UH Contingent attending 2014 USITT Conference in Fort Worth

Several members of the faculty and staff as well as a group of nine students are headed to Fort Worth to participate in this year's USITT conference.

Faculty Members Brian Shevelenko and Cheri Vasek and Staff Members Rick Greaver and Hannah Schauer will be making presentations and  will be available in the University of Hawaii booth #839 to talk about the program.

Theatre students participate in ACTF Region VII festival in Los Angeles.

Theatre students from the UHM Department of Theatre and Dance are attending the Region VII American College Theatre Festival in Los Angeles Feb 12 - 15. Three students were invited to particulate in the Irene Ryan Acting competition based on their performances at Kennedy Theatre. They are:

Leah Koeppel (Thread Hell) and partner Kyle Scholl
Karissa Myers (Big Love) and partner Timothy Callais, accompanist Amy Johnson
Kaitlin Souza (Big Love) and partner Shaun Dikalato

Thead Hell scenic designer Meg Hanna will present her portfolio in the design competition.

The Department of Theatre and Dance was also invited to present a scene from Thread Hell. The scene will be directed by Matthew Kelty, who was the Assistant Director for the Kennedy production. The actors will be Leah Koeppel, Kyle Scholl and  Isaac Ligsay, who were all in the original production.

Update:

Here's is how our UHM students fared at ACTF this year. Congrats to all who participated!

Meg Hanna

-National Finalist Award for Design, Technology and Management (Scenery): 

-Stagecraft Institute of Las Vegas/KCACTF 1-Week internship Award

 

Amy Johnson

-National Runner-Up/Alternate for the Institute of Theatre Journalism and Advocacy (Dramatic Criticism)

 

Matthew Kelty 

- Passed to finals for Directing with scene from Tartuffe

- Directed SDC Invited Scene (Thread Hell)

 

Leah Koeppel

- Performed in SDC Invited Scene (Thread Hell)

- Participated in Mathew Kelty's scene for finals for directing 

- Next Step Callbacks: Missoula Children's Theater, Neil Simon Festival, and the Theatricum Botanicum

 

Karissa Murrell-Myers

- Performed in SDC Invited Scene (Thread Hell)

- Performed in Directing Scene (Tartuffe), in the pre-lims and finals 

- 3 Next Step Callbacks: Kingsman Shakespeare, Neil Simon Festival & Theatricum Botanicum 

 

Isaac Ligsay

- Performed in SDC Invited Scene (Thread Hell)

- 2 Next Step Callbacks: Kingsman Shakespeare & Theatricum Botanicum.

 

Kyle Scholl

- 4 Next Step Callbacks: Missoula Children's Theater, Kingsmen Shakespeare, Neil Simon Play Festival & Theatricum Botanicum 

 

Kaitlin Souza 

- 3 Next Step Callbacks: CSU Summer Arts, and Stella Adler & Theatricum Botanicum, 

Shaun Dikilato 

-  2 Next Step Callbacks: Stella Adler & Theatricum Botanicum

UH Alums make a big splash at Manoa Valley Theatre's "Toxic Avenger"

UH Alumni contributed to all facets of the recent production of Toxic Avenger at Manoa Valley Theatre in Honolulu. Hannah Schauer Galli, who served as Guest Director, received her MFA in Directing. Michelle Boudreau, starring as Sara, has her BA in Theatre. Jenn Thomas, who did an amazing turn as Mayo Babs Belgoody and Ma Fern, has an MFA in Acting. The inventive scenic design was created by MFA Scenic Designer M.J. Matsushita. Nicole Tessier, MFA Asian Performance, ran sound board. Congrats to all these wonderful alum who are showcasing us in the community!

UHM Theatre Alum Receives Tony Award

Peter Lawrence, who received his MFA from the University of Hawaii in 1969, was honored at the 2013 Tony Awards with a Tony for Excellence in Theatre for his 30 year career in theatre. Lawrence has worked as production stage manager for over 20 Broadway shows including the current revival of Annie. Lawrence served as associate director for the Broadway productions The Man of La Mancha, Shrek, The Musical, Spamalot, Gypsy and Annie Get Your Gun. He was the executive producer for the mega-musicals Miss Saigon and Les Miserables.

Click here for more on Peter Lawrence and his Tony Award.

Faculty Costume Designer Cheri Vasek curates exhibition on Bollywood & Beyond: Costume in Indian Film

Assistant Professor Cheri Vasek has been fascinated with India and has spent two summers in India studying Indian costume design and technique. She brings her interest and study of Bollywood films to an exhibition at the East-West Center's Art Gallery, serving as co-curator, along with Michael Schuster.

This exhibition focuses on film costume—its superb design and masterly execution. For one hundred years, Indian filmmakers have been creating images that influence how Indians view themselves and their history. The exhibit looks at various epochs (both real and imaginary) important in Indian consciousness, including Buddhist and Hindu epics, the Mughal era, the British Raj (19th century colonial period), post independence, contemporary India, and the science fiction future. Through costumes, photographs, film clips, posters and designer sketches, a picture of Indian aesthetic values will emerge.

The exhibition runs from Sept 29, 2013 to Jan 12, 2014. For more information click here.

Health Cast: a unique collaboration between Theatre and Nursing students

HealthCAST is a new collaboration between the Department of Theatre & Dance and the School of Nursing that casts and trains actors to portray patients suffering from a variety of physical and emotional symptoms.  Actors work alongside a dedicated director and subject matter experts to make sure they are portraying the patient—and their symptoms—accurately and convincingly during improvised encounters with students at the School of Nursing’s Translational Health Science Simulation Center.

For more information on HealthCAST, or to become involved with this exciting collaborative program, please email Alex Munro at hcast@hawaii.edu.

To see a video about Health Cast:

http://www.hawaii.edu/news/2014/02/24/real-drama-benefits-nursing-students/