Manna ’04. Photo by Chiara Motley.

52. The Inheritor by Kate Bredeson ’02, DFA ’06. Illustration by Sizheng Song. Design by Marianne Jankowski.

53. Mike Banta ’03, Sandra Goldmark ’04, and Eric Banta enjoying the last days of summer in the Adirondacks.

54. Elena Maltese ’03 and her dog, Captain Darci.

55. David Byrd ’06

56. David Howson ’04 and Hero

57. “Broadway & 116th” by Christopher Carter Sanderson ’05.

58. Poster for Simulating Religious Violence produced and directed by Jenn Lindsay ’07.

59. Christopher Carter Sanderson ’05

60. Jenn Lindsay ’07 in Rome. Photo by Annie Kimbrough.

61. Creative team of The Woman in Black at Weston Theater Company.

62. Carter Gill ’09. Photo by David Noles.

63. (left to right) Josh Borenstein ’02, Kate Hagmann-Borenstein, Naomi Borenstein, and Sophia Borenstein

64. Barret O’Brien ’09. Photo by Gary Lundgren.

65. Cast of hand foot hand by L M Feldman ’08, directed by Jessi D. Hill ’07 Photo by Daniel J. Vasquez Productions.

66. Chelsea Talmadge as Junie B. Jones at Orlando Family Stage, where Chris Brown ’08 is Executive Director. Photo by McKenzie Lakey.

Alumni Notes

and cherished memories from the venture. As both founders and other resident artists experience career growth and family commitments, the decision to say goodbye was an important one. ave supported Shakespeare on the Vine include Ryan M. Davis ’11, Herin Kaputkin ’19, and Laura J. Eckelman ’11

Tara Kayton ’11 is the Associate Director of General & Company Management at Oregon Shakespeare Festival. In her eighth season with OSF she has seen exceptional growth and change. She is the proud mother of Felicity Jo Kayton-Harrison a spirited and beautiful 3-year-old. She lives in Ashland, Oregon with her partner Kierin Harrison and their French bulldog, Henry.

Louisa Proske ’12 was nominated as Director of the Year by the prestigious German opera magazine Opernwelt for her production of Rinaldo at Glimmerglass Festival (with designs by Matt Saunders ’12 and Montana Levi Blanco ’15). In the 23-24 season, Louisa directed new productions of The Barber of Seville (Oper Halle), Rusalka (Theater Regensburg) and Amadigi di Gaula (Händel Festival Halle) and oversaw remounts of her productions of Into the Woods and Xerxes. Heartbeat Opera, the company Louisa co-founded with Ethan Heard ’13, YC ’07 celebrated its 10th anniversary and was hailed in The New York Times as “an enterprise that, while small and still young, has already contributed more to opera’s vitality than most major American companies.” In other good news, Louisa (Associate Artistic Director) and Walter Sutcliffe (Artistic Director) will continue to lead Oper Halle until 2031, due to “innovative artistic work and rising audience numbers.”

Ethan Heard ’13, YC ’07 directed a newly revised version of Soft Power, the political satire by David Henry Hwang ’83 and Jeanine Tesori (Yale College Faculty) at Signature Theatre in Arlington, VA. Chika Shimizu ’15 and Oliver Wason ’14 designed.

Benjamin Fainstein ’13 is based in Portland, OR, where he facilitates projects in public art curation and grant making. He will soon publish the second season of his serialized adventure fiction podcast, Lumber Dandy & Friends, which he is also adapting for the stage.

Rob Grant ’13 sends love from beautiful Vermont where he is the Director of Education at Northern Stage Theater and was promoted to Lecturer in Acting at Dartmouth College. Thanks to the recent production of Constellations at Northern Stage, Rob got to work with his wife Izzie for the first time in what was a career and personal highlight. Offstage they are having a blast exploring Vermont with their son, Baz.

Nicole Marconi ’13 has been working as a librarian for the past three years. She previously worked at the Hoboken Public Library. In July, she started a new position as the Central Collections Project Manager at the Brooklyn Public Library.

Shane D. Hudson ’14 is celebrating his ninth year as Executive Director of Primary Stages, a prominent OffBroadway theater company in New York City. Under his leadership, the theater has produced acclaimed works by Charles Busch, Kate Hamill, Theresa Rebeck, Judy Gold, and many others. Shane and his husband, Scandinavian jewelry designer Mikkel Brøgger, are also marking their 10th wedding anniversary this year. The couple, along with their four beloved pugs—Dolly, Daisy, Donna, and Didi—split their time between Brooklyn, Copenhagen, and Paris.

It was a challenging but grateful year for Shannon Dillon ’15. She is working as the Performing Arts Complex Coordinator at Monterey Peninsula College (which she loves). She welcomed son, Bronson MacGregor, on May 20, the two-month anniversary of sadly losing her beloved dad; he always said her graduation from Yale was one of the happiest days of his life. Shannon sends love to her classmates and professors.

67. Ana Miramontes, Chris Hutchinson, and Melissa Molano in Alley Theatre’s production of Jane Eyre, directed by Eleanor Holdridge ’97, set design by John Coyne ’97, and costumes by Valérie Thérèse Bart ’10 Photo by Lynn Lane.

68. Anne M. Hamilton and Walter Byongsok Chon ’10, DFA ’20. Photo by Laura Bianchi.

69. Cecilia Earle, Joby Earle ’10, Charise Castro-Smith ’10, and Julian Earle.

70. The Australian Uniform Center, Elizabeth’s headquarters at the Paralympics. Photo by Elizabeth Barrett Groth ’10.

71. Swimmers Grant “Scooter” Patterson and Ahmed Kelly celebrate winning silver and bronze in the SM3 150m medley in ceremonial uniforms custom-altered by Elizabeth Barrett Groth ’10. Photo by Stan Sports.

72. Karen Hashley ’10 and her dog Rosie at Cannon Beach. Photo by Elise Napier.

73. Closing night of Twelfth Night at Shakespeare on the Vine Theatre Company, founded by Tara Kayton ’11 and Janet Cunningham (Staff).

74. The late Gordon Rogoff ’52 (Former Faculty) at Rock Cottage, Durrus in West Cork, Ireland, June 2022. Photo by Hugh Farrell ’15.

75. Shelby North ’18 and Matt Davis ’18

76. Amadigi di Gaula, directed by Louisa Proske ’12 at Halle Handel Festival. Photo by Anna Kolata.

77. Rob Grant ’13 with his wife, Izzie, and son, Baz.

Alumni Notes

Hugh Farrell ’15 writes in memory of Gordon Rogoff YC ’52 (Faculty Emeritus): “Gordon was my teacher, mentor, role model, and friend. I knew him for the last 12 years of his selfdescribed ‘anecdotage.’ We met properly for the first time on my first day of class at Yale. I was nervous but I’ll never forget Gordon approaching me with his big bright smile to tell me about his connection with Ireland and to welcome me to the school. He was so kind and charismatic, so at ease with himself, I knew I had met a special soul. I took Gordon’s course on Beckett and his masterclass on Hamlet and had the privilege of taking his criticism class three years in a row. During those classes he didn’t so much teach me how to write, but rather, to see writing as a way to understand myself. With his gentle coaxing, wry insights, and attention to details, he gave me the confidence to speak authentically. We stayed in touch after graduation. I would visit him any time I was passing through New York, but between those sparse trips we stayed in touch by email. His famous emails. Erudite, full of kindness, curiosity, and encouragement. A real pen pal. It was in those emails that Gordon really shone as a mentor, guiding me gently with helpful advice on art and life with a well-timed story. Slow down, he would remind me often. Slow down. (I’m trying my best Gordon). I describe Gordon as a role model, too. I met him in my mid-twenties, at a time when the chaos of spending my youth in the closet was still taking its toll. Through his relationship with Mort he was living proof to me that the life I feared for so long could be filled with love and care. When Mort sadly passed away during the pandemic, Gordon and I became even closer. I knew he’d wanted to lay Mort to rest in their beloved West Cork where they had spent so many years together, they had effectively become locals. Gordon was a great tour guide, and I don’t think there’s a Michelin star restaurant left in West Cork we didn’t try. I can still see his eyes light up every time I hear the ring of a crystal wine glass. We had even planned a trip to West Cork again this summer after the artist residency he had planned for himself in Italy in

May. For someone who kept reminding me to slow down, he showed no signs of it. Gordon was my friend. We loved spending time together. We could talk about anything. The last time I saw Gordon, we took a cab to the Irish Arts Center downtown. He had seen a play by the Irish clown, Mikel Murfi, in Skibbereen the summer before and suggested we see another of Murfi’s trilogy while it was on tour in New York. The Mysterious Case of Kitsy Rainey is about a grieving widower called Pat whose wife Kitsy has left him a briefcase of cassette tapes she recorded to encourage him to get on with his life. Late in the play, she asks Pat to recount the best bits, the highlights, of his life. His answer? “That someone had shown me care... that’s all I could ever have wanted. Care to me has always been the ‘higher power,’ more important than love somehow... and so I did my best to care... and if I cared, I sometimes did it with more passion than I loved.” In the semi-dark of the theater, Gordon and I caught each other’s eyes, knowing care was at the heart of our relationship, the measure of a true friendship, and the essence of a life spent in art. I miss you, Gordon. Thanks for all the great times.”

Alexander Woodward ’16 designed the set for Pamela Palmer at Williamstown Theatre Festival written by David Ives ’84 and directed by Walter Bobbie.

Paula Clarkson ’17 shares that the Stage Management Class of 2017 has had an amazing year! Benjamin Pfister ’17 worked on Our Town on Broadway and recently joined DGSD as Stage Management faculty! Rebekah Heusel ’17 is juggling being a Program Manager at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, while wrangling toddler Theo—a true feat. Helen Irene Muller ’17 is the Production Stage Manager and Office Manager for Anchorage Opera and newly engaged! And Paula is working as an Assistant Director in TV/Film. She recently wrapped work on Kiss of the Spider Woman, the J-Lo movie. She is also newly engaged to be married.

78. Tara Kayton ’11 and Felicity Jo Kayton-Harrison. Photo by Emily Trask.

79. Rusalka, directed by Louisa Proske ’12 at Theater Regensburg. Photo by Kristin Liebig.

80. Ethan Heard ’13, YC ’07, Jeanine Tesori (Yale College Faculty), and David Henry Hwang ’83

81. Louisa Proske ’12 with Ethan Heard ’13, Jacob Ashworth Mus.D.M.A. ’18, and Daniel Schlosberg Mus.D.M.A. ’18, YC ’10, the leadership team of Heartbeat Opera until 2021.

82. Marié Botha ’18 at the premiere of The Penguin at Jazz at Lincoln Center.

83. Izzie Steele and Rob Grant ’13 in Constellations, directed by Sarah Elizabeth Wansley. Photo by Mark Washburn.

84. (left to right) Walter Bobbie, David Ives ’84, Alexander Woodward ’16. Photo by Arden Dickson.

85. Shannon Dillon ’15 with her son, Bronson.

86. Mikkel Brøgger and Shane Hudson ’14

87. (left to right) Flo Low ’17, Chad Dexter Kinsman ’18, James Magruder ’88, DFA ’92, Emika Abe ’16, Drew Lichtenberg ’08.

88. (left to right) Hugh Farrell ’15, Gordon Rogoff YC ’52 (Faculty Emeritus), Tyler Kieffer ’15 at Ballymaloe House, Cork, Ireland, June 2022.

Alumni Notes

Flo Low ’17 was thrilled to see James Magruder ’88, DFA ’92 at his book talk for The Play’s the Thing in DC together with Emika Abe ’16, Chad Dexter Kinsman ’18, and Drew Lichtenberg ’08, DFA ’11

Marié Botha ’18 is playing the DC Comics villain Magpie in the HBO series The Penguin starring Colin Farrell and Cristin Milioti and produced by Matt Reeves, now streaming on Max. She is featured mostly in Episode 4 in a major guest star role. Marié hopes everyone is well and misses her time at Yale.

Shelby North ’18 and Matt Davis ’18 were married in 2023. In attendance at the wedding were classmates Steph Waaser ’18, Kelly Pursley ’18, Sarah Jackson ’18, and Caitlin O’Rourke ’18. Shelby and Matt are now living happily together in Lancaster, PA.

2020s

Since completing the Technical Design and Production Certificate, Perry Adago ’20 has been working at live music venues and multi-stage festivals around the country. They were most recently hired by Pangea Productions and went to Asbury Park, NJ, and Ocean City, MD, building stages and working lighting at EDM festivals. Perry also had a fantastic experience at Bonnaroo which was one of their biggest venues so far and a great experience. Thank you, DGSD!

Jenna Carroll ’20 is graduating in December from UNCSA with her MFA in Scenic Design. She is so grateful for the foundation in theater and art she received from the School of Drama.

Ilia Isorelýs Paulino ’20 and Logan Ellis ’20 have spent the last year working to develop a new film production company, Cusp of Rebirth Productions in Los Angeles. They shot two short films in 2024, both featuring the screenwriting of Audley Puglisi ’20, as well as their improvised

webseries Friendship/Therapy, which has featured several alums as guests. Thank you to all of the Yale community in LA for their support thus far!

Ni Mi Madre had a production at the Cabaret in 2017, and most of the original team stayed with the show throughout the Obie Award-winning run at Rattlestick Theater in 2021. In August 2024, Arturo Luíz Soria ’19 (Writer/ Actor), Danilo Gambini ’20 (Director), Stephanie Osin Cohen ’19 (Set Design), Krista Smith ’18 (Lighting Design), Kathy Ruvuna ’19 (Sound Design), and Haydee Zelideth ’17 (Costume Design) took the show to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival where it received rave reviews.

Martin Montaner ’20, working for Espacio Checoeslovaqua, was the technical director and designer for the closing ceremonies of the Santiago 2023 Pan American and Parapan Games, the third largest multi-sport event in the world, viewed by 11.8 million people. “It was a huge challenge,” writes Martin, “with its outdoor set, demanding safety standards, and tight schedule.” Martin also served as a consultant for the tech specs of the Games opening ceremony, which included a tower for flying acts.

After a year at the School of Computing & Engineering at Quinnipiac University, Jon West ’20 has started a new job at a new school. He is now Technical Director and a member of the arts faculty at Hamden Hall Country Day School. Jon and his wife welcomed their second child in December and are extremely excited to introduce them to the School of Drama community!

Emily Duncan Wilson ’20 is on the faculty at Smith College as a postdoc MFA in Sound Design for the 24-25 academic year. During summers, she continues to design sound and teach at Interlochen Arts Camp and produce for public radio.

Sarah Ashley Cain ’22 was recently appointed Associate Artistic Director of Pittsburgh Public Theater ahead of the theater’s 50th anniversary season.

89. Closing ceremony of the Pan Am Games Santiago in 2023. Photo by Martin Montaner ’20.

90. (left to Right) Kristen West, Lovisa West, Jon West ’20. Photo by Jon West.

91. (left to right) Yaro Yarashevich ’20, Matt Lewis ’20, Jon West ’20 Photo by Jon West.

92. (left to right) Meg Powers ’22, Hannah Tran ’23, Miguel Urbino ’23, Carolina Ortiz Herrera ’17, and Emma Deane ’20 at the 1/52 Project reception at the Civilian Hotel on September 30, 2024.

93. (left to right) Kyra Nay, Dashiell Menard ’19, Samanta Cubias ’24, Kasey Hendricks, Kevin Belcher ’19, Sarah Scafidi ’23, Austin Byrd ’19, John-Casey Byrd, LT Gourzong ’19 (Faculty), Sarah Cain ’22, Matthew Sonnenfeld ’23, Rich Ching.

94. Matthew Sonnenfeld ’23 and Rachel Chin Mun Yi

95. Chloe Knight ’24. Photo by Gabrielle Hoyt ’24, YC ’15.

96. Sarah Scafidi ’23, Joan Channick ’89 (Faculty), and Austin Byrd ’19

97. Alexus Jade Coney ’24. Photo by Alexus Jade Coney.

Alumni Notes

Sarah Scafidi ’23 and Austin Byrd ’19 were married on June 22, 2024, in Waterford, Connecticut. The ceremony was generously officiated by Joan Channick ’89 (Faculty).

Five Design alumni from DGSD were among the 2024 recipients of grants from The 1/52 Project. 1/52 provides financial support to early-career designers from historically excluded groups with the aim of diversifying and strengthening the theater design community. The recipients were Emma Deane ’20 (Lighting), Carolina Ortiz Herrera ’17 (Lighting), Meg Powers ’22 (Costume), Hannah Tran ’23 (Projection), and Miguel Urbino ’23 (Scenic).

yao ’23 appeared in Sinners, directed by Ryan Coogler, alongside Michael B. Jordan, Wunmi Mosaku, Hailee Steinfeld, and Delroy Lindo. He was featured in The Last Bout, a Singaporean series that was nominated for Best Television Series at the 2024 Asia Contents & Global OTT Awards

Alexus Jade Coney ’24 spent six exciting months sailing throughout Europe and the Caribbean as Venue Production Manager for Celebrity Cruises, where she oversaw the multi-purpose venue, Eden, on the Celebrity Apex luxury cruise ship. Alexus was responsible for live music sets, private events, pop-up performances, and staged productions with an ensemble of dancers, vocalists, acrobats, and more. It made her realize that theatrical stage management is her true passion. Alexus shared that she is beyond appreciative for the mentorship she received at DGSD. On her adventures at sea, she learned so much working with cutting-edge performance technology and got to do so while seeing the world, visiting places she dreamed about as a child. She is excited to return to American theater in the new year with plans to continue exploring and traveling as a freelance stage manager.

John Horzen ’24 and Christian Killada ’25 founded Prevision Labs, developing two prototypes in 2024. Their first prototype “SetPet,” is an AI media server that lets video designers create immersive video at 20 frames per second. It is currently being used by DJs and event spaces in NYC. A deep dive into SetPet can be found in the October 2024 issue of Lighting and Sound America. The second prototype, “Prevision,” allows directors and designers to simulate a show in VR before it’s built. It fully integrates with existing industry tools with almost no learning curve. Users are not constrained by venue fees and deadlines. Prevision Labs is a member of the 2024 TSAI Accelerator program, and currently running a SAFE fundraising round. You can find out more at www.prevision-labs.com. John, who received his MFA in projection design, has also assisted Wendall K. Harrington (Faculty) on The Elements at the Hollywood Bowl, co-designed with Elaine McCarthy on the new musical Walls and Windows, and worked with Hana Kim on Mitridate, re di Ponto at Boston Lyric.

Karen Killeen ’24 was delighted to make her Off-Broadway debut at the Irish Repertory Theatre in The Dead, 1904 by James Joyce, adapted by Paul Muldoon and Jean Hanff Korelitz, and directed by Ciarán O’Reilly.

Thanks to the help of the DGSD network, Chloe Knight ’24 was able to land her dream job right after graduation. She wanted to be a general manager at a LORT theater in New York to be near her community. She is now General Manager at Theatre for a New Audience in Brooklyn. Special thanks to professors Harold Wolpert (Faculty), Florie Seery (Faculty), and Joan Channick ’89 (Faculty) for helping her accomplish her goals!

98. Perry Adago ’20 (center kneeling) with colleagues from Pangea Productions.

99. Jenna Carroll ’20

100. (left to right) Ilia Isorelýs Paulino ’20, Robert Lee Hart ’20, Logan Ellis ’20. Photo by Donato Fatuesi.

101. Debbie Chang and Brandon Gilgamesh using AI-design tool, SetPet, at SHiFT Midtown in NYC.

102. (left to right) Krista Smith ’18, Danilo Gambini ’20, George Soria, and Arturo Luíz Soria ’19 at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

103. (left to right) Lovisa West, Jon West ’20, Ben Jones ’20 Photo by Kristen West.

Legacy Partners

We invite you to join fellow alumni and friends who have included DGSD in their estate plans or made other planned gifts to the School. Through David Geffen School of Drama at Yale Legacy Partners, you can directly influence the future of Yale.

You are eligible for membership if you have named DGSD as a beneficiary of your will, trust, life-income gifts, IRA or other retirement plan, life insurance policy, or other planned gift.

To learn more about making a planned gift to David Geffen School of Drama at Yale, please contact Deborah S. Berman, Senior Director of Development and Alumni Affairs, at (203) 432-2890 or deborah.berman@yale.edu.

DGSD Legacy Partners 2024–2025

Rudy Aragon LAW ’79

Cynthia Kellogg Barrington*

Ezekial H. Berlin ’53*

Donald I. Cairns ’63

Raymond Carver ’61

Elizabeth S. Clark ’41*

Bill Conner ’79

David M. Conte ’72

Converse Converse YC ’57

Sue Anne Converse ’55*

Nicholas Diggs*

Richard Diggs ’30, YC ’26*

Charles Dillingham ’69, YC ’65

Eldon J. Elder ’58*

Peter Entin ’71

Wesley Fata (Faculty Emeritus)

Joseph Gantman ’53*

James Gousseff ’56*

Albert R. Gurney ’58*

Robert L. Hurtgen*

James Earl Jewell ’57*

Joseph E. Kleno*

Frances E. Kumin ’77

Stephen R. Lawson ’76*

Richard G. Mason ’53*

Robert D. Mitchell, YC ’51*

H. Thomas Moore ’68

Tad Mosel ’50*

Arthur F. Nacht ’06

George E. Nichols III ’41, YC ’38*

G.C. Niemeyer ’42*

Dwight Richard Odle ’66*

Joan Pape ’68*

Mary B. Reynolds ’55*

Mark Richard ’57*

Barbara Richter ’60*

June Rosenblatt*

William Rothwell, Jr. ’53*

Forrest E. Sears ’58*

Eugene F. Shewmaker ’49*

Merrill L. Sindler ’57*

Kenneth J. Stein ’59

G. Erwin Steward ’60

Edward Trach ’58

Carol Waaser ’70

Elaine Wackerly ’03 and Patrick Wackerly

Donald R. Ware, YC ’71

Phyllis C. Warfel ’55*

William B. Warfel ’57, YC ’55*

Wendy Wasserstein ’76*

Elmon Webb ’64 and Virginia Webb ’65

Zelma H. Weisfeld ’56*

Edwin Wilson ’57, DFA ’58

Albert J. Zuckerman ’61, DFA ’62

*Deceased

Donors

Donors

March 1, 2024–March 1, 2025

1940s

Joan Kron ’48

1950s

Joy Carlin ’54

Sami Joan Casler ’59

John Cunningham ’59

Evelyn Huffman ’57

Amnon Kabatchnik ’57

Jay Keene ’55

David McNutt ’59

Kendric T. Packer ’52

Raymond Sader ’58

James A. Smith ’59

Edward Trach ’58

1960s

John Badham ’63, YC ’61

Warren F. Bass ’67

Carol Bretz Murray-Negron ’64

Arvin Brown ’67

James Burrows ’65

David Copelin ’69, DFA ’72

Mary DeBerry ’66

Ramon L. Delgado ’67

Robert H. Einenkel ’69

David Epstein ’68

Richard A. Feleppa ’60

Hugh Fortmiller ’61

Richard Fuhrman ’64

Anne Gregerson ’65

Stephen Hendrickson ’67

Elizabeth Holloway ’66*

Derek Hunt ’62

Laura Mae Jackson ’68

Elizabeth W. Lewis ’61

Irene Lewis ’66

Fredric Lindauer ’66

Everett M. Lunning, Jr. ’69, YC ’67

Sandra Manley ’68

Robert McCaw ’66

Donald Michaelis ’69

Janet Oetinger ’69

Michael Posnick ’69

Talia Shire Schwartzman ’69

Helana Sokoloff ’60

James Steerman ’62, DFA ’69

John Wright Stevens ’66

David Toser ’64

Russell L. Treyz ’65

Steven Waxler ’68

1970s

Sarah Albertson ’71, ART ’75

Donna Alexander ’74

Michael Annand ’75

Anne Averbuck ’70

John Lee Beatty ’73

Michael Cadden ’76, DFA ’79, YC ’71

Ian Calderon ’73

Victor Capecce ’75

H. Lloyd Carbaugh ’78

Bill Conner ’79

Alama Cuervo ’76

Dennis Dorn ’72

Nancy Reeder El Bouhali ’70

Peter Entin ’71

Femi Euba ’73

Marc Flanagan ’70

Robert Gainer ’73

David Marshall Grant ’78

Stephen R. Grecco ’70

Michael E. Gross ’73

William B. Halbert ’70

M.G. Harris ’71

Jennifer Hershey ’77

Nicholas A. Hormann ’73

Barnet Kellman’72

Fredrica A. Klemm ’76

David A. Kranes ’71

Frances E. Kumin ’77

Mitchell L. Kurtz ’75

Rocco Landesman DFA ’76

Stephen Lawson ’76*

Charles E. Letts ’76

Martha Lidji Lazar ’77

George N. Lindsay, Jr. ’74

Jennifer K. Lindstrom ’72

Robert Hamilton Long II ’76

Brian R. Mann ’79

Jonathan E. Marks ’72, DFA ’84, YC’68*

Neil Mazzella ’78

John McAndrew ’72

Lawrence S. Mirkin ’72, YC ’69

Patricia Norcia ’78

Richard Ostreicher ’79

Jeffrey Pavek ’71

William Peters ’79

William Purves ’71

Jeff Rank ’79

Pam Rank ’78

William J. Reynolds ’77

Steven Robman ’73

Robin Pearson Rose ’73

Robert Sandberg ’77

Joel Schechter ’72, DFA ’73

Michael Sheehan ’76

Benjamin Slotznick ’73, YC ’90

Jeremy T. Smith ’76

Edith Tarbescu ’76

David Ward ’75

Carolyn Seely Weiner ’72

Steve Zuckerman ’74

1980s

Christopher Akerlind ’89

Michael G. Albano ’82

Amy Aquino ’86

Angela Bassett ’83, YC ’80, HON ’18

Michael Baumgarten’81

James Bender ’85

Mark Bly ’80

Katherine Borowitz ’81, YC ’76

Bill Buck ’84

Jon Carlson ’88

Joan Channick ’89

Geoffrey Cohen ’83

Jane Crum ’85

Scott Cummings ’85, DFA ’94

Rick Davis ’83, DFA ’03

Kathleen Dimmick ’85

Sasha Emerson ’84

Jon Farley ’83

Terry Fitzpatrick ’83

Randy Fullerton ’82

Judy Gailen ’89

Charles F. Grammer ’86

Rob Greenberg ’89

Don Holder ’86

Kathleen Houle ’88

Charles R. Hughes ’83

Chris P. Jaehnig ’85

Bruce Katzman ’88

David K. Kriebs ’82

Peter Gray Lewis ’87

Andi Lyons ’80

Cathy MacNeil-Hollinger ’86

Wendy Macleod ’87

David E. Moore, Jr. ’87

Arthur E. Oliner ’86

Carol Ostrow ’80

Joan E. Robbins ’86, DFA’91

Laila V. Robins ’84

Lori Robishaw ’88

Russ Rosensweig ’83

Kenneth Schlesinger ’84

Alec Scribner ’80

Neal Stephens ’80

Mark Stevens ’89

Mark L. Sullivan ’83

Jane Savitt Tennen ’80

Donors

John Turturro ’83

Courtney B. Vance ’86

Gregory Wallace ’87

Jaylene Wallace ’86

Matthew Wiener ’88

Robert M. Wildman ’83

Alex Witchel ’82

Steven A. Wolff ’81

1990s

Narda E. Alcorn ’95

Bruce Altman ’90

Tom Broecker ’92

Laura Brown-Mackinnon ’93

James Bundy ’95

Robert Cotnoir ’94

Sean P. Cullen ’94

Fran Egler ’95

David Gainey ’93

Naomi S. Grabel ’91

Regina Guggenheim ’93

Susan Hamburger ’97

Alexander Hammond ’96

Mercedes Herrero ’95

Jeffrey C. Herrmann ’99

John C. Huntington ’90

Clark L. Jackson ’99

Kristin Johnsen-Neshati ’92, DFA ’02

Elizabeth Kaiden ’96

Malia Lewis ’97

Chih-Lung Liu ’94

Sarah Long ’92, YC ’85

Suzanne Cryer Luke ’95, YC ’88

Tien-Tsung Ma ’92

Maria E. Matasar-Padilla ’99, DFA ’05

Marya Mazor ’92

Anna Novden-Dolan ’94

Sarah Rafferty ’96

Jean Randich ’94

Peggy Sasso ’96

Jennifer Schwartz ’97

Patrick Seeley ’93

Paul Selfa ’92

Thomas W. Sellar ’97, DFA ’03

Jeremy Shapira ’97

Graham Shiels ’99

Ilona Somogyi ’94

Marcus Stern ’99

Sy Sussman ’94, YC ’87

David Sword ’90

Patti Thorp ’91

Paul Tigue ’99

Erik Walstad ’95

Rich Whittington ’98

2000s

Paola Allais Acree ’08, SOM ’08

Alexander Bagnall ’00

Pun Bandhu ’01

Ashley Bishop ’02

Frances Black ’09

Josh Borenstein ’02

Mattie Brickman ’09

Joe Cermatori ’08

Sarah Bartlo Chaplin ’04

Dan Colman ’06

Shoshana Cooper ’09

Derek DiGregorio ’07

Camille Elam ’02

Dustin Eshenroder ’07

Sarah Fornia ’04

Marcus Gardley ’04

Hannah Grannemann ’08, SOM ’08

John J. Hanlon ’04

Judith Hansen ’04

James Guerry Hood ’05

Melissa Huber ’01

Rolin Jones ’04

Elena Maltese ’03

Tarell Alvin McCraney ’07

David Muse ’03, YC ’96

Christianna Nelson ’05

Phillip Owen ’09

Maulik Pancholy ’03

Jon Reed ’07

Kevin Rich ’04

Joanna S. Romberg ’07

Christopher Carter Sanderson ’05

Kathleen McElfresh Scott ’06

Amanda Wallace Woods ’03

2010s

Emika Abe ’16, SOM ’16

Shaminda Amarakoon ’12

Trent Anderson ’19

Mamoudou Athie ’14

Michael Backhaus ’13

Kwan Chi Chan ’19

Caitlin Crombleholme ’19

Brett Dalton ’11

Matt Davis ’18

Austin Durant ’10

Laura J. Eckelman ’11

Anne Erbe ’11

Adam Frank ’18

Shannon Gaughf ’15

Eric Gershman ’15, SOM ’15

Latiana “LT” Gourzong ’19

Amanada Haley ’10

Ethan Heard ’13, YC ’07

Al Heartley ’18

Ashton Heyl ’14

Amandla Jahava ’19

Rasean Davonté Johnson ’16

Pornchanok Kanchanabanca ’13

Chiara Klein ’17, SOM ’17

Katie Liberman ’13, SOM ’13

Eric Lin ’12

Katherine McGerr ’14

Belina Mizrahi ’10, YC ’02

Jason Najjoum ’18, SOM ’18

Jennifer Harrison Newman ’11

Carolyn Richer ’14

Nathan Roberts ’10

Blake Segal ’11

Katherine Touart ’18

Ariana Venturi ’15

Sophie von Haselberg ’14, YC ’08

Zenzi Williams ’15

2020s

Class of 2020 in memory of Emalie Mayo

Fanny Abib-Rozenberg ’25

Dani Barlow ’20

Claudia Campos ’26

Matthew Chong ’20

Anne Ciarlone ’25

Olivia Cygan ’23

Hope Binfeng Ding ’25

Samuel Douglas ’24

Emmie Finckel ’23

Jason Gray ’23, SOM ’23

Annabel Guevara ’24

Lawrence Henry ’25

Adrian Alexander Hernandez ’25

Gabrielle Hoyt ’24, YC ’15

Tatsuya Ito ’20

Chloe Knight ’23

Matthew Lewis ’20

Nia Akilah Robinson ’27

Gaby Rodriguez ’27

A.J. Roy ’24, SOM ’24

Sarah Saifi ’26

Roman Sanchez ’25

Mithra Seyedi ’26

Matthew Sonnenfeld ’23

Kyle Stamm ’25

Mikayla Stanley ’25

Ashley M. Thomas ’23

Donors

Friends of DGSD and YRT

Gifts of $500 and above

Nina Adams GRD ’69, NUR ’77 and Moreson Kaplan

Americana Arts Foundation

Anonymous

Debby Applegate GRD ’98 and Bruce Tulgan

Rudy Aragon LAW ’79

Paula Armbruster

Sallie Baldwin Bam

Alice GRD ’72, Ph.D.’74 and Richard Baxter GRD ’72

Ed Barlow YC ’56, LAW ’64

John B. Beinecke YC ’69

Miles Benickes

Sonja Berggren and Patrick Seaver YC ’72

Deborah S. Berman

Eugene and Margaret M. Blackford Memorial Fund for the Blind, Bank of America, N.A., Trustee

Santino Blumetti SOM ’99

Carmine Boccuzzi YC ’90, LAW ’94 and Bernard Lumpkin YC ’91

Lynne and Roger Bolton

James Bridgeman GRD ’69

Reginald J. Brown YC ’89 and Tiffeny F. Sanchez

Burry Fredrik Foundation

Frank and Nancy Bynum YC ’86

Anne and Guido Calabresi YC ’53, LAW ’58, DFAH ’62

Lois Chiles

Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development

Audrey Conrad

Daniel Cooperman and Mariel Harris

Bob and Priscilla Dannies DFAH ’90

Wendy Davies

Elwood and Catherine Davis

Robert Dealy YC ’70

Cynthia Santos Decure

Estate of Nicholas Diggs*

Kelvin Dinkins, Jr.

Disney Theatrical Group

Robert and Mercedes Eichholz Foundation

ERJ Fund

Lily Fan YC ’01, LAW ’04

Barbara Franke

Deborah Freedman YC ’82 and Ben Ledbetter

Anita Pamintuan Fusco YC ’90 and Dino Fusco YC ’88

David Geffen Foundation

Howard Gilman Foundation

Melanie Ginter

Eric M. Glover

Ruth and Charles Grannick Jr. Fund*

Mabel Burchard Fischer Grant Foundation

Betty and Joshua Golberg

The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation

F. Lane Heard III YC ’73, LAW ’78 and Margaret Bauer YC ’86, ART ’91

Cheryl L. Henson YC ’84

Mark Hollinger LAW ’85

Sally Horchow YC ’92

Patrick H. Horrigan*

Ellen Iseman YC ’76

Jana Foundation

David G. Johnson YC ’78

Pamela Jordan

Ann Judd and Bennett Pudlin LAW ’78

The Ethel and Abe Lapides Foundation

Dean Pericles S. Lewis

Lucille Lortel Foundation

Cheryl MacLachlan and Fred Gorelick

Ed Martenson

Drew McCoy

Roz Meyer YC ’71, GRD ’77 and Jerry Meyer MED ’72

David and Leni Moore Family Foundation

James Munson YC ’66

Jim and Eileen Mydosh

National Endowment for the Arts

NewAlliance Foundation

Peter Nigrini

Victoria Nolan and Clark Crolius

F. Richard Pappas YC ’76

Jeffrey Park and Robin Goldberg

Louise Perkins and Jeffrey Glans

Princess Grace Foundation

Jeffrey Powell DFAH ’87 and Adalgisa Caccone GRD ’86

The Prospect Hill Foundation

Alec Purves YC ’58, ARC ’65

Faye and Asghar Rastegar DFAH ’88

Sharon Reynolds

Chantal Rodriguez

Daphne Rubin-Vega and Thomas Costanzo YC ’88

Abigail Roth YC ’90, LAW ’94 and R. Lee Stump

Florie Seery

Tracy Chutorian Semler YC ’86

The Sir Peter Shaffer Charitable Foundation

The Shubert Foundation, Inc.

The Carol L. Sirot Foundation

Anna Deavere Smith DFAH ’14

Shepard and Marlene Stone

Woody Taft YC ’92

Stephen Timbers YC ’66

Julie Turaj YC ’94 and Robert S. Pohly YC ’94

Trust for Mutual Understanding

Esme Usdan YC ’77

Ron Van Lieu

Donald R. Ware YC ’71

Jessica Weiser-McCarthy, M.D. YC ’96 and Timothy McCarthy

Walton Wilson

Vera F. Wells YC ’71

Nancy Yao SOM ’99

Design Showcase

During their course of study, costume designers create many realized designs for professional productions and conceptual designs for class projects.

Here are a few examples from the portfolios of the graduating class.

El Coquí from El Coquí Espectacular and the Bottle of Doom by Matt Barbot for Long Wharf Theatre, 2025.

Elodie from Rent Free by Danielle Stagger ’24 for The Carlotta Festival, 2024.

Rea J. Brown ’25

Design Showcase

KT Farmer ’25

Micah Ohno ’25

Rooster from The Cunning Little Vixen by Leoš Janáček for theoretical class project.

Mary Louise from You Can Tell a Tree by its Fruit by comfort ifeoma katchy ’26 for The Carlotta Festival, 2025.

Mustardseed from A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare for theoretical class project.

Postmaster from Nikolai Gogol’s The Inspector, adapted by Yura Kordonsky (Faculty) for Yale Repertory Theatre, 2025.

Design Showcase

Caroline Tyson ’25

Arthur Wilson ’25

Imoinda from Oroonoko by Aphra Ben, adapted by Biyi Bandele-Thomas for design collaboration class project.

Nimrod from Eden by Steve Carter for Yale Repertory Theatre, 2025.

Allister from Help, Help, the Globolinks! by Gian Carlo Menotti for theoretical class project.

Woman Devil from The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus by Christopher Marlowe for design collaboration class project.