LECTURES
“From Everyman to Everybody”
An Interactive Lecture with Dr. Joanne Maguire and Dr. Mark Pizzato
Thursday, October 24, 2019 at 4 PM | Robinson 109
Join Joanne Maguire and Mark Pizzato for a discussion of God, Death, Good Deeds, Love and other allegorical characters in the journey to every-person’s life, seeking meaning beyond it, according to the early modern English play, Everyman (c. 1500) and the postmodern American play, Everybody (2017, by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins. This one-hour discussion, with reception to follow, is offered one week before the opening of Jacobs-Jenkins’ Everybody in the Black Box Theatre.
Joanne Maguire, Ph.D.’s books include Nobility and Annihilation in Marguerite Porete’s ‘Mirror of Simple Souls’ (2001), Waiting in Christian Traditions: Balancing Ideology and Utopia (2015), and the forthcomingThe Religious Studies Skills Book, co-authored with Eugene V. Gallagher. Dr. Maguire is the recipient of the Bank of America Award for Teaching Excellence at UNCC (2012), the NC Board of Governors Teaching Award (2013), and the American Academy of Religion Award for Excellence in Teaching (2016).
Mark Pizzato, Ph.D., has published seven books, including Edges of Loss (1998), Theatres of Human Sacrifice: From Ancient Ritual to Screen Violence (2005), Ghosts of Theatre and Cinema in the Brain (2006), Inner Theatres of Good and Evil: The Mind's Staging of Gods, Angels and Devils (2011), and Beast-People Onscreen and in Your Brain: The Evolution of Animal-Humans from Prehistoric Cave Art to Modern Movies (2016). He also co-edited Death in American Texts and Performances (2010). His newest book is Mapping Global Theatre Histories (2019).
Black Acting Methods: The Field and the Text
Wednesday, October 9, 2019 at 5:30 PM | Robinson Choir Room
This lecture provides a theoretical and historical overview of the field of Black Acting Methods and the text that has catalyzed and mobilized the most recent wave of advocacy work that seeks to decolonize actor training programs.
Sharrell D. Luckett, PhD, is founding Director of the Black Acting Methods Studio and Director of the Helen Weinberger Center for Drama and Playwriting at the University of Cincinnati (UC). At UC, she is also a Drama and Performance Studies professor in the Department of English & Comparative Literature, and collaborates with the Acting and Musical Theatre concentrations in the College-Conservatory of Music (CCM). A sought-after artist and speaker, Luckett has had residencies at renowned institutions, such as the Lincoln Center, Harvard University and 92Y. She is lead editor of Black Acting Methods: Critical Approaches and author of YoungGiftedandFat. Always on the cutting edge, upcoming projects include a collaboration with Carrie Mae Weems, a book on the work of Oscar winner Tarell Alvin McCraney, and the opening of the Black Acting Methods Online Institute.
Rahbi Hines is Executive Artistic Associate with the Black Acting Methods Studio. In addition to facilitating the Studio’s intensives and workshops, he is a dynamic theatre artist, instructor, and musician. Honing his skills at his grandfather’s church in the heart of Atlanta, GA and at the Freddie Hendricks Youth Ensemble of Atlanta, Hines is known for his infectious energy in the classrooms and on the stage. His genius musicianship has rightfully gained the admiration of industry greats such as Erykah Badu and Janelle Monáe; and he has opened for the likes of SZA, Tyler The Creator, Big Freedia, Bilal and more. A practitioner of the Hendricks Method, Hines unites beautiful people from all walks of life through his artistry.
CONVERSATIONS
Pizza Chat with Roger Guenveur Smith
January 10, 2017 | Black Box Theater
Students were invited to eat pizza with Mr. Smith and to learn more about his career as an actor, writer and director.
Award-winning actor, writer, and director ROGER GUENVEUR SMITH is a highly regarded film, television and stage actor whose work includes a successful career in film (American Gangster, Do the Right Thing, Malcolm X, The Birth of a Nation), television and on stage. RODNEY KING was initially developed and presented at Bootleg Theater, Los Angeles, in August 2012. It has since been performed at The New York Public Theatre, Penumbra, Long Wharf, Woolly Mammoth, Tate Modern (London), DuSable Museums, and BricArts Brooklyn. The New York Times has called the show "sinuous, complicated, and deeply moving.” In 2015 RODNEY KING won a Bessie Award for Outstanding Production.
Costume Designer Amy Andrews Harrell
March 17, 2017
AMY ANDREWS HARRELL, UNC Charlotte alumna, is an Emmy Award-winning costume designer/costume supervisor with extensive movie and television credits, including (among others) the films "Lincoln," "Cold Mountain," "The Patriot," "A River Runs Through It," and "Dirty Dancing 2" and the television shows "Louie," "Mercy Street," "Killing Kennedy," and "Killing Lincoln." Harrell won an Emmy for the HBO series "John Adams" (as costume supervisor) and a 2013 Emmy nomination for her costume designs for National Geographic Chanel's "Killing Lincoln." Her costume designs for the television show "Mercy Street" were recently included in the prestigious FIDM Art of the Television Costume Design 10th Anniversary Exhibit.
Of Color and On Campus: A Conversation
September 19, 2017
This student-led panel discussion was prompted by UNC Charlotte Department of Theatre’s fall production of Baltimore by Kristen Greenidge (September 27 - October 1, Black Box Theater). The play touched on race, micro-aggression, and class, and considered how these factors tie to a student’s experience at a university. The Of Color and On Campus panel featured student leaders of diverse backgrounds on our campus. Topics addressed included:
- Keith Lamont Scott/Charlottesville: Your role in activism and/or overcoming outside racial trauma
- Self-care in the face of racial aggression
- Message to faculty and future leaders: How to improve our campus culture for students of color
Baltimore Post-Show Audience-centered Discussions
September 27 - October 1, 2017
Baltimore, by contemporary playwright Kirstin Greenidge, tells the story of a racist event and its aftermath in a college dorm. The play references recent events—including the riots in Ferguson and the Black Lives Matter movement—through the experience and perspectives of eight culturally diverse college students. Each of the five performances of Baltimore were followed by an audience-centered discussion about the issues raised in the play.
A Conversation with Film & Television Actor Laura Linney
October 19, 2017
A moderated discussion/Q & A session with film, television and stage actress Laura Linney. A three-time academy award nominee, four-time Tony award nominee, and the winner of four Emmy awards, Linney is among the most versatile and successful actresses working today. Her stage credits include the 2002 Broadway revival of The Crucible (Tony award nomination) and the 2017 revival of The Little Foxes. Her film credits include You Can Count On Me, The Truman Show, Mystic River, and Love Actually. She is currently starring in HBO’s Ozark.
Women of Trachis Post-Show Conversation with Playwright Kate E. Ryan
October 27, 2017
Using a kitchen sink full of contemporary references (think Xanax, computer games, and pop songs from the 60s), this updating of Sophocles’ Women of Trachis explores issues that just don’t seem to want to go away: gender trouble and the consequences of loving too hard. Playwright Kate E. Ryan and members of the production company engaged in conversation with audience members about their experience both performing in and watching the production.
Women of Trachis Post-Show Conversation with UNCC Classics Professor Dale Grote
October 28, 2017
Professor Dale Grote, Coordinator of the Minor in Classical Studies at UNC-Charlotte, participated in a discussion with the audience, moderated by Mark Pizzato, Professor of Theatre, focusing on comparisons between the Kate Ryan's version of Women of Trachis and the original version by the ancient Greek dramatist, Sophocles, from the mid-fifth century BCE. Dr. Grote is the author of The Vulgate of Mark with Synoptic Parallels (2016).
Contemporary Circus in Philosophy and Practice as Theatrical Vocabulary
November 3, 2017
Contemporary circus arts are undergoing a period of tremendous growth and transformation—and the borders between circus and other forms of performance are becoming ever more porous in relationsip to the thematic concerns of post-dramatic and the trans-disciplinary theatre. This special event commenced with a special short performance by the Nouveau Sud project, Charlotte’s own Social Circus troupe, performing some excerpts from their latest production, Sûr. We followed the performance with a brief lecture/presentation by Louis Patrick Leroux, Concordia University professor and expert on the evolutions of trans-disciplinarity in European and North American circus.
Measure for Measure Post-Show Conversation with UNC Charlotte Robinson Distinguished Professor of Shakespeare Andrew Hartley
November 3, 2017
Robinson Distinguished Professor of Shakespeare Andrew Hartley led a post-show audience-centered discussion about this most troubling of Shakespeare’s “problem plays.” How do the play’s socio-cultural concerns relate to our contemporary dialogue on issues ranging from sexual harassment to the illicit use of power?
Getting Started in Film/TV Acting: A Conversation with Casting Directors Craig and Lisa Mae Fincannon
March 15, 2018
Casting professionals Craig (founder of Fincannon & Associates, Inc.) and Lisa Mae (Emmy-winning casting director) Fincannon talk about the film and TV business and offer tips on how to get started as actors in the industry. Fincannon & Associates does industry casting in over a dozen countries and throughout the United States. Their casting credits include over 125 feature films, more than 200 episodics, 125 movies of the week, 6 Mini-series, 3 Primetime Emmy Awards, and hundreds of commercials.
An Unexpected Journey: On Stage and in the Archives by Kathy Perkins
April 4, 2018
Kathy A. Perkins will share her experience from a series of unexpected events that fueled her desire to become both a lighting designer and scholar. She will also discuss how anger has often been the motivation for much of her research. Professor Perkins has designed lighting throughout the U.S. at such regional theatres as American Conservatory Theatre (ACT), Arena Stage, Berkeley Repertory, Seattle Repertory, St. Louis Black Repertory, The Alliance, Goodman, Steppenwolf, Congo Square, Manhattan Theatre Club, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), New Federal Theatre, eta Creative Arts, Mark Taper, Indiana Repertory, Court Theatre, Writers Theatre, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Los Angeles Theatre Center, Two Rivers Theatre, Playmakers Repertory Company, and Victory Gardens. She is the recipient of such design awards as NAACP Image Award, National Black Theatre Festival Award, and was a nominee for the L.A. Ovation Award and New York’s Audelco. Internationally, she has designed in Switzerland, Austria and South Africa. Perkins co-curated ONSTAGE: A Century of African American Stage Design at New York’s Lincoln Center, served as theatre consultant for the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, and is the recipient of numerous research awards, including the Ford Foundation, Fulbright, United States Information Agency (USIA), New York Times Company, National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), Money for Women Fund, United States Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT) and various University of Illinois awards, including University Scholar. Her publications include Black Female Playwrights: An Anthology of Plays before 1950, Black South African Women: An Anthology of Plays, African Women Playwrights, and Alice Childress: Selected Plays. She co-edited Contemporary Plays by Women of Color (ATHE 1996 Outstanding Theatre Book Award) and Strange Fruit: Plays on Lynching by American Women. Perkins is currently Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Women in Theatre Panel Discussion
April 5, 2018
Join Kathy Perkins (award-winning lighting designer and author), Delicia Turner Sonnenberg (co-founder of San Diego’s Moxie Theatre), Donna Scott (Executive Director of donna scott productions) and Kaja Dunn (UNCC professor of acting) for a conversation about the state of women in the theatre industry, both locally and nationally.
Delicia Turner Sonnenberg is the Co-Founder of San Diego’s Moxie Theatre and a leading voice in creating women-centered theatre work. By producing works by female playwrights and giving special attention to plays that defy female stereotypes, MOXIE has created more diverse and honest images of women on stage.
Kathy Perkins has designed lighting throughout the U.S. at the American Conservatory Theatre (ACT), Arena Stage, Berkeley Repertory, Seattle Repertory, St. Louis Black Repertory, The Alliance, Goodman, Steppenwolf, Congo Square, Manhattan Theatre Club (among many others). She is the recipient of the NAACP Image Award, National Black Theatre Festival Award, and was a nominee for the L.A. Ovation Award and New York’s Audelco. Her publications include Black Female Playwrights: An Anthology of Plays before 1950, Black South African Women: An Anthology of Plays, African Women Playwrights, and Alice Childress: Selected Plays. She co-edited Contemporary Plays by Women of Color (ATHE 1996 Outstanding Theatre Book Award) and Strange Fruit: Plays on Lynching by American Women.
Donna Scott is Executive Director of donna scott productions in Charlotte. In 2005, DSP debuted The Body Chronicles in partnership with Girls on Run International, garnering four Metrolina Theatre Association awards including Outstanding Special Event and Best Direction as well as Creative Loafing’s Best Original Show of the Year. The Body Chronicles gave over $10,000 of proceeds to the international non-profit organization Girls On the Run, a self-esteem and running program for girls, founded in Charlotte by Molly Barker. Other award-winning productions include The Fairy Tale Chronicles (Metrolina Theatre Association’s Outstanding Original Play for 2009) and The Dixie Swim Club, (Metrolina Theatre Association’s Best Comedy, Best Director, Best Lead Actress in a Comedy).
Kaja Amado Dunn has performed in over 40 shows and taught internationally. Favorites include Around the World in 80 Days and Brownie Points (Lamb’s), A Raisin in The Sun and Gibson Girl (Moxie), playing a blues singing chicken in Canada, and performing in a circus. Most recently she was the face of an international Western Union campaign. Kaja was previously a Lecturer at California State University San Marcos and toured with Ya Tong Theatre in Taiwan. Her primary research focus is on using theatre to facilitate complex cultural conversation and people of color in theatre.
Acting Your Color: The CRAFT, Power and Paradox of Acting for Black Americans by Dr. Monica Ndounou
April 26, 2018
Dr. Monica White Ndounou's book, Acting Your Color: The CRAFT, Power and Paradox of Acting for Black Americans 1950s to the present identifies and documents a range of approaches to teaching and learning the crafts of acting and directing. Drawn from her larger project documenting black American contributions to developing acting theories and practices from the nineteenth century to the present, this talk will present several significant research discoveries along with strategies for teaching and learning culturally specific techniques in acting classrooms and beyond.
Dr. Monica White Ndounou is Associate Professor of Theater and Sony Music Fellow (2017-2018) at Dartmouth College. In addition to being the President of the Black Theatre Association, a focus group of the Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE), she is also the award-winning author of Shaping the Future of African American Film: Color- Coded Economics and the Story Behind the Numbers. She has published numerous articles on various topics including but not limited to “Being Black on Stage and Screen: Black Actor Training Before the Rise of Stanislavski’s System” forthcoming in the Routledge Companion to African American Theatre and Performance (Routledge), "The Paradox of Acting for an African American Actress" in Consciousness, Theatre, Literature and the Arts (Cambridge Scholars Press), and “Drama for ‘Neglected People': Recovering Anna Julia Cooper's Dramatic Theory and Criticism from the Shadows of W.E.B. Du Bois and Alain Locke” The Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism. Dr. Ndounou has also performed in a range of roles from William Shakespeare’s Love’s Labor’s Lost, Suzan-Lori Parks’ The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World, Henry Krieger and Tom Eyen’s Dreamgirls, Douglas Turner Ward's Day of Absence and various roles in August Wilson’s ten-play cycle including Fences, Seven Guitars, and Two Trains Running. Her directing credits include new works as well as August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone and Gem of the Ocean, along with Ntozake Shange’s for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf. Professor Ndounou is currently working on several projects including but not limited to a book, documentary film and digital archive exploring black American contributions to developing acting theories and practices. She is also working with various organizations to spearhead the charge for an overhaul of theatre training programs throughout the United States and abroad in an effort to ensure theatre training curricula more accurately reflects the demographics of the nation and the larger world.
Coffee Chat with HAMILTON Stage Manager Amber Johnson
October 25, 2018
Join Amber Johnson for a conversation about what it’s like to Stage Manage the national touring company for HAMILTON. Amber Johnson holds a BA in Theatre from the University of Oklahoma, and was Chicago-based Company and Stage Manager for a number of companies including Court, Next, Lookingglass and Chicago Shakespeare Theatres. She toured as an ASM on the second national tour of MOTOWN, THE MUSICAL, and in the Chicago production of HAMILTON, before working on the first national tour of HAMILTON that is currently stopping in Charlotte. She is a member of AEA.
Words, Words, Words! Why Do We Still Perform Shakespeare?
October 27, 2018 | Black Box Theater | Following performance of Twelfth Night
Shakespeare’s plays are hard, “wordy” (code for boring), and old. So why do we still produce and perform them? Join us for a post-show panel discussion with UNCC students and professors and Charlotte area theatre professionals to hear why they think Shakespeare performance is valuable and rewarding for theatre artists, scholars and audiences.
- Jessica Boyles, MLitt Candidate at Mary Baldwin University
- Kirk Melnikoff, PhD, Professor of English at UNCC
- Christopher Berry, MFA, Assistant Professor of Stage Voice at UNCC
- Hessie Sanders, UNCC Department of Theatre Major
Forgiving and Forgetting: Shakespeare and Power by Peter Holland
Pre-show Talk and Dessert
November 3, 2018 at 6 PM | Robinson 145
Distinguished Shakespeare scholar Peter Holland shares his recent research into Shakespeare and memory.
Peter Holland is McMeel Family Professor in Shakespeare Studies in the Department of Film, Television, and Theatre at Notre Dame University. Prior positions include the Judith E. Wilson Reader in Drama and Theatre at the University of Cambridge (1996-1997) and Director of the Shakespeare Institute and Professor of Shakespeare Studies at the University of Birmingham (1997-2002). His first book, The Ornament of Action, was a study of Restoration comedy in performance. Subsequent work has concentrated on Shakespeare in performance and on editing Shakespeare’s plays. He is editor of Shakespeare Survey, general editor with Stanley Wells of the Oxford Shakespeare Topics series, associate general editor of the Oxford Drama Library, and series editor of Redefining British Theatre History. His article on ‘"William Shakespeare" is the longest entry in the new Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Other interests include David Garrick, recent British drama, performance theory, and English pantomimes.
"August Wilson's Pittsburgh": Post-show Conversation with Wali Jamal
Facilitated by Lynne Conner (after the performance of How I Learned What I Learned)
January 17, 2019 at 9 PM | Black Box Theater
Wali Jamal is a Pittsburgh-based performer and playwright, and one of very few actors to have performed in all 10 of August Wilson’s American Century cycle plays AND Wilson’s one-man show, How I Learned What I Learned. Wali is a Pittsburgh native and mentee of Wilson who is actively involved in productions that interpret Pittsburgh’s rich African American culture and history. Theatre department chair Lynne Conner, also a Pittsburgh native, will share insights into Wilson’s work from her book, Pittsburgh In Stages: Two Hundred Years of Theater (University of Pittsburgh Press).
Post-show Audience Conversation facilitated by Assistant Professor Chris Berry
April 25, 2019 at 9:30 PM | Black Box Theater
Share your thoughts and questions about Blues for an Alabama Sky with other members of the audience and the show’s cast and crew.
“Black Womanhood and the Harlem Renaissance” by Dr. Janaka Lewis
Pre-show Talk and Dessert
April 26, 2019 at 6 PM | Robinson Choir Room
Drawing from the representation of women in Blues for an Alabama Sky, this talk will examine themes from both contemporary texts written on the Harlem Renaissance and those by women writers during the period on Black women’s physical and social mobility. Dr. Lewis discusses social regulations on Black women’s bodies from both within and from outside their own communities and addresses ways in which they navigate expectations of “respectable” womanhood. Finally, she moves toward understanding Black women’s agency and visibility within mainstream movements for women’s rights.
Panel Discussion on Blues for an Alabama Sky
April 28, 2019 at 4 PM | Robinson Choir Room
Dr. Julia Jordan-Zachary, Assistant Professor Kaja Dunn and student dramaturg, Alex Gomez, hold a lively discussion about the themes, ideas and politics of Blues for an Alabama Sky. Don’t miss this wonderful opportunity to learn more about Pearl Cleage’s play and her work as an activist probing issues of race, sex and love in the lives of brave black women.
Dr. Julia Jordan-Zachary’s scholarship focuses on critical policy analysis dealing with race, gender, and sexuality. Her first book Black Women, Cultural Images and Social Policy (Routledge 2009) examines the racial and gendered processes of policy making; how these affect the imageries, public attitudes, and discursive references about black womanhood; and the impacts of these on the lives of African American women. She is also the author of Shadow Bodies: Black Women, Ideology, Representation, and Politics (Rutgers University Press, 2017), a book that explores the political and cultural representations of the Black woman’s body and the implications for effective Black women’s political organizing. In addition to these two important books, she has co-edited three books and published several peer-reviewed articles, all exploring the intersectionalities of race, gender, citizenship, and social policy.
Far Away: Post-show Audience-Centered Conversation facilitated by Dr. Susan Harden
Everybody: Post-show Audience-Centered Conversation facilitated by Dr. Mark Pizzato
Detroit in 1967: Post-show Audience-Centered Conversation facilitated by Ron McClelland
Coffee Chat with Black Acting Methods Studio
Friday, October 11, 2019 at 10 AM | Robinson 308
Theatre majors/minors, come have coffee and desserts with BAM residency teachers.
WORKSHOPS & MASTER CLASSES
Stacey Rose Playwriting Workshops: “I've Been Meaning to Write: How to Love Your S*%@!iest Work”
Based on an exercise from Stacey Rose's playwriting studies with Annie Baker, students strove to write the worst play they've ever written with every cliché and stereotype they can dream up. The goal was to sift through the crap for treasure (an amazing monologue, a great scene). Said scenes/monologues/scraps were buffed to a shine and presented to an audience.
February 9-10, 2017 | Robinson 109
Student presentations of monologues/scenes were on Friday, February 10 | Rowe 163 (White Box)
STACEY ROSE is a mother, a theatre artist, and filmmaker who strives to create work that entertains, challenges, educates and empowers both the audience and her collaborators. She’s a 2014-15 American Association of University Women Career Development Grant recipient. She’s been honored with the NYU Grey Gallery Prize in collaboration with The Studio Museum of Harlem for her short play "M y Pet." Stacey, also an emerging screenwriter/director, is a 2014-15 Tisch Future Screenwriter Fellow and recently produced "Fun", the third in her series of films for "The Perceptions Project." She is currently a Script Coordinator on Spike Lee’s She’s Gotta Have It television show for Netflix. You can read Stacey's writing and keep up with her general goings on at www.fromtherosesmouth.com.
Sean Graney/Aristophanesathon Workshop
Sean Graney led a team of students in a work-shopping exercise of his Aristophanesathon, a work-in-progress adapting all of Aristophanes’ eleven plays to a five-hour marathon. It was an extraordinary opportunity for actors, directors, dramaturges and/or designers to work on a major artistic project with one of the country’s most exciting and talked about theatre artists. Students learned tools for adapting classic theater for contemporary audiences and working with durational theater. The only requirement was that students were willing to read and share opinions and that they could commit to the whole week of workshops (March 13 through 17 from 6 to 10 PM) and the performance event on Saturday, March 18 (from noon to 5 PM).
March 13-17, 2017 | Robinson 330
Aristophanesathon performance was on Saturday, March 18, 2017 in the Black Box Theater.
SEAN GRANEY is an award-winning playwright, adapter and director. His Chicago-based company The Hipocrites has earned multiple Joseph Jefferson Awards and performed in a range of prestigious venues around the United States, including the American Repertory Theatre, Actor’s Theatre of Louisville, Goodman Theatre and The Flea. Graney was honored with a year-long fellowship at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard, where he completed All Our Tragic, his 12-hour adaptation combining all 32 surviving Greek tragedies. Other adaptations include Edward II, Pirates of Penzance, Peer Gynt, Woyzeck, Tartuffe, Comedy of Errors, and Cinderella. He was a participant in the NEA/TCG Career Development Program for Directors from 2004-6. He has been awarded two Joseph Jefferson Citations for Outstanding Direction.
Acting Master Class with Film & Television Actor Laura Linney
October 19, 2017 | Anne R. Belk Theater
Film, television and stage actress Laura Linney led an acting master class for theater majors. A three-time academy award nominee, four-time Tony award nominee, and the winner of four Emmy awards, Linney is among the most versatile and successful actresses working today. Her stage credits include the 2002 Broadway revival of The Crucible (Tony award nomination) and the 2017 revival of The Little Foxes. Her film credits include You Can Count On Me, The Truman Show, Mystic River, and Love Actually. She is currently starring in HBO’s Ozark.
Playwriting workshop with Kate E. Ryan (Author of Women of Trachis)
October 27, 2017 | Robinson 205
Playwright Kate E. Ryan provided a workshop/discussion on adaptation in playwriting for Theatre students. Topics include: successful recent adaptations, the problems inherent in the adaptation process, and Ryan's approach to adapting The Trachiniae.
Actors from the London Stage Acting Workshops
October 31 - November 3, 2017
Actors from the London Stage, a professional touring company featuring five British actors, led a series of special classroom workshops while in residence during the first week of November. One of the oldest established touring Shakespeare theater companies in the world, the troupe was co-founded by the renowned British actor Patrick Stewart.
Defining Personal Success in the Context of a Theatre Career, led by Delicia Turner Sonnenberg
April 5, 2018
Co-Founder of San Diego’s Moxie Theatre and a leading voice in creating women-centered theatre work, Delicia Turner Sonnenberg will describe her successful efforts to create more diverse and honest images of women in our culture using the “intimate art of theatre. By producing works by female playwrights and giving special attention to plays that defy female stereotypes, MOXIE expands the idea of what is feminine.” She will also define her idea of personal success for theatre artists—one that includes a lot more than just climbing the industry ladder.
The CRAFT in Action: Practical Approaches to Culturally Nuanced Theatre Training, led by Dr. Monica Ndounou
April 26, 2018
This interactive workshop expands the focus of the lecture/discussion by further integrating explorations of the study of the craft at the intersection of race and culture. Participants are encouraged to examine their areas of interest through practical exercises designed to consider the role of cultural perspective in shaping approaches to teaching and learning theatre practice.
Dr. Monica White Ndounou is Associate Professor of Theater and Sony Music Fellow (2017-2018) at Dartmouth College. In addition to being the President of the Black Theatre Association, a focus group of the Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE), she is also the award-winning author of Shaping the Future of African American Film: Color- Coded Economics and the Story Behind the Numbers. She has published numerous articles on various topics including but not limited to “Being Black on Stage and Screen: Black Actor Training Before the Rise of Stanislavski’s System” forthcoming in the Routledge Companion to African American Theatre and Performance (Routledge), "The Paradox of Acting for an African American Actress" in Consciousness, Theatre, Literature and the Arts (Cambridge Scholars Press), and “Drama for ‘Neglected People': Recovering Anna Julia Cooper's Dramatic Theory and Criticism from the Shadows of W.E.B. Du Bois and Alain Locke” The Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism. Dr. Ndounou has also performed in a range of roles from William Shakespeare’s Love’s Labor’s Lost, Suzan-Lori Parks’ The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World, Henry Krieger and Tom Eyen’s Dreamgirls, Douglas Turner Ward's Day of Absence and various roles in August Wilson’s ten-play cycle including Fences, Seven Guitars, and Two Trains Running. Her directing credits include new works as well as August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone and Gem of the Ocean, along with Ntozake Shange’s for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf. Professor Ndounou is currently working on several projects including but not limited to a book, documentary film and digital archive exploring black American contributions to developing acting theories and practices. She is also working with various organizations to spearhead the charge for an overhaul of theatre training programs throughout the United States and abroad in an effort to ensure theatre training curricula more accurately reflects the demographics of the nation and the larger world.
Playwriting Workshop led by Caridad Svich
September 28, 2018 at 2:15 PM | Robinson 205
A playwriting workshop with OBIE winner Caridad Svich on the art of awakened dreaming, articulating vision, and finding story. In-class writing will occur in this workshop.
Caridad Svich has written more than 40 full-length plays, a variety of short works, and 15 translations. She received the 2018 Ellen Steward Award for Career Achievement in Theatre (from the Association for Theatre in Higher Education), a 2012 OBIE Award for Lifetime Achievement in the theatre, a 2012 Edgerton Foundation New Play Award and the National New Play Network rolling world premiere for Guapa, and the 2011 American Theatre Critics Association Primus Prize for her play The House of the Spirits, based on the Isabel Allende novel. She won the National Latino Playwriting Award (sponsored by Arizona Theatre Company) twice and has been short-listed for the PEN Award in Drama four times. Her works in English and Spanish have been seen at venues across the US and abroad.
Shakespeare Masterclass presented by Rodney Cottier, Head of the London Academy of Dramatic Art Drama School
October 17, 2018 at 12:15 PM | Rowe 163
Sign up on the Robinson Hall Call Board (across from Room 128) or by emailing Lynne Conner at lconner2@uncc.edu.
Rodney Cottier is the Head of Drama School at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art – the world’s oldest drama conservatory. Rodney has thirty-five years experience as a stage director and teacher of stage combat, acting and text at LAMDA, were he has directed twenty-five plays from Shakespeare’s canon. As a fight director, Rodney has worked at Shakespeare’s Globe as Master-of-Fight, choreographing several productions including Mark Rylance’s Hamlet. His Shakespeare Masterclass is interactive, stimulating, and a great deal of fun! Special focus will be given to the “Bloody Rag” Speech in HENRY VI. The lecture is free of charge, runs 2 hours, and is geared to all levels of experience, with something in it for everyone – from those just starting out to old pros. All are welcome, and the more who attend, the merrier. No special preparation is required, but if they can, participants should please bring copies of Shakespeare’s complete works, any edition.
Authentic Performance Acting Workshop led by Jennifer Pierce, Ph.D.
November 9, 2018 at 2:30 PM | Rowe 163
What makes a performance seem “real”? How can I connect with a scene partner? How do I make the audience buy into my performance?
In her Authentic Performance workshops, Dr. Jennifer Pierce takes studies about how the brain works and applies it to acting, giving you simple, practical techniques for creating authentic performances and connecting with your scene partners. Please come in loose comfortable clothing that you can move in. If you have a memorized monologue or scene ready, you may get a chance to work with it.
"Acting through Song" Workshop led by Broadway star Cassondra James
February 1, 2019 at 4 PM | Rowe Recital Hall
Information on how to sign up for the workshop will be sent out in January 2019.
In this workshop, Cassondra James will discuss 'truth', the art of 'joyous communication', and how these intersect in song interpretation and performance. Students are encouraged to bring printed sheet music and lyrics to workshop with the class. Though the workshop will focus on music, it is open to all - from non-singers to studied and professional singers.
Cassondra has traveled the world singing and workshop leading. She has toured with the grammy-award winning artist Cory Henry and the Funk Apostles, and has performed with a wide range of artists like Christina Aguilera, Kim Burrell, Tituss Burgess, The original ladies of Chic, Laura Izibor, Alicia Keys, Gladys Knight, LaChanze, and Wynton Marsalis. When she is not traveling, you can hear her performing jazz, funk, the blues, r&b, gospel, and even classical music in venues around the New York metropolitan area. She is currently a Storyteller and flutist in the Tony Award-winning revival of Once on This Island. In addition to her musical accomplishments, Cassondra earned her B.A. in sociology from Hofstra University (Hempstead, NY) . She has since earned a Master's degree in theological studies from Drew University, and is a Ph.D. candidate in sociology at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, where she is conducting research on stand-up comedy.
National Theatre Institute (NTI) Information Session and Acting Workshop
March 29, 2019 at 1 PM | Rowe 163
About The National Theatre Institute
With a singular schedule and an unmatched breadth of training, the National Theater Institute’s six semester-long programs offer students a springboard to the professional world at the two-time tony award-winning Eugene O’Neill Theater Center. Founded in 1970, NTI’s credit-earning theater intensives—taught by industry professionals and master teachers—train actors, singers, directors, dancers, designers, playwrights and composers.
About Gameplay: The First Rehearsal
Have you ever played theatre games in class, and wondered: “why in the world are we doing this”? “what does this have to do with theatre”? This workshop introduces students to training exercises used by the world-renowned london-based theater company, complicite. Through a series of advanced exercises, students are lead to observe human behavior under heightened circumstances, develop listening skills, and how to apply playfulness to acting. Through focused and committed play, the relationship between these exercises and electrifyingly exciting theater is deepened and advanced.
Master Class on the Artistic Integration of LED's Into Clothing, Costumes, Props and Accessories led by Janet Hansen
April 5, 2019 at 1 PM | Robinson 205
This Master Class led by designer Janet Hansen introduces students to innovative methods for integrating LED lighting effects into a range of theatrical and fashion contexts, from costumes and props to couture and accessories.
Janet Hansen specializes in the artistic integration of LEDs and other electronic lighting into clothing, costumes, props, and accessories. She is the founder of Enlighted Designs, Inc. (enlighted.com), based in Encinitas, California, and has been creating custom illuminated clothing for more than twenty years. Her designs are worn by a wide variety of professional entertainers, including dancers, musicians, actors, team mascots, and theme park performers. Recent clients include the Radio City Rockettes and the latest revival of Cats on Broadway. Janet's work combines her interests in fashion, art, and technology, as well as her formal training in engineering. A former rocket scientist, Janetholds a B.S. in General Engineering from Harvey Mudd College, and a Ph.D. in Biomechanical Engineering from UC San Diego.
Bridging the Gap in Theatre: Working with African American Hair and Makeup for the Theatre with Jerrilyn Lanier
Friday, March 20, 2020 at 1:30 PM | Robinson 205
Workshop participants will dive into African American hair & makeup techniques: covering use of tools and products for designing hair & makeup for the stage. The issues that performers of color face in this industry will be discussed as part of the workshop process. No experience necessary! Tools will be provided.
Jerrilyn Lanier holds a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre degree from the University of Southern Mississippi and a Master of Fine Arts in Costume Design and Production from the University of Alabama. Roll Tide! She was fortunate to train under Martha Ruskai in the makeup and hair design areas, and to help the Ben Nye company reformulate their African American stage makeup kits. She has designed costumes for theatre, dance and film and does freelance wig design work. She started Bridging the Gap in order to open up conversations in the theatre and film industries with other theatre artists on how to work with African American hair and makeup. This work is a true passion project for her.
Welcome to the Rock: Musical Theatre Workshop with Come From Away National Tour Members Amelia Cormack and Sharone Sayegh
Friday, January 10, 2020 at 10 AM | Rowe Recital Hall
SHARONE SAYEGH is currently playing Bonnie on the 1st National Tour of Come From Away. She most recently originated the role of Anna in The Band’s Visit on Broadway (OBC). Other Broadway: Mamma Mia!. Off Broadway: Mrs. Trumbauer in Road Show (City Center Encores), Anna in The Band's Visit (Atlantic Theater Co, World Premiere), Sharone in The Wildness (Ars Nova, World Premiere), and Scheherazade in Scheherazade (Prospect Theater Co). Regional: La Jolla Playhouse, The Muny, Florida Rep, San Jose Rep. TV: Instinct (CBS), Limitless (CBS).
AMELIA CORMACK is currently touring North America with Come From Away. A singer, actor, musician, songwriter, and voice-over artist, Amelia is one of the original Divas from Priscilla, Queen of the Desert the Musical, and has toured the US with Kinky Boots (1st National Tour) and Les Miserables (North American Tour). Other theatre credits include Razorhurst (Hayes Theatre Company), Jesus Christ Superstar, Rock of Ages, The Full Monty, Man of La Mancha (Alpine Theatre Project), and Sirens of Song (Milwaukee Repertory).
Hip-Hop Theatre Workshop
Friday, October 11, 2019 at 11:15 AM | Rowe 163
Instructor: Kashi Johnson, MFA - Lehigh University
Hip Hop has enjoyed a sustained and profound influence on culture for over forty years. While so many of today’s actors bring a Hip Hop sensibility to the acting studios, many instructors are ill-equipped to teach Hip Hop beyond its perceived entertainment purposes. Recognizing this gap, Professor Kashi Johnson, a pioneer of Hip Hop Theatre pedagogy, has spent the last decade investigating how Hip Hop can build bridges of understanding and create a safe space for actor training. This workshop will explore several Hip Hop Theatre inspired exercises, activities and performance practices with a focus on the creation of original work. Whether it’s reclaiming one’s identity through spoken word poetry, discovering movement through dance, or asserting one’s identity by writing and spittin’ an original rhyme, this workshop helps you to apply Hip Hop Theatre practices to your artistry.
Hendricks Method Workshop
Friday, October 11, 2019 at 2:30 PM | Rowe 163
Instructors: Sharrell D. Luckett, PhD - University of Cincinnati; Rahbi Hines- Independent Artist; Jonathan M. Lassiter, PhD- Muhlenberg College; Kashi Johnson, MFA - Lehigh University.
The Hendricks Method is the primary methodology taught at the Black Acting Methods Studio. The method was identified and primarily developed by Sharrell D. Luckett. For years, Luckett studied the work of African American theatre director and teacher, Freddie Hendricks, and his success in training performers. Hendricks created full-length musicals and dramas with his acting students (often without a script). The Hendricks Method involves empowered authorship, musical sensibilities, spirituality, activism, ensemble building, reverence of Black culture, and originality. In the Studio, artistic partitions disappear. Actors are understood to be culturally specific, generative artists and share space in that way. In other words, actors are collaboratively working on creativity, voice, movement, and character all at once. While creating original work and opportunities, Hendricks Method trainees cultivate their “Hyper-Ego,” preparedness for healthy competition, focus, and mental health practices. Like many methods, the Hendricks Method is an invaluable practice to have in your actor toolbox, and can be used by diverse heritages. The Hendricks Method involves empowered authorship, musical sensibilities, spirituality, activism, ensemble building, reverence of Black culture, and creation without a script. In addition to focusing on the breath, the body, confidence, mental health, and imagination, The Hendricks Method also:
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…develops culturally grounded, and versatile actors who can work and create with or without scripts.
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…is trans-medium, making it applicable to performance in theatre, television, and film.
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…nurtures spiritual aspects of the creative process.
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…assists actors in developing and applying psychological tools for cultural affirmation and resilience in the audition rooms and acting studios.
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…encourages activist and social justice work in and with performance.
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…values the complexities and challenges of what it means to be a working Black actor in America.
Black Psychology and Performance: Interactive Seminar
Thursday, October 10, 2019 at 5:30 PM | Robinson 109
Instructor: Jonathan M. Lassiter, PhD- Muhlenberg College.
Jonathan Mathias Lassiter, PhD, is a polymath who utilizes psychology, writing, and dance to help others heal and thrive. In addition to facilitating workshops and lectures on the intersections of artistry and Black Psychology with the Black Acting Methods Studio, his roles include licensed clinical health psychologist, professor, author, movement scientist, and highly sought-after public speaker. Dr. Lassiter is the award-winning co-editor (with Dr. Lourdes D. Follins) of Black LGBT Health in the United States: The Intersection of Race, Gender, and Sexual Orientation. This book received the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association’s Achievement Award in 2017 and is the first and only text to focus solely on Black LGBT Americans’ health. He is currently at work on his first sole-authored book that will explore contemporary issues of race and mental health in the United States. In addition, Dr. Lassiter has published numerous articles in academic journals and lay publications, presented his choreographic work in prestigious showcases in New York City, and provided psychotherapy to clients in medical centers across the country. Dr. Lassiter is a professor of Psychology at Muhlenberg College and Visiting Assistant Professor of Medicine at University of California, San Francisco.
SHOWCASES & PORTFOLIO FORUMS
Theatre Department Showcase
May 3, 2018 | UNC Charlotte Center City Building
Spring is UNCC Theatre Department Showcase time! The first-ever UNCC Theatre Showcase is a culminating project for students focusing on an acting career. In traditional showcase structure, local talent agents and casting directors are invited to attend in order to scout our actors as they perform scenes and pieces developed in the audition workshop course. This culminating experience exposes Theatre majors and minors to opportunities for employment in the acting field.
Department of Theatre Portfolio Review
December 7, 2018 | Robinson 205
Any student who is interested in designing, assistant designing, or holding a major production role for a department production must attend in order to be considered. All students currently enrolled in a section of THEA 4610, or wishing to receive credit next spring, must present a portfolio. In addition, any student who is interested in trying to develop a design or technical portfolio is highly encouraged to attend in order to observe, ask questions, and gain valuable insight into what makes a successful theatre portfolio. Faculty and Students are welcome to observe.
Theatre Shorts: Scenes, Monologues and Dramatic Storytelling (an Atkins Out Loud Special Event)
April 2, 2019 | J. Murray Atkins Library, Halton Reading Room
The Department of Theatre will present students and faculty members in performances of short works and excerpts from a range of theatrical genres and eras.
RESIDENCIES/OPEN HOUSE
Framing Civil Rights Project: Lila Quintero Weaver Graphic Novel Author/Illustrator Residency
September 25-29, 2017
Lila Quintero Weaver creator of the graphic novel DARKROOM: A MEMOIR IN BLACK AND WHITE, provides a five-day residency in UNC Charlotte and high school classrooms. This event initiates the Framing Civil Rights: Graphic Novels in Artistic Spaces Project, where arts and education classrooms consider the idea of civil rights, storytelling and the graphic novel form. Culminating in an informal gathering on November 16 at 4:30 pm in the Robinson Hall Black Box Theater, all classes—high school and university—come together to show and share their processes and/or creations with one another. The public is welcome to this informal gallery-style event. Participants are grateful to the Chancellor's Diversity Fund for sponsoring this collaborative initiative.
ALUMNI AWARD CEREMONY
College of Arts + Architecture Distinguished Alumni Awards
March 17, 2017 | Anne R. Belk Theater
2017 Department of Theatre Distinguished Alumni: Amy Andrews Harrell (Class of 1985)
AMY ANDREWS HARRELL is an Emmy Award-winning costume designer/costume supervisor with extensive movie and television credits, including (among others) the films "Lincoln," "Cold Mountain," "The Patriot," "A River Runs Through It," and "Dirty Dancing 2" and the television shows "Louie," "Mercy Street," "Killing Kennedy," and "Killing Lincoln." Harrell won an Emmy for the HBO series "John Adams" (as costume supervisor) and a 2013 Emmy nomination for her costume designs for National Geographic Chanel's "Killing Lincoln." Her costume designs for the television show "Mercy Street" were recently included in the prestigious FIDM Art of the Television Costume Design 10th Anniversary Exhibit.
March 16, 2018 | Anne R. Belk Theater
2018 Department of Theatre Distinguished Alumni: Craig Fincannon (Class of 1977)
The College of Arts + Architecture’s annual celebration of our accomplished alumni features Craig Fincannon (UNCC Theatre ‘77), who will be on campus to receive the Department of Theatre’s 2018 Alumni Award. Craig is the Founder and CEO of Fincannon & Associates, a motion picture and television casting agency with offices in Wilmington, NC, Atlanta, and New Orleans. His casting credits include over 125 feature films, more than 200 episodics, 125 movies of the week, 6 Mini-series, 3 Primetime Emmy Awards, and hundreds of commercials. Fincannon & Associates does industry casting in over a dozen countries and throughout the United States.
College of Arts + Architecture Distinguished Alumni Awards
March 15, 2019 | Anne R. Belk Theater
The 2019 Department of Theatre Distinguished Alumni awardee is Don Castro, Theatre class of 2000!
Mr. Castro holds an MFA in acting from the University of Florida. His credits include diverse roles spanning theatre, film, and television. He has performed on stage in Washington, D.C., North Carolina, Florida, California, and Missouri. Don has also performed internationally in Athens and Spetses, Greece. Films featuring his work have screened in festivals in cities worldwide, such as Seoul (Korea), Mumbai and Bangalore (India), Christchurch (New Zealand), Bangkok (Thailand), Cannes (France), Rotterdam (The Netherlands), Philadelphia, Houston, Los Angeles, and New York City. Don also has extensive experience in industrials, commercials, voice-overs, and commercial print. He is a member of Actors Equity Association (AEA), the Screen Actors Guild, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA).
CAREER DEVELOPMENT
Stacey Rose on Stage and Television Writing
February 10, 2017 | Robinson 103
STACEY ROSE is a mother, a theatre artist, and filmmaker who strives to create work that entertains, challenges, educates and empowers both the audience and her collaborators. She’s a 2014-15 American Association of University Women Career Development Grant recipient. She’s been honored with the NYU Grey Gallery Prize in collaboration with The Studio Museum of Harlem for her short play "M y Pet." Stacey, also an emerging screenwriter/director, is a 2014-15 Tisch Future Screenwriter Fellow and recently produced "Fun", the third in her series of films for "The Perceptions Project." She is currently a Script Coordinator on Spike Lee’s She’s Gotta Have It television show for Netflix. You can read Stacey's writing and keep up with her general goings on at www.fromtherosesmouth.com.
Jerrell Henderson on Directing
March 3, 2017 | Robinson 103
JERRELL L. HENDERSON is a Chicago based director and teaching artist. Recent directing credits include The Healer: A Workshop Production with Pegasus Theatre Chicago/Spring Muse Festival at Chicago Dramatists and A Year With Frog and Toad at Northwestern University. As an assistant director, Jerrell has worked with The Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre, and Lookingglass Theatre. As an acting instructor, Jerrell worked with the Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia, PA for nine years, splitting his time between teaching performance classes, devising and directing scripts with students and directing several professional Outreach productions for the Education Department including Stuart Little, Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters, and I Never Saw Another Butterfly. He received a BA in Theatre Arts from The Pennsylvania State University (2003), an MFA in Directing from Northwestern University (2015), and is a member of the Lincoln Center Directors Lab (2012).
Sean Graney on Artistic Directing, Devising and New Work Development
March 17, 2017 | Robinson 103
SEAN GRANEY is an award-winning playwright, adapter and director. His Chicago-based company The Hipocrites has earned multiple Joseph Jefferson Awards and performed in a range of prestigious venues around the United States, including the American Repertory Theatre, Actor’s Theatre of Louisville, Goodman Theatre and The Flea. Graney was honored with a year-long fellowship at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard, where he completed All Our Tragic, his 12-hour adaptation combining all 32 surviving Greek tragedies. Other adaptations include Edward II, Pirates of Penzance, Peer Gynt, Woyzeck, Tartuffe, Comedy of Errors, and Cinderella. He was a participant in the NEA/TCG Career Development Program for Directors from 2004-6. He has been awarded two Joseph Jefferson Citations for Outstanding Direction.
Quentin Talley/OnQ Performing Arts on Artistic Directing and Theatre Entrepreneurialism
April 7, 2017 | Robinson 103
QUENTIN TALLEY is an accomplished poet, actor, director, and producer. Quentin is Founder and Artistic Director of OnQ Performing Arts, a 2012 recipient of the inaugural Leadership U Fellowship, administered by Theater Communications Group and funded by The Andrew Mellon Foundation, and 2003 graduate of Winthrop University with a BA in Theatre Performance. As a poet, he has performed throughout the country, appeared in the Borders Open-Door Poetry series and Turner South network, as well as shared the stage with such luminaries as Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Nikki Giovanni, Amiri Baraka, MC Lyte, Sonia Sanchez and Tavis Smiley. As an Actor, he has worked professionally with Children’s Theater of Charlotte, Actor’s Theatre of Charlotte, Winston Salem Arts Council, and New River Dramatist. His directing credits include: Rise For Freedom, Dutchman, In The Blood, For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf, Day of Absence, Paul Robeson, Rhyme Deferred and Miles & Coltrane: Blue (.) OnQ Performing Arts is currently in its 6th season of residence at Blumenthal Performing Arts and was an 2012 MTA nominee for Theater Company of the Year. OnQ started in 2006 with a mission to educate and produce, classic, contemporary and original performance works that reflect the black experience.
Tim Parati on Scenic Design and Film Acting
April 21, 2017 | Robinson 103
TIM PARATI is Scenic Artist for the Children’s Theatre of Charlotte and has designed or worked on over 200 productions. He is also an accomplished actor who has appeared in over 50 film and television roles and is best known for playing Winston in Joel Shumacher's "A Time To Kill," Andy in Eli Roth's "Cabin Fever" (2002), Caesar Rodney in HBO's "John Adams," Blaisdell in HBO's "From the Earth to the Moon," and in the recurring roles, Chief on Lifetime's "Army Wives," and Dr. Emmett Carson on AMC's "The Walking Dead."
Pizza Lunch with Obie-Award winning Playwright Caridad Svich
September 28, 2018 | Robinson 109
Don't miss this opportunity to talk to Cardidad Svich about her work and how to build a career in theatre. Caridad has written more than 40 full-length plays, a variety of short works, and 15 translations. She received the 2018 Ellen Steward Award for Career Achievement in Theatre (from the Association for Theatre in Higher Education), a 2012 OBIE Award for Lifetime Achievement in the theatre, a 2012 Edgerton Foundation New Play Award and the 2011 American Theatre Critics Association Primus Prize. She won the National Latino Playwriting Award (sponsored by Arizona Theatre Company) twice and has been short-listed for the PEN Award in Drama four times. She is also a UNCC Theatre alum and winner of the 2017 Distinguished Alumni Award!
College of Arts + Architecture Networking Fair
November 8, 2018 | Storrs Gallery
This event will include arts and design professionals who work in all five disciplines of the COA+A including Art, Music, Dance, Theatre, and Architecture. Students will have a valuable opportunity to mingle with these professionals and learn more about programs within these organizations where they can get more involved through volunteering, internships, part-time or full-time employment. A few of participating organizations include the Arts and Science Council, Charlotte Ballet, Little Diversified, McColl Center for Art + Innovation, Opera Carolina, and many more!
Pizza Lunch with Actor Wali Jamal
January 18, 2019 | Robinson 205
Don't miss this opportunity to talk to Wali Jamal about his work as a professional actor and how to build a career in theatre. Wali is a Pittsburgh-based performer and playwright, and one of very few actors to have performed in all 10 of August Wilson’s American Century cycle plays AND Wilson’s one-man show, How I Learned What I Learned.
Coffee Chat with Broadway Performer Cassondra Lewis
February 1, 2019 | Robinson 205
Don't miss this opportunity to talk to Cassondra Lewis about her career on and off Broadway! Cassondra has toured with the Grammy-award winning artist Cory Henry and the Funk Apostles, and has performed with a wide range of artists like Christina Aguilera, Kim Burrell, Tituss Burgess, The original ladies of Chic, Laura Izibor, Alicia Keys, Gladys Knight, LaChanze, and Wynton Marsalis. When she is not traveling, you can hear her performing jazz, funk, the blues, r&b, gospel, and even classical music in venues around the New York metropolitan area. She is currently a Storyteller and flutist in the Tony Award-winning revival of Once on This Island.
Coffee Chat with Theatre and Film Actor Don Castro (Class of 2000)
March 15, 2019 | Robinson 205
Don Castro is the 2019 Department of Theatre Distinguished Alumni awardee. Mr. Castro holds an MFA in acting from the University of Florida. His credits include diverse roles spanning theatre, film, and television. He has performed on stage in Washington, D.C., North Carolina, Florida, California, and Missouri. Don has also performed internationally in Athens and Spetses, Greece. Films featuring his work have screened in festivals in cities worldwide, such as Seoul (Korea), Mumbai and Bangalore (India), Christchurch (New Zealand), Bangkok (Thailand), Cannes (France), Rotterdam (The Netherlands), Philadelphia, Houston, Los Angeles, and New York City. Don also has extensive experience in industrials, commercials, voice-overs, and commercial print. He is a member of Actors Equity Association (AEA), the Screen Actors Guild, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA).
National Theatre Institute Information Session
Tuesday, January 28, 2020 | Robinson 109
Information Session on NTI programs presented by Carrigan O’Brian, Program Representative & Teaching Artist. Come and learn about the wonderful opportunities available to theatre students. PIZZA provided!
With a singular schedule and an unmatched breadth of training, the National Theater Institute’s six semester-long programs offer students a springboard to the professional world at the two-time tony award-winning Eugene O’Neill Theater Center. Founded in 1970, NTI’s credit-earning theater intensives—taught by industry professionals and master teachers—train actors, singers, directors, dancers, designers, playwrights and composers.
College of Arts + Architecture Career Expo
Wednesday, October 23, 2019 | Storrs Gallery
This event will include arts and design professionals who work in all five disciplines of the COA+A including Art, Music, Dance, Theatre, and Architecture. Students will have a valuable opportunity to mingle with these professionals and learn more about programs within these organizations where they can get more involved through volunteering, internships, part-time or full-time employment. A few of participating organizations include the Arts and Science Council, Charlotte Ballet, Little Diversified, McColl Center for Art + Innovation, Opera Carolina, and many more!
SHOWCASES & PORTFOLIO/REVIEW FORUMS
Performance and Design Capstone Showcase
Saturday, March 14, 2020 at 7 PM| Black Box Theater
Spring is UNCC Theatre Department Showcase time! The Showcase is a culminating project for students following our Performance and Design Concentration tracks. In traditional showcase structure, local talent agents and casting directors are invited to attend in order to scout our actors and designers as they perform and design scenes and pieces developed in the audition workshop course. This culminating experience exposes Theatre majors and minors to opportunities for employment in the acting and design fields.
FIELD TRIPS
Student Trip to the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF) Region IV
February 4-9, 2019 | Spartanburg, SC
Four Theatre majors will compete in the Irene Ryan Scholarship Auditions at the KCACTF event this year! Students will travel to Spartanburg, South Carolina for the Irene Ryan competition and stay to participate in a wide array of workshops, lectures, and performances.
Student Trip to the Southeastern Theatre Conference (SETC)
February 28 - March 2, 2019 | Knoxville, TN
Theatre majors will travel to Knoxville, Tennessee for the annual Southeastern Theatre Conference in order to participate in a wide array of workshops, lectures, performances and informational sessions on graduate programs in theatre.
Student Trip to the Humana Festival of New American Plays
March 22-25, 2019 | Louisville, KY
Theatre majors will travel to Louisville, Kentucky for the annual Humana Festival of New American Plays College Weekend event. Students will attend 4-5 performances and participate in workshops and lectures.
Student Trip to the Kennedy Center American College Region IV Theatre Festival
February 4-8, 2020 | Spartanburg, SC
Four Department of Theatre majors will compete in the Irene Ryan Scholarship Auditions at the KCACTF event this year! Students will travel to Spartanburg, South Carolina for the Irene Ryan competition and stay to participate in a wide array of workshops, lectures, and performances.
Student Trip to the Southeastern Theatre Conference
February 26 - March 1, 2020 | Knoxville, TN
Department of Theatre majors will travel to Louisville, Kentucky for the annual Southeastern Theatre Conference in order to participate in a wide array of workshops, lectures, performances and informational sessions on graduate programs in theatre.
THEATRE PASSPORT FREE TICKETS SERIES
The Theatre Passport Free Ticket Series gives UNC Charlotte Theatre majors to opportunity to attend a variety of professional theatre productions in Charlotte. For Spring 2017, we purchased 84 tickets to five different events: Fiasco Theatre’s Into the Woods, Black Violin, Theatre Charlotte’s A Raisin in the Sun, On Q Productions’ Miles & Coltrane: Blue, and the Children’s Theatre of Charlotte’s Bud, Not Buddy. At the end of the semester participating students shared their opinions about the shows with all of our majors and minors and faculty members during an all-department session.
CELEBRATIONS
December Grads Celebration and Winter Holiday Party
December 5, 2018 | Black Box Theater
May Grads Celebration and End-of-Year Party
April 30, 2019 | Black Box Theater
December Grads Celebration and Winter Holiday Party
December 4, 2019 | Black Box Theater
May Grads Celebration and End-of-Year Party
April 29, 2020 | Virtual Event
It’s time to party! Theatre students and faculty gather to celebrate the year and to honor our graduating seniors with special commendations (delivered by the faculty), dinner, dancing, and performances.
SPECIAL PERFORMANCE OPPORTUNITIES
UNC Charlotte Commedia Players
Under the artistic leadership of Assistant Professor of Physical Theatre, Carlos Cruz, Theater majors have the opportunity to audition for this special traveling performance company appearing each fall at the Carolina Renaissance Festival. Over the course of eight weekend, our student commedia troupe performs for thousands of visitors to the festival. For more information on auditioning for the UNC Charlotte Commedia Players, please contact Professor Cruz at CarlosCruz@uncc.edu.