Tickets are on sale now for the 2009 Utah Shakespearean Festival season. For details go to www.bard.org.
Brian Vaughn to Lead the Cast of Henry V at the Utah Shakespearean Festival
Source: USF Press Release May 2009, Used with permission
Brian has been an actor at the Utah Shakespearean Festival for fifteen seasons and this year returns to the Festival to play one of the Shakespeare’s most powerful kings: the title role in Henry V.
He will be joined in the cast of one of Shakespeare’s greatest history plays by such favorite Festival actors as Corliss Preston as the Chorus, David Ivers as Montjoy, Mark Light-Orr as Bishop of Ely and Charles the Sixth, Melinda Parrett as Alice, Ben Cherry as the Dauphin, Phil Hubbard as Exeter, Will Zahrn as Pistol, Emily Trask as Katherine and Melinda Pfundstein (‘00) as Hostess Quickly and Queen Isabel
“We are thrilled to have Brian and these other talented actors returning again this year.” said R. Scott Phillips, Festival Executive Director. “They are all consummate professionals who bring life and emotion to our stages and who our audiences recognize and appreciate for their great artistry. In addition, they are all great human beings and strong, supportive company members.”
Vaughn has played numerous roles at the Festival over the years, including the title roles in Hamlet and Cyrano de Bergerac, as well as Victor Fleming in last season’s Moonlight and Magnolias, Lance in The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Benedick in Much Ado about Nothing and Charlie in Stones in His Pockets.
Brian Vaughn attended Southern Utah University and is currently a resident company member at Milwaukee Repertory Theatre. He has worked at Arizona Theatre Company, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, Nebraska Shakespeare Festival, PCPA Theatrefest, Renaissance Theatreworks and Skylight Opera.
A member of the professional actors union, Actors’ Equity Association, Vaughn will also be appearing this summer in the Festival’s family musical, The Secret Garden, as Dr. Neville Craven.
Henry V will be directed by J. R. Sullivan, who has also worked at the Festival for several years, both as a director and as one of the Festival’s two associate artistic directors.
Sullivan speaks of the title character of Henry V as “a king and a commoner: he knows the hearts of both roles for he has played them both and become them. He is many men in one extraordinary man: he is a crafty politician, a warrior sometimes clear of mind and sometimes hot in fury, a leader who understands what it is to be led, and a prince of players in his understanding of the human heart.”
The Wooden O Symposium - Shakespeare Studies
August 10-12, 2009 at the Hunter Conference Center on the SUU campus
The Wooden O Symposium is a cross-disciplinary conference exploring Medieval, Renaissance, and Early Modern Studies, through the examination of the text and performance of Shakespeare’s plays. Scholars from all disciplines are encouraged to submit papers that offer insights and new ideas springing from the era of William Shakespeare. His plays are replete with the language, thoughts and art of the Renaissance and Western culture and represent an inexhaustible source for creative ideas and research.
For information about how to register for the conference contact Michael Bahr at USF or go to: http://www.li.suu.edu/woodeno/registration.html
There’s a lot of SUU in USF
Here is a list of the nearly 50 SUU students and alumni working at the Utah Shakespearean Festival this summer.
Grant Adams, Marketing & PR Payden Adams Emilie Andersen - The Greenshow Kiley Astle - Recording Artist Jed Atkinson - House Management Stephanie Argyle - Company Management Chad Baker - Recording Artist Marrisa Barth – The Greenshow - Violinist Natalie Bell – Assist. TD – Fall Season Cesar Adan Bojorquez - Costumes Chelsea Call - House Management Nerissa Cannon - Ticket Office Lillian Castillo – Acting Company Roberto Castillo - Concessions Mathew Clegg - Concessions Jessica Cowden - Crafts Ian Durant – Acting Company Austin Gillins - House Management James Goodman - Ticket Office Steven Grawrock - Ticket Office Ellesse Hargreaves - Ticket Office Mateo Husselbee - Concessions Jonathan Klimoski - Concessions Rosa Lazaro - Crafts Shaye Leavitt - Ticket Office |
Sean Madill - House Management Kim Massengale - Ticket Office Jasmine Millus - Costume Shop Intern Amy Norton - SM Office Assistant Jillian Pagan - Concessions Dory Peacock - House Management Melinda Pfundstein – Acting Company Marlena Rabago - House Management Gerry Rheault - Adams Theatre Music Director Meghan Rimmasch - Ticket Office/Concessions Jeff Robinson - Company Management Patti Robinson - Concessions Kyle Rodgers – Run Crew Justin Scholl, Production Office Emily Smolka - Child Attendant Joe Spear - Ticket Office Bram Stulz - Costume Shop Intern Kay Townsend - Electrics Brian Vaughn – Acting Company Stephen Wagner, Education Office Ammon Whigham - Ticket Office Jennifer Whipple Kaitlin Wooley - Concessions Hannah Zander - Concessions |
For more information go the Braithwaite webpage: www.suu.edu/pva/artgallery
The College of Performing and Visual Arts announced the appointment of Andrew (Reece) Summers to the position of Director/Curator of the Braithwaite Fine Arts Gallery, effective July 1, 2009. Dean Bill Byrnes noted, “We are extremely pleased to be able to restore the Gallery Director position to full time year-round status.” The Gallery has been operating with part time leadership since 2003. “I want to express my deep appreciation for the work of Lydia Johnson and Dr. Andrew Marvick in seeing the gallery through these last few years as we have sought to re-establish full time leadership.”
Reece brings over twenty years of gallery leadership to the Braithwaite. He was the Curator of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Great Plains Museum from 2001 – 2007, the curator at the Utah State University West Heritage Center from 1994 to 2001and the curator at the University Museum of the Rockies at Montana State. Reece has his MA in History and Museum Studies from Utah State University.
The Braithwaite Fine Arts Gallery, the Cedar City Art Committee, and Cedar City Artisans present an exhibit of work by invited Southern Utah artists. Each of the participating artists will have the opportunity to spend a few hours in the gallery creating art and interacting with our guests. Visitors will be able to observe the finished work as well as the creative process of the artists. All work in this summers exhibit will be for sale.
The Gallery will be operating with a special summer schedule from June 19- August 22, 2009 to accommodate the many summer visitors to Cedar City. The new hours are Monday – Saturday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. For more information call 435-586-5432 or go to http://suu.edu/pva/artgallery/.
Gallery Breaks Attendance Record
From June 2008 - May 2009 the Braithwaite Fine Arts Gallery hosted over 14,000 visitors. This record-breaking attendance was made possible by the very successful In Focus: National Geographic Greatest Portraits exhibit held in the fall. The In Focus exhibit attracted visitors from Utah, Nevada and Arizona. In addition, over 2600 school children were able to participate in the education program developed by Karen Gale, the Braithwaite’s Education Director.
For the latest news about Ballroom Dance, visit the Ballroom Dance web site.
2009-10 Ballroom Dance Season
May 4 – 22, 2009 Northwest Tour
The Simply Ballroom program was performed by the SUU Ballroom Dance Touring Ensemble in locations in Utah, Washington, and Oregon this spring. Mark Baker, his crew and dancers delighted audiences through their performances as well as held workshops in several locations in the Northwest. Their schedule included:
(Photos: Top: James Newcomb (left) as Viscount de Valvert and Brian Vaughn as Cyrano de Bergerac
in the Utah Shakespearean Festival’s 2008 production of Cyrano de Bergerac.
Photo by Karl Hugh. Copyright Utah Shakespearean Festival 2008.
Middle:
Students prepare BFA Portfolio Show '09 by Dominic Yeager
Bottom:
2008-09 Ballroom Dance Company by Karl Hugh)