Prof takes lessons from alums

Professor Rich Brown has been on sabbatical in NYC lately. He sent this report from the field, where he has encountered a number of WWU alums working on projects from teaching chess with stories to pursuing social justice through theatre and dance.

We just finished week three of our four-week run of LYING at Blessed Unrest. I’m not learning any new lessons, but I’m confirming an old one – the importance of professional discipline. I run my lines daily (even though I’ve been off book for over three months) so I can own my text and be free onstage, and I arrive in time to do a full warmup so I’m present and open for each new audience.

From Samantha Cooper (’11), I learned the value of grit for theatre artists. Sam was challenged when she didn’t make the 400-level acting series at WWU, but that served as a catalyst for her to focus her energy on playwriting. She’s now in her second year of Columbia University’s MFA playwriting program. I saw one of her plays a couple weeks ago, and her work is flying! When I asked Sam about that difficult time, she said, “I wouldn’t be where I am today without it.” We theatre artists need to remember that. When one door closes, look for the one that just opened.

From Dylan Hiester (’10), I learned that our training has numerous outlets. Dylan’s survival job is teaching chess to children. This started when he and a partner drew on their love of storytelling to generate a full curriculum to teach chess based on narrative. They created characters, relationships, and plot developments for each of the pieces. They’ve just sold their curriculum to two NYC private schools. Dylan is also being flown to Chicago by alums Katie Albert (’10) and Sophia Hamilton (’10) to perform in their performance art pieces at the Chicago Art Institute; and he's flying to Colorado soon to shoot a Budweiser commercial.

From Cessa Betancourt (’13), I learned to think internationally and socially. Cessa majored in Theatre and Sociology, so when she learned about ASTEP (Artists Striving to End Poverty) while attending KC/ACTF, she knew she’d found her calling. Last year she worked in India (like Halle Townes did this fall), and she just returned from working with children in Florida and The Philippines. She’s also teaching theatre and dance when home in Washington DC; fortunately, she gained lots of teaching experience as a TA while at Western.

From Jaine Huenergard (’12), I learned the importance of finding your artistic home in a big city. Jaine recently played Juliet for a company that does “pop up Shakespeare” in parks, parking lots, and theatres. She now wants to work with them again and again. From Zach Wymore (’13) and Andy Reindhart (’12), I learned that if you need to act, nothing can stop you. They’ve both acquired agents and are both out auditioning constantly. Zach is getting callbacks for commercials and Andy just landed a spot on TV in Manhattan Love Story.

Migueal Vila (’12) was in town from Chicago for the Unscripted Play festival.  He’s currently taking improv classes at Theatre Olympic in Chicago.  Along with Colin Wiese (’11) who is taking classes at Upright Citizen Brigade here in NYC, he confirmed the lesson of continuing to take classes after graduation and the value that Dead Parrots Society adds to our program.

Of course, more lessons came from these alums, but that’s plenty for now. In short, I’ve learned that the struggle to be a theatre artist in this world never ends (nor should it) and that we faculty can’t provide all of the answers to our students (nor should we). Too many paths simply exist. It is up to each artist to engage in the struggle to discover their own.