News and Announcements
Theatre Alum Being Honored During Homecoming
Minnesota State University Moorhead will present alumni awards to six of its graduates during Homecoming celebration Oct. 3-4. Receiving an award is MSUM Theatre Arts alum, Bill Hulstrom.
Bill Hultstrom, a native of Silver Bay, Minn., has headed the design team for the CBS daytime drama “The Young and the Restless” for 28 years, a show that’s received more than 20 Emmy nominations over those years and last spring won its 10th Emmy Award.
Hultstrom performed with the university’s Straw Hat Players for six years and earned a speech degree here in 1973. After teaching design and technical theatre for a year at MSUM, he completed a master of fine arts degree at UCLA and was soon hired as a production designer for the Sony Entertainment-owned “The Young and the Restless,” where he’s been ever since. He’s also worked on the feature film “Denial” and the short-lived Twentieth Century Fox series “Tribes.” Recently he served as a consultant for Sony International TV in Moscow, teaching Russian film art directors the technical aspects of designing their sets for multi-camera television.
Take a look behind MSUM student actor Katherine Paynter. http://www.latitude46attitude.com/stage.php
Regional USITT Conference and MSUM
Ricky Greenwell and MSUM theatre tech students will be traveling to the University of Northern Iowa September 12-14 to attend The USITT Northern Boundary Section Fall Workshop. The fall workshop offers students the opportunity to learn about technical theatre by participating in designs competitions such as cover the walls, learn more about regional theatre by taking tours and speaking with local technical staff at the regional theatres and attending workshops in various areas in technical theatre. Ricky will be one of the presenters for the Mask and Mask-making workshop. Ricky serves as Member at Large Northwest for the USITT Northern Boundary Section.
MSUM Theatre Faculty Hits National Television
Shelly Gaza is featured in a national commercial for the HGTV show "House Hunters" - it plays on HGTV, The Food Network, and The DIY Neywork. Watch for her!
MSUM Theatre Faculty in Indie Film
Shelly Gaza is a featured artist in the independent, SAG film titled "Woodshop" that will premiere at film festivals during the fall of 2008.
MSUM Theatre Arts Faculty To Present in the Twin Cities
Craig Ellingson, Shelly Gaza, and Elizabeth Evert Karnes will be hosting two workshops on September 12th at Anoka-Ramsey Community College and Normandale Community College in the twin cities. The workshops will focus on Shakespeare, period styles and hyper-movement.
MSUM’s Annual Theatre Field Trip
The Theatre Arts Department will be heading to the twin cities for its annual Theatre Field Trip September 12th and 13th. Departmental faculty and students will attend productions at Chanhassen Dinner Theatre and The Guthrie. For more information, please contact Dr. David Wheeler at wheeler@mnstate.edu
The Theatre Arts Department is please to announce a twin cities alumni event for Saturday, September 13th at The Cue, located at The Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis. Please join us any time between 5:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. We look forward to seeing you and keeping you up-to-date about the theatre happenings here at MSUM. It’s a great day to be a theatre dragon!
Theatre Arts Department is pleased to open its season with two plays in rep: YOU’RE A GOOD MAN CHARLIE BROWN and DOG SEES GOD. Both plays revolve around Charles Schultz’s Peanuts Gang; however, they are very different! Come join the fun. For more information, including tickets and plot synopsis, please refer to http://www.mnstate.edu/theatre/season.cfm
I was selected as an Artist We Love by Metro Magazine. ( Link to original article... )
Artist We Love: Natalie Novacek
By Chris Clayton
Age: 24
Hails from: Roseau, Minnesota
Earliest theater memory: I watched a cutting of Steel Magnolias for a high school one-act competition when I was in grade school. I remember being really impressed, even though I was a little too young to grasp the subject matter.
What draws you to theater and directing in particular? The immediacy, fluidity, the power of the moment, a really great story’s ability to stay with you forever; the list goes on and on.\
Educational background: B.A. in theater from Minnesota State University Moorhead. I studied in London with Jane Brody through Louisiana State University Baton Rouge.
Artistic mission statement: I strive to use both psychological and physical approaches in my collaboration with artists. I believe in theater as a visual and visceral art form.
Local theater resume: I’m the artistic director of Swearing Jack Productions … a feminist company focused on creating multi-media events. For Theatre Pro Rata, I am the artistic producing associate. Pro Rata is a text-based, actor-focused, process-driven company. I am also a company member of 20% Theatre Company Twin Cities. It’s 20%’s goal to create opportunities for female theater artists as well as members of the GLBT community.
Which local theater productions are you most excited to see in the coming year (aside from your own, of course)? The Horse, The Bird, The Monkey & The Dancer at Sandbox Theatre. I’m eagerly awaiting the 2008–2009 season announcement from Walking Shadow.
GETCONNECTED Novacek directs 4:48 Psychosis, late British playwright Sarah Kane’s missive on mental anguish, for 20% Theatre Company this month. Through 9/7 at The Soap Factory; tctwentypercent.org
Photo by Bryan Nanista
Theatre Arts Department Welcomes New Faculty
The MSUM Theatre Arts Department is pleased to welcome Shelly Gaza as a new faculty member in performance. Shelly Gaza is an actor, director, and theatre teacher. For the past four years, Shelly has been a member of the acting company at The Utah Shakespearean Festival (USF) where she has appeared in King Lear, Twelfth Night, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Love’s Labours Lost, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Taming of the Shrew, and others. She was the recipient of USF’s 2006 Finlayson Acting Award. Shelly has also appeared at theatres across the country, including The Hilberry Repertory Theatre in Detroit where she received the 2003 Oscar Wilde Award for Favorite Actress in a Drama for her work in A Streetcar Named Desire. She has also appeared in the Regional Premiers of John Patrick Shanley’s plays Dirty Story (The JET, Detroit) and Sailor’s Song (Paragon Theatre, Denver). As a director, Shelly has worked with Backstage Theatre in Colorado and the Actor’s Training Program in Utah. She has taught at many schools and training programs including Wayne State University, Southern Utah University (in conjunction with USF), The Colorado Academy for the Performing Arts, and Flint Youth Theatre. Shelly studied acting at the Moscow Art Theatre School in Russia, received an MFA in Theatre from Wayne State University, and a BFA in Theatre from Millikin University. Shelly is a member of Actor’s Equity Association.
MSUM Theatre Arts Student Selected from International Talent Pool
Ms. Lindsay Fischer, Theatre Arts, has been accepted into the highly competitive Dell’Arte training program. One of 20 students selected from across the world, Ms. Fischer will begin studying with Dell’Arte this fall. A spring 2008 MSUM Theatre Arts graduate, Ms. Fischer will be seen onstage this summer during the 45th anniversary season of The Straw Hat Players and is currently serving as the assistant director for THE LAST DAYS OF JUDAS ISCARIOT.
Dell'Arte International is the U.S. center for the exploration, development, training and performance of the actor-creator. Its mission is to employ and revitalize the traditional physical theatre forms to explore contemporary concerns.
Dell'Arte co-founder, Carlo Mazzone-Clementi, was a native of Italy and chose the name 'dell'arte' (dell are tay) because it means "of the art." His work was inspired by the lively commedia dell'arte, a character -based style of theatre that has fueled popular theatre for generations, and was known as 'the art of the professionals.'
Dell'Arte's audiences tell us, "There is no other theatre like Dell'Arte!" The combination of our training programs , research, our original touring productions, our education program in the public schools, our summer festival and our work in economic/community development make us a destination unlike any other on the American theatre map.
Dell’Arte has been a company at the forefront of the ensemble theater movement for more than 30 years. Employing and revitalizing traditional physical theatre forms to explore contemporary concerns, Dell’Arte develops original works of theatre through an ensemble process and has performed at international festivals in the United States, Europe, Scandinavia, South America and Canada.