The Fellows Gazette · The Fellows Gazette 1 ... birthday, Jed Davis maintains there was no time...

The Fellows Gazette 1

The Fellows GazetteVolume 57 Published by the College of Fellows of the American Theatre Fall 2011

Two New Fellows!

Beverley Byers-Pevitts Robert Benedetti

The College of Fellows of the American Theatrewelcomes two new Fellows who will be inducted intothe College at our annual meeting in April 2012.

Nominated by Fellow Gil Lazier, Dr. Byers-Pevittswas the founding president of the Association forTheatre in Higher Education. Prior to foundingATHE, she had been a major force in the AmericanTheatre Association. She is an editor and author, apublished and produced playwright, and adistinguished theatre educator.

Most recently, she served as President andProfessor of Theatre at Park University. Previously,she served as Provost and Vice President andInterim President at Texas Women’s University,Dean of Humanities and Fine Arts at the Universityof Northern Iowa, and Chair of Theatre at theUniversity of Nevada-Las Vegas.

Dr. Robert Benedetti has written six widelyacclaimed textbooks, including his well-known TheActor at Work, now in its 10

thedition. In 2005, the

Association for Theatre in Higher Educationawarded him Career Achievement Award inEducational Theatre. He has also received Chicago’sJoseph Jefferson Award, the Los AngelesDramalogue Award for Directing, a Golden Globeaward, and three Emmys.

His nominator, Fellow Jeffrey Koep, notes that Dr.Benedetti, who is currently Professor of Theatre atthe University of Nevada-Las Vegas and the ArtisticDirector of Nevada Conservatory Theatre, hasdirected at such prestigious venues as the TyroneGuthrie Theatre, Milwaukee Rep, and the OregonShakespeare Festival. ■

In the Spotlight:

Jed Davis

From the vantagepoint of his 90

th

birthday, JedDavis maintainsthere was no timewhen he was notactively involvedin theatre.Although noprofessional theatre graced his small hometown ofStillwater, MN, that didn’t deter Jed. He merelyrallied his friends, penned a script (which usuallybore a close resemblance to some recent movie),built the stage, settings, and audience seating in anadjacent barn, rehearsed and then performed theshow for obliging neighbors. No formal permissionswere sought; the necessary resources and spaceswere simply commandeered. The neighborhoodresponse was encouragingly positive.

Admittedly, Jed was not the only performer in hisfamily. His brother played the banjo and his fatherwas both a banjo player and a popular end man inlocally produced minstrel shows. Jed, a student oftap dancing, once performed a soft shoe routine in aminstrel performance flanked by his father andbrother playing their banjos.

Jed stayed notoriously active in theatre inelementary and high school. Upon graduating heenrolled at the University of Minnesota andimmediately fell under the active mentorship oftheatre professors Frank Whiting and Ken Graham.His undergraduate career was interrupted at mid-point by four years of army service, but he returnedto finish his undergraduate and then his master’sand doctoral degrees.

Jed has been on the faculties of Macalester College,Michigan State University and the University ofKansas. He is a major and forceful shaper ofchildren’s theatre. His leadership in professionalassociations is the stuff legends are made of. Theanagram soup he has commanded includes CTC,AETA, ATA, and CTFA — among others. He has

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contributed as an author, an editor, an advisor, anda mentor. He has also served as Dean of the Collegeof Fellows.

All who have worked with Jed—colleagues,students, and fellow administrators—admire hiscaring gentleness in dealing with people, hisresoluteness in accomplishing tasks that need to bedone, and his fervent service to both his professionand the many people he so willingly serves.

Ronald A. Willis ■

Directory Changes / Corrections

Dan Carter128 Wellington Dr.State CollegePA 16801

Jerry L. Crawford2263 W. Fair AvenueMarquette, MI 49855

Ted Herstand707 Wake Robin DriveShelburneVermont 05482Email: theoherstand@hotmail.com

Bios of the Fellows:

A Reminder and Clarification

All Fellows who were inducted into the College priorto 2005 need to submit an updated, 100 wordmaximum, mini-citation that can be used for our 50

th

Anniversary publication. The citation shouldsummarize the original entry which appeared in the40

thvolume plus add later achievements.

Please send this new citation via email to FellowRobert Schanke, schanker@aol.com.

Also needed are volunteers to write 100 wordcitations of deceased Fellows. So far, Fellow WinonaFletcher has submitted citations for the followingdeceased Fellows:

Hubert Heffner Moses GunSheppard Edmonds Jack MorrisonThomas Poag Margaret LynnRichard Moody Burnett HobgoodEsther Jackson Frederick O’NealErrol Hill Lloyd RichardsLewin Goff

The citations you write for deceased Fellows shouldalso be emailed to Robert Schanke. ■

IN MEMORIAM

Edward Hastings(1931-2011)

Fellow Edward Hastings,80, died quietly at hishome in Santa Fe, NewMexico, on 5 May 2011. Heis survived by his lifetimepartner of 50 years,Eugene Barcone, hisbrother George of WestHartford, Connecticut, hisnieces and nephews andtheir children.

Hastings was born in New Haven, Conn., and was agraduate of the Yale School of Drama, and alsoreceived a scholarship to the Royal Academy ofDramatic Art in London.

Hastings served in a tank battalion in the U.S. Armyduring the Korean War. Following his discharge hewrote, “I hit New York in 1955 with my BA in Drama,an Actors' Equity union card, a little mustering-outpay, and a lot of confidence.”

He worked in New York City for 10 years as an actor,stage manager, and producer, joining forces withsuch theater greats as David Merrick, Uta Hagen,and William Ball.

Ball brought Hastings into the AmericanConservatory Theater as a founding member inPittsburgh in 1965. Later after ACT was brought toSan Francisco, Hastings joined it, and served as itsArtistic Director from 1986 to 1992. His productionsof Charley's Aunt, Our Town, The Time of Your Life,and The Fifth of July are memorable moments inACT history.

His skillful but firm leadership helped ACT to survivethe loss of its theater due to the 1989 earthquake,and to resolve a $1.5 million deficit while he spear-headed new projects.

He guest directed at many regional theaters thatincluded the Guthrie Theatre, Seattle RepertoryTheater, the Denver Theatre Center, and the OregonShakespeare Festival. He also directed plays inAustralia, Yugoslavia, Tokyo, Hong Kong, andMoscow.

He moved to Santa Fe in the early 1990s, and whileliving there he directed Shakespeare's Twelfth Night,and The Italians in Algiers and HMS Pinafore for theSanta Fe Opera, as well as other performances.

He was committed to young talent and a champion

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of diversity. He always looked for “a way to make itwork for the actor.” Barcone, his partner, stated, “Idon't think there was anybody who loved the theateras much as Ed. He had a wonderful life. He did whathe wanted to do.” *

According to Barcone, Hastings asked to becremated “. . . and his ashes scattered in themountains above Santa Fe when the huge aspengroves turn brilliantly yellow in the fall.”

* Information used from “American Theatre Fellows - EdwardHastings, Invested 1991, citation by James Jewel”; Obituary ofEdward Hastings by Robert Nott The Santa Fe New Mexican;Obituary of Edward Hastings by the American ConservatoryTheatre, San Francisco, CA; Obituary of Edward Hastings byRobert Hurwitt, Theater Critic, San Francisco Chronicle.

Eugene Barcone & Nat Eek ■

News of the Fellows

EDWARD ALBEE: On August 14, The Mac DowellColony awarded the 51

stEdward Mac Dowell Medal

to Fellow Edward Albee, as anartist who has made anoutstanding contribution to hisfield. The event was on thegrounds of the Colony and wasattended by nearly 1,800 guests.Speeches were given by Albee,Chairman Michael Chabon, andfilm and theatre director Mike

Nichols.

MILLY BARRANGER: Milly’s book, A Gambler’sInstinct: The Story of Broadway Producer CherylCrawford, was a finalist for the George FreedleyMemorial Theatre Book Award.

JOHN CAUBLE: John has been very busy over thelast several months cataloging 30 years of files andmemorabilia from Fellow Winona Fletcher. Wheninventoried, the file boxes will be forwarded to theFellows Archive at the Ransom Library, University ofTexas, Austin.

JERRY CRAWFORD: Jerry and family havestruggled recovering from the loss of Jerry'sbeloved wife, Patricia. Jerry is co-teaching a courseon Shakespeare this fall at Northern MichiganUniversity with his son-in-law, Associate ProfessorPaul Truckey. He plans to finish a Memoir for hisfamily this winter and write a new play.

JED DAVIS: Jed turned 90 this past July. He writes,“I'm pretty wobbly on my feet and I take gobs of pillsevery day, but otherwise my health is holding prettysteady. I shouldn't complain, but of course, I do.”

TOM EVANS: On October 15, The Satchel, a newplay by Tom Evans, had a staged reading at theUniversity of Missouri TheatreDepartment. It is a dramatizationof the night that MeriwetherLewis, of the famous Lewis andClark Expedition, committedsuicide or was murdered atPriscilla Grinder's Inn along theNatchez Trace in westTennessee. The reading wasdirected by David Crespy, Artistic Director of theMissouri Playwrights Workshop.

FRANKLIN J. HILDY: Frank has been continuing hiswork on theatre-finder.org. In May he visited Chinawhere he has started to set up a cooperativeresearch program with the National Academy ofChinese Theatre Arts to bring the historic theatres ofChina into the theatre-finder project. He is alsodeveloping a project with the Central Academy ofDrama to have the 11th edition of the book he hasco-authored for many years with the late Oscar G.Brockett, History of the Theatre, translated intoChinese. For the Central Academy he gave a publiclecture on “Lessons from the Study of HistoricTheatres.” In June he convened the InternationalFederation for Theatre Research working group onTheatre Architecture at the Prague Quadrennialwhere he is also setting up a cooperative venturewith the national Arts and Theatre Institute of theCzech Republic to bring the historic theatres ofcentral Europe into theatre-finder. In August hetraveled to Japan to study 16

thand 17

thcentury Noh

stages along with 19th

century Kabuki theatres.While there he presented a paper on “Building theindoor playhouse at Shakespeare’s Globe, London”for the International Federation for Theatre Researchconference in Osaka.

GIL LAZIER: Gil directed three shows in a row. Aftera successful run of Steven Dietz's Becky's New Carfor the Banyan Theater in Sarasota, and Reza's Godof Carnage in Albuquerque and Santa Fe for theFusion Theatre, Gil directed The Rocky Horror Showfor the University of New Mexico. Kathryn is busywith her water color and fiber art and recently tooksecond prize in the nationally adjudicated Fiber ArtsFiesta. In the meantime she and Gil are off toSwitzerland and a cruise down the Rhine, with a fewdays in Amsterdam and London thrown in.

FELICIA LONDRÉ: Felicia participated in twoconferences celebrating the centenary ofTennessee Williams’s birth, first at the University ofMissouri-Columbia and then at the Université deNancy. For the French conference on the theme ofWilliams in Europe, she presented a paper titled “EnAvant! Tennessee Williams Between Hyperborea and

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the Mediterranean.” Then she spent a week in Parisconducting research in the archives of the Comédie-Française and at the Bibliothèque de l’Arsenal. Atthe ATHE conference in Chicago, the AmericanTheatre and Drama Society presented her with the2011 Betty Jean Jones Award for an OutstandingTeacher of American Theatre and Drama.

MARSHALL MASON: After the tragic loss ofMarshall’s life-long collaborator, Lanford Wilson,they had a memorial for him at the Lyceum Theaterin New York that was attended by about 700 people.Speakers included Fellow Edward Albee, CraigLucas, Jeff Daniels, William Hurt, Gordon Davidson,Swoosie Kurtz, Debra Monk, Judd Hirsch, andBobby Cannavale. For a bit of healing, Marshall tooka month-long trip to Tuscany, and when he returned,the New York Legislature passed the MarriageEquality Act, and so his partner of 37 years, DannyIrvine, and he were legally married at City Hall.WCBS recorded the ceremony and shared the eventon the evening news. (see photo on page 8) The civilceremony can be seen athttp://newyork.cbslocal.com/video/6085161-gay-couple-gets-surprise-when-applying-for-marriage-license/. He and Danny were subsequently marriedin a religious service at the Cathedral of St. John theDivine, with about 150 guests, a number of whomcame from across the country. Since then, he hasreturned to Mazatlan, where he has resumedworking on his book about Circle Rep, TheTranscendent Years.

HAROLD OAKS: Harold received the Brigham YoungUniversity Distinguished Service Award October 7,2011. It is the highest award given by the universityfor outstanding contributions to the community,nation and world. (see photo on page 8) He hasserved as President of the International Associationof Theatre for Children and Young People (ASSITEJInternational), the US Center for ASSITEJ, and theAmerican Alliance for Theatre in Education, and hasserved on the Board of Directors for the AmericanTheatre Association, The National Association ofSchools of Theatre and several state and regionalTheatre organizations. In March 2011 he was askedto Chair the Advisory Board for the Noorda RegionalTheatre Center for Children and Youth, a privatelyfunded center at Utah Valley University in Orem,Utah.

TOM PAWLEY: On September30, Lincoln Universitydedicated their Thomas D.Pawley III Theatre. Amongthose speaking at thededication was Fellow EthelPitts Walker. Tom joined thefaculty in 1940 and remained there until he retired in

1988. In 1952, he initiated the nation’s first collegesummer theatre program for black students.

JAMES STILL: James attended a performance of myplay Searching for Eden at the B Street Theatre inSacramento, CA and directed the world premiere ofhis new play about American culinary icon JamesBeard, I Love to Eat, at the Indiana RepertoryTheatre. (see photo on page 8) He was a visitingguest artist at Texas Christian University in Ft.Worth where they are doing his play Iron Kisses. Hisinterview for the Arena Stage Blog on Playwrightresidencies can be read at:http://newplay.arenastage.org/2011/09/newplay-residencies-james-still-indiana-rep.html.

PAULA VOGEL: Paula has decided to step down asthe chair of the playwriting department at the Yale

School of Drama at the end of the2011-12 academic year, a yearbefore her five-year term wasscheduled to conclude. She willremain a member of the faculty andwill continue teaching at the schoolas she works on two projects. Thefirst, One Hundred Years ofVengeance, is a co-commission

from Yale Repertory Theater and the OregonShakespeare Festival that she plans to workshopnext year with the director Rebecca Taichman. Sheis also involved with the first New York revival of herPulitzer Prize-winning play, How I Learned to Drive,at Second Stage Theater.

MARGARET WILKERSON: Margaret and herhusband, Stan, celebrated their 50

thwedding

anniversary in July at the Fitzgerald Hotel in LasVegas. Family and friends joined them for achampagne reception and much fun. The event washosted by their “children”: Darren, Cullen and Rose.(see photo on page 8)

RON WILLIS: Last spring he wrote a one-act playcelebrating the life of one major philanthropist forthe University of Kansas. Her name is ElizabethWatkins and the play’s title is Elizabeth, Betsy andBess: A Conversation with Elizabeth Watkins. It wasproduced by the Kansas Endowment Associationand directed by Fellow Jack B. Wright. He alsopublished a book with Focus Press called FragileMagic: A Guidebook for Theatre Respondents. Thebook focuses directly on the system for respondingto theatre performance that Ron practices. (seephoto on page 8)

DON WILMETH: Don wrote an essay, “BrooksMcNamara: Master of the Archive, or What ReallyMatters,” for A Tyranny of Documents: ThePerforming Arts Historian as Film Noir Detective

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(Performing Arts Resources, vol. 28). The series ispublished by the Theatre Library Association, andthis issue is dedicated to Brook McNamara. Thissummer and fall he has served as a consultant to theTheatre Communication Group in preparing for its50th anniversary. His principle role has been to workon a list of theatrical milestones from roughly the1890s to the present. He is also going into his thirdyear as a juror for the George Freedley MemorialTheatre Book Award. In recent months he hasundertaken a handful of book reviews.

ALAN WOODS: Alan is officially retired as ofOctober 1 after 39 years at Ohio State, along withteaching as well at Indiana University, CaliforniaState Los Angeles, Pasadena City College, and a fewother places along the way. Last January, hereceived the Roy Bowen Lifetime Achievement

Award from the Central Ohio Theatre CriticsCircle. (see photo on page 8) His short play, TheDanish, has been in repertory at Soup’s On Playersin Texas all summer, and is in repertory at AgeQuake Theatre in Illinois this fall. A new piece,Crones Anonymous, received a reading at the DramaFoundary in Columbus in August. And he acted intwo short pieces by Ohio playwright Katherine H.Burkman, Speed Dating and Confinement, part of abill of short plays at the Sanctuary-for-the-Arts inSunbury, Ohio, in early October.

The Fellows Gazette

published by

The College of Fellows of the American Theatre

submit information and photos to:

Robert A. Schanke, Editor498 Edgewood Lane

Pleasant Hill, IA 50327or

schanker@aol.com

College website: www.thecollegeoffellows.org

Mark Your Calendars!

Dates have been set for our next four April meetingsin Washington, DC.

April 21-22, 2012

April 20-21, 2013

April 19-20, 2014

April 18-19, 2015 OUR 50TH

!!!

Our nation’s capital is exceptionally very stunningevery spring—the weather usually cooperates, theflowers (especially tulips) are in their prime.

Why not plan a week-long vacation at the time of ourCollege meeting so you can take in all the museumsand theatre at your leisure.

Just visiting The Smithsonian will fill your week.

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NOMINATION FORM

It is the responsibility of each Fellow to place in nomination those persons she or he believes are qualifiedto become members of the College of Fellows of the American Theatre.

Persons who have distinguished themselves on a national or international level through service, artisticaccomplishment, scholarship, innovation or all of these may be nominated by a current Fellow for considerationby the Board of the College of Fellows of the American Theater for membership. Nominations MUST be secondedby two Fellows who are acquainted with the work of the Nominee. The nomination letter/statement should havethe depth of the presentation citation, and the seconding letters should not be simple reiterations of those factsbut rather add perspective to the nomination. Due confidentiality requires that nominees not be aware that theyare being considered.

Nominations on this form and two seconding letters of support (the responsibility of the nominator) mustbe submitted to the current Dean of the College no later than March 1. Only nominees whose files are completewill be considered during the Annual Meeting.

Since nominators will most frequently read the citation for their nominees, or be called upon to preparethe citation, it is recommended that a copy of the nomination form and letters be retained.

Please Print

Date Mailed to Dean: ____________________________________________________________________________NOMINEE _____________________________________________________________________________________Title __________________________________________________________________________________________Address ______________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________City/State/Zip __________________________________________________________________________________Telephones Business ( ) FAX

Home ( ) E-Mail

NOMINATION BY _______________________________________________________________________________Address _______________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

City/State/Zip __________________________________________________________________________________Telephones Business ( ) FAX ( )

Home ( ) E-Mail

SECONDERS#1 Name ___________________________ # 2 Name _________________________________Address ____________________________ _________________________________

___________________________________ _________________________________________

City/State/Zip _______________________ _________________________________Telephone ( ) ( )E-Mail

Attach a Nominator's Letter/Statement and any supporting materials. In the Nominator's Statement use 250-300words to indicate the most salient reasons for this nomination. This statement should serve as a draft of theFellow's Investiture Citation, and should be typed or word processed. In addition, attach a curriculum vitae,Who's Who entry, or resume. If the cv/resume seems to provide the necessary details, no additional material isneeded. If it is incomplete, the following information would be useful (as part of the statement or on a separatesheet): education (schools, degrees, dates); membership in theatre organizations (and significant contributions);teaching experience or involvement (if relevant); professional experience; awards and honors; publications;artistic creations (design, direction, etc.).

DEADLINERETURN THIS TO THE DEAN BEFORE MARCH 1

Dean Milly Barranger

College of Fellows

245 West 107th

Street, Apt. 8F

New York, NY 10025-3057

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Remember When

Although the College’s collection of photos does not extend back very far in our history, we thought it might be

interesting to print some of the ones we do have. Our Archivist, John Cauble, has saved all of these, and we will

occasionally publish more when space permits. If you have any to add to our collection, send them to John.

Irving Berlin’s granddaughter Wayne Alan performed his magic act in 2003.entertained us in 2003.

The US Army performed in 2003.

Oscar Brockett blew out the candles Art Buchwald was a guest in 2003.on our birthday cake in 2005.

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Fellows Photo Gallery

Robert Neal as James Beard in James Still’s The new book by Ron Willis Margaret Wilkerson and her husband DonI Love to Eat. Photo by Julie Curry celebrating their 50th Anniversary in Julyfor the Indiana Repertory Theatre

Harold Oaks (center) receiving the Brigham Young University Marshall Mason (right) and Daniel Irvine were married lastDistinguished Service Award July in a civil ceremony and in August at a religious ceremony.

BYU President Cecil O. Samuelson (left) Photo by by Debra K. AndersonAlumni Association President, Chris Feinauer, (right)

Milly Barranger recently enjoyed Alan Woods receiving thea vacation in Venice, Italy. Roy Bowen Lifetime Achievement Award