WE NEED YOUR QUESTIONS!

University Theatre is going through some exciting changes! Not only are we anticipating our move back into Frank Thompson Hall (yes, this is the same as Thompson Theatre or whatever other endearing names you may have for the building...) but we are excited to introduce new staff members to our team!University Theatre is introducing a new series of blogs and soliciting your input! We will continue this series as we hire a new Costumer, Lighting and Sound Designer and Scenic Designer.University Theatre recently hired a new Assistant Director, Allison Bergman, and we want you to ask her some questions about her interests, her background or anything else you want to know! Once they are compiled, they will be posted on our blog: universitytheatre.blogspot.com.

Please submit your questions about Allison to Ellie Cooke at ellie_cooke@ncsu.edu
between March 16 - 20, 2009.

Below is Allison's background to give you some background:

Allison Bergman is a veteran stage director of over 30 theatre productions in LA, Boston, Pittsburgh and New York City. She holds an MFA in directing from Carnegie Mellon University where she was a Steven Bochco Scholar, and a BFA in theatre studies from Boston University. She studied acting, dance and voice at L.A. City College Theatre Academy, American National Academy of Performing Arts, and Southern California Conservatory of Music, and has won a Drama-Logue Award for Directing. In tandem with her directing career, Allison is a Dramaturgical Consultant with several projects in development in New York and LA.

She is the former Artistic Director of Broadway On Sunset and co-founder of The West Coast Musical Theatre Conference. She has also co-authored ACTING THE SONG - Performance Skills for the Musical Theatre, and penned the libretto for a new musical, ANCIENT CITY. Before her move to the East Coast, she had been named Outstanding Woman in Theatre in Los Angeles.

Allison is thrilled to be joining the Arts NC State family as Assistant Director of Theatre. She is looking forward to teaching, directing, coaching and making theatre happen in the beautiful new Frank Thompson Hall Theatre Building. Look for her classes in acting and directing. She also hopes to develop instruction in musical theatre performance, writers' labs, and a variety of skills workshops such as improvisation, collaboration, and multi-media performance.

Student Studio - Waiting for Godot

As is typical in the theater, one show closes and another opens. Just as the Never the Sinner set was taken apart and thrown lovingly into the dumpster, University Theatre begins to change gears again in order to present our Student Studio, Waiting for Godot.

Before we go into any existentialist babble, congratulations are due to the cast, crew and director of Never the Sinner. Their set may be in the landfill, but the haunting storyline and convincing acting are still lingering in the audience's minds. If you missed Never the Sinner, you certainly missed an experience that left the audience thinking and wanting more explaination. It was a heinous crime that seems to have been surprisingly forgotten. However, I have a feeling University Theatre's production of the show may have encouraged people to gather more information about the case, or at least to continue a dialogue analyzing the outrageous motivations for this crime.

If nothing else, you can catch pictures from the show on our website: www.ncsu.edu/theatre.

Moving from the sinister to the perplexing, University Theatre closes out its abbreviated season with a completely student-produced production of Waiting for Godot. The show will be presented in the Talley Student Center Ballroom from March 20 - 22, 2009. You can purchase your tickets at Ticket Central or by calling 919.515.1100. We look forward to ending our season with a focus on the students and looking towards our future in the new Frank Thompson Hall.

Be sure to stay with us as we make our transition and celebrate a new season, and a new building, with you.

Want to apply for Arts Village? It's not too late!

There's still time to apply to live in the Arts Village! The application deadline has been expanded to Feb. 2, 2009. For more information visit ncsu.edu/arts/artsvillage

It has come to my attention that at least one person has looked at this blog in the past month. So, I think that constitutes an update!




As is evident by the infrequent postings, University Theatre has been very busy! Each day brings us closer to moving into the new space and opening a brand new season! It is all very exciting and very time consuming.

Currently, our students are working hard on our upcoming production, NEVER THE SINNER.

The production is based on the Leopold and Loeb story, which actually got some recent press in the Smithsonian Magazine if you happen to run across that. The story focuses on the relationship of the two men and the drama that surrounds their involvment in the "crime of the century" eventhough it took place in 1924 and there were "75 years to go" (as the cast of RAGTIME may put it) until the end of the century. Terri Janney will be coming back to NCSU to direct the show. It will run Feb 18 - 22, 2009 in Stewart Theatre. Call Ticket Central for tickets at 515.1100. Student tickets are only $5!

As I mentioned, things are coming into place as we think about our move back into the Frank Thompson Building. The University Theatre staff's summer will likely be filled with boxes, packing peanuts, sweat and hopefully no blood or tears. We are in the process of filling all those empty offices with fresh new faces who are ready to hit the ground running and create our stunning new season of shows.


The selection of the 0910 season still continues but once we have it finalized - you will be the first to know. Well, we'll be the first to know, but you will come in close second.


We thank everyone for their continued support and attendance at University Theatre productions and look forward to celebrating the new Frank Thompson Building with all of you.


Keep visiting, and I'll keep posting...

Never the Sinner perusal scripts

Perusal scripts for Never the Sinner will be available in the University Theatre offices November 3, 2008. Please be prepared to read them in the office or the lobby of Talley Student Center. The University Theatre offices are on the first floor of Talley, room 1202A.

Auditions will be December 1 & 2 at 7pm in Stewart Theatre.