Retirement! It’s a loaded word, generally creating a couple of responses in those facing it – abject terror or huge relief. Soon to be retirees worry that they will become nobodies in the world they have served, forgotten, like that outdated pair of shoes in the closet that you haven’t worn for twenty years or, if they hated their life’s work, they stand poised to race away at the crack of the starting pistol, never to think about it again.

There doesn’t seem to be a lot of in between, but our major theorist in the field of Theatre for Young Audiences has demonstrated another way to retire. Roger Bedard, who recently left his longtime post at ASU, where he shepherded MFA grad students for 22 years, has once again developed his own template, a prescription for a happy retirement.

Roger has found a new passion, one that he has embraced as completely as his dedication to TYA. Free form ceramics is not a new interest of Roger’s; he dabbled in it some years ago, but now he has the time to dive in with new energy. Roger is currently possessed with a new vigor for life, not that he doesn’t miss his students, to whom he has always been devoted, but he is giving himself the gift of space and time to explore a new passion that is both creative and satisfying. Makes sense that if you retire from one creative endeavor you might devote yourself to another one. Roger’s face lights up when sharing his time in the studio. Part self-critic and part wild experimenter, he does  it all with the joy of adventure.

We should all be so lucky. Or maybe so smart.

For those of you fortunate  enough to have attended the “love fest” (my moniker for the event in April ) that was Roger’s retirement bash, you know what I’m talking about. Talk about a template! Great food, stimulating conversation and an outpouring of love (for Roger, certainly, but also among the attendees) and Roger in high heels. From Scot Copland’s hilarious take on TYA in the South to the students’ musical banter to Roger’s heartfelt response, it was a week-end to remember and hold dear. Disregarding the notes he had shredded during the roast/tribute, Roger shared with us his most authentic self, no cliches, no safe, ordered responses, just his feelings. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house.

If Roger misses the classes, meetings and performances, he’s not talking about it, although I’m sure he has sentimental moments. He is, after all, in the theatre. Roger kids around these days, referring to himself as a nobody, but he’s wrong. He’s not a nobody, he’s somebody else. Bravo, Roger.

Laurie Brooks is an award-winning playwright and YA fiction author living in Tempe, Arizona.

Dr. James Larson is retiring this spring after 28 years as artistic director of the Omaha Theater Company for Young People.  Over the decades, many thousands of Omaha children received their introduction to live theater through their experiences at The Rose because of the leadership and commitment to accessibility of James Larson.

“I feel like I’ve accomplished way beyond what I ever imagined,” said Larson, who turns 60 in September. “My kids are getting out of college, and I’ve got a couple young-adult novels I’m trying to finish up. It’s a good time.”

Larson was hired as artistic director of the Emmy Gifford Children’s Theater in 1984, when it was housed in a former movie theater at 35th and Center Streets. It moved to the former Astro Theater at 20th and Farnam Streets in 1995, greatly increasing its seating capacity and classroom space. It was renamed the Omaha Theater Company at The Rose. It has sold out season memberships the past three years.  The company’s $3 million budget is 10 times what it was when Larson signed on.

Larson established a national touring program 20 years ago, taking shows to millions of patrons in large performing arts centers throughout the country. Larson has directed about 75 shows for The Rose including If You Give a Cat a Cupcake, Miss Nelson is Missing, and Pinocchio.  He brought Max Bush’s Hansel and Gretel to the Brooklyn Academy of Music for a week in 1992.  The Omaha Theater Company was honored with the Sara Spencer Artistic Achievement Award in 1990 from AATE.

He brought top playwrights and artists to Omaha, including Tony winner Mark Medoff, National Book Award winner Robert Bly, Pulitzer nominee Joe Sutton, director Everett Quinton (the former artistic director of the Ridiculous Theatrical Company and 5-time winner of New York Drama Desk Award), director Rob Urbinati, associate artistic director of Queen’s Theater in the Park in New York, and best-seller Stan Berenstain, creator of “The Berenstain Bears.”  The Omaha Theater Company was the first theater to commission James Still to write a play and helped convince him to be a playwright.  James Larson enjoyed his long relationship with playwright Virginia Koste for many wonderful years.

Himself a playwright, Larson adapted several books for the stage and toured them nationally, including “The Little Engine That Could,” Mercer Mayer’s “There’s an Alligator Under My Bed,” Beverly Cleary’s “The Mouse and the Motorcycle” and many more.

He built the theater’s extensive educational programs. “Every Single Child” provides drama outreach programs to every single child in over 66 local schools each year.  Each grade gets a different experience, ranging from seeing a professional show at The Rose, to getting a drama workshop teaching acting skills, to using drama teachers to bring history to life, or bringing in a touring Theater in Education show to the school.  Most schools serve low-income students and grants and foundations fund the programs so they are free to the schools to participate.

He started the youth theater program, now called Teens’n'Theater, in which teens do all the acting. Teens’n'Theater includes free annual programs serving Latino, African-American, and GLBT teens. The theater also added after-school and summer classes on Larson’s watch, plus the recent musical-theater Broadway at The Rose program.  The education programs now serve students with autism, students who are deaf and hard of hearing, students with Downs Syndrome, and other special needs students.  The theater also has an extensive scholarship program offering free drama classes to low income students and free drama programming afterschool at local middle schools.

Susie Buffett, chairwoman of the Rose Blumkin Performing Arts Center Foundation, which owns The Rose, said Larson used the theater’s move to larger quarters as an opportunity “to grow it into something really spectacular, and nationally known. One thing I like best about him is how much he cares about access for every person in the community,” Buffett said. “It’s a lot about inclusiveness, which is part of why I’ve gotten involved and stayed. It’s a theater but also a social-service organization. That’s due in large part to James.”

He got a degree in creative writing at the University of Iowa, then moved to Omaha to work on a master’s degree in theater. He later earned a doctorate at the University of Kansas and, for a year, taught children’s theater at New York University.

On a personal note, James Larson gave me my first job out of graduate school 15 years ago.  He gave me incredible opportunities and support as a playwright (allowing me to adapt Where the Red Fern Grows, Old Yeller, The Misfits, Julie of the Wolves, If You Give a Cat a Cupcake, and more great books).  He trusted me as an Education Director to run the program, hire the teaching artists, and train the interns as I saw fit.  James Larson was amazingly supportive of Pride Players (the queer youth teen theater troupe I co-founded at the Omaha Theater Company) allowing the project to grow and flourish.  He stood by the program from the beginning in 1999, even though it was an unpopular choice among some of our ticket buyers in the conservative state of Nebraska.  James wanted the artistic staff to be both artists and educators and supported our artistic careers.  I have been extremely fortunate to have worked with James Larson for the last 15 years.

Larson’s resignation is effective May 31, and a national search has begun for his replacement.

Brian Guehring is the Education Director and Playwright in Residence for the Omaha Theater Company and a member of the TYA/USA Board of Directors.

The world of performances for young audiences and theater education in North America is mourning the loss of one of our best and brightest, Colleen Porter, who passed away on Thursday March 22, 2012 after a long illness.

Colleen Porter has been the Director of Community Engagement and Education at PlayhouseSquare since 2002. Porter is responsible for programming PlayhouseSquare’s school and family performance series, artist residencies and community arts events.  Through her work with local, national and international arts organizations, PlayhouseSquare annually provides programming for more than 150,000 participants. She brought the International Showcase of Performing Arts for Youth to Cleveland in 2005 and has orchestrated the event’s return to the city in 2007 and 2009.

Colleen was instrumental in the development of the Idea Center at PlayhouseSquare, the $42 million renovation of an historic building in downtown Cleveland’s theater district into the headquarters for Cleveland’s public broadcasting stations and the home for PlayhouseSquare’s arts education programs.  Through the one-of-a-kind partnership between PlayhouseSquare and WVIZ/PBS & 90.3 WCPN idea stream, Colleen develops innovative new programming including BackStage With and the Careers in the Performing Arts distance learning series.

Prior to her arrival at PlayhouseSquare, Colleen spent seventeen years in Buffalo, New York as an artist, faculty member at Canisius College, and Chair of the Performing Arts Department at The Nichols School.

Colleen was recently on our TYA/USA  board, previously on the boards of APAP and IPAY, and helped change the face of Showcase with her dedication to the learning communities.  She was whip-smart and kick-ass, passionate, witty, committed to excellence and new work, and had a tough exterior that did not very successfully mask a huge generosity of spirit. This fierce and funny woman will be greatly missed – there’s a big hole in many of our hearts, and in the field.

Even in the relatively short time she has served on our board Colleen made a significant impact.  Our One Theatre World 2013 partnership with Colleen’s Playhouse Square would not be possible without her hard work and enthusiasm to bring together the best in the field.

We send our condolences to the family; Playhouse Square; and our sister organization, IPAY.  Together with many artists, theatre makers, producers, and presenters we recognize Colleen’s life and work as an example of great collaboration, vision, and dedication.  She will be deeply missed.

For everyone’s reference, The Plain Dealer published an obituary for Colleen,– indicating that the family has requested contributions to the PlayhouseSquare Education Fund in lieu of flowers — and that a celebration of her life has been scheduled in Lewiston, NY on Saturday, March 31.  There will be a memorial service celebrating her life in Cleveland in the first week of May when the Children’s Festival will be taking place.

This link to the Chambers Funeral Home (below) allows access to a guest book, sympathy cards and private expressions of condolences to Colleen’s family — if anyone so desires.

I was so fortunate to receive the opportunity to attend the One Theatre World Conference through the Ann Shaw Fellowship.  I learned a great deal about theatre for young audiences happening across the country and what kind of work is capturing the hearts of theatre professionals.  I was excited and surprised to find how many theatre artists were interested in the work being done for the very young.  I was even more thrilled to meet with people who had the same passion for working with the very young as I do.

  As Early Childhood Coordinator at Imagination Stage, I get the unique experience of being a part of the creation and implementation of new work for children ages 1-5.  I have learned a great deal from working with Artistic Directors Janet Stanford and Kate Bryer on two original works, Wake up Brother Bear and Mouse on the Move.  I have been quite lucky to have the chance to explore theatre for the very young and to expand on my knowledge and experience through One Theatre World.

 The highlight of the conference had to be the full day workshop with Tim Webb, Artistic Director and Founder of Oily Cart in the UK.  During this seminar, theatre artists from across the country were introduced to the work Oily Cart has been doing for almost 30 years for the very young.  Mr. Webb discussed the process his company goes through to create new works that are poignant and pertinent to the very young and then engaged us in creating ideas and brainstorming in small groups.   In the afternoon we were able to each share our ideas of theatre for the very young with everyone in the workshop.  I was inspired by the unique and fantastical themes the different groups brought to light.  One in particular stood out in my mind.  A small group came up with the idea of using paper as a way to communicate the sense of surprise and discovery in a young child.  The sharing consisted of a strange white sculpture made of paper.  As the performers moved around it, poking it and exploring it, they began to tear through the pieces.  They tore slowly at first and then faster and faster until a final performer was wonderfully revealed within the paper sculpture.  The simplicity and joy of this piece reminded me that the work we do for the very young may seem so simple in theme and story structure, but can provide such a valuable and splendid payout in the end for a young child.  There were many other exciting themes and ideas.  Groups explored the world of the kitchen, the idea of water, and the routine of waking up and going to sleep.  The amount of support and excitement for one another’s ideas was overwhelming.  I could see a spark going off for people and a glimpse of the future for theatre for the very young.  In time, I believe that theatre for the very young will spread like wild fire across this nation’s children’s theatre scene.

 One Theatre World gave me the exposure to other theatres, artists, and perspectives that I craved in this new and thrilling world of theatre for the very young in the United States.  The opportunity to meet and chat with people who were at different points in their own process and journey, and the chance to learn from someone like Tim Webb, is something I will cherish always.  I am so grateful that I am able to count myself among the number of young professionals who have received the Ann Shaw Fellowship.  It will forever make a lasting difference in the work that I will do for children’s theatre throughout the rest of my professional career.

Julia Krebs Patterson received the Ann Shaw Fellowship in 2011 to support a trip to the TYA One Theatre World Conference in Seattle WA.  She currently lives in the Washington DC metro area, where she works at Imagination Stage as the Early Childhood Coordinator and Artistic Associate. 

To me the big advantage of IPAY is having the opportunity to see and gain better understanding of what others are working on. In three days you see tons of shows, walk around the exhibit hall seeing how touring shows are booked and meet theatre professionals from around the globe. It’s both exhausting and exhilarating. Much of my work focuses on the educational side of theatre with even my artistic work having some educational slant to it. Being a Jim Rye fellow at IPAY allowed me the opportunity to see the other side of theatre, to think about the business of TYA and to better understand how theatre functioned abroad. Also I got to meet my professional crush and that’s pretty much been the highlight of 2012 for me thus far. Below are a few anecdotes that I feel sum up what I gained from IPAY.

 The Business of Theatre

 At the risk of sounding uninformed I will admit that before attending IPAY I never much thought about the business of theatre. Don’t get me wrong- I knew that ticket sales are necessary to fund productions and classes need a minimum enrollment to make it financially worth holding them. I understood the basic economics but never gave much thought to what goes into selling a touring show. Attending IPAY one can’t walk around the exhibit hall without thinking about the economics of theatre. I had the opportunity to shadow Rebecca Podsednik in the exhibit hall this year. Traditionally her role at IPAY had been selling in the booth for the Kennedy Center’s Touring productions, but with budget cuts suspending the Kennedy Center Family Tours, this year Rebecca was looking for shows to present. Rebecca shared some interesting insights on what it was to buy and sell theatre. It was enlightening to listen to Rebecca talk about shows she personally loved, but that the Kennedy Center wouldn’t book. As I listened to Rebecca and other presenters they talked about shows that were too small or too big for their theatres, designed for older or younger audiences than a theatre usually targeted or that had unfortunate titles and wouldn’t sell, I realized that touring a show isn’t always about the best productions-it can’t be. Producing and presenting theatre is about having the right fit for your audience, about making choices that make economic sense, choices that have audience appeal and are artistically high in quality. In short, good theatre may look very different in different places, because mostly it’s about having the right match for a particular theatre.  

IPAY Exhibit Hall

 Small World

 What happens when you gather a group of professionals from around the world who all work in Theatre for Young Audiences? In my experience a lot of spirited conversation, really entertaining storytelling and more often than not some dancing. IPAY presented a wonderful opportunity to meet and network with folks from around the world. I had dinner with a group of wonderfully fun and talented people from Australia, was able to hear two of Scotland’s best theatre practitioners speak and was able to help out a lovely company from Denmark who needed someone to man their exhibit booth the final day of the conference. As I listened to all of these people talk about their work I began to realize how universal Theatre for Youth and its challenges can be. I learned that Scotland is facing a new round of funding cuts from their biggest funder, that the current financial situation for many of the theatres is causing them to think creatively in terms of how they continue doing the work they want/need to do while not knowing exactly how much funding will come through. Sitting at dinner with Thom from Imaginary Theatre in Australia I learned we are doing a lot of the same research, with both of us working to create new Theatre for the Very Young and trying to identify the educational impact. It was amazing to hear him speak and hear someone from across the globe name the same things you are doing, then to think about how we might be able to work together in the future. Finally, there is something fantastic about being approached for your expertise by a company from Denmark hoping that you can help them out by manning their booth for a day that makes you think that the work we do here isn’t very different at all from the work happening abroad.

 Professional Crush

 I define a professional crush as anyone in your field of work who you admire so much that you really want to meet them, then upon having the opportunity to meet them you, at least momentarily, lose the ability to form coherent sentences the same way you did when you had a crush in middle school. It just so happened that one of my professional crushes, Dave Brown the artistic director of Patch Theatre in Australia, was attending IPAY and had agreed to have dinner with a group of students. By an act of fate (possibly aided by everyone knowing I was closely following Patch Theatre’s work and really wanted to meet Dave), I was lucky enough to sit next to him at dinner. As I introduced myself, Dave very nicely responded how everyone was telling him he had to meet me. This was the moment where I am fairly certain my face grew beet red and I lost the ability to form a coherent sentence as I tried to talk about the work I was doing in an intelligent manner. Luckily I recovered fairly quickly and was thrilled to be able to have a long conservation about the work going on at Patch Theatre and to talk a bit about the work I am doing as part of my thesis. I loved getting to meet Dave Brown and was thrilled to continue running into him over the next few days, to have him not only remember my name but also to continue to ask questions about what I was working on. One of the things I absolutely love about the community that works in drama and theatre for youth is how generous I have found most of the people in the field are with their time in talking with students and young professionals. Having had the opportunity to meet so many of the people whose work I admire has had such an amazing impact on my work. It can be truly amazing and inspiring to get to hear first hand accounts of both the successes and failures of practitioners who are creating the work you are studying. I have learned so much from the people I meet at conferences and am so glad to be in a field where people are willing to take time to share their work with the next generation.

 Bethany Lynn Corey is a second year MFA candidate at the University of Texas at Austin where much of her current research surrounds Theatre for the Very Young. She has worked nationally and internationally as an actress, director, and teaching artist. She was lucky enough to be included among the Jim Rye Fellows, under the fearless leadership of Kim Peter Kovak, at this year’s IPAY.

Last week I was able to attend the International Performing Arts for Youth (IPAY) Showcase in my sunny hometown of Austin, Texas, which presented incredible performances of music, vaudeville, contemporary dance, theatre, and puppetry from all over the world.

One hot topic at IPAY Showcase 2012 was the “Participatory Arts Experience,” which is an umbrella term for performances like immersive theatre, interactive sculpture and video art, and site-specific works.  Two of the IPAY showcasing artists presented stunning examples of how the Participatory Arts Experience can work for youth and family audiences:  The Architects of Air and Compagnia TPO & Insite Arts…

The Architects of Air:  Luminarium Mirazozo

Architects of Air Luminarium

What’s inflatable, colorful, gigantic, and has sprawled out on lawns across the world?  The Luminarium, created by the Architects of Air!  Designed in 1992 by Alan Parkinson in Nottingham, UK, this strange, behemoth structure looks like a Bounce House but is something even more remarkable.  Visitors enter the structure to find themselves submerged in a dazzling atmosphere of color and light created by sunlight flowing through the panels of brilliantly-colored PVC.  Everyone’s experience is different, says Mado Ehrenborg of AoA, but generally “adults tend to become very relaxed and children tend to get revved up and energized by the Luminarium.”

Compagnia TPO & Insite Arts:  Children’s Cheering Carpet – Saltbush

Salt Brush

The Children’s Cheering Carpet is a narrative journey of two Aboriginal friends through the diverse land and soundscapes of Australia.  Throughout their journey, children from the audience are invited to dance and play with the interactive technology – a touch-sensitive white floor using infrared technology triggered by images and sound.  The vibrant images projected invoke Aboriginal and contemporary Australian imagery, sound, wildlife, and culture.  I won’t ruin it for you, but there is a particularly wondrous moment in which children are invited to stargaze under the vast Australian sky.

So there you have it – two extraordinary examples of how the (re)emerging trend of participatory art is put into effect for kids and families.  And I wouldn’t have experienced these performances without attending IPAY in Austin.  Although Showcase 2012 was four jam-packed days of performances, networking, and professional development, I have returned to NYU Skirball energized and excited about what we have to offer youth and families in our own community!

http://youtu.be/YVYSKN6I6Zc

Chloë Rae Edmonson, an Education Associate at the Skirball Center as well as a grad student in Performance Studies at NYU Tisch.

“Don’t start with what you can afford. Start with what you want. Then find a way of getting it.” -Nellie McCaslin

 Graduate school takes an investment of time, energy and money. When I was considering graduate school, through the application process and even into my first year of study I kept asking myself the same question. Can I afford it? I know I am not alone in balancing a budget and carefully weighing finances into much of my decision making. As an independent contractor working as a teaching artist and actress when I decided I wanted to apply to grad school I knew it would take planning to make it work. Writing out the costs of GREs, application fees and then the cost of attending interviews I recognized the investment of money I needed to apply and thought a lot about the financial investment that would come if I got in. I realized that if I seriously was thinking about graduate school I seriously needed to save up.

 I started budgeting money earned from my many teaching gigs by putting one set of paychecks in my checking account for bills and the other set in my savings account for grad school. As I was offered jobs I would calculate how much it would contribute to my ‘grad school money’ hoping to inspire myself to keep pushing as I once again took on subbing a class on my one day off. I saved up, eventually applied and was thrilled to be admitted to The University of Texas at Austin. Now initially when looking at the cost of school I didn’t think much beyond tuition and housing. But once I was admitted and I really started to price out the cost of moving across the country for school there were a variety of expenses I hadn’t previously considered. Again I found myself crunching numbers trying to figure out how to cover the cost. Eventually I realized that if I worked one extra week that summer I could cover the cost of moving across the country.

 Now as a graduate student the budgeting continues. I’m fortunate to receive scholarships, financial assistance and have a graduate assistantship from my program but money is always tight. In my first semester I found a quote by Nellie McCaslin that reads, “Don’t start with what you can afford. Start with what you want. Then find a way of getting it.” This is posted above my desk as a reminder to myself that while I need to consider finances when making a decision I shouldn’t discount opportunities because of them. Last year in a quest to finance attending ASSITEJ in Copenhagen/Malmoe I found myself babysitting an extra eight hours a week then giving up my apartment when I went away to work for the summer. My experience has been that I can figure out how to finance anything if I think ahead and am willing to find the hours to work for what I need. I work a lot, both as a student and outside of class, but halfway through my program at The University of Texas at Austin I can honestly say that my experiences as a graduate student have been well worth the investment.

UT Faculty, Alumni and Students at ASSITEJ in Malmoe/Sweden in May 2011

 Things to consider when applying/attending graduate school

• What will it cost to move?
• What will your living expenses be? Housing? Food? Clothes?
• How much should you expect to pay for books?
• Will you have a car? How much is parking? Gas? Insurance?
• Where will you get health insurance? How much will this cost?
• What professional organizations are you expected to be a member of?
• What conferences will you want to attend?
• Will you work? Within your program? Outside of school?
• Will you stay over the summer? If not can you sublease or do a shorter lease to avoid paying double rent?
• How much will it cost to fly home to visit?

 Note: The above is not meant to be overwhelming but rather to share things to consider when planning to apply for and attend graduate school. My hope is that some of what I’ve shared here will help others truly consider the cost of graduate school and plan to make attending a reality.

  Bethany Lynn Corey is a second year MFA candidate at the University of Texas at Austin where much of her current research surrounds Theatre for the Very Young. She has worked nationally and internationally as an actress, director, and teaching artist.

It is summer of 2002, and I am sitting in a class called “Theatre for Young Audiences”. Having majored in theatre, part of me is wondering why I am taking a class geared toward young audiences. I didn’t even realize there was a difference? Did there have to be a difference, theatre is theatre. I had no idea why there was a special class called Theatre for Young Audience. All of a sudden Laurie Brooks enters the room and starts our course. I had no idea I was across the table with an incredible TYA playwright. I had no clue who she was or how she was about to change my life, but she did. She opened my eyes to a whole new world in theatre, and made me understand why TYA matters.

 

After taking Laurie’s course I took a class with Lowell Swortzell and boy, did this man know his theatre history. I was in awe of everything he had to share. From all the plays he wrote to the incredible legacy he started with his wife. I could not believe I was sitting in class with such an amazing expert. I wanted to meet his wife, Nancy, but she was finishing her semester in London and passing the baton to Philip Taylor.

 

Mentorship is what I found at NYU.

 

Years later, I decided to return to NYU for my doctorate degree, and again, I found myself sitting in a classroom with Augusto Boal, getting advice from with Cecile O’Neil on my dissertation proposal and observing Jose Cruz Gonzalez and Sandra Fenchel Asher create their next TYA masterpieces at the New Plays for Young Audiences Series. I have had the opportunity to travel to ASSITEJ, teach my own TYA course and represent NYU as the first Swortzell Scholar; to know that Nancy Swortzell selected me to represent her and Lowell’s legacy was not just a huge honor, but also incredibly meaningful.

 

Mentorship is what I have found at NYU but the baton has now passed.

 

This year, I get to work side by side with Tony Graham and run a conference on TYA with him. I represent my university as a board member for TYA/USA but most important, I now mentor and collaborate with others. I see new talent develop and create new works in TYA. I meet incredible students who open my mind to new ideas and are delighted to learn more. And as I sat at Nancy Swortzell’s memorial a couple months ago, I remembered in that instant what it was like to be a part of such a huge legacy; it felt special. As I heard academics, artists, teachers, scholars share special stories about her, and I saw a beautiful collection of photographs from her life, I could not help but be proud. I looked around the room, and I was surrounded by not just mentors but also colleagues.

My dissertation chair, Nancy Smither, who was also taught by Lowell and Nancy sat close by and together, I knew she understood what I felt.

 

Now, to write this blog, I asked my NYU community to tell me what they’ve been working on. I wanted to be inspired by my colleagues, and the first person to respond was Laurie Brooks. She told me about her latest work, All of Us, a commission from Dramatic Publishing Company. The play premiered in July at The Kansas City Fringe Festival, produced by The Coterie Theatre, Kansas City, MO. The play addresses the current epidemic of prejudice and bullying of gay high school students. The stories within the play, reveal the inner lives of GLBT teenagers and ask “all of us” to stand up for their rights. Then a former student from the program, Tessa Bry also responded and shared what she has been working on. She taught a Shakespeare’s Language class for children, as well as a Creative Play course in Cape Cod, MA. She also presented a one-hour adaptation of Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale for children. The promotion of classic “un-dumbed” down theatre to children of the region was widely appreciated by many audience members, as well as their parents. These are just two of the stories shared, so many more are right now taking place.

 

Mentorship is what I have found at NYU, and the baton keeps getting passed along.

 

 

Daphnie Sicre, PhD. candidate
The Program in Educational Theatre
Department of Music and Performing Arts Professions
NYU Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development

http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/music/edtheatre/people/faculty/sicre

Reading all of these voices from “the academy” on the TYA USA blog reminds me that we are lucky to be in field that continually works to build bridges between theory and practice—between the academy and the profession. I am writing from my office at the University of Texas at Austin. Today alone I’ve engaged in two phone calls with professional colleagues across the country about their upcoming TYA productions, and I’ve participated in two meetings with students about how their final projects for our community-engagement class will sit in, or provoke conversation with, the field at large. The bridging and blurring of boundaries continues to inspire me in the work we do. UT offers an exciting space and place to engage in this messy and delightful work. As the semester draws to a close—we just finished finals—I wanted to respond to some of the questions that Jennifer Guhl posed in October.

1.     What is the diversity academically and professionally of the current faculty? What kind of professional affiliations or connections do they have within the TYA community?

Check out the faculty and staff bios on the UT website for specifics. I feel lucky to be surrounded by colleagues with such diverse interests and areas of academic and professional practices. One of the reasons that I came to UT was to be part of a core faculty group that would challenge me to grow and think about my work differently. I’ve found a great home for scholarly and creative work/collaboration with this faculty and the student body in Theatre for Young Audiences, Theatre Education, and Applied Theatre.

2.     Are assistantships available?  How much do they contribute financially? What different work study options are accessible to students? (TA, administrative, research based, etc) Also, if accepted, do you offer any other financial assistance for students?)

Assistantships vary each year according to a variety of funding and economic trends, but we try to offer every student some form of financial support and tuition assistance. We tend to offer increased support in year two and three of the program, and most of the support comes through paid assistantships. As instructors of record, teaching assistants, and graduate research assistants, students teach at the university level, work on research and scholarly projects with faculty, and collaborate on school and community-based programs such as Drama for Schools and the Performing Justice Project.

3.     My experience is varied between performance, administration and recently I have been growing my teaching artist/education experience, but I DO NOT have my undergraduate degree in theater (I have a BA in Communication Arts). Will this lack of an undergraduate degree in theater be an issue during my admission process?

At UT, we invite applicants with a variety of undergraduate degrees and experiences. The degree program is flexible enough to fill in gaps if students are missing key foundations for the program, but we have certainly considered and admitted students who do not come to the program with a degree in theatre.

4.     What are some of your alumni doing now?

Our alumni are all over the country in a variety of positions in professional theatres, k-12 schools, and community-based settings. Many of our alumni work in positions that allow them to work with and for young people with a focus on both the process and the product.

5.     What kind of materials would you like to see in a candidate’s portfolio?

I love to see a candidate demonstrate interest and professional experience in one or more core areas in the field, a sense of the breadth and depth of the field, curiosity and flexibility for the unknown, interests and experience in working with youth and communities, and an abundance of joy…because graduate school is challenging and draining and it takes a strong sense of joy and happiness to keep you goingJ

6.  How much does your GRE score matter in the admission process? Do you have a required score?

At UT the GRE score is considered as part of the entire package; we look holistically at every application.

7.     How flexible is the course of study? Are there any new courses you are currently developing or looking to add in the next two to three years?

Our course of study includes a solid core and lots of flexibility exists within our wide range of electives that come from areas across the department and the university at large—such as Drama/Theatre Applications in Museum Settings, Latino TYA, Digital Storytelling in Community-based Settings, Playwriting for Youth, Collaboration, Directing the Young Performer, Performance Ethnography, Race and Performance, Theatre for Social Change, Teaching Artist Praxis, and the list goes on…

This year, we are developing a new research course to better prepare students to engage in field-based research around their thesis. We are very excited for this new course, which will focus on the interests and practices of the students’ thesis work each year. Katie Dawson will teach it for the first time this spring–Stay tuned!

8.     What qualities are you looking for in incoming students? What do you think makes for a successful student in your program?

I believe our successful students are intellectually curious and disciplined; able to collaborate and take risks; possess passion and focus; desire a creative community; want to be challenged; have an open heart; pay attention to the world and young people; are resourceful; are drawn to pedagogy, artistry, and scholarship; can’t imagine doing anything else. They want to be here

Megan Alrutz recently joined the faculty at the University of Texas at Austin as an assistant professor of Applied Theatre and Community Cultural Engagement. For five years prior, she was a theatre professor and coordinator of the MFA program in Theatre for Young Audiences at the University of Central Florida, where she directed ArtsBridge, Digital U, and many other community-engaged projects. She earned a Ph.D. in Theatre (with an emphasis in Theatre for Youth) from Arizona State University, and a B.A. in Theatre from Rutgers University. Megan is a scholar, director, dramaturg, and teaching artist whose creative and scholarly interests focus on applied theatre and community-based devising; intersections of live theatre and digital storytelling to explore issues of voice and identity; and investigating arts integration and drama-based pedagogy for the university classroom. She recently represented TYA/USA at the International Directors Seminar in Hamburg, Germany and she is currently co-editing Playing with Theory in Theatre Practice (Palgrave MacMillan 2010) and serving as the editor for TYA Today.

The University of North Carolina at Greensboro is thrilled to unveil the newly redesigned MFA in Theatre for Youth. With the goal of getting graduates back into the field quickly, the program has been condensed from three years to two, maintaining the 60-hour degree structure.  Through an intense, focused curriculum, we maintain our concentration on directing plays for young audiences with a strong foundation in classroom drama.  Coursework includes a series of Directing classes, Drama in Education, Theatre in Education, Theatre Management, Playwriting, Studies in Acting, and Puppetry.  Several new courses emphasize the collaborative process by providing opportunities for students in the MFA in Acting, Directing, Design, and Theatre for Youth to work together in class settings.  New courses being offered include:  The Collaboration Course, Playwriting, and Trends in Theatre for Youth.  Courses that will now serve many of these populations simultaneously include:  Introduction to Graduate Studies, Theory and Criticism, Applied Play Directing, Advanced Play Directing, and Theatre Management.

From your first semester in the program, opportunities to develop your skills in practical ways abound.  As important as coursework is to any academic program, what is learned “in the trenches” is often just as important to a career in the theatre.   The Department of Theatre generously supports graduate students with assistantships, with the goal of providing students a wide range of valuable experiences during their two years: from serving as teaching assistants for undergraduate classes, to learning the ins and outs of the marketing and publicity arm of the theatre.  The Department currently produces a season of eight shows: four in our black box space, Brown Theatre, and four in our large proscenium space, Taylor Theatre.  The North Carolina Theatre for Young People, within the Department, produces one main stage show in the fall and a touring production in the spring.  Faculty directors are always open to working with graduate assistant directors, Theatre for Youth students are expected to be involved in the touring production, and the weekly Workshop series allows students the chance to challenge themselves as they direct or act in a piece of their choosing.  In addition, with the new program structure, candidates accepted into the program will be required to direct every semester during their two-year tenure at UNCG through Graduate Practicums.  The directing experience will culminate in a Master Production during the student’s last semester in the program.  This production will be performed for the general public as well as school groups from the surrounding counties.

Partial scholarships and professional development funds are available to enrolled students, helping them to attend events like the Southeastern Theatre Conference, the Bonderman Symposium, The Kennedy Center’s New Visions/New Voices, AATE, and TYA USA conferences.  The North Carolina Theatre for Young People has a long tradition of hosting visits from some of the foremost playwrights, publishers, and educators in the field of theatre for young audiences including: James Still, Suzan Zeder, Jim Hancock, Michael Keck, Sandy Asher, Moses Goldberg, Orlin Corey, Max Bush, Barry Kornhauser, Pat Forrest, Wesley Middleton, and Rafe Esquith. The Department of Theatre has hosted guest artists such as Romulus Linney, Paula Vogel, Suzan-Lori Parks, Tony Kushner, and Joan Darling.

We have developed a relationship with Triad Stage, a well-regarded regional professional theatre located in downtown Greensboro. Artistic Director Preston Lane serves as a faculty member in the Directing program.  As a graduate student in the Theatre for Youth program, you will be inspired by his passion and vast experience, and you will most certainly enjoy the hysterical stories from his years in the business. Assistant directing opportunities arise during Triad Stage’s season of main stage and cabaret space shows, and we encourage all students to attend their productions throughout the season.  For students interested in original scripts and adaptations, Triad Stage can offer unique opportunities to experience the development process as Preston has a long history of generating new works and adapting the classics.

The city of Greensboro with 260,000 residents is located approximately in the middle of the state, 2 1/2 hours from the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Atlantic coast.  Offering a rich combination of arts and culture while maintaining a very reasonable cost of living, Greensboro is an ideal location close to Chapel Hill, Durham, Raleigh, Winston-Salem, and Charlotte, NC. Residents are friendly, traffic is not a problem, and the diverse community, which includes four other colleges and universities, affords plenty of enriching activities: a vibrant downtown area (where parking is free on weekends and evenings!), arts festivals and lecture series, outdoor activities and a great system of parks and greenways, museums, farmers markets, and terrific pubs and bars.

We are excited about the changes we have made to the MFA in Theatre for Youth program and we encourage you to learn more about the program and the Department by visiting our website: http://performingarts.uncg.edu/theatre  or calling Rachel Briley, the Artistic Director of the Theatre for Youth program at 336-334-5575  (e mail:  r_briley@uncg.edu).  Our final interview date is scheduled for February 11, 2012.  Please contact Rachel if you are interested in interviewing for the program.

Annika Pfaender Purvis, a graduate of the Theatre for Youth program at UNCG