March 30, 2007
Elizabeth Kemp, Chair, Acting Department, Actors Studio MFA Program at Pace University, and Director of ‘La Magnani’, 3-30-07
A member of the Actors Studio, and the Board of Directors, Elizabeth Kemp has worked extensively in theater, film, and television. She has performed both on and off Broadway including productions at the New York Shakespeare Festival and Circle In the Square.WPA. She was in the original cast of The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas, which began at the Actors Studio. Her great mentor, Elia Kazan, took Tennessee Williams to see Ms. Kemp in this production when Mr. Williams was looking for the actress to play Baby Doll in the World premiere of one of his last plays, Tiger Tail. After the performance Mr. Williams gave her the part; an experience that proved to be most extraordinary, in that she worked closely with Tennessee Williams daily in developing the role.
Other highlights include playing opposite Christopher Reeve in a television series, Kevin Kline off Broadway and Tom Hanks (in her first film). Ms. Kemp was also directed by Shelley Winters in Full Moon and High Tide in the Ladies Room. She has performed in many films for television, miniseries, as well as guest starring in shows such as LAW AND ORDER and LA LAW, for which she received the Glaad Award. Most recently she has worked on several independent films, including Pills, Give Me Your Love, and the Belgian film, Two Sisters.
As a director and set designer Ms. Kemp has had productions in New York including The Glass Menagerie, Elektra, and Wound of Love at the Actors Studio, as well as Ubu Rep and the West Bank Theater. In Paris she directed Characters at the Claude Lelouche Theater, Cine 13. In Stockholm, she directed The Stronger and Homesick at Strindberg’s Intima Theater.
Ms. Kemp has taught at the Actors Studio Drama School since its inaugural year. She is currently the Chair of the Acting Department in the newly established Actors Studio MFA Program at Pace University. For years she has taught privately and coached many leading and award-winning actors including recipients of the Oscar and Cesar awards. One of her passions is her Character Dream Workshop, which she does yearly in venues including New York, Rome, Paris, Zurich, and Berlin.
Posted by David Lemberg at 12:06 PM | Comments (0)
March 09, 2007
John Menier, Arts and Humanities Producer, UCSD-TV, 3-9-07
During a long and varied career devoted to media production and education, John Menier has worked as a scriptwriter, film and video cameraperson, still photographer, stage manager, sound mixer, director, editor, and, since 1997, as Arts & Humanities Producer for UCSD-TV. He also taught film, video and audio production and film history at the University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma Baptist University and San Diego State University, and worked as a "stormchaser," filming tornadoes for the National Severe Storms Laboratory.
During his tenure at UCSD-TV, John has contributed to the production of over 500 hours of original programming, in collaboration with campus and community partners such as San Diego Opera, the Old Globe Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, UCSD Theatre & Dance, the Preuss School at UCSD, La Jolla Music Society, Malashock Dance, and San Diego Dance Theater . His work has been honored by numerous regional and national awards, including the Emmy, Aurora and Telly awards for excellence in broadcasting. John earned a degree in Journalism/TV-Film at the University of Oklahoma, where he also attended National Press Photographers Association workshops. John lives in San Diego with his wife, director/choreographer Keturah Stickann.
Posted by David Lemberg at 11:50 AM | Comments (0)
February 22, 2007
Amy Rogers, Director, Musical Theatre Program, Pace University, 2-23-07
Amy Rogers is the Director of the new Musical Theatre Program at Pace University, where she created and developed the BFA Musical Theatre degree program; the second of its kind in New York City. Amy has assisted critically acclaimed director Lonny Price on the Pre-Broadway workshop of 110 in The Shade starring Audra McDonald, the Emmy Award-winning Passion for Live at Lincoln Center on PBS (Patti LuPone, Audra McDonald, Michael Cerveris); Candide with the New York Philharmonic (Patti LuPone, Kristin Chenoweth); Anyone Can Whistle at the Ravinia Festival, and both Kismet (Brian Stokes Mitchell, Marin Mazzie) and Can-Can with Encores! at City Center.
Amy’s professional directing credits include: The original workshops of the R&B Musical Warm, But I’m a Cheerleader (conceptual director), and both Hoods and Hoofers (Rob Lindsay Nassif, world premiere) and LUCK!(Brad Ross and Mark Waldrop) at Pace University. Others include Flora The Red Menace starring Sheri Sanders, The Music Man, My Name is Alice, Triumph of Love, and Guys and Dolls. Productions at Pace University include: Urinetown, Violet, Pippin, Into The Woods, Funny Girl, and A Grand Night for Singing. Amy has taught master classes at numerous universities, summer programs and is an audition and repertoire coach in New York City.
The Department of Musical Theater at Pace University began in 2002 when the Performing Arts Department hired Amy Rogers to create a comprehensive Musical Theater program based on an interest from current students. Originally the Department offered only one Musical Theater class, but with Rogers’s arrival the classes grew in size and popularity. Over the span of five years, Rogers has created a world-class BFA Musical Theater program with no additional funding from the University or elsewhere. The program, only the second BFA of its nature to be offered in Manhattan (the first is offered at NYU), was approved by the state and instated in April of 2006. The program has grown exponentially from four majors to 66, and the program auditions over 200 hopeful high school and transfer students annually for the Musical Theater program alone.
Posted by David Lemberg at 12:49 PM | Comments (0)
November 29, 2006
Andreas Manolikakis, Chair, Actors Studio MFA Program at Pace University, and member of the Acting and Directing Faculty; and Dr. Bill Coco, Director, Theater History Department, and member of the Theater History and History of Directing Faculty, 12-1-06
The Actors Studio MFA was born of the decision to train students carefully selected for their talent and potential in the system practiced at the Studio. Over three years in a full-time program, all MFA candidates study and practice together—beginning at the same place as they learn a shared “language” and technique. On parallel tracks to that “ensemble” experience, every student, actor, director, writer, is undergoing intensive—and intense—training in his or her own discipline, at the hands of one of the most distinguished acting, directing and writing faculties ever assembled.
From the beginning, all students participate in Craft Seminars, where the most accomplished members of the Actors Studio share their knowledge and experiences. Many of the Actors Studio artists also teach in intensive Friday Workshop sessions. While the Actors Studio is a private space, accessible only to members, MFA candidates have the rare privilege of attending a number of the Studio’s closed-door sessions as observers. Each year, on from 14 to 20 occasions, the program's students spend an evening with some of the world's most distinguished creative and performing artists in the Inside the Actors Studio seminars.
Andreas Manolikakis was chair of the Directing Department at the Actors Studio Drama School, where he taught acting and directing from 1995 to 2005. He has taught workshops in acting, directing, and script analysis in Athens, Berlin, and Paris (at the French National Film School LA FEMIS; the Conservatoire National Superieur d’Art Dramatique; and at L’Escalier 4). He has translated into Greek and published in Athens in 1997 Nikolai Gorchakov’s Russian classic The Vakhtangov School of Stage Art, which became a required text for the Theatre Department of the University of Athens.
Mr. Manolikakis has also given lectures on “Stanislavski and Vakhtangov,” “The Actors Studio,” “Method Acting and Greek Tragedy”, and “Method Acting and Directing” at L’Escalier 4 in Paris; the University of Athens; the National Theater and the University of Northern Greece; the Drama School of the National Theater of Greece; and the National Organization of Theater Studies in Athens. As a director and as an actor, he has worked in the United States and Europe. Among his directing highlights are: Porte Close, by N. Darmon, at the National Theatre of East Paris; Elektra, by Sophocles, at the Actors Studio; Liliom, by F. Molnar, in Athens. Among his acting highlights: on Broadway opposite Sir Derek Jacobi in Hugh Whitemore’s Breaking the Code; and a leading role in the feature film Ice House, opposite Melissa Gilbert. He directed and acted in numerous plays from the Greek and international repertoire for the New Hellenic Stage of New York, which he founded in 1983. He is also the author of The Classmates, a 13-episode television series produced by the National Greek Television ET3.
Mr. Manolikakis holds a B.A. in acting from the Greek Art Theatre Drama School in Athens, founded by Karolos Koun, and an M.F.A. in theater from the University of Paris VIII-Vincennes. He also studied with Marcel Marceau at his International School of Mime in Paris. At the Actors Studio, he is a Lifetime Member and a member of the Board of Directors.
A dramaturge, translator, magazine and book editor, and teacher, Dr. Bill Coco was principal dramaturge for the late director Joseph Chaikin on 15 productions for the stage, radio, and audio-recording. His has written for The Drama Review (TDR), Performance, Scripts, Theater Journal, and Performing Arts Journal (PAJ). He was associate editor of TDR and a founding editor of Performance and Scripts, which were published by Joseph Papp at the New York Shakespeare Festival Public Theater. He was also contributing editor for PAJ and the Yale School of Drama’s Theater. His translations include Sophocles' Elektra, produced at the Actors Studio, and Strindberg's Dance of Death (cotranslated with Peter Stormare) at Arena Stage in Washington, D.C.
Dr. Coco’s productions with Mr. Chaikin include premieres and performances of plays by Jean-Claude van Itallie, Sam Shepard, Adrienne Kennedy, Moliere, Ionesco, and four plays by Beckett, at venues including the NYSF Public Theater, Signature Theater (Shepard and Kennedy seasons), the Mark Taper Forum in L.A., and the Juilliard School. He coedited, with Gloria Brim Beckerman, Bernard Beckerman's posthumous book Theatrical Presentation: Performer, Audience and Act. Also, he dramaturged the Shepard-Chaikin collaboration When the World Was Green, which toured Moscow as the first American company to play guest performances at the Moscow Art Theater. Dr. Coco holds an M.F.A. and a Ph.D. from Columbia University and has taught at Columbia, New York University, and, most recently, at the Actors Studio Drama School from 1995 to 2005.
Posted by David Lemberg at 09:03 AM | Comments (0)
November 10, 2006
Andreas Manolikakis, Chair, Actors Studio MFA Program at Pace University, and member of the Acting and Directing Faculty; and Edward Allan Baker, Playwriting, Actors Studio MFA Program at Pace University, 11-10-06
The Actors Studio MFA was born of the decision to train students carefully selected for their talent and potential in the system practiced at the Studio. Over three years in a full-time program, all MFA candidates study and practice together—beginning at the same place as they learn a shared “language” and technique. On parallel tracks to that “ensemble” experience, every student, actor, director, writer, is undergoing intensive—and intense—training in his or her own discipline, at the hands of one of the most distinguished acting, directing and writing faculties ever assembled.
From the beginning, all students participate in Craft Seminars, where the most accomplished members of the Actors Studio share their knowledge and experiences. Many of the Actors Studio artists also teach in intensive Friday Workshop sessions. While the Actors Studio is a private space, accessible only to members, MFA candidates have the rare privilege of attending a number of the Studio’s closed-door sessions as observers. Each year, on from 14 to 20 occasions, the program's students spend an evening with some of the world's most distinguished creative and performing artists in the Inside the Actors Studio seminars.
Andreas Manolikakis was chair of the Directing Department at the Actors Studio Drama School, where he taught acting and directing from 1995 to 2005. He has taught workshops in acting, directing, and script analysis in Athens, Berlin, and Paris (at the French National Film School LA FEMIS; the Conservatoire National Superieur d’Art Dramatique; and at L’Escalier 4). He has translated into Greek and published in Athens in 1997 Nikolai Gorchakov’s Russian classic The Vakhtangov School of Stage Art, which became a required text for the Theatre Department of the University of Athens.
Mr. Manolikakis has also given lectures on “Stanislavski and Vakhtangov,” “The Actors Studio,” “Method Acting and Greek Tragedy”, and “Method Acting and Directing” at L’Escalier 4 in Paris; the University of Athens; the National Theater and the University of Northern Greece; the Drama School of the National Theater of Greece; and the National Organization of Theater Studies in Athens. As a director and as an actor, he has worked in the United States and Europe. Among his directing highlights are: Porte Close, by N. Darmon, at the National Theatre of East Paris; Elektra, by Sophocles, at the Actors Studio; Liliom, by F. Molnar, in Athens. Among his acting highlights: on Broadway opposite Sir Derek Jacobi in Hugh Whitemore’s Breaking the Code; and a leading role in the feature film Ice House, opposite Melissa Gilbert. He directed and acted in numerous plays from the Greek and international repertoire for the New Hellenic Stage of New York, which he founded in 1983. He is also the author of The Classmates, a 13-episode television series produced by the National Greek Television ET3.
Mr. Manolikakis holds a B.A. in acting from the Greek Art Theatre Drama School in Athens, founded by Karolos Koun, and an M.F.A. in theater from the University of Paris VIII-Vincennes. He also studied with Marcel Marceau at his International School of Mime in Paris. At the Actors Studio, he is a Lifetime Member and a member of the Board of Directors.
Edward Allan Baker is a published and frequently produced New York City playwright, with 32 plays to his credit — most notably, Dolores (which starred Joan Allen and is included in The Best Short Plays of 1989), North of Providence, Prairie Avenue (which starred Ed Harris), Rosemary with Ginger, and Face Divided (which starred Sam Rockwell). He has written for HBO and Showtime, attended Sundance Film Institute, and taught playwriting for more than 20 years.
Mr. Baker was recently presented with the 25th Anniversary Award for Theatrical Excellence by the Ensemble Studio Theatre of New York.
Posted by David Lemberg at 12:22 PM | Comments (0)
September 19, 2006
Tina Landau, Writer and Director, 9-19-06, Part One
Tina Landau is a writer and director whose original work includes the music-theatre project BEAUTY, which won the 2003 San Diego Critic’s Circle Award for Outstanding New Play; the play SPACE, one of Time Magazine’s 1997 Ten Best; the music-theatre piece DREAM TRUE which won the Richard Rogers Award; and the musical FLOYD COLLINS which received the 1996 Lucille Lortel Award for Best Musical, seven Drama Desk nominations, and seven 1999 Barrymore Awards, including Best Overall Production (Musical) and Best Direction (Musical).
Ms. Landau’s adaptations include versions of DuMaurier’s REBECCA, Dickens’ A CHRISTMAS CAROL, and the epic of GILGAMESH. Directing credits include her Broadway debut in 2001 with the revival of BELLS ARE RINGING starring Faith Prince, which was nominated for a Tony Award as Best Musical Revival.
Ms. Landau also directed a musical version of A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM at the McCarter and Papermill Theatres; MIRACLE BROTHERS at the Vineyard Theatre; Mee’s TROJAN WOMEN: A LOVE STORY and ORESTES both with En Garde Arts in New York.
Ms. Landau has taught at Yale University, NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, Columbia University, University of Chicago, and UCSD Graduate Theater. She is a former TCG/NEA Director Fellow, a National Endowment of the Arts Artistic Associate, a recipient of grants from the Rockefeller, Princess Grace, and W. Alton Jones Foundations, and a PEW National Theater Artists Residency to work with En Garde Arts.
Ms. Landau is the co-author (with Anne Bogart) of The Viewpoints Book, published in 2005 by Theatre Communications Group.
Posted by David Lemberg at 05:08 PM | Comments (0)
Tina Landau, Writer and Director, 9-19-06, Part Two
We continue our ARTSCAPE conversation with acclaimed writer-director Tina Landau.
Tina Landau is a writer and director whose original work includes the music-theatre project BEAUTY, which won the 2003 San Diego Critic’s Circle Award for Outstanding New Play; the play SPACE, one of Time Magazine’s 1997 Ten Best; the music-theatre piece DREAM TRUE which won the Richard Rogers Award; and the musical FLOYD COLLINS which received the 1996 Lucille Lortel Award for Best Musical, seven Drama Desk nominations, and seven 1999 Barrymore Awards, including Best Overall Production (Musical) and Best Direction (Musical).
Ms. Landau’s adaptations include versions of DuMaurier’s REBECCA, Dickens’ A CHRISTMAS CAROL, and the epic of GILGAMESH. Directing credits include her Broadway debut in 2001 with the revival of BELLS ARE RINGING starring Faith Prince, which was nominated for a Tony Award as Best Musical Revival.
Ms. Landau also directed a musical version of A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM at the McCarter and Papermill Theatres; MIRACLE BROTHERS at the Vineyard Theatre; Mee’s TROJAN WOMEN: A LOVE STORY and ORESTES both with En Garde Arts in New York.
Ms. Landau has taught at Yale University, NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, Columbia University, University of Chicago, and UCSD Graduate Theater. She is a former TCG/NEA Director Fellow, a National Endowment of the Arts Artistic Associate, a recipient of grants from the Rockefeller, Princess Grace, and W. Alton Jones Foundations, and a PEW National Theater Artists Residency to work with En Garde Arts.
Ms. Landau is the co-author (with Anne Bogart) of The Viewpoints Book, published in 2005 by Theatre Communications Group.
Posted by David Lemberg at 05:05 PM | Comments (0)
September 02, 2006
Sal Trapani, Professor, Acting/Directing, Western Connecticut State University, 8-4-06
Sal Trapani received his MFA from the University of Southern California. He has worked at many New York, regional and international venues as a director, writer and composer including the Minetta Lane (“Raft of the Medusa”), Circle Rep, Westside Theatre, Circle in the Square, Kaufman Theatre, Irish Arts Center, Merkin Concert Hall, La Mama ETC, Lincoln Center, Playwright’s Horizons, Hudson Guild, 52nd St. Project, New Dramatists, the John Drew Theatre, Marin Theatre Company, the Powerhouse (Los Angeles), the Bay Area Playwrights Festival, Williamstown Theatre Festival and the Holland Festival. In collaboration with pianist Anthony de Mare, Mr. Trapani’s work was presented at the Cleveland Museum of Contemporary Art and the Klaaver International Piano Festival in Talinn, Estonia.
Mr. Trapani’s original musicals FOOD — A Sixteen Course Musical, Antigone’s Last Dance, Macbeth 2000 — A Multi-Media Rock Opera, A Trip to the Farm (children’s interactive musical), and his adaptation of Twelfth Night — The San Francisco Psychedelic Musical have been performed in New York and to outstanding critical notice at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. He also directed and adapted ENEMY: Project Ibsen, a multimedia adaptation of Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People. He is currently working on Orpheus, an updated musical version of the Greek myth. As an actor, Mr. Trapani has appeared on stage, film and TV. Most recent credits include Law & Order and One Life to Live. He is a member of Circle East Theatre Company, the Greylock Project, and the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers.
Posted by David Lemberg at 02:28 PM | Comments (0)
Pierre Parisien, Head Artistic Director, Cirque du Soleil Las Vegas, 7-28-06
As protector of the creative concept, it is Pierre Parisien’s responsibility to ensure that the artistic creation of each of the five Cirque du Soleil shows in Las Vegas stay true to their form. A native of Montréal, Québec, Pierre is a degree-holder in Theatre from the University of Ottawa and worked for many years as a director, artistic director, stage manager, production manager, actor and coach for theatre companies throughout Québec and Ontario.
Pierre was the stage manager for Saltimbanco in Tokyo in 1994. From 1995-1998, he was Artistic Coordinator for the touring show Quidam in North America; following which he became Assistant to the Artistic Director for the re-staging of Saltimbanco for the launch of the Asia-Pacific Tour. From 1998-2005, Pierre was the Artistic Director of Saltimbanco, Alegría and Quidam during their respective Asia-Pacific Tours.
In 2005, Pierre was promoted to Head Artistic Director for the Cirque du Soleil shows in Las Vegas, which includes KÀ at MGM Grand, Mystère at Treasure Island, “O” at Bellagio, ZUMANITY, ANOTHER SIDE OF CIRQUE DU SOLEIL at New York-New York Hotel and Casino, and the new production at Mirage, LOVE. He works with over 350 performers, as well as the artistic and coaching staff to preserve the creativity and artistic integrity for which Cirque du Soleil is known.
Posted by David Lemberg at 02:22 PM | Comments (0)