{"id":1033,"date":"2019-03-26T12:57:37","date_gmt":"2019-03-26T16:57:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/?p=1033"},"modified":"2019-03-26T22:41:19","modified_gmt":"2019-03-27T02:41:19","slug":"center-stage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/issues\/spring-2019\/center-stage\/","title":{"rendered":"Center Stage"},"content":{"rendered":"

Center Stage<\/h1><\/div><\/div>
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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.<\/p>\n

\n

Ensemble Cast<\/p>\n

\n
\n
Front row: Brooks Shatraw \u201919, acting and directing student; Emily Turtle \u201919, acting and management student.<\/br><\/br>Middle row: Tony Estrella \u201993, acting instructor; Bonnie Bosworth, publicity director and administrative assistant; Kira Hawkridge \u201912, guest director; Gavin DiFranco \u201920, management and directing student; Lorraine Guerra \u201920, acting and communications student; Paula McGlasson, acting and stage management professor; Sil DelSignore, Theatre Department secretary<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Back row: Eric Lutes \u201991, theater instructor; Rachel Walshe, acting and playwriting lecturer; Jake Hegenauer, resident technical director and instructor; Max Ponticelli, theater and theater design instructor; Dean Hernandez \u201920, acting performance and costume and lighting design student; Magenta Kolakowski \u201920, acting and costume design student.<\/p>\n
Photo: Ayla Fox \u201911<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

By Marybeth Reilly-McGreen<\/p>\n

Finals Week<\/h2>\n

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\u2019s \u201cThe Nicest Kids in Town.\u201d No finals fatigue here; it\u2019s opening-night energy.<\/p>\n

With more than five productions each year, 911爆料\u2019s theater production schedule is on par with a professional theater\u2019s, says department chair David T. Howard. Without the budget, though. \u201cWe\u2019ll do a whole show for around the price of a single costume on Broadway,\u201d Howard notes.<\/p>\n

How? Hard work, dedicated faculty, and a group of artists\u2014most of them 911爆料 graduates\u2014recruited both for their skills as educators and their impressive theater pedigrees.<\/p>\n

Tony Estrella \u201993<\/h2>\n

Theatre 411: Acting
\nArtistic Director, The GAMM Theatre<\/p>\n

On a sunny Friday afternoon, David Howard and Tony Estrella chat in Howard\u2019s 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\u2019 parents: What\u2019s the ROI on the B.F.A.? \u201cThe thing about theater is, you build skills you can use in new ways,\u201d Estrella says. \u201cTheater is an entr\u00e9e, a foray, into a lot of different worlds.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re helping to create people who can deal with adversity, who can work collaboratively, and who can think creatively.\u201d<\/p><\/div><\/div>

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Photo: Nora Lewis<\/div>\n

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\u2019s approach is to treat students as professionals, collaborators engaged in essential work: the exploration of radical, challenging, and even ugly ideas. \u201cAn art form needs a place where it\u2019s safe to be unsafe,\u201d Estrella says. \u201cThere\u2019s a danger in art. It has the power to unsettle, to provoke, and to entertain, of course.<\/p>\n

\u201cGreat playwrights are looking at the true complexity of ideas and making them public. Our responsibility is to challenge, provoke, illuminate, and entertain,\u201d Estrella says. \u201cTheater is an act of citizenship. It is an act of engaging with the 911爆料.\u201d<\/p>\n

And engaging through teaching, Estrella says, has made him better at his craft. \u201cYou learn so much. You have to be honest\u2014interrogating, 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Estrella\u2019s method for teaching acting is rigorous engagement with the material. \u201cYou\u2019re 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\u2019s not always a direct one-to-one correlation, of course,\u201d Estrella notes. \u201cNone of us has died yet, but we have to die on stage. You build off what you have.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter all, what is our job as actors but to walk in each other’s shoes?\u201d<\/p>\n

Kira Hawkridge \u201912<\/h2>\n

Director, 911爆料 Theatre\u2019s Women and War<\/em>
\nFounding Artistic Director, OUT LOUD Theatre<\/p>\n

You will find 911爆料 graduates working in almost every theater in the state, from the established\u2014Trinity Repertory Company, Theatre By The Sea, and the GAMM Theatre\u2014to up-and-comers such as the Wilbury Theatre Group, OUT LOUD Theatre, the Burbage Theatre Company, and the Epic Theatre Company.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re getting a well-rounded education that prepares you to enter the professional world.\u201d<\/p><\/div><\/div>

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Photo: Nora Lewis<\/div>\n

One reason 911爆料\u2019s theater graduates are sought-after is the nature of 911爆料\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an education directors appreciate, says Hawkridge, who directed 911爆料 Theatre\u2019s production of Women and War last fall. OUT LOUD\u2019s last ensemble boasted four 911爆料 alumni among the eight members. \u201cThat\u2019s a testament to how the department creates a 911爆料 that people like me want to return to,\u201d Hawkridge says. \u201cThere\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Students develop an appreciation for one another\u2019s work and have ample opportunities to do the work they want to do. \u201cAnd jobs lead to other jobs and collaborations are born,\u201d Hawkridge says.<\/p>\n

Eric Lutes \u201991<\/h2>\n

Theatre 413: Acting for the Camera
\nSitcoms: Frasier<\/em>, Ellen<\/em>, Caroline in the City<\/em>
\nNew movie: Vault<\/em><\/p>\n

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\u2019s decision. \u201cMy father said, \u2018Go. Do it,\u2019\u201d Lutes says.
\n

\u201cWhen students say, \u2018What if I go out for it and don\u2019t get it?\u2019 I say, \u2018Well, what if you do?\u2019 Go. Try. This is what we do.\u201d<\/p><\/div><\/div>

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Lutes\u2019 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\u2019s 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\u2019s backers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe main thing I try to instill in students is that you\u2019ve got to keep showing up. And being on time is a huge thing for me,\u201d Lutes says. \u201cAfter that, it really is about the work. Do your homework. The only time I was nervous for auditions was when I wasn\u2019t prepared. No one else is going to do it for you.\u201d<\/p>\n

And be multifaceted. \u201cDon\u2019t just be an actor. Have other interests. You bring all that to acting anyway, and there\u2019s so much else to life,\u201d Lutes says.<\/p>\n

Joseph Short \u201906<\/h2>\n

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<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201c911爆料 is driving the Rhode Island theater scene.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Joe Short teaches presence. \u201cVoice and body are the two tools of the performer,\u201d he says. \u201cSophomore 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe move you through increasingly rigorous training to extract the best actor, director, or production manager,\u201d Short says. \u201cIt\u2019s an intensive and personalized journey.\u201d<\/p>\n

And local theaters are the beneficiaries. \u201cIt\u2019s exciting that there are so many opportunities right now,\u201d Short says. \u201cAnd many of those opportunities are in companies and productions being started, managed, or influenced by our alums.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rachel Walshe \u201901<\/h2>\n

Theatre 211, 321, 338G, 383
\nActing and Playwriting
\nDirector and Teaching Artist, The GAMM Theatre<\/p>\n

Classes, rehearsals, and soccer practice: These are the things that occupy Rachel Walshe\u2019s mind at the moment. She\u2019s directing Gloria at the GAMM Theatre and casting 911爆料 Theatre\u2019s production of The Wolves, a drama about teammates on a high school girls\u2019 soccer team. She\u2019s got the 911爆料 women\u2019s soccer team consulting on the play and is arranging for the student actors to attend the team\u2019s 6 a.m. practices.
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\u201cArt can accommodate complexity, nuance, and ambiguity like little else in the human experience. It is a practice and a technique I would regard as core to the human experience and necessary to do this thing called life.\u201d<\/p><\/div><\/div>

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The University\u2019s only Rhodes scholar, Walshe always intended to teach at a public institution. \u201cMy four years as an undergraduate were transformative. I feel I became me here,\u201d Walshe says. \u201cSo I wanted to work with undergraduates, where, I believe, teaching matters most.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI 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
\nplays professionally.\u201d<\/p>\n

And Walshe\u2019s students get to see the collaboration among 911爆料\u2019s faculty and guest artists on a daily basis\u2014from the inception to the conclusion of a project. \u201cThey\u2019re witnessing discussions with professional artists who are doing this for real, figuring things out in the moment. It\u2019s a tremendous benefit having that kind of contact with your collaborators.\u201d<\/p>\n

And what does she hope students take away from the experience?<\/p>\n

\u201cI 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,\u201d Walshe says. \u201cWe tell each other stories as a survival skill.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joshua Short \u201908<\/h2>\n

Founder and Artistic Director,
\nThe Wilbury Theatre Group<\/p>\n

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\u2014the 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. \u201cOur goal is to become a nationally recognized theater that provides a platform to show new work from diverse voices,\u201d Short says. Short credits 911爆料 with hammering home discipline and commitment to the craft.<\/p>\n

\u201cStorytelling, creating empathy: It\u2019s a noble thing.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201c911爆料\u2019s theater students are trained to work hard. They have an understanding of what it takes to be good.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Wilbury\u2019s commitment to new work and diverse voices extends to education outreach, youth programs, including a \u201cpay-what-you-will\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

What’s the ROI on the B.F.A.?<\/h2>\n

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\u2014in theater or in a variety of other fields.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Editor’s Note: There’s a Method to Our Spelling Madness<\/h3>\n

Why do we sometimes write \u2018theatre\u2019 and other times \u2018theater’? The answer dates to the 1800s, when Noah Webster\u2019s 1828 dictionary established the American spelling of many words, like \u2018color\u2019 instead of \u2018colour,\u2019 and \u2018center\u2019 instead of \u2018centre.\u2019 Likewise, theater, spelled \u2018-er,’ has become (mostly) standard in the U.S. But many theaters and schools of theater\u2014including 911爆料, the GAMM, and others\u2014honor the British \u2018-re\u2019 spelling. So when we write about them, we use their spelling. But when we write about theater in general, we use the standard American \u2018-er\u2019 spelling.
\n<\/p><\/div><\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":1357,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1033","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spring-2019","architecture-features"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1033","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1033"}],"version-history":[{"count":41,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1033\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1532,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1033\/revisions\/1532"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1357"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1033"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1033"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1033"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}