The Strayer-Wood Theatre

The Season Opens

noreply@blogger.com (Jascenna Haislet) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 19:33:00 +0000

The 2009-10 season at the Strayer-Wood Theatre has opened with a charming production of A.R. Gurney's What I Did Last Summer. The show played to nearly sold out crowds this past weekend in our black box space and audiences left smiling. In fact, I believe I have heard from the box office that tomorrow night is sold out as well. To see photos of the show, visit http://www.uni.edu/theatre/WIDLS.html. (Photos courtesy of Michael Brown, assistant lighting designer)

In addition to a wonderful performance, audiences can also enjoy a DVD documenting the process of producing the show, from first read-through with the cast, to the design presentation, blocking rehearsals and studio work calls. The DVD, produced by the UNI Electric Media student organization, Cedar River Productions, plays in the lobby next to the box office before, during and after every performance.

Work continues on our next production, The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performedby the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade by Peter Weiss. Jay Edelnant and Gwendolyn Schwinke are co-directing this ground-breaking work of theatre that mixes music, movement, history, fantasy, fiction and non-fiction.

Guest artist Cat Chow recently spent two weeks in residence working with faculty and students on the costume designs for the production. On Saturday, September 24th, students from the theatre and art departments and the textile and apparels program came together for a six hour session working on costumes with the designer and Strayer-Wood costume faculty. A few photos from the work call are posted http://www.uni.edu/theatre/BehindTheScenes.html.

On Thursday, October 1, Cat meet with Jay, Gwendolyn and members of the costume area for a dress parade, an event in which the actors dress in their costumes and stand for inspection for the director and designer. Photos from the dress parade can be seen online at http://www.uni.edu/theatre/MaratSade.html

Last night, Jay, Gwendoly and the designers hosted the design presentation for the show, sharing with the audience their vision for bringing this show to life on the Strayer-Wood stage.
Marat/Sade runs November 6- 8 and 13 - 15. Tickets are available now.

Each fall, the Department of Theatre invites students who spent the summer working in theatre to share with the faculty and fellow students their experiences. This afternoon over the lunch hour, six students shared their stories, including how they found the jobs, their responsibilities and what they learned. Julie Baldwin spent two months as an intern with the Seattle Children's Theatre, which she raved about, telling us that the experience "changed her life." Tom Kobes returned for his second summer at the Rocky Mountain Theatre for Kids in Denver, where he stage managed Suessical, Hollywood to Broadway and High School Musical 2. Michael Brown completed an internship with the Hangar Theatre in Ithaca, New York, where he was offered the opportunity to design lights for the company's summer children's production. Ronnie Wells spent his third summer in Kilgore, Texas, at the Texas Shakespeare Festival as a carpenter. He plans to return next summer as the props master. Chad Albert shared some of his experiences working as a scenic intern at the Utah Festival Opera, where fellow student Jon Hudspeth also worked. And finally, Will Azbill talked about his experience as a last minute emergency hire for props at the Des Moines Metro Opera. Although it is only October, many students are already thinking about next summer and this dijscussion offers other students insight into where to look for opportunities and how to apply. Speaking of which, I should get to a few letters of recommendation that I need to write.

The New Year Begins

noreply@blogger.com (Jascenna Haislet) — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 20:22:00 +0000

We are nearing the end of the first week of classes in the 2009-10 academic year and already we are busy at work on many projects. In addition to classes, we have already begun production meetings and staff meetings, processed season ticket orders, updated our web site, adjusted budgets, scheduled special events, rearranged seating in the Bertha Martin Theatre and begun construction of costumes and scenery for the shows. Has it really only been four days?

Some changes within the Strayer-Wood faculty and staff this year include the official hiring of Ron Koinzan as our technical director and the transition of Mark Parrott from staff designer to faculty member. Amy RohrBerg has taken over duties as production manager so I am returning my primary focus to marketing and audience development.

As is our tradition, the year began with a company meeting on the Sunday evening before classes, followed by auditions for the Fall semester productions, What I Did Last Summer and Marat/Sade. Call-backs are continuing with the goal of having casts in place by Friday. Steve Taft will be holding the first rehearsal for What I Did Last Summer on Friday evening.

New York based artist Cat Chow was on campus to install her latest exhibition, Love Me or Die, in the UNI Gallery of Art. The exhibit is part of the larger Cat Chow Project, An Arts Collaboration, involving several departments and faculty/staff across campus. Cat uses recycled and non-traditional materials to create her art. Her creations of wearable cat inspired us to invite Cat to design costumes for our production of Marat/Sade this fall. I strongly encourage you to visit the exhibit in the Gallery of Art.

On Wednesday, September 2, at 6:30 p.m., get a glimpse of what's to come at the Strayer-Wood during the Design Presentation of What I Did Last Summer. Director Steve Taft and the scenic, lighting, costume and hair/makeup designers will share their vision for bringing this charming play by A.R. Gurney to life.

The following evening, we will present Passages to Palestine, a touring multi-media devised theatre performance conceived by Richard Glockner. Using the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a backdrop, the Strayer-Wood Theatre explores such questions as: do we have humanitarian responsibilities as citizens of a global community to the innocent victims of violent conflict in another part of the world and what moral obligation do we have to intervene on behalf of the millions of ordinary citizens caught in the middle of horrifying political, religious and ethnic wars every single day? Passages to Palestine will premiere on Thursday, September 3, at 7 and 8:30 p.m. in the Bertha Martin Theatre.

I hope to see you at the Strayer-Wood Theatre this season! There's much more to come.

A Russian Approach to a Russian Classic

noreply@blogger.com (Jascenna Haislet) — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 19:06:00 +0000

In November, Strayer-Wood Theatre will produce Anton Chekhov’s Three Sisters in the Bertha Martin Theatre. The department is pleased to welcome three guest artists to work on this production. Alice Ivanova, who teaches acting at the St. Petersburg State Theatre Arts Academy in Russia, will guest direct this classic play about the lives, loves, and losses of Masha, Olga, Irina and their brother Andrei. Set in a provincial Russian town in the early 2000’s, the play explores issues of coping (or not coping) when your dreams are unfulfilled. Alice has taught acting workshops for UNI Theatre students in the past, and specializes in a training approach which focuses on Stanislavsky’s Etude Method, designed to let actors be completely open, confident and spontaneous.

Lera Nekhaeva is a former student of the St. Petersburg State Theatre Arts Academy and specializes in Theatre design. She is currently pursuing an MA in graphic design in the Art Department here at UNI. She began her connection to UNI as part of an ongoing exchange program between the Theatre Department and the St. Petersburg State Theatre Arts Academy. Lera’s work on this project will closely follow the model of theatrical design in Russia, where a scenographer is often responsible for multiple design elements. In the American system of design, it is more common for designers to specialize in a single area, so you would see one designer for scenery and a different designer for costumes. Lera will provide a vision for all the physical elements of this world, so the scenery, props and costumes will all evolve under her guidance. Evolve is an interesting word, since the acting company that Alice will form will have input into what they think their characters would wear- and browse through pulled items to see if they can individualize themselves.

Alice and Lera were able to hold initial design development meetings in Russia over the summer, and now the process continues with input from Theatre departmental staff. Theatre students will benefit from being able to work with someone who comes from a different background and whose approach may be different than they are used to. We will work in an 11 week process, which is almost twice the amount of time we would normally spend preparing a production. This shift is owing to the fact that a full year’s of shaping and polishing a show would not be unusual in the Russian system.

Additional support for this collaboration will come from Rebecca Burkhardt from the School of Music. Dr. Burkhardt is the conductor of the Northern Iowa Symphony Orchestra, and has she has visited and taken students to Russia many times. She has also conducted in Russia. She will help select appropriate Russian songs and motifs to be used as part of and in support of the performance. She will also help to incorporate live musicians into the cast.

This unique connection with Russia was made possible by the UNI Institute of Humanities and Fine Arts in St. Petersburg. Several Theatre students and faculty have benefited from this program and it is only through the connections made possible by the Institute that we are producing Three Sisters with this wonderful combination of talent now.

Three Sisters opens on November 6th and will run through November 16th.

Eric Lange, Head
Department of Theatre

A New Year - A New Name

noreply@blogger.com (Jascenna Haislet) — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 02:01:00 +0000

You may have noticed that Theatre UNI has a new name: the Strayer-Wood Theatre. In recognition of the 30th anniversary of the building, the faculty and staff of the UNI Department of Theatre elected to change the name of our production program to honor our home, the Strayer-Wood Theatre. We hope that this change will strengthen our identity and remind our audiences that we continue to produce quality theatre in the Strayer-Wood. We will, of course, continue to answer to Theatre UNI in honor of the past seasons.

As the fourth week of the 2008/09 season and academic year begins, rehearsals for the fall semester main stage productions are well under way. Steve Taft, UNI professor of theatre, directs John Guare's comedy, The House of Blue Leaves, for the Strayer-Wood stage. Special guest artist, Alisa Ivanova, from St. Petersburg, Russia, has returned to UNI to direct Anton Chekhov's classic drama/comedy, Three Sisters, in the Bertha Martin Theatre. For more information about this unique opportunity, see the blog entry by Eric Lange, Head of the UNI Dept of Theatre.

The Design and Production committee hosted the 2008 fall regional conference of USITT (United States Institute of Theatre Technology) Northern Boundary this past weekend. More than 60 university theatre faculty, students and professionals from Iowa, Minnesota, and North and South Dakota congregated at UNI for workshops and networking.

Following a cookout on the Strayer-Wood loading dock, the conference kicked off with a slide show of work from schools in the region. Mark Parrott put together a presentation of production and work call photos from the past two Theatre UNI seasons to share with the audience. The region’s semi-annual business meeting was held earlier in the evening, during which I was elected to fill the remaining term of the Vice President of Programming and Amy RohrBerg and Leonard Curtis volunteered to serve on the region’s scholarship committee this fall.

Saturday’s activities began with a makeup workshop, Blood and Gore, led by Amy RohrBerg. Dani Jo Stephenson volunteered to allow Amy to make her up with bruises, burns, and a bullet hole in her forehead. A sound workshop, Mixing Sound for Live Theatre, was offered by Sandy Nordahl and Travis Duncan at the Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Arts Center and later in the morning, Amy joined Mark for a mask workshop. Tours of the Strayer-Wood and Gallagher-Bluedorn were offered as well.

During lunch, Carol Colburn led a discussion among faculty on student outcome assessments and how the different programs are working the assessments into their curriculums.

Later, a group of attendees were shuttled to the UNI Museum for a tour and discussion of the Visions of Africa: Art and Ritual exhibit while others participated in the student-to-student tech olympics. Tom Kobes, Jessica Van Essen and Ronnie Wells organized the event around a costume quick change, during which participants had to change two actors from one costume to another in the shortest time possible. Amanda Juhl and David Harnois volunteered to be the actors redressed while their dressers were timed. Meghan McKinney had the best time when changing Amanda.

Amy RohrBerg led a workshop on Kabuki Theatre and kimonos later in the afternoon while several representatives from ETC (Electronic Theatre Controls) held a training sessions on the Congo and Congo Jr. light boards.

Eight students displayed their design and production work in a combination exhibition/competition for three scholarships to the national USITT conference. Six were UNI theatre students: Chad Albert, Will Azbill, Tom Kobes, Aaron Mayer, Meghan McKinney, and Jessica Van Essen. Meghan and Jessica received two of the three scholarships for the displays of their work.

The conference concluded with the announcement of the scholarship recipients, tech olympic winners and an invitation to attend the national conference, to be held in Cincinnati in March.

The success of the conference is thanks in large part to the more than twenty UNI theatre students who volunteered several hours to planning, organizing, publicizing, setting up, running and participating in the conference and cleaning up after.

Coming this weekend, light hang for The House of Blue Leaves.

The Show Comes Together

noreply@blogger.com (Jascenna Haislet) — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 01:38:00 +0000

My apologies for not keeping up with the Theatre UNI blog. If only there were 25 hours in a day.

Tonight is the final dress rehearsal for the Theatre UNI/UNI School of Music production of The Crucible, an opera based on the play by Arthur Miller. Since I've already sat through four technical rehearsals, I decided to duck out tonight and write instead.

The road to mount this particular show has been complicated. Because Theatre UNI is undertaking a large scale alumni production of Miller's Death of a Salesman this spring in celebration of the 30th anniversary of our home, the Strayer-Wood Theatre, we (referring to the Theatre UNI faculty/staff) decided last spring that it might be in our best interest to put a little more time between the end of the first show of the semester and the opening of Salesman. Therefore, we scheduled The Crucible to open a week earlier in the semester than our usual production calendar would suggest. We decided to open on Thursday, February 14. Valentine's Day does seem like an odd choice of opening dates for The Crucible but considering the production calendar, that was the day.

Several weeks after choosing the show dates for our four main stage productions, building the production calendar, starting a season ticket renewal campaign and advertising in a couple media sources, an overlooked scheduling conflict was brought to our attention and made it necessary to move The Crucible up by another week, opening just three and a half weeks after the start of the second semester, instead of our normal five and a half weeks.

So the production calendar was updated, people who had already purchased tickets were contacted, and we adjusted, holding auditions and beginning the design process last fall while we were also working on Cloud 9 and A Midsummer Night's Dream. The building of scenery and costumes began so soon as Midsummer opened.

After a nice holiday break, we jumped right back into the production and have managed to pull together a truly beautiful production. Winter weather, illnesses among the production team, cast and crew, and the workload of some production personnel have made it difficult at times to see the light at the end of the tunnel but I truly believe that we are there, just in time for opening. Now I hope the weather cooperates.

And speaking of, as I sit in my office typing this, I'm glancing out the window to watch the snow continuing to fall. The forecast calls for up to a foot of snow by noon tomorrow. At least we have an evening off before the opening on Thursday.

Guest Blogger

noreply@blogger.com (Jascenna Haislet) — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 02:43:00 +0000

From Chelsea Cunningham, senior theatre major and director of the upcoming UNISTA production of Best of Broadway:

The cast of Best of Broadway performed three successful pre-show gigs this weekend at the Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Arts Center. We performed 30 minutes of music before each performance of the National Tour of Annie, grabbing the attention of many theatre-goers. Spectators clapped along with the songs while members of the Best of Broadway team passed out postcards with show information on it. Ticket sales increased following these performances.

What's more, several cast members of Annie came to watch our pre-show Sunday night, saying that they were excited for the opportunity to hear other people sing. Last night, Annie cast members listened again - some coming right out to the lobby and others listening at the end of the hallway near their Green Room. I had the opportunity to introduce myself to them and they spoke praisingly of the talent of the ensemble, even pointing out several Best of Broadway cast members that they thought should audition professionally. One Annie ensemble member ended up asking me if we'd come to his dressing room and let him take a picture with us!

Attached is a photo of the Best of Broadway cast posing with Alex (front, blue sweater) who is an ensemble member in Annie, and with Amanda Balon (Annie) and Mikey the Dog (Sandy).

Thanks for your continuing support of Best of Broadway! We are working to make this a most successful production. For more information, continue to visit www.bestofbroadwayunista.com.

November

noreply@blogger.com (Jascenna Haislet) — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 01:45:00 +0000

Sorry it's been a few weeks. Numerous times I've composed entries mentally but finding the time to actually type them out has been a little more difficult. Sometimes I wish I could simply project my thoughts directly onto the page. Of course I'd have to then find the time to edit.

Anyway, Cloud 9 and Midsummer closed last week. Both had very successful runs, playing to enthusiastic audiences.

Auditions for Death of a Salesman were held last week. Seventeen majors had their auditions recorded and sent to Larry Paulsen, the director. Call-backs will be held after Thanksgiving. Our stage manager Vanessa is currently putting together a list of dates relating to the production and collecting schedules in order to arrange a conference call for a design meeting before the end of the semester.

On Friday afternoon, Eric Lange, our department head, took five students to the Iowa Thespian conference in Davenport. Richard Glockner and I joined them on Saturday. Katy and Chelsea lead workshop on musical theatre auditions; Eric lead one on lighting design; and Mikey, Scott, and Briton on warm-up techniques and games. Richard attended auditions to scout for potential students and I staffed our table in the high school hall, answering questions about our program. We also talked to five alum who are now teaching and a former colleague now in Iowa City. I have to admit that I spent much of last week considering begging out of the event as I wanted to spend a Saturday at home for the first time in several weeks. But in the end, I'm happy that I went. It was nice to see the former students and to get out of town for awhile. And the reality is, I would have probably ended up helping out with the storage moving that was also happening on Saturday afternoon here in Cedar Falls.

Progress continues on The Crucible. During this morning's production meeting, we spent time going over the scenic design to determine how to make it fit the financial and labor resources assigned to the project. Later, several conversations were held to determine how best to accommodate the scenic design needs of the two productions currently rehearsing in the Strayer-Wood Theatre. In addition to the rehearsals for The Crucible, UNISTA's (UNI Student Theatre Assocation) production of the musical revue, The Best of Broadway, will be performing on the Strayer-Wood stage the weekend after Thanksgiving. The lastest word that I've heard is that a compromise acceptable to both production teams has been reached.

Earlier this evening, I spent about 30 minutes ordering perusal copies of several musicals in consideration for next season, including Urinetown, Spin: A Musical Myth, A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine, The Apple Tree and Little Shop of Horrors. My next task for the evening is to finish reading Tales of the Lost Formicans, a play that Richard is directing a workshop production of early next semester.

Another Opening

noreply@blogger.com (Jascenna Haislet) — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 19:55:00 +0000

A Midsummer Night's Dream opened to a enthusiastic almot full house in the Strayer-Wood Theatre this past Thursday evening. Performances of both Midsummer and Cloud 9 throughout the weekend have been well received by audiences and Cloud 9 received a glowing review from the Waterloo Courier earlier in the week. I am so proud of the work that everyone involved has done this semester on these two productions. Although it has been exhausting to produce two shows of a large scale at the same time with somewhat limited resources, I believe we have do so with great success.

Although there is another week of performances, work has already begun on Theatre UNI's next two productions, The Crucible and Death of a Salesman. Designs are due Friday for The Crucible, an opera version of Arthur Miller's play of the Salem Witch Trials and McCarthy hearings of the 1950s. The scenic designer, Leonard Curtis, is designing a simple, stark, yet breath-taking set that supports the emotional landscape of the opera beautifully. And Amy RohrBerg's working designs for the costuming contrast nicely to place the characters in the appropriate time-frame while not hendering the story's timeless theme.

There are also several student projects in the works, produced by UNISTA, the UNI Student Theatre Association. Best of Broadway, a musical revue, is already in rehearsal with performances scheduled for the first weekend of December in the Strayer-Wood. A workshop production of LUV will open just days before Broadway in the Acting Practice Room. Watch for more information about both productions. On November 10, UNISTA will present the stand-up comedy of guest Josh Fitkin and Tim Cahill, a senior theatre major. TAP, the department's service fraternity, will host a screening of The Rocky Horror Picture Show on November 10 in Lang Hall. This has become a fairly successful annual event for the organization.

The first round of auditions for Death of a Salesman will begin Thursday, November 8. Because Salesman is to be directed by alum Larry Paulsen, who is currently performing in Denver, Colorado, and therefore able to return to UNI for only one day in December for auditions, the first round will be taped and sent to Larry. Students have been asked to prepare a monologue in the style and period of the show and identify which character or characters for which they wish to be considered. Larry will identify those students he wishes to "call back," or see audition a second time, on Sunday, December 2. While this is not the way in which we traditionally have auditions for main stage productions, the experience of creating a recorded audition will be a good one for our students and one they may well experience several times throughout a career in performance.

Classes also continue with plans being made for final projects and portfolio reviews not far off. Theatre majors will have an opportunity to take the Department's level II reading exam next month that will test their knowledge of a set of plays and other theatre related literature that the faculty feel those studying theatre should be familiar with. In the newest curriculum requirements, a passing score on the level II exam is necessary in order for a student to declare an emphasis area of study within the theatre program.

Two weeks ago, I happened to remember that I had reached an anniversary at Theatre UNI. I have been here for 12 years. This may not seem like a very important anniversary, except for the fact that when I arrived here in October of 1995, during the week between performances of Praying Mantis, it was for a 9 month temporary job. And since then, I have been almost constantly looking forward to the next job, the next move, and wondering where I would be in another year or two. During this past year, my personal life has changed in a way that will now allow me to settle down here at UNI and in Cedar Falls if I so desire. There is no "next" move on the horizen if I don't want there to be. I've got a big decision to make now, but fortunately, no deadline to be concerned with.

Opening Night

noreply@blogger.com (Jascenna Haislet) — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 02:06:00 +0000

It's opening night of Cloud 9 and for Theatre UNI's 2007/08 anniversary season at the Strayer-Wood. We have a sold out crowd in the Bertha Martin Theatre, 140 people. The majority of the crowd seem to be students, many of whom probably have to see it for a class (this guess is based on the number of notebooks that I saw). Intermission comments were quite positive. I think it's a show for all involved to be proud of.

This is always a wonderful reward after the long process of rehearsals and building. The past week has been a busy one. In addition to the dress rehearsals for Cloud 9 and finishing touches on scenery, costumes, lights and sound, we began technical rehearsals for A Midsummer Night's Dream, which opens next Thursday evening. We are a little behind where we should be and would like to be just seven days before opening, due mostly to the fact that we've been producing two shows in the same time period. However, great progress has been made in the past couple of days and we've made a few adjustments to the schedule to allow more time for painting, the writing of light cues, and the sewing of costumes. Now that Cloud 9 has opened, the attention of some of us can turn fully to Midsummer to make it's opening as successfull.

Design meetings have begun for our February production of the opera version of Arthur Miller's The Crucible. Designs are due in just two weeks and the build will begin the following Monday. Because we open less than four weeks after the holiday break, much of the build will happen prior, as well as many rehearsals. The music for the orchestra arrived earlier this week and Sandra Walden, the director, has begun rehearsals. I haven't had an opportunity yet to listen to the music from the show but I've been told by many colleagues that it is quite beautiful. I love good opera.

First Tech for Cloud 9

noreply@blogger.com (Jascenna Haislet) — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 02:51:00 +0000

Tonight is the first technical rehearsal for Cloud 9. I've just stepped out after watching almost an hour. Cynthia, the director, has decided to run this first one as a cue-to-cue. It seems to be going smoothly. Meanwhile, A Midsummer Night's Dream is rehearsing across the hall on the Strayer-Wood stage. Now we are entering a time when all involved must be aware of the needs of the other show as well as their own and point out any potential conflicts or problems in the shared spaces.

Rep prep week has been going well. I've heard reports from both the costume and scenic studios that much has been accomplished. I've stopped in the studios numerous times throughout the week and have witnessed the heightened level of activity. Electrics and paint work has been successfully scheduled on the stages right along side the scenery construction work. I mentioned in the last post that an alum, Eugenia, had showed up on our door step Monday afternoon. Many thanks to Eugenia as she has spent the last four days helping with the painting of Cloud 9 and plastering walls for Midsummer. The paint charge for the shows, Jenny, has been excited to work with her.

I've spent the last three days putting together the program for the show, despite two days of computer problems. But that's a whole other story. While typing the lists of students (and faculty volunteers) who have worked on scenic and costume construction, I've noticed that several students have moved beyond the roles they have usually put themselves in and helped in other areas. The teaching philosophy of the UNI Department of Theatre has long included an emphasis on training a well-rounded student, exposing all majors to various areas of study within the program. It's nice to see that so many of the students are willing to make the choice themselves to expand their horizens.

Rep Prep Week

noreply@blogger.com (Jascenna Haislet) — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 01:48:00 +0000

Rep Prep week has begun. Over the weekend, electrics crew for both Cloud 9 and A Midsummer Night's Dream spent several hours hanging and focusing lighting instruments in the Bertha Martin and Strayer-Wood Theatres. Work continued on the hexagon platforms for Midsummer and the costume studio had a second work call of the semester.

We had a wonderful surprise this afternoon when an alum, Eugenia Furneaux-Ahrends, stopped by to say hi. She's in town for a few days while traveling back home from the East coast. Eugenia graduated three years ago and went on to earn an M.F.A. in scenic design. So we immediately take her up on her offer to help paint scenery this afternoon.

Photos from work calls and rehearsals can be found on the Theatre UNI web site.

Start of another week

noreply@blogger.com (Jascenna Haislet) — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 03:12:00 +0000

Mondays are a day of meetings for me. We begin with design meetings for The Crucible, an opera version of the Arthur Miller play, that we are co-producing with the UNI School of Music. The production opens just four weeks after the beginning of winter semester, therefore the necessity to begin production this semester. Amy RohrBerg is designing the costumes, Leonard Curtis, the scenery, and Ron Koinzan, the lighting. Sandra Walden is directing and Rebecca Burkhardt is the musical director and conductor.

Two hours later, a design & production committee meeting. The design & production committee is made up of the faculty and staff in this area at Theatre UNI. Agenda items included a discussion of the Death of a Salesman meeting that we had yesterday afternoon with the guest designers and director, class preparations (the d&p committee is team teaching Theatrical Arts & Society this semester), budget updates (always a fun subject), and the alumni/faculty retrospective that will be on exhibit through the season in the Strayer-Wood Theatre lobby.

During the 4:00 p.m. production meeting for A Midsummer Night's Dream, the scenic/blocking challenge of getting Puck down to the stage from above was discussed at length. I don't want to give away too much so that's all I'll say about that. A child has been cast and met with Amy, the costume designer, for measurements earlier this afternoon. Midsummer is one of my favorite plays and I'm very excited about this production.

The day concluded with a STAGE Inc board meeting. STAGE Inc is the friends organization for Theatre UNI and the Department of Theatre. The board is a passionate group of people from the community who are always willing to help however they can. During this meeting, they offered to pay for a lunch time cook-out for the students on Wednesday during rep prep week. And I'm sure that we'll get some of the best cookies for the event as well.

Looking back at yesterday for a moment, the first design meeting for Death of a Salesman. The director Larry Paulsen, scenic designer Steve Gilliam and lighting designer Richard Devin arrived in town shortly after 3:30 p.m. and the production team met for almost three hours. What an exciting meeting! Larry shared his vision of the production and numerous research photos. I found his energy and enthusiasm for the project infectious and look forward to working with him.

As I'm writing this at nearly 10:30 p.m., I'm contemplating the fact that I've been working on my laptop computer now for over three hours. That in itself is not unusual. What is unusual is that I am now able to access my office computer from home. While it was wonderful to get some additional work completed this evening that I was unable to finish earlier in the day and really needed to. Yet I worry that I'll become even more of a workaholic now. Guess I'll find out.

Light Hang for Cloud 9

noreply@blogger.com (Jascenna Haislet) — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 15:42:00 +0000

Today is the light hang for Cloud 9. Mark Parrott has designed for show using nearly 80 instruments that master electrician Thomas White is now in the Bertha Martin Theatre hanging with the help of seven volunteers in addition to his assigned electrics crew single member, Jason. I was pleased to see that he has a crew larger than one, as we depend almost entirely on volunteers in this area. Years ago, an electrics crew for a show was made up of students from our first year student introductory course. However, due to budget cuts and curriculum reorganization, that assignment was cut from the first year student experience and placed instead in the possible Practicum assignments. Because a number of other crew positions are also staffed from the Practicum pool, there are rarely enough people assigned to an electrics crew. Fortunately, electrics seems to be an area in which it is not as difficult to find volunteers. I would help myself if I wasn't scared to death of heights.

Hang will continue tomorrow and focus will begin next weekend, when light hang for A Midsummer Night's Dream begins in the Strayer-Wood Theatre.

Tomorrow afternoon we will have the first design meeting for our April production of Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman. This is extraordinarily early for a design meeting under normal circumstances but Salesman is our celebratory production in honor of the Strayer-Wood Theatre's 30th anniversary. As such, we have hired two designers and a director who are alum of the theatre at UNI, as well as several performers for the production. Steve Gilliam will design the scenery and Richard Devin will design the lights. Larry Paulsen is directing the show. Because Steve, Dick and Larry are all living in different parts of the country, we are beginning this process early and bringing them back to the Strayer-Wood for the initial design meeting. They will be joined by Carol Colburn, costume designer, and Vanessa Sheppard, the stage manager. We are all very excited about this project and encourage our constituents to follow our progress on the show on the Alumni Project web site, http://www.thealumniproject.org/ created by alum Angie Toomsen.

With so much going on this year, we have decided to try a few new things in the production schedule, including what we are calling "Rep Prep Week." In preparation for the consecutive openings and repertory performance schedules of Cloud 9 and A Midsummer Night's Dream this fall, the faculty decided last spring to devote one week of theatre classes prior to the beginning of technical rehearsals to hands-on production experiences and have the students use the class time to help get the shows up. Rehearsals will continue in the evenings as usual although we exploring the possibility of having specific scene work rehearsals during an afternoon or two. There are also numerous opportunities for the students to help with the construction of costumes, building and painting the scenery and props, working on electrics crews, helping with marketing efforts and general maintenence of the spaces that often gets overlooked in the heat of production but is always needed. To promote this concept and the opportunities available to the students, department head Eric Lange will be sending all students an email early this week encouraging them to sign up on the seven page calendar that is now posted in the north lobby of the theatre. I'll let you know later in the week how the sign up is going.

The weekend work calls

noreply@blogger.com (Jascenna Haislet) — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 14:08:00 +0000

The weekend was a productive one at Theatre UNI.

The costume studio had a work call to make progress on the fall semester shows. Nearly eighteen students joined Amy RohrBerg (costume designer and technical director for Midsummer), Carol Colburn (costume designer and technical director for Cloud 9) and Linda Grimm (shop supervisor) for six hours of cutting, pinning, and stitching.

Upstairs in the theatres, Eric Lange (department head and artistic director) built platforms for seating in the Bertha Martin Theatre and Leonard Curtis worked on his scenery for Cloud 9. Meanwhile, Ron Koinzan (Theatre UNI technical director) took six students to move a large collection of chairs from one storage location in the basement of a building in downtown Cedar Falls to a new location in a building closer to the University. I tagged along to take photos of the chairs as they were being loaded onto the truck to begin a pictorial inventory of furniture owned by Theatre UNI. What better time to do so than when we’re in the process of moving.

Moving chairs is just the beginning. Later in the semester, we will continue be moving more furniture, platforms, stairs, doors and other large pieces while culling. While many of us are by nature packrats, there comes a time when we must let go of something because there is just not enough space.

Lunch for the company was a cook-out on the loading dock of the theatre. The partner of a colleague helped me grill burgers and brats that were quickly consumed, along with several bags of chips, potato salad, carrots, grapes and Linda’s famous caramel brownies.

On Sunday, rehearsals were held for Cloud 9 and Midsummer. Another week begins.

Welcome to the Theatre UNI blog

noreply@blogger.com (Jascenna Haislet) — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 21:24:00 +0000

Welcome to the Theatre UNI blog. I have been thinking about starting this blog for some time, to share with those interested the daily business of producing theatre at the University of Northern Iowa. As the Director of Marketing and Production Manager for Theatre UNI, I am constantly searching for ways to stay in touch with the various constituents of the organization, from current students to potential students to audience members and friends of the theatre. I hope that this proves a valuable and productive tool.

I intend to post at least three times a week, including information regarding the progression of rehearsals, snippets of production meetings, announcements of special events and updates on a variety of activities involving Theatre UNI faculty, staff and students. Please feel free to share comments and questions.

I'll begin with an introduction to the Theatre UNI 2007/08 season at the Strayer-Wood. Warning: The following is taken directly from the season media release so please excuse the "ad copy" language.

"In celebration of the Strayer-Wood Theatre’s 30th anniversary, Theatre UNI in Cedar Falls has planned a special season of productions, including contemporary and classic comedy, staples of American theatre, and several alumni guest artists. “This year we’re doing some different things,” says Eric Lange, Theatre UNI Artistic Director and Head of the UNI Department of Theatre. “This will offer the community some new and unique opportunities, and bring some great professional artists to the campus. Our whole department is very excited!”

During the fall semester, Theatre UNI will produce two comedies in rotating repertory, Cloud 9 by Caryl Churchill and A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare.

Opening October 18th for nine performances in the Bertha Martin Theatre, Cloud 9 is a critically acclaimed work that explores hypocrisy, colonial and sexual repression and societal stereotypes in Victorian Africa and late 20th century London. Cynthia Goatley will direct the cast of seven actors playing multiple roles. Cloud 9 does contain strong language and adult subject matter. A week later, on October 25, Shakespeare’s comedy of young love, fantasy, and pranksters, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, opens on the Strayer-Wood stage. Directed by Jay Edelnant, the story will be set on May 7th and 8th, 1945, in Athens, Greece. Midsummer will run for eight performances through November 7, including two weekday matinees for school groups.

In early February, Theatre UNI will produce the first of two works by Arthur Miller. In collaboration with the UNI School of Music, Theatre UNI will present The Crucible, an opera based on Miller’s play of the same name. Set in 1692 Massachusetts, The Crucible recounts the tragic stories of the Salem witch trials. Music for this Pulitzer Prize winning opera was composed by Robert Ward, with lyrics by Bernard Stambler. Sandra Walden will provide stage direction and Rebecca Burkhardt, music direction. Performance dates are February 7th, 9th, 15th, and 17th on the Strayer-Wood stage.

The season will conclude in April 2008 with a special celebratory production of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman on the Strayer-Wood stage. This production will feature the work of several UNI theatre alumni, including director Larry Paulsen, scenic designer Steve Gilliam, lighting designer Richard Devin, and actors, Matt Mullin, Michael Mullin, and Mary Booty-Tharp. A series of alumni reunion events are being planned for the opening weekend of the show. Opening April 10th for seven public performances and two school matinees, the production and related educational events are supported by a grant from the Iowa Arts Council.

In addition to the main stage productions, the Theatre UNI 2007/08 season will also feature a workshop production of a play yet to be announced, directed by Richard Glockner in late January and a season long exhibit of theatrical work by our alumni and current faculty.

Season tickets, on sale at the Strayer-Wood Theatre box office through November 3, are $49.00. Tickets for individual productions go on sale September 4th. For more information, call the Strayer-Wood Theatre box office at 319-27-6381 or visit http://www.theatreuni.com/. Single tickets are $12.00 for the plays for adults and $15.00 for the opera; $10.00 for college students for plays and $12.00 for the opera; and $8.00 for youth for the plays and $10.00 for the opera."

Now that the introduction is over....

We are currently in rehearsals for Cloud 9 and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Cast and crew lists can be found at: http://www.theatreuni.com/. Both the scenery and costumes are in the studios and lighting and sound designs are in the works. Marketing efforts have begun in earnest. Posters for on-campus distribution arrived from the printer and will be sent to the dorms tomorrow.

Wednesday mornings this semester begin with a production meeting for Cloud 9. Business included discussion of the schedule of Tech Adjust, the Saturday before first dress when last minute production elements are addressed. The day will include a four hour block in the morning for lighting and two hours in the afternoon to rehearse the many quick changes of costumes that occur during the scenes, in hopes that the first dress will go a little more smoothly. Discussion moved on to the design of the wedding cake that appears in Act 1 and then to the method by which the doll is going to be stabbed, which has implications in the engineering of the prop.

This afternoon a company list for both shows was compiled in preparation for Rep Prep Week, a week during which the Department of Theatre is cancelling most classes to allow students to concentrate on the productions. We'll all be interested to see if the idea results in the desired outcomes.