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News From The Chair
by Tom Bloom, Chair, Associate Professor, Scenic Design
tab4p@virginia.edu

Greetings to all!  We thought it was time to break our silence to let you know what’s been happening in Drama since our last published newsletter over a year ago!  One reason for this lengthy delay is that we’ve been working on moving the site of our newsletter to the Department’s new website that will regularly furnish you with updates in the Department – but, the process of rolling out the new site has been more challenging than we expected- hopefully we will be up late Feb/early March.
But in spite of our silence the building is abuzz with activity.  We are anxiously looking forward to opening the Ruth Caplin Theatre in April with our production of You Can’t Take It With You, directed by UVa MFA Acting alum John Paul Scheidler.  The design team is busy at work meeting with the director to develop the “look” of this classic American comedy. 

Joining us this term to direct the first show of the Spring season, God’s Ear, is Sandy Shinner (more below).  We’re very fortunate to have this well-known professional artist working with us; Sandy comes to us from the Tony award-winning regional theatre – Chicago’s Victory Garden’s Theatre, a theatre dedicated to new works.  So we’ve matched up the work from an emerging playwright, Jenny Schwartz, with someone who has been spearheading the development of new works in the American Theatre.  It was former colleague Betsy Tucker who put us in touch with Sandy – they were classmates together at Mt. Holyoke College back in – well, let me say - back in the days when I was a college student – enough said!

The building has been crawling with bugs!  Read more about the creatively fabulous project led by our own Steven Warner, along with associates in Studio Art (Erik Schmidt) and Architecture (Melissa Goldman).  Each week they lead a collaborative group of Art, Drama, and Architecture students in design and development workshops that produce enormous manually manipulated “puppets.”  The class is periodically joined by the associates of The Stan Winston Studios, Hollywood, CA, who spend time in residence with the class in preparation for a late April Festival of the Moving Creature.

Some faculty news of note since our last newsletter:  After a national search Colleen Kelly was offered and accepted the position of Associate Professor and Head of the MFA Acting program.  Of course Colleen is no stranger to our program and we’re elated that she’s back working with us once again.  Colleen is currently working on establishing a mutual relationship with a professional regional theatre – so I hope to have more to report on that in a subsequent newsletter.  She also was awarded a Hybrid Technology grant by the college that has enabled her to create an instructional archive of interviews with Drama production personnel that are available to students through our online Instructional toolkit called COLLAB.

Other faculty news of note is included in this newsletter but I do wish to single out and mention the retirement of our colleague John Frick (covered in this newsletter).  Some of the fondest memories I have of John include the work he did with students in our Senior Seminar class – constructing puppets or rehearsing fables that were prepared to present to children at performances in our local libraries – or being the first of the day to appear in my office doorway (we’re both “early arrivers”) to simply check in or chat.  We’re hoping that John stays connected with us in the future assuming some adjunct teaching in his area of specialty – American popular entertainment in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Perhaps the next time you hear from us it will be via our new Drama Department website - and I’d love to see you late April or May and show you around our new “digs.”  And while you’re at it – take a peek at the “old” Culbreth that has been refurbished with new seats, lights, carpet – the works!  Sound technology has also been upgraded in the Culbreth. So a whole new era is upon us as we soon open the doors to one of the best producing venues in this region – come, be a part of it with us!

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