Theatre History Commons^™

“The Astonishing Career Of Heinrich Conried”, William Grange

Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film: Faculty Publications and Creative Activity

Heinrich Conried was the most significant actor-director-manager the German theatre in the United States ever produced. In a career that spanned over three decades in theatres from the Bowery to the Metropolitan Opera Company, few individuals–regardless of the language in which they worked–matched his remarkable achievements. Beginning as an actor and Oberspielleiter in 1878, Conried worked in various professional New York venues continuously until his untimely death in 1909, and during that time there were only five years in which he did not work exclusively in the German language–and those five years were the ones he ran the Metropolitan Opera.

Three Musketeers And A Rock Band, Brandi K. Kawamoto

Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film: Theses, Student Research, and Creative Work

This thesis is the culmination of my scenic design work for Ken Ludwig’s The Three Musketeers in the Howell Theater at the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in the spring semester of 2012. Within this paper I will look at the conceptualization process, historical research, execution of the set design, the realized final product, and the critique process. The rough sketches, research images, computer draftings, finalized renderings, and production photos are featured within the thesis.

Advisor: Sandy Veneziano

Two Kings: An Account Of The Preparation And Performance Of The Role Of Edgar In William Shakespeare's King Lear, Ryan Kathman

Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film: Theses, Student Research, and Creative Work

This work is my graduate thesis documenting the creative process behind my performance of the role of Edgar in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s 2009 production of King Lear by William Shakespeare. It is comprised of five sections including an introduction, pre-rehearsal research, rehearsal and performance journal, post-production responses and conclusion. The introduction outlines my impressions of Edgar and King Lear prior to researching or rehearsing the role. In my research section, I attempt to better understand Shakespeare, his play and the role of Edgar by studying the playwright’s life and the history of the character and play, while also making …

Rules, Regulations, And The Reich: Comedy Under The Auspices Of The Propaganda Ministry, William Grange

Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film: Faculty Publications and Creative Activity

When the National Socialist regime assumed power in Germany on January 30, 1933, it set about immediately to formulate regulations, edicts, and policies for a "renewal" of the German theatre. Adolf Hitler had an interest of long standing in the theatre, and Nazi strategies for controlling, supporting, and re-generating the theatre went into effect over a period of about eighteen months. On September 22, 1933 Hitler's cabinet passed the Reich Cultural Chamber Law (Reichskulturkammergesetz), giving Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels charge of an organization the new Law created, the Reich Cultural Chamber. The legislation stipulated seven individual chambers subsumed …

"Oskar Blumenthal And The Lessing Theater In Berlin, 1888-1904", William Grange Prof. Dr.

Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film: Faculty Publications and Creative Activity

Oskar Blumenthal (1852-1917) was Berlin’s most feared theatre critic in the early years of the new German Reich. He had the audacity of referring to Goethe as “an egghead” who had no understanding of what made plays effective for audiences, and in other critiques he ridiculed Kleist, Hebbel, and other “important” playwrights—prompting an adversary publicly to call him a “one-man lynch mob.” In the 1880s Blumenthal himself began writing plays, and he was so successful that many self-appointed cultural guardians accused him of damaging the German theatre beyond repair. His became the most frequently performed plays on any German stage …

Rev. Of Theatre Under The Nazis, Ed. John London., William Grange

Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film: Faculty Publications and Creative Activity

John London’s edition of six essays attempts no comprehensive estimation of theatre under the Nazis as one might assume from the title, but rather provides six valuable windows through which one may glimpse sometimes startling illustrations of how political forces can easily overcome and subdue artistic expression, exploit idealism for totalitarian purposes, and give the sheen of political correctness to cultural perversion.

Rev. Of Moissi: Triest, Berlin, New York: Eine Schauspielerlegende By Rüdiger Schaper. A Biography Of The Legendary Actor Alexander Moissi., William Grange

Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film: Faculty Publications and Creative Activity

Unlike most of the great German actors before him, Alexander Moissi was not a native German speaker. He was born in Albania and grew up speaking Greek and Italian--yet he had a forty-year career in German that earned him millions of dollars in performances all over the world. In none of those performances did Moissi lose the Mediterranean inflections in the language of Goethe and Schiller. But that did not diminish his stature; it enhanced it.

Sternheim's Burger Schippel And The Theatre Scene In Cologne, William Grange

Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film: Faculty Publications and Creative Activity

Cologne has for centuries been one of the most important cities in Europe; wealth and comfort are nothing new here. Yet unlike other German cities with perhaps an equal amount of prosperity it has never had a theatre history to match its stature as a major metropolitan center on the Continent. It has indeed had a troublesome and complicated relationship with theatre despite the fact that it is the fourth largest city in Germany (after Berlin, Hamburg, and Munich).

Horváth's Glaube Liebe Hoffnung And The Current Scene In Dresden, William Grange

Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film: Faculty Publications and Creative Activity

While the venerable Dresden Schauspielhaus, built in 1910, is undergoing renovation (the process was begun in August of 1993 and is scheduled for completion next summer), the Staatschauspiel Dresden is located in numerous venues throughout the city. They include the Kleines Haus in der Neustadt, a former recital hall on the north bank of the Elbe; a small space in a former recital hall on the north bank of the Elbe; a small space in a former automotive factory; a small chapel in the restored Dresden Castle; and a tent near the present Schauspielhaus. The tent is called the "Kuppeltheater" …

Zuckmayer At The Berliner Ensemble, William Grange

Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film: Faculty Publications and Creative Activity

When the Berliner Ensemble at the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm stages a production of Carl Zuckmayer's Der Hauptmann von Köpenick, one can without reservation conclude that enormous changes are indeed taking place in Germany. That statement may at first seem disingenuous, but to connoisseurs of footnotes in German theatre history, few developments could rival this latest evidence of reconciliation along political, cultural, and especially theatrical lines. Theatre and politics have a long history of close association in Germany, and no theatre has been more politically conscious than the Berliner Ensemble. Brecht was, as "his" Berliner Ensemble subsequently became, an advertisement for …

Rev. Of Wallensteins Tod By Friedrich Schiller, Staged At The Deutsches Theater Berlin (German Democratic Republic) 1979., William Grange

Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film: Faculty Publications and Creative Activity

Friedo Solter's production of Wallenstein's Death by Friedrich Schiller, with Eberhard Esche in the title role.

Rev. Of Der Rote Hahn By Gerhart Hauptmann, Staged At The Schiller Theater In West Berlin In 1979., William Grange

Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film: Faculty Publications and Creative Activity

Boleslaw Barlog's production of The Red Rooster by Gerhart Hauptmann, featuring well known actor Carl Raddatz.