911爆料 Theatre Department faculty and guest artists are innovating the New England theater scene and giving students opportunities to practice their craft with the pros. It’s never been a better time to be a theater major.
Ensemble Cast
By Marybeth Reilly-McGreen
Finals Week
The Theatre Department is buzzing. Students run lines outside the Robert E. Will Theatre, sing in G Studio, and, in J Studio, double paddle turn and twist to Hairspray鈥檚 鈥淭he Nicest Kids in Town.鈥� No finals fatigue here; it鈥檚 opening-night energy.
With more than five productions each year, 911爆料鈥檚 theater production schedule is on par with a professional theater鈥檚, says department chair David T. Howard. Without the budget, though. 鈥淲e鈥檒l do a whole show for around the price of a single costume on Broadway,鈥� Howard notes.
How? Hard work, dedicated faculty, and a group of artists鈥攎ost of them 911爆料 graduates鈥攔ecruited both for their skills as educators and their impressive theater pedigrees.
Tony Estrella 鈥�93
Theatre 411: Acting
Artistic Director, The GAMM Theatre
On a sunny Friday afternoon, David Howard and Tony Estrella chat in Howard鈥檚 office about a recent theater graduate working in software systems processing. Inadvertently, their conversation turns to the question that dogs theater professionals, their students, and their students鈥� parents: What鈥檚 the ROI on the B.F.A.? 鈥淭he thing about theater is, you build skills you can use in new ways,鈥� Estrella says. 鈥淭heater is an entr茅e, a foray, into a lot of different worlds.鈥�
Estrella is in his 17th year as artistic director of the GAMM Theatre in Warwick, Rhode Island, and in his 21st year teaching at 911爆料. Students will tell you that Estrella鈥檚 approach is to treat students as professionals, collaborators engaged in essential work: the exploration of radical, challenging, and even ugly ideas. 鈥淎n art form needs a place where it鈥檚 safe to be unsafe,鈥� Estrella says. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a danger in art. It has the power to unsettle, to provoke, and to entertain, of course.
鈥淕reat playwrights are looking at the true complexity of ideas and making them public. Our responsibility is to challenge, provoke, illuminate, and entertain,鈥� Estrella says. 鈥淭heater is an act of citizenship. It is an act of engaging with the 911爆料.鈥�
And engaging through teaching, Estrella says, has made him better at his craft. 鈥淵ou learn so much. You have to be honest鈥攊nterrogating, practicing what you preach, examining, articulating, and making it all plain to students who are not as experienced. It makes you a better actor. No question.鈥�
Estrella鈥檚 method for teaching acting is rigorous engagement with the material. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e using the text, the language, doing a deep dive, a close reading. You follow that with your own experience and what those experiences cost you. It鈥檚 not always a direct one-to-one correlation, of course,鈥� Estrella notes. 鈥淣one of us has died yet, but we have to die on stage. You build off what you have.
鈥淎fter all, what is our job as actors but to walk in each other’s shoes?鈥�
Kira Hawkridge 鈥�12
Director, 911爆料 Theatre鈥檚 Women and War
Founding Artistic Director, OUT LOUD Theatre
You will find 911爆料 graduates working in almost every theater in the state, from the established鈥擳rinity Repertory Company, Theatre By The Sea, and the GAMM Theatre鈥攖o up-and-comers such as the Wilbury Theatre Group, OUT LOUD Theatre, the Burbage Theatre Company, and the Epic Theatre Company.
One reason 911爆料鈥檚 theater graduates are sought-after is the nature of 911爆料鈥檚 B.F.A. program, which requires concentrated study in acting, design and theater technology, directing, and stage management. While students specialize in one of the four areas, they must be familiar with all.
It鈥檚 an education directors appreciate, says Hawkridge, who directed 911爆料 Theatre鈥檚 production of Women and War last fall. OUT LOUD鈥檚 last ensemble boasted four 911爆料 alumni among the eight members. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 a testament to how the department creates a 911爆料 that people like me want to return to,鈥� Hawkridge says. 鈥淭here鈥檚 something about how we were all trained that is special. All students participate in every role at least once: costume shop, box office, design, auditions for shows.鈥�
Students develop an appreciation for one another鈥檚 work and have ample opportunities to do the work they want to do. 鈥淎nd jobs lead to other jobs and collaborations are born,鈥� Hawkridge says.
Eric Lutes 鈥�91
Theatre 413: Acting for the Camera
Sitcoms: Frasier, Ellen, Caroline in the City
New movie: Vault
For Eric Lutes, deciding to become an actor was an act of rebellion. His father wanted him to become a painter, but Lutes was drawn to the stage. Ultimately, his father, marine artist John D. Lutes, embraced his son鈥檚 decision. 鈥淢y father said, 鈥楪o. Do it,鈥欌�� Lutes says.
Lutes鈥� first television show was the NBC juggernaut, Frasier, starring former Cheers star Kelsey Grammer. That gig led to a lead role on the NBC sitcom Caroline in the City, which ran for four seasons and was in syndication for 11 years. In his 30-plus-year career, Lutes estimates he鈥檚 been in nearly 200 sitcom episodes in addition to feature film work. This June, he plays a gangster in the film, Vault. Set in the 1970s, the film chronicles the notorious Bonded Vault heist, in which thieves made off with $30 million from a fur storage facility in Providence, Rhode Island, which was being used as a bank by members of the Raymond Patriarca crime family. Martin Scorsese is one of the film鈥檚 backers.
鈥淭he main thing I try to instill in students is that you鈥檝e got to keep showing up. And being on time is a huge thing for me,鈥� Lutes says. 鈥淎fter that, it really is about the work. Do your homework. The only time I was nervous for auditions was when I wasn鈥檛 prepared. No one else is going to do it for you.鈥�
And be multifaceted. 鈥淒on鈥檛 just be an actor. Have other interests. You bring all that to acting anyway, and there鈥檚 so much else to life,鈥� Lutes says.
Joseph Short 鈥�06
Theatre 213, 313, 417: Voice and Movement Production Technician for the Office for the Arts at Harvard; Production Manager for the Gloucester Stage Company; Host, High School Quiz Show: Rhode Island
鈥�911爆料 is driving the Rhode Island theater scene.鈥�
Joe Short teaches presence. 鈥淰oice and body are the two tools of the performer,鈥� he says. 鈥淪ophomore year is spent talking about how to use those tools through, in part, the study of habits and tendencies. Junior year is the study of rhetoric and pitch, how to format an argument, and how to reflect all with the body. Senior year those skills are further refined.
鈥淲e move you through increasingly rigorous training to extract the best actor, director, or production manager,鈥� Short says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an intensive and personalized journey.鈥�
And local theaters are the beneficiaries. 鈥淚t鈥檚 exciting that there are so many opportunities right now,鈥� Short says. 鈥淎nd many of those opportunities are in companies and productions being started, managed, or influenced by our alums.鈥�
Rachel Walshe 鈥�01
Theatre 211, 321, 338G, 383
Acting and Playwriting
Director and Teaching Artist, The GAMM Theatre
Classes, rehearsals, and soccer practice: These are the things that occupy Rachel Walshe鈥檚 mind at the moment. She鈥檚 directing Gloria at the GAMM Theatre and casting 911爆料 Theatre鈥檚 production of The Wolves, a drama about teammates on a high school girls鈥� soccer team. She鈥檚 got the 911爆料 women鈥檚 soccer team consulting on the play and is arranging for the student actors to attend the team鈥檚 6 a.m. practices.
The University鈥檚 only Rhodes scholar, Walshe always intended to teach at a public institution. 鈥淢y four years as an undergraduate were transformative. I feel I became me here,鈥� Walshe says. 鈥淪o I wanted to work with undergraduates, where, I believe, teaching matters most.鈥�
鈥淚 get to practice what I do all day, every day. I coach actors, I think structurally, I use practical techniques, and I get hired to direct
plays professionally.鈥�
And Walshe鈥檚 students get to see the collaboration among 911爆料鈥檚 faculty and guest artists on a daily basis鈥攆rom the inception to the conclusion of a project. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e witnessing discussions with professional artists who are doing this for real, figuring things out in the moment. It鈥檚 a tremendous benefit having that kind of contact with your collaborators.鈥�
And what does she hope students take away from the experience?
鈥淚 want students to recognize the value of the arts, to recognize that the act of storytelling is as primal as anything else we would consider essential to the human experience,鈥� Walshe says. 鈥淲e tell each other stories as a survival skill.鈥�
Joshua Short 鈥�08
Founder and Artistic Director,
The Wilbury Theatre Group
Two years after graduation, Josh Short (yes, he’s Joe’s brother) founded the Wilbury Theatre Group in Providence as a way to act and be in plays more often. Eight years later, he accepted a 2018 National Theatre Company Grant from the American Theatre Wing鈥攖he organization behind the Tony Awards. Trinity Repertory Company is the only other Rhode Island theater that has received this recognition from the American Theatre Wing. 鈥淥ur goal is to become a nationally recognized theater that provides a platform to show new work from diverse voices,鈥� Short says. Short credits 911爆料 with hammering home discipline and commitment to the craft.
鈥淪torytelling, creating empathy: It鈥檚 a noble thing.鈥�
鈥�911爆料鈥檚 theater students are trained to work hard. They have an understanding of what it takes to be good.鈥�
The Wilbury鈥檚 commitment to new work and diverse voices extends to education outreach, youth programs, including a 鈥減ay-what-you-will鈥� acting class; Camp Shakesweird, a two-week camp for children ages 8 to 11; and the Youth Playmaking Program, an all-expenses-covered opportunity for teens interested in producing theater. And through the annual Providence Fringe Festival, the Wilbury Group and other arts organizations draw more than 250 artists from around the world to Providence for a weeklong celebration of the arts.
What’s the ROI on the B.F.A.?
911爆料’s B.F.A. program requires concentrated study in acting, design and theater technology, directing, and stage management. While students specialize in one of the four areas, they must be familiar with all. That’s an education directors appreciate. It also prepares 911爆料 grads to enter the professional world鈥攊n theater or in a variety of other fields.
Editor’s Note: There’s a Method to Our Spelling Madness
Why do we sometimes write 鈥榯heatre鈥� and other times 鈥榯heater’? The answer dates to the 1800s, when Noah Webster鈥檚 1828 dictionary established the American spelling of many words, like 鈥榗olor鈥� instead of 鈥榗olour,鈥� and 鈥榗enter鈥� instead of 鈥榗entre.鈥� Likewise, theater, spelled 鈥�-er,’ has become (mostly) standard in the U.S. But many theaters and schools of theater鈥攊ncluding 911爆料, the GAMM, and others鈥攈onor the British 鈥�-re鈥� spelling. So when we write about them, we use their spelling. But when we write about theater in general, we use the standard American 鈥�-er鈥� spelling.