<p>So much has been going on lately at the Department of Theatre and Dance, or DoT&D! I wanted to share some news from the past few weeks and as we head into the upcoming year. Below is a message from our department head, Bill Jenkins: </p>
<p>-First, I am VERY pleased to report that the Department of Theatre and Dance at Ball State will be honored next week in Washington, D.C. with eight (8) awards at the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF) for our performance of the original musical The Circus in Winter. These awards include the Michael Kanin Musical Theatre Award, Best New Work in the Country, Best Scene Design in the Country, and Best Director of a New Work in the Country. The Circus in Winter opened in September and was written by sixteen Ball State students at the Virginia Ball Center for Creative Inquiry. We are pleased that the production, which is based on a novel of the same name, was seen by thousands of students and professionals at the Regional KCACTF Festival and seems to have a flourishing life well beyond Ball State in the professional world!</p>
<p>-Our BFA in Dance has been approved and will begin in the Fall of 2012! We are so thrilled to see our dance program join our Musical Theatre and Acting BFA programs. Next years season will include four dance concerts including Ball State Dance: On The Move which will be a touring show that will travel across the region bringing dance pieces to students and dance companies all over the Midwest!</p>
<p>-Our NY Showcase, which took place on Monday, March 5th at the Theatre Row Studios in the heart of the theatre district, was a tremendous success. Both the 4pm and 7pm shows were filled to capacity. This year, we were thrilled to premiere several selections from the new play Love Sick written by acclaimed author John Cariani. Mr. Cariani wrote the play Almost Maine which the Department produced this year, and also received a Tony Award nomination for his work in the 2004 revival of Fiddler on the Roof. Participating Showcase students spent the remaining time in the city meeting with agents and casting directors. Every student who participated in the Showcase gained interest from the industry professionals who attended!</p>
<p>-On our trip to NYC, all seniors were treated to seeing one of the final performances of guest faculty member Sutton Foster in Anything Goes at the Sondheim Theatre on Broadway. We all were so pleased to attend and support Suttons spectacular performance in the show and were equally excited that the last line of her Playbill bio read Proud Teacher at Ball State! After the show, Sutton graciously set up a talkback with the cast of the show in the theatre. We continue to be blessed to have Sutton as part of our ever expanding Ball State family. For a complete list of past industry attendees from the NY Showcase, please visit <a href=“http://cms.bsu.edu/Academics/CollegesandDepartments/TheatreDance/LifeAfter/ActingShowcases/NewYorkShowcase/NewYorkShowcaseIndustryAttendees.aspx”>http://cms.bsu.edu/Academics/CollegesandDepartments/TheatreDance/LifeAfter/ActingShowcases/NewYorkShowcase/NewYorkShowcaseIndustryAttendees.aspx</a>. </p>
<p>-In addition to the seniors who participated this year in the NY Showcase, another 50 underclassmen attended and took part in our Workshops. This year, students enjoyed talkbacks with two award winning actors…Norbert Leo Butz and Joel Grey. Mr. Butz, who is currently starring in How I Learned to Drive off-Broadway, is a two-time Tony Award winner for his work in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Catch Me If You Can. His Q and A was filled with great life lessons and feedback on the current state of the business in New York. Joel Grey is a legendary performer best known for playing the role of the Emcee in the original Broadway and film versions of Cabaret. Mr. Grey is close friends with Sutton Foster, and the two of them spent 90 minutes talking about their extraordinary lives in the entertainment industry. The entire trip was a wonderful success and we look forward to our future trips to New York for our annual Showcase! </p>
<p>-Our LA Showcase is in full swing and we eagerly await the arrival of our LA Casting Director Mark Saks in late April. Mark is the Casting Director for the TV series The Good Wife. The Showcase, which will feature twelve talented BFA acting and musical theatre students, will take place on May 7th in Los Angeles at the Falcon Theatre. For more information on our Showcase Programs, visit <a href=“http://cms.bsu.edu/Academics/CollegesandDepartments/TheatreDance/LifeAfter/ActingShowcases.aspx”>http://cms.bsu.edu/Academics/CollegesandDepartments/TheatreDance/LifeAfter/ActingShowcases.aspx</a>.</p>
<p>-Our alumni continue to enjoy great success. Currently, we have alums working on Broadway in Mary Poppins and Rock of Ages, in leading roles on National Tours such as Mamma Mia and Beauty and the Beast, and regular cast members in television series such as The Good Wife and Boardwalk Empire. I am also pleased that so many of our current seniors have already been signed by agents in both Chicago and New York. Ball State students continue to work across the country and they make us very proud!!! For more information on the success of our graduates, visit <a href=“http://cms.bsu.edu/Academics/CollegesandDepartments/TheatreDance/LifeAfter/ActingShowcases/ShowcaseSuccess.aspx”>http://cms.bsu.edu/Academics/CollegesandDepartments/TheatreDance/LifeAfter/ActingShowcases/ShowcaseSuccess.aspx</a>.</p>
<p>-Our 2011-2012 season is coming to a close after a wonderful string of successful performances! The final play of the year The Last Days of Judas Iscariot will begin its two week run tonight in our studio space Strother Theatre. The Department is proud of the work our students continue to do within our very busy production season!</p>
<p>-Our 2012-2013 season has been finalized. Our theatre season will include Spring Awakening, A Christmas Carol, Guys and Dolls, Doubt, The Water Station, Wrens, Still Life with Iris, and the new play Love, Sick among others. I am very pleased that we also plan to bring over twenty guest artists to campus next year in our continued attempts to help students connect with the real world post-graduation.</p>
<p>-The summer will be filled with exciting internship opportunities for our students. This includes two interns programs exclusively for Ball State students…an internship at Klapper Casting in NYC and at Drury Lane Oakbrook in Chicago, Illinois. In addition, Dance assistant professor Christie Zimmerman and a group of seven former and current Ball State students will be presenting work at the world renowned Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival. Called “the dance center of the nation” by The New York Times, the Pillow brings together dance, music, art, and culture, with more than 300 free and ticketed events including performances, photography and art exhibits, lectures and discussions, tours, dance class observation, onsite dining, and much more. Dance companies from Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Finland, France, Germany, Israel, and across the United States perform in two theatres and an outdoor stage throughout the summer. Again, these opportunities further connect our students to the profession and help them make valuable contacts they can utilize after they leave Ball State! </p>
<p>-Finally, our students are looking forward to their graduation in a few weeks where they will receive their degrees along with Ball States Honorary Degree recipient…the previously mentioned Ms. Sutton Foster! Sutton will speak at graduation and will also attend several functions congratulating our students. </p>
<p>I am so excited for the upcoming year, and had a blast with my freshman year in the DoT&D! If there are any questions about this info or anything else, I’m here to talk!!</p>