Yale School of Drama 2018 Alumni Magazine

YALE SCHOOL OF DRAMA ANNUAL MAGAZINE 2017–18

YALE SCHOOL OF DRAMA ANNUAL MAGAZINE

Passing the Torch:

Celebrating Ming Cho Lee, Ed Martenson, Bill Reynolds, Ben Sammler, and Ron Van Lieu

James Bundy ’95 Dean/Artistic Director Victoria Nolan Deputy Dean/Managing Director Chantal Rodriguez Associate Dean Kelvin Dinkins, Jr. Assistant Dean and General Manager

board of advisors John Beinecke YC ’69 Chair Jeremy Smith ’76 Vice Chair Nina Adams MS ’69, NUR ’77

Cathy MacNeil Hollinger ’86

Amy Aquino ’86

Sally Horchow ’92

John Badham ’63, YC ’61

Ellen Iseman YC ’76

Pun Bandhu ’01

David Johnson YC ’78

Sonja Berggren Special Research Fellow ’13

Jane Kaczmarek ’82

Carmine Boccuzzi YC ’90, LAW ’94

Sarah Long ’92, YC ’85

Lynne Bolton Clare Brinkley Sterling Brinkley, Jr. YC ’74 Kate Burton ’82 Lois Chiles Patricia Clarkson ’85 Edgar (Trip) Cullman III ’02, YC ’97

Elizabeth Margid ’91, YC ’82 Drew McCoy David Milch YC ’66 Tom Moore ’68 Arthur Nacht ’06 Jennifer Harrison Newman ’11 Lupita Nyong’o ’12 Carol Ostrow ’80

Michael Diamond ’90

Amy Povich ’92

Polly Draper ’80, YC ’77

Liev Schreiber ’92

Charles S. (Roc) Dutton ’83

Tracy Chutorian Semler YC ’86

Heidi Ettinger ’76 Lily Fan YC ’01, LAW ’04 Terry Fitzpatrick ’83 Marc Flanagan ’70 Marcus Dean Fuller ’04 Anita Pamintuan Fusco YC ’90 Donald Granger, Jr. YC ’85 David Marshall Grant ’78 David Alan Grier ’81 Ruth Hendel Rolin Jones ’04

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Brian Mann ’79

Scott Delman YC ’82

Sasha Emerson ’84

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Asaad Kelada ’64

Tony Shalhoub ’80 Michael Sheehan ’76 Anna Deavere Smith HON ’14 Andrew Tisdale Edward Trach ’58 Esme Usdan YC ’77 Courtney B. Vance ’86 Donald Ware YC ’71 Henry Winkler ’70 Amanda Wallace Woods ’03

YALE SCHOOL OF DRAMA ANNUAL MAGAZINE

Dean’s Letter Dear Alumni, Not long ago, a prospective student asked me what my personal inspirations as an artist were—a question no one had ever asked me before. Ordinarily pleased to rattle answers off, I had to take a few moments to cast my mind’s eye toward my adolescence. To my surprise, I had vivid recollections of many church services attended, the readings and sermons heard there, the power of the music, and the poetic aspiration of the language—both to give meaning to life and to imagine the best ways to live it.

Then, as a confirmed Episcopalian teenager, my heart swelled with hope. Now, as a resolute atheist well into middle age, I am skeptical of all organized religions, but more moved than ever by the nobility of the language we use to strive for meaning and betterment. I am fascinated, whether directing or teaching, by Declan Donnellan’s dictum in The Actor and the Target that “all language fails.”

So my curiosity is aroused, in every theater space, by the ways in which we can know so much, but never everything, about what it means to be human: None of us will ever be a completely open book to another—or even to ourselves.

But certainly in this magazine we can contemplate the signs and seals of our communion with each other, the marks of our shared love of theater and storytelling, as well as elements of the individuality defining us, and without which any of our walks of life would be dull indeed. Nowhere in this year’s issue is such individuality more evident than in the profiles of five distinguished YSD faculty members retiring this past year.

Now, along with indelible impressions of their teaching and the many lessons learned from them as student and colleague, I see them afresh: young Ming Cho Lee, training his first assistants to draw; Ed Martenson, college dining hall manager; Bill Reynolds, VISTA volunteer; Ben Sammler, discovering for the first time what a flat was; Ron Van Lieu, teenage tourist on Broadway.

Each of these teachers is living an exemplary life. No wonder that their respective journeys are filled with compassion and insight: It is easy to see how they came to influence generations of artists and managers, and how much cause there has been for the celebrations many of you have attended in their honor. While there are no words entirely sufficient to take their measure or catalog their legacies now and in the future, at Yale and beyond, the moments of their leave-taking are beautifully captured here through the good offices of Deborah Berman, our extraordinary staff, and the many writers recruited from among students, faculty, staff, alumni, and friends.

How fortunate we are, as a community, to bear witness in these pages to each other’s striving, to the rewards enjoyed, and the losses suffered. On behalf of a grateful School, thank you for sharing your own stories here, where they give meaning to our work and help us imagine better ways to do it!

Sincerely,

James Bundy ’95

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Contents

Features

Passing the Torch

16 Ming’s Dynasty

By Frank Rizzo

24 The Structural Integrity

of Ben Sammler:

An Appreciation 16

By James Bundy ’95 (Dean), Evan Yionoulis ’85, YC ’82 (Faculty), Shaminda Amarakoon ’12 (Faculty)

30 Adieu, Van Lieu

By Chad Kinsman ’18

36 Ed Martenson:

A Man of Vision

By Anh Lê ’15

42 Do Right and Fear Not:

The Legacy of Bill Reynolds 24

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By Ilya Khodosh ’17, DFA cand.

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Editor’s Letter Dear Friends, With this issue of the magazine, we again have the privilege of featuring your accomplishments and the exciting, creative work you are doing across the country and around the globe. We have dedicated the magazine this year to the distinguished faculty members who have brought to a close to their long and legendary careers at the School: Ming Cho Lee, Ben Sammler, Ron Van Lieu, Ed Martenson, and Bill Reynolds. In the following pages you will find tributes to these extraordinary teachers and leaders. You will also hear about the scholarships so many of you have helped create in their names and from those who are carrying the torch forward, bringing in new perspectives that are enhanced by the lessons they learned from their mentors. The legacies of these retiring faculty members will continue to influence training on campus and help shape the future of the field.

This year, we celebrate yet another milestone.

The Cabaret turned 50! Hailing the Cab: Fifty Years of Innovating Underground, by Amauto MarstonFirmino ’19, reminds us of the undaunted creativity that has flourished in the Ming Cho Lee, Deborah Berman, basement of 217 Park Street for the past half-century. and Betsy Lee at Ming’s YSD Additionally, we are proud to share with you news of a retirement party at the Yale Rep. small but active network of alumni involved in South Photo by TeQua Griffith of Blaq Korea’s growing theater community in Our Own Tiny Pearl Photography.

Society: YSD Alumni in South Korea by Kee-Yoon Nahm ’12, DFA ’16. This article reminds me of how YSD alumni are making exciting work that is culturally transferrable and globally relevant.

I encourage you to stay connected and invite you to email me or post your news on the YSD Alumni Facebook page. We want to hear from you!

Warmly, Deborah S. Berman Editor Director of Development and Alumni Affairs

YALE SCHOOL OF DRAMA ANNUAL MAGAZINE 2017–18, Vol. LXII editorial staff Deborah S. Berman editor Catherine Sheehy ’92, DFA ’99 (Faculty) associate editor Jean Gresham Alice Kenney managing editors Leonard Sorcher contributing editor Susan Clark (Staff) editorial coordinator contributors Shaminda Amarakoon ’12 (Faculty) Taylor Barfield ’16, DFA cand.

Joan Channick ’89, (Faculty) Scott T. Cummings ’85, DFA ’94 Christopher F. Durang ’74 Anna Glover (Faculty) Dipika Guha ’11 Stephen Haff ’92 Al Heartley ’18 Riccardo Hernandez ’92 (Faculty) Ilya Khodosh ’14, DFA cand.

Chad Kinsman ’18 Mildred Kuner ’47 Anh Lê ’15 Gene Leitermann ’82 (Faculty) Elizabeth MacKay ’78 Maria Inês Marques ’17, DFA cand.

Amauta Marston Firmino ’18 Arthur F. Nacht ’06 Kee-Yoon Nahm ’12, DFA ’16 Kristine E. Nielsen ’80 Lynda A.H. Paul ’17, MUS ’12 Frank Rizzo Gregory D. Wallace ’87 Gavin Whitehead ’17, DFA cand.

Evan D. Yionoulis ’85 (Faculty) design SML Design s-ml.org

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Contents

Departments

6 On & Off York Street

48 Events 55 Bookshelf 56 Awards & Honors 10

60 Graduation 64 Art of Giving 68 In Memoriam 84 Alumni Notes 118 Donors

50 Cover: Ming Cho Lee and Betsy Lee in Ming’s New York studio.

Photo by Julie Brown.

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Hailing the Cab: 50 Years of Innovating Underground Almost every week a new layer of paint coats the basement of 217 Park Street—the Yale Cabaret’s infinitely mutable home. From its inception in November 1968 as a branch of Yale Repertory Theatre, to its current incarnation as a student-run black box

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01 theater, the Yale Cabaret has grown alongside the School of Drama reflecting the curiosities and passions of each successive generation of artists and audiences.

The Cabaret’s history begins with the arrival of Robert Brustein ’51, HON ’66 (Former Dean). He had just overseen the founding of Yale Repertory Theatre when he won a university-wide bid for the recently abandoned Vernon Hall, former home of Phi Gamma Delta fraternity. When Dean Brustein announced it would house the newly founded Yale Cabaret, students saw it as an opportunity to present their own work. Spurred by the available space, a student group known as the “Committee of 21” lobbied Brustein to dedicate the Cabaret solely to student work.

As it was conceived, decisions about the Cabaret’s season went directly through Yale Repertory Theatre and Brustein himself, who was at first reluctant to allow students to program or perform in the Cabaret at 6

all. The inaugural show was A Kurt Weill Cabaret, performed by Martha Schlamme (who had performed the part of Golde in Fiddler on the Roof on Broadway) and Yale Rep company member Alvin Epstein (Former Faculty). The two-week run was success-

acted in over a dozen productions.

That next year, the Cabaret was fully restructured as a student-run organization, becoming a forum for informal showings of Drama School talent and, most importantly, a space for community, creativity, and conver-

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ful, and Cabaret memberships sold quickly. Six months later, Brustein called it, “One of the few things in my life that ever turned out exactly as I planned.”

But students were not as satisfied.

Organized and persistent, they convinced Brustein to relinquish the second half of the Cabaret’s first season to student-led work. It wasn’t long before they had written, directed, and

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sation. Early Cabaret menus (when 30 cents could buy unlimited coffee) celebrate the kitchen for having the only working espresso machine in town, and the Yale Daily News called it “the most appealing place” to take a date in New Haven. Good food, cheap drinks, and inspiring work—it was a winning combination for the School.

The first student-led production at the Cabaret was Another Quiet Eve-

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07 01 Alvin Epstein (Former Faculty) and Martha Schlamme, 1966.

Photo courtesy of Yale Cabaret.

02 Mark Linn-Baker ’79, YC ’76 and AnneMarie Gough ’79 in Adaptation, 1979.

Photo courtesy of Yale Cabaret.

08 03 Poster from Rhynestones and Paste, by Lynn Nottage ’89 (Former Faculty), 1988. Photo courtesy of Yale University Library, Manuscripts and Archives Collection.

04 Jane Ann Crum ’85 and Christopher Noth ’85 in When You Comin’ Back, Red Ryder?

05 Yale Cabaret’s first poster, 1968. Photo courtesy of Yale Cabaret.

06 Malcom Gets ’92 and Douglas Dickson MUS ’88 in Full Circle, 1991. Photo courtesy of Yale University Library, Manuscripts and Archives Collection.

07 Yale Cabaret menu, 1973. Photo courtesy of Yale University Library, Manuscripts and Archives Collection.

08 Daniel J. Rubin ’93 and Paul Giamatti ’94, YC ’89 in The Spectacular Laugh Riot, 1992.

Photo courtesy of Yale University Library, Manuscripts and Archives Collection.

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09 Cats Talk Back! by Bess Wohl ’02, ART ’98, 2001. Photo courtesy of Yale University Library, Manuscripts and Archives Collection.

10 Arturo Soria ’19 in Ni Mi Madre, 2017.

Photo courtesy of Yale Cabaret.

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11 Brian Tyree Henry ’07 in The Cypher: A Poetry Slam, 2008.

Photo courtesy of Yale Cabaret.

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12 Kate Ruggeri ART ’16, Lex Brown ART ’17, and Aarica West YC ’15 in Run Bambi from the inaugural Satellite Series, 2016.

Photo courtesy of Yale Cabaret.

13 Shadi Ghaheri ’18 and Stella Baker ’18 in Scream, from the inaugural Satellite Series, 2016.

Photo courtesy of Yale Cabaret.

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14 The Yale Cabaret’s 2017 Drag Show, directed by Ricardo Dávila ’17.

Photo courtesy of Eli Green.

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ning at Home (1969) by Lonnie Carter ’69, a drawing-room farce rife with sexual innuendo. The cast included several students from departments other than Acting, setting a precedent for future Cabaret productions. In 1973, the Cabaret produced its first play by an AfricanAmerican author, Clay Goss’s Of Being Hit. That same year, the Halloween Show, a series of skits and musical numbers organized by William Moseley YC ’74 and Susan Nanus ’74, went on to become an annual tradition that continued into the ’90s as “The Zelenak Family Christmas Show.”

The Cabaret’s eclectic programming adopted a more focused tone in the ’80s and ’90s, favoring radical contemporary work and hard-hitting political pieces that paralleled the rise of punk rock, hip-hop, and avant-garde pop. The energy of the decade is most palpable in two Cabaret premieres by Lynn Nottage ’89 (Former Faculty): Rhinestones and Paste (1987), and A Parenthetical Glance at the Dialectical Nature of the Afro-American’s Quest for Autonomy (1988). Inspired by Nottage’s childhood neighbors, Rhinestones and Paste centered on a community of sex workers in Brooklyn, and went on to be produced in New York the next year. Meanwhile, A Parenthetical Glance at the Dialectical Nature of the Afro-American’s Quest for Autonomy was directed by Ramón Flores ’90, and followed an African-American doctoral student navigating the ivory tower.

In the early 2000s, the sudden rise of the internet brought a pervasive sense of irony, postmodern absurdity, and a certain turn-of-thecentury ennui to the Cabaret’s programming. The mock-documentary

play, Cats Talk Back! (2001) by Bess Wohl ’02, ART ’98, for example, imagines a reunion of the cast of Cats, moderated by a fumbling and egotistical journalist. Emotions run high as the cast recounts PETA protests, attacks from jealous Les Misérables fans, and a long-lost musical number.

Cats Talk Back! had a life after the Cabaret as well—it was produced as part of the New York International Fringe Festival at the Kraine Theater on East Fourth Street—was profiled in The New York Times, and was produced again at the Westbank Café in Hell’s Kitchen.

In more recent history, a series of annual events have brought a diversity of voices and visions to the Cabaret’s programming. These include the Drag Show, first introduced in 2012; the Satellite Series, now in its third year; and the first Women’s Voices in Theater Festival in 2017.

In its 50th anniversary season, the Cabaret (currently steered by playwright Josh Wilder ’18, actor Francesca Fernandez McKenzie ’18, director Rory Pelsue ’18, and theater manager

Rachel Shuey ’18) celebrates a history of bold work, evolving theatrical taste, and a continued commitment to artistic excellence.

“Our hope is that the audience walks away with an accurate and meaningful representation of what stories are most important to students at the Drama School,” said the leadership team. “The Cabaret is going to continue amplifying student voices and showcasing student talent into the next half-century.” This year, the Cabaret is presenting a special 50th anniversary-themed Satellite Series, which I co-curated with Jeremy O. Harris ’19, that asks students to respond artistically to prompts that correspond to the evolving aesthetic tendencies of the Cabaret’s five decades. Through the themed festival, the Cabaret leadership’s goals were to showcase that from its beginnings as a true-to-form Cabaret, the one thing that has remained constant in the basement of 217 Park is a passion for experimentation, collaboration, and creativity.

—Amauta M. Firmino ’19, Yale Cabaret historian.

Snapshot Max Gordon Moore ’11 and Adina C. Verson ’12 in Indecent, conceived

by Paula Vogel (Former Faculty) and Rebecca Taichman ’00, and directed by Rebecca. The play was co-commissioned by Yale Rep and Oregon Shakespeare Festival in 2015, premiered at Yale Rep, and moved to Broadway, winning two 2017 Tony Awards (Best Direction: Rebecca Taichman; Best Lighting Design: Christopher Akerlind ’89).

Photo by Carol Rosegg.

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A Life in Laughs: Barnet Kellman Named Robin Williams Professor of Comedy at USC Barnet Kellman ’72 holds an MFA from Yale School of Drama and a PhD in theater from the Union Institute at Antioch. In other words, he knows better than most what academia has to offer in terms of

show and came away with two Emmys. Since the series ended, he’s never strayed far from his home in comedy, directing episodes of Ally McBeal, George Lopez, My Boys, and 8 Simple Rules.

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scholarship and practice. So when he became a professor at the University of Southern California (USC) in 2009 after a long career in Hollywood, he wanted to teach a subject he felt was underrepresented— the genre of comedy.

No doubt he’s qualified. Barnet got his start in Hollywood working on prime time soap operas but soon thereafter directed the pilot of Murphy Brown, the popular sitcom starring Candice Bergen that aired on CBS from 1988 to 1998. He helmed 75 more episodes for the 10

In 2009, once he had joined the faculty of USC’s School of Cinematic Arts, he pitched a radical idea.

More than just a course or two about comedy, he envisioned an entire curriculum dedicated to the subject. “I wanted to create a program where people who were like me when I was their age could find support, encouragement, real mentorship, and instruction.” Dean Elizabeth Daley got on board, and by the time 2011 rolled around, they had co-founded the USC Comedy program.

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Even though Barnet made his name in television, he owes most of his pedagogy to his days at YSD. He modeled a course in his Comedy program on one of his favorites from graduate school, a scenestudy class taught by Nikos Psacharopoulos ’54 (Former Faculty). Barnet says, “This class brings the experience of a theater director to a film school. A lot of things we take for granted in the theater are really unknown to the beginning film director. One of those things is rehearsal—the process of truly discovering what’s going on in the material.”

In a hearty validation of both his program and his teaching, Barnet was named the Robin Williams Professor of Comedy on June 6, 2017. As proud as he is to hold the chair, he is happier still to know his program will thrive even after he retires. “When I leave, this work will carry on. It will have to be somebody else who will sit in the Robin Williams chair and fly the flag for comedy in perpetuity at USC,” says Barnet. “It’s an incredible honor to have my name and our program associated with a comic genius like Robin Williams.” For Barnet, Williams proved that, “You can make comedy from anything and that comedy can go anywhere.”

— Gavin Whitehead ’17, DFA cand.

15 Barnet (seated) at USC with (standing, left to right) Zak Williams, Paul Witt, Zelda Williams, and Jeffrey Katzenberg.

Photo by Dan Steinberg.

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Our Own Tiny Society: YSD Alumni in South Korea About 10 years ago, the number of South Korean students at YSD began to rise with three or four students and interns in a single class. I was a part of this burgeoning group, and I have fond memories of gathering for dinner during Korean holidays and talking about what we’d do together when we returned home. While some have stayed to work in the U.S., many did go back and have built up a small but active network of compatible artists.

While I was in Seoul last summer, I reconnected with some of these alumni to hear their stories of working together in the South Korean theater scene.

Although recent graduates generally don’t have the luxury of choosing their productions or colleagues, the alumni I spoke with have tried to collaborate whenever possible, sometimes recommending one another to directors and producers.

Shinhyoung Sohn ’10 (Theater Management), who is currently managing director at Acom International, one of Korea’s most prestigious musical production companies, introduced many YSD designers to the state-sponsored theater world in her former position as producer at the National Theatre Company of Korea (NTCK).

Invited by Sohn (her preferred English name), classmates Minsun Jung ’09 (Design) and Kyoungjun Eo ’09 (TD&P) worked together on Aristophanes’ The Clouds at NTCK, and went on to collaborate on a number of large-scale productions at the National Dance Company of Korea. Four other alumni—Soohee Kim ’10 (Design), Choi Yoon

16 Young ’10 (Design), Sang Hee Kim ’11 (Design), and Junghoon Pi ’12 (Design)—have also participated in sizable projects at NTCK through Sohn’s recommendations.

“At school, I didn’t often have the opportunity to collaborate artistically with my Korean friends,” says Sohn. “But I saw all of their work.

So now I can make offers to those

16 Tournament (2014), Choreography by Sung-joo Yoon and Sung-soo Ahn. National Dance Company of Korea.

Costume design by Minsun Jung ’09.

Technical direction by Kyoungjun Eo ’09.

Photo courtesy of Minsun Jung.

Snapshot Aja Naomi King ’10 and Sarah Sokolovic ’11 at the annual Actors Showcase Party in LA at the home of Talia Shire Schwartzman ’69, May 2017. Photo by Deborah Berman.

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18 17 (clockwise from left) Walter Byongsok Chon ’10, DFA cand., Hansol Jung ’14, Junghoon Pi ’12, Jayoung Yoon ’13, Nina Hyunseung Lee ’12, KJ Kim, Kee-Yoon Nahm ’12, DFA ’16 at YSD in 2011.

18 Paradise Planet and Doenjang Chigae (2017). Set design (and photo) by Soohee Kim ’10. Lighting design by Nina Hyunseung Lee ’12.

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designers with confidence.” Although almost none of the designers who currently work together in Korea were assigned to the same production in school, the YSD experience itself served as a solid foundation for collaboration, even in a different theater culture.

All of the alumni mentioned how much easier it was to talk to their YSD peers than to other theater artists in Korea. Soohee and Nina Hyunseung Lee ’12 (Design) have worked together on five different productions in two years, mostly by young playwright/directors.

When I spoke with Nina and Soohee, they were busy collaborating on a visually striking new play, Paradise Planet and Doenjang Chigae.

When I ask them why they preferred sticking together, Nina explains, “When I talk to Soohee, I see that we read plays in the same way.”

Soohee agrees: “We have the same vocabulary and visualize scenes in similar ways.” She adds that, until she worked with Nina, she didn’t realize how smooth things can be when you’re on the same page as the lighting designer.

“There’s a lot of discussion that goes into the production process at YSD,” Minsun observes. “It’s not just expressing your preferences for certain images. You keep trying to find evidence in the text that supports your choices. In that sense, I feel that the culture at YSD is more scholastic than in other places.” Because many classes at YSD bring together

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students from different departments, the alumni are also comfortable speaking across disciplines. But it’s also essential to know when to respect everyone’s specific role.

Minsun finds it easier to strike the right balance with other alumni. “We have a shared understanding of process, and a strong production relies on process, as well as on content.”

Creating the right atmosphere for discussion is usually up to the director, a role that is thus far unfilled within the Korean YSD alumni community. Happily, they have found a kindred spirit in Kon Yi, a graduate of Columbia’s MFA program in directing. Numerous Yalies worked with Yi on his school shows, and those who returned to Korea after graduation became regular collaborators at Yi’s company, Theatre Company Jeock, which focuses on translated productions of recent English-language plays. Minsun counts the 2014 Korean premiere of John Douglas Weidner’s Screaming with Maria, which she worked on with Soohee, Nina, and Junghoon, as one of the most fun shows she’s been a part of: “It was extremely lowbudget, so we did it like a Cab show.”

Yi says he appreciates YSDtrained designers’ ability to analyze a play carefully and base their designs on the text, a skill that becomes especially important when staging a translation. Soohee agrees, explaining that she makes sure to read the play in the original English when she works with Yi to get a better idea of the playwright’s intentions. Yi also notes, “YSD designers are more inclined to offer ideas without restricting themselves to their roles in the production. As a director, I find that very stimulating and helpful.”

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In 2016, Minsun, Soohee, Junghoon, and Yi embarked on a different kind of theater with Roadtheater: Daehangno, which was successful enough to secure a second run this year. This immersive piece has audience members follow actors throughout Seoul’s historic theater district while listening to their stories over headphones. (Another Korean alumnus, Walter Byongsok Chon ’10, DFA cand. penned an article on this project for The Theatre Times in November 2016.) “Roadtheater was great because I could work with Minsun and Soohee on a large project with a decent budget,” says Junghoon. As there was no pre-written script, the designers had a lot of input in the structure and content of the piece.

Roadtheater was a golden opportunity for alumni to revive the creative environment that they had found at school. There have been other, similar efforts. Shortly after they returned to Korea, Minsun, Soohee, and Kyoungjun shared ideas about starting a production company modeled on the Cabaret.

The fact that they were not managers or artistic directors didn’t stop them; in fact, Kyoungjun, who runs his own technical design studio, says that they were motivated by the desire to expand their work beyond the traditional roles of designer and technical director. In 2011, they commissioned plays from two playwrights and eventually produced one of them, a piece called Flower Shoes.

Although other work took over their careers after this venture, the group hasn’t given up on the idea of forming an institution where they could continue to collaborate on a regular basis. In the meantime,

they’ve found more informal ways of staying connected. Kyoungjun, who often reminisces about going to York Street Noodle House with Junghoon, now lives only a few minutes away from Junghoon and his wife, Sohhee Han, who is also a costume designer. Kyoungjun sometimes stops by his neighbor’s home in the evening to have dinner and chat—some things never change. “A lot of us feel the gap between what we studied abroad and the reality of theater production in Korea,” he says. “I want to talk about improving things, but I often feel like I’m creating walls if I start a sentence with ‘In America….’ But I don’t have to even bring that up when I’m talking to other alumni. They feel like true colleagues in that sense.”

When Kyoungjun was looking around Seoul for a place to open his studio, Minsun offered him a spare room in her costume shop. Aside from the convenience of being able to knock on a TD’s door whenever she has a technical question, Minsun says that Kyoungjun is a great person to talk to about all kinds of

things: “Because we were trained in the same environment, we can more easily solve problems together.” Their joint studio in the southern edge of Seoul has served as a hangout and meeting spot for other alumni over the years. This gravitation towards common space can be traced back to their time at YSD. Sohn explains, “We were foreigners, our English wasn’t great, and we were culturally insecure. And Korean food was too expensive. But now that I think about it, I wasn’t homesick all that much. I think it was because of my friends. We relied on each other for support.”

Kyoungjun, meanwhile, has bigger plans for this community: “We can all imagine on our own, but we need help from others to realize our vision. I think this workspace plays a large role in bringing like-minded people with different skills together. That way, when we have the resources to initiate a new project, it’s easy to find colleagues who want to participate. We’re building our own tiny society.”

—Kee-Yoon Nahm ’12, DFA ’16

Snapshot

James Bundy (Dean) and Victoria Nolan (Deputy Dean) honored staff members for their service anniversaries at the Long-Term Service Awards, February 6, 2018.

Photo by Deborah Berman.

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Sanctuary Man: Jake Thompson In 2017, Jake Thompson retired after 44 years of dedicated service to Yale School of Drama. Since 1973, he had worked as the nighttime security officer at University Theatre, where he knew every student who came through the School. Throughout his tenure he was a beloved mentor, friend, and colleague. Here, Stephen Haff ’92 pays tribute to Jake.

In times of distress we seek places of safety and peace. Churches, temples, synagogues, mosques, ashrams, even movie theaters and ballparks provide refuge. This is a story of gratitude for a man who was himself such a place for generations of students at Yale School of Drama.

When I came to YSD in the fall of 1989, my soft Canadian boyhood collided with New Haven’s hard reality. I had never seen any homeless people, poor people, or anyone begging for money. I knew nobody, and I had nowhere to live.

After I rented a cheap room (replete with mice—animals I had previously seen only in pet stores!), I was ready to go to school.

It’s not that anyone at the School of Drama was unkind to me, but I was painfully alone, and I felt tremendous pressure and insecurity about the challenges ahead. Everyone appeared accomplished, confident, and brilliant, and I was just a kid from far away.

As I wandered around the YSD campus trying to figure out where I was, I stopped at the desk just inside the stage door of the University Theater to ask for directions.

There was Jake Thompson, with his easy smile and his unhurried voice.

He pointed me the right way, but I 14

19 19 Jake and Ellen Lange (Staff) at Commencement 2015. Photo by Mara Lavitt.

20 Lloyd Richards HON ’79 (Former Dean) and Jake in 2005.

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21 stayed. The doctor was in.

Across the three years I studied in the Department of Dramaturgy and Dramatic Criticism, I made true friends, fellow students who reassured me that they, too, were afraid of failure, afraid of being thought a fraud; like me, they were distracted and worn out by competition and

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21 (left to right) Ben Sammler ’74 (Faculty), Jake, and Robert Brustein ’51, HON ’66 (Former Dean) at the 50th Anniversary celebration of Yale Rep. Photo by T. Charles Erickson.

22 (left to right) Jill Marie Lawrence ’97, Jake, Linda Kuriloff ’91, Magaly Colimon-Christopher ’98, and Michael Early ’91 at the 2014 New York Holiday Party. Photo by Christopher Ash ’14.

23 (left to right) Joe Grifasi ’75, Carmen De Lavallade (Former Faculty), Elizabeth Norment ’79, and Jake in 2005.

Photo by T. Charles Erickson.

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weighed down by the expectations that accompany the word “Yale.”

Their gallows humor and solidarity helped me to keep going. But Jake was the sanctuary who, at the epicenter of the School, became my faraway oasis.

He listened with great patience to my tales of stress and exams and pressure, but mostly we spoke about basketball. I remember the day when we heard that Earvin “Magic” Johnson had contracted the HIV virus. Jake was in disbelief and had tears in his eyes. Through Jake’s compassion, I felt that someone I knew had been stricken. Every day during March Madness we marveled at the underdogs and predicted upsets. Jake’s devotion to the game rerouted my thoughts from theater history to present-day athletic theater-in-the-making, a nationwide, collective improvisation. I felt lucky to learn from the master basketball scholar all of the human backstories that raised the dramatic stakes for each game. On March 4, 1990, when Hank Gathers died on the court during a game, and teammate Bo Kimble rose up to lead 11thseeded Loyola Marymount all the

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way to the Regional Finals of the NCAA tournament, Jake rose and fell with every shot, willing the story into being with the intensity of evangelical prayer. After the fairytale ended, he relaxed and offered a serene view of the bigger picture, the one in which all struggles, and all lives, ebb and flow. Once again, there was that easy smile.

Jake taught me a lot about how to live. He gave me bottles of his delicious homemade wines—from apples, peaches, and other unexpected fruits. The pleasure of drinking the wine was matched by the plea-

sure of his explanation of how he made it. That joy brought to mind Trappist monks brewing beer to support their faith, or Buddhist monks finding meditative happiness in the process of making intricate kites. He taught me to follow my bliss long before I heard about that exhortation from Joseph Campbell.

I don’t know what our students and teachers are going to do without Jake, their Listener-inChief; without, in the profoundest sense, their sanctuary.

— Stephen Haff ’92

Snapshot

YSD students at the Yale-Harvard Game, November 2017. Photo by Al Heartley ’18.

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Ming’s Dynasty by f r a n k r iz zo

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ow best to represent the essence of a man, an acclaimed artist, innovator, and master teacher? “It starts with a line,” Ming Cho Lee (Former Faculty) might say, at least that is what he is fond of telling his design students.

For Ming, the line of his life swooped like a powerful brushstroke across a canvas of time and place, traveling from his youth in China, to schooling in California, a career launched in New York, and nearly half a century at Yale School of Drama. He received a special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2013, a National Medal of Arts in 2002, and a Theater Hall of Fame honor in 1998. In December of 2017 at the age of 87, the Donald M. Oenslager Professor in the Practice of Design taught his final class after 48 ½ years. He was chair or co-chair of the department for 43 of them.

Ming’s demeanor remains as gentle, graceful, and evocative as the landscape watercolors that he painted as a boy growing up in Shanghai. But underneath the smiling, serene veneer remains a man of strong opinions, fierce beliefs, and playful sting.

Ming never set out to be a teacher nor gave it a thought as a parallel career. It was lighting designer Jules Fisher who first got him to consider it when they were out of town working on Little Murders in 1967.

“When Jules suggested teaching, I told him, ‘Any job is a plus,’ ” remembers Ming, laughing as he sat at his dining room table in his Manhattan apartment.

For more than a half-century, the modest four-room

Ming Cho Lee in the classroom.

Photo by Joan Marcus.

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01 Ming in 2010. Photo by Joan Marcus.

02 Ming and Betsy on their wedding day, March 21, 1958. Photo courtesy of Ming Cho Lee.

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East Side apartment he shares with Betsy, his wife of 58 years, was a real-life theatrical setting not only for raising three sons but also as a Grand Central of Design for streams of assistants, theater colleagues, and students. “It was a circus, and he was the ringmaster,” says Betsy, who has been an integral part Ming’s work— managing, scheduling, computing, and even soldering piping on his scale models.

In 1970, Donald Oenslager (Former Faculty)—the first chair of the YSD design department—was set to retire, and Robert Brustein ’51, HON ’66 (Former Dean), who was intent on revitalizing the School, was in search of an energizing successor. Brustein polled students asking them whom they would like to see teach design and their first choice, according to Ming, was English designer Tanya Moiseiwitsch, the founding designer of the Canadian Stratford Festival and the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis. But her multiple stage and theater design projects left no time for additional assignments.

Ming—whose career at The Public and the Delacorte Theater in Central Park placed him among a new wave of young designers—was second on the list. He got the gig and arrived at the University to teach in 1969. The following year he became head of the department.

“I followed in the footsteps of Donald Oenslager, and I picked up where Donald left off,” says Ming. Oenslager,

for better design. This mantra has kept me going and has guided me to become a better father, really to listen, always to be open to criticism, and, most importantly, to be honest with myself.

Ming’s determination, discipline, rigor, and most of all his passion for teaching are amazing examples for all of us. I also keep in mind how for decades Ming has paved the way for multiculturalism at Yale School of Drama, and as a child of Cuba, Argentina, and the United States, I am grateful for the ways he has encouraged me to embrace diversity in my own work. He introduced me to Suzan-Lori Parks (Former

“I first heard the name Ming Cho Lee from my father, an opera singer. He took me to see Lucia di Lammermoor at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires in 1972, when I was seven. Ming had designed the set. I was immediately hypnotized and fell madly in love with the theater and opera. So yes, my very first experience in the theater was through Ming’s work.

As a teacher he gave us the tools, not just to dig deep into a text, opera, or musical, but to face life. He taught us how to embrace the flux of things, understanding that nothing stays the same. The single most important thing I learned from him is this: There is always room

who was noted for his “beautiful interiors,” took a sensible approach and taught his students “not to get stuck” on a design for a show. “The whole thing is to be introduced to a play and then get on with it. Donald felt that the important thing is to get an idea on paper. He didn’t believe in agonizing over it, or overthinking it.”

Michael Yeargan ’73 (Faculty), now co-chair of the design department, arrived as a student in 1969 and studied with both teachers. “Donald was an old-world gentleman who wore a Brooks Brothers suit and a Burberry raincoat and arrived with a paper bag full of drawings, including those of Robert Edmond Jones, whom he called ‘Bobby Jones,’ ” says Michael, referring to the legendary early 20th-century scenic, lighting, and costume designer. “Donald’s classes were very regimented. Ming’s were just the opposite, full of excitement. I loved them both but you knew you were at a crossroads with one foot in the past, and one foot in the future.”

The Ming Critique

Ming says, “Teaching actually frightened me. I was nervous so I picked up what is essentially a Chinese habit of being superbly modest. If you’re modest enough, nobody can really get you.”

So he became as critical of his own work as he was of the work of others. “If I had a show open on Broadway, it was usually a flop closing in one day. But then I would

Faculty) and Liz Diamond (Faculty) when he chose me to design The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World at Yale Rep in 1992 and also to INTAR Theatre, which was to become my first artistic home in NYC. Ming has led the way for us to remain committed to strengthening the many voices that make us who we are. The foundation he has created at this school is deep and strong, and I am proud to continue to nurture the future voices that will challenge and celebrate a daring American theater. Thank you, Ming.”

— Riccardo Hernandez ’92, Assistant Professor Adjunct of Design

talk with my students afterward about what was wrong with the design or what was wrong with the show.” Ming also used the professional design happening at Yale Rep as an opportunity for classroom discussion: “I critiqued the Rep shows so the students did not feel they were left out when they were not designing at the Rep.” Though Brustein urged him to design for the Rep, Ming resisted, insisting that his students be given that opportunity instead. “I told Bob I’d get involved but that I wouldn’t be the one designing the shows. I encouraged the best students to design for the Rep—‘if Bob will hire you.’ ” Ming points to two significant changes he made to Oenslager’s program. The first was expanding the number of women in the design program. “There were no women set designers,” says Ming. “They were all taken to the costume program. I wanted women designers.

First of all, to have a class without them is really boring.

There’s a whole experience they bring that men are not capable of.” Among the students Ming recruited were Heidi Ettinger ’76 and Adrianne Lobel ’79. The second change was having design critiques every two weeks, but with an added requirement: scale models of sets. “I thought the sketch alone was not enough. So that was a big change, to have students think in terms of space, and to think sculpturally.”

Ming’s classes weren’t just about design. “We’d spend time talking about the play,” says Michael. “Ming YA L E S C H O O L O F D R A M A A N N UA L 2 017–18

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03 Set for King Lear at Yale Rep (1973), designed by Ming.

Photo courtesy of Ming Cho Lee.

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would ask, ‘Who is Hedda Gabler? What do you think about her? Do you like her? What was the time she lived like?’ He taught us to be dramaturgs as well as designers. That’s one of the benefits of Yale training: We know how to read a play and talk to a director about it from all aspects, not just the design side.”

“Ming is, hands down, the best teacher I ever had and the most inspiring,” says James Bundy ’95 (Dean). “He famously said in his class that the best designers are the best dramaturgs. What he meant is that the people who tie their ability to imagine physical transformation of space to the action and themes of the play have a lasting impact on audiences.” James described Ming’s teaching style as “Socratic. He thrives on arguments and debates, and one of the most satisfying classroom moments was being in a vigorous argument with him and then hearing him say, ‘I’m going to say you should go ahead and do that.’ I think he wants

people to be engaged in the world and to stand up for what they believe in. He is also famous for canceling the first day of class and insisting that people go and register to vote.”

Set designer Derek McLane ’84 remembers, “Ming’s critiques were intense at times, especially for first-year students. They took place on Saturdays and you usually had no sleep the night before, so you often came in exhausted and you’d put up your sketches and models and he would go through each one. He always had a roll of tracing paper in his hand and he would put it over the sketch and draw over it, sort of to ‘fix’ the design and then absentmindedly tear off the tracing paper and hand it to you. He made these amazing observations. It made you want to work incredibly hard, and I’ve never been as motivated—ever.”

Another lesson learned, says Derek, is that not every job comes with instant inspiration. “Ming taught you to start by being able to draw well so you can do a version of the set that actually tells the story, even if it doesn’t excite you. It’s a way to begin, because then you have something that you can make better. You can sit around and wait for inspiration to strike, or you can get started and hopefully become inspired about what you’re doing. He said that over and over again, and I find it’s still so true.”

In choosing students for the program, Ming insisted that applicants be able to draw. “If you don’t draw, where is the beginning? You’ve got to start with a line.

Everything begins with a line. You have to start the line strong, and you should know where you are going, too.”

His mother remarried, moved briefly to the U.S. and then returned to China, where their weekend-only visits resumed. “We would go to art galleries together, and I developed an interest in Chinese painting.”

Sensing that her teenage son was without goals and needed something that he could do well, Lee’s mother directed him to study under a well-known landscape artist. “I spent two years studying with him every weekend,” says Ming. “He had a very strange way of teaching. I would be standing next to him and I would mix some of his paints and then he would do his work orders for paintings. Afterwards he would say, ‘Okay, you take that painting, go home, and do a copy of it.’ So I learned painting by copying his paintings.” It was a lesson that stayed with Ming. “I tell students, ‘Don’t worry about copying. Go ahead. You have my permission.’ Almost all the Chinese landscape paintings are based on works from the Ming dynasty, and there was not a single original idea. It was all in the expression, the capturing of the spirit in the line and in the brush stroke.”

In 1949, Ming began his studies at Los Angeles’s Occidental College, where he found that his poor English was a handicap to good grades. “My English was terrible, terrible. But I realized that I had a commodity that very few people had: I could draw.” After college, Ming moved to New York, where he began a series of apprenticeships, first with set designer Jo Mielziner, who designed the sets for such landmark works as The Glass Menagerie, Death of a Salesman, and Carousel, and then with designer Boris Aronson. “With Jo Mielziner, my challenge was to get out of his influence,” he says. With Aronson, “it was about how you feel about the world. All my apprenticing ultimately had a great deal to do with who I am.”

Setting out on his own in the 1960s, Ming became the designer for what is now the Public Theater’s Delacorte Theater in Central Park. There he captured the style of

“When Ming came along, he brought together all of these influences and transformed design into something new.”

Chinese Lineage

That love of the line began when Ming was a boy in China.

“My father and my mother divorced when I was six and I lived with my father,” says the Shanghai-born Ming. “I can’t tell you how much I missed my mother.”

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04–07 Ming. Photos by Julie Brown.

the ’60s in an explosion of pop and political imagery for the original Off-Broadway production of Hair. He also designed for the Martha Graham Dance Company, the Metropolitan Opera, the Joffrey Ballet, the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden, and regional theaters across the country. He won a Tony in 1983 for his spectacular icy slice of a mountain in the play K2.

The Way of Ming

When Ming struck out on his own he gathered a team of assistants who informally became his first students. “I would force them to go through a drawing method, whether they liked it or not,” he says. “But they left with a foundation of being good designers. In a way, even before Yale, I was training designers on my own.”

When asked how his students changed over the decades, Ming becomes slightly downcast. “In the early days, we would get students who arrived very experienced; people like Michael Yeargan, Santo Loquasto ’72, who was there before I arrived, William Ivey Long ’75, Zack Brown ’75, and Tony Straiges ’74.

But then students got younger and younger as more

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people applied to the program. I would also say that without realizing it, the students—probably reacting against me—now take originality with ferociousness, and I sometimes have to be careful in suggesting that they copy this or that.”

Ming is also wary of an overemphasis on technology, feeling it lacks the specificity of his hand-drawn methodology. For example, he says, “You have to be careful with projection design. It can give the impression of endless possibilities, and you can’t be an artist simply by focusing on possibilities. You’re not selecting, you’re not pulling it apart and getting to the center of it.

Sometimes limitations are as important as possibilities.”

Ming’s career was celebrated in an illustrated TCG monograph published in 2014, Ming Cho Lee: A Life in Design. “Ming has had the most profound impact on American design,” says author Arnold Aronson. “He transformed design into something new.” It’s hard to place a definitive finger on Ming’s style, says Aronson, although the designer is often noted for his structural and sculptural approach—soaring verticals, collages, the use of non-traditional materials such as pipework, raw wood, and scaffolding.

Though known for his designs for more than 300 opera, ballet, and theater productions, Aronson

believes Ming’s greatest impact may be in the training of generations of set designers—and playwrights, directors, and other designers, too—totaling more than 3,000 alumni—“who will continue his legacy indefinitely.”

Yeargan agrees. “All of us who went through Ming’s training still have him looking over our shoulders spiritually while we are drawing and asking ourselves, ‘What would Ming do? What would Ming say?’ ”

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The Structural Integrity of Ben Sammler: An Appreciation Last June, Bronislaw “Ben” Sammler ’74 (Faculty) stepped down as chair of the Technical Design and Production Department, which he joined as a student in 1971, where he began teaching before he had his MFA in hand, and which he has helmed since 1980. Typical of the deliberateness for which he is so justly praised, Ben has agreed to wean the Drama School of his steady and steadying presence by teaching his foundational Structural Design for the Stage course for the next two years and continuing as consultant on the new building for the School and Rep as the project moves forward.

Included here are portions of James Bundy’s ’95 (Dean) announcement of Ben’s retirement along with a moving tribute to Ben from Evan Yionoulis ’85, YC ’82 (Faculty). Shaminda Amarakoon ’12 (Faculty) shared a few words about being Ben’s protégé and successor and about his own plans for taking the department forward. Finally, excerpts from Ben’s own sign-off are included, giving the “Man of Few Words” an opportunity to speak for himself.

Ben Sammler at Commencement 2017.

Photo by Mark Ostow.

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Ben and Laraine Sammler celebrating at Ben’s retirement party. Photo by T. Charles Erickson.

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James Bundy on Ben

A graduate of SUNY Brockport in the class of 1967, Ben taught at his first alma mater for four years before matriculating at Yale School of Drama in the fall of 1971.

He received his MFA in 1974, and Yale never let him go.

Since Ben began as chair, nearly 400 people have graduated from a program that has no peer in training for technical theater.

One of the most prolific scholars of theatrical technical design in the world, Ben co-authored two editions of Structural Design for the Stage and edited three volumes of Technical Design Solutions for Theatre, among other publications. He has lectured internationally, and his teaching here in New Haven has been meticulous. In production, he has served the School and the Rep as Stage Carpenter, Technical Director (over 50 productions), Production Supervisor (over 300 productions) and Head of Production (more than 30 more).

Not only did Ben receive the USITT Golden Pen Award (2000) and its Distinguished Achievement Award in Technical Production (2009), but the School awarded him the Phyllis Warfel Prize for service to alumni in 2003. In 2006, he received the Leonides A. Nickole Award for Excellence in Theater Education, and former Yale president Richard C. Levin named him the Henry McCormick Professor Adjunct in 2007, the

second YSD faculty member to be honored with a named chair.

Ben marks his achievements and awards with quiet pride. It is clear to anyone who knows him that he is even more proud of the accomplishments of the many teams of people he has led for so long and so well in our production departments: His success has also been theirs.

You can feel the deep sense of shared purpose and generosity of spirit that are hallmarks of Ben’s tenure, whether you are on the second floor of the University Theatre, or in Student Tech, or in late-night note sessions. One can also feel them over meals at Mory’s, during Beers on Friday nights, or in Ben and Laraine’s backyard, where alumni, faculty, staff, and students come together for Mandatory Fun every fall. If character is what you do when nobody’s watching, it is also what you do when everybody is watching you 16 hours a day, and Ben’s consistent excellence is as much a measure of his inexhaustible resolve as it is of his prodigious talent.

Evan Yionoulis on Ben

I love Ben Sammler. And perhaps like many of us who love Ben, that love began with fear; then the reasons for that fear became the basis for that love. Going back to my student days at YSD, I like to think I have always appreciated Ben’s dry humor and recognized the sly smile that accompanied even his strictest pronouncements.

For my thesis show, I directed Pacific Overtures­in the Ex, which was, at the time, a black box theater, and we wanted to paint it white. “No problem,” Ben said wryly, but he made it very clear that we would have to paint it black again after the show. What we had to cut to afford this escapes me, but what color is the Ex today? White. I held onto a little grudge about that for a couple of decades.

After I returned to teach in the Acting Program and had become chair, I scheduled Saturday classes for the actors for the first time. Ben called me into his office to let me know that by doing that, I’d be pushing rehearsals later in the day, lengthening the work week for other departments—stage managers, directors, dramaturgs. I explained that Saturday was the only day I could get Chris Bayes (Faculty) to come to teach Clown, and that I thought his work was vital to actor training. Ben said that sounded like a good reason, and that was that.

Somehow, as the years wore on, I found that all vestiges of fear had disappeared; yet my admiration for Ben just continued to grow. Take budgeting, those excruciating meetings where everyone sits around the table and says what everything costs, which adds up to

three or four times the amount of money you have. Ben led those meetings with the formality and rigor of a court of law. Just when it seemed certain you’d never get to budget, somehow, magically, you did. That magic was Ben: the work he did behind the scenes; the mentoring; the follow-up; the follow-through.

And then in the theater! I remember so many times struggling with some technical or staging problem when, at a break, Ben quietly walked up to me and said, “You know, if you just…this or that…you could...” And, of course, it would be a brilliant suggestion that untied the whole knot. Always supporting me, the team, and the process, Ben could see what was happening and offer some designer more dark time or quiet time or whatever the production needed.

Ben’s sense of the big picture, his rigor, his analytical thinking, the high standards to which he holds himself and everyone else, his true love of the theater have been the backbone of the School and the Rep through decades and deans. Ben has the exceptional ability always to see what makes the most sense— and the wisdom to know that, in the theater, sometimes the best choice has an intuitive rightness, not a rational one.

As Ben travels the world with Laraine, or tends his garden, or writes his books, at YSD we will miss the irreplaceable “Ben-ness” of Ben. He’s left generations of students who are now teachers not just to carry the torch but also to build their own work and to lead the work of others.

Shaminda Amarakoon on Ben It is hard to do justice to Ben Sammler’s impact on Yale School of Drama and the field of technical theater.

Ben has had a lasting, positive, and immeasurable influence on how we execute artistic designs in theater and entertainment.

His book Structural Design for the Stage and class have shaped scenery engineering in theaters around the world. Technical designers have used Ben’s methodologies to design safe structures and capitalize on an efficient use of resources. This is symbolic of Ben’s overall approach. Simply put, we get greater safety and more “bang for our buck” through the practice he developed—a win for technicians, artists, and managers.

Then there is Technical Design Solutions for the Theatre, or “Tech Briefs,” a collection of articles across three decades from students of the program and professionals in the field. For the first time, these solutions were shared across the country, and the world, to help inspire similar techniques in other YA L E S C H O O L O F D R A M A A N N UA L 2 017–18

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Ben (center) and his TD&P students at work on the Yale Rep stage. Photo

by Maura Lavitt.

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theaters. The articles have also given our industry an avenue for publication—providing another level of professional development. Tech Briefs has helped spread awareness about Yale School of Drama and the Technical Design and Production Program to communities not familiar with our curriculum.

Each September, Ben and Laraine invited the entire production department and local alumni to their home for food and games. There Ben “asks” everyone to

practice even as the department continues to forge new paths to keep up with our ever-changing field. I am excited about the future of our program. I know that, thanks to Ben, the foundation we build upon is as structurally sound as any ever created.

Ben on Ben

The Drama School has been my home for a very long time, and everyone in it is a part of my story. I’ve been on an improbable journey that began in 1962, when at SUNY Brockport, I had a roommate in the drama department. He asked if I could fix some flats that the staff T.D. had built badly. I didn’t know what a flat was—but since I had worked building houses in the summer, I assumed that I could surely fix a few flats.

In fact, I’d never seen a play, but I could build!

It was also at Brockport that I befriended the department’s new business manager, Laraine Siegel, eventually falling in love with and finally marrying her.

Laraine is the love of my life, my very best friend, Anya’s mom, and the person who taught me the importance of family. (The family that is the TD&P department is as much Laraine’s doing as anyone’s.)

We both agreed that an MFA in technical theater seemed like an appropriate next step.

I was accepted at Yale. And the good folks here allowed me to miss registration because I was opening Vinnette Carroll’s Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope at Ford’s Theatre in DC that day, which seems a fitting show for the journey I was on. When I think over my 43 years here, it’s a bit incomprehensible how far this program has come. It’s a gratifying accomplishment, and one that couldn’t have been achieved by me alone.

In the theatre world we are known as the Yale Mafia.

When people apply to the School they are immediately put in touch with alumni to advise and assist them. Our graduates are sought out for jobs. Our students become our friends and colleagues, and we all keep in touch and depend on each other. There is no way I can tell you how much your continued devotion to me, our faculty and staff, and our program has meant over these many, many years.

participate in what is lovingly called Mandatory Fun: three games—volleyball, horseshoes, croquet. The winning team earns pride, but the day is about more than that: it’s about family.

I started at the Drama School in 2004 and since then have worn many hats—carpenter, student, alum, lecturer, and now department chair. Ben has helped to shape my career more than anyone else, as he has with so many in our industry. I look forward to taking up that

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Adieu, Van Lieu by c h a d k i n s m a n ’18

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urrounded by tidy stacks of bankers boxes and accompanied by the loud hum of the air conditioner fighting off the late June heat, Ron Van Lieu (Faculty) spent his 76th birthday clearing out his office on the third floor of 305 Crown Street. In just over a week, he would “retire” from his full-time position at Yale School of Drama and embark on the next phase of his career—teaching at Columbia University School of the Arts, while continuing to teach one class for third-year YSD actors. Ron’s professional life has been full of such plot twists. He was supposed to be a priest, became a teacher, then an actor, and finally an acting teacher. Given this pattern, it’s tempting to see Ron’s life as a play, perhaps something by Chekhov, but with a few important exceptions. Unlike Andrey in Three Sisters, Ron did become a professor, and unlike Uncle Vanya’s Serebryakov, he’s a very good one. Ron has taught hundreds of successful actors, so it’s easy to see why his students and peers have cast him as one of the most influential acting teachers of our time.

Although there’s hardly an acting award his students haven’t won or stage they haven’t graced, Ron is the first person who will tell you that the theater is not about the accolades. Rather, it’s about making the

Ron Van Lieu.

Photos by Joan Marcus.

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01 01 Ron teaching in 2011. Photo by Joan Marcus.

02 Ron in the 1960 Bowling Green State University production of The Admirable Crichton.

Photo courtesy of Ron Van Lieu.

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connection between two people. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Lupita Nyong’o ’12 summed up Ron’s personal approach to acting. “He once said, ‘It feels like it’s all about you, but it’s not about you at all. It’s about the person you’re playing.’” The same could be said of Ron’s approach to teaching: It’s not about him but how he can best serve his students. This selflessness is at the heart of Ron’s work— and his life.

“I grew up in the Catholic Church,” Ron shares, “and the whole message was ‘You’re here to serve others.’” Although his family initially wanted him to enter the priesthood, it was the Church itself that gave Ron his first taste of the power of theater. “The old Latin Mass was very theatrical,” he says. “It was the Fellini version of Catholicism.” His first performances were in the basement of an elementary school run by Dominican nuns in his hometown of Wooster, Ohio.

Despite his budding interest, friends and family advised him to take a more “practical” career path. “I got a bachelor of science

extraordinary acting instructors at YSD committed to teaching, challenging, and supporting young actors as they carve a path for themselves as artists. Teachers like Stella Adler (Former Faculty) and Earle Gister (Former Faculty) come to mind. Like those before him, Ron has left an indelible imprint at this university and is responsible for training a generation of actors who bring the full expanse of their talent to a wide variety of texts and media. It’s a legacy that humbles me as I strive to follow in his footsteps.

Beginning my tenure at Yale, I’m

It’s a joy to watch Ron Van Lieu teach, because he isn’t particularly dogmatic in his approach. His investment is in leading students to reveal more of themselves as human beings.

Ron has a gift for laying foundations that open the possibility for extraordinary things to happen, and his classes have been a great anchoring force for the actors at YSD. His devotion to specificity and detail in the craft of acting and to empowering his students is unmatched.

Ron is part of a long line of

degree from Bowling Green State University, double majoring in speech and English.

Then I taught high school English in Royal Oak, Michigan—briefly,” he is quick to add.

When “practical” lost what little luster it had, Ron ran for the stage. “When I was 26, I cut myself loose. In 1968 I went to NYU’s School of the Arts to study directing.” Ron had been to New York once before, when he was 17. The trip proved to be an inspirational avant-acte to his future career path. “I took a Greyhound bus from Wooster to New York City,” Ron remembers, “and the first night I saw Sweet Bird of Youth with Geraldine Page. Her performance cemented my definition of what acting should be. And the second night, I saw A Raisin in the Sun.” He waited at the stage door to get his program autographed by the productions’ stars, Sidney Poitier and Ruby Dee. Later, when Ron arrived at NYU, he was placed in an acting class taught by Lloyd Richards HON ’79 (Former Dean), who had directed A Raisin in the Sun. “At the end of the first semester, Lloyd said, ‘The best actor in class is that directing kid.’ They asked me if I wanted to join the acting program, and I said yes.” The two would later teach at and serve together on the board of The Actor’s Center in New York City, which Ron helped found in 1996. “I loved Lloyd,” Ron shares, “and I loved the simple way he thought of acting and how he worked with us in that room. I loved the fact that he thought of the theater as this big tent with enough room

excited to see where the students of today and tomorrow take us. As the country wrestles with the magnitude of its own polarization, the mission of the artist has more and more value. My hope is to encourage young actors to celebrate their own uniqueness while meeting the rigorous demands of both contemporary and classic texts. Ron has passed the baton, and I’m very happy and honored to carry it forward. —Gregory Wallace ’87 (Faculty)

for everyone.”

After graduating from NYU, Ron acted and directed at several regional theaters.

When he returned to New York, another figure from his past reached out and

Although his family initially wanted him to enter the priesthood, it was the Church itself that gave Ron his first taste of the power of theater. changed the direction of his career once again. “In 1975, Olympia Dukakis, one of my former teachers at NYU, got a role out of town. She asked me if I would take over her class for six weeks. After it ended, NYU offered me a job for the next year, and I ended up staying for 28 more.” During his celebrated tenure, Ron would serve as chair of the program, establish and run Studio Tisch, a developmental workshop for graduates of the acting program, and receive the New York University Distinguished Teaching Medal in 1993.

By the early 2000s, Ron was in a state of semi-retirement when James Bundy ’95, installed as the dean of Yale School of Drama in 2002, asked him to consider a YA L E S C H O O L O F D R A M A A N N UA L 2 017–18

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candidacy for the chair of the Acting program at YSD. Walton Wilson (Faculty), who would serve as Ron’s associate before assuming the chair himself in 2014, remembers Ron’s candidate visit: “We were in Room 221 in 149 York with two actors who had prepared a Chekhov scene. Before we got down to work, Ron started talking about Chekhov and the Russian sensibility.

You could see it put them at ease. Then,

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03 Ron with some of his former students in 2015: (left to right) Laura Gragtmans ’12, Chris Henry ’12, Ron, Seamus Mulcahy ’12, Jillian Taylor ’12, and Ceci Fernandez ’14.

Photo by Samuel Stuart Hollenshead.

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while they worked on a small section of the scene, the back and forth between Ron and the actors really struck me. He was drawing something wonderful out of them.”

James offered Ron the position. And, fittingly, named him the Lloyd Richards Professor of Acting.

Although Ron had never stepped foot on campus before his interview, he was familiar with the YSD Acting program from showcases of graduating actors, and he noticed a few differences between the programs. “NYU felt more visceral, more about the body, the imagination, and busting out boundaries,” Ron remembers.

He felt he could bring this physicality to YSD: “The actors here needed to get into their bodies. I wanted to bring more physical work into the curriculum. I wanted

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to bring a sense of ‘play.’”

To do so, Ron expanded the curriculum to include more physical and vocal training.

He also provided a common direction and a set of standards for the faculty. “We now have a shared understanding of what ‘acting’ means here, and while we may speak about it differently, we all understand the kind of acting we’re interested in and the ‘excellence’ we’re looking for,” Walton states.

Ron was also excited to explore YSD’s opportunities for collaboration. “At NYU, I never got to work with student directors, writers, stage managers, or dramaturgs. They had a stand-alone acting program. I loved the challenge of Yale’s collaborative model. I wanted to help facilitate a greater sense of collegiality and the ability to work together with the other programs.”

The benefits of this focus on collaboration between faculty members and departments were not lost on the students.

“One of Ron’s gifts as chair was assembling a real community of phenomenal teachers,” Zach Appelman ’10 states. Shaunette Renée Wilson ’16 agrees, “It was wonderful to see him integrate other parts of our training into his classroom. He would bring in Jessica Wolf (Faculty), our Alexander Technique teacher, to class, and she would come up and readjust us as we were in the scene. It was very helpful to have that because it could unlock a moment.”

Given Ron’s reputation, many students remember approaching their initial classes with him anxiously. He always tried to relieve that stress quickly so they could get down to work. Zach remembers, “Ron would say to us, very early on, ‘When we’re working in class, don’t try to impress me.

That’s not your job. Your job is to come in and do the work, and together we’ll work on getting better.’ ” And sometimes, ‘doing the

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work’ meant being uncomfortable. Arturo Soria ’18 says, “There were definitely moments when I got mad at Ron, because he pushed me a lot. But what I always appreciated about him was that he was honest, and he was very gracious. He looked at us and saw what we were capable of.”

In addition to his acute gift for perception, Ron was determined to serve each actor individually, a “one-size-doesn’t-fit-all” approach that was born out of his own early experiences with teaching. “Because I had no training as an acting teacher, I had to find my own way,” Ron confides, “and the best way I found was to develop a real interest in exactly who each individual in front of me was. And, drawing from everything in my experience, I asked myself how I could best serve what this person needed.”

To help uncover each actor’s needs, Ron viewed himself more as an investigator than an instructor. “He was always asking, ‘What are your goals for today?’ or ‘Where are you in your process?’ ” remembers Shaunette. “He was concerned about the process, not the final product, which was freeing. Class was a laboratory, a workshop.

I could say, ‘This is where I am today,

and my only goal is to listen.’ At the end of the scene, he would say ‘I saw you do that today.’ It was great.”

The love and respect YSD students have for Ron is unmistakable, as is how much his influence will continue to shape their lives and careers. But when asked about his own thoughts on his legacy, it’s something Ron’s entertained for all of a New York—or a New Haven—minute. “I don’t know what legacy I leave behind, other than, I hope, a generation of good actors who will be able to do it until they drop dead,” he says through a wide grin. “That’s always been my metaphor for what I wish for my students.

‘You’re 95, you’re still in a show, you still like it, and you’re still able to remember your lines. And then after a good performance you just drop dead.’ ” Who could ask for anything more?

04 Ron with the acting class of 2019: (standing, left to right) José Espinosa, Abubakr Ali, Jakeem Powell, Evelyn Giovine, Arturo Soria, Hudson Oznowicz, Stephen Cefalu Jr., Louisa Jacobson, and Rachel Kenney; (seated, left to right) Kineta Kunutu, John R. Colley, Sohina Sidhu, Moses Ingram, Ron, Erron Crawford, Amandla Jahava, and Danielle Chaves.

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Ed Martenson: by a n h l e ’15

A Man of Vision Ed Martenson (Former Faculty) has mentored generations of theater professionals throughout his extensive career. In May, he retired as the chair of YSD’s theater management department, where for the last decade he has transformed the program through his leadership, strategic thinking, and ambitious vision.

Ed’s entry into theater was anything but calculated.

As a young man, he dreamed of becoming a musician.

While studying at Princeton, he befriended a faculty member named Dan Seltzer, whom Princeton had recently tasked with reviving the then-defunct McCarter Theatre. Dan asked Ed to get involved, despite the fact that Ed knew nothing about theater. He was hired as the production secretary in 1972, and shortly thereafter became general manager and managing director. He found that he took naturally to the demands of the job, thanks to a familiarity with budgets and scheduling acquired in his student job managing the university’s dining halls.

As Ed gained experience, Dan continued to shape his perspective on the art form. It was Dan who encouraged Ed to see Peter Brook’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which Ed is quick to describe as a life-changing experience. “The production affected me in a profoundly emotional and psychological way.” This was when Ed first thought to himself, “Working in the theater would be a great way to spend my life.”

Many YSD alumni don’t realize that Ed first came to Yale in 1979. Yale Rep had just named Lloyd Richards

Ed Martenson teaching in 2013. Photo by Joan Marcus.

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“Ed Martenson transformed a very good Theater Management program into a great program. He increased the program’s rigor, shifted the focus from management to leadership, and imbued students with a strong theoretical framework for strategic thinking. Ed developed a loose affiliation of individual teacher/practitioners into a true faculty. We meet regularly, hold a daylong retreat annually, share teaching challenges, and continually re-examine our program. We are colleagues in a shared endeavor, with greater cohesion than ever before.

I plan to build on the strong foundation that Ed built.

I hope to raise students’ awareness of the diverse ways that theater management graduates are leading the field, and to offer alumni more opportunities to engage with current students.” —Joan Channick ’89 (Faculty)

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01 Ed with students on his last day of classes: (left to right) Melissa Rose ’18, Flo Low ’17, Al Heartley ’18, Sam Linden ’19, SOM ’19, Gretchen Wright ’17, SOM ’17, Adam Frank ’18, SOM ’18, Emily Reeder ’17, Sylvia Xiaomeng Zhang ’18, and Chiara Klein ’17, SOM ’17. Photo by Chad Kinsman ’18.

HON ’79 (Former Dean) as the new artistic director.

Ed had never met Lloyd before but impressed him enough to win the coveted managing director position.

During this time, Ed also served as co-director of what was then known as the theater administration department, alongside George C. White ’61, YC ’57 (Former Faculty). “I had always thought that I would like to be a teacher,” Ed recalls, but he admits that he didn’t feel entirely successful in those early years. “I had to go away and learn a lot before I could come back prepared to be a better teacher than before.”

That opportunity presented itself in 1982, when the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) offered him a job. Although Ed was initially reluctant to leave Yale, Lloyd advised him, “If the government wants you, you have an obligation.”

Over the next two decades, Ed tackled a variety of challenges facing the American theater. At the NEA, he oversaw more than $50 million in grants and fought the disappearance of resident acting ensembles.

In 1986, he moved to the Guthrie Theater, where he helped to renovate the theater’s facilities, increase the endowment from $4 million to $32 million and set records in ticket sales and fundraising. It was during this time that YSD’s first case study was written; the subject was Ed’s leadership of the Guthrie. The author, Joan Channick ’89 (Faculty), would later become associate dean, a member of the theater management faculty, and Ed’s successor as chair of the department.

The period that most influenced Ed’s theater management philosophy, however, was his time as the program director and vice president of education at National Arts Strategy (NAS), where, from 1996 to 2006, he designed courses for arts leaders across the country.

“The work gave me the vocabulary and context that I needed to give a name to what I had always felt was really important,” he explains. “You had to have an overarching direction or purpose.”

Ed returned to YSD in 2006, after the passing of Benjamin Mordecai (Former Faculty), who had succeeded him as chair of theater management in 1982.

Re-hiring Ed was an easy decision for James Bundy ’95 (Dean) and Victoria Nolan (Deputy Dean). Not only had Ed already worked at YSD, but James had also attended an NAS executive education program and believed in Ed’s methodology. Vicki was equally eager to bring Ed back. “When we were conducting a search for a new chair, I called Ed for his advice,” she remembers. “I was secretly hoping that he would be interested, but frankly couldn’t imagine why he would, in light of his robust consulting practice. I was over the moon when he said that he wanted to apply.”

Despite Ed’s previous tenure at Yale, his return

“The work gave me the vocabulary and context that I needed to give a name to what I had always felt was really important.

You had to have an overarching direction or purpose.”

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03 02 Ed with the theater management class of 2014: (left to right) Brittany Rall ’14, Shane Hudson ’14, Lauren Wainwright ’14, Ed, Melissa Zimmerman ’14, Caitie Hannon ’14, SOM ’14, and Alyssa Simmons ’14, YC ’09. Photo courtesy of YSD. 03 Ed with theater management students: (left to right) Ruoran Li ’18, Ed, Rachel Shuey ’18, and Trent Anderson ’19, SOM ’19.

Photo courtesy of Emily Reeder ’17.

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required some recalibration. Over the past 23 years, the program had expanded to include multiple points of study and a dual focus on commercial and regional theater. “I felt the department was trying to do too much,” Ed remembers. His first priority was bringing clarity and a fresh vision to the program. Many at YSD agreed, supporting the decision to shift the primary emphasis to the overarching skills of organizational leadership. “Ed is most assuredly in all of our heads—as an adviser, department chair, and teacher—but he is also in our hearts. His call to aim for ‘true north’ is as much a life lesson as it is a mission for the theater,” says Lauren Wainwright ’14.

It was immediately clear to Ed that requiring students to complete a case study—an analysis of an issue facing a theater or performing arts organization—would serve an essential role in re-aligning the program. Ed recalls accurately predicting to his fellow faculty members, “In 10 years or less we’ll be the number one source of case studies about the arts.” Michael Barker ’10, SOM ’10 remembers the assignments as a critical teaching tool: “Once while discussing a case study, Ed paused the discussion and said, ‘Understand the question before you try to answer it.’ Now, in my work as a manager, I am constantly making sure we understand the question.”

Ed was equally determined that Theater Management students not be allowed to graduate without completing a professional work assignment (PWA). Prior to 2006, third-year students could choose between a

PWA and a thesis, but Ed believed that academic writing alone wasn’t sufficient training for a career in leadership.

“Ed’s concept was that leadership needed to start on day one, and students needed to compete for PWAs by proving that they were most qualified,” Vicki explains.

“The immediate impact was that the quality and consistency of work improved, and the depth of their learning was amplified. They are committed to delivering quality work, to upholding the mission of Yale Rep, and to pushing the field forward.”

Under Ed’s guidance, the number of students in the joint MFA/MBA program increased significantly. “I had just come from years of working with business school people,” says Ed. “I saw how important that added education could be.” In fact, Ed had actually helped to create the original partnership with the School of Management during his very first years at YSD. “I reached an agreement with a fellow named Paul DiMaggio who was on the faculty at Yale’s School of Management. Ben [Mordecai] then codified that into the joint degree program, put it on paper, and got the schools to agree to it.” But when Ed became chair in 2006, only two students had taken advantage of the degree. Today, a total of 17 students have graduated with a joint MFA/MBA, and seven more are currently enrolled in the program.

Ed’s contributions to YSD are too numerous to count, but he doesn’t hesitate when asked about his proudest achievement. “We now have a core faculty group of seven or eight people instead of only two.” Under Ed’s leadership, the search for new faculty always put students’ needs first: Teachers had to be strong theater practitioners who would also enhance the curriculum. As he brought on new faculty, he deepened their engagement with the School by creating new departmental advisor roles. “Ed possesses an astounding mind that enables him to think conceptually, broadly, and insightfully,” says Greg Kandel (Faculty). “What a great combination for teaching and mentoring students and then being supportive of them when they continue their professional careers. For his colleagues, he wants each of us to get better at what we do, and he consistently reflects upon his own efforts to do the same.”

Ed has now moved to Ventura, California, to enjoy a well-deserved retirement near his family. Ever the avid sailor, he looks forward to living on his new houseboat, surrounded by sparkling waters and sunshine.

Looking back, Ed expresses gratitude for a meaningful and fulfilling career. “At first my goal was to try to produce plays that would bring life-changing experiences to others. But during these last 10 years, teaching younger people in the hope that they would adopt that same kind of artistic purpose is by far the most important thing I could do.”

“I had to go away and learn a lot before I could come back prepared to be a better teacher than before.”

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Do Right and Fear Not: The Legacy of A Bill Reynolds

ceremonial paddle found under the woodwork in the Old Sound Room of the Yale Cabaret building, which had once been a fraternity house.

A melted clock radio— resembling Dali’s famous dripping clocks—recovered from a fire in the old photography darkroom in the basement of 205 Park Street. Two ticket stubs from Yale Rep’s inaugural season found behind a wall when an accessible restroom was being installed in the University Theatre lobby.

These are some of the mementos Bill Reynolds ’77 (Faculty) collected during his 35-year career at Yale School of Drama. Bill preserved these keepsakes for the stories they told about the evolving relationships among Yale’s buildings, YSD/YRT’s programs, and its people. With retirement approaching, he gave them to colleagues.

Bill has held three positions at YSD/ YRT—associate technical director, director of Facility Operations, and finally, director of Theater Safety and Occupational Health. In each of these roles, he brought a muchneeded awareness of operational safety to an industry that was too often prone to unnecessary risks and dangerous shortcuts.

by i lya k h o d os h ’14, dfa cand.

Bill transformed the culture in ways impossible to overstate; he made the theater immeasurably safer and more accessible. In his remarks at Bill’s retirement party, James Bundy ’95 (Dean) observed that until he arrived at YSD as a student, he had never before seen a hard hat worn at a theater load-in, despite having already worked in the field for 15 years. YSD safety standards under Bill’s leadership were indeed unprecedented, as was his focus on overall wellness, including nutrition and stress reduction. His students, working at theaters throughout the country, would marvel at the lack of steel-toed shoes and fall protection in their new workplaces. Bill’s steadfast mission to make theater safer

Bill Reynolds outside the University Theatre.

Photo by Jim Reynolds.

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01 Sharon and Bill on their wedding day in 1972. Photo from the Reynolds family library.

02 Fred, Bill, Sharon, and Steve Reynolds at Bill’s retirement party.

Photo by Jim Reynolds.

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made him a revolutionary. Yet he will be remembered not only for his discipline, but also for his kindness. Bill’s legendary compassion, warmth, and sense of humor have made him one of the most beloved mentors in YSD history. “It’s not that he loves rules,” explains Chiara Klein ’17, SOM ’17. “He loves people, and that is what motivates him. He leads with his heart.”

Christina Fontana ’19 agrees: “Bill is such a wonderfully genuine person, and that is what everyone loves about him. He looks out for every single student.”

Bill’s passion for theater began at Monroe High School in Rochester, New York, where he delighted in finding creative solutions for his high school theater productions in an old facility with outdated equipment. “There’s that sense of ‘we can figure this out’ that imbues everything we do in the theater, and I seemed to be pretty good at figuring it out.” He considered studying math in college, but checked the box labeled “theater major” during freshman orientation at the State University College, in Geneseo, New York. At the end of his sophomore year there, when he learned that Northern

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Michigan University offered a technical theater scholarship, Bill and his soon-to-be wife, Sharon, threw a mattress in the back of a U-Haul and headed west.

Students today picture Bill in an immaculate shirt and pressed khaki pants, but back then his style was characteristic of his generation: “long hair, headband, beads, leather vest, that kind of hippie stuff,” he says. He and Sharon were married barefoot on the shore of a lake. “It seemed believable then that we could, through dint of will, create a society that was peaceful and equitable.” This was an ideal Bill had held since childhood, growing up on the grounds of a state hospital where his father was a psychiatrist. Bill’s mother employed patients with serious mental illnesses around the house and taught Bill and his siblings to treat them with respect, as they would anyone else.

The theater proved to be a welcoming place that a variety of personality types could call home, but Bill became disillusioned with its disorganized state. At Northern Michigan, he was the technical department and worked nonstop without

There is a Sufi saying: Before you speak, let your words pass through three gates. At the first gate, ask yourself, “Is it true?” At the second ask, “Is it necessary?” At the third gate ask, “Is it kind?” much support. Feeling burnt out and seeking to connect with something bigger, he and Sharon moved to West Virginia with the Volunteers in Service to America program. There they helped coal miners suffering from black lung and people living in poverty with scarce food and no indoor plumbing. At first, locals were suspicious of these young hippie strangers. As Bill and Sharon walked up dirt roads to ramshackle houses, they were frequently greeted by residents with guns in hand. Bill and Sharon eventually earned the community’s friendship and trust—an elderly woman even insisted they borrow her .22 bolt-action rifle for protection—but when the program was defunded, they moved back to Rochester to live with Bill’s mother.

Bill and Sharon were at a crossroads—adventure, spontaneity, and improvisation had served them well until then. Now they were ready for more structure, especially with the pending birth of their son Steven. Bill was eager to return to the theater; this time he was determined to implement effective organization and management to the production process. He soon found Yale School of Drama, where the Rep was in its early years and Ben Sammler was evolving production planning processes and developing “Ben Forms.” As a student, Bill worked on the renovation of the Yale Rep building which was vacated while A Midsummer Night’s Dream, directed by Alvin Epstein

When you are in a position that carries responsibility, like director of theater safety, passing through the first two should be standard.

Sometimes we need reminding to walk through the third gate.

Bill Reynolds is someone who seems to understand this instinctively. In 2008, when I was working at London’s Royal National Theatre, I was figuring out best safety practices for a tour showing. I decided to write to the director of Theater Safety at Yale to ask about theater safety in America. Bill was kind enough to write back to me, and we started a correspondence, finally meeting when I presented at the USITT conference in Salt Lake City in 2016. In his emails Bill wrote about how he wanted to train students to have high expectations of safety in their theater work. He has certainly achieved this, and he has done it with kindness and love. I look forward to continuing his work.

—Anna Glover, director of Theater Safety and Occupational Health

(Former Faculty) was in performances in the UT. For a production of the political play Bingo, assisting the YRT props master Hunter Spence (Former Faculty), Bill made snowballs out of shaved flakes of Ivory soap—they exploded just like real ones.

And for Don Juan, directed by Robert Brustein ’51, HON ’66 (Former Dean), Bill assisted with the construction of stained-glass windows and made human effigies out of plaster bandages. He did a stint as technical director of the Cabaret and took a Yale College course called Engines, Energy and Entropy—Bill was clearly passionate about bringing order and sustainability to volatile, exciting creative systems. In the spring of 1977, his son Fred YA L E S C H O O L O F D R A M A A N N UA L 2 017–18

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“Do right and fear not.”

Bill hung it in his house, and as his children grew up it became a family motto. was born, and Bill completed his MFA. When he was hired by Ben Sammler ’74 (Former Faculty) in 1982 several years after graduation, Bill helped develop the curriculum and created a stable foundation for the TD&P program. He made sure students acquired the expertise and wherewithal to handle emergencies and prevent accidents.

That position morphed into one overseeing the School’s expanding facilities, from four buildings in 1982 to the current eight-plus, and eventually, when Bill became the inaugural director of Theater Safety and Occupational Health, into a mission to create a safe, mindful, and healthful environment that enabled the School and the Rep to do their best work. At Bill’s retirement party, Ben explained that, “Bill has shaped the position so that it now encompasses every facet of the life at the School of Drama, from the obvious safety guidelines for what can and cannot happen on stage, in our shops, and in our rehearsal halls, to event guidelines, wellness activities, weather updates, and following up with anyone in the School who is ill or has been injured.”

One of the clearest examples of the impact of Bill’s work at YSD took place in September of 2011 at the TD&P annual picnic. In the middle of a volleyball game, Ben felt overheated, then went into cardiac 4 6

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arrest. Bill started administering chest compressions and did so for about 20 minutes until an ambulance arrived. Although Bill was the first responder, virtually every one of the hundred people present had CPR and first-aid certification, thanks to the training program he had developed.

They directed the police and the Emergency Medical Service, cleared cars out of the way, and maintained an organized calm. Ben went on to a full recovery, thanks to the man he had hired 30 years earlier.

Outside of Yale, Bill is equally committed to serving his community, and naturally migrated to leadership roles there, too. “In the theater production world, you start off building things and being told what to do.

Then you say, ‘I can organize this better’ or ‘I can do this a better way.’ You develop the skill set to recognize problems and find workable solutions.” When his sons were Boy Scouts, Bill planned orienteering and camping trips and oversaw the Branford Connecticut Boy Scout organization. He served two terms as president of the Branford Land Trust and prevented a phone company from building cell towers on a pristine natural preserve. Additionally, for 20 years, Bill and Sharon led a weekly Bible study for special-needs adults at their Congregational church.

03 Bill thrives by navigating chaotic, unpredictable situations with care and skill.

That is why he and Sharon have been sailing for decades. “It’s a powerful experience to be out in the storm with your kids in charge of the boat. You’re at the mercy of whatever the weather is bringing. We’ve had exhilarating experiences when a storm came and we had to decide what to do. How do we manage this? How do we get safely to port?” Throughout his career, he taught his students to weather any storm, and he is proud of their independence. “Rarely do I get a call from someone who says, ‘This happened and I don’t know what to do.’

It’s usually, ‘This happened. Here’s how we handled it. Is there anything else we need to do?’ ” The ripple effects of Bill’s wellness and safety program are immeasurable. So many students received his training each year— and so many of them go on to educate others—that there is no telling how many injuries have been prevented and how many lives have been saved. Whether it’s a health emergency competently dealt with, a fall prevented because a railing was installed, an orderly evacuation made possible by an unobstructed fire aisle, or an injury averted

by hard hats and steel-toed shoes, Bill’s legacy is profound. “Bill has taught us prudence, the importance of safety, of never cutting corners,” says Chiara. His students, who cherish and revere him, will keep theater artists and audiences safe for generations to come.

Along with the fraternity paddle, melted clock radio, and YRT ticket stubs, there is another memento Bill saved: a framed 19th-century needlework piece that was discarded from a Yale building many years ago. The cross-stitching reads, “Do right and fear not.” Bill hung it in his house, and as his children grew up it became a family motto. But the sentiment dates back even earlier. For Bill it recalled his mother’s wisdom—when he or one of his siblings climbed a tree, she wouldn’t say, “don’t fall” or “get down.” Instead she would urge them to “hold on tight,”—a clear and encouraging plan for how to stay safe while taking risks.

Her words—and the words of that 19th-century needlework—have resonated throughout Bill’s career at Yale School of Drama.

They are a fitting description of his legacy of compassion and joy in the theater.

03 Ben Sammler and Bill at Yale’s graduation ceremony. Photo by Mary Hunter.

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Events 2016 NEW YORK HOLIDAY PARTY

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01 Brian Wiles ’12, Zach Appelman ’10, Bill DeMeritt ’12, and Jillian Taylor ’12.

04 James Bundy ’95 (Dean) and Geoffrey Johnson ’55.

08 Molly Bernard ’13, Andrew Burnap ’16, Baize Buzan ’17, and Kate Attwell ’13.

02 Carolina Ortiz Herrera ’17, Lynda Paul ’17, Joo Kim ’17, Elizabeth Green ’17, and An-Lin Dauber ’17.

05 Rebecca Nelson ’79 and Carol Ostrow ’80.

09 Victoria Nolan (Deputy Dean), Merle Nacht, Arthur Nacht ’06, recipient of the 2016–17 Warfel Award, and James Bundy ’95 (Dean).

03 Michael Rogers ’85, Jake Thompson (Former Staff), and Jill Marie Lawrence ’97.

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06 Charles Turner ’70 and Marc Flanagan ’70.

07 Sophie von Haselberg ’14, YC ’08 and Elia Monte-Brown ’14.

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10 Jerry Limoncelli, Jr. ’84, Tony Forman ’83 (Faculty), and Don Youngberg ’83.

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Events 2017 WEST COAST ALUMNI PARTY AT THE HOME OF ASAAD KELADA ’64

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01 Adrienne Carter ’99, YC ’96, Victoria Nolan (Deputy Dean), and Peter Katona ’01.

04 Jeremy Smith ’76, Julie Haber ’77, Patricia Quinn ’76, and Christine Estabrook ’76.

02 Stephanie Nash ’88 and Asaad Kelada ’64.

05 Stephen Mendillo ’71, Barbette Hunt ’66, and John Badham ’63, YC ’61.

03 Brian Tyree Henry ’07, Anna Jones ’06, Rachel Rusch ’05, DFA ’08, YC ’00, and Kate McConnell ’05.

06 Rodrick Fox ’99 and Angel Gardner ’01.

07 Vicki Shaghoian (Former Faculty), Melanie Field ’16, Maura Hooper ’15, and Anne Tofflemire (Faculty).

08 Mark Richard ’81, Stephen Godchaux ’93, and guests.

09 Ato Blankson-Wood ’15, Tiffany Mack ’15, Charlene Westbrook, Prema Cruz ’14, and Sarah Williams ’15.

10 Mattie Brickman ’09, Kirsten Parker ’11, Donesh Olyaie ’10, Patricia McGregor ’09, and Christy Weikel ’99.

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Events The YSD community gathered both on and off campus to honor the careers and contributions of faculty members Ron Van Lieu, Bill Reynolds, Ed Martenson, Ben Sammler, and Ming Cho Lee upon their retirements.

CELEBRATING RON VAN LIEU Former students from Ron Van Lieu’s tenure at YSD, along with a few devotees from his time at NYU, came together at Brasserie 8 ½ in New York for a retirement tribute.

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01 Anita Keal, Ellen Novack (Faculty), and Ron.

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02 Ashley Bryant ’08, Ron, and Alexander Major ’08.

04 Joan MacIntosh (Faculty) and George Hampe ’17.

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05 05 Under the direction of Vicki Shaghoian (Former Faculty), alumni serenaded Ron with “Make Our Garden Grow” from Candide.

06 Stephanie Machado ’18, Maria Leveton (Former

Staff), and Bradley Tejeda ’16.

07 Lucas Dixon ’12, Mitchell Winter ’14, and Daniel Reece ’14.

08 Ron with Miriam Hyman ’12 and Sheria Irving ’13.

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09 (left to right) Mitchell Winter ’14, Carter Gill ’09, Nicholas Carriere ’08, James Chen ’08, Katherine Akiko Day ’10, Jessica Wolf (Faculty), Lucas Dixon ’12, and Miriam Hyman ’12.

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03 Kineta Kunutu ’19, Stephen Cefalu ’19, Riccardo Dávila ’17, Leland Fowler ’17, Jake Ryan Lozano ’18 and Jakeem Powell ’19.

Events CELEBRATING BILL REYNOLDS The Rep Lounge became a festive—but extremely safe—party zone to celebrate Bill Reynolds ’77 and his 35 years at the School.

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03 01 Students performing a song honoring Bill (seated) to the tune of Hey Jude.

02 Jake Thompson (Former Staff) and Bill.

03 Michael Hsu ’17, Stephanie

04 Smith ’14 (Staff), Kelly Fayton ’17, Spencer Hrdy ’17, and Lydia Pustell ’17 wearing t-shirts that honor Bill’s impact on the safety of YSD/YRT. 04 Ben Sammler ’74 (Former Faculty) and Bill.

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05 Grace O’Brien ’04 (Staff), with Bill.

06 Cupcakes featuring one of Bill’s signature phrases.

07 Janet Cunningham (Staff), Bill, and Sharon Reynolds.

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Events The entire school community gathered to honor Ben Sammler ’74 on his retirement at a cocktail reception on May 12th. Later that evening, more than 250 TD&P alumni, colleagues, and friends joined Ben for an elegant seated dinner on the stage of the University Theatre.

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02 Ben with Neil Mazzella ’78 (Former Faculty), who sponsored the event.

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03 Anya Sammler-Michael, Laraine Sammler, and Ben. 04 The centerpieces paid tribute to Ben’s prolific vegetable garden.

05 Janet Cunningham (Staff) giving a toast in front of the Buddha ice sculpture, a nod to an assignment Ben gave to every TD&P student throughout his tenure.

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06 Catherine Sheehy ’92, DFA ’99 (Faculty) and Evan Yionoulis ’85, YC ’82 (Faculty).

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Events CELEBRATING ED MARTENSON Current and former students of Ed Martenson joined his colleagues and friends to toast him in New Haven on the occasion of his retirement.

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07 01 Gretchen Wright ’17, SOM ’17, Anne Trites (Former Staff), and Sooyoung Hwang ’16.

02 Al Heartley ’18 presenting Ed with a compass, a tribute to Ed’s love of sailing and call to always find “True North.”

08 03 Lisa Richardson ’19 and Gwyneth Muller ’20, SOM ’20.

04 Ed, Liz Diamond (Faculty), Yuri Kordonsky (Faculty), and Victoria Nolan (Deputy Dean).

05 Gregory Wallace ’87 (Faculty), Anne Tofflemire

(Faculty), Jim Phills, and Suzanne Appel ’11, SOM ’11.

06 Jane Jung ’10 and Lauren Wainwright ’14.

07 Sam Linden ’19, SOM ’19, Shane Quinn (Staff), Daniel Cress (Staff), and Libby Peterson ’16.

08 (left to right) Annie Middleton ’16, Gretchen Wright ’17, SOM ’17, Chiara Klein ’17, SOM ’17, Libby Peterson ’16, Sooyoung Hwang ’16, Steven Koernig ’17, SOM ’17, and Emalie Mayo (Staff).

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Events CELEBRATING MING CHO LEE

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07 William Ivey Long ’75 and John Lee Beatty ’73.

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02 Ming and Betsy Lee. 03 Montana Blanco ’15, Shawn Boyle ’15 (Faculty), and Joey Moro ’15.

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04 Arnold Aronson, Ming, and Lorie Novak.

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05 Richard Lee, Michael Yeargan ’73 (Faculty), and Adrianne Lobel ’79.

06 Jean M. Randich ’94, Myung Hee Arlene Cho ’95, Adrianne Lobel ’79, Andrew Jackness ’79, Susan Hilferty ’80, and Derek McLane ’84.

08 Katherine Lee and Ming.

09 Scott Thomas Zielinski ’90, Catherine Keyjung Chung ’96, Riccardo Hernandez ’92 (Faculty), and Wendall K. Harrington (Faculty).

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Ming Cho Lee was honored with two retirement celebrations — one for the YSD community at Yale Rep on December 14 and one in New York’s Chinatown on January 21. More than 300 colleagues, students, faculty, staff, and family members attended a Chinese banquet at Jing Fong restaurant. The event included heartfelt tributes (from James Bundy ’95 (Dean), Michael Yeargan ’73 (Faculty), Emily Mann, Adrianne Lobel ’79, Ming’s wife, Betsy, and his son, Richard), a video tribute by Marty New ’92, and a vocal performance by Ming’s granddaughter Katherine Lerner Lee who was accompanied by her mother, Karen Lerner.

10 Michael F Bergmann ’14, Kristen Ferguson ’15, and Brittany Bland ’19.

11 Celebrating at Yale Rep. (standing, left to right) Gerardo Diaz Sánchez ’19, Stephanie Osin Cohen ’19, Riw Rakkulchon ’19, and Jessie Chen ’19. (seated, left to right) John BondiErnoehazy ’19, Ming, and Robin Hirsch (Faculty).

Awards & Honors 69th Annual Emmy Awards 2017 Outstanding Drama Series Melissa James Gibson ’95 and Frank Pugliese (Former Faculty) (Executive Producers) Nominees, House of Cards Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series Kathryn Hahn ’01 Nominee, Transparent Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series Angela Bassett ’83, YC ’80 Nominee, Master of None Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series Liev Schreiber ’92 Nominee, Ray Donovan Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series Brian Tyree Henry ’07 Nominee, This Is Us Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie John Turturro ’83 Nominee, The Night Of Outstanding Narrator Meryl Streep ’75, HON ’83 Winner, Five Came Back Liev Schreiber ’92 Nominee, Muhammad Ali: Only One Nominee, UConn: The March to Madness Outstanding Contemporary Costumes for a Series, Limited Series, or Movie Jennifer Salim ’11 (Assistant Costume Designer) Nominee, Empire

Outstanding Costumes for Variety, Nonfiction or Reality Programming Tom Broecker ’92 (Costume Designer) Nominee, Saturday Night Live Outstanding Production Design for Variety, Nonfiction, Event, or Award Special Derek McLane ’84 (Production Designer) Winner, Hairspray Live!

Nominee, The Oscars Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking Sheila Nevins ’63 (Executive Producer) Nominee, Bright Lights 89th Annual Academy Awards 2017 Actress in a Leading Role Meryl Streep ’75, HON ’83 Nominee, Florence Foster Jenkins Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay) Tarell Alvin McCraney ’07 (Story) Winner, Moonlight 74th Annual Golden Globe Awards 2017 Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy Meryl Streep ’75, HON ’83 Nominee, Florence Foster Jenkins Best Performance by an Actor in a Limited Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television John Turturro ’83 Nominee, The Night Of Courtney B. Vance ’86 Nominee, The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story

Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Drama Liev Schreiber ’92 Nominee, Ray Donovan Cecil B. DeMille Award Meryl Streep ’75, HON ’83 33rd Annual Helen Hayes Awards 2017 Helen Hayes Tribute Ted van Griethuysen ’60 Outstanding Sound Design— HELEN Production Palmer Hefferan ’13 Nominee, Equus Outstanding Director of a Play—HELEN Production David Muse ’03, YC ’96 Nominee, Constellations 32nd Annual Lucille Lortel Awards 2017 Outstanding Play Paula Vogel (Former Faculty) (Playwright) and Rebecca Taichman ’00 (Director) Nominees, Indecent May Adrales ’06 (Faculty) (Director) Nominee, Vietgone Outstanding Revival Lileana Blain-Cruz ’12 (Director) Nominee, The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World AKA the Negro Book of the Dead Outstanding Director Rebecca Taichman ’00 Nominee, Indecent Outstanding Lead Actor in a Musical Ato Blankson-Wood ’15 Nominee, The Total Bent

Susan Hilferty ’80 Winner, Love, Love, Love Montana Blanco ’15 Nominee, The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World AKA the Negro Book of the Dead Emily Rebholz ’06 Nominee, Indecent Lifetime Achievement Award William Ivey Long ’75 Playwrights’ Sidewalk Inductee Lynn Nottage ’89 (Former Faculty) 71st Annual Tony Awards 2017 Best Play Paula Vogel (Former Faculty) and Rebecca Taichman ’00 Nominees, Indecent Lynn Nottage ’89 (Former Faculty) Nominee, Sweat Best Musical Danny Rubin ’93 (Book) Nominee, Groundhog Day: The Musical Best Revival of a Play John Guare ’63 (Former Faculty) (Playwright) and Trip Cullman ’02, YC ’97 (Director) Nominees, Six Degrees of Separation Best Revival of a Musical Michael Stewart ’53 (Deceased) (Book) Winner, Hello, Dolly!

Best Book of a Musical Danny Rubin ’93 Nominee, Groundhog Day: The Musical

Outstanding Costume Design

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Awards & Honors Best Scenic Design of a Play Michael Yeargan ’73 (Faculty) Nominee, Oslo Best Scenic Design of a Musical Santo Loquasto ’72 Nominee, Hello Dolly!

Best Costume Design of a Play Jane Greenwood (Faculty) Winner, The Little Foxes Susan Hilferty ’80 Nominee, Present Laughter Best Costume Design of a Musical Santo Loquasto ’72 Winner, Hello, Dolly!

Linda Cho ’98 Nominee, Anastasia Catherine Zuber ’84 Nominee, War Paint Best Lighting Design of a Play Christopher Akerlind ’89 Winner, Indecent Donald Holder ’86 Nominee, Oslo Jennifer Tipton (Faculty) Nominee, A Doll’s House, Part 2 Best Direction of a Play Rebecca Taichman ’00 Winner, Indecent 62nd Annual Drama Desk Awards 2017 Outstanding Play Paula Vogel (Former Faculty) Nominee, Indecent Lynn Nottage ’89 (Former Faculty) Nominee, Sweat Outstanding Revival of a Musical Michael Stewart ’53 (Deceased) (Book) Winner, Hello, Dolly!

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Outstanding Director of a Play Richard Nelson (Former Faculty) Nominee, What Did You Expect?/ Women of a Certain Age Outstanding Lyrics Michael Korie (Faculty) Nominee, War Paint Outstanding Set Design for a Musical Santo Loquasto ’72 Nominee, Hello, Dolly!

Outstanding Costume Design for a Play Jane Greenwood (Faculty) Winner, The Little Foxes Susan Hilferty ’80 Nominee, Present Laughter Outstanding Costume Design for a Musical Catherine Zuber ’84 Winner, War Paint Linda Cho ’98 Nominee, Anastasia Santo Loquasto ’72 Nominee, Hello, Dolly!

Anita Yavich ’95 Nominee, The View UpStairs Outstanding Lighting Design for a Play Christopher Akerlind ’89 Winner, Indecent Stephen Strawbridge ’83 (Faculty) Nominee, “Master Harold”…and the Boys Outstanding Sound Design for a Musical Nicholas Pope ’10 Winner, Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 Outstanding Fight Choreography Michael Rossmy (Faculty) and Rick Sordelet (Faculty) Nominees, Troilus and Cressida

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Outstanding Adaptation David Ives ’84 Winner, The Liar Ellen McLaughlin YC ’80 (Former Faculty) Nominee, The Trojan Women 83rd Annual Drama League Awards 2017 Outstanding Production of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Play Paula Vogel (Former Faculty) (Playwright) and Rebecca Taichman ’00 (Director) Nominees, Indecent Lynn Nottage ’89 (Former Faculty) (Playwright) Nominee, Sweat Outstanding Revival of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Play John Guare ’63 (Former Faculty) (Playwright) and Trip Cullman ’02, YC ’97 (Director) Nominees, Six Degrees of Separation Outstanding Production of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Musical Doug Wright YC ’85 (Former Faculty) (Book) Nominee, War Paint Outstanding Revival of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Musical Michael Stewart ’53 (Deceased) (Book) Winner, Hello, Dolly!

Richard Maltby, Jr. ’62, YC ’59 (Lyrics) Nominee, Miss Saigon Distinguished Performance Award Ato Blankson-Wood ’15 Nominee, The Total Bent

67th Annual Outer Critics Circle Awards 2016–17 Outstanding New Broadway Play Paula Vogel (Former Faculty) and Rebecca Taichman ’00 Nominees, Indecent Lynn Nottage ’89 (Former Faculty) Nominee, Sweat Outstanding Revival of a Musical Michael Stewart ’53 (Deceased) (Book) Winner, Hello, Dolly!

Outstanding Director of a Play Rebecca Taichman ’00 Winner, Indecent Outstanding Set Design Alexander Dodge ’99 Nominee, Anastasia Scott Pask ’97 Nominee, The Little Foxes Outstanding Costume Design Catherine Zuber ’84 Winner, War Paint Linda Cho ’98 Nominee, Anastasia Susan Hilferty ’80 Nominee, Present Laughter Santo Loquasto ’72 Nominee, Hello, Dolly!

Outstanding Lighting Design Christopher Akerlind ’89 Nominee, Indecent Donald Holder ’86 Nominee, Anastasia Outstanding Sound Design Nicholas Pope ’10 Nominee, Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 Outstanding Actor in a Musical Tony Shalhoub ’80 Nominee, The Band’s Visit

Awards & Honors John Gassner Award (Presented for an American play, preferably by a new playwright) Bess Wohl ’02, ART ’98 Winner, Small Mouth Sounds 49th Annual Jeff Equity Awards 2017 Best Projection Design Christopher Ash ’14 Nominee, Mamma Mia! 48th Annual Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards 2016 Featured Performance Bo Foxworth ’94 Winner, Cloud 9 (Antaeus Theatre Company) 27th Annual Los Angeles Stage Alliance Ovation Awards 2016 Outstanding Direction of a Play Trip Cullman ’02, YC ’97 Nominee, Barcelona (Geffen Playhouse) Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play Robin Pearson Rose ’73 Nominee, Outside Mullingar (Geffen Playhouse) Outstanding Scenic Design (Intimate Theatre) Sara Ryung Clement ’05 Nominee, Seven Spots on the Sun (The Theatre @Boston Court) Outstanding Scenic Design (Large Theatre) Derek McLane ’84 Nominee, Big Sky (Geffen Playhouse)

Outstanding Sound Design (Large Theatre) Vincent Olivieri ’01 Nominee, Barcelona (Geffen Playhouse) Nominee, Guards at the Taj (Geffen Playhouse)

Connecticut Critics Circle Awards 2017

Outstanding Costume Design (Large Theatre) Maggie Morgan ’92 Nominee, Endgame (Center Theatre Group)

Outstanding Production of a Musical Yale Repertory Theatre Nominee, Assassins

28th Annual Los Angeles Stage Alliance Ovation Awards 2017 Scenic Design (Large Theatre) Tim Mackabee ’09 Winner, Archduke Direction of a Play Mike Donahue ’08 Nominee, The Legend of Georgia McBride 62nd Annual Obie Awards 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award Paula Vogel (Former Faculty) Playwriting Lynn Nottage ’89 (Former Faculty) Winner, Sweat Directing Lileana Blain-Cruz ’12 (Faculty) Winner, The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World Rebecca Taichman ’00 Winner, Indecent

Outstanding Production of a Play Yale Repertory Theatre Nominee, Scenes from Court Life Nominee, Mary Jane

Outstanding Director of a Play David Kennedy ’00 Winner, The Invisible Hand (Westport Country Playhouse) Outstanding Actor in a Play Tom Pecinka ’15 Nominee, Cloud 9 (Hartford Stage) Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play Antoinette CroweLegacy ’18 Nominee, Seven Guitars (Yale Repertory Theatre) Outstanding Debut Dylan Frederick ’17 Nominee, Assassins (Yale Repertory Theatre) Outstanding Ensemble Yale Repertory Theatre Nominee, Assassins (Yale Repertory Theatre)

Outstanding Lighting Design Yi Zhao ’12 Nominee, Assassins (Yale Repertory Theatre) Matthew Richards ’01 Nominee, The Invisible Hand (Westport Country Playhouse) Nominee, The Comedy of Errors (Hartford Stage) Outstanding Set Design Michael Yeargan ’73 (Faculty) Nominee, The Most Beautiful Room in New York (Long Wharf Theater) Wilson Chin ’03 Nominee, Next to Normal (Theatre Works) Adam Rigg ’13 Nominee, The Invisible Hand (Westport Country Playhouse) Outstanding Sound Design Jane Shaw ’98 Winner, The Comedy of Errors (Hartford Stage) USITT Distinguished Achievement Awards Scenic Design & Technology Santo Loquasto ’72 Education John Conklin ’66, YC ’59

Outstanding Costume Design Mariana Draghici ’88 Nominee, Scenes from Court Life (Yale Repertory Theatre) Ilona Somogyi ’94 (Faculty) Nominee, Heartbreak House (Hartford Stage)

Sustained Excellence of Set Design Riccardo Hernandez ’92 (Faculty) Sustained Excellence of Lighting Design Scott Zielinski ’90

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Awards & Honors Honors J. Ellen Gainor ’83 was honored with the Career Achievement in Academic Theatre Award at the 2017 Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE) Conference.

James Udom ’18 received a 2017 Princess Grace Theater Award.

Ato Blankson-Wood ’15 was named an Annenberg Fellow by the Leonore Annenberg Fellowship Fund for the Performing and Visual Arts.

The League of Professional Theatre Women honored Linda Cho ’98 with the Ruth Morley Design Award, given to an outstanding female theater designer, and Lileana Blain-Cruz ’12 with the Josephine Abady Award, given to a female theater artist who has created work of cultural diversity.

Lynn Nottage ’89 (Former Faculty) received her second Pulitzer Prize for her play Sweat.

Yuri Kordonsky (Faculty) was the winner of the Romanian Association of Theatre Artists Award for Best Director for his production of The Lower Depths.

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Ben Clark ’17 won the KM Fabrics, Inc. Technical Production Award and Michael Hsu ’17 won the Bernhard R. Works, Frederick A. Buerki Scenic Technology Award at the USITT 2017 Young Designers & Technicians Awards.

Tarell Alvin McCraney ’07 (Faculty) received the 2017 PEN Award for a mid-career American Playwright. He was also honored at the National Black Theatre TEER Spirit Awards Gala, where he received the Trailblazer Award.

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Amy Herzog ’07, YC ’00 (Faculty) was nominated for a 2017 Susan Smith Blackburn Award for her play Mary Jane, which premiered at Yale Rep. Jiréh Breon Holder’s ’16 Too Heavy For Your Pocket received the 2017 Laurents / Hatcher Foundation Award.

Sarah B. Mantell ’17 is a 2017–18 Playwrights Realm Writing Fellow.

Kate Tarker ’14 received the Vineyard Theatre’s 2017 Paula Vogel Playwriting Award. Kate’s play Laura and the Sea was a semifinalist for The Relentless Award, which honors Philip Seymour Hoffman. Dipika Guha’s ’11 play The Art of Gaman was also a semifinalist.

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06 01 Ato Blankson-Wood ’15.

Photo by David Noles.

02 Bess Wohl ’02, ART ’98 at the Outer Critics Circle Awards, where she received the John Gassner Award for her play Small Mouth Sounds. Photo by JK Clarke.

03 (left to right) James Bundy ’95 (Dean), Jane Greenwood (Faculty), Rebecca Taichman ’00, Christopher Akerlind ’89, Santo Loquasto ’72, and Jennifer Kiger (Faculty) at the 2017 Tony Awards.

04 James Udom ’18

07 05 William Ivey Long ’75 accepting a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2017 Lucille Lortel Awards. Photo by Joe Schildhorn/BFA/REX/ Shutterstock.

06 Lynn Nottage ’89 (Former Faculty) was the Playwrights’ Sidewalk Inductee at the 2017 Lucille Lortel Awards. Photo by Emilio Madrid-Kuser.

07 Ted van Griethuysen ’60 accepting the 2017 Helen Hayes Tribute. Photo by Shannon Finney Photography.

Graduation CLASS OF 2017

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Congratulations to our newest alumni — the Class of 2017!

Master of Fine Arts/ Certificate in Drama acting Sebastian Arboleda Lauren E. Banks Baize Buzan Juliana Canfield Anna Crivelli Ricardo Dávila Edmund Donovan Brontë England-Nelson Leland Fowler Dylan Frederick Eston J. Fung George Hampe Jonathan Higginbotham Sydney Lemmon Elizabeth Stahlmann

design Haydee Zelideth Antuñano Yana Biryukova Michael Commendatore An-Lin Dauber Claire DeLiso Elizabeth Green Carolina Ortiz Herrera Joo Kim Fufan Zhang directing Elizabeth Dinkova Kevin Hourigan Jesse Rasmussen dramaturgy and dramatic criticism Josh Goulding Maria Inês Marques Davina Moss Lynda A.H. Paul Gavin Whitehead playwriting Miranda Rose Hall Sarah B. Mantell Tori Sampson

sound design Christopher Ross-Ewart Ian Scot Fan Zhang stage management Paula R. Clarkson Rebekah Heusel Helen Irene Muller Ben Pfister technical design & production Tannis Boyajian Ben Clark Kelly Rae Fayton Ian Hannan William Hartley Spencer Hrdy Michael Hsu Scott D. Keith Rae Powell Lydia Pustell Alexandra Reynolds

theater management Chiara Klein Steven Koernig Flo Low Emily Reeder Gretchen Wright doctor of fine arts Alex Ripp Jessica Rizzo technical internship certificate Logan Baker Jamie Farkas Rachel Gregory Roxy Jia Bryanna Kim Brian Pacelli Michael Schermann Olga Tyurikova Haley Wolf

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Graduation CLASS OF 2017

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GRADUATION PRIZES

Prizes are given each year as designated by the faculty. ascap Cole Porter Prize Tori Sampson ’17 Edward C. Cole Memorial Award Ben Clark ’17 Carol Finch Dye Prize Lauren E. Banks ’17

Bronislaw (Ben) Sammler Award Ben Clark ’17

Jay Keene and Jean Griffin-Keene Prize for Costume Design An-Lin Dauber ’17

The Frieda Shaw, Dr. Diana Mason OBE, and Denise Suttor Prize for Sound Design Christopher Ross-Ewart ’17

Leo Lerman Graduate Fellowship in Design Haydee Zelideth Antuñano ’17

John W. Gassner Memorial Prize Alex Ripp ’13, DFA ’17

Dexter Wood Luke Memorial Prize Juliana Canfield ’17

Bert Gruver Memorial Prize Paula R. Clarkson ’17 Ben Pfister ’17 Allen M. and Hildred L. Harvey Prize Michael Hsu ’17 Morris J. Kaplan Prize Gretchen Wright ’17, SOM ’17 6 0

Julian Milton Kaufman Memorial Prize Elizabeth Dinkova ’17

Donald and Zorka Oenslager Fellowship Claire DeLiso ’17 Fufan Zhang ’17

Oliver Thorndike Acting Award Leland Fowler ’17 George C. White Prize Chiara Klein ’17, SOM ’17 Herschel Williams Prize Elizabeth Stahlmann ’17

Pierre-André Salim Prize Paula R. Clarkson ’17 Michael Commendatore ’17

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01 (back row, left to right) Jonathan Higginbotham ’17, George Hampe ’17, Baize Buzan ’17, and Dylan Frederick ’17. (front row, left to right) Fufan Zhang ’17, Joo Kim ’17, Elizabeth Green ’17, Claire DeLiso ’17, and Helen Irene Muller ’17. Photo by Mara Lavitt.

02 (left to right) Playwriting graduates Tori Sampson ’17, Sarah B. Mantell ’17, and Miranda Rose Hall ’17.

Photo by Ao Li ’18.

Graduation FELLOWSHIPS & SCHOLARSHIPS

The recipients for the 2017–2018 academic year were: Nina Adams and Moreson Kaplan Scholarship Patricia Fa’asua ’18 John Badham Scholarship Jecamiah Ybañez ’19 John M. Badham Fund Shadi Ghaheri ’18 Mark Bailey Scholarship Matthew Conway ’18 George Pierce Baker Memorial Scholarship Michael Breslin ’19 Amauta Marston-Firmino ’19 Sophie Siegel-Warren ’19 Herbert H. and Patricia M. Brodkin Scholarship Stephen Cefalu, Jr. ’19 Patricia M. Brodkin Memorial Scholarship Caitlin O’Rourke ’18 Christina Fontana ’19 Robert Brustein Scholarship Chad Kinsman ’18 Paul Carter Scholarship Dashiell Menard ’19 Ciriello Family Fund Scholarship Kirk Keen ’19 August Coppola Scholarship Armando Huipe ’19 Caris Corfman Scholarship Amandla Jahava ’19 Cheryl Crawford Scholarship Christopher Gabriel Núñez ’19 Edgar and Louise Cullman Scholarship Logan Ellis ’20

Cullman Scholarship in Directing Kat Yen ’20 Aneesha Kudtarkar ’19 Lucie Dawkins ’18

Sally Horchow Scholarship for Yale School of Drama Actors Rachel Kenney ’19

Holmes Easley Scholarship John Bondi-Ernoehazy ’19 Gerardo Díaz Sánchez ’19 Eldon Elder Fellowship Tye Hunt Fitzgerald ’18 Jeongah Heo ’19 Martin Montaner ’20 Wei-hsuan Wang ’18 Yaara Bar ’19 Riw Rakkulchon ’19

Stanley Kauffmann Scholarship Molly FitzMaurice ’19 Sylvia Fine Kaye Scholarship Erron Crawford ’19

Foster Family Graduate Fellowship Jamie Totti ’19

Jay and Rhonda Keene Scholarship for Costume Design Sophia Choi ’18

Dino Fusco and Anita Pamintuan Fusco Scholarship Sohina Sidhu ’19

Ray Klausen Design Scholarship Jessie Chen ’19

Annie G. K. Garland Memorial Scholarship Bianca A. Hooi ’18

Gordon F. Knight Scholarship Megumi Katayama ’19

Earle R. Gister Scholarship Arturo Soria ’19 Randolph Goodman Scholarship Brittany Bland ’19

Lotte Lenya Scholarship Danielle Chaves ’19 Helene A. Lindstrom Scholarship Courtney Jamison ’18

Jerome L. Greene Scholarship Antoinette Crowe-Legacy ’18 Stephanie Machado ’18 Patrick Madden ’18 Bobby Roman ’18 Setareki Wainiqolo ’18

Stephen J. Hoffman ’64 Scholarship Benjamin Jones ’20

Geoffrey Ashton Johnson/ Noël Coward Scholarship Steven Lee Johnson ’18 Pamela Jordan Scholarship Melissa Rose ’18

Wesley Fata Scholarship Abubakr Ali ’19

Julie Harris Scholarship Kineta Kunutu ’19

William and Sarah Hyman Scholarship Krista Smith ’18

Victor S. Lindstrom Scholarship Harrison Beauregard ’18 Frederick Loewe Scholarship Ben Anderson ’18 Frederick Loewe Scholarship for Directors in Honor of Floria V. Lasky Danilo Gambini ’20

Lord Memorial Scholarship Sylvia Xiaomeng Zhang ’18 Edward A. Martenson Scholarship Gwyneth Muller ’20, SOM ’20 Virginia Brown Martin Scholarship Moses Ingram ’19 Stanley R. McCandless Scholarship Emma Deane ’20 Evan C. Anderson ’20 Alfred L. McDougal and Nancy Lauter McDougal Endowed Scholarship Emona Stoykova ’18 Wladimiro A. Woyno R. ’18 Benjamin Mordecai Memorial Ruoran Li ’18 Kenneth D. Moxley Memorial Scholarship Bryanna Kim ’19 G. Charles Niemeyer Scholarship Nahuel Telleria ’16, DFA cand.

Taylor Barfield ’16, DFA cand.

Donald M. Oenslager Scholarship in Stage Design Choul Lee ’18 Sarah Nietfeld ’18 Donald and Zorka Oenslager Scholarship in Stage Design Stephanie Osin Cohen ’19 Mika H. Eubanks ’19 Herin Kaputkin ’19 Matthew R. Malone ’19 Eugene O’Neill Memorial Scholarship Noah Diaz ’20 Mary Jean Parson Scholarship Ilia Paulino ’20

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Graduation FELLOWSHIPS & SCHOLARSHIPS Alan Poul Scholarship Danilo Gambini ’20 Jeff and Pam Rank Scholarship Matt Davis ’18 Mark J. Richard Scholarship Majkin Holmquist ’18 Lloyd Richards Scholarship in Acting Sean Boyce Johnson ’18 Barbara Richter Scholarship Jen Seleznow ’18 Sarah Thompson ’18 Rodman Family Scholarship Kathryn Ruvuna ’19 Pierre-André Salim Scholarship Hao-En Hu ’20 Samuel Kwan Chi Chan ’19 Sayantee Sahoo ’18 Bronislaw “Ben” Sammler Scholarship Latiana (LT) Gourzong ’19 Scholarship for Playwriting Students Margaret Douglas ’20 Richard Harrison Senie Scholarship Ao Li ’18 Cole McCarty ’18 Daniel and Helene Sheehan Scholarship Lisa D. Richardson ’19 Shubert Scholarships Jake Ryan Lozano ’18 Sarah Woodham ’18 Josh Wilder ’18 Rory Pelsue ’18 Al Heartley ’18 Howard Stein Scholarship Christopher Puglisi ’20

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03 Standard-bearer Jesse Rasmussen ’17 with Kevin Hourigan ’17.

Photo by Ao Li ’18.

Stephen B. Timbers Family Scholarship for Playwriting Alex Lubischer ’19 Jennifer Tipton Scholarship in Lighting Krista Smith ’18 Tisdale Family Scholarship Rachel Shuey ’18 Frank Torok Scholarship John Alexander Carlin ’19

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Nancy and Edward Trach Scholarship Francesca Fernandez McKenzie ’18

05 Tori Sampson ’17 capturing a photo of Stevie Wonder, who received an honorary Doctorate of Music.

Photo by Mara Lavitt.

Ron Van Lieu Scholarship Marié Botha ’18 Leon Brooks Walker Scholarship John R. Colley ’19 Richard Ward Scholarship Leandro A. Zaneti ’19

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Zelma Weisfeld Scholarship for Costume Design Beatrice Vena ’19 Constance Welch Memorial Scholarship Patrick Foley ’18 Patricia Fa’asua ’18 Rebecca West Scholarship Kineta Kunutu ’19 Curtis Williams ’18 Audrey Wood Scholarship Genne Murphy ’18 Yale School of Drama Board of Advisors Scholarship Frederick Kennedy ’18 Albert Zuckerman Scholarship Jeremy O. Harris ’19

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04 Design graduates Carolina Ortiz Herrera ’17, Yana Biryukova ’17, and Haydee Zelideth Antuñano ’17. Photo

by Ao Li ’18.

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Art of Giving Honoring the Arts and Humanities: The New Lindstrom Scholarship Jennifer Lindstrom ’72, a life-long advocate of the arts, is so committed to helping young artists further their careers that she has endowed two named scholarships for YSD students—the first, created in 2011, honors her father, and the second, estab-

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01 Victor S. Lindstrom, circa 1942. Photo courtesy of Jennifer Lindstrom ’72.

02 Helene A. Lindstrom, 1939. Photo courtesy of Jennifer Lindstrom ’72.

arship is awarded to technical design and production students, giving preference to those from New England. “Both of my parents were born in Rhode Island a century ago, and New England was the place they always regarded as home. I was pleased to find out that this year’s wonderfully talented grant recipient, Harry Beauregard ’18, was from their home state. It seemed very fitting!”

The motivation for the second Lindstrom family scholarship was simple for Jennifer: “I am alarmed at what’s going on in the art world today. Support of the arts is precarious; I thought that there must be something

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lished last June, honors her mother. “I think of these as living memorials to my mother and father, engaging young people in realizing their education. Theater students today are courageously entering an undersupported field. This is my way of helping them.”

Her time in the technical theater and lighting design program at YSD, coupled with her father’s interest in scenic production, led Jennifer to create the first family scholarship. The Victor S. Lindstrom Schol

I could do to reward people for persevering in the field. I felt a scholarship honoring my mother, Helene, could help.”

Dedicated to supporting women, the Helene A. Lindstrom Scholarship was designed for female acting and directing students who studied the arts and humanities during their undergraduate education. “My mother was a theater lover,” shared Jennifer. “As a member of her college dramatic society and glee club, she participated in musicals and operettas on a small scale and enjoyed at-

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Art of Giving tending theatrical and orchestral performances all of her life. She firmly believed in the importance of advanced education and encouraging people to support and participate in the arts, a field she may have chosen had she lived in a different era. She would be happy to know that her enthusiasm in these areas will continue in perpetuity.”

Courtney Jamison ’18, the first recipient of the Helene A. Lindstrom Scholarship, received Jennifer’s highest praise. “Courtney’s range of accomplishments and the performances I have watched on her website are impressive. I am so pleased to know that I am helping her to fulfill her goals, although admittedly in a relatively small way. I look forward to following her career as well as the careers of all past and future Lindstrom scholarship students.”

Legacy Scholarships This past year has been one of bittersweet farewells for Yale School of Drama. Four of its long-standing professors—Bronislaw “Ben” Sammler ’74, Ed Martenson, Ron Van Lieu, and Ming Cho Lee—all of whom served as department chairs during most of their tenures, have recently retired. In recognition of these professors’ legacies, the School has established permanent scholarship funds in their honor, which will provide financial support to current students. The creation of these scholarships was unveiled at each professor’s retirement party.

James Bundy ’95 (Dean) acknowledged the generosity of contributors to the scholarships and praised the groundbreaking work of Ben, Ed, Ron, and Ming as artists and educators. “I am deeply grateful for the philanthropic spirit that led so many students and colleagues of four truly great teachers to establish these scholarships.

The newly endowed funds stand as a testament to the vision and generosity of such exemplary leaders by supporting future generations of artists and managers in the pur6 4

suit of excellence and by reminding us that their work is still being done—by their former students, mentees, and successors.”

The scholarships benefit students in the Technical Design and Production, Theater Management, Acting, and Design departments. The first 2017–2018 recipients are, respectively, Latiana (LT) Gourzong ’19, Gwyneth Muller ’20, SOM ’20, and Marié

“I am deeply grateful for the philanthropic spirit that led so many students and colleagues of four truly great teachers to establish these scholarships.”

Botha ’18; the recipient of the final scholarship honoring Ming will be announced at a later date.

Ben Sammler chaired the Technical Design and Production department between 1980 and 2017. His scholarship will have a profound influence on the training of numerous technical design and production professionals in the coming years. Neil Mazella ’78 (Former Faculty), a scholarship donor, said, “For me it is very simple: whatever I might have done to honor Ben was motivated by our friendship.” The 2017–2018 recipient, second-year TD&P student Latiana (LT) Gourzong, cites Ben’s personal and professional influence: “For me, having this opportunity is one not to take lightly. It really is an honor to receive this scholarship because striving for Ben’s level of excellence is something I work toward every day.”

Ed Martenson’s relationship to the School and Yale Repertory Theatre started

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Art of Giving long before his tenure as chair of the Theater Management department (2006– 2017), when he served as Managing Director of Yale Rep from 1979 to 1982. Gwyneth Muller, who received this year’s Edward A. Martenson Scholarship, expressed how deeply Ed influenced her own work. “He laid the groundwork for my entire education at

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cry until you’ve had enough, and then do the scene.’ I did and it worked.” Bryce Pinkham ’08 shares, “Ron has left an indelible mark on our art form by telling all aspiring actors that they belong in the room. This scholarship is a perfect way to carry on Ron’s legacy of inclusion, which will continue to inspire all forms of American

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Marié Botha ’18, recipient of the first Ron Van Lieu Scholarship.

Photo by Bernard Jordaan.

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Latiana (LT) Gourzong ’19, recipient of the first Bronislaw “Ben” Sammler Scholarship 05

Gwyneth Muller ’20, SOM ’20, recipient of the first Edward A. Martenson Scholarship

YSD,” she claims. “Ed transformed the ways I think about leadership and nonprofit management and shaped my understanding of my future role in the field.

I will forever be indebted to him for his rigorous classes, inspiring lectures, and generous mentorship.”

After 13 years as the Lloyd Richards Adjunct Professor of Acting at YSD and 10 years as chair of the department, Ron Van Lieu closed another chapter of his renowned teaching career. Marié Botha, the recipient of this year’s scholarship, recounts one of her most cherished recollections of Ron. “A memory I hold dear is when I found myself feeling stuck while doing a scene from Intimate Apparel by Lynn Nottage ’89 (Former Faculty) and was unable to go through it without getting emotional.

‘Cry, then,’ Ron said to me, ‘Cry and cry and

storytelling.”

During Ming Cho Lee’s nearly 50 years at Yale, he has been a sought-after teacher and distinguished designer, training hundreds of leaders in the field. James Bundy recently reflected on Ming’s career. “He is without any doubt the single most influential and revered theater design teacher on the planet today. His wit and generosity are unforgettable, and it will be a privilege to recognize him each year, ensuring that his remarkable legacy remains vibrant at the School.” The first Ming Cho Lee scholarship will be awarded to a design student for use during the 2018–19 academic year.

The invaluable philanthropic support of alumni and friends for these scholarships is a testament to the important roles these four faculty members have played in the YSD community and in the field.

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Art of Giving Burry Fredrik Foundation: Designing a Unique Award In July of 2017, the Burry Fredrik Foundation awarded the inaugural Burry Fredrik Design Fellowship to Claire DeLiso ’17.

Born Emma Helene Gerber in 1925, Burry Fredrik became a formidable force in New York theater, beginning in the 1950s as a stage manager on Broadway and later as a producer, director, and designer. Her career spanned five decades, and, in 1963, she won a Tony Award for producing a revival of George Bernard Shaw’s Too True to Be Good.

In her will, Fredrik established the Founda-

In her will, Fredrik established the Foundation, a philanthropic organization that nourishes new work, young designers, and theater in Connecticut. tion, a philanthropic organization that nourishes new work, young designers, and theater in Connecticut.

Since its inception, the Foundation has supported the six producing flagship theaters in the state: Yale Repertory Theatre; Hartford Stage; Long Wharf Theatre; Goodspeed Musicals; The Eugene O’Neill Theater Center; and the Westport Country Playhouse. Victoria Nolan (Deputy Dean), who 6 6

played a leading role in finalizing the Design Fellowship says, “Burry was very adventurous. She liked theater that pushed your buttons.”

Mike Ross (Former Faculty), a Foundation trustee, made the initial proposal to the six flagships which he based on Kristen Robinson’s ’13 experience as an intern at Westport Country Playhouse, where she built important relationships that helped launch her career. Her work at Westport was funded by a Princess Grace Fellowship.

Mike thought it would be good to model a new 06 fellowship on that experience.

After conferring with Kristen and James Bundy ’95 (Dean), among others, Vicki, Mike, and the Foundation began to shape the Design Fellowship. In the end, they determined it would award a graduating design student, selected by the faculty, $15,000 and the chance to work at any of the six Connecticut flagship theaters over the course of two years. The Foundation would also cover the designer’s fee.

Trustee Barbara Pierce wrote of the inaugural award, “We are so pleased to honor Burry Fredrik in a way that so perfectly epitomizes her lifelong commitment to theater, to design, and to helping young professionals in the field. She would be proud to have Ms. DeLiso as the first recipient.” Claire said she was “honored” and “excited to introduce herself and her work” to the participating Connecticut theaters.

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Claire DeLiso ’17

Bookshelf PUBLI C AT IO NS BY & ABO U T YAL E S C H O OL O F DRA MA A L U MN I

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08–09

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05 01 Finding Roger: An Improbably Theatrical Love Story

By Rick Elice ’79 2017 Kingswell 02 Theater Planning: Facilities for Performing Arts and Live Entertainment

By Gene Leitermann ’82 2017 Focal Press 03 Marble Goddesses and Mortal Flesh

By David Madden ’61 2017 University of Tennessee Press

04 Secrets Kids Know…That Adults Oughta Learn: Enriching Your Life by Viewing It Through the Eyes of a Child

By Allen Klein ’62 2017 Viva Editions 05 WCS – Woodstock Country School, A History of Institutional Denial

By William Boardman ’64, YC ’60 2017 Yorkland Publishing 06 Journey: A Western

By Stephen H. Foreman ’67 2017 Skyhorse Publishing

07 07 Acting Professionally: Raw Facts about Careers in Acting, 8th Edition

By Robert Cohen ’64 and James Calleri 2017 Palgrave Macmillan 08 Blood on the Stage, 1600 to 1800: Milestone Plays of Murder, Mystery, and Mayhem

By Amnon Kabatchnik ’57 2017 Rowman & Littlefield

10 09 Blood on the Stage, 1800 to 1900: Milestone Plays of Murder, Mystery, and Mayhem

By Amnon Kabatchnik ’57 2017 Rowman & Littlefield 10 Disney Aladdin: A Whole New World: The Road to Broadway and Beyond

By Michael Lassell ’76 2017 Disney Editions

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In Memoriam William B. Warfel Teacher and Lighting Designer

William B. Warfel ’57, YC ’55 (Former Faculty), professor emeritus of design, died on May 28, 2017. He was 84.

Born in 1933 in Holyoke, Massachusetts, Bill spent his early years in New England until his family moved to the Philippines, where Bill graduated from the American

Bill and Phyllis Warfel at the 2012 International Festival of Arts & Ideas.

Photo courtesy of The Defining Photo LLC.

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School. While attending Yale College, Bill took classes at Yale School of Drama and there met his future wife, Phyllis (Johnson) Warfel ’55. They married the day after graduation. That fall Bill enrolled at YSD, earned his MFA in 1957, and spent the next five years as technical director and instructor of humanities at Dartmouth College.

Bill went on to work for Century Lighting in New York, beginning a 50-year career that bridged stage and architectural lighting design and continued until shortly before his death. He was responsible for hundreds of design projects, from special effects lighting for the Unisphere at the 1964

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World’s Fair, to a recent lighting project for a museum in Cuzco, Peru, housing repatriated Machu Picchu artifacts.

Bill returned to YSD in 1967 as a faculty member in design and as lighting director at Yale Repertory Theatre, positions he held for 27 years. In addition to many productions at Yale Rep, he designed for Yale Baroque Opera Project and Yale Opera. Following a successful collaboration on the 1975 renovation of the Rep, Bill began a partnership with John Robert Hood ’61 (Former Faculty). Their firm, Systems Design Associates, offered both architectural lighting design and theater consulting services throughout the United States and abroad. The firm employed a number of YSD alumni and offered internships to many students.

Edward Kaye ’86 remembers, “Bill introduced me to the theatre consulting profession in his class and subsequently invited me to intern at his firm. He was an inspirational teacher, a professional mentor, and a life-long friend.”

In the mid-1970s Bill and Walt Klappert ’79 began the “color project,” measuring the spectral profile and transmittance of over 500 stage lighting color filters (“gels”) from six different manufacturers. Based on this research, Bill and Walt wrote Color Science for Lighting the Stage (Yale University Press, 1981). Bill also wrote The Handbook of Stage Lighting Graphics (1973) and The New Handbook of Stage Lighting Graphics (1990); both have been widely used as col-

In Memoriam lege textbooks.

The significance of Bill’s achievements are complemented by the accomplishments

“Bill would take me to pick up my car when it was towed for parking tickets. He stood in for my family who couldn’t make my graduation. He was one of the kindest people I have ever known.”—ar n a l l d o w n s ’86 of the many field leaders who studied with him. Bill was profoundly dedicated to teaching and to the well-being of his students, and he is remembered as much for his humanity and kindness as for his excellent work. Bill and Phyllis have been loyal YSD alumni, devoted to the School’s success, for many years. The Phyllis Warfel Award for Outstanding Service, established to commemorate Phyllis’s work as editor of the Drama Alumni Newsletter, also honors their collective dedication and accomplishments.

This award, which recognizes “individuals who have contributed to the well-being of the entire Yale Drama alumni community,” will continue to embody their commitment to and enthusiasm for YSD. Bill is survived by Phyllis, their daughters, Arden Lowe and Katherine Trudeau, four grandchildren, and three great grandchildren. We knew Bill as a teacher, mentor,

and friend, and as a warm and gentle soul.

We cannot adequately express our gratitude for his role in our lives. He will be missed.

—Gene Leitermann ’82 (Faculty)

Donald B. Lowy Visionary Volunteer

When I think of Don Lowy ’76, I am reminded of a meteor. He appeared suddenly in my life in 2013, when he joined the Yale School of Drama Board of Advisors and then the Yale Summer Cabaret Advisory Board. He immediately delighted me with his intensity and his passion, whether the subject was the Summer Cab archives or the Yale College class about Dante’s Divine Comedy that we were auditing together. Now, just as abruptly as he came into my life, he is gone.

Don passed away on July 7, 2017, after a 13-month battle with leukemia.

After studying design at YSD, Don enjoyed a 35-year career in marketing and advertising, shaping campaigns for major consumer and pharmaceutical brands.

Along with other senior positions, he was vice president of global advertising and marketing at Schering Plough (now Merck & Co.). He later founded and was president of a consulting company that focused on product positioning, branding, and strategic planning.

When Don joined the YSD and Summer Cabaret boards, it was immediately clear that he loved being involved with the School again. He brought his talents and drive to a number of very important projects, adding significantly to the Yale School of Drama archives. In 2014 Don received the Phyllis Warfel Award for Outstanding Alumni Service in recognition of his dedication to the School and the Rep. In October 2013, he began to catalog the design portfolio and art collection of the YSD Design Department, with the objective of giving current students easy access to a vast collection previously hidden in closets YA L E S C H O O L O F D R A M A A N N UA L 2 017–18

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In Memoriam

Victoria Nolan (Deputy Dean) awarding Don Lowy the 2014–15 YSD Warfel Award. Photo

by Chris Ash.

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and cabinets in offices and classrooms. Don photographed and digitally recorded a total of 2,014 images of costume designs, set designs, blueprints, and artworks. He also researched many of the pieces of wall art, naming previously unidentified works, and took steps toward preserving the collection for future research and reference.

At that same time, Don completed documentation of the 40-year production history of the Summer Cabaret. He explored the Cabaret building’s attic, accessible only by stepladder, interviewed firstseason alumni, searched Drama School digital drives, and contacted alumni to find missing material.

He delivered the trove of materials, which include recordings, shows programs, posters, flyers, photographs, and scripts, to the Haas Arts Library. He also used his findings to create a bound anniversary booklet called “In Celebration of Yale Summer Cabaret’s 40th Season.”

In anticipation of the Rep’s 50th anniversary season in 2016–17, Don supervised the cataloguing and identification of hundreds of photographs stored in Sterling Memorial Library’s Archive and Manuscripts Division from every year—and nearly every production—in Yale Rep’s history. He then helped curate a selection that became the basis for a celebratory exhibition at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center and for two smaller shows in

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New Haven.

Early in 2017, Don became one of the first users of Ensemble@Yale, a crowd-sourced transcription project from the Haas Arts Library and Digital Humanities Lab aimed at creating a searchable database of programs from theatrical productions at Yale dating back to 1925. In the midst of his medical treatments, Don marked and transcribed programs, and sent the project managers suggestions for new features that would enhance the interface.

Don was at work on a history of Yale School of Drama only months before his death. Prior to his illness he had frequented Houghton Library, Harvard University’s rare book library, as well as Yale’s Beinecke Library, and Manuscripts and Archives at Sterling Memorial Library, where he began to piece together the story of YSD’s founding. Don delighted in investigating this history—hunting down building plans, archival photographs, and other clues. Lindsay King (Staff ), associate director for access and research services at the Robert B. Haas Family Arts Library, remembers Don saying enthusiastically, “The 100th anniversary is coming up sooner than you think.”

Don’s passing is a great loss to the entire Yale School of Drama community. My heart goes out to his wife, Angela, and their daughters, Tory and Sarah. I will miss his enthusiasm and his friendship. —Arthur Nacht ’06

Olive “Jo” Dunbar Actress

Olive “Jo” Dunbar ’46, died on February 6, 2017, at the age of 92, at a retirement home in Ithaca, New York. Jo had worked on stage, in film, and in television, having been bitten by the theater bug at the ripe old age of 10.

Taken to her first play by her mother, Geneva, Jo decided then and there nothing else in the world would do.

Jo was born in Wellesley Hills, Massachu-

In Memoriam setts, and after high school, she was accepted by Yale School of Drama after an audition in 1943. Since the U.S. was then at war, the Drama School accepted students without a BA, so Jo became one of the youngest students in the School’s history. (The following year, another teenager was admitted, an even younger Julie Harris ’47, HON ’07, with whom Jo shared the stage in student productions).

Before finishing her third year at YSD, Jo went to New York to try out for the revival of a play by Philip Barry, The Joyous Season, starring Ethel Barrymore, one of her idols. It was a very small part but she impressed the producer, William Brady, and he hired her.

Barrymore played the role of a Mother Superior visiting her brother and his family at Christmas, accompanied by a young nun. So Olive Dunbar made her first appearance on the arm of a legendary lady of Broadway— the newest member of Actors’ Equity.

Over the years, Jo performed many small roles in New York and an important one, replacing Barbara Bel Geddes in the starring role of John Van Druten’s I Remember Mama. She went on to perform in various plays on both the East and West Coast and came to know the country in a way she had not expected. After appearing in an Archibald MacLeish play starring Raymond Massey, which ended its run in Los Angeles, Jo began to think about working in Hollywood. She decided to stay and try her luck.

Before long, she found work in a number of television shows, including one with Carroll O’Connor as well as a recurring role with Fred MacMurray in My Three Sons.

Jo married William Keene, a radio actor, and continued to work steadily in television.

She also acted in films, including The First Monday in October and The Carey Treatment. And since little theater groups were springing up around Los Angeles, largely because of the move westward by New York actors, Jo renewed her acquaintance with her first love, the stage. And she flourished, commercials also keeping her busy.

After her husband’s death, Jo decided to return to New York, half-hoping there might be work onstage again. But there wasn’t much for a more than middle-aged actress, and Jo was finally persuaded by her Yale roommate’s son, Richard Burdick, to retire in Ithaca, New York, and live among her friends. To her delight, there was a small, semi-professional theater, The Kitchen, headed by Rachel Lampert, a former New York choreographer, that produced plays every season. It wasn’t long before Jo found herself starring in a play and later becoming one of the founders of a group of younger actors calling themselves The Icarus Theatre. Jo performed with them for several seasons until failing health forced her to retire permanently.

Jo’s death was mourned deeply by the young performers who had learned so much from her and who valued her as a friend and guide. To the end, she displayed the humor, strength, and determination that defined her favorite character, Jo of Little Women.

At the beginning of her time at Yale, when she was already mulling over how her name would look in lights, she said, “My middle name is Joann, but I feel like Jo March. I don’t much like my first name—Popeye’s girlfriend—but I guess it’ll have to do.” It did, exceedingly well. —Mildred Kuner ’47

A. R. “Pete” Gurney Playwright

Born Albert Ramsdell Gurney, Jr., in 1930 to a well-to-do Buffalo, New York, family, A.R. Gurney ’58 died in his Manhattan home on June 13, 2017. He was 86. Known to his friends and family as Pete, and to his publishers and public as A. R. Gurney, he attended Williams College, served in the Navy, and graduated from Yale School of Drama’s playwriting program. An award-winning author who penned nearly 50 full-length plays, he spent the bulk of his career writing about White Anglo-Saxon Protestants, YA L E S C H O O L O F D R A M A A N N UA L 2 017–18

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In Memoriam

Pete Gurney Photo courtesy of Walter Kurtz.

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his “set” since childhood, and poking fun at the WASP’s privileged world.

Christopher Lehmann-Haupt ’59 remembers his schoolmate Pete fondly as a fellow playwright and enthusiastic friend. “Wielding what appeared to be merely a mild-mannered voice and an affable sense of irony, Pete brilliantly mined his roots and, over his lifetime, turned out as well-crafted and affecting a body of dramaturgy as any playwright in American literature.”

Pete scored his first big hit with The Dining Room in 1982 which became a finalist for the 1984 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Its small cast portrays more than 50 characters in a series of vignettes—birthday parties, holiday dinners, other boozy get-togethers—all of which unfold in the same elegant dining room. They drink and commiserate, bemoaning the slow, inexorable disappearance of decent hired help and the scandalous number of philandering housewives. As often happens in Gurney’s work, the tone gradually turns from satirical to sympathetic. In a 2007 review of an Off-Broadway revival, the New York Times marveled that, “[Gurney] made audiences feel bad for rich men who play golf and women named Binky.”

While writing this and other comedies, Pete taught English and the humanities at MIT. He left in the mid-1980s and moved to New York, whereupon he reached what he described as “some sort of creative high” in a 1986 New York Times interview. Firing off one, sometimes two, plays a year, he authored several of his best-known dramas during that period, including The Cocktail

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Hour (1988) and the Pulitzer Prize–nominated Love Letters (1989).

The Cocktail Hour bears clear autobiographical marks, as do other Gurney plays like The Middle Ages (1977) and The Old Boy (1991) and Sylvia (1995). The Cocktail Hour centers on a playwright who has written a spoof of his affluent family and gone home to get their blessing. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Pete’s father disapproved of his son’s choice of subject. “He didn’t like what I wrote,” Pete told the Hartford Courant in 2007 shortly before the opening of the Long Wharf Theater’s revival of the play. “He thought I was betraying him, revealing things I shouldn’t reveal, embarrassing the family, and using language that he found vulgar and unattractive.” Pete’s comedy Sylvia, in which a man falls in love with a stray dog, featured Sarah Jessica Parker as the canine in the original Off-Broadway run, and, as it happened, her husband, Matthew Broderick, appeared as the infatuated protagonist in the 2015 Broadway production.

Pete Gurney is survived by his wife, Molly Goodyear, whom he married in 1957, two sons, (George and Benjamin), two daughters (Evelyn Gurney and Amy Gurney Nicholas), and eight grandchildren.

Sue Ann Gilfillan Converse Actress

Actress Sue Ann Gilfillan Converse ’55 died on March 12, 2017, in New York City at the age of 86. Sue Ann and her husband of 54 years, producer Converse (Tony) Converse YC ’57, were long-time members of the Board of Advisors and generous philanthropists to the School. “Yale was hugely important in our lives, and so many of our friends date from our time at Yale,” says Tony. In addition to her husband, Sue Ann is survived by their sons, Anthony and Alexander, and four grandchildren.

In Memoriam friendship after we left New Haven to seek our fame and fortune. We often spent holidays in Manhattan together as well as weekends in her Vermont home. Both on and off stage, Sue Ann was always one of the most outstanding and talented members of the acting program, which she laughingly labelled the “Connie Welch Group” after our acting coach. She was striking, whether the production was Peer Gynt or Ondine. She had it all! I shall miss her.”

Albert Innaurato Playwright Sue Ann acted in numerous films and television series, including Partners in Crime (2000), The Larry Sanders Show, Married with Children, and the soap opera Secret Storm (1954–74). She will be best remembered as a founding member of the Williamstown Theatre Festival, the summer resident company where she performed in 36 plays over 11 summers in the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s, many directed by the late Nikos Psacharopoulos ’54 (Former Faculty).

“Williamstown was where Sue Ann played some of her biggest roles. There was a great community in the company,” recalls Tony. “We all came up together through Yale and the Williamstown Theatre.” In addition to title roles in Jean Giraudoux’s Ondine (1955), George Bernard Shaw’s St. Joan (1956), and Mrs. Dolly Gallagher Levi in Thornton Wilder’s The Matchmaker (1955, 1979), Sue Ann’s Williamstown credits include Amanda Wingfield in Tennessee Williams’s The Glass Menagerie (1956), Beatrice in Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge (1957), Mrs. Webb in Wilder’s Our Town (1959), and Monica Reed in Noël Coward’s Present Laughter (1960).

Geoffrey Johnson ’55 remembers Sue Ann as a close classmate and cherished friend. I have so many memories of our

Sue Ann Gilfillan Converse in Ondine (1955).

Photo courtesy of Williamstown Theatre Festival.

I met Albert Innaurato ’74 at Yale School of Drama in September 1971. We were in the playwriting program. And when Albert and I brought plays into class, we were both writing about nuns from our Catholic backgrounds. I grew up with Irish nuns, Albert had Italian nuns from Philadelphia, who hit students or sometimes sat on them. So he said.

Albert was sure of himself and his opinions. I brought in a play about Edith Fromage who claimed she created cheese. Albert said I was being too “light” and should bring pain into the play. Our (wonderful) teacher Howard Stein (Former Faculty) asked me what I thought of his criticism. I said, “Oh I’ve heard Albert’s song and dance before.” And to my surprise Albert laughed. And then I laughed.

And after class we went out for coffee and laughed some more. And suddenly we were good friends.

I lived in the Hall of Graduate Studies. Albert rented a dark apartment but came to the Hall for meals. And we pretty much had every lunch and dinner together, sometimes with someone named Sigourney Weaver ’74.

We fit into the Yale Cabaret quickly. Albert presented Urlicht about a nun whose job was to kill rats with a baseball bat in the subway. I presented a comic musical called Better Dead Than Sorry; Sigourney sang the title song while getting shock treatments!

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In Memoriam at Silliman College. Albert directed and played Constance who was the 80-year-old translator who was getting things wrong.

Howard Stein came to see it and then showed it to Tom Haas (Former Faculty), who decided to direct the play with talented second-year actors. Meryl Streep ’75, HON ’83 played Constance and was hilarious and complex. Robert Brustein ’51,

Gemini. Then Gemini went to Broadway and ran for over five years! He kept writing plays—I especially liked Passione and the playful Gus and Al. (Gus was Gustav Mahler, and Al was, well, Albert.)

When in the early 2000s he went back to Philadelphia to live, I didn’t see much of him, but we started to talk on the phone more.

When I ripped the tendons above my knee, Albert was very kind and understanding to me. He had had a number of health issues over his life. I invited him to see my Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike at Lincoln Center. He seemed to really like it and also to enjoy how delightful Sigourney was in her role as Masha. It meant a lot to me that he was willing to come see it.

I wish he had written more plays for all of us. I wish I believed in an afterlife—I almost do. And then I could see my mother and father and friends who’ve gone away, including Albert. — Christopher Durang ’74 A longer version of this piece appeared in American Theatre online.

Leon Katz

Dramaturg, Playwright, Teacher Albert Innaurato (left) and Christopher Durang ’74 in 1974. Photo courtesy of Christopher Durang.

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HON ’66 (Former Dean) saw it, and decided to produce it at the Yale Repertory Theatre the following fall, which for a playwriting student was like winning the lottery.

The play was now called The Idiots Karamazov. Audiences mostly liked it, but the local reviews were pretty bad. Still Mel Gussow of The New York Times came up to review it, and he loved it. Albert and I were very lucky—a good review in The Times definitely opened doors for both of us.

I moved to New York a year after Albert did. We went from daily friends to “we’re still friends but it’s not quite the same.” I wanted to write solo again; and he did too.

And Albert would go into negativity a lot or get angry quickly. Although he could still make me laugh. We kept liking each other’s plays. He won Obies for Benno Blimpie and

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Leon Katz (Former Faculty) taught me what a play is. How it is written, how it works onstage, and how it can be cracked open to reveal the zeitgeist. I was one of thousands of students over 60 years who was mesmerized by his wisdom, charmed by his wit, and challenged by his summons to the ideal. For us, he was an inspiring teacher, but he was also playwright and actor, scholar and critic, mentor and muse, godfather of American dramaturgy, champion of the avant-garde, father, friend, and all-around mensch. When he died on January 23, 2017, at 97, in his home in Encino, California, the American theater lost a bit of its better self.

Leon was co-chair of the Dramaturgy and Dramatic Criticism program from 1981 to 1989. He came to New Haven from Pittsburgh, where from 1968 to 1981 he was an

In Memoriam irrepressible figure in the local theater community, first at Carnegie Mellon and then at the University of Pittsburgh. He “retired” from Yale at 70 but kept right on teaching at UCLA and later at UNC-Chapel Hill. In 2012, he published Cleaning Augean Stables, his comprehensive analysis of dramatic struc-

He would enter a classroom of waiting students, sit down at a small table, place a pack of menthol cigarettes to one side and a can of diet soda to the other, and launch into a fully formed lecture remarkable for its erudition and enthusiasm. ture (and a window on his world view).

Leon’s long and peripatetic teaching career began in the 1950s and included stints at Cornell, Vassar, Columbia, Manhattanville, Stanford, and San Francisco State.

Wherever he taught, Leon’s lectures on Western drama and on dramaturgy were the stuff of legend. He was an imposing presence at first meeting, thanks in part to his dapper dress, tightly trimmed goatee, and the large metal head-of-Medusa ring he wore on his pinkie. And he seemed to know everything about everything, lecturing on

subjects from Hrosvitha to melodrama with the same, searing intellectual passion. He would enter a classroom of waiting students, sit down at a small table, place a pack of menthol cigarettes to one side and a can of diet soda to the other, and launch into a fully formed lecture remarkable for its erudition and enthusiasm. His voice, urgent and soothing all at once, had the ring of truth, as though he was revealing the secrets of the theatrical universe.

As a playwright, he was more Artaud than Brecht. His was a theater of extremes, often punctuated with sensational jolts and graphic displays. Many of his plays were adaptations— of commedia scenarios; of novels by Kafka, Joyce, Proust, and the Marquis de Sade; of classic texts ripe for re-imagining such as Oedipus and The Dybbuk. In 1970, at the Judson Poets’ Theater, director and longtime friend Lawrence Kornfeld staged Katz’s Dracula: Sabbat, which rendered Bram Stoker and pieces of The Tibetan Book of the Dead as a ritualistic black mass. Two years later at Judson, Katz, Kornfeld, and composer Al Carmines teamed up on an operatic adaptation of Gertrude Stein’s massive novel The Making of Americans.

Stein was for Leon the ne plus ultra of modernists, and as a scholar, he will forever be recognized as one of the foremost authorities on The Making of Americans, the subject of his doctoral dissertation at Columbia. In the process of that research, he discovered Stein’s private notebooks about the novel in Yale’s library collections and for three months in 1952–53, he went through them line by line with Stein’s partner and muse Alice B. Toklas. He continued his work on those notebooks and his exegesis of

Leon Katz Photo courtesy of the Katz family.

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In Memoriam Stein’s magnum opus off and on for the rest of his life.

Leon was not prone to pontification, but at strategic moments he would insist that all his students, regardless of theater discipline or profession, develop their own “idea of a theater,” one that reflected their personal vision and values, and then pursue making that idea reality with missionary zeal, despite the inevitability of compromise and shortcoming. I had the privilege of studying with him for five years, first at Carnegie Mellon and then years later at Yale. I never stopped learning from him. More than anyone, he gave me the tools I continue to use as a professor and dramaturg. Decades since I saw him last, I still feel as if I owe my livelihood to him. I know I am not alone in that sentiment. —Scott T. Cummings ’85, DFA ’94 Scott T. Cummings teaches (what Leon Katz taught him) at Boston College.

A longer version of this piece appeared in American Theatre online.

Thomas Derrah Actor and Teacher 01 Tommy Derrah Photo courtesy of the American Repertory Theatre.

02 Tommy in the 1992 American Repertory Theater production of The Servant of Two Masters. Photo courtesy of the American Repertory Theater.

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Thomas “Tommy” Derrah ’80 died on October 5, 2017. Below, a former classmate, Kristine Nielson ’80, reflects on their friendship.

“Tommy, Tommy can you hear me?” How many times did I say that to Tommy?

And how many times did he “PAH” me back (his cross between “bah, humbug” and a big bellow)?

01 We found each other the first week at the Drama School. My memory of him is in denim bell-bottoms, ridiculously

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high platform shoes, and a reddish-brown mid-calf length leather coat—later stolen in one of the weekly muggings Tommy seemed to invite during his stay in New Haven. We were both intimidated and emboldened at Yale, neither believing we deserved to be there, and yet, each ready to explore boundaries. And, can I say? both incurably optimistic.

We truly bonded during the play Returning, convinced that we would not be returning to Yale after being seen in it! We had no idea what Margaret Holloway ’80 (our director) had in store for us. Still, Eve Gordon ’81, Kathy Borowitz ’81, YC ’76, Tommy, and I all gave in to Margaret’s vision and opened in a cult hit rivaling anything we’d ever done before. All of us surprised, and all of us now ready for anything.

Enter Andrei Belgrader (Former Faculty). Tommy and I both adored him and vied to be teacher’s pet. Who could go further, be more creative, and make Andrei laugh? It was a race to get to “the face,” “the gesture,” or the character choice first. Tommy almost always won. And he always held out a hand to me to climb aboard his “Limit-

In Memoriam less Imagination Express.” I loved him.

Uncle Vanya (with Ubu a very close second) is my favorite among the plays I did with Tommy. To be his Sonia and receive his tenderness, his fears, and his vulnerability is part of my heart. These qualities of his only became more exquisite later in his career.

We took different paths after graduation, but sporadically kept in touch. I saw him in a few A.R.T. productions where he outrageously stole the show. He was so proud to be a part of that extraordinary company, and his generosity as a teacher is evident in the love and talent his students now exhibit.

When the chance came to work together again, he talked Gip Hoppe into casting me as Marilyn Monroe (an Ubu reprise!) in Jackie—a fun puppet extravaganza about Jackie Onassis and the Kennedys. We laughed so much throughout that time, and he even briefly stayed with me in New York as my roommate, hanging out my window filling the City with his cigarette smoke. He left behind a parting gift, a new ceiling sconce— one of his great “junking” finds.

We provoked, corrupted (oh, those GPSCY bar nights/dawns), encouraged, and helped each other over many years. I already miss him terribly. —Kristine Nielsen ’80

Merle Gordon Dowling Producer

Producing came naturally to Merle Gordon Dowling ’81. After earning her BA in drama at Vassar in 1975 and an MFA in theater management at Yale School of Drama, Merle had several careers—in theater, television, the energy efficiency industry, and ultimately in child advocacy. Merle innately found challenging projects, attracted and motivated extremely creative people, and then found the supporting resources necessary to make it all come together—the very definition of a producer.

“Merle was a theater administration student when I first came to YSD in 1979,” re

members Ed Martenson (Former Faculty). “She was incredibly focused on the work and getting things done. It was a turbulent time at the School after Robert Brustein ’51, HON ’66 (Former Dean) left, but Merle made it better. I remember her fondly and with respect.”

Merle designed her first job at RKO Nederlander. Initially, she was hired to license music and video clips, but she expanded her role to motivate suppliers to offer deals on material they really wanted to promote, thereby seeding a new media service. Merle found ways to make great work accessible to new and growing audiences.

Leaving New York, Merle moved to Miami Beach where, for more than 10 years, she was deeply involved in the theater, film, and video production industry, working with the Coconut Grove Playhouse, the Miami Beach Tourism Commission, the Miami Beach Executive Development Board, Filmworks Corp., and Venture Productions. Eventually she became an executive producer for FLEPCo, an independent production company serving regional and national advertising agencies.

Merle returned to Carmel, New York, to work in energy efficiency with her brother, helping to start Consumer Powerline, a leader in the residential energy efficiency industry. She remained active in theater by serving on the board of directors for the Chekhov International Theatre Festival in Ridgefield, CT. In 2015, Merle moved to Landrum, South Carolina, and served as a guardian ad litem child advocate at the South Carolina Governor’s Office.

Merle passed away on July 12, 2017, at the age of 64. She is survived by her son, Ethan, brother, Mike, his family, and the innumerable friends who were lucky enough to be in her world. — Elizabeth MacKay ’78

Merle Gordon Dowling

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In Memoriam Joseph Gantman Producer

Joe Gantman, Florence Van Putten, Peter Nelson ’53 at the 2011 West Coast Alumni Party at the home of Asaad Kelada ’64. Photo

by Ryan Miller/ Capture Imaging.

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Joseph Gantman ’53 passed away on December 26, 2017, at the age of 95 in Santa Monica, CA. An enthusiastic alumnus who made it a tradition to attend our annual West Coast Alumni Party in Los Angeles, Joe was an Emmy award–winning producer of many popular television series from the 1950s through the early 1980s.

Joe was born in 1922 in San Diego, CA, and grew up in Santa Ana. He attended Fairfax High School and UCLA before enlisting in the U.S. Marine Corps. His love of writing led him to explore a career in theater arts and to become a member of Hollywood’s celebrated Circle Theater where he worked with, among others, Charlie Chaplin. It was there that Joe met his future wife, Lucile Nudelman. They married in 1949, had three children, and were together until 1987 when she passed away.

Joe’s interest in theater led him to apply to the Drama School’s Directing program in 1950. It was at YSD that he met many of the people who would become his life-long friends, including Peter J. Nelson ’53. “Joe directed me in his thesis production of Eugene O’Neill’s The Great God Brown, which took a lot of patience.” Peter shared. “Joe guided me through the rehearsals and the performances, and we both graduated with our MFAs! We have remained great friends ever since.”

After graduating from YSD, Joe began his television career at CBS where he worked in the story department. He went on to become a prestigious producer of many TV shows, including Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Young Dr. Kildare, Movin’ On, The Dukes of Hazzard, and Hawaii Five-O. Joe is best known for winning two Emmy Awards for Outstanding Drama Series as the producer of Mission: Impossible.

Joe was a man of extraordinary intellect and generosity. He will be greatly missed by

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his children, Nick, Nina, and Amy, along with his many other loved ones and family members, including his partner of 20 years, Florence Van Putten. His daughter, Nina, describes him well: “While Dad strove for excellence in his professional life, his selfless love and concern for his family was his greatest priority. Dad also had a strong belief in the importance of eating right and exercise, a lifestyle he advocated to his children, family, and friends all through his

life. It served him well as he lived a long and healthy life, dancing and singing up to the end.”

Jeanne Button Costume Designer

Award-winning costume designer and former Yale School of Drama professor Jeanne Button ’63 died of lung cancer on April 8, 2017. She was 86. Jeanne attended Carnegie Institute of Technology, known today as Carnegie Mellon, where she studied home economics at her parents’ behest. That education would have prepared her for life as a housewife, but Jeanne wanted a different future—a career in the theater. Though she first had dreams of acting, after dabbling in other disciplines, she fell in love with costuming and taught herself to

In Memoriam draw. So immense were her gifts, she was not only accepted to YSD, but she also won a scholarship.

Just four years after graduating, Jeanne worked on one of the most controversial productions of her career, MacBird!. This 1967 Off-Broadway adaptation of Macbeth likened Lyndon B. Johnson to Shakespeare’s bloody Scot. Robert Brustein ’51, HON ’66 (Former Dean) called it “the most explosive play” of the sixties. With her trademark whimsy, Jeanne provided LBJ with a chest protector and catcher’s mitt, while JFK was sworn in wearing laurel wreaths and black robes. Her audacious designs received an award from the American Theatre Wing.

Jeanne brought her indefatigable imagination to more than two dozen shows on Broadway, including The Robber Bridegroom, Wings, and The Dresser. In addition to the theater, she worked in film, ballet, and opera. In an email to The New York Times, Deborah Bell, who teaches costume design at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, wrote that Jeanne “understood the practical considerations of costume technology and had a reputation among costume studios as an ideal collaborator, someone who could integrate the visual expectations of directors, fellow set and lighting designers, and performers, as well as the needs of the costume technicians.”

In addition to her professional work, Jeanne made a lasting impact as an educator and scholar. In 1972, she joined the faculty at YSD and taught here for six years.

She later held professorships at Tulane University and NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, among other institutions. As part of her scholarly work, she collaborated on The History of Costume in Notes, Slides, and Commentaries. Jeanne wrote the first four of the chronicle’s six volumes, covering ancient Egypt to Early Georgian England.

As a YSD student, Jeanne met her first husband, playwright Stephen Sbarge ’65,

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01 and, in 1964, they had a son, Raphael. Now an accomplished television, film, and stage actor, Raphael describes his mother as “one of those pioneers—women who, through their pluck and determination, ultimately changed the paradigm for women” living and working in New York. For example, at the tender age of four, Raphael was offered a recurring role on Sesame Street. Out of “tough love,” he explains, his mother turned down the contract, not just because she had misgivings about her four-year-old working in show business, but also because “she didn’t want to give up her career to become a stage mother.”

Jeanne continued designing, and—after she and Stephen divorced—raised Raphael alone while teaching at YSD. She went on to marry MacDonald Eaton, a production designer and painter who passed away in 2013.

In addition to Raphael, Jeanne’s sister, Judy Louis, survives her, as do her brothers, Del and John.

01 Jeanne Button’s sketch for Yale Rep’s production of The Frogs, adapted by Burt Shevelove ’40 with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, staged in the Yale swimming pool in 1974. Photo courtesy of Raphael Sbarge.

02 Jeanne Button Photo courtesy of Raphael Sbarge.

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In Memoriam John “Corky” Boyd Designer and Teacher

John Cummings “Corky” Boyd ‘92 (Former Faculty) passed away suddenly on May 7, 2017, at the age of 50. Corky—as he was known to family, friends, and in the theater industry—worked for Neil Mazzella ’78

(Former Faculty) at Hudson Scenic Studio for more than 24 years. He started his career at Hudson in the early 1990s as an intern while at YSD, and he was ultimately appointed senior vice president.

Born and raised in Portland, Oregon, Corky graduated with an economics degree from Northwestern University before pursuing an MFA in Technical Design and Produc-

01 01 Tribute to Corky Boyd on the New Amsterdam Theatre marquee. Photo by John Huntington.

02 Corky, Will, and Christine Boyd. Photo courtesy of the Boyd family.

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tion at YSD. In 1992, he was central to the creation of the first major automated set at the Rep, Marlowe’s Edward II, designed by Michael H. Yeargan ’73 (Faculty) and directed by Stan Wojewodski, Jr. HON ’92 (Former Dean). Soon after that experience, he and Alan Hendrickson ’83 (Faculty) designed, built, and installed 4 axes of automation for the Goodman Theatre. Since his graduation, Corky maintained a close relationship with the School and taught in the TD&P department as a visiting lecturer. At Hudson, Corky managed the production of scenery and automation for

In Memoriam multiple Broadway hits, including Aladdin, Billy Elliott, Hamilton, and Matilda, all while overseeing international productions of The Lion King, industrial and film projects, and the 2009 reconstruction of the famous Times Square ball drop on New Year’s Eve. Corky was also instrumental in the development of Hudson’s motion control system, which continues to power numerous Broadway and national touring productions today.

John Huntington ’90, a classmate of Corky’s at YSD, remembers him as “an amazing and well-respected guy. He was straitlaced but not judgmental, self-effacing, and deeply believed in doing the right thing. Corky’s funeral was heartbreaking, but also heartening, because it’s clear that Corky’s wife and son will be well supported by an amazing alliance of friends, colleagues, and family. I joked that I must have

“An amazing and well-respected guy.

He was straitlaced but not judgmental, self-effacing, and deeply believed in doing the right thing.” —j oh n h u n t i n g to n ’90

sailor, and former commodore of the Cedarhurst Yacht Club in Lawrence, NY. Corky is survived by his wife, Christine, and their son, William.

Reg E. Cathey Actor

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cared a lot about Corky because I did things in his honor I would never do otherwise: wore a suit and tie, went to church and even went to Times Square at curtain time to take photos of an amazing memorial that Disney Theatricals had done: they put a tribute to Corky on the New Amsterdam Theatre marquee.”

In his free time, Corky was an avid golfer,

One of the richest and most resonant voices of stage and screen fell silent on February 9, 2018, sadly much too soon. Reg E. Cathey ’81 passed away at the age of 59. Reg was a truly gifted and successful actor, known to many for his distinctive baritone delivery, which he could tune to be soulful or sinister.

In 2015, Reg won an Emmy Award as Outstanding Guest Actor in a Dramatic Series for his portrayal of Freddy Hayes in the Netflix drama House of Cards, a role for which he had received three consecutive Emmy nominations. Reg was also well known for his performances as Norman Wilson in HBO’s The Wire, Martin Querns in Oz, and Dr. Franklin Storm in the popular reboot of Fantastic Four.

Reginald Eurias Cathey was born in Huntsville, Alabama, in 1958. His father was an Army officer, and his mother worked for the Department of Defense. Reg spent part of his early years in Germany before the family returned to the U.S. He acted in

01 Reg E. Cathey, Angela Bullock, and Robin D. Miles ’94, YC ’86 in The Cure at Troy at Yale Rep, 1998. Photo courtesy of T. Charles Erikson.

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In Memoriam

02 02 Reg visited campus for a conversation with students hosted

by FOLKS. Photo courtesy of Lauren E. Banks ’17.

“Every night I watched his beautiful work deepen and grow more nuanced.

On stage, when he’d unfurl his long body and ground a performance in that richly cadenced vocal instrument, you knew you were watching one of our best.

— a n g e l a bul lo c k

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school productions at J.O. Johnson High School in Huntsville, attended the University of Michigan, and received his MFA from the Drama School in 1981.

Eve Gordon ’81 was a classmate and remained a close friend: “Erudite, wise, kind, deep, hilarious. I leave it to others to describe his genius. To me he will always also be the goofball baby of our drama school class, cutting up, cracking up, and then, every now and then, WHAM—he’d knock us over with his serious dramatic ability.”

Among Reg’s many film credits are The Mask (1994), Tank Girl (1995), Se7en (1995), and S.W.A.T. (2003). After graduating from YSD, Reg returned to Yale Rep twice: in Suzan-Lori Parks’s (Faculty) Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World and Seamus Heaney’s The Cure at Troy, both directed by Liz Diamond (Faculty).

Other notable stage performances include The Green Bird directed by Julie Taymor on Broadway (2000) and Talk (2002) for which Reg received an Obie Award. This past year, Reg appeared in Long Wharf Theatre’s production of Samuel Beckett’s Endgame opposite Brian Dennehy. The New Haven Review hailed their performances as “indel-

In Memoriam ible and evanescent, as the best theater moments are.”

“Twenty years ago, I had the distinct honor to share a stage with Reg in the Yale Rep production of The Cure at Troy, based on the Sophocles play and written to honor Nelson Mandela,” recalls actor Angela Bullock. “Every night I watched his beautiful work deepen and grow more nuanced. On stage, when he’d unfurl his long body and ground a performance in that richly cadenced vocal instrument, you knew you were watching one of our best. We only worked together that one time, but we remained friendly over the years, and I delighted in watching his every success. He was a brilliant raconteur, possessed a fierce wit, and had monumental talent.”

Farewell John “Corky” Boyd ’92 (Former Faculty) / 05.07.2017 Jeanne Button ’63 (Former Faculty) / 05.08.2017 Reg E. Cathey ’81 / 02.09.18 Sue Ann Gilfilan Converse ’55 / 03.12.2017 Frank Corsaro ’47 / 11.11.2017 Thomas Derrah ’80 / 10.05.2017 Arlen Digitale ’61 / 05.19.2017 Merle Gordon Dowling ’81 / 07.12.2017 Hank Frawley ’64 / 04.22.2017 Joseph Gantman ’53 / 12.26.17 A.R. “Pete” Gurney ’58 / 06.13.2017 Cynthia Guild Hitchens ’62 / 06.14.2017 William Hjortsberg ’65 / 04.22.2017 Albert Innaurato ’74 / 09.26.2017 Philip Isaacs ’53 / 12.15.2016 Richard Jeter ’70 / 03.23.2017 Ann Johnson ’90 (Former Faculty) / 12.11.2016 Leon Katz (Former Faculty) / 01.23.2017 Olive “Jo” Dunbar Keene ’46 / 02.06.2017 Donald Lowy ’76 / 07.07.2017 Richard Alan Orkin ’59 / 12.24.2017 Andrew Paulson ’84, YC ’81 / 07.18.2017 Robert Struble ’71 / 01.24.2017 Ernest J. Schwarz ’59 / 09.18.2017 William B. Warfel ’57, YC ’55 (Former Faculty) / 5.28.2017

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Alumni Notes 1940s Joan (Feldman) Kron ’48 writes: “I’m still here, six months away from my 90th birthday, about to become a greatgrandmother, and finally working in the entertainment industry as an independent

“AARP has called me an “age disrupter.” I am just trying to be productive in whatever time I have left.”

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— jo an (f e ldm a n ) k ro n ’48

filmmaker. My first film, which I produced and directed and finished last year, is a feature documentary called Take My Nose…

Please! about comediennes and plastic surgery. So far, it’s been a selection at eight major film festivals and won two prizes—the Knight Documentary Achievement Award at the Miami Film Festival and the Audience Award at the Berkshire International Film Festival.

Despite my aching back, I have travelled to every screening—back and forth to the West Coast three times—to do audience Q&As. Next up, the film has been invited to be the opening night presentation at the Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival. This fall, in order to qualify for entry in the 2018 Academy Awards, the film will have a one-week theatrical release in New York and Los Angeles. The question raised in the film—whether cosmetic surgery is vanity or empowerment—seems endlessly interesting to audiences. And, the fact that someone can keep working at this late age has brought intense media attention to the 8 4

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Alumni Notes film and to me. AARP has called me an age disrupter. I am just trying to be productive in whatever time I have left. I invite fellow alumni to see a trailer for the film at www. facebook.com/takemynoseplease and to follow my occasional opinion pieces (including the one about HBO’s Sheila Nevins ’63) for Live Box Magazine at lvbxmag.com.”

1950s 06 01 Joan (Feldman) Kron ’48 at home in NYC. Photo by Joshua Bright.

02 Robert Kalfin ’57 03 A screening of Joan’s documentary, Take My Nose…Please!, at the Arizona International Film Festival last May. 04 Lucile (Makowsky) Lichtblau ’56 05 Lucile (Makowsky) Lichtblau ’56 (center) and husband Sheldon (front, left) at a family birthday celebration.

06 Vienna Cobb-Anderson ’58 with the needlepoint banner she created and donated to the Washington National Cathedral in celebration of the 40th anniversary of her ordination at the Cathedral in June 1977.

“At 92, I’m still going strong,” says Robert Barr ’52. He recently did a six-second video as Dracula for Weiden+Kennedy—a challenge from YouTube. Lazy Bee Scripts just published his third play, a ten-minute drama called The Love Potion. ● Robert W. Goldsby ’53 writes: “While I was an acting major I did a fair amount of directing and, of course, I spent my life directing plays.

Most recently I published a book, Molière on Stage: What’s So Funny? It was published in London by Anthem Press. My wife of 64 years, Angela Paton, died a year ago, and I’ve moved from Malibu to Oakland. I’d love to hear from you.” ● Lucile (Makowsky) Lichtblau ’56 is looking forward to the world premiere of her play, Starstruck, which won an Edgerton Foundation Grant at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival. “I continue my work as co-director of Plays in Progress (PIP), a professional play development group in Hudson, New York. The family is doing well: Sheldon is still teaching at Mt. Sinai Hospital, and our sons, their wives, and the grandchildren (12) are busy working and at school, except for the youngest who is one year old and making everybody happy. Love and best wishes to all.” ● Amnon Kabatchnik’s ’57 two new books, Blood on the Stage, 1600 to 1800 and Blood on the Stage, 1800 to 1900, the sixth and seventh volumes in his series analyzing plays of crime-and-punishment, were published last fall. “They provide an overview of 100 milestone thrillers depicting theft, kidnapping, treachery, court intrigue, incest, and murder,” writes Amnon.

“The emphasis is on manuscripts that passed the test of time—from William

Shakespeare to Arthur Conan Doyle—but the books also resuscitate long-forgotten dramas by Marlowe, Corneille, Racine, Voltaire, Schiller, Shelley, Byron, Hugo, Dumas, Balzac, Zola, Dickens, Tolstoy, and Wilde, among others.” ● George Morfogen ’57 has appeared OffBroadway in recent seasons in Mint Theater productions of A Day by the Sea and A Picture of Autumn by N.C. Hunter and at the Cherry Lane Theatre in Nora and The Traveling Lady by Horton Foote. George is now on the faculty of HB Studio. ● Robert Kalfin ’57 continues to focus on the development of new works. As of this writing, Bob is involved with three plays and two musicals, including a new play by Robert Karmon called The Resettlement of Isaac, which had a staged reading at the Southampton Cultural Center in August 2017 and is slated for presentation in New York at the WorkShop Theater Company. A three-character musical called Brush Strokes had two presentations at the York Musical Theatre Company and is in the works for full production. Meanwhile, My Parsifal Conductor by Allan Leicht ’66 is under option for full production by noted Broadway and Off-Broadway producer Ted Snowdon. ● Vienna Cobb-Anderson ’58 writes: “In the last two years, I have needlepointed two major banners. The first is of an angel from a stained glass window at St. James’s Episcopal Church in Richmond, Virginia. It hangs in that church and took nine months to create. The second banner is of an image taken from an 18th-century Coptic icon at The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. It has been given to the Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul in Washington, DC, in celebration of the 40th anniversary of my ordination. I am also celebrating the 60th anniversary of my being selected by Ethel Merman as the best actress of the year (1957) and being given a contract to work at Barter Theatre.

Turning 82, I am glad to say that even with many health issues, life is good and every moment is to be celebrated! Thanks to Yale for teaching me how to do this. ● Gordon Micunis ’59 and Jay Kobrin ’61 are residing on New York’s East 57th Street, making art and seeing lots of

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Alumni Notes theater. Their website is www.gorjayous. com. Feel free to call or e-mail when you are in town. ● Kenneth Stein ’59 shares: “I made it to 84 years old. Viewing much live theater with two trips per year to London totaling over 30 shows. That’s what keeps me going, with help from Yale theater interpretation training. Also, I try to get to NYC annually for two weeks of theater, health permitting, but London is still superior.”

1960s Ted van Griethuysen ’60, now 83, appeared in Florian Zeller’s play The Father at the Studio Theatre in Washington, DC, directed by David Muse ’03. The day after it opened, Ted received the Helen Hayes Tribute Award, presented by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, at the 33rd annual Helen Hayes Awards. “I have known her for some time and her presence doubled the honor of the occasion,” says Ted. “She came later that week to see The Father, and she told me that she had known people with Alzheimer’s and that she found the performance riveting and chillingly accurate. That will do for me.” ● Carolyn Gaiser ’60 writes: “With great sadness, I’m reporting the death of my husband, a poet of Black Dialect, Roger Williams, on May 5, 2016. After years of running the streets, he turned his life around, embracing domesticity with soul food, wry humor, and a gift for seizing the moment.

We were together for 17 years.” ● Helena (Melnick) Sokoloff ’60 shares: “I taught theater for many years and ran my own children’s theater, and for the last 30 years I have been a professional photographer and a docent at the Whitney Museum of American Art. I am also a member of the International Center of Photograhy’s Exhibition Committee. I have wonderful memories of the Yale School of Drama.” ● Raymond Carver ’61 is writing Whatever Happened To Whatshername?, a full-length play about advancing age and Montaigne’s adage: “The only true knowledge is what we learn about ourselves.” He shares, “It’s a kind of autobiography using everything 8 6

I’ve learned about playwriting and dramaturgy, after having had my plays done Off-Broadway, in Hollywood, at San Francisco’s ACT, at Washington DC’s Kennedy Center, and of course, at Yale.” ● Allen Klein’s ’62 26th book, Secrets Kids Know...That Adults Oughta Learn, was published in September by Viva Editions. It shows readers how to enrich their lives by viewing them through the eyes of a child.

Allen also writes a blog called “60 Seconds of Happy” for the Bottom Line, Inc. ● Abby Bogin Kenigsberg ’63 shares: “I’m living in Austin, in the great state of Texas.

There’s sagebrush and drama all around.

Teaching retired folks here the depth and breadth of The New York Times. Austinites love it.” ● Year by the Sea, an indie film based on the New York Times bestselling memoir by Joan Anderson ’63, opened in September. It tells the story of an empty-nester who retreats to Cape Cod to rediscover who she was before becoming a wife and mother. In the process, she redefines the next chapter of her life, as well as the next phase of her marriage. ● Janet Sarno ’63 has completed filming To Dust, a movie with Mathew Broderick. ● William Boardman ’64, YC ’60, widowed since 2014, recently finished the book he was commissioned to write in 1982: WCS Woodstock Country School, A History of Institutional Denial, published by Yorkland Publishing of Toronto. He writes, “In the book I inveigh against an American culture that no longer cares much about prejudice, state murder, economic inequality, general cruelty, or endless wars.

But I live in Vermont, and my children and grandchildren all seem to be doing well, so how bad can it be?” ● Robert Cohen DFA ’64 writes: “I was thrilled last spring to have the eighth edition of my Acting Professionally (now co-authored with James Calleri) published by Palgrave/ Macmillan and to begin updating the 12th edition of my book Theatre (now coauthored with Donovan Sherman), which will appear on the stacks next year. Bravo to my Yale teachers, John Gassner HON ’56 (Former Faculty) and Alois Nagler HON ’60 (Former Faculty)!” ● In 2017, Raymond J. Barry ’65 had

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Alumni Notes

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07 Robert Cohen DFA ’64 (right) with James Calleri, president of Calleri Casting, who co-authored the eighth edition of Robert’s book, Acting Professionally.

12 William Boardman ’64, YC ’60 wearing a Valentine’s Day present.

08 Robert Einenkel ’69 using his theatrical skills to tell his grandson a story.

14 At the screening of HBO’s documentary Arthur Miller: Writer were Sheila Nevins ’63, executive producer, and John E. Guare ’63 (Former Faculty).

Photo courtesy of Shelia Nevins.

09 Peter Barton ’66. Photo by Dan Rous.

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music by Shelly Gartner and lyrics

by Carrie (Fishbein) Robbins ’67.

Photo by Emily Hewitt.

13 Janet Sarno ’63

15 Ted van Griethuysen ’60 starring as André in The Father at Studio Theatre in Washington, DC. Photo by Teresa Wood.

10 Abby Bogin Kenigsberg ’63 with a Geisha during a month-long tour of Japan, where her daughter-in-law works for the U.S. State Department.

“Geisha make-up and wigs represent extraordinary theatricality,” Abby reports.

16 At 85, Raymond Carver ’61 is still composing and writing plays.

11 A scene from The Death & Life of Dr. Cutter, A Vaudeville, a new play with

17 Robert Greenwood ’67 during a school residency program.

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Alumni Notes

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20 18 Stefan Rudnicki ’69 (left) chatting with George R. R. Martin, author of the Game of Thrones novels, at StokerCon 2017 aboard the Queen Mary in Long Beach, California.

19 A folding book depicting Monschau, Germany, by Carolyn Ross ’69.

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20 Everett M. Lunning, Jr. ’69, YC ’67 as Sir in The Dresser at the Vortex Theater in Austin, Texas. Photo

by Steve Rogers.

21 Those Who Would Touch the Bear, one of a series of paintings about reconciliation by Robert Greenwood ’67.

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recurring roles in Ray Donovan, Ice, Gotham, You’re the Worst, and two episodes of Feud.

He also had roles in six films, including Desolation, Brave New Jersey, and No Postage Necessary. He writes, “Over the summer, I took my 17-year-old son, Liam, to the Elite Prospects Basketball Camp.” ● Carol Sica ’66 is busy enjoying the beautiful Berkshires, choral singing, painting the wonderful view, and being a new grandma! ● Dwight Richard Odle ’66 closed out his two-year stint as vice president of fundraising for the MAMM Alliance at California State University, Fullerton College of the Arts, with a production of Susan Claassen’s one-woman show, A Conversation with Edith Head. Attendance of student designers was completely underwritten by “Edie’s Angels,” an adjunct of the Alliance.

Dwight staged five public events in his two years, raising some $100,000 for the performing arts. He has finally retired after 55 years designing scenery and costumes professionally and has begun writing the history of the Bird Cage Theatre at Knott’s Berry Farm, the oldest continuously producing melodrama theater in the United States. ● Ramon Delgado ’67 was a finalist in the NYC Playwrights’ “Women in the Age of Trump” project. His monologue Laura’s Early Returns, which references possible consequences of last November’s election night, is a moving performance by award-winning actress Marina Re. It is available on YouTube. ● A staged reading of Carrie (Fishbein) Robbins’s ’67 play The Death & Life of Dr. Cutter, a Vaudeville, with music by Shelly Gartner and lyrics by Carrie, was presented at the Goddard Riverside Center in New York City in April 2017 by the 29th St. Playwrights Collective. ● Stephen H. Foreman ’67 writes: “Journey, my third novel, was published in March 2017. I’ve been touring with it and there has been a wonderful response. I’ll now concentrate on my memoir, The Education of a White Boy. I also have two screenplays ready to go: The Trade and Freed. Pretty good for a guy nearing...staring at...a certain age!” ● Robert Greenwood ’67 recently returned from Iran, where he was doing research for

Alumni Notes an upcoming production of Middle Eastern myths, legends, and stories. “I met with the Zendegi Theater Company and the German ambassador to Iran about future performances in Germany, and the University of Tehran Theater Department about possible future performances and teaching. We traveled to Shiraz, Persepolis, and back to Tehran for continuing research about design, history, and literature.” ● Howard Pflanzer ’68 directed a staged reading of his new play, RAUS, at Medicine Show Theatre as part of their Jump/Start reading series last May. He directed his play Ubu Interpolations for the Not Normal: Art in Resistance in the Time of Trump series at Irondale Ensemble Project’s last March. ● After 26 years at Nassau Community College, Robert Einenkel ’69 writes, “I have retired from full-time work though I have continued some adjunct teaching. I plan to enjoy my family, including my six grandchildren.” ● Jim Metzner ’69 is back from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, where he was a Fulbright Specialist in Media and Communication. He gave the keynote address at Nature Sound Society’s annual field recording workshop in the Sierras. ● “Although I am not nearly as busy as I would prefer,” writes Linda Fisher ’69, “I did have the honor of designing the clothes for Larry Kiran’s Rebel in the Soul, the first show in the smaller theater at the newly revamped Irish Repertory Theatre in New York City. And, I am now in the midst of Lost in Yonkers in Weston, Vermont, directed by Kent Paul and starring Elizabeth Franz.” ● The screenplay of Lonnie Carter’s ’69 Obie Award-winning play, The Romance of Magno Rubio, has just gone into development. Also, an all-female version of the play is slotted for production in LA. ● Stefan Rudnicki ’69 writes: “My company, Skyboat Media, continues to produce and publish top quality audiobooks, specializing in genre classics (Fantasy, SF, Horror, Thriller). And, I continue to garner awards (Earphones, Audies, Hugos, etc.) as a narrator while serving on the Board of Directors of the Audio Publishers Association and attending relevant conferences.” ● In March 2017,

Michael Posnick ’69 served as a co-producer of the world premiere production of Hatuey: Memory Of Fire, a Cuban-Yiddish nightclub opera composed

by Grammy-winning klezmer musician Frank London at the Teatro Arenal in Havana, Cuba. Hatuey was the centerpiece of the first ever Celebration of Jewish Culture in Cuba. “The opera springs from Hatuey, a Yiddish narrative poem written and published in Havana in 1931 by my late father-in-law, Asher Penn, a refugee from the Ukraine,” says Michael. “Hatuey received standing ovations and glowing reviews, and there are now plans for a U.S. production.” ● Carolyn Ross ’69 reports: “Since I retired from theater and costume design, I have had more time to travel to Europe. I enjoy creating travel drawings and sometimes I make them into folding books that can be looked at either as a book, page-by-page, or opened to produce the effect of walking down a street.” ● Richard Olson ’69 wrote 40 “Thoughts” on subjects like art, success, death, character, money, plays, children, pleasure, humor, and suffering, each accompanied by one of his photos, and posted them on Facebook. ● Everett M. Lunning, Jr. ’69, YC ’67 sang in the chorus for Austin Opera’s productions of The Manchurian Candidate and The Daughter of the Regiment during the 2016–17 season. He appeared as Sir in The Dresser by Ronald Harwood at the Vortex Theatre with Austin’s Different Stages Theatre.

1970s Mark Travis ’70 writes: “Life is great as Elsha Taya Bohnert and I run directing, writing, and acting workshops at The Travis Story Center in Los Angeles and around the world. My dream, my goal, is to bring The Travis Technique (a radical approach to directing actors) to Yale School of Drama, my way of giving back to the school that launched my career.” ● Nahma Sandrow DFA ’70 reports: “Enemies, an opera for which I wrote the libretto, premiered two years ago at the Palm Beach Opera and is scheduled for production by the Kentucky

Opera in Fall 2018. My award-winning musical Kuni-Leml gets revived occasionally.

Vagabond Stars: A World History of Yiddish Theater, originally published in 1977, is in its third edition; the book on French Surrealist theater that was my DFA dissertation is still in print, as is a volume of play translations; and I have two more volumes of translations coming out soon. I no longer teach, but I do still lecture occasionally in the U.S. and elsewhere and write articles and reviews. I’m married to William Meyers, photographer and writer, and we babysit small grandchildren a lot.” ● Alan Marlis’s ’70 book FDR: Baseball’s Godfather will be published by History Publishing Company. A French website is offering his 1978 pamphlet, The Cause of Our Two Horrible Winters: King Tut’s Curse Unraveled. ● In the fall of 2016, Walter Dallas ’71 was in Brooklyn to direct the New York premiere of Richard Wesley’s political thriller, Autumn, for the Billie Holiday Theatre. Three weeks later, he flew back to receive the 2016 Special Pioneer Award for Lifetime Achievement of Excellence in Black Theatre from New York’s AUDELCO, Audience Development Committee. Last season, he was also named one of Philadelphia’s 100 History Makers of the 20th Century. In July 2017, he directed George Stevens Jr.’s one-man play, Thurgood, at Olney Theatre Center in Maryland. His dramaturg on this project was Emily B. Sorensen ’20. Before taking some vacation time to soak up a bit of New Orleans, Walter directed Katori Hall’s The Mountaintop for the Resident Ensemble Players at the University of Delaware, Newark. ● David Chambers ’71 (Former Faculty) continues to teach at Harvard and the New School for Drama in New York.

Last spring, Annelise Lawson ’16 and Sara Holdren ’15 served as special teaching mentors in his graduate acting course, running tutorials and rehearsals with the students outside of class. In addition, David is teaching at Yale in the undergraduate Theatre Studies program this spring. “I recently moved to Cambridge, MA,” he reports. “It remains remotely possible that I will finish my (in)famous book—one day.” ● Jim Crabtree ’71 has

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Alumni Notes retired as producing director/CEO of Cumberland County Playhouse in rural Tennessee after 40 years. He succeeded his mother, Mary Crabtree, and his father, Theater Guild veteran and CCP founder, Paul Crabtree. Jim helped build CCP to serve over 100,000 visitors annually for 350 performances and 1,200 classes, with

“I fell into teaching, which I adore, and also professional coaching at the highest level.”

— k ate m cg r e g or -s t e wa rt ’74

non-union and union guest artists in three theaters in its hometown of 11,000. His wife, Ann Windrow Crabtree, has served as music director for many years. Jim remains a consultant to CCP. He writes, “At Yale, I enjoyed collaborating with the late conductor, C. William Harwood YC ’70, MUS ’73, on several opera productions, teaching in the School of Music, and establishing a theater recreational program for patients and staff at Yale Psychiatric Institute, where I staged my final YDS thesis project.” ● Charles Steckler ’71 writes: “46 years ago, I left New Haven with my freshly minted MFA in design. And now I am retiring from Union College’s Department of Theatre & Dance after a fabulous career! My plans ahead: to be a studio artist full-time, to be an active ‘grandBabbo’ to our 4½-year-old Gelato, and to enjoy and honor my life’s greatest treasure, my darling wife, Ginger.” ● The Westchester Review, a literary magazine, just published the first chapter of Jeff Wanshel’s ’72 novel, which is tentatively titled Unmarked Path. ● Marty Lafferty ’72 completed field production last 9 0

summer for the second series of 20 safe-boating videos sponsored by the U.S. Coast Guard on locations from the Chesapeake Bay to Lake Erie to Puget Sound. ● Ray Recht ’72 writes, “During the summer of 2016, I had the pleasure of working with Mitch Dana on the Mirror Theater production of the American premiere of Sinners by Joshua Sobol, which was directed by Brian Cox. We then moved the production in March 2017 to Boston for a limited run. In April, I designed the world premiere of Doublewide at the Florida Repertory Theatre in Fort Myers.” ● Kate McGregor-Stewart ’74 shares: “I have worked professionally as an actress ever since graduating (regional, Broadway, more than 25 movies, etc.). I fell into teaching, which I adore, and also professional coaching at the highest level.

I had my daughter Chloe in ’83, who made me a happy grandmother in June. I got divorced a long time ago, and very happily remarried on December 24, 2015. My husband, Tim, and I just took a cruise to Alaska—we wanted to see those glaciers while we still could! I am currently teaching, coaching, and writing a book about my own acting technique. Grateful for my training, friends, health, and family.” ● John Rothman ’75 is currently starring with Tig Notaro in the critically acclaimed One Mississippi on Amazon Prime. He completed Season 2, celebrated the wedding of his daughter Lily (YC ’08) to Elihue Deitz, and also celebrated the wedding of the daughter of dear friend and fellow YSD alumni Barnet Kellman ’72. John works in the theater whenever possible and played Mr. Hardcastle in She Stoops to Conquer at TACT Off-Broadway in the fall of 2016. In the summer of 2017, he had a supporting role in Hot Air, a movie with Steve Coogan.

He continues to serve on the New York board of SAG-AFTRA and its negotiating committee and work on the YSD Mentor Project, staying in touch with alumni mentors and getting to know the recent graduates. ● Joseph Capone ’76 directed Between Us—The Secret Life of Edith Wharton, a solo show about Wharton’s personal and professional

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relationships. “Edith’s brilliant career paved the way for many future female writers,” says Joseph. Diana Barth, publisher of New Millennium, wrote in her review: “The play has been sensitively directed….The result is a rich, heartwarming contribution to the theatrical experience.” The play was presented at Theatre 54 at Shetler Studios in New York in March 2017. ● Michael Lassell ’76 reports: “My sixth book for Disney Theatrical, Aladdin: A Whole New World: The Road to Broadway and Beyond, was published in March 2017. The seventh, The Lion King: Twenty Years on Broadway and Around the World, followed in time for the November 2017 anniversary performance. My Pride: Finding Joy On and Off the Stage, a memoir/self-help book by actor Alton Fitzgerald White that I helped shape, also appeared in November. I’m currently in the process of producing a book on Disney’s production of Frozen, now at the St. James Theatre in New York.” ● Charles Andrew Davis ’76 is the academic decathlon speech coach for East LA’s Garfield High School (of Stand and Deliver fame). The nine-student team took eight out of nine medals in speech and went onto state competition finishing 14th in the nation. ● William Otterson ’76 played a taxi driver in João, O Maestro, a feature film about the life of famous Brazilian pianist, João Carlos Martins, the title character in the short film Huxtable Gets Wood, and the Treasurer of the Merman Empire in the feature film The Merman Prince. He also acted in Master Class in Suicide Notes Writing at the Fourth Annual Radioactive Festival of female playwrights in New York. On TV, he appeared in Six Degrees of Murder, Shadow of Doubt, and The Perfect Murder, and he played FDR once again, this time for the Travel Channel. William’s company regularly produces multi-camera film productions of ballets at Lincoln Center for the George Balanchine Foundation. His team helped create several museum installations using the Pepper’s Ghost technique, including a miniature of scenes from a play by British officers after their victory at the Battle of Brooklyn for the New York Historical Society. He is the co-moderator of the NY

Alumni Notes One thing is certain about Charles Turner ’70—he loves his craft.

Hartford Stage, who introduced him to the work of Horton Foote;

After half a century in the field, he demonstrates a genuine and

Howard Stein (Former Faculty), who encouraged him to pursue

abiding passion for his life as an actor, director, and teacher. “I feel

directing and later brought him to teach at SUNY Purchase; and Lee

so fortunate to be in this thespian world,” he says. “I am able to

Richardson (Former Faculty), who suggested Charles include

participate in my art, and I will continue to do so with honesty,

voiceover work in his repertoire.

Last spring, Charles performed in the critically acclaimed

forthrightness, and joy.”

Charles is, in every sense of the term, a classical theater artist,

Broadway revival of Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes, alongside

performing Shakespeare at Yale Rep, Long Wharf Theatre, and the

Cynthia Nixon and Laura Linney. It was his second time in the role of

Folger Shakespeare Theatre, and appearing in modern masterpieces

the family servant, Cal—he was also a member of the 1997

A Life of Character Charles Turner ’70

like George

Broadway cast in the same role. This time, he was grateful that the

Bernard

production was truly a collective endeavor. He remembers an

Shaw’s

audience member remarking after a performance, “There’s clearly a

Caesar and

lot of joy in what you all are doing together.”

Cleopatra

and August Wilson’s Fences and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. He has

Collaboration has been essential to Charles’s approach since his student days, when he worked as an assistant to Lloyd Richards

had a successful career narrating children’s audiobooks, and he is

HON ’79 (Former Dean) at the Eugene O’Neill Playwrights

also an acclaimed director. In 1979, he directed a young Denzel

Festival. “Caring about the actors’ input—I learned that from Lloyd.

Washington in Lonne Elder III’s Ceremonies in Dark Old Men, and he

It has to be porous enough that actors can open things, too. When

received the 1981 AUDELCO Recognition Award as best director of

that happens you get the joy of collaboration.”

a musical for his Off-Off Broadway production of Bessie Smith, Empress of the Blues.

Charles’s commitment to forming relationships with his

01

Charles carries the camaraderie he builds on stage into the rest of his life, making sure to see the work of colleagues and keeping in touch with old friends. “We’re all a part of each other. The Little Prince reminds us that when we meet someone, we share a responsibility. We’re responsible for each other in some way.” The

fellow artists has been an

result of his philosophy is a wide-reaching theater family that

integral part of his career. He

frequently includes fellow Drama School alumni. In 2014, while understudying James Earl Jones in You Can’t Take It With You on Broadway, Charles worked alongside Dylan Baker ’85, Austin Durant ’10, Patrick Kerr ’87, Mark Linn-Baker ’79, YC ’76, Kristine Nielsen ’80, Reg Rogers ’93, and Joe Tapper ’06. “I always find it so wonderful to be reunited with alumni and to get to know new graduates,” he says.

Charles also considers his many students a part of his theater family. He has taught throughout his career—at the Talent Unlimited program in Albany, at SUNY Purchase and SUNY Old Westbury, where he led the theater program in the early ’90s, and more recently at NYU. “When you’re teaching, you learn so much from

02

your students,” Charles explains. “As an actor, you have to be a 01

speaks enthusiastically about

Charles Turner ’70 backstage

the many theater-makers who

during The Little Foxes.

02 Charles Turner ’70 with his family at his son’s wedding in Dorset, UK. (left to right) Shairi, Helen, Kai, Beth, and Charles.

have crossed his path, and is

good listener. Working with young people helps me practice that.”

Even as he crisscrosses the country performing and directing, Charles maintains a clear focus on his own family. “While I’ve been

quick to give credit to those

in the midst of a career that has afforded me such joy and success, I

who have influenced him,

marvel at the wondrous accomplishments of my children,” he says.

including Derek Walcott, whose

Shairi, a doctor, was the first chief medical director at the Florida

play Dream on Monkey

Department of Juvenile Justice, and Kai is newly married and

Mountain was the first

working at Sony. “Being a part of their lives is very important to me,”

production Charles appeared in

Charles says. “They are the big productions in my life.”

after YSD; Michael Wilson of

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Alumni Notes When Rick Elice ’79 finished his MFA, he began working

whose lives turn out to be connected; another about the famous

professionally as an actor. “I thought that would be what I did for

Bag O’ Nails club in Soho, the stomping ground in the 1960s of

my entire life,” he says. “But the universe had other plans!”

many burgeoning stars of the music industry; and a theatrical

His path began to shift in 1982, when he attended the opening night party for Des McAnuff’s The Death of von Richthofen as

adaptation of Sara Gruen’s novel, Water for Elephants.

Rick recently published a memoir about his time with Rees:

Witnessed

From Stage to Page Rick Elice ’79

from Earth—a musical about the Red Baron

that Rick was performing in at the Public. At the party, he met an entertainment advertising executive who was looking for someone to write “funny headlines” for the next week. Rick ended up taking the temporary gig and stayed on part-time while he continued to audition. When a full-time position opened up a short while later, he needed to choose between the ad agency and an acting gig he had just been offered at the Guthrie. At the time, he was spending his weekends in England with the man who would become his husband, the late actor and director Roger Rees. With this new relationship in mind, Rick decided to stay in New York, thinking, “When I’m 30 or something, I’ll go back to acting; that will be when I’m old enough to be considered for the parts I really want to play anyway.” But by then, he no longer thought about returning to the stage.

After 17 extremely successful years in the advertising world, Rick was working for The Walt Disney Company when he received what would prove to be a life-changing call. It was from one of his former clients, asking if he would like to write a musical with the music of the Four Seasons. “Oh, I love Vivaldi; what a great idea,” said Rick. “Not Vivaldi,” the client replied, “Franki Valli and the Four Seasons!” Elice called his friend, screenwriter and director Marshall

Roger Rees (left)

Finding Roger: An Improbably Theatrical

Brickman, and asked him to get involved. “I’ve never done it before,”

and Rick Elice ’79.

Love Story. “We were together for the better part of 33 years, and still would

Brickman said. “Neither have I,” Elice retorted, “but they’re not paying us anything, so we’ll only be wasting our own time!” The

be if he were alive,” Rick says. “When he died, the response from

result was the hit musical Jersey Boys, which opened on Broadway

around the world was overwhelming. There wasn’t anyone he

in 2005 and ran until January 2017. It won the 2006 Tony Award

worked with who didn’t love him. I was very moved by that, and also

for Best Musical, and Elice and Brickman were nominated for Best

I was struck by the thought that even though Roger was a public

Book. Elice went on to write two more award-winning Broadway

person, most of our lives together was a private existence. So I

shows: The Addams Family and Peter and the Starcatcher.

Meditating on his professional trajectory, Rick muses: “I’d love to be able to tell you that I had a master plan—but I didn’t! I just

thought I would write something about him. He was so innately modest, he would have hated the idea, but I wanted to give people more knowledge of him. And, of course, it was also rather

took what came along. And then, when I got a bit older, I decided

therapeutic for me, because it brought him back to life for a period

to do only the things that I felt most passionate about. I try to take

of time.”

every opportunity to perform, but most of my time is spent with my laptop and my legal pad, trying to get the right words in the right order.” Rick’s current projects include the books for two musicals, one based on the life of Cher, and the other on the board game Monopoly; a show about two mountain climbers from different eras 92

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Among all the various projects in Rick’s vibrant and diverse portfolio, he still says that, in the end, it’s theater that he loves: “There is an eternal optimism about the theater that makes the rest of the world seem less unbearable.”

—Lynda A.H. Paul ’17, MUS ’12

Alumni Notes Table, a networking group for those in film, theatre, television, and the performing arts, which meets regularly at the Players Club. ● Edith Tarbescu ’76 writes: “I recently completed a mystery titled One Will: Three Wives. My one-woman play called Suffer Queen was produced in New York. It’s about Rosie Ahearn Keen of Dublin, Ireland, who regales the audience about her mid-life crisis.” ● Joel Polis ’76 appeared in Disgraced by Ayad Akhtar at Coachella Valley Repertory Theatre in Spring 2017. ● Steve Pollock’s ’76 company, Auerbach Pollock Friedlander, celebrated its 45th anniversary in July, coinciding with his 32nd year in theater consulting. The firm has grown from 6 to nearly 50 consultants, working in a half dozen locations— auerbachconsultants.com. ● Christine Estabrook ’76 played the mother in Paramount Network’s new series, American Woman, set in 1975. Her character’s daughter is blossoming into a career during the women’s movement. “I had some of the same conversations with my own mother,” says Christine. “Only now I’m the mother!” ● “For my retirement year it’s been a pretty busy one and I may be putting it off a bit longer still,” writes Julie Haber ’77. “After taking over the final few weeks of Derek Del Gaudio’s amazing magic show, In and Of Itself, at the Geffen Playhouse, I had the pleasure of stage managing the hilarious Lend Me a Tenor at La Mirada, starring Colette Kilroy ’88, and then worked on an outstanding revival of Sam Shepard’s Fool For Love at Magic Theatre, where it had originated in 1983.

As I write this, I’m in the middle of the run of Constellations at the Geffen and leave immediately after for Santa Cruz and All My Sons. A premiere of John Kolvenbach’s play Reel to Reel at Magic Theatre follows at the beginning of 2018. And then maybe retirement? I guess as long as interesting projects continue to crop up, retirement can wait.” ● Laurence Gewirtz ’77 participated in the Twelfth International Conference on the Arts in Society at The American University of Paris in June 2017.

He attended as recipient of a professional development grant from New York University School of Professional Studies,

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23

24

25 a Tenor. Julie Haber ’77 (back, second from right) stage managed, and Colette Kilroy ’88 (back, third from left) played Julia, the Opera Guild Chairwoman. Photo courtesy of MRE Photography.

26 22 Andrew Carson ’79 leaving Long Beach on one of his hand built recumbent bikes.

25 Drew Kufta ’77 managed the construction of a walkway in Costa Rica as a part of a 20-year conservation project.

23 (left to right) Liz Saydah, Maya Lynne Robinson, Arash Mokhtar, and Joel Polis ’76 in Ayad Akhtar’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Disgraced, at Coachella Valley Repertory Theatre.

26 (left to right) Kristin Davis, Charles Turner ’70, and Cynthia Nixon backstage during Manhattan Theatre Club’s revival of The Little Foxes.

24 The cast and crew of La Mirada Theatre’s production of Lend Me

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27 31

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36 27 Charles Steckler ’71 retired last summer from Union College’s Department of Theatre and Dance.

32

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28 Marty Lafferty ’72 in the Chesapeake Bay during production of a safe-boating video sponsored by the US Coast Guard.

29 Edith Tarbescu ’76 at work on a new play.

30 Mark W. Travis ’70 with Elsha Taya Bohnert, his partner at the Travis Story Center in Los Angeles.

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Alumni Notes 31 John Rothman ’75 as Mr. Hardcastle in TACT’s Off-Broadway production of She Stoops to Conquer.

32 Walter Dallas ’71.

Photo Paul Siler.

33 William Otterson ’76 as The Philosopher in Master Class in Suicide Notes Writing at the 2017 Annual Radioactive Festival of Female Playwrights in New York. Photo by Shane Maritch.

34 Joseph Capone ’76 directed Between Us: The Secret Life of Edith Wharton, written and performed by Jean Burton Walker, at Theatre 54 at Shelter Studios. Photo by J. Vincent.

35 Robertson Dean ’79 as Antony in David Kaplan’s ’79 production of Antony and Cleopatra in Ankara, Turkey, with the Temple of Dendur in the background. Photo by Ride Hamilton.

36 A look inside Michael Lassell’s ’76 new book, Disney Aladdin: A Whole New World: The Road to Broadway and Beyond, published last year.

where he teaches acting. Laurence is also director of The 4th Wall Actors Workshop in New York City. ● “Life takes interesting turns,” reports Drew Kufta ’77. “After working with The Connecticut Ballet for a few years, I ended up in the architecture and construction management business.

For the last 20 years, I’ve been involved in a conservation project in Costa Rica where I managed the construction of Central America’s first rainforest canopy walkway system, which stretched 300 feet across a river and is 270 feet above the forest floor.

More recently I managed the restoration of Mory’s on York Street, and for the last four years I’ve been managing the renovations and improvements to the Connecticut Tennis Center, including new locker rooms, new media spaces, and totally renovated administrative spaces. The knowledge and critical thinking skills that I gained at the Drama School have been a daily part of each and every one of these projects.” ● Last season Dennie Gordon ’78 directed Empire, Power, and the new Noah Hawley series, Legion, starring Dan Stevens, Aubrey Plaza, Jean Smart, and Bill Irwin. “I am now headed to New Mexico, to direct Waco, a mini-series starting Michael Shannon, Taylor Kitsch, and John Leguizamo,” says Dennie. “I’m looking forward to working with Billie Bob Thornton on Goliath later this summer. As always, I feel privileged to continue to work with such wonderful actors.” ● Bob Eimicke ’79 is associate general counsel at New York Presbyterian Hospital. He played Dad in My Dad Dumped Jesus at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater, an original sketch comedy written by Jared Eimicke, Bob’s son. ● “My professional life is all about my bike,” says Andrew Carson ’79. “I’m planning a second TransAm bike trip for the summer of 2018, Seattle to New York. My recumbent bikes are hand-built using problem-solving techniques I learned at YSD. Your education takes you to unlikely places!” ● Walt Klappert ’79 produced three play readings for Yale Cabaret Hollywood (YCH) in 2017: God, By Another Name by Robert Barnett ’89, directed by Fred Sanders YC ’77, Mr. Wolf by Paavo Hall ’79, and

Dr. Arthur Goldman’s Birthday Party by William Ludel ’73, directed by Nick Hormann ’73. Dyanne Asimow ’67 and Obi Ndefo ’97, YC ’94 still serve on the YCH board with Walt. Walt also came out of his short retirement and is now doing motion picture lot tours at Warner Bros.

Studios. The new job gives him a bigger golf cart than all his retired friends have. ● David Kaplan ’79 began a two-year rehearsal process for Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra in Ankara, Turkey, last March.

Robertson Dean ’79 plays Antony, along with stars from the Turkish National Theater and the National Theater of Ghana.

In September, a public performance of the work’s progress (up to act III, scene 2) took place at Provincetown Town Hall. David’s production from Ghana of Tennessee Williams’s Ten Blocks on the Camino Real toured to Detroit and Ann Arbor, Michigan, thanks to Kate Mendeloff ’80. ● Andrew Jackness ’79 is production designing for the third season of Blindspot and the Julian Fellowes film The Chaperone, directed by Michael Engler ’85 with costumes by Andrew’s wife, Candice Donnelly ’85. He’s on his 20th year teaching film design at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.

1980

s

Jaylene Graham Wallace ’86 shared that this year some or all of her family have worked as Scout camp counselors, viewed an eclipse, went back to school, built a pergola in the backyard, moved to Fort Collins, then home again, started dating someone, celebrated 26 years of wedded bliss, lost a mom, built a lot of window displays, learned to knit, bought a car, grew amazing tomatoes, and thought of YSD friends fondly and often. ● John Gould Rubin ’80 writes, “In Summer 2016 I created, produced, and directed Turn Me Loose about the late comic/ activist/diet expert/presidential candidate Dick Gregory, starring Joe Morton, at the Westside Theatre Off-Broadway, with designers Chris Barreca ’83, Stephen C.

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Alumni Notes Strawbridge ’83 (Faculty), and Susan Hilferty ’80. The production traveled to the Wallis Annenberg Center in LA in Fall 2017. I directed American Buffalo in August at the Dorset Theatre Festival in Dorset, Vermont, starring Treat Williams and Stephen Adly Guirgis and again collaborating with designers Chris Barreca and Stephen C. Strawbridge.” ● Kate Mendeloff ’80 collaborated with classmate David Kaplan ’79 to bring his production of Ten Blocks on the Camino Real, performed by the National Drama Company of Ghana, to Ann Arbor and Detroit in September. They are staging productions in farmers markets in both cities and will lead workshops at University of Michigan. ● James Gage ’80 is lead designer for Visions In Light (vilcreations. com) in Cincinnati, Ohio. He recently finalized architectural sculpture designs in Tallahassee and Seminole, Florida, and Silver Spring, Maryland. Last fall marked James’s 31st year as resident lighting designer and head of the BFA and MFA design programs at the CollegeConservatory of Music at University of Cincinnati. His students have won seven Emmy Awards for Entertainment Lighting Design. ● Susan Hilferty ’80 was nominated for a Tony Award for her costume designs for Present Laughter. She happily lost to Jane Greenwood (Faculty) who won for The Little Foxes after 20 previous Tony nominations! ● Mark Bly ’80 was at the Kennedy Center in the summer of 2017 as the dramaturg for Kenneth Lin’s ’05 newest play, The Kleptocrats, about a young Putin and his nemesis, the billionaire Khodorkovsky, directed by Jackson Gay ’02. Mark also served during the summer as the director of the Dramaturgy Intensive of the Kennedy Center/National New Play Network Playwriting Workshop for the seventh straight year. ● Rita Ryack ’80 is working on an as yet untitled movie for Barry Levinson, starring Al Pacino. She is also designing costumes for Girls of the Golden West, a new John Adams opera at San Francisco Opera, directed by Peter Sellars, with David Gropman ’77 (sets) and James F. Ingalls ’75 (lighting). ● 9 6

Allan Havis ’80 writes: “London’s Methuen/Bloomsbury will publish the third volume of my American Political Plays: In the Age of Terrorism in 2018. I was commissioned by San Diego City Opera to write the libretto for Saint Frances de los Barrio, composed by Joseph Waters MUS ’82. Workshops of the opera took place in March 2017 and last fall.” ● Last summer, Eve Gordon ’81 played Duke Senior in the Antaeus Theatre Company production of As You Like It. ● Geoff Cohen ’83 recently worked on mounting a new event called Pip’s Island with fellow Yale grads scenic designer John Coyne ’97 (Former Faculty), associate costume designer Stephen Rotramel ’15, assistant production manager Geoff Boronda ’13, and special effects associate Elizabeth Zevin ’14. ● Michael Bianco’s ’84 company, ELF Productions, builds and installs Christmas sets in malls all over the country. ● Robert Wierzel ’84 (Faculty) is designing the lighting for Analogy: A Trilogy, a full evening piece conceived and directed by Bill T. Jones for the Lincoln Center Festival in Summer 2018. Also upcoming in May at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego is A Thousand Splendid Suns, a new play by Ursula Rani Sarma, adapted from the novel

by Khaled Hosseini, with costumes by Linda Cho ’98. He also designed the lighting for We Shall Not Be Moved, a new opera with music composed by Daniel Bernard Roumain, libretto by Marc Bamuthi Joseph, and directed and choreographed

by Bill T. Jones, which was produced at Opera Philadelphia and the Apollo Theater last October. He is a guest lecturer at YSD in design. ● Linda-Jo Greenberg ’84 shares: “Having passed my fifth year at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, I continue to enjoy and be challenged by my work. All businesses need good stage managers!

Recently it was great fun to rent space at Seattle Children’s Theater for a staff retreat and share my theater-insider view with my team.” ● Jayne Atkinson-Gill ’85 writes: “My husband, Michel Gill, and I are so proud of our son Jeremy who just graduated from Interlochen Arts Academy and is a working actor playing the fool in King Lear at

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Interlochen. I appeared in Sara Ruhl’s (Faculty) The Clean House at Williamstown Theatre Festival, directed by Rebecca Taichman ’00. Wonderful to be back in Williamstown again! Laila Robins ’84 and Jane Kaczmarek ’82 were there, too! Old home week! I also appeared in Season 5 of House of Cards. I am so grateful and happy

“I am so grateful and happy for my adventure—and love-filled life!”

— j ayn e at kin s on -gil l ’85

for my adventure—and love-filled life!” ● Gayle Maurin ’85 has taken on a major corporate fundraising project with Medecins Sans Frontieres/Doctors Without Borders. She is in her third year as the inaugural president of the 50 Vanderbilt Foundation, the nonprofit arm of the Yale Club of New York. ● Art Borreca ’86, DFA ’93 is entering his 20th year leading the Iowa Playwrights Workshop. Since 2008, he has been co-head of the program with Dare Clubb ’82, DFA ’91. Art is also artistic director of the Iowa New Play Festival, the country’s oldest universitybased new works festival. Len Berkman ’63, DFA ’70 is a regular guest playwright/dramaturg for the Festival. Art is a core faculty member in dramaturgy at Hollins University’s MFA Playwrights Lab in Roanoke, Virginia. His wife, Alison, is a licensed psychologist in private practice.

They have a 19-year-old daughter, Elliana Qiulu Borreca, and an 8-year-old son, Thomas Xiaofeng Borreca. ● Jan Breslauer ’86 continues to practice entertainment law in Southern California, specializing in film, television, performing arts, and non-profits. Her clients include YSD alums and a broad spectrum of Hollywood producers and creatives, as well as many artists and arts institutions. She is

Alumni Notes

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38

41

42

39

43

44 37 Robert David Grant ’13 starring in Northern Stage’s production of Macbeth, directed by Stephen Brown-Fried ’05 with scenic design

by Bill Clarke ’87, costume design

by Moira Sine Clinton ’09, and stage management by Victoria Whooper ’16. Photo by Rob Strong.

38 Campbell Dalglish ’86 wrote and directed Road Kill, a short film starring Julie Fain Lawrence ’93.

39 Cheryl Mintz ’87, resident production stage manager at McCarter Theatre, with playwright Nilo Criz. Photo by Matt Pilsner for McCarter Theatre.

40

45

46

40 Celebrating the holidays (left to right): William Wallace, Jaylene Graham Wallace ’86, Phillip and David Wallace.

Photo by Glenda Hastey.

44 (left to right) Kristine Nielsen ’80, Susan Hilferty ’80, Reg Rogers ’93, and Kate Burton ’82 on closing night of Broadway’s Present Laughter.

41 Art Borreca ’86, DFA ’93

45 Jackson Gay ’02 and Timothy Douglas ’86 at the Sundance Institute’s Directors Lab in Arles, France.

42 Timothy Douglas ’86 (fourth from right) during an audience talkback for his production of Ayad Akhtar’s Disgraced in China.

43 Kate Mendeloff ’80 and Robertson Dean ’79 in Provincetown.

46 (left to right) Jane Kaczmarek ’82, Laila Robins ’84, and Kate Burton ’82 in Williamstown last summer.

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50 47 Anne Hamburger ’86, founder and artistic director of En Garde Arts, premiered Harbored at the River to River Festival in June 2017. The production was written and directed

by Jimmy Maize and associate produced by A.Z. Kelsey ’11 with set design by Meredith Ries ’13.

48 (left to right) Danny Johnson, Stephanie Berry, André De Shields, Rachel Leslie, Billy Eugene Jones ’03, and Wayne T. Carr in August Wilson’s Seven Guitars at Yale Rep. The production, which also featured Antoinette CroweLegacy ’18, was directed by Timothy Douglas ’86.

Photo by Joan Marcus.

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51 49 An architectural sculpture of light in Tallahassee, Florida, designed by James H. Gage ’80, lead designer at Visions in Light.

50 One of the Christmas displays built by Michael Bianco’s ’84 company, ELF Productions.

51 Susan Hilferty ’80 and Rebecca Taichman ’00 at the Tony Awards after-party.

Alumni Notes honored to serve with her classmate, actress Amy Aquino ’86, on the board of Arts For LA, the premier arts advocacy organization in Los Angeles. ● In November and December of 2016, Timothy Douglas ’86 directed August Wilson’s Seven Guitars at Yale Rep, featuring André De Shields, Billy Eugene Jones ’03, and Antoinette Crowe-Legacy ’18. In Spring 2017 he went on tour in China with his production of Ayad Akhtar’s Disgraced. ● Road Kill, a short film written and directed by Campbell Dalglish ’86 and starring Julie Lawrence-Edsell ’93, has screened in over 20 international film festivals, winning top awards in six of them. Campbell continues to run the Plaza Cinema and Media Arts Center in Patchogue, Long Island, while writing The Commune, a 13-episode TV pilot that has been a top finalist in three competitions: Cinequest, Filmmakers 1st TV Script Writing Competition, and New York Film and TV Festival. ● Adam Versényi’s ’86, DFA ’90, YC ’80 translation of Chilean playwright/director Ramón Griffero’s latest play, Prometheus, the Beginning, was commissioned by Joan Robbins ’86, DFA ’91 for Ohio Northern University’s International Play Festival in April 2017.

He received a Travis Bogard Artist in Residence Fellowship at the Eugene O’Neill Tao House in Danville, California, in June 2017, and he published a chapter in Adapting Translation for the Stage. Adam continues to chair the Department of Dramatic Art at UNC-Chapel Hill and serve as senior dramaturg at PlayMakers Repertory Company where this season he is the dramaturg for Molière’s Tartuffe and Leaving Eden, a newly commissioned piece

by Mike Wiley. ● Anne Hamburger ’86, founder and artistic director of En Garde Arts, premiered Harbored as part of the River to River Festival in June 2017, presented by Arts Brookfield and the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council at Brookfield Place. It was written and directed by Jimmy Maize and associate produced by A.Z. Kelsey ’11, with set design by Meredith Reis ’13. More than 60 performers told stories from the history of immigration and the search for the

American dream. A phone booth on the set allowed passersby to record their own immigration stories. Annie recently moved to Brooklyn from Westchester. ● Cheryl Mintz ’87, McCarter Theatre’s resident production stage manager, enjoyed a season filled with world premieres beginning with Nilo Cruz’s Bathing in Moonlight, directed by Emily Mann, which marked Cheryl’s fourth collaboration with Nilo. The spring found McCarter’s Production Department putting three well-appointed train cars onstage for the world premiere of Ken Ludwig’s Murder on the Orient Express, also directed by Emily Mann. Rounding out the season for Cheryl was Intimate Apparel by Lynn Nottage ’89 (Former Faculty) and McCarter’s new production of A Christmas Carol. Cheryl was featured in Actors’ Equity News special issue on stage management. ● “2016 and 2017 have been amazing years,” reports Barbara Lee Bragg ’87.

She was guest star on American Horror Story and played a doctor on a sci-fi series called Space Command. She also launched her own production company, is writing two television pilots, and is shooting a webisode called Bitches Be Trippin. ● For Bill Clarke ’87, last season began with a very strong contemporary production of Macbeth at Northern Stage, directed by Stephen Brown-Fried ’05 (Faculty). He later designed for Constellations at the Rep Theater of St. Louis, directed by Steve Woolf and featuring Eric Gilde ’07, YC ’04. Last summer he returned to the new White Heron Theatre on Nantucket for a new musical called Sea Wife, as well as for Outside Mullingar and another production of Constellations. Last fall he designed for Jeff Hatcher’s Holmes and Watson at Milwaukee Rep, his first post-YSD collaboration with lighting designer classmate Michael Chybowski ’87. ● Rick Butler ’88 recently completed Season 1 of Time After Time for ABC/Warner, and is currently designing The Who Was Show for Netflix.

He continues to teach production design at St. John’s University in Queens and is dedicating this year’s work to the memory of William B. Warfel ’57, YC ’55

(Former Faculty) and to all his great teachers, mentors, and guides. ● Robert Barnett ’89 is still working away as a playwright and now as a novelist. He finished God, By Another Name, which had a reading last October at Yale Cabaret Hollywood, produced by Walt Klappert ’79 and directed by Fred Sanders YC ’77. He is working on a new play, Sleeping With the Dead, about a man with AIDS who returns to his less-thanwelcoming family to die as his brother runs for political office. “I also had a showcase reading in New York of my politically charged play The Hiroshima Daughter last fall,” Bob reports. “And if that isn’t enough, I’m finishing up my first novel, The Silent Brother.”

1990s Linda (Sithole) Kuriloff ’91 and Robert Beatty ’91 made a short film, Elevator Lesson, which won an NYC Indie Award and was a Los Angeles CineFest semi-finalist.

Linda played Ruby Jackson in a successful run of On Strivers Row at the Metropolitan Playhouse last spring. ● “It’s been a great year,” writes Jim van Bergen ’91. “In addition to mixing and designing corporate events for Tom Bussey ’94, Jack Hilley ’08, Karen Hashley ’10, and Jenna Woods ’10, I also got to mix a very special gig with a system designed by Nathaniel Hare ’06 from Clair Global. I spent nearly six months on Come From Away, directed by Christopher Ashley YC ’86 in Toronto and on Broadway, and I worked on Broadway’s 1984 with Christopher Cronin ’96, Michael Potts ’92, and Darren Shaw ’97. I mixed a few events for TV, but my favorite is always the broadcast mix of Puppy Bowl on Animal Planet for Super Bowl Sunday. My wife, Annette Jolles YC ’91, and I are currently producers for Broadway’s The Play That Goes Wrong as part of Bard Theatricals.” ● Charles Evered ’91 will direct a feature film adaptation of his play Class, which was produced in Los Angeles and New York. In addition, Charles founded a nonprofit artist residency specifically for

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Alumni Notes It can be tempting to define stage managers as the people who

wisdom; context, which states that the environment in which we

organize, set up, and manage a production. Narda E. Alcorn ’95,

work determines the stylistic approaches we use; and culture, which

however, believes this perception is reductive, and she strives to

is the capacity of the stage manager to diagnose the cultural

re-conceive the profession through her work as a professor and

dynamics that shape the production. For example, I recently did a

practitioner. Narda has taught stage management at SUNY

reading of Children of a Lesser God, a play with a deaf protagonist,

Purchase (2001–11) and DePaul University (2011–16), and last year

and it was really important for me to gain an understanding of deaf

Staging Art Narda E. Alcorn ’95

she became the first

culture in order to be effective as a manager in that room.” Narda

head of Stage

argues that when stage managers begin to think about their role

Management

artistically as opposed to administratively, they can better “create

Training at NYU Tisch

an environment for the creative process” that is specific to each production and each team.

Narda’s way of conceptualizing stage management stems from her work in the field, which includes managing some of Broadway’s most influential productions of the last two decades. For 11 years, she was a part of the stage management team for The Lion King.

She worked on the last two Broadway revivals of Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, four August Wilson premieres, and two Wilson revivals. It is her early work with Wilson and Lloyd Richards HON ’79 (Former Dean) that she credits with developing her current philosophy of stage management. “I always felt like an artistic collaborator. My work with August helped shape both my work ethic and my aesthetic,” she remembers. “During the first Off-Broadway production of Jitney, August used to say that the phone was another character because when it rings it’s always very specific. And it was my hand that controlled when the phone rang. It wasn’t pre-recorded. I wasn’t calling a cue. I was literally pressing the button myself. I had to breathe with my actors onstage because I was a part of the moment.”

Narda stresses the importance of really listening to her collaborators. In the American theater, the stage manager is often the only person from the artistic team who remains with the production from start to finish. Discerning the director and design team’s intentions is the best way to orchestrate those artistic moments once those individuals are gone. “I have to do the work to understand and execute my collaborators’ visions,” she explains.

Narda E. Alcorn ’95

School of the Arts. “Stage manage-

with August Wilson.

ment is taught poorly in this country when it focuses only on the stage manager as a person who fulfills tasks,”

“That’s where my artistry comes in.”

The value of collaboration is something Narda says she learned very early on at YSD. “Karen Carpenter (Former Faculty), who was the head of the stage management program while I was at Yale,

says Narda. “My work aims to show that the stage manager is a

did many of the early Wilson plays. And she worked with the same

thinker, an imaginer, an artist, as well as a manager.” Narda is

group each time. Explicitly or implicitly, she instilled in me the

currently co-writing a book about stage management theory with

importance of cultivating relationships, that these are the people

former classmate Lisa Porter ’95 titled Stage Management Theory

you continue to grow with personally and artistically.” Narda’s work

as a Guide to Practice: Cultivating a Creative Approach.

on the stage and in the classroom espouses this collective spirit,

Narda’s pedagogy is rooted in theoretical models without which

embracing the unique contribution that she and other stage

she believes a stage manager misses key avenues for supporting

managers can offer when they approach their craft as a relationship

artistic creation. She says, “The theories that I work with include

cultivator, as a conductor of live theatrical moments, and, most

vision, which is the ability to think and plan with imagination and

importantly, as an artist. —Taylor Barfield ’16, DFA cand.

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Alumni Notes military veterans and those who serve in conflict zones, combat photographers, war reporters, etc. Named after his father, the “Charles J. Evered House” is opening in January of 2018 and is located near Joshua Tree State Park, east of Los Angeles. If you’d like to volunteer for the residency or would like more information, please write: info@cjehouse.org. ● Sarahbeth Grossman ’91 received her second Tony nomination as a producer for Indecent, written by Paula Vogel (Former Faculty). The production, which began at Yale Rep, was nominated for Best Play and garnered Awards for Rebecca Taichman ’00 (Best Director) and Christopher Ackerlind ’89 (Best in Lighting Design). Sarahbeth’s previous nomination was for An American in Paris, which is currently a hit both on the U.S. tour and at the Dominion Theatre in London’s West End. ● Lisa Wilde ’91, DFA ’95 is resident dramaturg at Rep Stage in Columbia, Maryland, working on lots of new plays. ● Benjamin Thoron ’92 has been promoted to the newly created position of production manager at San Diego’s Old Globe Theatre. He’s been at the Old Globe since 1994, first as the associate technical director, and then as technical director since 2000. His wife, Patti Saraniero, who was at the La Jolla Playhouse and the Old Globe, now runs her own firm, Moxie Research, providing program evaluation and arts education research. They’re still in the midst of parenting three boys, ages 11 to 21. ● James Kall ’93 writes: “I thankfully became a U.S./Canadian dual citizen a few years back, married my partner of 22 years, and continue to live and work as an actor and director in Toronto. I recently enjoyed a year-long run as George in the Toronto production of Kinky Boots, directed by Jerry Mitchell, and I will return to the Royal Alexandra Theatre as Nick in Come From Away, directed by Christopher Ashley. My other recent gigs include guest roles on Salvation (CBS), Suits (USA Network), Murdoch Mysteries (CBC/UK), and in the films Lolz-ita and Business Ethics with Lance Reddick ’94. I have had the pleasure of directing five shows in the past

few years at a variety of professional theaters in the Toronto area. It is always a joy to see YSD friends when they find themselves ‘North of the Border.’” ● Craig Mathers ’93 played Ed Boone in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the NightTime at SpeakEasy Stage Company in Boston in the fall. ● Jessica (Mann) Gutteridge ’94 writes, “Last spring I was

“It’s exciting to be able to use my legal and business background as well as my theater experience to help guide the company.”

— jessica (mann) gutteridge ’94

appointed managing director of Carousel Theatre for Young People (CTYP) in Vancouver, where I had been education manager for the previous two seasons. It’s exciting to be able to use my legal and business background as well as my theater experience to help guide the company. In between learning the ropes and taking a class in accounting, I had the pleasure of serving as dramaturg for Good Day and Good Night, CTYP’s recent production for newborns to 3-year-olds. Corin Gutteridge ’96 and I are still thrilled to have made the move to Vancouver, as are our three sons. If you’re passing through town, please swing by to say hello!” ● Sarah Knowlton ’94 is a therapist in private practice in Beverly Hills specializing in sexual health. ● Jean Randich ’94

went Wilde with The Importance of Being Earnest at the Connecticut Repertory Theatre in Fall 2017. With Connie Winston, Jean co-wrote Down on Griffin Alley, which she and Robert Murphy ’96 developed with support from Collider Theater, Dixon Place, and Bennington College. ● Bob Schneider ’94, DFA ’97 reports: “My students performed a short protest play I wrote for the Science Day march in DeKalb—all the characters are cephalopods. Otherwise it’s been a year for academic writing. My son and I are currently collaborating on a piece for TDR: The Drama Review about the Japanese theater genre taishū engeki.” ● Bo Foxworth ’94 played Robert McNamara in the HBO movie All the Way and also acted in an episode of Veep and in the movie I Hate Kids. On stage he performed in back-to-back productions of Amadeus and All the Way at South Coast Rep. He received an LA Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Featured Performance and a Stage Raw Award for Best Male Comedy Performance in Antaeus Theatre Company’s production of Cloud 9. At the time of writing, he was in his fourth sold-out month of Robert Schenkkan’s new play, Building the Wall, at the Fountain Theatre in Los Angeles. ● Suzanne Cryer ’95, YC ’88 lives in LA with her husband and three children. She is a series regular on HBO’s Silicon Valley, which recently received its fourth consecutive Emmy nomination for Outstanding Comedy Series. She appears in Matthew Wilder’s YC ’89 new film, Regarding the Case of Joan of Arc. ● Robert Zoland’s ’95 family business, Zoland Diamonds & Jewelry, which dates back to the 1920s, was featured on the pilot episode of ABC News’s Behind the Business in June 2017. ● Eric Rimes ’95 has been teaching lighting technology at UNC School of the Arts for the past 13 years. He is also working on the national tours of Wicked and Phantom of the Opera. ● David Feiner ’95, YC ’90 reports: “Albany Park Theater Project, the youth theater ensemble I co-founded in Chicago in 1997, celebrates its 20th anniversary this year.

Last year, we were honored to receive a

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52 K.K. Moggie and Ted Koch in Jeff Talbott’s ’96 play, The Gravedigger’s Lullaby, which had its world premiere production Off-Broadway at The Actors Company Theatre. Photo by Marielle Sloan.

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53 Eleanor Holdridge ’97 directed Fickle: A Fancy French Farce, a new adaptation by Meg Miroshnik ’11 of Marivaux’s The Double Inconstancy, at Olney Theatre Center.

54 Chris Weida’s ’95 children: (left to right) Danny (10), Connor (15), Alex (17), and Emily (13).

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55 Julius Galacki ’98 and Stephanie Nash ’88 at the 2017 YSD alumni party at the home of Asaad Kelada ’64.

Alumni Notes

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65 56 Mahayana Landowne ’98 at the Women Stage the World Parade in Times Square.

57 (left to right) Harold Wolpert, Karyl Newman ’96, and Gary Murphy at the opening for Edward Albee’s At Home at the Zoo at the Wallis Anneberg Center for the Performing Arts. Karyl designed the set and costumes.

Photo by Paige Petrone.

58 A workshop production of Down on Griffin Alley, a new play by Jean Randich ’94 and Connie Wilson.

59 Ed Blunt ’99 travels throughout the United States and internationally speaking about personal and financial empowerment. Photo by Bob Wove.

60 Paula Vogel (Former Faculty) and Sarahbeth Grossman ’91 at the 2017 Tony Awards.

61 Linda Kuriloff ’91 as Ruby Jackson in On Strivers Row at the Metropolitan Playhouse.

66 62 Linda Kuriloff ’91 and Robert Beatty ’91 in the short film, Elevator Lesson, which won a 2017 NYC Indie Film Award.

63 James Shanklin ’97 in Season Two of Too Close To Home.

64 (left to right) Director Leah C. Gardiner ’96, playwright Melissa James Gibson ’95, and designer Louisa Thompson ’98 were honored at Soho Rep’s 2017 Spring Fete.

65 Mark H. Dold ’96, York Kennedy ’90, and Tom Pecinka ’15 during Hartford Stage’s production of Cloud Nine by Caryl Churchill.

66 Bo Foxworth ’94 as Kathy/Clive in Antaeus Theatre Company’s production of Cloud 9.

MacArthur Award for Creative & Effective Institutions. Our youth ensemble also premiered its most ambitious production yet, Learning Curve, an immersive performance that places audiences within the walls of a Chicago public high school and in the shoes of its students. A collaboration with Brooklyn’s Third Rail Projects and performed by an ensemble of 40 teens, Learning Curve transformed the shuttered school into a 20,000 square-foot performance space and was the only piece to appear on the top 10 list of every major Chicago theater in 2016. APTP has recently launched two new projects: a theater program in Stateville Maximum Security Prison, and a multi-year, multi-national collaboration with Common Wealth, a theater company based in the UK.” ● Mercedes Herrero ’95 writes: “I ended my two-year run of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (800 performances!) and did a third season of House of Cards (my character now has a name: Vanessa Morrison, inspired by one of the crew ladies).

Last spring I was a visiting professor at Bennington College, where I taught two acting courses alongside fellow Yalies Jean Randich ’94 and Kirk Jackson ’88. It’s been challenging and exciting, and I’m thrilled to venture into new waters. Love to all!” ● Chris Weida ’95 is living in Milwaukee, watching time fly by! “Alex turns 18 in February and will graduate this next school year. Connor turned 16 and is just a grade behind him. Emily (13) finishes 8th grade this year, and Danny (10) is in 5th.

Lots of college visits, ACT prep, AP classes, Driver’s Ed, volleyball, softball, and swim club in our house these days...not much time for anything else! Rosanne went back to teaching last year after a 16-year hiatus.

I’m still at Derse Exhibits in the Corporate Operations Group, handling contract negotiation and special projects and working on the house in any spare time.” ● Alec Hammond ’96 writes: “Amy Stevens Hammond and I have remained married for 20 years. Marrying her is still the best thing I’ve done. Designers almost never get to work near where they live, and amidst the turmoil of work-related separation we are raising, or being raised by (often it is

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67 Mahayana Landowne ’98 performing her project, #Reframe, at Miami Art Basel, an annual art fair in Miami Beach, Florida.

68 David Yick-Koppel ’98 as Flanders Kittredge with Katherine Adrian as Ouisa in The Western Stage’s production of John Guare’s ’63 (Former Faculty) Six Degrees of Separation. Photo by Richard Green.

69 Jennie Israel ’96 as Queen Isabella in Actors’ Shakespeare Project’s production of Edward II by Christopher Marlowe. Photo by Nile Scott Shots.

70 The Charles J. Evered House, named after Charles Evered’s ’91 father, opened in January 2018 near Joshua Tree State Park east of Los Angeles.

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71 Lisa Wilde ’91, DFA ’95 72 Robert Perry ’99 73 A drawing of Bob Schneider ’94, DFA ’97 by Alley Scott, artistic director of Dutch Kills Theater Company, where Bob’s play about Emily Dickinson, Zero at the Bone, was read.

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hard to tell) two teenagers, Max and Christopher. We have yet to kick them out of the house and most of the time have no desire to do so. I’ve designed a handful of good plays, an opera or two, 30 films, and a couple of TV shows, done some good drawings and countless terrible ones, made a sculpture I am pleased with, written a couple of poems and stories that I show nobody, and recently lived for four months in Serbia. I teach a little, master classes mostly, having finally reached the point where I think I have something interesting, useful, and learned to share. I continue to work at being a father, husband, artist, and generally good human to varying degrees of success. Wishing everyone happiness and grand challenges. Hopefully as the years pass I will have more of an opportunity to see old friends.” ● Karyl Newman ’96 was thrilled to be back on campus as the 2016–17 Archibald Hanna Visiting Research Fellow at the Beinecke Library. The Paul Kagan Collection held new insights into the Llano del Rio colony, a socialist utopian experiment in the Mojave Desert where Karyl resides. To mark the 100-year anniversary of the colony’s last May Day celebration, she invited historians, artists, and musicians to the colony’s former holdings, an event made possible by a grant from California Humanities. She is currently developing Towards a Permanent Residence, a project honoring the life and work of little-known feminist city planner Alice Constance Austin. ● Leah C. Gardiner ’96 was honored at Soho Rep’s 2017 Spring Fête, alongside playwright Melissa James Gibson ’95 and designer Louisa Thompson ’98, for her “pioneering work” with the company, including her Obie Award-winning direction of debbie tucker green’s Born Bad. The event raised over $400,000 to support Soho Rep in a crucial year of transition. She says, “Soho Rep is an essential part of the city’s cultural landscape, making crazy important theater. I’ve been honored to work with them and was humbled by this recognition—especially in the company of two such phenomenal women and artists!” ● “After three years of working with the incomparable Preston Lane ’96 and Richard Whittington ’98, I am leaving my

Alumni Notes position as production manager of Triad Stage to finish my MBA and pursue other opportunities,” says Liza Vest ’97. “In the short term I am working with John Coyne ’97 on And So We Walked: An Artist’s Journey along the Trail of Tears, written by DeLanna Studi and directed by Corey Madden. I am also teaching Stage Management at Greensboro College.” ● Jeff Talbott ’96 writes: “My play The Gravedigger’s Lullaby received its worldpremiere production Off-Broadway at The Actors Company Theatre (TACT). Spring of 2018 will see two more premieres of my plays—Pioneer Theatre Company will produce i, and Montclair State University will produce Civics and Humanities for Non-Majors, which they commissioned. I continue to write musicals with composer Will Van Dyke, and I continue to act, returning to Cleveland Playhouse as I have for the last five years to do A Christmas Story.” ● Mark H. Dold ’96 and Tom Pecinka ’15 performed in Caryl Churchill’s Cloud 9 at Hartfold Stage. Lighting design was by York Kennedy ’90 and costumes were by Ilona Somogyi ’94 (Faculty). ● Tom Sellar ’97, DFA ’03 (Faculty) reports: “It has been a productive and exciting year. I’m still at YSD, this year teaching a seminar on contemporary global performance as well as Criticism Workshop and Editing and Publishing Workshop. I’ve had the pleasure of advising several excellent doctoral dissertations, and I edited two themed editions of Theater—one asked artists to reflect on theaters of the future, and the other looked at strategies for addressing political conflict and social change. I also curated the 2016 Prelude Festival at the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center with more than 30 performance projects and a series of public programs around the theme of failure—artistic, ethical, and national. I’m enjoying living in Brooklyn, where I run into YSD friends frequently!” ● James Shanklin ’97 recently completed a film called Hell Hath Enlarged Herself. He also appeared in the second season of Tyler Perry’s Too Close to Home and in a national commercial with Stephanie Nash ’88, who played his wife. ● Eleanor Holdridge ’97 achieved tenure

at The Catholic University of America, where she runs the graduate directing program. She directed the world premiere of Fickle: A Fancy French Farce, a new adaptation of Marivaux’s Double Inconstancy by Meg Miroshnik ’11 at the Olney Theatre Center, the second production of the rolling world premiere of Lauren Gunderson’s Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley at Round House Theatre, and Michael Frayn’s Copenhagen at Theater J. ● David Yick-Koppel ’98 played Flanders Kittredge in Western Stage’s fall production of John Guare’s ’63 (Former Faculty) satirical comedy, Six Degrees of Separation, and Judge Joseph Karesh in the world premiere of Tom McEnery’s drama, Swift Justice. The play, which is based on the true story of the 1933 Hart kidnapping and subsequent lynching in San Jose, California, was a benefit to provide scholarships for students at David’s high school, Bellarmine College Prep. It was produced at the Sobrato Center for Humanities and Arts on the Bellarmine campus in San Jose. The performances were dedicated to the memory of Tom Alessandri, Bellarmine’s long-time drama director, who passed away just days before rehearsals were to begin.

Former YSD movement instructor and Bellarmine alum Brendan McCall (Former Faculty) replaced Alessandri as director and also performed the role of Alex Hart. ● Julius Galacki ’98 was on the Dramatists’ Guild Best Practices Contests and Festivals committee. The guidelines they generated were published in the July/August issue of The Dramatist. His opinion essay “A Solution to Gender (and other) Inequality” also appeared in The Dramatist. His short film All Things Chicken received an Honorable Mention from the LA Underground Film Forum in 2016, and his short play Empty Slot was part of a one-act evening at the Electric Lodge in Venice, California. ● Mahayana Landowne ’98 shares: “I took two plays to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival: Life of the Party (an interactive party play) and Front Line (a onewoman musical). As an interactive performance artist, I brought my project #Reframe to Miami Art Basel. This year I will serve as co-chairwoman for the 11th

annual Board of NYC Dance Parade on May 19, 2018—celebrating the diversity of dance in New York with over 9,000 people dancing down Broadway. Another highlight was being selected to attend the Arts Action Academy with the Center for Artistic Activism. Please be in touch: yanaland@ yahoo.com. Wishing you all well in your life pursuits!” ● Robert Perry ’99 (married to Cynthia Kocher ’00) was awarded tenure as an associate professor of Lighting Design at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. ● Kathryn (Parrella) Calnan ’99 accepted a new position as the executive director of advancement at Massachusetts College of Art and Design in Boston, the oldest free-standing public art and design school in the country. “I have loved my simultaneous transition into visual arts and higher education,” she writes. “The environment at MassArt harkens back to my YSD days—a close-knit community of talented students, faculty, and staff, including a few fellow Yalies!” ● Ed Blunt ’99 continues to take the training received at YSD to new and creative heights.

Fresh off training over 4,000 entrepreneurs in Budapest, he is on a multi-city U.S. tour before heading to London. He feels privileged to be able to continue the work of personal and financial empowerment around the globe. Ed has also guest lectured at UConn, NYU, Barnard, and Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons, among others, and continues his prison ministry. ● Katherine Profeta ’99, DFA ’09, YC ’91 (Faculty) was absolutely thrilled to join the YSD faculty as a visiting associate professor of dramaturgy in Fall 2017. ● Esther Chae ’99 shares: “You can see me on the internet drama Guidance (AwesomenessTV. com). I’m also excited to be teaching Advanced Acting for Film & TV at the LA campus of Emerson College. And our baby just turned 2!”

2000s Christopher Baker ’01 accepted a new position as general counsel for Nations Lending Corporation of Ohio. He continues

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Alumni Notes to reside in Austin, Texas, but splits his time between offices there and in Cleveland. ● After several years as part-time faculty at the New School for Drama in the College of Performing Arts, Glynis Rigsby ’01 accepted a position as full-time faculty and program director for their BFA program, alongside Stephen Brown-Fried ’05 and Tea Alagic ’07. ● Derek Milman ’02 can be seen on the upcoming third season of the Hulu series The Path, opposite Hugh Dancy. Additionally, Derek’s debut Young Adult novel, Scream All Night, will be published in May 2018 by HarperCollins/ Balzer & Bray. ● Jenny Mannis ’02, YC ’96 writes: “I am living in Chicago with my husband, Henry Wishcamper, two kids, Nina and Cyrus, and our dog, Maud. I am working at the Goodman and Steppenwolf as well as regionally and in New York. I am also a founder and member of the Diversity and Equal Opportunity Committee of the USA 829 United Scenic Artists labor union. The Committee is dedicated to expanding employment for all designers.” ● Courtney (Todd) DiBello ’02 just completed a shared position with Oklahoma City University and Oklahoma City Ballet: “What a wonderful opportunity to be so involved with a professional ballet company while maintaining connections with colleagues and students at the University.” ● Now in his seventh season as Long Wharf’s managing director and his 11th at Long Wharf in total, Joshua Borenstein ’02 (Faculty) writes: “Downtown New Haven has really transformed into a vibrant urban village, and it’s nice to be a part of that revitalization.

My wife, Kate, is a litigator with a large firm here, and we have two beautiful daughters who are 11 and 4.” ● Clara Rice ’02 and Andrew Hlavac welcomed their second daughter, Charlotte Rose, on July 13, 2017.

She joins big sister Lily Jane, who is 2.

Clara recently celebrated 10 years with JRA, a theme park and museum design and realization studio, and she serves on the International Board of Directors for the Themed Entertainment Association. ● Sandra Goldmark ’04 and Michael Banta ’03 had another fun year of theater, teaching, kids, and fixing. Michael continues to serve as production manager at Barnard 10 6

College, where he was nominated for the Emily Gregory teaching award. He was recently certified in ETCP Theater and Arena Rigging. In 2017, Sandra designed the world premieres of The Book of Will in Denver and Vanity Fair in New York. She is an associate professor of professional practice at Barnard, where she was also recently named director of sustainability and environment. Sandra and Michael continue their work as founders of Pop Up Repair, which worked last spring with partners GrowNYC, Patagonia, and United War Veterans Council to reduce waste, create local jobs, and make it easy for people to care for what they have. ● Since his move to Marin, California, three years ago, John J. Hanlon ’04 has been involved in the local theater scene, mainly as an actor. He performs regularly with Theatre Lunatico, a company that specializes in intimate Shakespeare productions. He also played Michael Evans in Dancing at Lughnasa at Novato Theater Company in the spring of 2016. John’s translating work continues apace. In October, he participated in The Lark’s Russia/U.S. Playwright Exchange with a commissioned translation of Yulia Tupikina’s Inhale-Exhale, a play that certainly resonates with American audiences. ● Gia Forakis ’04 writes: “It was a shock to realize that 2017 marked the 10th year since I began teaching One-Thought-OneAction (OTOA)™ Performance Technique & Training (PTT). And even more of a shock that it’s been 15 years since OTOA first began to take form as my directorial aesthetic through my YSD verse project and my thesis. During these 15 years, as OTOA founder and master teacher, I’ve lead OTOA PTT workshops across the country and around the globe, and I’ve directed countless plays and projects with OTOA as my guiding principle. In 2011, we founded GF&CO, a studio-lab dedicated to the application of OTOA through art, ritual, and performance, and we’ve recently expanded with the OTOA Creative Life Practice (CLP) curriculum. All OTOA classes are held in our new home-office-studio in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Last August GF&CO was in residence in Putney, Vermont, for the fifth

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Alumni Notes 74 Amanda (Cobb) Salchow ’05 with her husband, Isaac, and their son, Liam, born October 2017.

75 Joshua Borenstein’s ’02 (Faculty) daughters, Naomi and Sophia, at Buck’s Rock Performing Arts Camp.

76 Malcolm Darrell ’07 and Jonetta Owens on their wedding day in Los Cabos, Mexico.

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77 Lisa Shuster O’Malley ’08 and her husband, Joshua O’Malley, with their son, Dominic, and daughter, Adelaide.

Dominic was born June 25, 2017. Photo by Rick Shuster.

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78 Members of the cast and creative team of Indecent at the 2017 Tony Awards: (left to right) Steven Rattazzi, Jeff Saracco (Amanda’s husband), Amanda Spooner ’09, Max Gordon Moore ’11, Richard Topol, Tom Nelis, Eleanor Reissa, Veronica Lee, and James Latus.

79 Sandra Goldmark ’04 and Michael Banta ’03 with their children, Luke and Eric.

80 Jenny Mannis ’02, YC ’96

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81 Bradlee Ward ’05, curator and designer for Sound Kitchen at World Stage Design 2017 in Taipei.

Photos by Sun Hee Kil.

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82 Jason Fitzgerald ’08 (right) and husband, Ittai Orr, at Old Sturbridge Village, where they were married in September 2017. Photo by Sarah Montani.

83 Eric Bryant ’09 at the 27th Annual Connecticut Critics Circle Awards, where he received the award for Outstanding Actor in a Play for his performance in the Westport Country Playhouse production of Ayad Akhtar’s The Invisible Hand.

Photo by Mara Lavitt.

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Alumni Notes For Jackson Gay ’02, theater has always meant freedom. Growing

with stand-up comedian Lisa Lampanelli, Stuffed, is soon

up in Sugar Land, Texas, she found in “imaginary play” an effective

transferring to a commercial run in New York, and last spring she

mechanism to shape her own reality. “I always felt a little lonely, like

revisited her YSD thesis, Chekhov’s Three Sisters, at the Studio

I didn’t really belong,” Jackson recalls. “So even at an early age,

Theater in Washington, DC. “I love the variety,” says Jackson. “I like

theater was a way to escape and create better situations. It gave

being challenged, and I’m interested in pieces that are strange, that

me control over myself in a time when I felt I had none.”

offer a different world to explore.” When speaking about her

Today, with a prolific and successful career as a director and teacher, Jackson embraces diverse projects, refusing to become

upcoming collaboration with Mat Smart on his new play, Kill Local, at La Jolla Playhouse, Jackson adds, “I enjoy freelance directing— travelling, not being trapped somewhere. My daughter, Lola, has

Action, Jackson!

There’s No Stopping Director Jackson Gay ’02 Jackson Gay ’02

been on the road since she was three weeks old and loves it as well.”

Jackson remembers her time at YSD as a frantic period of personal and artistic discovery in an environment that encouraged students to find their own aesthetics. “On our first day, Stan Wojewodski HON ’92 (Former Dean) said to me and my two directing classmates: ‘You’re not here to learn how to be directors, you are directors.’ It sounded so simple, but it said everything about how we were supposed to function and how we were going to be treated.” Alongside her curriculum projects, she worked on multiple Cabaret productions, prompting Directing Chair Liz Diamond (Faculty) to ask her to slow down. “I lived at the Cabaret,” she recalls. “I did four or five shows in a row. I was falling asleep!”

It was in 2004 at Yale Rep, under James Bundy ’95 (Dean), that she got her first big directing gig: Rolin Jones’s The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow. Looking back, she considers it a turning point in her career.

While working with many different genres and styles, Jackson always begins her projects by delving into the dramaturgy of the piece, a method she learned at YSD. She jokes that she was “intensely jealous of the dramaturgs” and ended up taking several dramaturgy classes. “The way I approach anything has to do with the text. What is the story? What’s at the core? And then I try to figure out the mind and heart of the writer, what it is that they’re going for. That’s really fun.”

Jackson Gay ’02.

Photo by Brian McManamon ’06.

“pigeonholed into a certain

Jackson’s enthusiasm about her work equals her passionate

kind of style.” She has a

opinion on the increasingly vital need for women’s voices in

passion for new plays,

American theater, especially in our current political context. Together

having directed the work

with Dan Butler and Richard Waterhouse, she has started the Fuller

of some of the most exciting American playwrights writing today,

Road Artist Residency in Vermont. The inaugural residency focused

including Sheila Callaghan (Elevada, Yale Rep), David Adjmi (3C), and

on female directors of color. “We brought in women from all over

Lucy Thurber (The Insurgents). “Directing a new play is completely

the country. It was a mixture of women in all stages of their careers,”

different from working on a classic text. I love collaborating with the

Jackson explains. The idea for the retreat came from the current

writer and being at the beginning of the process,” Jackson explains.

lack of decision-making positions available to female artists of

She has also tried her hand at musical theater. She directed Yale

color in the theater. “I wanted to make a space for female directors

Rep’s 2014 production of These Paper Bullets!, written by Rolin

to be supported and heard. It took me so long to find my own voice.

Jones ’04, a fellow founding member of the NYC/LA-based company New Neighborhood, and in February she directed the world premiere of Suzanne Vega and Duncan Sheik’s Lover, Beloved: An Evening with Carson McCullers at the Alley Theatre. Her collaboration 10 8

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I think it’s more and more important for women to speak out.”

—Maria Inês Marques ’17, DFA cand.

Alumni Notes

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90 84 Gia Forakis ’04 directed O.REX, a Greek-noir adaptation of Sophocles’s Oedipus Rex, for her company, GF&CO. Gia translated the play with Mark Buchan, and Jennifer Lim ’04 was the associate producer. Photo by Alex Ward.

85 The leadership team of Tantrum Theater: (left to right) Michael Lincoln, Daniel C. Dennis, and Rachel (Smith) Cornish ’08. Rachel is founding producing director.

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86 David B. Byrd ’06, managing director of Virginia Stage Company.

Photo by Kelli-GO Photo.

90 Susan Finque ’03, receiving her doctorate degree at the University of Washington last May.

87 Derek Milman ’02.

Photo by Jordan Matter.

91 (left to right) Rachel Myers ’07, Frances Black ’09 with her daughter Bridget, Donesh Olyaie ’10, Laura Esposito ’09 with her son Jack, Mattie Brickman ’09, and Rebecca Phillips ’09 with her son Sam at a Malibu get-together in July 2017.

88 Clara J. Rice ’02 and her second daughter, Charlotte Rose Hlavac, who was born July 13, 2017.

89 Kate Cusack ’06 and Burke Brown ’07 with their son, Tobin Xavier Cusack Brown, born December 10, 2016.

92 Courtney (Todd) DiBello ’02, company/ stage manager of Oklahoma City Ballet, at the first technical rehearsal for A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

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Alumni Notes summer. In these very strange times it’s become more important for me to think of the arts as a reminder of our humanity.

Strength through art!” ● Tony Manna ’04 and Tijuana Ricks ’04 co-created an independent television pilot, The Vampire Leland, about a socially awkward loner who becomes a vampire through a freak accident. The comedy screened at the New

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93 The first graduating class from Pace University’s BFA program in Acting for Film, Television, Voice Overs, and Commercials, which is headed by Brian Hastert ’09. Photo by Isabel Cervantes.

94 (left to right) Moderator John Maynard, David Muse ’03, YC ’96, artistic director of the Studio Theatre, and Drew Lichtenberg ’08, resident dramaturg at Shakespeare Theatre Company (STC), during a panel discussion at the Newseum about STC’s production of King Charles III, which David directed. Photo by Bruce Guthrie.

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“What a wonderful opportunity to be so involved with a professional ballet company while maintaining connections with colleagues and students at the University.”

— courtney (todd) dibello ’02

96 95 The Cradle Will Rock at Opera Saratoga, with costumes by Anya Klepikov ’08.

96 Tony Manna ’04 and Kathleen Butler in a scene from The Vampire Leland, an independent television pilot written

by Tony, Tijuana Ricks ’04, and Ken Ferrigni.

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York Television Festival, St. Louis International Film Festival, Soho International Film Festival, and SeriesFest in Denver, where IndieWire called it one of “Eight Great Pilots That Deserve to Find a Network Home.” In addition to Tony, the cast included Brian Hastert ’09, LeRoy McClain ’04, Jennifer Lim ’04, and Liz Wisan ’10. It was produced and directed

by Tijuana, and Kara-Lynn Vaeni ’04 served as assistant director and script supervisor. ● Tijuana Tenda Ricks ’04 shares: “I had the honor of originating a new character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, reporter Thembi Wallace. She appears in

Alumni Notes Kenneth Lin ’05 grew up in a restaurant family, an upbringing

11th changed the world. He recalls sitting in the basement of the

that he says prepared him for a life in the theater. “I went to my

Vineyard, writing appeals to donors to keep the doors of the theater

family’s restaurant after school and helped get ready for the guests.

open amidst a national disaster. In this moment, he knew he had to

It was great training because of how much preparation goes into it

follow his calling. The next year would be his first at YSD.

and because at a certain point the curtain goes up and it’s time to

Yale, he says, was a “huge awakening.” He credits the School with teaching him how to collaborate and giving him the time to

start the show!”

Kenneth’s grandparents had travelled extensively, opening

practice his art and leave with a cohort of fellow artists. It was also

restaurants all over the world, from China to Burma to Argentina,

at YSD that he made a discovery to which he continues to return

eventually landing the family in New York, where he was raised.

today. “The text,” he says, “is just a platform for the actors to

Being the only person of Chinese descent in his class at elementary school gave Kenneth the impetus to introduce an audience to

A Recipe for Success Kenneth Lin ’05 Chinese culture very early on. Today, he likens his role as a playwright to that of a chef: “My job is to give people something nutritious. I want to nourish in the best way, and I want people to want to eat when they’re with me.”

Like so many, Kenneth’s parents had come to the United States in the hope that their children would have a better life. His choice to become a playwright reflects what is often a familiar immigrant experience. “For me to become a wordsmith—and especially a wordsmith in English, which was a fifth or sixth language for my

Kenneth Lin ’05.

release the chemistry between

parents—was challenging. I was doing exactly what they had hoped

Photo by Jolene Siana.

them. As a writer you have to be brave to allow the work to

“For me to become a wordsmith—and especially a wordsmith in English, which was a fifth or sixth language for my parents—was challenging.”

serve as a catalyst for that human chemistry.”

Lin most recently turned his hand to television, writing for the highly acclaimed and Emmy-nominated drama House of Cards.

While working on the series, he fell in love with collaborating with other writers, creating work that originates from multiple voices.

The experience encouraged him to begin a musical adaptation of Huckleberry Finn, blending the words of Mark Twain—one of his favorite writers—with the music of singer-songwriter and Tony Award-winning composer Stew. This is just one of a number of projects, which also include a television series called Sweetbitter about restaurant culture; the Bruce Lee-inspired TV show Warrior; the book for a musical adaptation of Farewell, My Concubine, directed by Moisés Kaufman with music by Jason Robert Brown;

I’d do, but as a result I was moving further away from them, from

and the screenplay for Abacus, a feature film adaptation of the 2016 award-winning documentary, directed by Justin Lin. As a

their language and their culture.”

Kenneth studied psychology as an undergraduate, and it was

child of immigrants who never dreamed of really being able to write

during his Fulbright Fellowship that followed that he decided to

for a living, he says it is simply “a dream come true.” —Dipika

become a playwright. On his return to New York, he took a job at

Guha ’11

the Vineyard Theatre as a fundraiser and began his real theater education. Four days after starting this new chapter, September

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Alumni Notes Luke Cage and Iron Fist and is slated for future Marvel shows on Netflix. I filmed a recurring role on High Maintenance (HBO) alongside Brenna Palughi ’10, wrapped up Season 3 of Red Oaks (Amazon), returned to Billions (Showtime) for Season 2, working with Paul Giamatti ’94, YC ’89, and have begun filming Season 3. I made my directorial debut with The Vampire Leland, a pilot I worked on with a number of fellow YSD alums, and am now directing two more short films, the first about a romance novel audiobook narrator and the second, which I also wrote, about a young girl who mysteriously receives a box of human remains in the mail.” ● Bradlee Ward ’05 is an audiovisual and theatrical systems designer for DLR Group / Westlake Reed Leskosky in New York, an architecture and engineering firm specializing in creating spaces for performance. Brad served as curator and designer for Sound Kitchen at World Stage Design 2017 in Taipei, gathering sound designers from 14 countries for four days of performance.

Sound Kitchen is an opportunity for selected sound designers and composers who work in live theater to preform or demonstrate their work publically. It also fosters international collaboration within the global sound design community. Recently, Brad has been working in Shanghai, where he is part of the design team for a new 2,000-seat Broadway-style theater. ● In July 2017, David B. Byrd ’06 assumed duties as managing director at Virginia Stage Company after almost five years as managing director at Knoxville’s Clarence Brown Theatre. ● Anna Jones ’06 reports: “Jamel Davall ’08 and I wrote My America, a digital series set in Los Angeles in the five days leading up to the 2016 presidential election. I directed alongside Asaad Kelada ’64, and Roweena Mackay ’05 produced with production support from Picrow Productions and our company, NYLon Filmworks. Joining Jamel in the cast were Peter Macon ’04, Bridget Jones ’06, and Gamal Palmer ’08. The series is currently enjoying an international festival run, including LA Film Festival and Hollyshorts, and has won Best Web Series at festivals in Florida and London. All 112

episodes are available online at myamericaseries.com.” ● Kate Cusack ’06 and Burke Brown ’07 are proud to announce their current collaboration: Tobin Xavier Cusack Brown. He was born on December 10, 2016. ● Malcolm Darrell ’07 reports: “I married Jonetta Owens in Los Cabos, Mexico, on July 8, 2017, and I’m still beaming and incredibly blessed! I started as the associate creative director for Disney’s Parks and Resorts Live Entertainment division and to say this job is a dream would be an understatement. I get to identify new artists, creative methodologies, and technologies, as well as oversee new projects that may be introduced to Disney Parks and Resorts worldwide.” ● Rachel (Smith) Cornish ’08 produced the second season as Tantrum Theater’s founding producing director. Tantrum is Ohio University’s new professional theater. Other YSD alumni involved with this season include Ken Robinson ’09, Christina Acosta Robinson ’10, Matt Cornish ’09, DFA ’13, Jane Shaw ’98, Blake Segal ’11, Jen Wineman ’10, Deb O ’07, and Heidi Leigh Hanson ’09. ● Yuri Cataldo ’08 joined Autodesk as the innovation engagement manager for the BUILD Space in Boston. He is also designing costumes at Harvard Dance and co-authored his first book. ● The highlight of Drew Lichtenberg’s ’08 busy 2016–17 season was a six-week stint at the National Theatre in London as dramaturg for Yäel Farber’s world premiere adaptation of Salomé, with costumes by Tony Award-winning designer Susan Hilferty ’80. In his position as literary manager at the Shakespeare Theatre Company, Drew worked with David Muse ’03 on King Charles III and with David Ives ’84 on his new adaptation of Molière’s The School for Lies. He also returned to The New School to teach a seminar on German Theater. Last summer, his writing on recent productions at Philadelphia FringeArts, led by programming director Sarah Bishop-Stone ’10, appeared in Theatre Journal. Upcoming projects include translating for Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, completing

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his work with Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s Play On! project, and finally finishing his doctorate for the Drama School in time for the 10th anniversary of his graduation. ● Jason Fitzgerald ’08 reports: “2017 has been a big year for me!

In June I completed a PhD at Columbia University, with a dissertation called Exiting Eden: U.S. Avant-Garde Theatre’s Humanist

“Downtown New Haven has really transformed into a vibrant urban village, and it’s nice to be a part of that revitalization.”

— joshua borenstein ’02 (faculty)

Controversy 1965–70. I was an adjunct professor at SUNY Purchase College in the fall and this spring I am adjunct teaching at Columbia while I continue to look for a full-time college-level teaching position or postdoc. Even better news: In September I married my best friend and the love of my life, Ittai Orr, in a small ceremony at Old Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts. We are living in New Haven at least through summer 2018, so if you’re in town please drop us a line.” ● Lisa Shuster O’Malley ’08 and her husband, Joshua, welcomed their son, Dominic, on June 25, 2017. The family recently relocated to the Pittsburgh area, where Lisa is beginning work at Pittsburgh Opera. ● In the fall, Anya Klepikov ’08 joined the UMass Amherst faculty to head the undergraduate and graduate programs in set design. She is also a visiting lecturer and set designer at

Alumni Notes Brown University, where her design for The Lovesong of J. Robert Oppenheimer was nominated for Motif Magazine’s 2017 RI Theater Awards. Last summer she designed the costumes for The Cradle Will Rock at Opera Saratoga, the first fully-staged and orchestrated production in 57 years. ● Eric Bryant ’09 received the 2017 Connecticut Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Actor in a Play for his performance in the Westport Country Playhouse production of Ayad Akhtar’s The Invisible Hand. The production also received awards for Outstanding Director for David Kennedy ’00 and Outstanding Production of a Play. ● Amanda Spooner ’09 made her Broadway debut as the stage manager of Indecent, which she’s been working on with Rebecca Taichman ’00 and Paula Vogel (Former Faculty) since its first workshop at Yale Rep, in 2012. She successfully crashed the after-party at The Carlyle and spent some time taking selfies with Rebecca’s Tony award.

2010s Michael Barker ’10, SOM ’10 and Heidi Hanson ’09 moved back to Connecticut late last year. Michael is the new managing director at Westport Country Playhouse, partnering with artistic director Mark Lamos (Former Faculty). Heidi continues her work as a costume designer (heidileigh. com) and has taught at Southern Connecticut University since returning to the East Coast. Their son Lawrence assists in fittings and donor solicitations as necessary. ● Aaron Moss ’10 was the voice for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater 2016–17 national tour television commercials, “Now more than ever.” He co-starred as Captain Mike in David Lindsay-Abaire’s comedy Wonder of the World with the Buffalo Laboratory Theatre at Shea’s 710 Main Street Theatre. This show was documented for American Theatre Wing’s series Working in the Theatre. Aaron also directed a staged reading of A Night with the Dream Keeper for the Against the Grain Theater Festival Playwriting

Competition. ● The Siegel, a new comedy by Michael Mitnick ’10, premiered at South Coast Repertory in March 2017. The production, directed by Casey Stangl, was stage managed by Julia Bates ’20.

Michael adapted his play The Current War, first produced as a musical 10 years ago at YSD, into a film starring Michael Shannon and Benedict Cumberbatch. ● Elizabeth Barrett Groth’s ’10 illustrations were featured in two films this year: Book of Henry (directed by Colin Trevorrow, production design by Kalina Ivanov) and Wonder (directed by Stephen Chobsky, production design by Kalina Ivanov.) Her illustrations for Wonder are “drawn” in the film by Julia Roberts and are also featured in the end credit sequence. ● Alyssa Anderson ’10 married Matthew Kuntz in Nashville, Tennessee, on May 6, 2017. Alumni in attendance were Meghan Pressman ’10, SOM ’10, Aurélia (Fisher) Cohen ’09, Suzanne Appel ’11, SOM ’11, Michael Barker ’10, SOM ’10, Whitney Estrin ’10, and Heidi Leigh Hanson ’09.

Shortly after the wedding, the couple relocated to the Berkshire Mountains where they are settling in to married life. ● Laura Eckelman ’11 continues to teach, design, and production manage at Washington College in Maryland and to freelance in Philadelphia, Washington, DC, and regionally.

Last spring she chaired a panel at USITT featuring fellow YSD-ers Brian Smallwood ’13, Justin Bennett ’14, and Molly McCarter ’04. She always delights in seeing former classmates (and their work) when visiting New York. ● Ali Pour Issa ’11 directed the Screenplay Development Program at Farabi Cinematic Foundation in Iran. His film The Ground is Breathing won the Special Mention Award at I Will Tell International Film Festival (UK) and the Best Film Award in the Gender Category from Woodpecker International Film Festival (India). It was officially selected and screened at Colortape International Film Festival (Australia), Festival de Roteiro Audiovisual de Porto Alegre (Brazil), the Hollywood & Beyond Movie Awards/Film Festival (Los Angeles), Frame by Sound Festival (Dominican Republic), and many others. He lectured at the School of Islamic

Arts and the Senoghteh Institute in Iran. He also worked as a consultant and script development executive for a feature film, Slippery Road. ● Blake Segal ’11 and Katherine McGerr ’14 were married on May 27, 2017, in Brooklyn. They were happy to have many fellow alumni in attendance to celebrate with them! ● Emily Trask ’11 and Michael Brusasco eloped to the town of Marfa, Texas, deep in the Chihuahuan Desert, and were married at the start of 2017. ● William DeMeritt ’12 reports: “It’s been a busy year. A great year, actually. I finished my first audiobook, Underground Airlines, and was later nominated for Best Male Narrator. I was fortunate enough to work with classmate Lileana BlainCruz ’12 at Signature Theatre in the revival production of Suzan-Lori Parks’ The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World. Lileana won an OBIE for the show! I went to Cuba in December 2016, where I was able to meet up with classmate Brian Wiles ’12. I then landed in Ashland, Oregon to work on the Merry Wives of Windsor and the U.S. premiere of the stage-adaptation of the film Shakespeare in Love.” ● Chris Russo ’12 has been promoted this year to associate professor of practice at the School of Performing Arts at Virginia Tech, where he is also the technical director. This promotion includes taking on the graduate program in technical direction.

Together with dear friend and colleague Captain Kate Murphy, Chris is working to bolster the theater department’s capabilities and enrollment. ● Martyna Majok’s ’12 play Cost of Living was produced at Williamstown Theatre Festival in June 2016 and then at Manhattan Theatre Club in June 2017. Martyna was awarded The Helen Merrill Award for Emerging American Playwright, the Lilly Awards’ Stacey Mindich Prize, and The Lanford Wilson Award from The Dramatists Guild. Her latest play, queens, was developed at The O’Neill Theater Center, Ground Floor at Berkeley Rep, The Lark, and the Playwrights’ Center, and will be produced in New York in February 2018. ● Heartbeat Opera (co-artistic directors Ethan Heard ’13, YC ’07 and Louisa Proske ’13; producing director Jennifer

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Alumni Notes Harrison Newman ’11) presented its third annual Spring Festival at Baruch Performing Arts Center in May 2017, featuring radical 90-minute adaptations of Puccini’s Madame Butterfly and Bizet’s Carmen, designed by Reid Thompson ’14, Kate Noll ’14, Valérie Thérèse Bart ’10, Oliver Wason ’14, and Ian Scot ’17, among others. ● Meredith Ries ’13 and Barbara Tan-Tiongco ’13 collaborated on an international production of Lloyd Suh’s The Wong Kids in the Secret of the Space Chupacabra Go! for New York-based May-I Theater Company. The show was directed by Ralph Peña at the Little Theater of the Cultural Center of the Philippines in Manila in September 2016. Meredith designed the scenery and Barbara did the lighting design and technical direction. ● Paul Robert Pryce ’13 was at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival celebrating the world premiere of his film Come Out, Come Out, which he wrote and produced. The film was part of the Cannes Short Film corner, where filmmakers from around the world are invited to showcase their films, meet with sales agents and buyers, and attend film industry seminars. Paul will star in a crime-drama feature film, which he is also writing and producing, set in Trinidad and Tobago. ● Last summer, Solomon Weisbard ’13 joined many YSD alumni working on Grounded at Westport Country Playhouse, where Mark Lamos (Former Faculty) is artistic director, David Kennedy ’00 is associate artistic director, and Michael Barker ’10, SOM ’10 is managing director. Grounded was directed

by Elizabeth Diamond (Faculty) and starred Elizabeth Stahlmann ’17.

Solomon designed the lighting alongside a creative team that included Riccardo Hernandez ’92 (Faculty), Jennifer Moeller ’06, Kate Marvin ’16, and Yana Biryukova ’17. Sinan Zafar ’16 and Joey Moro ’15 served as design assistants. ● Louisa Proske ’13 had her Lincoln Center debut directing Handel’s Agrippina for Julliard Opera, with sets by Kate Noll ’14 and lighting by Oliver Wason ’14. She also collaborated with Kate and Oliver on Mozart’s Così Fan Tutte at LoftOpera, and her production of Carmen 114

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97 Ceci Fernandez ’14 in the world premiere of Frontieres Sans Frontieres

by Phillip Howze ’15. Dustin Wills ’14 directed the production at the Bushwick Starr. Photo by Joey Moro ’15.

102 (left to right) Gregg Mozgala, Jolly Abraham, Jo Bonney, Martyna Majok ’12, Victor Williams, and Katy Sullivan at the opening of Martyna’s play, Cost of Living, at Manhattan Theatre Club.

98 (left to right) Cast members Michael Rossmy (Faculty), Stella Baker ’16, and Sean Patrick Higgins ’16, with director Rick Sordelet (Faculty) at the opening of The Three Musketeers at Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival 2017. Sean starred as D’Artagnan.

103 Emily Trask ’11 and Michael Brusasco eloped in the West Texas desert in January 2017.

99 The wedding of Alyssa Anderson ’10 and Matthew Kuntz. (back row, left to right) David Sharman, Matthew Kuntz, Alyssa Anderson ’10, Michael Barker ’10, SOM ’10, and Whitney Estrin ’10. (front row, left to right) Ben Cohen, Meghan Pressman ’10, SOM ’10, Aurélia (Fisher) Cohen ’09, Suzanne Appel ’11, SOM ’10, and Heidi Leigh Hanson ’09. Photo by Matt Copeland Photography.

100 Katherine McGerr ’14 and Blake Segal ’11 were married on May 27, 2017.

101 Ali Pour Issa ’11 (seated, right) with his students and the screenplay writer, Farid Mostafavi (seated, left) at the Screenplay Development Program at Farabi Cinematic Foundation in Iran. Photo by Babak Borzouyeh.

104 Daniel Reece ’14 proposing to Elia Monte-Brown ’14 on the Yale Rep stage. Photo by C. Nikki Mills ’14 (Staff).

105 Solomon Weisbard ’13 designed the lighting for Grounded at Westport Country Playhouse.

Photo by Joey Moro ’15.

106 (left to right) Mariko Nakasone Parker ’14, Seamus Mulcahy ’12, and Zenzi Williams ’15 at Baltimore Center Stage’s Young Playwrights Festival.

107 Onadek Winan in Juilliard Opera’s production of Handel’s Agrippina, directed by Louisa Proske ’12, with set design by Kate Noll ’14 and lighting design by Oliver Wason ’14.

108 The leaders of Heartbeat Opera in a New York Times photo shoot: (left to right) Jennifer Harrison Newman ’11, Jacob Ashworth MUS ’13, MMA ’14, Ethan Heard ’13, YC ’07, Louisa Proske ’12, and Daniel Schlosberg YC ’14, MUS ’13, MMA ’14.

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Alumni Notes 111 (left to right) William Hartley ’17, Flo Low ’17, Robert Chikar ’14, and Jackson Gay ’02 at La Jolla Playhouse, where Will and Flo are on staff. Photo by Mark Schmidt.

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109 Louisa Proske ’12, James Bundy ’95 (Dean), Ethan Heard ’13, YC ’07, Anne Tofflemire (Faculty), and Jennifer Harrison Newman ’11 at Heartbeat Opera’s Spring Festival Gala. Photo by Russ Rowland.

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110 Westport Playhouse artistic director Mark Lamos (Former Faculty) and managing director Michael Barker ’10, SOM ’10. Photo by Peter Chenot.

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112 Paul Robert Pryce ’13 at the Cannes Film Festival 2017 for the world premiere of Come Out, Come Out, which he wrote and produced.

113 May-Yi Theater Company’s production of The Wong Kids in the Secret of the Space Chupacabra Go! at the Cultural Center of the Philippines, with scenic design by Meredith Ries ’13 and lighting design by Barbara Tan-Tiongco ’13.

114 (left to right) Alexander Woodward ’16, Luke Harlan ’16, Jessica Holt ’15, and Hunter Kaczorowski ’14 at opening night of Jessica’s production of Speech and Debate at Barrington Stage Company.

115 (left to right) Jessica Holt ’15, Reid Thompson ’14, Nikki Delhomme ’13, Palmer Hefferan ’13, Alex Basco Koch, and Burke Brown ’07.

116 (left to right) Amy Aquino ’86, Mamie Gummer, and Matthew Arkin in The Siegel by Michael Mitnick ’10 at South Coast Rep.

Alumni Notes was featured in “Eight Best Classical Music Moments” in The New York Times. ● Daniel Reece ’14 and Elia Monte-Brown ’14 got engaged on the Yale Rep stage in June.

Many thanks to C. Nikki Mills ’14 (Staff) for stage managing the event. They are planning a wedding for the summer of 2018 in Hudson, New York. ● Dustin Wills ’14 reports: “My projects in 2017–18 include directing Orange Julius, coproduced by Page 73 and Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, featuring Irene Sofia Lucio ’11 with designs by Kate Noll ’14, Montana Blanco ’15, Palmer Heffran ’13, and Joey Moro ’15. I also directed the world premiere of Phillip Howze’s ’15 Frontieres Sans Frontieres at the Bushwick Starr, produced by Libby Peterson ’15, Alyssa Simmons ’15, and Sally Shen ’15, featuring Ceci Fernandez ’14 and Mitchell Winter ’14, with designs by Mariana Sanchez Hernandez ’15, Seth Bodie ’14, Masha Tsimring ’13, and Porchanok Kanchanabanca ’16. Last summer I continued working on Kate Tarker’s ’14 Laura and the Sea with the Vineyard Theatre with actor Chris Bannow ’14, and designers Adam Rigg ’13 and Kate Marvin ’16. I received a 2018 Baryshnikov Arts Center Residency from the Princess Grace Foundation for the continued development of a new musical with Kate Tarker and Daniel Schlosberg YC ’10, MUS ’14, MMA ’14. Chris Bannow will also perform in this production, along with Adina Verson ’12.” ● Jessica Holt ’15 has had a busy year, directing Venus in Fur at Virginia Stage Company with costume design by Steven Rotramel ’15, Rich Girl at Florida Studio Theatre, and Speech and Debate at Barrington Stage Company, where she collaborated with an extraordinary design team including Reid Thompson ’14, Nikki Delhomme ’13, Palmer Hefferan ’13, and Burke Brown ’07. Alyssa Anderson ’10 was the line producer for the show. ● After an insane year working for producer Scott Rudin, Whitney Dibo ’14 works in acquisitions and creative development in New York City, connecting plays and playwrights to the film and television world.

In her time since graduate school, she’s worked at Scott Rudin Productions, The Weinstein Company, The Atlantic Theater, and Soho Rep. ● Lauren Dubowski ’14, DFA cand. recently had her first film job—associate producer for Half a Life, an animated short documentary directed by Tamara Shogaolu. The film was screened at several festivals, including MoMA’s Doc Fortnight, the Annecy International Animated Film Festival, and Sheffield Doc/ Fest. Lauren and Emily Zemba ’15 are currently developing a musical about the life of Ignacy Jan Paderewski; their project won a contest held by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute. ● Brendan Pelsue ’16 is about to launch a podcast of improvised radio plays he has performed and devised with journalist Natasha Haverty. Check it out at wearenotthesepeople.org. ● Flo Low ’17 and William Hartley ’17 joined the staff of La Jolla Playhouse after graduation. Flo is associate general manager and Will is associate technical director.

Yale School of Drama Legacy Partners We invite you to join fellow alumni and friends who have included YSD in their estate plans or made other planned gifts to the School. Through Yale School of Drama Legacy Partners you can directly influence the future of Yale. You are eligible for membership if you have named YSD 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 Yale School of Drama, please contact Deborah S. Berman, director of Development and Alumni Affairs, at 203 432 2890 or deborah.berman@yale.edu.

2017–18 YSD Legacy Partners Cynthia Kellogg Barrington*

Joan Pape ’68

Richard Beacham ’72, DFA ’73, YC ’68

Mark Richard ’57*

Donald I. Cairns ’63

Stay in Touch Please remember to send us your current email to ensure you receive invitations to alumni events as well as our e-newsletter.

Visit drama.yale.edu/alumni to read past issues.

William Rothwell, Jr. ’53*

Elizabeth S. Clark ’41*

Forrest E. Sears ’58

David M. Conte ’72

Eugene Shewmaker ’49

Converse Converse YC ’57

Kenneth J. Stein ’59

Sue Anne Converse ’55*

Edward Trach ’58

Eldon J. Elder ’58* Joseph Gantman ’53* Albert R. Gurney ’58* Robert L. Hurtgen*

G. Erwin Steward ’60 Carol Waaser ’70 Phyllis C. Warfel ’55 William B. Warfel ’57, YC ’55* Wendy Wasserstein ’76*

Joseph E. Kleno*

Zelma H. Weisfeld ’56

Richard G. Mason ’53*

Edwin Wilson ’57, DFA ’58

H. Thomas Moore ’68

Albert J. Zuckerman ’61, DFA ’62

Tad Mosel ’50*

Contact the Development and Alumni Affairs office at ysd.alumni@yale.edu or 203 432 1559.

Barbara Richter ’60*

Raymond Carver ’61

Peter Entin ’71

Join our YSD Alumni Facebook group at: www.facebook.com/ groups/50117355074/

Mary B. Reynold ’55*

Arthur F. Nacht ’06 George E. Nichols III ’41, YC ’38*

* deceased

G.C. Niemeyer ’42*

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Donors JULY 2016–JANUARY 2018

1940s Billie Alban ’46 Lawrence Amick ’49 Patricia Gilchrist ’44 Joan Kron ’48 Mildred Kuner ’47 Eugene Shewmaker ’49

1950s Robert Barr ’52 Gloria Beckerman ’53 Ezekial Berlin ’53 Warwick Brown ’53 Ian Cadenhead ’58 Joy Carlin ’54 Sami Joan Casler ’59 Patricia Collins ’58 Forrest Compton ’53 John W. Cunningham ’59 Jose A. Diaz ’52 Philip R. Eck ’59 Sonya Friedman ’55 Joseph Gantman* ’53 Robert Goldsby ’53 Bigelow Green ’59 Albert R. Gurney* ’58 Marian Hampton ’59 Carol Hemingway ’55 Evelyn Huffman ’57 James Earl Jewell ’57 Geoffrey Johnson ’55 Donald Jones, Jr. ’56 Amnon Kabatchnik ’57 Jay Keene ’55 Roger L. Kenvin ’59, DFA ’61 Bernard Kukoff ’57 Marvin March ’55 Beverly May ’50 David McNutt ’59 Ellen Moore ’52 George Morfogen ’57 Marion V. Myrick ’54 Franklin M. Nash ’59 Kendric T. Packer ’52 Gladys Powers ’57 Philip Rosenberg ’59 Raymond Sader ’58 Stephen Saxe ’54 Forrest Sears ’58 James Smith ’59 Kenneth Stein ’59 Pamela Strayer ’52

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Edward Trach ’58 Ann Watson ’53

1960s Rita Aron ’69 David E. Ackroyd ’68 Barbara Anderson ’60 Leif Ancker ’62 Mary Ellen O’Brien Atkins ’65 Thomas R. Atkins ’64 Robert A. Auletta ’69 John Badham ’63, YC ’61 James Bakkom ’64 Philip J. Barrons ’65 Warren F. Bass ’67 Jody Locker Berger ’66 Roderick L. Bladel ’61 Jeffrey Bleckner ’68 Arvin Brown ’67 Oscar Brownstein ’60 Jim Burrows ’65 Lonnie D. Carter ’69 Patricia S. Cochrane ’62 Robert S. Cohen DFA ’64 David M. Conte ’72 Edward Cornell ’68 Stephen C. Coy ’63, DFA ’69 F. Mitchell Dana ’67 Robert Darling ’63 Michael David ’68 Mary Lucille DeBerry ’66 Ramon L. Delgado ’67 John A. Duran ’68 Robert H. Einenkel ’69 Bernard Engel ’60 David Epstein ’68 Leslie Epstein DFA ’67, YC ’60 Jerry N. Evans ’62 John D. Ezell ’60 Ann Farris ’63 Richard A. Feleppa ’60 William Firestone ’69 J. Allen Fitz-Gerald ’63 Hugh Fortmiller ’61 Keith Fowler DFA ’69 Henry Frawley ’64 David Freeman ’68 Richard Fuhrman ’64 Bernard Galm ’63 Anne Gregerson ’65 David A. Hale ’61 Ann Hanley ’61 Jerome R. Hanley ’60 Patricia Helwick ’65 Elizabeth Holloway ’66 John Guare ’63

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Linda Gulder Huett ’69 Derek Hunt ’62 Peter H. Hunt ’63, YC ’61 Laura Jackson ’68 John W. Jacobsen ’69, YC ’67 Asaad Kelada ’64 Abby B. Kenigsberg ’63 Carol Soucek King ’67 Marna J. King ’64 William E. Kleb ’66, DFA ’70, YC ’61 Richard H. Klein ’67 Harriet W. Koch ’62 Robert W. Lawler ’67 Peter J. Leach ’61 Stephen R. Leventhal ’69 Irene Lewis ’66 Fredric Lindauer ’66 Everett Lunning, Jr. ’69, YC ’67 Marcia Madeira ’68 Frederick Marker DFA ’67 B. Robert McCaw ’66 Margaret T. McCaw ’66 Robert A. McDonald, Jr. ’68 Donald Michaelis ’69 Ronald A. Mielech ’60 Karen H. Milliken ’64 Tom Moore ’68 Carol Murray-Negron ’64 Gayther L. Myers, Jr. ’65 Ruth Hunt Newman ’62 Dwight R. Odle ’66 Janet Oetinger ’69 Sara Ormond ’66 Joan D. Pape ’68 Howard Pflanzer ’68 Michael Posnick ’69 Lochiel Poutiatine ’60 Carolyn L. Ross ’69 Janet G. Ruppert ’63 Clarence Salzer, Jr. ’60, YC ’55 Georg Schreiber ’64 Talia Shire Schwartzman ’69 Suzanne Sessions ’66 Paul R. Shortt ’68 Susan Shulman ’67 E. Gray Smith, Jr. ’65 Helen Sokoloff ’60 Mary C. Stark ’61 Louise Stein ’66 James Steerman ’62, DFA ’69 John Wright Stevens ’66 Douglas C. Taylor ’66 John Henry Thomas, III ’62 David F. Toser ’64 Russell L. Treyz ’65 Richard B. Trousdell ’67, DFA ’74

Joan van Ark ’64 Stephen Van Benschoten ’69 Donald K. Walker ’69 Ruth L. Wallman ’68 Steven I. Waxler ’68 Gil Wechsler ’67 George C. White ’61, YC ’57 Peter White ’62 Helen Yalof ’60 Albert Zuckerman ’61, DFA ’62

1970s

Sarah Albertson ’71, ART ’75 Donna Alexander ’74 Anne Averbuck ’70 Richard Beacham ’72, DFA ’73, YC ’68 John Lee Beatty ’73 Thomas Bruce ’79, YC ’75 Michael Cadden ’76, DFA ’79, YC ’71 Ian Calderon ’73 Victor P. Capecce ’75 H. Lloyd Carbaugh ’78 Lisa Carling ’72 Andrew D. Carson ’79 Cosmo A. Catalano, Jr. ’79 Lani Click ’73 Jim Crabtree ’71 Bill Conner ’79 David Conte ’72 Alma Cuervo ’76 Walter Dallas ’71 Charles Davis ’76 Dennis L. Dorn ’72 Christopher Durang ’74 Robert Eimicke ’79 Nancy Reeder El Bouhali ’70 Eric S. Elice ’79 Peter Entin ’71 Dirk Epperson ’74 Christine Estabrook ’76 Heidi Ettinger ’76 Femi Euba ’73 Douglass M. Everhart ’70 Marc Flanagan ’70 Abigail J. Franklin ’78 Robert Gainer ’73 Marian A. Godfrey ’75 Jess Goldstein ’78 David Marshall Grant ’78 Joe Grifasi ’75 Michael E. Gross ’73 William B. Halbert ’70 Charlene Harrington ’74 Barbara B. Hauptman ’73

Donors JULY 2016–JANUARY 2018

Jane C. Head ’79 Carol Schlanger Helvey ’70 Jennifer Hershey ’77 Nicholas A. Hormann ’73 Barnet Kellman ’72 Alan L. Kibbe ’73 Daniel L. Koetting ’74 Matthew F. Krashan ’77 Andrew J. Kufta ’77 Frances E. Kumin ’77 Thomas J. Kupp ’76 Mitchell L. Kurtz ’75 Michael Lassell ’76 Stephen R. Lawson ’76 Charles E. Letts III ’76 Martha C. Lidji Lazar ’77 George N. Lindsay, Jr. ’74 Jennifer K. Lindstrom ’72 Robert Hamilton Long II ’76 Donald B. Lowy ’76* William Ludel ’73 Lizbeth P. Mackay ’75 Alan Mokler MacVey ’77 Brian R. Mann ’79 Peggy Marks ’75, YC ’71 Neil Mazzella ’78 John McAndrew ’72 Patricia McMahon ’72 Ph.D. Jonathan Seth Miller ’75 Lawrence S. Mirkin ’72, YC ’69 George Moredock III ’70 James Naughton ’70 Patricia C. Norcia ’78 Richard Ostreicher ’79 Jeffrey Pavek ’71 William Peters ’79 Nancy A. Piccione ’73 Joel Polis ’76 Stephen B. Pollock ’76 Daniel H. Proctor ’70 William Purves ’71 Michael Quigley ’73 Pamela Rank ’78 Jeff Rank ’79 Ralph Redpath ’75 William J. Reynolds ’77 Peter S. Roberts ’75 Steven I. Robman ’73 Howard J. Rogut ’71 Robin Pearson Rose ’73 Mark C. Rosenthal ’76 Robert Sandberg ’77 Suzanne M. Sato ’79 Joel R. Schechter ’72, DFA ’73 Michael Sheehan ’76 Richard R. Silvestro ’76 Benjamin Slotznick ’73, YC ’70 Jeremy T. Smith ’76

Charles N. Steckler ’71 Jaroslaw Strzemien ’75 Russell Vandenbroucke ’77, DFA ’78 Eva Vizy ’72 Carol M. Waaser ’70 David J. Ward ’75 Eugene D. Warner ’71 Lynda Welch ’72 Michael R. Whaley ’77 Carolyn Seely Wiener ’72 R. Scott Yuille, Jr. ’77 Stephen E. Zuckerman ’74

1980s

Kimberleigh Aarn ’86 Christopher Akerlind ’89 Michael G. Albano ’82 Amy Aquino ’86 Clayton Austin ’86 Bruce W. Bacon ’84 Dylan Baker ’85 Robert Barnett ’89 Robert Barron ’83 Chris Barreca ’83 Angela Bassett ’83, YC ’80 Michael Baumgarten ’81 James B. Bender ’85 Todd Berling ’89 Michael Bianco ’84 William Bletzinger ’83 Mark Bly ’80 Anders P. Bolang ’87 Katherine Borowitz ’81, YC ’76 Michael E. Boyle ’90 Sharon J. Braunstein ’82 Jean Brody ’83, DFA ’91, YC ’80 Mark Brokaw ’86 Claudia M. Brown ’85 Bill Buck ’84 Kate Burton ’82 Richard W. Butler ’88 Richard Bynum ’82 Benjamin Cameron ’81 Campbell Dalglish ’86 Jon E. Carlson ’88 Lawrence Casey ’80 Joan Channick ’89 Nan Cibula-Jenkins ’83 Patricia Clarkson ’85 Melissa Rick Cochran ’81 Thomas J. Conlan ’81 Donato D’Albis ’88 Richard Davis ’83, DFA ’03 Kathleen K. Dimmick ’85 Polly Draper ’80, YC 77

Terrence Dwyer ’88 Anne D’Zmura ’89 Sasha Emerson ’84 Michael D. Fain ’82 Jon Robert Farley ’83 Terry Fitzpatrick ’83 Joel C. Fontaine ’83 Anthony M. Forman ’83 Raymond P. Forton ’85 Walter M. Frankenberger III ’88 Randy R. Fullerton ’82 James H. Gage ’80 Judy Gailen ’89 James T. Gardner ’84 Michael J. Giannitti ’87 Carol A. Gibson-Prugh ’89 Jeffrey M. Ginsberg ’81 William A.L. Glenn ’87 Margaret Glover ’88, YC ’81 Merle Dowling ’81 Dana M. Graham ’82, YC ’79 Charles F. Grammer ’86 Rob Greenberg ’89 John Harnagel ’83 James W. Hazen ’83 Catherine Hazlehurst ’83 Alan Hendrickson ’83 Donald S. Holder ’86 Cathy MacNeil Hollinger ’86 Kathleen Houle ’88 Charles R. Hughes ’83 David Henry Hwang ’83 Chris P. Jaehnig ’85 Michael D. James ’89 Jane Kaczmarek ’82 Carol Kaplan ’89 Nancy Lee Kathan ’86 Bruce Katzman ’88 Richard Kaye ’80 Edward A. Kaye ’86 David K. Kriebs ’82 William Kux ’83 Anne E. LaCourt ’86 Edward H. Lapine ’83 Wing Lee ’83 Max H. Leventhal ’86 Kenneth Lewis ’86 Jerry J. Limoncelli, Jr. ’84 Becky London ’82, YC ’79 Quincy Long ’86 Andi Lyons ’80 John Marean ’84 Gayle Maurin ’85 Patrick Markle ’89 Peter Marshall ’89, YC ’83 Robert McClintock ’82 Thomas McGowan ’88 Katherine Mendeloff ’80

David E. Moore ’87 Kyranna Mynn ’82 Tina C. Navarro ’86 Thomas J. Neville ’86 Regina L. Neville ’88 Christopher Noth ’85 Quentin O’Brien ’89 Arthur E. Oliner ’86 Erik Onate ’89 Carol Ostrow ’80 Cheryl Perry ’88 Pamela Peterson ’86 Victoria Peterson ’89 Robert J. Provenza ’86 Ross Sumner Richards ’88 Laila V. Robins ’84 Lori Robishaw ’88 Constance Romero ’88 Russ Rosensweig ’83 Cecilia M. Rubino ’82 Steven A. Saklad ’81 James D. Sandefur ’85 Kenneth B. Sanders ’89 Kenneth Schlesinger ’84 Kimberly Scott ’87 Alec Scribner ’80 Deborah Simon ’81 Barbara Somerville ’83 Neal Stephens ’80 Nausica C. Stergiou ’85 Mark Stevens ’89 Anita Stewart ’88, YC ’83 Mark L. Sullivan ’83 Thomas Sullivan ’88 Bernard J. Sundstedt ’81 Jane Savitt Tennen ’80 Patrice A. Thomas ’81 Sarah L. Tucker ’89 John M. Turturro ’83 Courtney B. Vance ’86 Craig F. Volk ’88 Mark Wade ’88 Jaylene Graham Wallace ’86 Sharon Washington ’88 Rosa Vega Weissman ’80 Susan West ’87 Dana B. Westberg ’81 Matthew Wiener ’88 Robert M. Wildman ’83 Alexandra R. Witchel ’82 Carl Wittenberg ’85 Steven A. Wolff ’81 Dianah E. Wynter ’84 Evan Yionoulis ’85, YC ’82 David R. York ’80

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Donors JULY 2016–JANUARY 2018

Donald Youngberg ’83

1990s Narda Alcorn ’95 Bruce Altman ’90 Nephelie Andonyadis ’90 Kari L. Ardolino Rudgers ’95 Angelina Avallone ’94 Patrick Barrett ’98 Joseph R. Bellber ’01 Patricia Bennett ’90 Elizabeth Bennett ’97 Martin A. Blanco ’91 David Boevers ’96 Erik M. Bolling ’01 Debra Booth ’91 John Boyd* ’92 Leslie Brauman ’92 Tom Broecker ’92 James Bundy ’95 Katherine Burgueño ’90 Tom S. Bussey ’94 Kathryn A. Calnan ’99 Robert F. Campbell ’90 Jonathan Cardone ’95 Elisa P. Cardone ’96 Juliette A. Carrillo ’91 Edward Check ’90 Myung Hee Cho ’95 Darren C. Clark ’92 Robert H. Coleman ’98 Aaron M. Copp ’98 Robert C. Cotnoir ’94 Susan Mary Cremin ’95 Sean P. Cullen ’94 Scott T. Cummings ’85, DFA ’94 Sheldon Deckelbaum ’92 Martin Desjardins ’94 Michael Diamond ’90 Frances Egler ’95 Connie Evans ’93 Matthew A. Everett ’91 Glen Fasman ’92 Donald Fried ’95 David Gainey ’93 Stephen Godchaux ’93 Richard M. Gold ’91 Naomi S. Grabel ’91 Constance Grappo ’95 Elisa R. Griego ’98 Regina Guggenheim ’93 Corin Gutteridge ’96 Susan Hamburger ’97 Alexander Hammond ’96 Scott Hansen ’04

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Douglas Harvey ’95 Adriane Levy Heflin ’99 Jeffrey C. Herrmann ’99 John James Hickey ’95 Christopher B. Higgins ’90 Alys Holden ’97 John C. Huntington ’90 Raymond P. Inkel ’95 Clark Jackson Jr. ’97 Kristin Johnsen-Neshati ’92, DFA ’02 Elizabeth A. Kaiden ’96 Samuel Kelley ’90 Ashley York Kennedy ’90 Stephen Lars Klein ’99 L. Azan Kung ’91 Andrea Chi-Yen Kung ’99 James Larkin ’96 Suttirat Larlarb ’97 Julie F. Lawrence-Edsell ’93 Cheng Heng Lee ’99 Malia Lewis ’97 Chih-Lung Liu ’94 Mary Rose Lloyd ’96 Sarah Long ’92, YC ’85 Suzanne Cryer Luke ’95, YC ’88 Tien-Tsung Ma ’92 Robin Macduffie ’97 Geertruida E. Malten ’93 Elizabeth Margid ’91, YC ’82 Maria Matasar-Padilla ’99, DFA ’05 Craig P. Mathers ’93 William F. McGuire ’91 Bruce Miller ’99 Richard R. Mone ’91 Margaret Morgan ’92 Daniel Mufson ’95, DFA ’99 Kaye I. Neale ’91 Andrea Nellis ’96 Margaret Oman ’96 Lori Ott ’92 Dw Phineas Perkins ’90 Lisa Rigsby Peterson ’92 Amy Povich ’92 Jeffry Provost ’95 James Quinn ’94 Sarah Rafferty ’96 Frederick Ramage ’99 Lance Reddick ’94 Kristen Reinhardt ’91 Reg Rogers ’93 Melina Root ’90, YC ’83 Peggy Sasso ’99 Liev Schreiber ’92 Jennifer Schwartz ’97 Frederic F. Schwentker ’94

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Paul Selfa ’92 Thomas W. Sellar ’97, DFA ’03 Jane M. Shaw ’98 Christopher Sibilia ’96 Paul Spadone III ’99, YC ’93 Erich Stratmann ’94, YC ’93 Michael Strickland ’95 Deanna Stuart ’94 Sy Sussman ’94, YC ’87 David Loy Sword ’90 Benjamin Thoron ’92 Patti W. Thorp ’91 Paul Charles Tigue III ’99 Deborah L. Trout ’94 Michael R. Van Dyke ’92 Lisa McGahey Veglahn ’91 Erik Walstad ’95 Mark R. Weaver ’97 Christopher Weida ’95 Lisa Wilde ’91, DFA ’95 Marshall Williams ’95 Lila Wolff-Wilkinson ’90, DFA ’94 Robert Zoland ’95

2000s

Paola Allais Acree ’08, SOM ’08 Liz Alsina ’06 Alexander Bagnall ’00 Michael Banta ’03 James Bellavance ’00 Sarah Bierenbaum ’99, YC ’05 Ashley Bishop ’02 Mark Blankenship ’05 Josh Borenstein ’02 Madeline Brickman ’09 Jonathan Busky ’02, SOM ’02, YC ’94 David Calica ’08 Aurélia Cohen ’09 Rachel Cornish ’08 Matthew Cornish ’09, DFA ’13 Sarah DeLong ’08 Theodore DeLong ’07 Greg Param Derelian ’01 Derek DiGregorio ’07 Michael Donahue ’08 Jenifer Endicott Emley ’00 Kyoung-Jun Eo ’09 Miriam Epstein ’02 Dustin Eshenroder ’07 Marcus Dean Fuller ’04 Carter Pierce Gill ’09 Sandra Goldmark ’04 Hannah Grannemann ’08, SOM ’08

John Hanlon ’04 Heidi Hanson ’09 Amy Herzog ’07, YC ’00 Amy Holzapfel ’01, DFA ’06 James Guerry Hood ’05 David Howson ’04 Melissa Huber ’01 Rolin Jones ’04 Peter Young Hoon Kim ’04 Karyn Lyman ’05 Timothy Mackabee ’09 Elena Maltese ’03 Tarell Alvin McCraney ’07 Brian McManamon ’06 Jennifer Yejin Moeller ’06 Matthew Moses ’09 Neil Mulligan ’01 David Muse ’03, YC ’06 Rachel Myers ’07 Arthur Nacht ’06 Liv Nilssen ’06 Mark Robert Novom ’00 Barret O’Brien ’09 Adam O’Byrne ’04, YC ’01 Phillip Dawson Owen ’09 Jacob Padron ’08 Maulik Pancholy ’03 Michael Parrella ’00 Laura Patterson ’03 Bryce Pinkham ’08 Jonathan Reed ’08 Kevin Rich ’04 Joanna Romberg ’07 Rachel Rusch ’05, DFA ’08, YC ’00 Tom Russell ’07 Sallie Sanders ’02 Shawn Senavinin ’06 Amanda Spooner ’09 Frances Strauss ’09 V. Jane Suttell ’03 Carrie Van Hallgren ’06 Arthur Vitello III ’05 Elaine Wackerly ’03 Bradlee Ward ’05 Amanda Wallace Woods ’03

2010s

Emika Abe ’16, SOM ’16 Steven Albert ’14 Shaminda Amarakoon ’12 Alyssa Anderson ’10 Kaitlyn Anderson ’14 Trent Anderson ’19, SOM ’19 Zachary Appelman ’10 Celeste Arias ’15

Donors JULY 2016–JANUARY 2018

Mamoudou Athie ’14 Michael Backhaus ’13 Lauren E. Banks ’17 Chris G. Bannow ’14 Jessica Barker ’10 Michael Barker ’10, SOM ’10 Kevin Belcher ’19 Justin Bennett ’14 Alex R. Bergeron ’14 Molly Bernard ’13 Matthew Biagini ’11 Daniel Binstock ’11 Ato Blankson-Wood ’15 Rose Bochansky ’15 Erich Bolton ’11 Shawn E. Boyle ’15 Joey Brennan ’15 Jabari S. Brisport ’14 Nicole L. Bromley ’14 Chris Brown ’10 Timothy Brown ’10 Andrew Burnap ’16 Ashley Chang ’16 Hsiao-Ya Chen ’11 Byongsok Chon ’10 Nick Christiani ’14 Ben Clark ’17 William Cobbs IV ’12 William Connolly ’10 Paul Cooper ’16 Hallie Cooper-Novack ’12 Laura Cornwall ’19 Caitlin Crombleholme ’19 Prema Cruz ’14 James Cusati-Moyer ’15 Brett Dalton ’11 Brian Dambacher ’11 Matt Davis ’18 Katherine Day ’10 Elizabeth I. Dinkova ’17 Lucas Dixon ’12 John Doherty ’10 Austin S. Durant ’10 John Bryan Earle ’10 Laura Eckelman ’11 Justin Elie ’16 Kelly R. Fayton ’17 Cecie Fernandez ’14 Melanie Field ’16 Molly Fitzmaurice ’19 Ann Flammang ’14 Christina Fontana ’19 Leland R. Fowler ’17 Adam Frank ’18, SOM ’18 Christopher E. Geary 15 Eric Gershman ’15, SOM ’15 Chris Ghaffari ’16

Babak Gharaei-Tafti ’11 Kenneth Goodwin ’12 Latiani Gourzong ’19 Shaina Graboyes ’12 Laura Gragtmans ’12 Robert D. Grant ’13 Theodore B. Griffith ’13 Matthew W. Groeneveld ’14 Matthew Gutschick ’12 Anne Hagg ’16 Ryan Hales ’11 Amanda Haley ’10 Miranda R. Hall ’17 Caitlin Hannon ’14, SOM ’14 Thomas B. Harper ’15 Ethan Heard ’13, YC ’07 Kerry Palmer Heffernan ’13 Molly Hennighausen ’15 Alexandra Henrikson ’11 Christopher D. Henry ’12 Rebekah R. Heusel ’17 Ashton S. Heyl ’14 Sean Higgins ’16 Slate Holmgren ’10 Kevin Hourigan ’17 Phillip Howze ’15 Michael Hsu ’17 Shane Hudson ’14 Merlin Huff ’14 Sooyoung Hwang ’16 Miriam A. Hyman ’12 Karena Ingersoll ’12 Summer Lee Jack ’11 Sandra J. Jervey ’11 Jaeeun Joo ’12 Sanghun Joung Martha Jurczak ’11 Scott Keith ’17 Kelly E. Kerwin ’15 Aja Naomi King ’10 Chiara Klein ’17, SOM ’17 Andrew M. Knauff ’15 Steven C. Koernig ’17, SOM ’17 Michael Kraczek ’10 Anh Le ’15 Bona Lee ’11 Gabriel J. Levey ’14 Kathy Li ’18 Eric Chi-Yeh Lin ’12 Samuel Linden ’19, SOM ’19 Reynaldi Lolong ’13 Florence Low ’17 Peter Malbuisson ’10 Carmen M. Martinez ’14 Julian Elijah Martinez ’16 Krystin Matsunoto ’16 Matthew McCollum ’14, YC ’11

Kathryn M. McGregor ’14 Brenda K. Meaney ’13 Dashiell Menard ’19 Bryan Merrylees ’16 Samual Michael ’14 Anne Middleton ’16 Michael Mitnick ’10 Belina Mizrahi ’10, YC ’02 John V. Moran ’13 Josef P. Moro ’15 Leora Morris ’16 Aaron Moss Jr. ’10 Seamus Mulcahy ’12 Gwyneth Muller ’20, SOM ’20 Mariko A. Nakasone ’14 Fisher Kirby Neal ’12 Marissa Neitling ’13 Jennifer Harrison Newman ’11 Katherine Newman ’15 Lupita Nyong’o ’12 Dan O’Brien ’14 Lynda A.H. Paul ’17, MUS ’12 Thomas Pecinka ’15 Brendan Pelsue ’16 Chien-Yu Peng ’11 Daniel A. Perez ’13 Michael Place ’12 Rebecca Rae Powell ’17 Meghan Pressman ’10, SOM ’10 Aaron Profumo ’15 Paul-Robert P. Pryce ’13 Lydia M. Pustell ’17 Brittany C. Rall ’14 Emily E. Reeder ’17 Alexandra F. Reynolds ’17 Lisa Richardson ’19 Nathan Roberts ’10 Kimberly Rosenstock ’10 Tori P. Sampson ’17 Steven Schmidt ’14 Blake Anthony Segal ’11 Anne Seiwerath ’12 Hannah L. Shafran ’13 Yu Shen ’15, SOM ’15 Rachel Shuey ’18 Alyssa Simmons ’14, YC ’09 Charise Smith ’10 Sarah Sokolovic ’11 Ying Song ’10 Hannah Sorenson ’13 Shannon Sullivan ’11 Tien-Yin Sun ’10 Erik Sunderman ’10 Maree Tan-Tiongco ’13 Jillian Taylor ’12 Bradley Tejeda ’16 Rebecca Terpenning ’18

John M. Theis ’14 Sarah Thompson ’18 Jaime F. Totti ’20, SOM ’20, YC ’09 Alexandra Trow ’12, YC ’09 Valerie Tu ’19 Adina Verson ’12 Sophie von Haselberg ’14, YC ’08 Steph Waaser ’18 Karen Walcott ’13 Andrew Wallace ’17 Solomon Weisbard ’13 Jonathan Wemette ’13 Sarah Williams ’15 Zenzi Williams ’15 Shaunette Renée Wilson ’16 Mitchell J. Winter ’14 Gretchen T. Wright ’17, SOM ’17 Cheng-Han Wu ’12 Jacqueline Young ’14 Leandro Zaneti ’19 Sylvia X. Zhang ’18 Carly H. Zien ’14, YC ’08 Carmen G. Zilles ’13

ming cho lee scholarship Nina Adams MS ’69, NUR ’77 and Moreson Kaplan May Adrales ’06 German Cardenas Alaminos ’10 Annette Ames ’76 Nephelie Andonyadis ’90 Arnold Aronson Christopher Ash ’14 Angelina Avallone ’94 Christopher Barreca ’83 John Lee Beatty ’73 Emily Beck ’95 Asa Benally ’16 Michael F. Bergmann ’14 Deborah S. Berman Sarah Bernstein ’95 David Birn ’89 Montana Levi Blanco ’15 Brittany Bland ’19 and Seth Bodie ’14 John Bondi-Ernoehazy ’19 Debra Booth ’91 Drew Boughton ’91 Andrew Boyce ’09 Shawn Boyle ’15 Scott Bradley ’86

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Donors JULY 2016–JANUARY 2018

Tom Broecker ’92 Mark Brokaw ’86 Tim Brown ’10 Christina Bullard ’07 James Bundy ’95 Richard Butler ’88 Luke Cantarella ’00 Lawrence Casey ’80 Kwan Chi Chan ’19 Jiyoun Chang ’08 Edward Check ’90 Jessie Chen ’19 Rico Chiarelli Maiko Chii ’07 Wilson Chin ’03 Linda Cho ’98 Myung Hee Cho ’95 Sophia Choi ’18 Catherine Chung Michael Chybowski ’87 Elizabeth Clancy ’91 Bill Clarke ’87 Stephanie Cohen ’19 Barbara Cohen-Stratyner Bill Conner ’79 Aaron Copp ’98 Miriam Crowe ’05 Claire DeLiso ’17 Liz Diamond Gerardo Diaz ’19 Les Dickert ’97 An-lin Dauber ’17 Alexander Dodge ’99 Marina Draghici ’88 Lucie Dawkins ’18 Jeanne DuPont ’96 Marsha Eck and Joseph Aulisi Benjamin Ehrenreich ’14 Portia Elmer ’13 Ryan Emens ’18 Sasha Emerson ’84 Alixandra Englund ’06 Dustin Eshenroder ’07 Heidi Ettinger ’76 Mika Eubanks ’19 Christopher Evans ’20 Connie Evans ’93 Lily Fan YC ’01, LAW ’04 Glen Fasman ’92 Kristen Ferguson ’15 Quina Fonseca ’84 Leiko Fuseya ’03 Judy Gailen ’89 Sydney Gallas ’16 Leah Gardiner ’96 Mary Louise Geiger ’85 Susanna Gellert ’06

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Shadi Ghaheri ’18 Michael Giannitti ’87 Elsa GibsonBraden ’20 Soule Golden ’15 Sandra Goldmark ’04 Jess Goldstein ’78 Wray Graham ’77 Rob Greenberg ’89 Jane Greenwood Evonne Griffin ’05 Karen Schulz Gropman ’77 Alexander Hammond ’96 Jungah Han ’15 Heidi Hanson ’09 Luke Harlan ’16 Julian Wier Harman ’99 Patrick Herold Wendall Harrington Ethan Heard ’13 Riccardo Hernandez ’92 Susan Hilferty ’80 Donald Holder ’86 Cathy MacNeil Hollinger ’86 and Mark Hollinger ’85 JD Carolyn Hsu-Balcer Sarah Iams ’99 Rumiko Ishii ’07 Andrew Jackness ’79 Chris Jaehnig ’85 David Johnson Sidney Johnson ’12 Adrian Jones ’00 Hunter Kaczorowski ’14 Jane Kaplan ’93 Herin Kaputkin ’19 Marjorie Bradley Kellogg York Kennedy ’90 Anne Kenney ’04 Tamar Klausner ’06 Anya Klepikov ’08 Jean Kim ’16 Joo Kim ’95 Susan Lamb ’85 Mahayana Landowne ’98 John V. Y. Lee and Kathleen Y. Lee Junghyun Lee Samantha Lee Samuel Lee Wing Lee ’83 Ao Li ’18 Adrianne Lobel ’79 Sarah Long ’92, YC ’85 and David Solomon, YC ’88, LAW ’92 The Loo Family Santo Loquasto ’72 Nancy Yao Maasbach SOM ’99 Mikiko Suzuki MacAdams ’02

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Judianna Makovsky ’80 Emily Mann Jenny Mannis ’02 Rick Martin ’92 Rob Marx ’75, DFA ’79 Ola Maslik ’06 Aaron Mastin ’11 Charles McCarry ’86 Derek McLane ’84 Daniel Meeker ’98 Rachel Meyers ’07 Marc Mileto ’98 J. Michael Miller and Sharon Jensen Melissa Mizell ’08 Jennifer Moeller ’06 Johnny Moreno ’18 Joey Moro ’15 Edward Morris ’13 Leora Morris ’16 Genne Murphy ’18 Mary Elizabeth Myers ’89 Arthur Nacht ’06 and Merle Nacht Allison Narver ’98 Tina Cantu Navarro ’86 Meg Neville ’97 Marty New ’92 Sarah Nietfeld ’18 Victoria Nolan and Clark Crolius Chris Nowak ’76 Deb O ’07 Russell Parkman ’88 Pamela Peterson ’86 Ravi (Riw) Rakkulchon ’19 Ray Recht ’72 Meredith Ries ’13 Kristen Robinson ’13 Wladimiro Woyno Rodriguez ’20 Douglas Rogers ’96 Constanza Romero ’88 Melina Root ’90 Katherine B. Roth ’93 Kevin Rupnik ’81 Mariana Sanchez ’15 Tim Saternow ’87 Matt Saunders ’12 Lee Savage ’05 James Schuette ’89 Dennita Sewell ’92 Amanda Seymour ’09 John Shea ’73 Catherine Sheehy ’92, DFA ’99 Ann Sheffield ’87 Chika Shimizu ’15 Vladimir Shpitalink ’92 Maura Smolover ’76 Teresa Snider-Stein ’88

Ilona Somogyi ’94 Paul Spadone ’99 Walt Spangler ’97 Cat Tate Starmer ’06 Charles Steckler ’71 Anita Stewart ’88 Adam Stockhausen ’99 Emona Stoykova ’18 Stephen Strawbridge ’83 Michaela Strumberger ’97 Julian Suez Erin Sullivan ’20 David Swayze ’00 Nancy Talley Louisa Thompson ’98 Nancy Thun ’78 Katie Touart ’18 Melissa Trn ’08 Emmy Tu Daniel Urlie ’02 Beatrice Vena ’19 Robin Vest ’02 Nic Vincent ’19 Alexae Visel ’16 Ru-Jun Wang Solomon Weisbard ’13 Paul Whitaker William Wong Alexander Woodward ’16 Anita Yavich ’95 Michael Yeargan ’73 Evan Yionoulis ’85 Leo Yoshimura ’71 Donna Zakowski ’83 Klara Zieglerova ’96 Fufan Zhang ’17

ed martenson scholarship Emika Abe ’16, SOM ’16 Trent Anderson ’19, SOM ’19 James Bundy ’95 Katherine Burgueño ’90 Ben Cameron ’81 Joan Channick ’89 Rachel Cornish ’08 Laura Cornwall ’19 Caitlin Crombleholme ’19 Sarah DeLong ’08 Theodore Delong ’07 Terrence Dwyer ’88 Patricia Egan and Peter Hegeman Teresa Eyring ’89 Molly FitzMaurice ’19 Lucretia Anne Flammang ’14

Donors JULY 2016–JANUARY 2018

Adam J. Frank ’18, SOM ’18 Chris Fuller Eric Gershman ’15, SOM ’15 Naomi Grabel ’91 Hannah Grannemann ’08, SOM ’08 Barry and Maggie Grove Deeksha Gaur ’07 Matthew Gutschick ’12 Caitie Hannon ’14, SOM ’14 David Hawkanson Al Heartley ’18 Shane Hudson ’14 Sooyoung Hwang ’16 Karena Fiorenza Ingersoll ’12 and Emrys Ingersoll Jaeeun Joo ’12 Martha Jurczak ’11 and Michael Jurczak Gregory Kandel Chiara Klein ’17, SOM ’17 Anh Le ’15 Kathy Li ’18 Katie Liberman ’13, SOM ’13 Sam Linden ’19, SOM ’19 Flo Low ’17 Susan Medak and Greg Murphy Annie Middleton ’16 Gwyneth Muller ’20, SOM ’20 Arthur Nacht ’06 and Merle Nacht Jason Najjoum ’18, SOM ’18 Jennifer Newman ’11 Victoria Nolan and Clark Crolius James A. Phills Jr. Brittany Rall ’14 and Will Rall Emily Reeder ’17 Lisa Richardson ’19 Melissa Rose ’18 Nancy Sasser Sally Shen ’15, SOM ’15 Rachel Shuey ’18 Rosalie Stemer and Stuart Feldman Jaime Totti ’20, SOM ’20 Ann Trites and Kent McKay Lauren Wainwright ’14 Harry Weintraub Jonathan Wemette ’13 Sarah Williams ’15 Gretchen Wright ’17, SOM ’17 Leandro Zaneti ’19 Xiaomeng (Sylvia) Zhang ’18

bronislaw “ben” sammler scholarship Steven Albert ’14 Shaminda Amarakoon ’12 Kaitlyn Anderson ’14 Clayton Austin ’86 Bruce W. Bacon ’84 Alexander Bagnall ’00 Patrick Barrett ’98 Michael Baumgarten ’81 Kevin Belcher ’19 Joseph R. Bellber ’01 The Benevity Community Impact Fund Patricia Bennett ’90 Justin Bennett ’14 Alex Bergeron ’14 Todd Berling ’89 Deborah S. Berman Michael Bianco ’84 Bill Conner ’79 Rose Bochansky ’15 David Boevers ’96 Erik Bolling ’01 Erich Bolton ’11 John C. Boyd ’92* Michael E. Boyle ’90 Sharon Braunstein ’82 Joey Brennan ’15 Nick Bria ’04 Suzen E. Bria ’04 Michael Broh ’00 Nicole Bromley ’14 Chris Brown ’10 Bill Buck ’84 Colin Buckhurst ’09 James Bundy ’95 Katherine D. Burgueño ’90 April E. Busch ’03 Tom Bussey ’94 Rich Bynum ’82 David Calica ’08 Robert Campbell ’90 Jon Cardone ’95 Elisa Cardone ’96 A.D. Carson ’79 Hsiao-Ya Chen ’11 Nick Christiani ’14 Darren Clark ’92 Ben Clark ’17 and Diana Michta Melissa R. Cochran ’81 Robert H. Coleman ’98 Scott Conn ’00

Brian Dambacher ’11 Martin Desjardins ’94 Janann Eldredge ’06 Justin M. Elie ’11 Kyoungjun Eo ’09 Jon Farley ’83 Anthony M. Forman ’83 Raymond P. Forton ’85 Randy Fullerton ’82 and Judy Zanotti Richard Gold ’91 Shaina Graboyes ’12 Charles Grammer ’85 Ted Griffith ’13 Matthew Groeneveld ’14 Corin Gutteridge ’96 Ryan Hales ’11 Amanda Haley ’10 Joe Hamlin ’07 Ian Hannan ’17 Thomas Harper ’15 Michael Harvey ’14 Catherine Hazlehurst da Cruz ’83 Jane Head ’79 Adriane Heflin ’99 Alan Hendrickson ’79 Chris Higgins ’90 Robin Hirsch Alys Holden ’97 Donald Holder ’86 James G. Hood ’05 Christopher Hourcle ’04 Chuck Hughes ’83 John Huntington ’90 Raymond Inkel ’95 Chris Jaehnig ’85 Sandra Jervey ’11 Ann Johnson ’90 Sanghun Joung ’14 Rik Kaye ’80 Edward Kaye ’86 Kieran Kelly ’87 S. Lars Klein ’99 Joseph (Jody) Kovalick ’01 Michael Kraczek ’05 Matthew Krashan ’75 David Kriebs ’82 Drew Kufta ’77 Tom Kupp ’76 Mitchell Kurtz ’75 Ojin Kwon ’02 Anne LaCourt ’86 Edward Lapine ’83 Cheng Heng Lee ’99 Bona Lee ’11 Cheng Heng Lee ’99 Eugene Leitermann ’82

Charles E. Letts III ’76 Emily Leue ’03 and Max Leventhal ’86 and Susan V. Booth Malia Lewis ’97 Kenneth Lewis ’86 Jerry Limoncelli ’84 Eric Lin ’12 Fredric Lindauer ’66 George Lindsay, Jr. ’74 Donald B. Lowy ’76* Andi Lyons ’80 Tien-Tsung Ma ’92 Robin MacDuffie ’97 Peter Malbuisson ’10 John Marean ’84 Patrick Markle ’86 Neil Mazzella ’78 Bob McClintock ’82 Sam Michael ’09 Jonathan S. Miller ’75 Richard Mone ’91 Neil Mulligan ’01 Arthur Nacht ’06 and Merle Nacht Regina Neville ’88 Tom Neville ’86 Kate Newman ’15 Grace O’Brien ’04 Arthur E. Oliner ’86 Magi Oman ’96 Michael Parrella ’00 Laura Patterson ’03 Daniel Perez ’13 Dw Phineas Perkins ’90 Victoria Peterson ’89 Andrew Plumer ’02 Steve B. Pollock ’76 Brad Powers ’03 Fred Ramage ’99 Jeff Rank ’79 Pam Rank ’78 Jonathan Reed ’07 and Sarah Reed Emily Reeder ’17 Ross Richards ’88 Peter Roberts ’75 Gene Rogers ’02 Rose Brand Wipers Russ Rosensweig ’83 Kenneth Sanders ’89 Steven Schmidt ’11 Chuck Schultz ’01 Fritz Schwentker ’94 Aimee and Alec Scribner ’80 Patrick Seeley ’93 Hannah L. Shafran ’13 Christopher P. Sibilia ’92 Jared Siegel ’02

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Donors JULY 2016–JANUARY 2018

Richard Silvestro ’75 Deborah Simon ’81 Pablo Souki ’05 Andrew Southard ’09 Randy Steffen ’01 Neal Ann Stephens ’80 Mark Stevens ’89 and Deanna Stuart ’94 Tom Sullivan ’88 Tien-Yin Sun ’10 Erik Sunderman ’05 Julie and David Sword ’90 Barbara Tan-Tiongco ’13 Kat Tharp ’07 Pat Thomas ’81 Benjamin Thoron ’92 and Patricia Saraniero Don Titus Valerie Tu ’19 Turner Broadcasting System, Inc Lily Twining ’06 Michael Vandercook ’09 Michael Van Dyke ’87 Karen Walcott ’13 Andrew Wallace ’12 Kate Wallace ’12 Erik Walstad ’95 David Ward ’75 Mark Weaver ’97 Chris Weida ’95 Matthew Welander ’09 Kristan Wells ’05 Nathan Wells ’05 Carrie Winkler ’04 Gregory Winkler ’05 Chin-Yuan Yang ’01 Evan Yionoulis ’85, YC ’82 David York ’80 Jacqueline Young ’14 Donald Youngberg ’83 and Clarissa Youngberg Ryan Scott Yuille ’77 Robert Zoland ’95

ron van lieu scholarship Zachary Appelman ’10 Mamoudou Athie ’14 Chris Bannow ’14 Jeff Barry ’05 Matthew Biagini ’11 Danny Binstock ’11 Lisa Birnbaum ’07 Michael Braun ’07, YC ’00 Jabari Brisport ’14

124

Eric Bryant ’09 James Bundy ’95 Katherine Burgueño ’90 Andrew Burnap ’16 Nick Carriere ’08 James Chen ’08 Amanda Cobb ’05 Will Cobbs ’12 Will Connolly ’10 Kristen Connolly ’07 Paul Cooper ’16 Hallie Cooper-Novack ’12 Prema Cruz ’14 Sean Cullen ’90 James Cusati-Moyer ’15 Brett Dalton ’11 Lucas Dixon ’12 John Doherty ’10 Austin Durant ’10 Joby Earle ’10 Laura Esposito ’09 Erin Felgar ’07 Cecie Fernandez ’14 Melanie Field ’16 Christopher Geary ’15 Chris Ghaffari ’16 Babak Gharaei-Tafti ’11 Eric Gilde ’07, YC ’04 Carter Gill ’09 Laura Gragtmans ’12 Robert Grant ’13 Anne Hagg ’16 Brian Hastert ’09 Alex Henrikson ’11 Chris Henry ’12 Ashton Heyl ’14 Sean Higgins ’16 Merlin Huff ’13 Miriam Hyman ’12 Aja Naomi King ’10 Alex Knox ’09 Gabriel Levey ’14 Irene Sofia Lucio ’11 Alexander Major ’08 Elijah Martinez ’16 Matthew McCollum ’14, YC ’11 Christopher McFarland ’09 Kathryn McGregor ’14 Alexis McGuinness ’06 Brian McManamon ’06 Michael McQuilken ’12 Brenda Meaney ’13 Aubie Merrylees ’16 Jack Moran ’13 Aaron Moss ’10 Seamus Mulcahy ’12 Arthur Nacht ’06 and Merle Nacht

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Mariko Nakasone ’14 Fisher Neal ’12 Marissa Neitling ’13 Christianna Nelson ’05 Lupita Nyong’o ’12 Daniel O’Brien ’14 Barret O’Brien ’09 Erica Sullivan O’Brien ’09 Alex Organ ’06 Gamal Palmer ’08 Joseph J. Parks ’08 Bryce Pinkham ’08 Michael Place ’12 Aaron Profumo ’15 Paul Pryce ’13 Ryan Quinn ’06 Da’Vine J. Randolph ’11 Adam Saunders ’05 Kathleen McElfresh Scott ’06 Blake Segal ’11 Charles Semine ’07 Charise Smith ’10 Sarah Sokolovic ’11 Hannah Sorenson ’13 Rachel Spencer Hewitt ’10 Shannon Sullivan ’11 Joe Tapper ’06 Jill Taylor ’12 Alex Teicheira ’09 Brad Tejeda ’16 Nondumiso Tembe ’09 John Theis ’14 Alexandra Trow ’12, YC ’09 Ron Van Lieu Ariana Venturi ’15 Adina Verson ’12 Elliot Villar ’07 Emily Dorsch Villar ’07 Sophie von Haselberg ’14 Amanda Warren ’08 Zenzi Williams ’15 Shaunette Renée Wilson ’16 Walton Wilson Mitchell Winter ’14 Jeff Withers ’05 Carly Zien ’14, YC ’08 Carmen Zilles ’13

friends of ysd and yrt Actors’ Equity Foundation Nina Adams MS ’69, NUR ’77 and Moreson Kaplan Louis Alexander Emily Altman Americana Arts Foundation

Anonymous Deborah Applegate GRD ’98 and Bruce Tulgan Anna Fitch Ardenghi Trust, Bank of America, Trustee Kirk Baird, Jr. YC ’66 John Beinecke YC ’69 Bank of America Charitable Foundation Sonja Berggren and Patrick Seaver YC ’72 Deborah and Bruce Berman LAW ’79 Debbie Bisno and David Goldman LAW ’76 The Eugene G. and Margaret M. Blackford Memorial Fund, Bank of America, Co-Trustee Carmine Boccuzzi YC ’90, LAW ’94 and Bernard Lumpkin YC ’91 Lynne and Roger Bolton Clare and Sterling Brinkley Donald and Mary Brown Mary Bundy Stephen Bundy Alexandra Perez Cadena Lois Chiles and Richard Gilder YC ’54, HON ’07 Nicholas Ciriello YC ’59 The Noël Coward Foundation The Frederick A. DeLuca Foundation Edgerton Foundation Lily Fan YC ’01, LAW ’04 Barbara and Richard Franke YC ’53, HON ’87, HON ’01 Burry Fredrik Foundation Deborah Freedman YC ’82 and Ben Ledbetter Anita Pamintuan Fusco YC ’90 and Dino Fusco YC ’88 Monir and Abbas Ghaheri Donald Granger YC ’85 Marty and Perry Granoff Mabel Burchard Fischer Grant Foundation Betty and Joshua Goldberg The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation Jerome L. Greene Foundation Lorence Gutterman Hasbro, Inc. F. Lane Heard III YC ’73, LAW ’78 and Margaret Bauer ’86, ART ’91 Ruth and Stephen Hendel YC ’73 Stephen Hoffman YC ’64 Sally Horchow YC ’92 Sarah and William Hyman YC ’80 Ellen Iseman YC ’76

Donors JULY 2016–JANUARY 2018

David Johnson YC ’78 Ann Judd and Bennett Pudlin LAW ’78 J.M. Kaplan Fund Richard Lalli MUS ’80, DMA ’86 and Michael Rigsby MED ’88 The Ethel and Abe Lapides Foundation The Frederick Loewe Foundation Lucille Lortel Foundation Drew McCoy Deborah McGraw David and Leni Moore Family Foundation Janice Muirhead James Munson YC ’66 Eileen and Jim Mydosh National Endowment for the Arts NewAlliance Foundation Newman’s Own Foundation Jane Nowosadko F. Richard Pappas YC ’76 James Perlotto YC ’78 and Thomas Masse MUS ’91, Artist Diploma ’92 Alan Poul YC ’76 Rainmaker Thinking, Inc. Robert Riordan YC ’66 Robina Foundation Abigail Roth YC ’90, LAW ’94 and R. Lee Stump Seedlings Foundation Tracy Chutorian Semler YC ’86 Sandra Shaner The Ted and Mary Jo Shen Charitable Gift Fund The Shubert Foundation, Inc. The Carol Sirot Foundation Matthew Specter and Marjan Mashhadi Matthew Suttor Stephen Timbers YC ’66 Andrew and Nesrin Tisdale Trust for Mutual Understanding Kara Unterberg YC ’87 Esme Usdan YC ’77 Sylvia Van Sinderen and James Sinclair Time Warner Foundation United Illuminating Company & Southern Connecticut Gas Company

Paul Walsh Donald Ware YC ’71 Vera F. Wells YC ’71

in kind Electronic Theatre Controls, Inc. Anita Pamintuan Fusco YC ’90 David Johnson YC ’78 Jane Kaczmarek ’82 Asaad Kelada ’64 Talia Shire Schwartzman ’69 Tracy Chutorian Semler YC ’86 Jeremy Smith ’76

* Deceased

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