theatre

Alumnus Honored for Innovative Opera Grand Rapids Film

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Carter Dillet portrays George Stinney Jr. for Opera Grand Rapids
Carter Dillet portrays George Stinney Jr. in the Opera Grand Rapids production of “Stinney: An American Execution.”
Daniel Sampson plays George Stinney Sr. for Opera Grand Rapids
Daniel Sampson plays George Stinney Sr. in “Stinney: An American Execution.”
Chasiti Lashay appears in the role of Alma Stinney for Opera Grand Rapids
Chasiti Lashay appears in the role of Alma Stinney during the Opera Grand Rapids production of “Stinney: An American Execution.”

Cody Colvin ’18 has been striking powerful chords at the intersection of opera and media production. This February, he was honored with the Michigan Association of Broadcasters’ Best Independent Producer award, which recognizes the best public television program in the state by an independent producer. Colvin shares the honor with fellow producers Emilee Syrewicze and Phil Lane for their work on Stinney: An American Execution, a cinematic capture of Opera Grand Rapids’ groundbreaking world premiere.

Colvin served as director, producer and co-executive producer on the project, which tells the harrowing true story of George Stinney Jr., a 14-year-old Black boy who, in 1944, became the youngest person ever legally executed in the U.S. after being wrongfully convicted of the murder of two white girls in South Carolina. Decades later, in 2014, a South Carolina judge vacated his conviction, citing an egregious lack of due process.

“The film hurts to watch every time,” Colvin said. “It reminds me of how important this story is and why we told it.”

The opera, composed by Frances Pollock with libretto by Tia Price, premiered in 2022. With Colvin as director, the production was transformed into a cinematic experience now streaming nationwide and broadcast across Michigan through Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) affiliates. The film also marks a technical achievement as it’s believed to be the first full-length opera captured entirely on cinema cameras. It features cutting-edge audio with technology from DPA Microphones and Tentacle Sync, mixed in immersive Dolby Surround with nearly 40 channels of recorded sound.

Colvin began conversations about filming Stinney in 2021, when he approached Opera Grand Rapids’ then-chorusmaster about singing in the chorus. That conversation quickly evolved into a production opportunity. OGR Executive Director and Stinney Co-Executive Producer Emilee Syrewicze then brought Colvin and his company, Colvin Theatrical, on board to produce the film.

“After touring with the American Association of Community Theatre in 2021, we were looking for a project we could really sink our teeth into,” Colvin said. “This was that project, technically ambitious and thematically vital.”

Before Colvin’s involvement, Syrewicze had begun preliminary broadcast talks with WGVU, Grand Rapids’ PBS affiliate. Once Colvin joined the team, WGVU escalated the project to PBS national headquarters. Emmy-winning PBS Senior Director of Programming Doug Chang, known for Live from Lincoln Center, worked with Colvin to help refine the film for national release. It now lives on the PBS app and has aired across multiple Michigan regions.

“When we screened it for the first time, the stunned silence in the room was palpable,” Colvin said. “I was able to watch the initial broadcast with the Opera Grand Rapids donors who helped bring the project to life, and their thoughtful and emotional response to the film reaffirmed why we do this work.”

Colvin founded Colvin Theatrical in 2020 during the pandemic, helping theater companies reach audiences far beyond their venues. One early breakthrough came in 2021, when he filmed 11 of the 12 Outstanding Production nominees at the American Association of Community Theatre (AACT) Festival, earning international media coverage. In 2023, he launched Colvin Media to expand into broader film, television and advertising projects. Colvin Theatrical now operates under that umbrella.

A classically trained bass-baritone, Colvin nurtured his passion for singing during his time at Kalamazoo College. He made his principal opera debut in 2024 in La Bohème with Opera Grand Rapids, and his next milestone comes this spring with a Carnegie Hall debut.

Colvin to Perform
at Carnegie Hall

Cody Colvin ’18 will make his Carnegie Hall debut at 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 12, performing a solo with the West Michigan Opera Project. The Grand Rapids-based ensemble focuses on educational outreach through concerts, workshops, and master classes. A public sendoff concert is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Sunday, April 6. RSVP for either event at the West Michigan Opera Project website.

Alyssa Toepfer portrays Jean Binnicker
Alyssa Toepfer portrays Jean Binnicker during the Opera Grand Rapids production of “Stinney: An American Execution.”
Cody Colvin portrait
Cody Colvin ’18, a business and theatre arts double major at K, founded Colvin Theatrical in 2020. In 2023, he launched Colvin Media to expand into broader film, television and advertising projects.

Senior’s Film Speaks Volumes for Potawatomi Language Revival

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Connable Recital Hall filled for I AM POTAWATOMI
Connable Recital Hall was filled for the premiere of a documentary titled “BODEWADMI NDAW” (“I AM POTAWATOMI) by Davis Henderson ’25.
A panel discusses I AM POTAWATOMI at its premiere
Henderson (from left), Annalee Bennett, Frank Barker and Holly Trevan attend the premiere of “BODEWADMI NDAW.”
Two people holding flowers at the I AM POTAWATOMI premiere
Holly Trevan (Henderson’s mom) joined him at the premiere of “BODEWADMI NDAW.”

Davis Henderson ’25 is in a race against time. Few of his fellow Potawatomi in southwest Michigan’s Gun Lake region can speak their native language, Bodwéwadmimwen, and it’s possible some of it already has been lost to history.

Yet Henderson would do anything in his power to help save that language and culture for future generations, especially as his people, also known as the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish band of Potawatomi, have done so much to support him.

When mentioning the Gun Lake tribe, “a lot of people think about the casino, but across the street from it is our government center,” he said. “That’s where we have our courts, our police officers, and it’s where we educate our people. They’re responsible for why I’m here right now. I couldn’t attend Kalamazoo College without their support.”

Protecting his heritage means so much to Henderson, in fact, that he has dedicated his Senior Integrated Project (SIP) to it. The SIP is a senior’s capstone project, showcasing the critical thinking, communication and creative skills students develop at K.

The documentary Henderson created for his, titled BODEWADMI NDAW or I AM POTAWATOMI, is the latest in a string of successes that Henderson, a theatre major, has experienced in his film and media studies concentration. Last year he was part of a group of K students that made Motherboard Loves You, which earned the Best Amateur Picture award in the Kazoo 48 film festival. He also spotlighted K’s TV-production class in a Homecoming film festival last fall with ARTX-200, named for the course taught by media producer and studio instructor Jaakan Page-Wood, who served as a consultant for BODEWADMI NDAW.

The title, in capital letters, reflects a declaration of pride that Henderson and others involved with the film feel for their heritage.

“We’ve got a new generation of people who want to revitalize the language and fight for ourselves, and that’s a lot of what the documentary is about,” Henderson said. “We have the facilities, we have the motivation, we have the drive, and we have the assets to revitalize it properly and get the information about our efforts out there.”

Camera films a pow wow
“BODEWADMI NDAW” includes interviews, festivals, gatherings and meetings with people from around Michigan and throughout the Midwest.
Three people filming BODEWADMI NDAW
Henderson (middle) films parts of “BODEWADMI NDAW” from his mom’s canoe during a canoe launch. He was joined by his mom, Holly Trevan (left), and Alicia Sommers, who was paddling.
Filming BODEWADMI NDAW
The documentary’s viewers see a canoe launch, pow-wows, interviews, language conferences and more.
Title screen from BODEWADMI NDAW
The documentary “BODEWADMI NDAW,” about the efforts of the Be-Nash-She-Wish band of Potawatomi to revive their language, is now available on YouTube. It will also be available at the Tubefactory Art Space in Indianapolis beginning March 7.

The history behind the language’s decline began when Chief Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish signed the Treaty of Chicago in 1821. Many native Americans of the time were moved west, but Henderson’s tribe made a choice to go north. Their ancestral land covered several local areas—including a territory of land that Kalamazoo College now sits on—before they were pushed toward Bradley, and eventually to Wayland.

Some of Henderson’s ancestors, including his great-grandfather, then were forced to attend boarding schools, where staffers enacted beatings. Henderson said he didn’t grow up learning the language as a result. He can speak pieces of it by saying thank you, hello and goodbye. He also can introduce himself, but that’s where the language largely has been left until now, despite his tribe’s recent ambitions to revive it for their children and grandchildren.

One of Henderson’s interviewees even described learning the language because he loves it, not because it’s fun or easy.

“The people learning how to speak the language describe an ache that comes with it because they want to learn it so badly,” Henderson said. “In fact, I was originally going to call this documentary The Ache. But I’ve found that where there was pain, there’s also been a lot of hope. Growing up in our culture, we’re always being hopeful, moving forward with good intent. That’s what we always strive for, and I hope the documentary captures that.”

The documentary begins with the tribe’s construction of a canoe on Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish land for the first time in a few hundred years, by Henderson’s estimation.

“I hope that the moment emphasizes the fact that we’re trying our hardest to rediscover our culture,” Henderson said. “Much of our culture is lost. There are so many words and practices that just don’t exist anymore because we don’t remember them. We don’t have a written language. It’s oral history, so if we’re not listening to the people who knew it before, it disappears.”

The film continues with interviews, festivals, gatherings and meetings with people around Michigan and throughout the Midwest. Viewers see the crafted canoe’s launch, pow-wows, interviews, language conferences and more as tribal citizens attempt to learn Bodwéwadmimwen through conversations and tools such as sign language for a deeper understanding of who they are.

Henderson is grateful to the people who contributed to the documentary and made it possible—such as interviewees Rhonda Purcell-Corkins, Annalee Bennett, Malcolm McDonald, Frank Barker, Iola Goldie Trevan-Nicholas and Holly Trevan—along with the governing bodies of the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish and Pokagon bands of Potawatomi. He’s also grateful to Page-Wood and Visiting Instructor Danny Kim for teaching Henderson almost all of his documentary skills.

The documentary premiered at a gathering February 19 at K and is available on YouTube. It can also be seen in the Tube Factory Artspace in Indianapolis starting March 7.

“This has been a long process, and I’ve surrounded myself with a lot of people who I didn’t realize cared so much,” Henderson said. “It’s been a fascinating and beautiful experience. I hope I can follow up on this project in the future. Maybe 10 years or so won’t allow for much of a difference, but I want to check back in because right now we’re just starting to lift off. I want to see what it’s like and think ‘Hey, we’re cruising.’ Hopefully, we’re cruising.”

‘Eurydice’ Puts Modern Spin on Greek Mythology

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As an international student from Romania, Bernice Mike ’26 knows what it’s like to face a choice between staying with one’s family and pursuing life far away. Such is the choice her lead character makes in Eurydice, the play coming to Kalamazoo College’s Festival Playhouse, 129 Thompson St., this week. 

“I’ve loved Greek mythology since I was a child,” Mike said. “And being a dramatic play, Eurydice is the kind of story I gravitate toward. I read it over winter break and it hit me immediately, so I thought it would be a good role to try out for. I haven’t dealt with grief the way she has to, but I know what it’s like to make a choice between staying with loved ones and going away.” 

The original Orpheus and Eurydice story is told from the perspective of Orpheus, a musician who travels to the Underworld to try to save his wife after she dies on their wedding day from a snakebite. 

“Orpheus plays the most beautiful music in the world,” Mike said. “There are so many other people who are attracted to him, but because the story is Greek mythology, we don’t know much about Eurydice and why she’s the one for him. It’s a love story that shows you don’t have to put why you love someone into words, but she’s a big enigma.” 

Eurydice, though, is told from the heroine’s point of view. The play—directed this week by K Professor of Theatre Arts Ren Pruis—premiered at Madison Repertory Theatre in Madison, Wisconsin, in 2003. In Mike’s words, Eurydice is an intelligent and loving character, and the play emphasizes her internal struggle as she grapples between a desire to stay with a predeceased family member in the Underworld or return to Orpheus. Audiences will see her navigate stages of life as she forgets and then relearns how to be herself.  

“It’s cool to portray this character who turns out to be strong and brave through the lens of Sarah Ruhl’s play,” Mike said. “She deals with a loss from a young age, but has a lot of love to give. We see some of that in her relationship with Orpheus, but also with her father after they reunite in the Underworld. What is important is that she constantly stays true to who she is.”

Two students rehearse for Eurydice
Bernice Mike ’26 and Davis Henderson ’25 rehearse for “Eurydice,” which will be staged Thursday-Saturday at the Festival Playhouse. Photo by Andy Krieger/Inspired Media. 

Mike said she feels the story also wants audiences to learn to follow their own hearts. 

“Eurydice follows her heart and her own story,” Mike said. “It’s almost a coming-of-age story in that way. I’ve learned from playing Eurydice that it’s important to constantly seek and get to know yourself no matter the situation you’re in. There’s a lot of tragedy that goes into it. I would say the story’s message is to constantly get to know yourself and seek what your heart wants to do. At the end of the day, it is the best decision that you could make.” 

Eurydice will be staged at 7:30 p.m. from Thursday, February 27–Saturday, March 1, and at 2 p.m. Sunday, March 2. Tickets are available online or by calling the Festival Playhouse at 269.337.7333. 

“I think you’ll be able to go through a lot of emotions if you see it,” Mike said. “There are funny, heartwarming and gut-wrenching moments. I think for people who love theater and want to feel those emotions, we offer a great array of them. It’s an immersive experience and a different one because it’s Greek mythology told in a modern way. It’s not something that you get to see every day.” 

Potts Earns Sixth Wilde Award for Best Lighting

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A faculty member’s success again is spotlighting Kalamazoo College through his standout work in Michigan’s professional theatre scene. 

For the sixth time, Theatre Arts Professor Lanny Potts has been selected as the recipient of a Wilde Award for Best Lighting, an honor distributed through EncoreMichigan.com. The web-based publication focuses on the state’s professional theater industry, uplifting the top productions, actors, artists, designers, writers and technicians. The awards are named for Oscar Wilde, an 1800s Irish poet and playwright. 

Potts previously received Wilde Awards for Farmers Alley Theatre productions such as The Light in the Piazza in 2012, Bridges of Madison County in 2018 and Bright Star in 2021. This time, the honor comes because of his work in the 2024 Farmers Alley Theatre production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, a show presented at K that featured youthful characters trying to figure out their own personalities through competitive spirits and strong desires to spell. It’s a story of kids coming together and creating bonds between them.  

The summer performances—along with a Famers Alley production of School of Rock—united K students with professional Actors’ Equity Association performers and stage workers, just like in the summer stock productions they once had with the Playhouse’s launch in 1964, 60 years prior. 

Potts’ local work began in summer 1986. After serving the John F. Kennedy Center for the American College Theatre Festival as a stage manager, he worked as a technical director and lighting designer with the Kalamazoo Civic Youth Theatre program. He was hired in 1987 as the technical director for K’s Festival Playhouse and since has sustained a 25-year teaching career within higher education while also providing guest masterclass design instruction at various venues, and providing professional presentations on lighting design, design communication, and leadership and creativity within the arts at professional conferences and workshops. 

The Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo awarded Potts last fall with a Community Medal of Arts. Since 1985, the annual award has recognized an artist who is a leader in their field, has a significant body of creative activity, has received local and/or national acclaim, and has impacted the Kalamazoo community through art. 

“When we reflect upon celebrating the 60th anniversary of Festival Playhouse, the creative drive of Nelda K. Balch, the creative force for community good in Dorothy U. Dalton, the special relationship which forged the impetus for Festival Playhouse 60 years ago, and the creative artists who have participated in that work, I’m honored to be a small piece of that much greater story,” Potts said. “I am so thankful for the opportunity to work for our community, with gifted artists, and especially, to create with our amazing students. #luckyme.” 

Wilde Award recipient Lanny Potts
Theatre Arts Professor Lanny Potts has earned his sixth Wilde Award for Best Lighting through EncoreMichigan.com
Six cast members from The 25th annual Putnam County Spelling Bee dressed as tweens for the show
Potts’ most recent Wilde Award recognizes the professional lighting work he did with the Farmers Alley Theatre production of “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” at K’s Festival Playhouse. Photo by Klose2UPhotography.
Cast members rehearse "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee."
The summer performances of “Spelling Bee”—along with a Famers Alley production of School of Rock—united K students with professional Actors’ Equity Association performers and stage workers. Photo by Klose2UPhotography.

Face Off Theatre Presents ‘Sunset Baby’ at K

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A local theatre company’s full-circle moment will come to fruition this week when it presents Sunset Baby at the Nelda K. Balch Festival Playhouse, 139 Thompson St.

Face Off Theatre presented The Mountaintop in its first season at Kalamazoo College 10 years ago and is returning to stage Sunset Baby at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and at 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Also, before the Saturday night performance, the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership, 205 Monroe St., will host a community discussion about the play at 5 p.m. with Bianca Washington Ciungan—a local actor, director and theatre professor at Hope College—serving as the moderator.

Sunset Baby features Kenyatta, a former Black revolutionary, who visits his daughter, Nina, in East Brooklyn, New York. The estranged father looks to obtain pieces of his late wife’s legacy including the letters she wrote to him while he was in prison. Nina, meanwhile, pursues her own life with her boyfriend, Damon. Ron Ware portrays Kenyatta, Western Michigan University alumna Mikaela Johnson performs as Nina, and former WMU student Delanti Hall embodies Damon. K alumna Milan Levy ’23 will serve as a production manager.

Face Off Theatre Managing Artistic Director and founding company member Marissa Harrington, another WMU grad, will direct the play, her fourth at a K venue between company productions and the Festival Playhouse.

“I’ve directed at a lot of theatres,” Harrington said. “This is one of my favorites and an inspiring place to work. The College’s mission to lean into equity and representation with its stories makes this production a smart way to start our season. It’s a play by Dominique Morriseau, who is a fantastic playwright, and her work is hard. You want to produce a show like this with people who know what they’re doing. Everybody at K is a true professional and that has made this a great time.”

The director said she saw Sunset Baby for the first time herself with her husband in 2017 in Chicago.

“I was immediately taken by the story,” she said. “You have this beautiful woman in Nina who is strong, driven and convicted, and her father comes out of the woodwork to reconnect. That in itself is an intriguing storyline. But Dominique Morriseau weaves in current events with all her shows. She takes this man who was a figure in the Black Panther movement. He’s looking for things and Nina wants nothing to do with him. There’s discourse in this show around love, activism and their costs in fighting a system that isn’t made for you. When you have this interpersonal dynamic, between a man and his estranged daughter, that is powerful. You then layer in the idea that she was a lovechild—a product of two Black Panthers who wanted to continue their work through love because love was the answer after all that fighting. It’s a well-written, powerful show.”

Sunset Baby stage
The Festival Playhouse is hosting Face Off Theatre for its production of “Sunset Baby.” Five shows are available this week through Sunday.
Actors for Sunset Baby. Image says Face Off Theatre Company. "Sunset Baby" by Dominique Morisseau
Ron Ware (from left) portrays Kenyatta, Mikaela Johnson performs as Nina and Delanti Hall embodies Damon in “Sunset Baby.”

Sunset Baby will help Face Off Theater take its first steps toward its renewed goals of expanding opportunities for People of Color as actors, directors, stage managers, costumers and more in Kalamazoo while instilling a love for theatre in local Black and brown youths. Harrington said she grew up in South Central Los Angeles in an area that many would consider to be a bad neighborhood, where theatre was the only activity she had to shape who she is today.

“I think we take for granted the skills that youths gain from the arts,” Harrington said. “When we talk about arts education, we talk about a well-rounded education. All kids deserve to have access to that. We want to lean into how we can create community impact and change through what we’re doing. We talk about graduation rates, reading levels and attendance in Kalamazoo, and there are statistics to back up that. Kids engaged in the arts, especially with afterschool activities, their whole trajectory of learning changes. They’re more excited about learning and school, and their test scores increase. It’s about accessibility.”

Black and brown representations within all roles of theatre are important, she added, to ensure young people pursue that accessibility.

“Regardless of good intentions, safety means, ‘you look like me,’” Harrington said. “You look like me, I feel welcome, and I can do this, too. We’ve had 10 years of beautiful community work. Now it’s time to lean into training the next generation with an arts organization that is Black-ran, woman-ran and queer-ran to see what the need is in the community and address it. I think it’s important for us this year as an organization to show that we’re arts and activism together: artivism. That’s who we’ve been this entire time. But moving into this next generation, we see the importance of training Black and brown artists now more than ever. We want to be a beacon of light for the kids who don’t see themselves going into engineering or business, but they love creating, writing plays and seeing stories in their minds. They love taking a moment and recreating it. We have kids who have that talent, and they don’t have anywhere to put it. We want them trained to be hirable.”

Tickets for all performances of Sunset Baby and Face Off Theatre’s entire 10th season are available at its website.

Festival Playhouse’s ‘Earnest’ Conquers Venue Change

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The Festival Playhouse of Kalamazoo College says the show must go on this fall, even with building maintenance temporarily displacing the theatre company away from the Nelda K. Balch Playhouse.  

Thanks in part to the Office of Admission opening its living room to rehearsals, the Fitness and Wellness Center providing space for a costume shop, and partners across campus showing support, the Festival Playhouse will perform The Importance of Being Earnest from Thursday, November 7–Sunday, November 10, in the Olmsted Room at Mandelle Hall.  

Theatre Company Manger Kirsten Sluyter said Festival Playhouse representatives had to think about what would be best for students in deciding whether to go on as scheduled, shift gears to a different play or perhaps cancel the show entirely when they learned the Playhouse wouldn’t be available. Yet they found support from across campus, and the smaller Olmsted Room, which seats just 45 patrons as opposed to 400, provided an interesting opportunity. 

“This piece was originally written as a drawing-room play, which means both that most of the action takes place in a drawing room, and that it was meant to be re-enacted in a home drawing room,” Sluyter said. “If we were going to design a set to look like an English sitting room in a country estate, we probably couldn’t have done better than the Olmsted Room. It’s been a mixed blessing to be away from home, but being there gives us a unique opportunity to stretch some muscles we don’t get to use as much.” 

In the play, Jack Worthing—played by Cooper Dahl ’28—is a community pillar in Hertfordshire, where he is a guardian to Cecily Cardew, played by Ella Myers ’27. For years, Jack has pretended to have an irresponsible brother named Ernest who leads a scandalous life while pursuing pleasure and getting into trouble that requires Jack to rush to his assistance. No one but Jack knows that he is Ernest. 

Cecily is a granddaughter of the late Thomas Cardew, who found and adopted Jack when he was a baby. Jack is a major landowner and justice of the peace with tenants, farmers, servants and other employees depending on him as he falls in love with Gwendolen Fairfax, played by Sophia Merchant ’25. Other K students in the play include McKenna Wasmer ’25 as Lady Bracknell, who is Gwendolyn’s mother; and Lee Zwart ’27, as Algernon Moncrieff, Jack’s best friend and Lady Bracknell’s nephew. 

The play weaves through multiple tales of deception between characters as playwright Oscar Wilde criticizes Victorian society. Although tempered by comedy and happy endings, he exposes the upper class, where deception and hypocrisy were rampant at the time. Zwart, who hails from South Bend, Indiana, said he chose to attend K for its studio art program, and he appreciates that the theatre program is open to anyone. He found the opportunity to act in a play like The Importance of Being Earnest appealing. 

“Algernon is an over-the-top and kind of ridiculous character—very much an Oscar Wilde self-insert,” Zwart said. “My mom is big into Oscar Wilde. When I first mentioned that we were doing Being Earnest, I asked her what part I should go out for. She said, ‘Well, Algernon is a lot of fun.’ He romantically pursues Cecily, and a lot of the play involves him scheming about doing that.” 

The play will be challenging for actors and behind-the-scenes crew alike as the audience will rotate from facing the back of the Olmsted Room, to facing the side windows, to facing the front between the three scenes. Stage Manager Evelyn Ellerbrock ’27 is enjoying that opportunity along with a chance to work alongside Assistant Professor of Theatre Quincy Thomas, who is the play’s director. 

“I’ve always done backstage theater work in high school and now in college, but I like the experience of seeing the rehearsal side and also getting to see the tech side,” Ellerbrock said. “I think people will want to see this show because it’s funny and there’s a certain appeal to doing it in the Olmsted Room. Not being in the theater space means that there’s something new and interesting to discover. It will be great to see how it works out.” 

That premonition about it being well attended has turned out to be true as the play is completely sold out for each of its four performances. 

“It’s just a good show, even if people don’t necessarily understand all of the Victorian references,” Zwart said. “I think we do it in a way that a modern audience will understand and enjoy.” 

Two students rehearse for The Importance of Being Earnest
Cooper Dahl ’28 (left) plays Jack Worthing and Lee Zwart ’27 portrays Algernon in the Festival Playhouse production of “The Importance of Being Earnest.”
Two students rehearse for "The Importance of Being Earnest"
McKenna Wasmer ’25 will perform as Lady Bracknell in “The Importance of Being Earnest.”
Two students rehearse for "The Importance of Being Earnest"
Sophie Merchant ’25 plays Gwendolen Fairfax, Jack Worthing’s love interest, in the “Importance of Being Earnest.”

K’s Potts Earns Community Medal of Arts Award

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A celebrated Kalamazoo College faculty member with several career awards and honors to his name has earned another accolade. The Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo announced Wednesday that Professor of Theatre Arts Lanny Potts will be the latest with K connections to receive the Community Medal of Arts Award.

Since 1985, the annual award has recognized an artist who is a leader in their field, has a significant body of creative activity, has received local and/or national acclaim, and has impacted the Kalamazoo community through art. It encompasses all art forms, including but not limited to visual, musical, theatrical, literary, performing, multimedia, architecture and design.

“I think this is an honor for all artists within the community,” Potts said. “When we celebrate the work of any of us, we celebrate the work of all of us—as artists, as a community, and importantly, as an incredibly rich artistic community. The work of the Arts Council celebrates this incredibly vibrant cultural life in our community. When I think about being recognized as part of our artistic community, I think about all of the amazing artists I’ve been able to work with, the collaborations that have been fostered, and the stories that have been told.”

Potts’ local work began in summer 1986. After serving the John F. Kennedy Center for the American College Theatre Festival as a stage manager, he worked as a technical director and lighting designer with the Kalamazoo Civic Youth Theatre program. He was hired in 1987 as the technical director for K’s Festival Playhouse, which then was a summer professional equity theatre founded in 1962 by Nelda K. Balch and Dorothy Upjohn Dalton.

Since, his career has included professional design and production work in Germany; international design work in Caçeres, Spain, and Varanasi, India; and hundreds of local and regional productions. Close to home, Potts has earned five Michigan Wilde Awards in the category of Best Lighting Design through the Farmers Alley productions of Gypsy, The Light in the Piazza, Bridges of Madison County, Camelot and Bright Star. He also earned a national lighting award for Fun Home from the John F. Kennedy Center; regional design awards in Atlanta, Chattanooga and Lansing; and two governor’s commendations in Georgia and Michigan.

Community Medal of Arts Award recipient Lanny Potts smiling at a graduate during Commencement
Professor of Theatre Lanny Potts will receive a 2024 Community Medal of Arts Award from the Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo.

Potts says his greatest joy has been working with students for 27 years alongside his amazing colleagues at K, where he received the 2024–25 Lucasse Fellowship for Excellence in Scholarship in September, honoring his contributions in creative work, research and publication.

“As an artist I consider it a gift to be able to work in Kalamazoo, and as an educator, an honor to work alongside our amazing students at Kalamazoo College. Lucky me,” he said.

The 2024 Community Medal of Arts Award Ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. Tuesday, December 10, in the Dale B. Lake Auditorium at Kalamazoo Valley Community College. The event is free and online reservations are requested.

K Awards Lucasse Fellowship, Ambrose Prize

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Kalamazoo College today awarded one faculty member and one staff member with two of the highest awards the College bestows on its employees. 

Professor of Theatre Arts Lanny Potts was named the recipient of the 2024–25 Lucasse Fellowship for Excellence in Scholarship, honoring his contributions in creative work, research and publication. Kelly Killen Ross, office coordinator for Campus Safety and Religious and Spiritual Life, was granted the W. Haydn Ambrose Prize, recognizing her outstanding service to the College community.

Potts is a professional designer and consultant. His work includes international lighting and production design; national tour designs for opera and dance; regional designs for opera, modern dance, ballet, drama and corporate events; concert work for Willow Creek International and the Indigo Girls; work in architectural lighting and consulting; TV studio production design and consulting; and consultant planning for performance venues and events including the 1996 Olympics. 

In addition to such work, Potts has sustained a 25-year teaching career within higher education while also providing guest masterclass design instruction at various venues, and providing professional presentations on lighting design, design communication, and leadership and creativity within the arts at professional conferences and workshops. He has presented portfolio examples of his work at regional conferences, worked at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and has received numerous professional awards including a Michigan Governor’s Commendation and Atlanta Critic’s Choice awards for his design work, which included the Atlanta premier of A Few Good Men.  

In recent years, Potts has earned five Wilde Awards—distributed through EncoreMichigan.com—for his lighting-design work in Farmers Alley Theatre productions such as Bright Star, Bridges of Madison County and The Light in the Piazza; and a National Lighting Design Award from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Festival Playhouse of Kalamazoo College production of Fun Home. He’s also served K as an associate provost of academic affairs.. 

A ceremony to confer the Lucasse Fellowship traditionally occurs in the spring term, where the honored faculty member speaks regarding their work. 

Killen Ross received five nominations for the Ambrose Prize, with nominators saying she’s humble, kind and always putting others first. They credited her for organizing chili lunches for struggling first-year students, breakfast for custodians during the pandemic, and transportation to the train station or airport for those in need. 

The Ambrose Prize is named after W. Haydn Ambrose, who served K for more than 20 years in a variety of roles, including assistant to the president for church relations, dean of admission and financial aid, and vice president for development. Ambrose was known for being thoughtful in the projects he addressed and treating people with respect. 

In addition to a financial award, Killen Ross has earned a crystal award to commemorate the achievement and an invitation to sit on the Prize’s selection committee for two years. 

Congratulations to the honorees. 

Lucasse recipient Lanny Potts with President Jorge G. Gonzalez
Kalamazoo College President Jorge G. Gonzalez congratulates Theatre of Arts Professor Lanny Potts on earning the 2024–25 Lucasse Fellowship.
Ambrose Prize recipient Kelly Killen Ross
Kelly Killen Ross receives the Ambrose Prize from President Gonzalez.

Alumna, Theatre Company Bring ‘Will You Miss Me?’ to K

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A Detroit-based experimental theatre company, co-directed by Kalamazoo College alumna Liza Bielby ’02, will present its newest project, a critically acclaimed play billed as a funeral for whiteness, this month in the Olmsted Room at Mandelle Hall. 

Will You Miss Me? layers traditional Appalachian songs with family secrets, ancient Welsh mythology, brutal comedy, and rituals—both inherited and invented—to push audiences to examine the stories we tell ourselves about who we are and grieve the selves that have been forgotten.  

When a haunting song echoes, a weary traveler is drawn into a funeral service for one of many white workers who moved from Appalachia to Detroit in the past century. But as the funeral unfolds, the mourners are confronted by their pasts, their ancestors, and helpful and malicious spirits. Their confusion forces them to question whether they even knew the man they’re mourning and whether he existed at all. 

The Hinterlands troupe will provide two performances of Will You Miss Me? at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, September 28, and 2 p.m. Sunday, September 29. Attendees will be admitted free thanks to sponsorships from the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership; K’s philosophy, critical ethnic studies, theatre and music departments; and the Office of Student Involvement. No reservations are necessary, but seating will be limited. 

Bielby is a former Fulbright Scholar; a student of the Sichuan Chuanju Academy, now Sichuan Vocational College of Art; a graduate of the Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theatre; a board member of the Bangla School of Music; and a professor of movement at Wayne State University’s Maggie Allesee Department of Theatre and Dance. Bielby, Jenna Kirk, Richard Newman and Maddy Rager are performers in the show with direction from Bielby and Newman. Kirk and Bielby serve as scenic designers. Livia Chesley—who acted in the original performance—designed the show’s masks and puppets with assistance from Monty Eztcorn. 

Will You Miss Me? premiered in 2022 with outdoor versions of the piece performed at Spread Art in Detroit; Tympanum in Warren, Michigan; and Double Edge Theatre in Ashfield, Massachusetts. In 2023, the piece was presented at Play House in Detroit and at Mint Museum in Charlotte, North Carolina, through Goodyear Arts with lecture-performance versions shown at the University of Michigan Flint and Teatro Libre in Bogotá, Colombia. 

“It hit me on a body level, a gut level, and it sent me into a kind of reverie that I haven’t felt from a piece in a long time,” said Zak Rose of Slate Magazine. “I was haunted by it, not just on my drive home, but I woke up the next day thinking about it. I kept talking about it and l couldn’t get back to my life before buying a ticket to go see it again the following week.” 

For more information on Will You Miss Me? and the Hinterlands company, visit thehinterlands.org. 

Will You Miss Me at Double Edge 2, Photo by Milena Dabova
 Actors Richard Newman, Livia Chesley, Jenna Kirk as Remy and Liza Bielby ’02 perform a remixed European bear ritual midway through “Will You Miss Me?” Photo by Milena Dabova.
Will You Miss Me at Spread Art 2 Photo by Paul Biundo
Kirk and Newman take on ancient spirits as a funeral dissolves into a forgotten ritual in “Will You Miss Me?” Photo by Paul Biundo.
Will You Miss Me at Tympanum, film still by Adam Sekuler
Newman, Kirk and Bielby perform in “Will You Miss Me?” Film still by Adam Sekuler.

‘School of Rock’ Ready to Roll at Festival Playhouse

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School of Rock characters headmistress Rosalie Mullins and teacher Dewey Finn
All photos by Klose2UPhotography

“School of Rock: The Musical” follows actor David B. Friedman, portraying Dewey Finn, a failed rock star who decides to earn money by posing as a substitute teacher at a prestigious prep school. At the school, he turns a class of bright and well-accomplished students into a rock band, attempting to get them into a battle of the bands without headmistress Rosalie Mullins, played by Broadway actress Hannah Elless, or their parents finding out.
Dewey Finn interacts with a student in School of Rock
Kalamazoo College’s Festival Playhouse offers Farmers Alley Theatre a bigger venue between stage space and audience capacity along with a unique stage ground plan
Dewey Finn interacts with a student in School of Rock
School of Rock boasts a cast of 30 including 16 amazingly talented kids

Are you ready to rock? We are! Farmers Alley Theatre is back on campus for School of Rock: The Musical, its second show of the summer at Kalamazoo College’s Festival Playhouse.

Based on the film starring Jack Black, the musical follows actor David B. Friedman, portraying Dewey Finn, a failed rock star who decides to earn money by posing as a substitute teacher at a prestigious prep school. At the school, he turns a class of bright and well-accomplished students into a rock band, attempting to get them into a battle of the bands without headmistress Rosalie Mullins, played by Broadway actress Hannah Elless, or their parents finding out.

Performing School of Rock at K offers Farmers Alley Theatre a bigger venue between stage space and audience capacity along with a unique stage ground plan that Director Richard Roland loves.

“The thrust stage with all of its different angles and levels allows for some very creative staging, which I am very interested in, particularly for a piece that was conceived and originally produced for a proscenium stage,” Roland said. “Because we don’t have the automation and extravagant technical capabilities of a Broadway theatre, I have to rely on my imagination and the imagination and creativity of my team and actors to affect the transitions from scene to scene. It’s a challenge for sure, but one definitely worth meeting head on. It’s very satisfying to me when I figure out how a multi-location show works on a stage not built to accommodate giant turntables, hydraulics and massive drops. That being said, scenic designer Dan Guyette has provided rolling wagons and slip stages to facilitate transitions on the set which is a much-needed help in a show of this size.”

Actors rehears at Festival Playhouse
Performances are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 17–Saturday, July 20, and Thursday, July 25–Saturday, July 27, with matinees at 2 p.m. Sunday, July 21, and Sunday, July 28
Dewey Finn leads students in School of Rock
Teacher Dewey Finn—desperately stealing the identity of his roommate as a substitute teacher just to make ends meet—teaches his students some unconventional yet valuable life lessons by making them realize they live under too many rules.
Actors rehearse School of Rock
Broadway actress Hannah Elless portrays headmistress Rosalie Mullins in “School of Rock.”

School of Rock boasts a cast of 30 including 16 amazingly talented kids—four of whom play their own drums, bass, guitar and keyboard—although the biggest draw might be the story as it works in concert with the music. Roland said the plot embraces an age-old storyline of the mentor who brings people to a new awareness of themselves, so audiences will recognize its similarities to musicals such as The Sound of Music and The Music Man.

“As one of the actors in the show put it the other day, the movie is a Jack Black vehicle and focuses, literally and figuratively, on him,” Roland said. “Everyone around him is mostly peripheral. The musical goes a bit further by enlarging the world around Dewey, making the kids as much of the center of the show as he is. What musicals do is let you into the characters’ minds through song, digging a little deeper into their psyches, revealing hopes and fears.”

The character Finn—desperately stealing the identity of his roommate as a substitute teacher just to make ends meet—teaches his students some unconventional yet valuable life lessons by making them realize they live under too many rules, constraints and over-scheduled expectations.

“In breaking down those conventions, the students find gifts within themselves they were previously unaware of,” Roland said. “They grow in talent and confidence. Even Dewey, the initially self-serving freeloader, has an awakening in that he realizes he has much to give when it comes to music. It’s a very heartwarming story with a great score by Andrew Lloyd Webber who, as some may remember, started out with the classic rock ‘n’ roll musical Jesus Christ Superstar. He goes back to his rock roots with School of Rock and leaves you singing along.”

Actors playing in a band
Four of the kid actors play their own drums, bass, guitar and keyboard in “School of Rock.”
Dewey Finn interacts with a student in School of Rock
“School of Rock embraces an age-old storyline of the mentor who brings people to a new awareness of themselves.

School of Rock performances are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 17–Saturday, July 20, and Thursday, July 25–Saturday, July 27, with matinees at 2 p.m. Sunday, July 21, and Sunday, July 28. Tickets for the July 17 preview performance are $25. Tickets for the other shows start at $45 with $10 in-person rush tickets offered for all performances starting one hour prior to curtain. The July 21 show includes American Sign Language interpretation. Tickets are available online at farmersalleytheatre.com or by calling the box office at 269.343.2727. The show contains some adult language, rock-associated themes and tweenage rebellion. It is recommended for ages 10 and up.

“I’m just very lucky to have had the opportunity to work with the Farmers Alley team, all the new designers and, of course, the cast of extremely talented actors of Kalamazoo, Chicago and New York,” Roland said. “It’s a joy to watch them create moments in rehearsals: funny, touching, fierce, hopeful. I’m thrilled that this is the first Andrew Lloyd Webber musical I get to direct.”