Milan Levy ’23 (from left), Sophie Hill ’20 and Aly Homminga ’20 portray astronomers Williamina Fleming, Annie Cannon and Henrietta Leavitt in the Festival Playhouse production of Silent Sky.
Much like an astronomer who draws constellation patterns, Aly Homminga ’20 is connecting the dots.
Homminga serves as both the dramaturg and lead actor for the Kalamazoo College Festival Playhouse production of Silent Sky. As the dramaturg, Homminga researches topics and time periods addressed in the play to assist Director Ren Berthel in teaching the actors about their characters and the play’s settings. As the lead actor, she connects those ideas to her portrayal of real-life astronomer Henrietta Leavitt.
“Dramaturgy is important, especially for Silent Sky as a period piece,” said Homminga, a theatre arts and religion double major from East Lansing. “If a director’s job is about artistic vision, dramaturgy is about facts and the time period of the play. This play goes on an arc of about 15 years, so I have to make sure Henrietta is different at the beginning than at the end. Playing Henrietta has given me a chance to test my skills and create a character who’s real yet flawed and different from me.”
The production is set in the early 1900s, as Leavitt begins working at the Harvard College Observatory, part of Dr. Edward Pickering’s “harem,” as they were known. Leavitt and her female colleagues mapped stars by taking pictures of glass plates and analyzing them, receiving no scientific credit for the discoveries they made along the way. Leavitt’s discoveries related to cepheids, which are stars that brighten and dim, and how they can be used to measure astronomical distances. Edwin Hubble, the namesake of the Hubble Telescope, confirmed the validity of Leavitt’s discoveries about 20 years later, and her work has been credited with transforming the field of astronomy.
Leavitt’s work with fellow scientists Annie Cannon and Williamina Fleming, portrayed in Silent Sky by Sophie Hill ’20 and Milan Levy ’23 respectively, builds a theme of feminism in the play. It’s the second of three plays in the Festival Playhouse’s 56th season following forgotten female figures. Other actors include Rose Hannan ’23, who plays Leavitt’s fictional yet inspirational sister Margaret; and Rigo Quintero ’22 as Peter Shaw, the head astronomer’s apprentice.
“I think this play is unique in the season because much of it is historical,” Homminga said. “It also marks an intersection between theatre, women’s studies and science, when science isn’t talked about or explored a lot in theatre. We want to reach out to science professors and classes, and let them see this as an opportunity to see their history, especially that of women in science.”
Scientific minds are bound to appreciate a set design developed by Wynd Raven, a local artist who was commissioned to paint the Festival Playhouse stage as a nebula, which is a cloud of gas and dust in space sometimes visible in the night sky. In addition, Homminga is creating a lobby display in her dramaturgical role. The display will focus on life at the Harvard observatory and the roles of women at the turn of the century to create an atmosphere in the context of the play that will appeal to scientists and general audiences alike.
Silent Sky will run from Thursday, Feb. 27-Sunday, March 1. Thursday, Friday and Saturday shows begin at 7:30 p.m. The Sunday show will start at 2 p.m. All shows are at the Nelda K. Balch Playhouse Theatre, 129 Thompson St.
Tickets are available through the Playhouse’s online box office. They cost $15 for adults, $10 for seniors 65 and older, and $5 for students. Tickets for Kalamazoo College students are free when they present K-IDs at the door. Faculty and staff may receive up to two tickets free with their IDs. For more information on the play, visit the Playhouse’s website.
Theatre Kalamazoo’s 10th annual New PlayFest will highlight Kalamazoo College talent thanks to playwrights Rebecca Chan ’22 and Emma Fergusson ’22, and Director Trevor Loduem-Jackson ’21.
Actors True Chin Parker and Ian Cummisford rehearse the play Record, written by Rebecca Chan ’22. Chan’s play was selected for this year’s Theatre Kalamazoo New PlayFest. Photo by Karly Paige Im.
Their plays, Record,Harold and Taco, and Old Friends respectively, will premier during the event, along with five other plays written by local playwrights and performed by local actors and directors.
The festival focuses on playwrights and play writing, rather than the production of plays, making it different from most festivals. Playwrights attend all the rehearsals and watch the directors work with actors to bring their scripts to life. Playwrights are encouraged by the festival producers to continue to edit their scripts all the way through technical rehearsals. That means actors are told not to memorize their lines because the lines might change. The public presentations are staged readings, meaning scripts must stay in the actors’ hands, even during the performance. The New PlayFest was established by K Professor Emeritus Ed Menta in collaboration with Steve Feffer of Western Michigan University in 2010.
Each of the plays is about 10 minutes long, and — in their own ways — examine human relationships and reconciling the past. Chan’s Record, for example, is about two strangers who meet on a bench in Central Park. Ally compulsively writes in a journal and Gale desires new connections in the big city.
Through small talk and journal entries, they contemplate which of their memories are worthwhile, how much people should let their past affect their present, and whether anyone has any control over their past or their present.
“I wrote this play because reconciling the past is a struggle we all face,” Chan said. “Sometimes, under the burden of regret, we forget that the shame and embarrassment in our personal histories can provide us with the motivation to change for the better. Record is not an optimistic play, but I think it provides some avenues for self-reflection, allowing audiences to think more critically about how they deal with their own memories.”
Chan also had an additional motive for writing Record.
“I also wanted to provide opportunities for individuals often marginalized in theatre,” she said. “Throughout the play, Ally stims, which could be interpreted as a sign of autism or anxiety, and Gale is scripted using gender-neutral pronouns. I wanted to provide actors from marginalized communities with the opportunity to play characters like them and present these characters without their marginalization defining them.”
Chan added she is thrilled to have her play premier at Theatre Kalamazoo’s New PlayFest after acting for the event last year.
“The ability to work with actors and a director to refine my script has been a true joy, and I’ve learned a lot about my own writing and progress,” Chan said.
Fergusson’s Harold and Taco is a play she wrote in a K play writing class led by Visiting Assistant Professor of Theatre Arts C Heaps.
“Over the course of the class, I was able to develop the play and present it in the form of a staged reading,” Fergusson said. “It was also through this class that I learned about Theatre Kalamazoo’s New PlayFest.”
Harold and Taco are hamsters. Their existence and disappearance are the reasons why the two main characters, Michael and Nadine, must face each other and address their relationship problems.
“It’s real and painful, but also very comedic in a lot of ways,” Fergusson said. “Kalamazoo has such a strong, wonderful theatre community and I’m really glad to be a part of it. To have the opportunity not only to present my work to the public, but to collaborate with local artists and bring the script to life is one of the greatest experiences I could hope for as a writer.”
Loduem-Jackson is directing Old Friends, written by Shelby Alexander, a Kalamazoo high school student. In the play, Natasha struggles to handle the pressures of being a modern American teenager. That leads to her humidifier, Mrs. Peanuts, coming to life and giving advice.
“It has been such a learning process and I am so grateful for the cast and the playwright for trusting the process,” Loduem-Jackson said. “As the director, I am learning what it means to build meaningful relationships between the characters. It is hard to find those connections, especially in a 10-minute show. The cast has been great at finding those connections.”
“Truly, there is nothing better than seeing the precious words you crafted form into a beautiful work of performing art,” Alexander added.
New PlayFest begins Friday, Feb. 14, with Romance Guaranteed, a romantic comedy by Art Nemitz, at the Civic Theatre. More information is available at the theatre’s website.
All plays will premier Saturday, Feb. 15, with two presentations each: Old Friends and Record at 2 p.m. and again at 7:30 p.m.; Harold and Taco at 4 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 16. All are at the Judy K. Jolliffe Theatre inside the Epic Center in downtown Kalamazoo. All Feb. 15 and 16 New PlayFest events are free and no reservations are required. More information about New PlayFest is available at Theatre Kalamazoo’s website and its Facebook page.
Two Kalamazoo College students were honored last week with new recognitions given at the Kennedy Center’s American College Theatre Festival (ACTF) Region 3 in Madison, Wisconsin. The festival is a chance for college students in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin to share their skills and learn from others through workshops; collaborate as actors, directors, designers, dramaturgs and playwrights; and celebrate a mutual interest in theatre and its importance in society.
Twelve from Kalamazoo College recently attended the Kennedy Center’s American College Theatre Festival (ACTF) Region 3 in Madison, Wisconsin. They were (from left) Rebecca Chan ’22, Sedona Coleman ’23, Sophie Hill ’20, Director of Theatre Arts Lanny Potts, Aly Homminga ’20, Mars Wilson ’20, Teyia Artis ’21, Angela Mammel ’22, Milan Levy ’23, Professor of Costume Design and Stage Makeup Lori Sands, Visiting Professor of Theatre History, Directing and Playwriting “C” Heaps and Festival Playhouse Company Manager Laura Livingstone-McNelis ’89.
Milan Levy ’23 earned the Golden Collaborator Award for her excellence in organization and collaboration through the festival’s devised theatre project. Devised theatre, for the sake of the festival, involved methods of theatre-making in which a script originates from collaborative and improvisatory work by attendees.
“The process was challenging, requiring a high level of patience and compromise and I am honored to be recognized for my creativity, hard work and collaboration skills,” Levy said.
Aly Homminga ’20 — a co-captain of K’s improv group, Monkapult — earned the Collaboration and Devised Theatre scholarship for her work in theatre festival improvisation. The program, which will take her to the California State University Summer Arts program in Fresno for two weeks, focuses on collaborative and devised theatre, helping students develop talents in acting, directing, designing and writing.
Angela Mammel ’22 (left) participates in Design Storm, a competition that puts together a group of students from different schools to conceptualize and design a show in 24 hours.
“I am excited about this scholarship because I’m going to be part of an intensive that is about creating theatre in every sense,” Homminga said. “In devised theatre, all people in the ensemble get to be actor, director, playwright and designer. I will be growing and sharpening my skills in all areas. It was such an honor to be awarded this scholarship and I am thrilled to be able to immerse myself in theatre.”
This recognition is significant for both students because more than 1,000 students attended the festival, including several from much larger schools such as the University of Michigan, University of Wisconsin and Ball State University.
Six other K students attended the festival with Levy and Homminga: Rebecca Chan ’22, Sedona Coleman ’23, Sophie Hill ’20, Mars Wilson ’20, Teyia Artis ’21 and Angela Mammel ’22. K faculty and staff who attended included Director of Theatre Arts Lanny Potts; Professor of Costume Design and Stage Makeup Lori Sands; Visiting Professor of Theatre History, Directing and Playwriting “C” Heaps; and Festival Playhouse Company Manager Laura Livingstone-McNelis ’89.
Kate Kreiss ’19, who works as a marketing coordinator for the Grand Theatre in Wausau, Wis., and Livingstone-McNelis, led a workshop on theatre arts administration and marketing.
“We’re very proud of our program here at K, and we welcome you all to attend our next production, Silent Sky, a real story about women astronomers, during Week 8 in the Festival Playhouse,” McNelis said.
More than 250 students including Rebecca Chan ’22 were recognized Friday, Nov. 8, at the Honors Day Convocation at Stetson Chapel.
Family Weekend served as the backdrop for the Honors Day 2019 convocation. More than 250 students were recognized Friday, Nov. 8, for excellence in academics and leadership in six divisions: Fine Arts, Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures, Humanities, Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Social Sciences, and Physical Education. Recipients of prestigious scholarships were recognized, as were members of national honor societies and students who received special Kalamazoo College awards. Student athletes and teams who won Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association awards also were honored. The students receiving Honors Day awards or recognition are listed below.
FINE ARTS DIVISION
Brian Gougeon Prize in Art
Kate Roberts
Beth Schulman
Zoe Zawacki
The Margaret Upton Prize in Music
Sophia Yurdin
Cooper Award
Maria Jensen
Sherwood Prize
Rebecca Chan
Brianna Taylor
Theatre Arts First-Year Student Award
Rebecca Chan
MODERN AND CLASSICAL LANGUAGES AND LITERATURES DIVISION
LeGrand Copley Prize in French
Rebecca Chan
Thomas Saxton
Hardy Fuchs Award
Christian Zeitvogel
Margo Light Award
Daniel Fahle
Romance Languages Department Prize in Spanish
Emiley Hepfner
Hayden Strobel
Clara H. Buckley Prize for Excellence in Latin
Kelly Hansen
Provost’s Prize in Classics
Jessica Chaidez
Annabelle Houghton
Classics Departmental Prize in Greek
Lydia Bontrager
HUMANITIES DIVISION
M. Allen Prize in English
Abigail Cadieux
Jessica Chaidez
John B. Wickstrom Prize in History
Fiona Holmes
Department of Philosophy Prize
Mitch Baty
Julia Bienstock
Emma Fergusson
L.J. and Eva (“Gibbie”) Hemmes Memorial Prize in Philosophy
Max Bogun
Zoe Celeste Schneberger
Nick Wilson
NATURAL SCIENCES AND MATHEMATICS DIVISION
Winifred Peake Jones Prize in Biology Natalie Barber
Abigail Gray
Madeline Harding
Grace McKnight
Department of Chemistry Prize
Aleksandra Bartolik
Grace McKnight
First-Year Chemistry Award
Robert Barnard
Saudia Tate
Andrew Walsh
Professor Ralph M. Deal Endowed Scholarship for Physical Chemistry Students Leonardo Sota
First-Year Mathematics Award
Haley Crabbs
Thomas Saxton
Carter Wade
Thomas O. Walton Prize in Mathematics
Lisa Johnston
Dahwi Kim
Samuel Ratliff
Cooper Prize in Physics
Revaz Bakuradze
Samuel Barczy
Kate Roberts
SOCIAL SCIENCES DIVISION
Departmental Prize in Anthropology and Sociology
Yuridia Campuzano
Mauricio Guillén
Jillian Lynk
Wallace Lawrence Prize in Economics
Rebekah Halley
Chaniya Miller
William G. Howard Memorial Prize
Georgie Andrews
Jade Jiang
Zachary Ray
Adam Snider
Wallace Lawrence Prize in Business
Nathan Micallef
Sage Ringsmuth
Irene and S. Kyle Morris Prize
Mihail Naskovski
William G. Howard Memorial Prize in Political Science
Ava Keller
Christian Zeitvogel
PHYSICAL EDUCATION DIVISION
Division of Physical Education Prize
Walker Chung
Kaytlyn Tidey
Maggie Wardle Prize
Darby Scott
COLLEGE AWARDS
Gordon Beaumont Memorial Award
Yasamin Shaker
Henry and Inez Brown Prize
Mya Gough
Mathew Holmes-Hackerd
Rosella LoChirco
Elizabeth Munoz
Erin Radermacher
Virginia Hinkelman Memorial Award
Jilia Johnson
HEYL SCHOLARS
Class of 2023
Samuel Ankley
Ben Behrens (’20)
Carter Eisenbach
Rachel Kramer
Rachel Lanting
Alexis Nesbitt
Suja Thakali
Elizabeth Wang
POSSE SCHOLARS
Class of 2023
Jayla Ekwegh
Naile Garcia
Devin Hunt
Juan Ibarra
Angel Ledesma
Milan Levy
Katharina Padilla
Milagros Robelo
Emilio Romo
Diego Zambrana
NATIONAL MERIT SCHOLARS
Class of 2023
Donald Brown
Claire Kvande
VOYNOVICH SCHOLARS
Audrey Honig
Nikoli Nickson
ALPHA LAMBDA DELTA
CLASS OF 2022
Alpha Lambda Delta is a national honor society that recognizes excellence in academic achievement during the first college year. To be eligible for membership, students must earn a cumulative GPA of at least 3.5 and be in the top 20 percent of their class during the first year. The Kalamazoo College chapter was installed on March 5, 1942.
Elizabeth Abel
McKenzi Baker
Natalie Barber
Samuel Barczy
Aleksandra Bartolik
Mitchell Baty
Julia Bienstock
Alexander Bowden
Haylee Bowsher
Irie Browne
Elizabeth Burton
Abigail Cadieux
Rebecca Chan
Gabriel Chung
Haley Crabbs
Sofia Diaz
Adam Dorstewitz
Imalia Drummond
Daniel Fahle
Emma Fergusson
Kaitlin Gandy
Levon Gibson
Jessica Gracik
Madeline Guimond
Emiley Hepfner
Ellie Jones
Joseph Jung
David Kent
Yung Seo Lee
Marissa Lewinski
Donna Li
Isabella Luke
Deven Mahanti
Clara Martinez-Voigt
Mihail Naskovski
Rushik Patel
Houston Peach
Anthony Peraza
Lucas Rizzolo
Marco Savone
Isabella Shansky-Genovese
Caroline Skalla
Emily Smith
Abby Stewart
Emily Tenniswood
Carter Wade
Samantha White
Zachary Worthing
Christian Zeitvogel
ENLIGHTENED LEADERSHIP AWARDS
Performing Arts: Music
Marilu Bueno
John Carlson
Emily Dudd
Sarma Ejups
Peter Fitzgerald
Rose Hannan
Garrett Hanson
Koshiro Kuroda
Milan Levy
Matthew Mueller
Clarice Ray
MIAA AWARDS
These teams earned the 2018-2019 MIAA Team GPA Award for achieving a 3.3 or better grade-point average for the entire academic year:
Men’s Baseball
Women’s Basketball
Men’s Cross Country
Women’s Cross Country
Men’s Golf
Women’s Golf
Men’s Lacrosse
Women’s Lacrosse
Women’s Soccer
Women’s Softball
Women’s Swimming and Diving
Women’s Volleyball
MIAA ACADEMIC HONOR ROLL
Student Athletes 2018-2019
The Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association each year honors students at MIAA member colleges who achieve in the classroom and in athletic competition. Students need to be a letter winner in a varsity sport and maintain at least a 3.5 grade point average for the entire academic year.
Hayleigh Alamo
Georgie Andrews
Hunter Angileri
Lauren Arquette
Brooklyn Avery
Julia Bachmann
Sonal Bahl
Nicole Bailey
Lillian Baumann
Brad Bez
Rose Bogard
Jacob Bonifacio
Maria Bonvicini
Alexander Bowden
Molly Brueger
Jane Bunch
Pierce Burke
Alexander Cadigan
Gabriel Chung
Isabelle Clark
Noah Coplan
Rachel Cornell
Chase Coselman
Eva Deyoung
Alexis Dietz
Adam Dorstewitz
Amanda Dow
Sydney Dowdell
Thomas Fales
Colton Farley
Anders Finholt
Clifton Foster
Jakob Frederick
Brendan Gausselin
Sarah George
Jacob Gilhaus
Anthony Giovanni
Rachel Girard
Sophia Goebel
Preston Grossling
Garrett Guthrie
Rebekah Halley
Emily Hamel
Grace Hancock
Megan Heft
Alyssa Heitkamp
Mathew Holmes-Hackerd
Matthew Howrey
Benjamin Hyndman
Samantha Jacobsen
Benjamin Johanski
Jaylin Jones
Jackson Jones
Claire Kalina
Grace Karrip
Lucas Kastran
Maria Katrantzi
Greg Kearns
Jackson Kelly
Brandon Kramer
Benjamin Krebs
Matthew Krinock
Stefan Leclerc
Kathryn Levasseur
Rosella LoChirco
Molly Logsdon
Nicholas Ludka
Andrea MacMichael
Rachel Madar
Deven Mahanti
Cydney Martell
Samuel Matthews
Eliza McCall
Benjamin Meschke
Hannah Meyers
Nathan Micallef
Zachary Morales
Max Moran
Amanda Moss
Elizabeth Munoz
Kelly Nickelson
Nikoli Nickson
Ian Nostrant
Drew Novetsky
Michael Orwin
Dylan Padget
Paul Pavliscak
Calder Pellerin
Anthony Peraza
Erin Perkins
Eve Petrie
Zach Prystash
Daniel Qin
Erin Radermacher
Harrison Ramsey
Zachary Ray
Jordan Reichenbach
Benjamin Reiter
Lucas Rizzolo
Margaret Roberts
Scott Roberts
Lily Rogowski
Marco Savone
Ashley Schiffer
Nicholas Schneider
Justin Schodowski
Darby Scott
Justin Seablom
Sharif Shaker
Drew Sheckell
Nathan Silverman
Maya Srkalovic
Abby Stewart
Grant Stille
Shelby Suseland
Garrett Swanson
Jacob Sypniewski
Nina Szalkiewicz
Jack Tagget
Leah Tardiff
Emily Tenniswood
Cade Thune
Matt Turton
Madison Vallan
Zachary Van Faussien
Travis Veenhuis
Tejas Vettukattil
Vanessa Vigier
Maija Weaver
Megan Williams
Hannah Wolfe
Sophia Woodhams
Austin Yunker
Christian Zeitvogel
Rebecca Chan ’22 (right) will play Percy and serve as the dramaturg for the Festival Playhouse production of Spitfire Grill. Sedona Coleman ’23 (left) will play Shelby and Sophie Hill ’20 (middle) will play Hannah.
Can a former prison inmate one day be redeemed, have healthy relationships and feel free from the person who once attacked her? The fall Festival Playhouse production of the musical Spitfire Grill examines these issues for parolee Percy Talbott, who tries to forge a new place for herself in the small town of Gilead, Wisconsin. There, she combats town gossip—mostly about herself—in a place that represents freedom, far from where she was attacked.
Rebecca Chan ’22 will play the lead role and serve as the production’s dramaturg.
“When (Percy) was in prison, she found a picture of Wisconsin in a travel book,” Chan said. “It looked open and free, so she decided she wanted to go there when she was released.”
As the dramaturg, Chan is responsible for working with the director, Visiting Professor “C” Heaps, on background research and how current events and perspectives might inform or shape the production. That means in addition to performing a critical role, Chan is preparing a lobby display and writing an essay that will further discuss the play’s themes including female empowerment, domestic abuse, redemption and the mistreatment of veterans, especially Vietnam War veterans.
The theme of female empowerment is especially important to Chan, who feels honored to participate in the Playhouse’s 56th season, which recognizes women in theater under the theme “HERstory: Forgotten Female Figures.”
Chan notes that many storylines in theatre productions are male-dominated, even as a majority of those participating in college theatre settings are women. “It’s nice to do a show where a majority of the performers are women and they’re a big influence on the show,” Chan said.
Spitfire Grill has three main characters, all of whom are women. Shelby, played by Sedona Coleman ’23, is a woman in her 30s who struggles to find connections outside of her emotionally abusive husband. Hannah, played by Sophie Hill ’20, is an elderly woman and the owner of the grill. Hannah has a son, Eli, who left to fight in Vietnam and has never returned. Like Percy, both are characters trying to find their place in Gilead.
“The town falls apart because Eli had been a symbol of hope and the future,” Chan said. “Eli’s missing status is the catalyst for everything falling apart. The play’s progression starts in the winter, and the costuming and dialogue reflect the progression of seasons. That’s followed by rebirth and more life in people’s lives before it ends in fall with the colored leaves.”
By the end, the three female characters who once were isolated and lonely become strong friends.
“It’s almost like they build their own family,” Chan said.
The show is accompanied by a live, five-person orchestra, performing on a piano, a guitar, a mandolin, a violin, a cello player and a keyboard tuned to sound like an accordion. Their folk-like music, derived from Appalachia, reflects Percy’s background as a West Virginia native.
The performances are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 7, through Saturday, Nov. 9, with a 2 p.m. showing on Sunday, Nov. 10. Tickets for all four shows at the Nelda K. Balch Playhouse are available by visiting festivalplayhouse.ludus.com or by calling 269.337.7333. Adults are $15, seniors are $10 and students are $5 with an ID. Kalamazoo College students, faculty and staff are admitted free with their College IDs.
Theatre Arts Professor Lanny Potts was selected from a field of six nominees as the winner of a 2019 Wilde Award in the Best Lighting Design Category for his work in a 2018 Farmers Alley Theatre production of Bridges of Madison County in Kalamazoo.
EncoreMichigan.com, a web-based publication focusing on Michigan’s professional theater industry, highlights the top productions, actors, artists, designers, writers and technicians in the state through its annual Wilde Awards.
This year, the spotlight shone on Kalamazoo College Theatre Arts Professor Lanny Potts, who was selected from a field of six nominees as the winner of a 2019 Wilde Award in the Best Lighting Design Category.
Theatre Arts Professor Lanny Potts was selected from a field of six nominees as the winner of a 2019 Wilde Award in the Best Lighting Design Category.
The honor is a result of Potts’ work in a 2018 Farmers Alley Theatre production of Bridges of Madison County in Kalamazoo. The musical, a 2014 Tony Award winner for Best Score and Orchestrations, tells a story of a love affair between a lonely housewife and a rugged photographer, examining the roads people travel, the doors they open and the bridges they cross.
Potts has won the same award twice previously through Farmers Alley Theatre, once in 2013 for his lighting design work in The Light in the Piazza, and again in 2018 for Gypsy.
To be eligible in their categories, Wilde Award nominees need at least four performances conducted through a professional theater company with paid actors between June 1, 2018, and May 31, 2019.
Potts is a professional designer and consultant whose work has included international lighting and production design; national tour designs for opera and dance; and regional designs for opera, modern dance, ballet, drama and corporate events.
Potts has presented portfolios of his work at regional conferences, worked at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and received many professional awards including a Michigan Governor’s Commendation, a design commendation from the John F. Kennedy Center (Fun Home) and Atlanta Critic’s Choice awards for his design work for the Atlanta premier of A Few Good Men.
Kalamazoo College’s Festival Playhouse will celebrate its 56th season by honoring a tradition of empowering women through a community of theatre.
The Festival Playhouse of Kalamazoo College produced “Twelfth Night” last spring in its 55th season addressing assumption and confusion. Its 56th season will amplify women’s voices with Spitfire Grill,Silent Sky and Water by the Spoonful.
Under a theme of “HERstory: Forgotten Female Figures,” the three main stage plays will provide a realistic and meaningful look at women whose voices aren’t always heard—let alone amplified—and will reflect the work the Playhouse strives to accomplish offstage.
In the fall production of the musical Spitfire Grill by Fred Alley and James Valcq, parolee Percy Talbott tries to forge a new place for herself in the small town of Gilead, Wisconsin, as she combats town gossip, mostly about herself. In addition to female empowerment, the production’s themes include redemption, the economic problems of small towns, and the plight of Vietnam War veterans. The show will run Nov. 7-10.
Silent opens in the darkest months when the stars are brightest and runs Feb. 27-March 1. The play by Lauren Gunderson honors astronomer Henrietta Leavitt for the discoveries she made without recognition in her lifetime. In 1900, she has the opportunity to work at Harvard College Observatory, but is denied he opportunities of her male counterparts. Regardless, she enthusiastically begins tracking changes in Cepheid stars, leading to scientific discoveries that have long-term implications in the field of astronomy.
The season will conclude May 14-17 with the Pulitzer Prize-winning play Water by the Spoonful by Quiara Alegría Hudes. The play follows Odessa Ortiz, who uses the screen name Haikumom to moderate a chat room that ministers to those struggling with addiction as her own family life falls apart.
All three shows will be produced at the Nelda K. Balch Playhouse. Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for seniors 65 and older, and $5 for students in the general public. Tickets are free to patrons who present a Kalamazoo College ID. Tickets will be available beginning Sept. 16 at festivalplayhouse.ludus.com or by calling the box office at 269.337.7333.
Visit the Festival Playhouse website for more information on the upcoming theatre season and additional student productions.
A Shakespearean comedy featuring a shipwreck, a love triangle and a secret identity is coming soon to Kalamazoo College. The Festival Playhouse will present Twelfth Night, known as one of Shakespeare’s liveliest comedies and a complex look at love and gender identity, as its spring production.
Sophie Hill ’20, Jorence Quiambao ’21, Trevor Loduem-Jackson ’21 and Kate Kreiss ’19 rehearse for their roles in the Festival Playhouse production of Twelfth Night.
In the play, Duke Orsino of Illyria falls in love with Olivia, who rejects him. Viola shipwrecks on Orsino’s shores. With the help of a captain, Viola disguises herself as a man, calling herself Cesario to enter Orsino’s service. Orsino sends Cesario to woo Olivia for him not realizing Cesario is really Viola, who begins to fall in love with Orsino. As Cesario charms Olivia, Olivia falls in love with Cesario, again rejecting Orsino.
Everybody got that? Welcome to the final installation in this season’s Playhouse theme, Assumption and Confusion.
“With Shakespeare, you know (the comedy) is going to be funny,” said Rebecca Chan ’22, who is serving as the play’s dramaturg. “You just never know how much until you act it out. Both (Director Karen Berthel) and the actors have been good at finding those moments. People love Shakespeare, but this play is one of Shakespeare’s more accessible works.”
In her role as a dramaturg for Twelfth Night, Chan is responsible for working with the director on background research and how current events and perspectives might inform or shape the production. Chan will oversee a lobby display, which will promote the idea that queerness isn’t a modern phenomenon, emphasizing the character Viola, who poses as Cesario. Chan said she hopes the display will be educational and help debunk some misconceptions about gender and queerness, while contextualizing those themes for the audience.
“In classic literature, many characters were gender queer or presented differently from how you would expect,” Chan said. “The myth is that queerness is a modern concept. It’s really as old as time.”
The play will run from Thursday, May 16-Sunday, May 19. Thursday, Friday and Saturday shows begin at 7:30 p.m. The Sunday show will start at 2 p.m. All shows are at the Nelda K. Balch Playhouse Theatre, 139 Thompson St.
Tickets are available through the Playhouse’s online box office. They cost $15 for adults, $10 for seniors 65 and older, and $5 for students. Tickets for Kalamazoo College students, faculty and staff are free when they present K-IDs at the door.
A top-honors finish in a recent theatre regional event led Rebecca Chan ’22 to an even bigger stage in April.
Rebecca Chan ’22 (second from right) was one of two first-year students and four students overall selected to attend the Kennedy Center American College Theatre event in Washington, D.C.
Chan, a theatre major from Howell, Michigan, has returned from the week-long Kennedy Center American College Theatre National Festival in Washington, D.C., where she was one of only four students from around the country to participate in its Institute for Theatre Journalism Advocacy (ITJA) events. There, Chan engaged in a series of seminars with well-known journalists from publications such as the Washington Post, American Theatre and National Public Radio, focusing on theatre criticism and how it’s changing with technology.
The opportunity meant extending the experience she received at the regional festival in Madison, Wisconsin, where she wrote deadline-oriented critiques and responses about shows she watched each night. The event, which included students from across Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin, was where Chan received her first experiences in theatre journalism and became one of just eight students from around the country to earn top honors. From those eight students, four were chosen to attend nationals.
“I was taken aback by the opportunity,” Chan said. Before this year, “I didn’t have a background in journalism. This validated my experience from regionals on a second level. I felt really blessed to have the opportunity. The fact that the seminars sparked so much conversation was something I enjoyed. I loved to see people sorting through my ideas.”
Chan credited her theatre classes in her first year at K for helping her develop the skills that enabled her to write so successfully.
“I took three theatre courses involving fundamentals of acting, playwriting and stagecraft,” she said. “Those three prepared me to evaluate a lot of different things, including the technical aspects and structures of a play. They really bolstered what I was able to do.”
From there, Chan ensured she maintained her skills independently from the end of regionals until nationals.
“I made sure that I practiced writing every so often,” she said. “I wasn’t sure how to practice specifically for theater journalism, but I made sure I had a good foundation going.”
The ITJA aims to develop arts journalists who can advocate for excellence in the arts through a variety of media—web, print and broadcast. Chan was one of two first-year students selected to attend the national event among the four participating. The other two were seniors, including one from California who soon will pursue a Ph.D., and one from Missouri who majors in journalism.
“I liked having (the journalism major) in the room because she had that student perspective and she’s in the process of finding a job,” Chan said. “It was neat to be on an equal playing field with someone with so much experience in the field.”
Chan said she would like to pursue another opportunity with the Kennedy Center events in the future. As a first-year, she’s not certain which area of theatre will be her focus, but “journalism is another form of writing for me to play with and explore,” she said. “I like to stay open to possibilities.”
The Kalamazoo College Festival Playhouse’s 55th season, featuring the theme of Assumption and Confusion, continues this week with the powerful play Student Body.
Kalamazoo College students rehearse for Student Body, which runs Thursday, Feb. 21-Sunday, Feb. 24, at the Nelda K. Balch Festival Playhouse.
Written by Frank Winters and directed by Visiting Theatre Arts Assistant Professor Bianca Washington, the play approaches complicated ethical questions when a college student wakes up after a party in her parents’ house and finds a video on her camera of a sexual encounter. The woman in the video might or might not be unconscious as others watch, leading the 10 characters, consisting of seven women and three men, to debate whether a sexual assault has occurred and who they should tell about it.
“The setting is written to be a university in the middle of nowhere, but the director made a bold decision to place it at K,” said Ynika Yuag ’21, who noted that some of the characters will wear Kalamazoo College apparel.
In her role as a dramaturg, Yuag is responsible for working with the director on background research and how current events and perspectives might inform or shape the production. “K isn’t exactly the middle of nowhere,” she said, “but the campus is small enough that we all get to know each other, which really makes [the production] personal. The more I work on it, the more I realize how it fits the theme of Assumption and Confusion.”
The performances are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 21 through Saturday, Feb. 23, with a 2 p.m. showing on Sunday, Feb. 24. Yuag said a lobby display with interactive elements will allow audience members to engage with ideas related to the play through proxy stations before and after the show. Plus, there will be talkback sessions featuring facilitators and cast members after each show. The scheduled facilitators include:
Thursday: Ellen Lassiter Collier, K’s Title IX coordinator and director of gender equity
Friday: Dramaturg Ynika Yuag and Assistant Director Karishma Singh ’19; American College Theatre Festival adjudicator Derik McNish of Michigan State University will also provide a critique of the show after the talkback
Be advised, there is strong language and a graphic discussion of sexual violence in the show.
Tickets for all four shows at the Nelda K. Balch Playhouse are available by visiting festivalplayhouse.ludus.com or by calling 269.337.7333. Adults are $15, seniors are $10 and students are $5 with an ID. Kalamazoo College students, faculty and staff are admitted free with their College IDs.
