After teaching theatre for over 37 years, I retired as of August 1, 2020. It was a wonderful ride and is full of such good memories. What I would like to do is to convert this blog that originally was a diary of all my class doings - and make it now a daily reflection on what it is like to be retired and some of the highlights that have stayed with me from the theatre classroom. I hope you enjoy!
As any computer user knows – – when it all gets wonky, there is no better or more sophisticated cure to use then the alt-control-delete. Easily more then half of the problems are remedied with these three magic keys. And – if that doesn’t work – then just yank the damn thing out of the wall, go have lunch, come back, and plug it in.
It is the same with me. Read more
One of the very oddest occurrences that we are putting to rest in our department is the not-so-playfull division that students are identifying between those in performance and those in musical theatre. We are all actually in the one, same, theatre department, but students have seemed to delight in drawing lines between the two – our workshops and your workshops – our room and your room – our teacher and your teacher – our work ethic and your work ethic – the amount of work and expectations that we face and the work and expectations that we face. Who is better? Who is more important? On and on. Read more
There is only one word that can bring an entire room of creativity down to its knees. Everyone can be dressing out and setting up and cleaning and organizing and stacking charis to the side. We can be talking about college and fear of college and potential life without college. We can worry and fret and put our book bags to the side of the room. We can command our space and prepare to vocalize and energize – – but if this word is but spoken it all comes crashing down. Read more
I have a Blackbox. I love my Blackbox. This Blackbox has been hoe to most of my classes and many of the favorite plays that I have directed here. It was my antarctic wasteland for Terra Nova. It is my den of coach roaches in Metamorphoses, it was my jeuvinal deletion hall for
Cinders, it was my hospice for The Shadow Box. Water sprang all over the floor and up into the halls from my swimming pool set for Zimmerman’s Metamorphosis. Read more
After spending almost a full semester on Viewpoints – drilling and drilling through the patterns, shapes, and movements, the time came for us to put all nine of the Viewpoint together and create a finishing project. My assisgnement to the students was for them to create an authentic view of themself that they were to divide into 3-5 chapters. Read more