The Nineteen Nineties
1995-96
Our 65th season was a banner year for both the department and the University Theatre. Several notable visits were made to Rarig Center throughout the year, not the least of which occurred for the
season opener. Stephen Kanee directed Duerrenmatt’s The Visit with Professors Charles Nolte and Barbara Reid returning to the performance stage in the lead roles. They were joined by alumni Dave Moore and Sheldon Goldstein. During the run of the production we celebrated Charles’ lifelong contributions to the department by re-naming the Experimental Theatre in his honor. The announcement was made by then CLA Dean Julia Davis who even donned a pair of Visit yellow shoes to do the honors. Students would now produce and manage their own season in the Charles M. Nolte Xperimental Theatre. The inaugural Board of Directors included Carl Forsman and Marcus Young as Co-Artistic Directors, Anja Klöck, William T. Leaf, Graham L. Anderson, Megan Wilkerson, and Cheri Macht. Fall quarter also included Bloody Poetry in the Thrust with MFAs Marcus Young directing and Patt Ness designing. The newly minted “X” season for fall played Echoes of the Past directed by Anja Klöck and The Bay at Nice directed by Graham Lynn Anderson.
The winter season presented Tartuffe directed by guest Jack Going for the graduating MFA Acting class with designs by MFA Sheree Miller. On February 2, the theatre department gave a reception in honor of Joe Dowling, incoming Artistic Director for the Guthrie Theater. Ghosts played the Arena, directed by Carl Forsman. Winter “X” productions included A Midsummer Night’s Dream (co-produced with Crisis Point and directed by PhD Matt Wagner), and Flesh Crimes directed by John Troyer in the Xperimental. In March a collaborative project between the University Theatre and the Cricket Theatre took place called “A Steady Rain” directed by Cricket Artistic Director William Partland.
Spring opened with UDT which featured “New Destinies” (Marge Maddux), “Retreat from Judgement” – premiere (Douglas Nielsen), “Family” (Shapiro and Smith), “Festival for a Quiet Life” – premiere (Kim Vincs), and “Toward a Bright Light of Day” (Doug Varone) which was selected from ACDF regionals to play at the Kennedy Center. Maria Cheng was Director of Dance and Joanie Smith had
joined our dance faculty. The Matchmaker directed by guest Gary Gisselman began a two-week run in the Proscenium, featuring Laura Esping as Dolly Levi and James Roberts as Horace Verdergelder. This production would then transfer to Harriet Island’s Riverfront Tent in mid-June for a summer run on the “showboat”. The spring “X” season included Eleemosynary (a collaborative project by design students Pearl Rea, Faith Farrell, and Megan Wilkerson), MFA director one-acts (Flies and My Sister in This House), Brutopia directed by PhD Eric Weissengruber, and John Troyer’s Praxis II which had audiences on the move. On May 23, the department was honored to host a chat with playwright/actor Sam Shepard who generously answered questions from eager students and faculty.
The capital campaign to raise funds to refurbish the General John Newton was in full swing, and a stream of donations totaling $700,000 was raised. In August of 1996, the department co-sponsored the annual Playwrights’ Center Midwest Playlabs, marking the 13th year of this event. We also hosted Fringe Festival productions for the third year in a row. Lee Adey ended his long and illustrious career at the university by retiring (for the moment). He had directed 38 productions for the University Theatre, designed 15, and acted in 7. Charles Nolte also retired but didn’t really. Kathleen Egan left for Indiana Rep. Sherry Wagner-Henry joined the faculty as Managing Director of the University Theatre. Matt Jensen began his reign as the “office guy” for the Dance Program.
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