Acting Commons^™

Should We Straighten Up? Exploring The Responsibilities Of Actor Training For Lgbtq Students, Matthew B. Ferrell

Theses and Dissertations

Gay actors have a long history with the notion of “straightening up” to remain castable and economically feasible in today’s market. Searching to find answers for young acting students while strengthening their own self worth, I will explore the history of gay actors in film, television and theatre and in society to understand this notion more fully. By interviewing working actors and managers in the business I will explore how I can address this question of “straightening up” to the future generation of actors and analyze how we can face the future with integrity and self-respect.

Research And Study Of Fashion And Costume History Spanning From Ancient Egypt To Modern Day, Kaitlyn E. Dennis Miss

Posters-at-the-Capitol

Through a generous donation to Morehead State University, research has been conducted on thousands of slides containing images of artwork and artifacts of historical significance. These images span from Egyptian hieroglyphs to the inaugural dress of every first lady of the United States. The slides are in the process of being recorded and catalogued for future use by students in hopes of furthering academic comprehension and awareness of the influence of fashion and costume history through the ages. Special thanks to the family of Gretel Geist Rutledge, faculty mentor Denise Watkins, as well as the Department of Music, Theatre, and …

Devising Performance & Queer Futurity, Brendan F. Leonard

Honors Theses

This project argues that devising performance is an inherently queer and utopian form. In response to recent political movements, such as Occupy Wall Street and Black Lives Matter, which seek to stage dissatisfaction with the systems of late capitalism, I turn to devising performance as a site. Informed by the queer and performance theories of Jose Esteban Munoz, Lee Edelman, and Jill Dolan, I argue that devised theater allows us to process disillusionment, rehearse collectivity, and stage futurity. In conversation with Munoz, I define futurity as an imaginative site that considers what will follow what some scholars suggest will be …

Hamlet #Princeofdenmark: Exploring Gender And Technology Through A Contemporary Feminist Re-Interpretation Of Hamlet, Allegra B. Breedlove

Scripps Senior Theses

Exploring the process of designing, producing, directing and starring in a multimedia feminist re-interpretation of Shakespeare's Hamlet set in a contemporary social media landscape.

Reading With The Grain: On Vin Nardizzi’S Wooden Os: Shakespeare’S Theatres And England’S Trees, Steven Swarbrick

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Reese Witherspoon: A True Role Model, Vanessa Hemmen

Faculty Curated Undergraduate Works

A profile of Reese Witherspoon.

Performing Que(E)Ries, Charles Busch, James Wilson

Center for LGBTQ Studies (CLAGS)

Charles Busch, renowned New York performer, playwright, director, and drag extraordinaire, participated in the second iteration of this new CLAGS series in the Fall. He discussed his astonishing career in the theatre and on film, as well as the changes he has seen in LGBTQ performance over the last four decades in New York and beyond. The conversation was moderated by CLAGS Executive Director James Wilson.

The Spirit Of The Spitfire: Creating The Role Of Nancy Shedman In Romulus Linney's "Holy Ghosts", Caleigh M. Keith

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explains the acting method used by Caleigh Keith while portraying the role of Nancy Shedman in Romulus Linney’s Holy Ghosts. Included are chapters of historical research, character analysis, and a production report, which includes a scored script, rehearsal and performance journal, and a self-evaluation of the actor’s work. Holy Ghosts was produced by Theater UNO at the University of New Orleans in the Robert E. Nims Thrust Theater of the Performing Arts Center. It opened Tuesday, February seventh, and ran through Sunday, February twelfth, two thousand and twelve. Evening performances were at seven-thirty and Sunday’s matinee was …

"Spectacular Opacities": The Hyers Sisters' Performances Of Respectability And Resistance, Jocelyn Buckner

Theatre Faculty Articles and Research

This essay analyzes the Hyers Sisters, a Reconstruction-era African American sister act, and their radical efforts to transcend social limits of gender, class, and race in their early concert careers and three major productions, Out of Bondage and Peculiar Sam, or The Underground Railroad, two slavery-to-freedom epics, and Urlina, the African Princess, the first known African American play set in Africa. At a time when serious, realistic roles and romantic plotlines featuring black actors were nearly nonexistent due to the country’s appetite for stereotypical caricatures, the Hyers Sisters used gender passing to perform opposite one another as heterosexual lovers in …

Ua32/4/1 Women & Kids Learning Together Summer Camp, Wku Gender & Women's Studies

WKU Administration Documents

Booklet reviewing events at Women & Kids Learning Together Summer Camp.

Gay Side Story Original Poster, Audacity Theater

Gay Side Story

Poster for original production of GAY SIDE STORY as presented in conjunction with Symposium X at the University of Southern Maine, 1983.

Gay Side Story Original Script, Diane Elze

Gay Side Story

Original script for Gay Side Story

WRITTEN BY

Avis

Diane Elze

Rico Estabrook

John Frank

Dale McCormick

Tony Norton

Cheryl Ring

Chris Thurston

Gay Side Story Scrapbook, Gay Side Story Collection

Gay Side Story

Scrapbook containing photographs and ephemera from original 1983 production of Gay Side Story.

The full playbill can be seen here.

Gay Side Story Playbill, Gay Side Story Collection

Gay Side Story

1983 Playbill for Gay Side Story with forward by John Frank

WRITTEN BY

Avis

Diane Elze

Rico Estabrook

John Frank

Dale McCormick

Tony Norton

Cheryl Ring

Chris Thurston

WITH SPECIAL THANKS TO

Leonard Bernstein

Arthur Lawrence

Stephen Sondheim

Phil Spector

Ua1b1/1 Rodes-Helm Lecture Series Scrapbook, Western Kentucky University

WKU Administration Documents

Scrapbook of programs, photographs and press clippings regarding the following Rodes-Helm Lecture Series speakers:

• Arthur Schlesinger
• Pearl Buck
• Buckminster Fuller
• Chet Huntley
• Art Linkletter
• Nancy Dickerson
• Vincent Price
• William Buckley
• Richard Leakey
• Alvin Toffler
• John Ferguson
• Charles Kuralt