The Anderson and VCUarts are pleased to present Primordial Birth, a solo exhibition by graduate student kodiCrone (aka Miri Sluis) (Kinetic Imaging). Primordial Birth explores autistic listening as part of an ongoing investigation into the way sound affects visual perception, as well as the presumed dichotomy between Self and Other. The exhibition can be experienced from February 6th – March 4th with an opening reception on February 6th from 5-8 pm.

Exhibition Statement:

Primordial Birth speaks to human existence as part of a greater planetary whole. Depicting the creation of life as begot from water, light, and sound, the piece aims to deepen awareness of the fragile underpinnings and ecological basis of human life. Referencing Egyptian, Hindu, Abrahamic, occult, and alchemical knowledge, Primordial Birth questions assumptions about the origins, contemporary situation, and future of life on planet Earth. kodiCrone (aka Miri Sluis) creates autistic aurally-led sound and visual installations to explore the influence of sound on the perception of place, including the body and the more-than-human. They engage in practice based art research to investigate the overlap of autistic experiences and altered states of consciousness as related to sound.

– Miri Sluis

Visit The Anderson:
Tues-Fri: 12-6pm
Sat: 12-5pm
closed during VCU school breaks

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Pete Townsend (BFA ‘01) is in the Mint Production of Becomes A Woman by Betty Smith. It streamed on their website during February and March 2024.

Alana Wilson Yeargin (BFA ‘04) was featured in Hattheatres production of From Here Up in Richmond in March. Production was designed by Frank Foster (MFA ‘93) and had lighting by Westin Corey (BFA ‘16)

John De Vore (BFA ‘96) has written a new book entitled Theatre Kids: A True Tale of Off OffBroadway. It will be in Bookstores June 18, 2024

JJ Johnson’s (BFA ’97) new script Wannabe has been chosen by the Capital Fringe Festival as one of their summer offerings . Look for it when you are in DC.

James Vincent Ogden (BFA ‘06) has accepted a new position as Assistant Professor of Theatre in Scenic Design at James Madison University in the fall. Welcome back to Virginia!

Janet Rodgers’ One woman show Gut has been selected as one of ten Whiteface Solofest Productions making it one of the best of 2024. Janet both wrote and acted in the show which was also directed by Dan Ruth (BFA ‘90)

Rick St. Peter (MFA ‘98) has been recommended by the Peer Review Panel for placement on the Fulbright Specialist Roster for a period of three years starting April 2024. Congratulations! The busy man is also taking a group of students from Virginia Union to Romania next year andalso directing Twelfth Night at our alma mater VCU.

Tiza Garland (MFA ‘00) has been appointed the new Director of the School of Theatre and Dance at the University of Florida

James Manno (BFA ‘06) has been Performing at Zeiders American Dream Theatre in VirginiaBeach in Rathskeller: An American Elixir.

Michelle Carter (BFA ‘93) was recently in Young Sheldon in the episode A Little Snip and Teaching Old Dogs.

Emily Townley (BFA ‘92) recently played Martha in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolfe for Flint Repertory Theatre in Michigan.

Jerold Solomon (BFA ‘01) was Sachmo in Virginia Repertory’s one-man production in March

Bill Jenkins (MFA ‘91) has moved back to Richmond in retirement after many years as a Professor of Theatre at Dominion University in Chicago. Bill is the author of What To Do When The Police Leave: A guide to the first days of traumatic loss.

Maura Cravey (MFA ‘02) is retiring again for the third time from VCU; so many years. Let’s see if it sticks this time. Maura taught at VCU for over 20 years.

Tia James (BFA ‘04) is back for her fourth year mentoring and teaching the students at the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival in DC. Lucky students to have her.

Jeff Meisner (BFA ‘92) is in Run For Your Life at Swift Creek Mill Theatre in Richmond

Frederica Jepson Johnson (MFA ‘92) costume designer and actress Beth Hilton Delehanty (BFA ‘92) finally remembered where they knew each other from – VCU. – while working at the Public Theatre of Maine. They were both involved in The Beaux Stratagem when Freddie designed and Beth was an actress in the show in the 1990-91 season.

Stefan Sittig (MFA ‘97) recently directed Ken Ludwig’s adaption of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express and also choreographed The Drowsy Chaperone for Workhouse Arts center in Lorton, VA

Jennie Daffron Brown’s (MFA ‘78) play The Lessons was one of four new works selected for a staged reading at Zeider’s American Dream Proteus Festival last fall in Virginia Beach.

Jason Butler Harner (BFA ‘92) is currently starring in Colin Farrell’s Sugar on Apple+. Jason is also announcing that his independent films The Edge of Everything and The Big Bend areshowing trailers. The will be available for digital release on June 7, 2024.

Compiled by Liz Hopper (professor emeritus), Jerry Williams (BFA ’71), and VCUarts Theatre for the May 2024 Theatre Alumni newsletter

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Sarah Moore has been an integral part of the Department of Theatre for the past 4 years, going above and beyond the expectations of her Marketing and PR coordinator position. Her joy and creative influence were felt in every aspect of the poster and playbill designs, to being a welcoming and knowledgeable presence at Admission days, to helping promote and recruit for the department at conferences like SETC. 

When asked what was the best part of working for the Theatre department and what she would miss the most, Sarah replied, “Ahh so many things! I loved seeing the mainstages come together. The process is so transformative – from the initial sketches of a design or attending the first read, and then to see all the elements come together on stage at the end. It was really special to be a part of that. Working on the show posters was so satisfying as a creative too.

But really, I will miss the people the most – faculty, staff, alumni, students –  it’s an incredibly special group of misfits that will forever have a place in my heart. Love y’all.”

Sarah was able to do the marketing for several years worth of Mainstages and reflect that if she had to choose a favorite production that “the two that stand out [are] Anon(ymous) directed by Chelsea Burke (the use of the space in Hodges and resulting visuals were so stunning) and Rent directed by Desiree Dabney (seeing a young group encounter a piece that was so transformative to some of us ‘geriatric millennials,’ to learn about the period of time and culture and then make the production their own, it was so moving).”

Her new role is Communications and Marketing Manager for the Brandcenter, a master’s program for advertising, branding and marketing here at VCU. She is part of the admissions team and works on Brandcenter social media, site news, alumni news, recruitment and admissions. Regarding her new team, Sarah stated that “it’s a really great group of people.” 

She wanted to leave the alumni with these words, “working for the theatre department was an absolute joy, and I’m so thankful for all the kind, generous, outrageous, weird, and creative people that I got to work with over the years. 

Don’t be a stranger. My insta is @swmoore if you want to keep in touch. 

And huge thanks to Liz and Jerry for all their work on the newsletter!”

While we are sad to see Sarah go, the Department cannot be any more supportive of her taking this step to further her professional career. We hope, Sarah, that you will still come to our shows and maybe bring Jolene by on occasion to brighten our days with her silly dog antics. 

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You can read Sharon’s reflection on her time at VCU below. 

“I will miss my colleagues on the faculty and in the administration and the wonderful students at VCU, but I leave with a great sense of accomplishment. I was Chair during an eventful time at VCU. We jumped immediately into a re-accreditation with NAST (National Association of Schools of Theatre) and SCHEV (the Virginia state accrediting agency), and by my second year as Chair we had also added minors in both Theatre and Musical Theatre, as well as the School of the Arts’ first interdisciplinary Minor in Sound Design. Working with then Head of Musical Theatre, Kikau Alvaro, after several years of hard work, we also saw the accreditation of our BFA in Musical Theatre (which graduated its first students this year)! I was thrilled to be able to help Dr. Tawnya Pettiford-Wates attain full Professorship as well as assist Karen Kopryanski towards her successful tenure review. One thing I’m really proud of was bringing my former Savannah College of Art and Design colleague, Elizabeth Byland, to VCU. EB has been such a wonderful addition to our faculty and Improv is now firmly rooted in our curriculum, and the Improv teams that EB oversees offer our students fabulous opportunities to perform. Also, as Artistic Director, I introduced local directors Chelsea Burke, James Ricks, and Katrina Carole Lewis to our students, with each of those artists creating beautiful productions for our mainstage seasons. Finally, this newsletter is a testament to the work of Liz Hopper and Jerry Williams. We knew we had some work to do to reach our large alum group, and starting this newsletter with Liz and Jerry, and then watching them develop it over the years into such a powerful means of communicating and connecting with all of you has also been a real joy.

I’ll be the Director of the School of Theatre and Dance at the University of Houston, as well as the Executive Director of the Houston Shakespeare Festival. UH offers MFA degrees in Acting, Scenic, Costume and Lighting Design as well as Technical Direction, and I hope to see many VCU alums in future years pursuing their MFA degrees in my new home.”

The Department wishes Sharon the best on this new professional adventure at the University of Houston. 

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HEATHER EVANS, B.F.A in Theatre 1997

todevansnrv@gmail.com

Todd and Heather met in freshman year and dated all the way through school and were married in 1998. They both worked for Barksdale Theatre, where he was technical director at the Willow Lawn facility and Heather, who started as a car parker, later worked in administration.

In 1999, they moved to Orlando. Heather worked part time at Disney and Todd built sets for corporate trade shows, some of which were at Disney. Then they sold everything and bought an RV to travel the country. They lived in that RV for seven years with two dogs and three cats!

Eventually, they ended up in Las Vegas, where they installed movie memorabilia in guest rooms at the new Planet Hollywood Casino. Each room was themed with a wall case, posters, pictures and a prop table from the same actor or film. Heather handled the logistics and Todd did the installs.

In 2008 they decided to move to Portland, because Heather read an article about the food, beer and wine scene. Todd started doing retail displays and fixtures for companies like Nike, Adidas and Tailormade. Heather eventually became the Senior Executive to the CEO of a global environmental consulting company.

Her company moved them to Boston in 2018 and they worked there until 2021, when they returned to Portland. Heather had been going back every year to work as an assistant winemaker for the wine harvest. Todd got tired of working for other people, so he opened his company, Barrel Craft Studios to design and build niche cabinets, furniture and promotional items for breweries and wineries.

They also share an annual tradition of helping construct the Sierra Madre float for the Pasadena Rose Parade. It’s one of six self-built floats by volunteers and they’ve been part of the core group for 10 years. After these various adventures all over the country, it looks like Portland may be their final location…for now.

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jeannineearly564@gmail.com

While Jeannine was at VCU, one of her most memorable experiences was working at Arena Stage. When writer Harvey Pekar (best known for “American Splendor”) was working on a play there, Jeannine took notes as a directorial intern. She jotted quotes from him and one of them ended up in Artistic Director Zelda Fichandler’s opening night note to the cast.

Back at school, one of the shows she worked on was James Baldwin’s Sonny’s Blues. Renowned pianist Ellis Marsalis, Jr. was a visiting professor who contributed to the show. Jeannine saw him years later in New Orleans “and he remembered me and he talked about working on the show.”

Jeannine took some time off from VCU to have her daughter, Madeleine. After she finished her degree, she and her previous husband drove their ‘69 VW bug to Seattle, “because it had a flourishing theatre scene and my husband was a chef and it looked like an opportunity to us.” While there, Jeannine did some one-act play festivals for directing, where she won 1st place the first year and 2nd place the following year. However, “It became apparent that I couldn’t balance a life in theater and raise Madeleine.”

She applied for a clerical position for an insurance company on 29th floor looking overlooking Puget Sound and has spent the last 30 years in the industry, specializing in professional liability or commercial casualty. Her husband Scott Fankhauser is in the same business for a different company.

Jeannine reflects, “It was hard to see a play and not miss it, so just before I turned 50 I took some acting classes for several years.” She’s been back on stage for the last eight years, having just played Mother Superior in Agnes of God for the Heart Repertory Theatre. An earlier production was Calendar Girls, where they created a calendar of the cast. She’s Miss October.

At this point, Jeannine comments, “I’m grateful and blessed to be back at it. I feel like I’m in the right place.”

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gentrymktg@gmail.com

Amy’s first role was as a bicuspid in her Petersburg, VA elementary school. She later grew up in New Jersey and had a short stint as a voice major at Boston University. When her parents moved back to Virginia, she was determined to return and attend VCU.

Amy recalls acting teacher Gary Hopper who, “was so supportive and elevating us to where we needed to be.” He directed her in Red Noses, where she was having trouble getting the character. “He wrote me a lovely note (which she still has). I appreciated having that level of support and confidence.”

After graduation, Amy worked in the Alzheimer’s wing of a Richmond nursing home. She recalls, “having an acting background helped me to pivot with the people. I could entertain them and play the piano and we’d sing.” After acting in some local theatres and working at local production company BES Productions, Amy decided to give New York a chance.

Her first job in 1996 was for a company that sold Broadway theatre tickets to NYC tourists. Amy’s career in theatrical marketing was launched when they moved to Alan Wasser Associates, the company that was the general manager for all Cameron Macintosh shows (like Les Mis and Phantom of the Opera). This was where Amy began promoting national tours in the family show division, like Blue’s Clues.

She was there for twelve years before moving to Broadway Across America, which is how she ended up in Seattle. Once there, she free-lanced promoting all kinds of family fare including the Harlem Globetrotters, the America’s Got Talent Tour and The Price is Right Tour.

Amy was eventually offered the position of Director of Marketing for ACT, A Contemporary Theatre in Seattle (not to be confused with ACT in San Franscisco), where she worked from 2016-2020. In 2022, she began working for the Seattle Theatre Group (STG) as a contractor and eventually was offered the position of Associate Director of Marketing.

Amy had married Brad Gentry in 2007. While he previously promoted for Live Nation, he now works at STG with Amy. “We do about 600 shows a year. He does comedy and music, while I market performing arts and our educational programs.”

In 2018, she and a friend started As If Theatre, a small community theatre where Amy’s Managing Director. Since 2018, they’ve produced 2 shows and a short play festival every year. “It’s been a tremendous outlet for artistic stuff,” which includes her own appearance in some shows. Amy’s come a long way since that tooth role and she still manages to find time to get back on stage.

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abrewgal@gmail.com

Amanda has never had a problem standing up and talking to a bunch of strangers. “I’m a super-extroverted dramatic person. The first professional I encountered was my choir director Perry Nelson (a longtime local actor and musician). He put me front and center in the children’s choir and treated us like adults.”

Her earliest acting class was with longtime Richmond teacher Una Harrison, and rediscovered theatre at Freeman High School in Richmond. As for her time at VCU, Amanda recalls, “Gary Hopper taught us not just how to be good professionals, but how to be good humans. He was so kind. He got good performances out of us because he loved us.”

After graduating, she toured a children’s show for Theatre IV (currently Virginia Repertory Theatre) and called the experience, “the boot camp of being a professional actor.” She also worked temporarily for a local bank, while working as an actor in theatre. Among other shows, Amanda was in The Music Man at Theatre IV with Constance Wu. Her on-camera work included some Circuit City training videos for our own Jerry Williams.

Amanda and TheatreVCU grad Michael Todaro moved to Minneapolis in 1997, where her first gig was in Tony and Tina’s Wedding. That’s also where Amanda started what she considers the second stage of her career: improv. She worked at Brave New Workshop, which even took her to Edinburgh Fringe.

After a 10-month, long-distance relationship with her current husband, John Valley, she decided to move to Portland, where she performed until her two kids brought her to the 3rd phase of her performing career; as a Benefit Auctioneer. Auctioneering has melded her love of performance with the desire to help raise money for good causes.

Amanda’s currently the Associate Director for Alumni and Parent Engagement at Lewis and Clark College and was proud to be the “Name Reader” at this year’s Commencement, where she wore VCU colors and vestments. “I couldn’t be more thrilled to be part of one of the best days of these kids’ lives.”

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Boone (B.F.A. ‘10) was nominated for “Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical” for his role as Dallas in the Broadway adaptation of The Outsiders, produced by Angelina Jolie and based on the novel by S. E. Hinton.

“I am so proud of Josh,” said Tawnya Pettiford-Wates, Ph.D., professor of graduate pedagogy in acting and directing who taught Boone as an undergraduate. 

Pettiford-Wates said she always knew Boone was an exceptional talent and urged him to practice his craft, noting the existing strength of his personality and charm. She said this latest recognition was proof that he had taken her advice.

“Joshua Boone has grown into an extraordinary and exceptional actor,” she said. 

Since graduating in 2010, Boone has applied his artistry to a variety of mediums from theater, film and television to commercials, voice-overs, modeling and music.

Boone recently wrapped filming on Fleeing, starred in Premature for director Rashaad Ernesto Green opposite Zora Howard (which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival) and appeared in the indie release Wheels for writer/director Paul Starkman.

His recent stagework includes Dominique Morisseau’s Broadway production of Skeleton Crew, starring opposite Phylicia Rashad and Chante Adams, which earned him a nomination for a Drama Desk award. Before that, he starred in Ivo van Hove’s acclaimed Broadway production of Network, opposite Bryan Cranston. 

His accolades include nominations for Outstanding Actor in A Motion Picture and Outstanding Breakthrough Performance in a Motion Picture at the 2023 NAACP Image Awards – both for his lead role in Netflix’s A Jazzman’s Blues by Tyler Perry.

You can read a recent VCU feature on Boone here. 

Boone addressed this year’s class of graduates on May 10 at the Altria Theater at 1:30 p.m. 

You can find more information on this year’s ceremony here. 

The post VCUarts alumnus and Tony nominee Joshua Boone inspires VCUarts graduates as commencement speaker appeared first on VCUarts.

In this interview with current Photography + Film undergraduate student, Maddie Han, Kirby and Proulx provided insight into how they created their film and creative video agency in Richmond, Virginia.

How did you both meet and what was the conversation that started your creative collaborative journey?

Janelle Proulx: “Tyler and I met in the VCUarts Photography + Film department. I worked in the equipment checkout and he frequently came by to checkout gear so we got to know each other that way. Before we started dating, Tyler also helped me edit a green screen effect for a video I was making – I had a photography background so Tyler had a lot more video software expertise! He was known among his peers as the person to go to with any video editing questions. I guess you could say we’ve been collaborating since before we dated!”

Could you describe your transition from art school to creating your own creative company? As artists, what is the experience of becoming entrepreneurs like and how do you balance the responsibility of being both professionally?

JP: It was a really gradual process of transitioning from other jobs we had into Departure Point. After working at other jobs for about a year and a half after graduating, we did Departure Point part-time for the first 6 months or so while we built up our portfolio. Then we launched our website with 5 videos that we had created and were able to transition to Departure Point full-time. I will say doing it early enough in our careers while we still had roommates was probably a huge help!

Tyler Kirby: While our art background is immeasurably useful in our line of work, we do think of ourselves as professionals first. That said, we find a lot of creative fulfillment in the work we do because we’re always problem solving for our clients and finding new ways to translate their message into video. Also, different projects and different clients means we’re learning something new every day: a job (or an entire industry) we knew nothing about, a part of the world we’ve never been to, or a new piece of gear that helps us get the job done more efficiently. To always feel like you are growing and enriching yourself while making films you’re proud of can be very rewarding.

As alumni from the Photography + Film program (BFA and MFA), how are you able to utilize the skills you’ve learned in your careers now? What essential pieces of information have you both learned from your respective degree programs?

JP: Learning how to self-critique and receive feedback was a big part of both of our programs which has definitely been a helpful skill set in our careers. Understanding the balance of trying to refine something as much as possible before you show it to anyone else, but also knowing that there’s going to need to be changes and not to be too defensive about it is a really foundational skill that art school provides. 

TK: I’ll add that being able to make a deadline, and manage your time to do so dependably, is what makes or breaks a professional’s reputation (at least in the media delivery world). Word spreads fast, especially in a smaller city like Richmond, so if you are the young filmmaker or filmmaking company that often delivers cuts late I don’t think you’ll last long. Those time management skills were always emphasized in the BFA program, and I think those years are the best time to discover flaws in your own personal time management and fix them before entering the professional world.

How do you find a balance when working on personal and client films in tandem? Are there any specific tools or strategies that you use to stay on schedule and organized? How do you manage your time doing both, and especially when projects overlap?

JP: We only work on commissioned films, but we’ve been really fortunate to connect with clients who have projects that we align with personally. 

Honestly, if making a personal film is your dream… I wouldn’t recommend starting your own business with the hopes of making that project on the side. Running a business is more than a 9-5 commitment that requires so much of your time and effort, especially in its nascent stage, so working for someone else or having a job that has a great paid time off benefit might be a better fit that would give you a dependable schedule to start your own project. 

TK: In terms of tools and strategies to stay scheduled and organized… there are many! So many. I’ve spent years honing our project management workflow. We keep a really detailed calendar at all times and we use Airtable as a database to track all our projects from start to finish. While we don’t have personal projects that overlap, we do have several client projects going on at any given time, each in a separate stage ranging from just proposal and contract development to putting the final touches of color and sound. We have to track everything diligently and plot out our time weeks in advance so we can set realistic goals.

What do you look for when recruiting freelance crew members to work on projects? Is there any one specific thing that stands out to you when recruiting people more than anything else?

JP: For someone who is in a PA or swing position I’d say an eagerness to learn and improve upon systems is highly valuable. Someone who shows up to set clearly having retained something we showed them on the last job usually gets multiple call backs. Crew members on our sets often have to wear multiple hats because we keep a small crew size so everyone we work with has to be good at multiple things and have a can-do attitude. 

TK: I mentioned in an earlier answer how hitting a deadline can make or break a reputation – the same is certainly true when crewing. A crew member that shows up late (for non-emergency reasons of course) to a shoot rarely gets a call back as it can cause a cascade of scheduling issues on a fast-paced day and can be embarrassing if the client is on set. As is said, “80% of success is showing up”.

What is the most important thing you learned from the VCUarts Photography + Film department that helped you in starting your own company? If you could explore another aspect of the Photography + Film department that you didn’t before, what would it be?

JP: Hmmm that is a tricky one! I don’t know that anything translates that 1-to-1 for starting a business… but maybe it’s to always leave a good impression? Many of our clients are connected to VCU and some of our earliest work was for VCUarts which we’re incredibly grateful for. 

TK: I think just taking the time to connect with faculty in the department and collaborating with peers. One of the best parts of VCUarts is being in that creative community. Everyone has a lot of unique knowledge and perspectives to offer beyond just their reactions to what you’re making. I sometimes wish I had gotten out of my own world/ideas a little more.

Why the name Departure Point Films? In what ways do you think that Departure Point Films brings something unique to the table?

JP: Since we’re not in branding, naming the company was a challenge! Ultimately we landed on Departure Point because we saw early on that our strength was in filming out on location. 

I’d say what makes us unique is our agility both in terms of our crew size – we’re hardly ever more than 4 people  – and our responsiveness to our clients’ ideas, schedules, etc. Since we’re small we can make fast decisions but we also achieve a production value that feels like that of a larger video agency. I think because Tyler and I engage on projects from start to finish there’s a certain amount of intuitiveness we can have too about how something is coming together or if it needs to pivot to put our best foot forward.

(Photo credit: Departure Point Films)

The post From Equipment Checkout to a Creative Film Agency, supercouple and VCUarts alumni, Janelle Proulx and Tyler Kirby, share their journey. appeared first on VCUarts.