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Making Debuts
A snapshot of new programming at the USC School of Theatre.
• New acting MFA program. Inaugural
class enrolls August 2006. This group of 12 advanced actors – chosen
through nationwide auditions – forms a multi-ethnic ensemble. In the
third year of the program, the troupe will perform three plays in
repertory, both on campus and in a professional theatrical venue in Los
Angeles. The students also train in film acting, mastering special
techniques used in videogame voicing and “green screen” acting.
• New MFA program in dramatic writing. The
three-year program culminates in workshop productions of each
candidate’s play at an American New Works Festival on campus. The first
festival is slated for May 2007. Not only will students see their work
staged (always a hurdle for fledgling playwrights), but each production
will be professionally directed and cast with paid professional actors.
“If someone writes a play about a 70-year-old woman,” explains Puzo,
“the playwright should be able to learn from watching it played by a
70-year-old woman.” The degree program is headed by Velina Hasu
Houston, author of internationally produced dramas such as Tea, Kokoro and The Matsuyama Mirror.
• Faculty expansion. Recent hires have included actress Charlotte Cornwell; actor Andy Robinson; playwright Oliver Mayer (Blade to the Heat; Joe Louis Blues; Conjunto), MacArthur Foundation grant winner and playwright Luis Alfaro (Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner; Straight as a Line; Electricidad), and Tony Award-winning composer and lyricist Jason Robert Brown (Parade; Songs for a New World; The Last Five Years).
• Applied theatre arts/education minor.
USC School of Theatre is partnering with the USC Rossier School of
Education to create a new service-learning minor that trains
undergraduates to integrate theatre into educational and therapeutic
settings. USC theatre professor Anita Dashiell-Sparks already has a
project in place through the Los Angeles Child Guidance Clinic: an
after-school drama program for emotionally handicapped children.
• Professional internships with the Center Theatre Group.
Starting January 2006, more than a dozen undergraduate theatre majors
interned at CTG’s multiple facilities. Students assisted professional
staff in the casting, costume, publicity, literary and production
planning departments. The program will continue and expand, says CTG
artistic director Michael Ritchie.
• New design lab.
Located in University Village, the new lab provides drafting tables,
flat files, computers and printers for use by theatre students in set,
costume and lighting design. All USC School of Theatre productions in
the Scene Dock Theatre and some in Bing Theatre are designed by
undergraduates.
• Master classes and discussions with top theatre professionals. Recent and upcoming visitors include Tony-winning actor Brian Stokes Mitchell (Ragtime; Kiss Me Kate; Man of La Mancha); choreographer Twyla Tharp; hip-hop performance artist Danny Hoch (Jails, Hospitals and Hip-Hop; Till the Break of Dawn);
director Sir Peter Hall, founder of the Royal Shakespeare Company;
stage and screen actress Fiona Shaw; and innovative theatrical and
opera director Peter Sellars.