Bright Half Life Assistant Director, 2018 Loyola Marymount University and Loyola Law School
Bright Half Life Assistant Director, Charles Lawver
Honors Thesis
My Theatre Arts thesis project was working as an assistant director (AD) on the play “Bright Half Life,” alongside my director/professor, Dana Resnick. This play ran from August 29 through September 1 at the beginning of the Fall 2018 semester in the Strub Theatre at LMU. For this project I was expected to perform a number of duties and responsibilities. The other assistant director and I were present at every production meeting, rehearsal, and performance to assist our director in establishing, creating, and guiding her vision for the play into life. We all met with the designers for the show’s …
Masks: A New Face For The Theatre, 2018 James Madison University
Masks: A New Face For The Theatre, Alexi Michael Siegel
James Madison Undergraduate Research Journal (JMURJ)
This study seeks to reimagine and reinvigorate modern theatre’s relationship with mask work through text-based historical research and practice-based artistic research. It focuses on three ancient mask traditions: pre- and early Hellenistic Greek theatre, Japanese Noh theatre, and Nigerian Egungun masquerades. Research on these mask traditions and recent masked productions informed the development and staging of a masked performance of Charles Mee’s Life is a Dream. The production featured sections for each of the ancient masking styles and a final section that explored masks in a contemporary theatrical style. As a whole, this creative project pulls masks out of …
Michael Wood. Heiner Müller’S Democratic Theater: The Politics Of Making The Audience Work. Camden House, 2017., 2018 Roanoke College
Michael Wood. Heiner Müller’S Democratic Theater: The Politics Of Making The Audience Work. Camden House, 2017., Josh Alvizu
Studies in 20th & 21st Century Literature
Review of Michael Wood. Heiner Müller’s Democratic Theater: The Politics of Making the Audience Work. Rochester: Camden House, 2017.
Light Eaters: A Study On The Affect Of Light Depicted Through Different Art Mediums, 2018 Chapman University
Light Eaters: A Study On The Affect Of Light Depicted Through Different Art Mediums, Samuel Dyck
Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters
Humankind has spent its entire history defining and creating the things that make up our physical world. Everyday, humanity continues to discover and create, furthering society’s knowledge and understanding of existence. However, there are facets of nature that have never been entirely understood by mankind, because they have a unique affect on each individual. It is known how a tree manifests and grows but no one can explain the feeling of relief that comes in the shade of a long limbed oak on a cloudless day. Nature is unique in its simplicity and mystery. Artists often use aspects of nature …
The Challenges And Limitations Of Adapting Mozart's Così Fan Tutte For A Small University Setting, 2018 University of Southern Mississippi
The Challenges And Limitations Of Adapting Mozart's Così Fan Tutte For A Small University Setting, Christopher Lovely
Dissertations
In this dissertation, challenges and limitations related to presenting Così fan tutte within a small university setting are conveyed, as well as offering innovative ideas to create a manageable presentation. I recall my personal experience as Korepititor/Vocal Coach for The University of Southern Mississippi’s 2014 production of Mozart’s Così fan tutte. This document presents topics on the various workings of an opera production: pre-rehearsal preparation, language issues, rehearsal preparation, selection of singers, and production issues. It offers practical solutions to overcome various challenges a small university may encounter. Smaller university opera programs were surveyed regarding their adaptations of …
Vinegar Tom, 2018 Chapman University
Charting The Terrain Of Latina/O/X Theater In Chicago, 2018 University of Massachusetts Amherst
Charting The Terrain Of Latina/O/X Theater In Chicago, Priscilla M. Page
Doctoral Dissertations
There is a rich tapestry of Latina/o/x theater in Chicago. Through in-depth interviews, I use first-voice narratives to construct four decades of Latina/o/x theater history with the artists who were founding directors and/or members of these companies: Latino Chicago, Latino Experimental Theater Company, Teatro Vista, Teatro Luna, and Urban Theater Company. My aim with this project is to listen carefully to Latina/o/x artists in Chicago so that I can play a role in amplifying their voices as they articulate their experiences in this Midwestern city they call home. I organized my findings into three chapters and have kept the artists’ …
In Another Person’S Skin: Adaptations Of To Kill A Mockingbird And The Characterization Of Scout Finch, 2018 Northern Michigan University
In Another Person’S Skin: Adaptations Of To Kill A Mockingbird And The Characterization Of Scout Finch, Eric A. Pitz
Conspectus Borealis
No abstract provided.
Bridging Contradictions: Socialist Actresses And Star Culture In East Germany, 2018 University of Massachusetts Amherst
Bridging Contradictions: Socialist Actresses And Star Culture In East Germany, Victoria Rizo Lenshyn
Doctoral Dissertations
In this dissertation, I argue that multiple stakeholders in East Germany (GDR)—the fans, artists, and state— adapted the star phenomenon to help validate GDR socialist culture at home and abroad, and to bridge seemingly contradictory elements within the dualistic context of the global Cold War: the individual and collective, the ordinary and extraordinary, idealism and reality, the past and present, tradition and progress, East and West. As public figures, GDR stars offered audiences multiple points of identification and helped the enlarged working class navigate its new dominant social position in GDR social life. Officially, stars offered an engaging performance of …
Adapting For A New Audience: Ta'zieh-Between Two Rivers, 2018 University of Massachusetts Amherst
Adapting For A New Audience: Ta'zieh-Between Two Rivers, Nikoo Mamdoohi
Masters Theses
This thesis is the written portion of my experience as a director, staging an adaptation of the traditional Iranian theater form, Ta’zieh, for my thesis project. I start with a brief description of our adapted performance, followed by the inspirations that led to the creation of the piece. I then trace the evolution of the idea from the initial stage to the final performance. I describe the adaptation process in three sections, the story, form, and practice. In each section, in a comparative manner, I write about the ways in which Ta’zieh is traditionally done and elaborate on our decisions …
Interpreting Dreams: Directing An Immersive Adaptation Of Strindberg's A Dream Play, 2018 University of Massachusetts Amherst
Interpreting Dreams: Directing An Immersive Adaptation Of Strindberg's A Dream Play, Mary-Corinne Miller
Masters Theses
This written portion of my thesis documents how I, as director, conceptualized, devised and staged an immersive adaptation of August Strindberg’s A Dream Play, with the support of a large team of collaborators including: assistant directors, dramaturgs, designers, stage managers, and actors. In this document I attempt to synthesize the discoveries I made in this process regarding the challenges and experience of directing immersive theater, including the importance of giving up directorial control and relying on my collaborators as partners in the creation of the production.
I begin with an introduction to the research I conducted into the field of …
Bat Boy Poster, 2018 Providence College
Bat Boy Poster, Providence College
Playbill and Promotion
Providence College Dept. Theatre, Dance & Film
A Darkly Funny, Pop Rock Musical
Bat Boy
THE MUSICAL
October 24-28 & November 1-4, 2018
Directed by Jimmy Calitri
Musical Direction by Lila Kane
Choreography by Jennifer Hopkins
Bat Boy Playbill, 2018 Providence College
Bat Boy Playbill, Providence College
Playbill and Promotion
Providence College Department of Theatre, Dance & Film
Angell Blackfriars Theatre Smith Center for the Arts
Bat Boy
THE MUSICAL
October 24-28 & November 1-4, 2018
Directed by Jimmy Calitri
Musical Direction by Lila Kane
Music and lyrics by Laurence O’Keefe
Story and book by Keythe Farley and Brian Flemming
Scenic Design Trevor Elliot
Costume Design Maxine Wheelock
Lighting Design Steven McLellan
Sound Design Gabriel Luxton & Stuart Holland
Choreographer Jennifer Hopkins
Fight Choreographer Jim Beauregard
Hair, Make-up, Prosthetics and Wigs Michael Dates
Voice and Dialect Coach Megan Chang
Dracula, 2018 Chapman University
The Laramie Project, 2018 Chapman University
The Fight Master, Fall 2018, Vol. 40 Issue 2, 2018 Marshall University
The Fight Master, Fall 2018, Vol. 40 Issue 2, The Society Of American Fight Directors
Fight Master Magazine
No abstract provided.
Fools, 2018 Director
Fools, Diane C. Merchant, Tim Phipps, Rebekah Priebe
Theatre Productions
Fools, by Neil Simon, is the comic tale of Leon, an enthusiastic young schoolteacher who seeks to cure the Ukrainian village of Kulyenchikov from the curse of chronic stupidity from which they have been suffering for 200 years. Taking place “a long time ago,” the story becomes complicated when Leon meets the lovely Sophia, so stupid that she only learned to sit down a week ago. She presents quite the challenge for Leon’s goal of freeing the town from stupidity, but he is motivated by her charm. Her longtime suitor, Count Gregor, whose ancestors placed the curse on the town …
Sea Squad, 2018 Goldsmiths, University of London
Sea Squad, Liam Geary Baulch
The Goose
The Sea Squad is a band of cheerleaders against climate change. Taking action as a team in formation, they gather momentum, inviting all people to cheer with them, mimicking the infinitely expandable nature of the seas' molecular structure. The work was developed and performed as a bilingual project at Est-Nord-Est in Saint-Jean-Port-Joli, Quebec, Canada, and has since been performed and exhibited internationally. The following poems are some of the chants that Sea Squad use to get a crowd cheering together against climate change.
Strange Fruit: Black Female Body Politics In Contemporary American Culture, 2018 University of Maine - Main
Strange Fruit: Black Female Body Politics In Contemporary American Culture, Eleanor Kipping
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
The African American Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 60s was an organized effort by and for Black American populations to receive equal treatment by law. Its legacy has much reason to be celebrated: not only for its accomplishments and successes in unifying the Black community but also in bringing issues of segregation, violence, and racial discrimination to the forefront of the public’s attention. The decade was a pivotal point in contemporary race relations, and served as an apex in attempts to bridge America’s past and what America is striving to become. Today however, the social and political climate …
Wukongism: Monkey King, Kungfu/Jazz, And Asian/American Performance, 2018 The Graduate Center, City University of New York
Wukongism: Monkey King, Kungfu/Jazz, And Asian/American Performance, Sissi Liu
Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
Wukongism offers one of the first non-western epistemic frameworks to examine theatre and performance that traverse beyond the shifting taxonomies of national, cultural, racial boundaries, and in particular, Asian/American theatre and performance. Wukongism, or shapeshifter consciousness, is built on the narrative of Sun Wukong the Monkey King, a supernatural shapeshifting character from the 16th century classic Chinese novel Journey to the West. Juxtaposing physical shapeshifting (plastic surgery and performing of the racialized face) with institutional shapeshifting (reinventing and eliminating invisible and hypervisible boundaries), this dissertation project posits Wukongism as a means to examine the varying, fluid, and precarious …