Alumni Notes teaching another semester at the National Theatre Institute. Really love it. I had a recurring role on The Wire this year on HBO, and I am about to begin rehearsals for the role of composer George Antheil in the new play Frequency Hopping here in New York.” Durinda Wood ’85 just finished working as Costume Designer for two films: Six Wives of Henry Ufay starring Tim Allen, and Brothers starring Natalie Portman, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Tobey McGuire, and directed by Jim Sheridan.
90s
............................
Dallas Adams ’93 is the Regional Account Manager for a health care company in Las Vegas, Nevada, and has two children, Tristan, age 4, and Victoria, age 6. Claudia (Arenas) Rosenshield ’99 shares that, since graduating, “I’ve since married a diplomat, and I’ve had a very interesting time teaching theatre in universities overseas. Now we are in London enjoying life here, and theatre, very much.” Martin Blank ’94 writes, “It’s been a great year. On September 24, 2007, my wife Penny gave birth to our son, Maximilian. His big sister Frances is now three. In 2007, I was commissioned by the Georgetown Theatre Company to write a new play, Hamlet #44, which they produced in July of ’07 in Washington, D.C. My new play A New York Miracle was produced in December of ’07 by The Jewish Theatre Workshop in Baltimore.” Elizabeth Bennett ’97 writes, “I continue to work in the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and have really enjoyed branching out beyond theatre and working with museums, music and dance groups, and arts in education programs. I have enough time to do freelance dramaturgy projects, including some long-term projects for LA Theatre Works and reading plays for a few theatre companies. Most frequently, my freelance adventures mean helping out Preston Lane ’96 at Triad Stage in Greensboro, N.C. Earlier this year, we tackled Shaw’s Mrs. Warren’s Profession and continue to rework drafts of Preston’s terrific new play, Bloody Blackbeard. When Josh Foldy ’98 was in Doubt at Triad, he, Janet Allard ’97, Preston and I had fun hunting down great North Carolina BBQ and other authentic Appalachian culture. We’re hoping to meet Dolly Parton this fall in Los Angeles. Eleanor Holdridge ’97 was in New York this
spring, directing a David Grimm (Former Faculty) play that starred Evan Parke ’97 as a really hilarious, heartfelt Idi Amin. I’ll also go just about anywhere to see Mark H. Dold ’96 onstage and am looking forward to seeing him in Amadeus in a couple of months.” Ed Blunt ’99, founder of BluntArtistry, is speaking and training nationally and internationally, helping businesses and organizations reconstruct their realities for more impactful and compelling futures. Ed just returned from Salt Lake City, Utah, training the people that design our missile defense system, and from London, England, for the launch of his international personal development company! He writes, “It’s amazing how the skills we learned as YSD can help so many people in ways I never imagined!” Kathryn (Parrella) Calnan ’99 writes, “Since leaving my job as Director of Development at Providence Performing Arts Center in 2005 to spend more time at home with my two young daughters, I have inadvertently fallen into two part-time jobs that each allow me to work from home on my own time and schedule. I am a Client Services Coordinator for Horizon Financial Group—a surprisingly good fit given my Theater Management background, since we primarily focus on offering 403(b) plans to employees of
non-profit organizations. I have also started working with the New England Center for the Performing Arts as a fundraising consultant. They are embarking on an exciting new project to build a $30 million state-of-the-art facility in Franklin, Mass., less than ten minutes from my home, and I am thrilled to be a part of their efforts! My girls are now ages 6 (Kaitlyn) and 3 1/2 (Caroline) and are both doing well. I have enjoyed reconnecting with so many YSD alums on LinkedIn this year and hope this note finds all my classmates doing well!” Edward Check ’90 shares, “This past fall I took a leave from teaching at Smith College and returned to New York to art direct Sex and the City: The Movie. In my wildest dreams I never thought accepting a job back in 1997 would follow me for the next ten years! Many thanks to the Drama School for helping me along the way.” Elizabeth Hope Clancy ’91 has had a great year of work in costume design. Dance: RoS Indexical by Yvonne Rainer, Documenta Festival in Germany and Performa ’07 in New York; Intimacy of Strife by Pat Catterson, Seattle Dance Project. Theatre: Passing Strange on Broadway, directed by Annie Dorsen ’00; The Breach by Tarell McCraney ’07, Catherine Filloux, and Joe Sutton at Seattle Rep; The
YSD goes to the South! Alumni gathered at Triad Stage in Greensboro, North Carolina. (left to right) Janet Allard ’97, Josh Foldy ’98, Rich Whittington ’98, Elizabeth Bennett ’97, Preston Lane ’96, Christi Weikel ’99.
YSD 2008
65