Gala honors 75th anniversary

IU’s Department of Theatre and Drama will celebrate its 75th anniversary with a gala event Saturday at the Lee Norvelle Theatre and Drama Center.

The evening will begin with a dinner at 6 p.m. and entertainment is to follow at 7:15 p.m.

“It isn’t just an old fogies party,” said Jonathan Michaelsen, chair of the department.

The evening will provide the opportunity to experience the great theater and music
performances IU has to offer. However, it is also a fundraiser to launch an endowment campaign for the department, said Patricia Kennedy, arts administrator for the department. Despite the fundraising aspect of the event, Kennedy said the ultimate goal of the gala is to celebrate the department’s years of success.

“That’s why we have the student price,” Kennedy said. “The student price, we’re not really making any money off of, but we want people to come because it’s fun.”

The show opens with “Memory Lane,” a short film about the program’s history. The video is a historical montage created by senior telecommunications and theatre major Graham Sheldon. Throughout the semester, he created YouTube videos for the department to promote its productions.

“I have actually 100,000 YouTube views on my stuff,” Sheldon said.

But he said he sees his creation of the videos as a way to leave something behind upon graduation and give back to the department. Following the video will be a performance by IU’s musical theater group Broadway Cabaret, featuring 18 musical theater students and directed by Emmy Award-winner George Pinney.

“It’s a high-energy group doing production numbers as well as solos and duets, with lots of dancing and singing,” Pinney said.

After the performance, audience members can participate in the piano bar featuring Ray Fellman, Brandon Cutner and IU musical director Terry LaBolt.

“The piano bar is fun, because I don’t know how many students have been to the old piano bars or if they actually still exist,” said Kennedy. “It’s like a modern karaoke bar.”

Guests can purchase $1, $2, $5, $10 and $20 “playbills” which can be used throughout the evening. At the piano bar, guests can use their playbills to sing a solo, have a guest star serenade a date or request a favorite Broadway song. There will also be a set-and-costume designer’s boutique in which guests can purchase exclusive theater items with their playbills, like a leather jacket from the PBS broadcast of “Blast” which earned Pinney his Emmy.

As both a director and faculty member, Pinney said he is proud of the department’s accomplishments.

“Proof is in the pudding. Many of our graduates from past and recent are doing enormously well,” Pinney said. “We have students on Broadway, on international and national tours, teaching in major universities and colleges across the country, as well as contributing to important research.”

Successful alumni include Tony Award-winning actor-director Stuart Vaughan, who received his Master of Arts degree from the department in 1952. In addition, Broadway’s hit musical “Wicked” is currently starring Nicole Parker as Elphaba. Parker received her bachelor’s degree from the program in 2000. Meanwhile, Richard Jenkins, a 1970 graduate, received a 2009 Academy Award nomination for Best Actor for his role as Walter in “The Visitor.”

Michaelsen attributes alumni’s success to the impeccable training given to IU theatre students and the knowledge they gain in all aspects of theater, preparing them for the professional world.

“We continue to strive to grow, to have new vision of how theater should be produced and studied,” he said.

Not only will the gala showcase performances and offer a glimpse into the department’s history, but it will also serve as a giant celebration for both faculty and students to be a part of.

“It’s like attending somebody’s 75th birthday party,” Pinney said.