Editor in Chief : Susan Kattwinkel

Susan Kattwinkel is the new editor of Theatre Symposium: A Journal of the Southeastern Theatre Conference. She will be the editor for volumes 12 and 13. This position entails organizing a conference and then choosing submitted papers from the conference to be published in the journal, followed by editing of the journal itself. The first conference she organized was held at Mary Baldwin College in Staunton Virginia. The title of the conference (and therefore of the resulting journal issue) is “Elizabethan Performances in North American Spaces.”
Susan was just granted tenure and promotion. Congratulations, Susan!

Joy Vandervort-Cobb Reports on Theatre Alumns

Joy Vandervort-Cobb has been very active in maintaining contact with many of the Theatre Department’s alumni and has compiled the following updates:

Donnetta Lavinia Grays, class of ‘99: A play Donnetta has written, The “B” Factor, has been picked up by New York Play Development for workshop and production. The play is in its second reading at The Public. Donnetta appeared on the February 9 episode of Law & Order, Criminal Intent. She is currently working in a number of capacities with the legendary African American director and producer, Woody King, Jr., at the New Federal Theatre in New York City. Donnetta is also an associate producer of Women of Color Production Arts and Film Festival 2003 at which there will be a staged reading of her play The “B” Factor.

Lauren Duffie, Class of ‘99: Lauren has been light designing an assortment of projects including theatre, rock and roll, and dance in New York City. Currently her design can be seen in the touring production of The Unsinkable Molly Brown an Equity production, produced by JENACO out of New York City.

James Heslop, Class of ‘02: James is finishing out a coveted internship in technical direction with Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago.

David Jenkins, Class of ‘02:, David is awaiting word on a role in the show that is replacing Dawson’s Creek. Word should be in shortly.

Jessica Baldwin, Class of ‘02: Jessica is in her first year of law school at DePaul in Chicago.

Stacey McKinley, Class of ‘02: Stacey just finished a year’s internship in Publicity and Marketing at STEPPENWOLF Theatre in Chicago.

Amanda Rose, Class of ‘02: Amanda just finished An Equity (actor’s union) production of Anything Goes at the Riverside Theatre in Vero Beach, Florida.

Dennis Jaffee, Class of ‘03: Dennis has been accepted to law school at Cooley University in Michigan . He is waiting word from a few additional places including St. Johns, Temple, and the University of South Carolina.

Alicia Maria Garcia, Class of ‘01: Alicia is teaching full time in New York (the Bronx) as part of a fellowship program. Out of approximately 3,000 applicants, the fellowship program accepted 20 fellows who were further reduced to 12. The participants teach full time in underserved areas in addition to holding full time enrollment in an MA Teaching program. Alicia has been assigned to a Special Education/Developmentally Disabled classroom as of the top of the year. (The full time teacher is out on extended leave and Garcia was moved up.)

Kevin Robertson, class of ’99: Kevin took classes with the Groundlings (comedy troupe) in Los Angeles upon graduation. Lots of people do so in hopes of being invited to join the company. Well, when Kevin’s classes ended, he and about five or six others from his class joined together to form their own group. That partnership has resulted in a pilot for Showtime; four episodes have been filmed. Keep your fingers crossed.

Dwight Porchier, class of ’99: Dwight is pursuing his MA in Theatre History at University of South Carolina.

Allison Munn, class of ’96: Allison just finished shooting a pilot with Delta Burke. Allison was a recurring character on “That 70’s Show” for a time, playing the obsessed and nutty girlfriend of the exchange student.

April Blackmore Chandler, class of ’00: April recently married. She has been accepted at Wake Forest Law School and William and Mary Law School. So many acceptances, so little time...

Kimberly Atkinson, class of ’98: Kimberly completed her MFA in performance at University of Washington last year and has just shot an indie (independent film) in Louisiana where she now resides.

Paul Rolfes, class of ’99: Don’t blink and you are bound to see him! Paul has shot three national commercials in the past six months. Currently running is his Sam Adams commercial (business men on business lunch with their boss; first two men ask for water and Paul asks for a Sam Adams - followed by his boss and then the other two men) and a shampoo commercial (Clairol Daily Defense, but it’s set in a movie theatre where he is with his girlfriend; has his arm around her and is running his hands through her hair. Clearly the experience is not what he thought it would or should be so he removes his arm and places it around the female stranger sitting next to him, whose hair is soft and lovely! ) He just finished filming a commercial for Aqua Fresh. He also has a recurring role as a lawyer to one of the main characters on “The Guiding Light” and has recently shot a day player role, that of a date rapist who ends up on a hospital gurney as the main character fights her way out, on “As the World Turns.”

A number of theatre majors pulled down roles in The Notebook, the Nicholas Sparks book that has been turned into a screenplay and filmed in and around Charleston. The film is being directed by Nick Cassavetes (director of John Q). These majors include current students Lindy Newton and Michael Fuller. On the production end, Jason Duncan has been working as a production assistant. Additionally, Professor Robert Ivey was also cast and has filmed his spot.

Partying in Baton Rouge:Joy Vandervort-Cobb

Joy Vandervort-Cobb is booked to direct Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom at The Reilly Theatre for Swine Palace Productions in Baton Rouge, Louisiana for this fall. She directed a production of Fences there this past fall. Both pieces are by Pulitzer Prize playwright August Wilson. Joy is thrilled to be going back – “because these folks know how to throw a party!!”

Joy will be a guest star on The Good Time Variety Hour with William Schlitt and The Company Company (the brainchild of our own Maida Libkin) for the Piccolo Spoleto Festival. Joy was a guest star, along with Robert Ivey and music major Emily McClure, for the Christmas version of The Good Time Variety Hour in December.

This semester Joy directed the College of Charleston production of for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf which has been strongly recommended in the first round of regionals for the KC/ACTF (Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival). She won’t know the final status until December. Two of our student designers will compete in February 2004, in Birmingham, Alabama, for their work in the show. These students are senior Claire Leland, for Costume Design, and junior Teresa Hull, for Lighting Design. We are all extremely proud of them.

Taking a Bite out of the Big Apple: Franklin Ashley

Franklin Ashley has been named one of seven people to serve on the Association for Theatre In Higher Education (ATHE) 2003 Conference Committee. He is responsible for helping conceptualize the national conference to be held this July in New York City. Franklin is the immediate past chair of the ATHE Playwrights Program and will chair a panel on the current state of New York theatre which will include participation by four- time Pulitzer Prize winner, Edward Albee, along with Tony winning director, Martin Mayer.

Franklin also conducted a field trip to New York City for his Playwriting II class, April 3-6. The class members had their work critiqued by Gary Garrison, Associate Chair of the NYU Dramatic Writing graduate program. Student work was also examined by Graham Gordy, the winner of last year’s NYU playwriting award. Students attended the Festival of New Work at NYU which presented new material written by graduate students in the NYU dramatic writing program. Additionally, the students saw new plays by Stephen Adly Guirgis, David Lindsay-Abaire, and John Patrick Shanley. They also met with all three playwrights immediately following the performances. The College of Charleston has an arrangement with NYU which enables the students to get hands on analysis and reaction to their own work from some of the finer playwrights in the business.

Playwrighting Student Wins National Award

Mary Beth Woods, a playwriting student at the College of Charleston, has won the national New Play Development Workshop playwriting competition sponsored by the Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE). Ms. Woods’ play, Don’t Walk, was written as a final exam project for Franklin Ashley’s Playwriting I class. It was then entered in the national contest, competing against work by graduate students, college professors, and professional playwrights. Hers is one of eight plays to be selected, and it will be performed by ATHE in New York City in August as part of the organization’s national conference. Mary Beth’s work will be published in 2004 in an anthology of past winners’ work. ATHE is the world’s largest educational theatre association and has sponsored this competition for the last 15 years. Mary Beth is the nation’s only undergraduate winner this year.