Department of Film, Television, and Theatre
Faculty: Pamela Robertson Wojcik (Chair), Kevin Dreyer (Director of Theatre), Pedro Aguilera-Mellado, Ted Barron, Scott Barton, Christine Becker, Terrance Brown, Tarryn Chun, C. Kenneth Cole, Jim Collins, William Collins Donahue, William Donaruma, La Donna Forsgren, Anne García-Romero, Susan Harris, Matt Hawkins, Ricky Herbst, Berthold Hoeckner, Peter Holland, Anton Juan, Michael Kackman, Mary Celeste Kearney, Carys Kresny, Charles Leavitt, Ted Mandell, Olivier Morel, Susan Ohmer, Mary Pergola Parent, Matthew Payne, Jason Ruiz, Siiri Scott, Tetyana Shlikhar, Marcus Stephens, Stacey Stewart, Nicole Woods
Emeriti: Reginald Bain, Donald Crafton, Richard E. Donnelly, Jill Godmilow, Mark Pilkinton
Staff: Lori Butchko, Lynn Holbrook, Jo Ann Norris, Stacey Stewart
2022-2023 Theatre Events
Play: Steel Magnolias
Author: Robert Harling
Date: November 10-13, 2022
Producing Organization: Notre Dame Film, Television, and Theatre
Venue: Patricia George Decio Theatre, DeBartolo Performing Arts Center
From the Archives
Robert Harling’s Steel Magnolias was originally produced in 1987 and adapted into a film two years later. This is FTT’s first departmental production of the play, but it has been produced at least one other time on the Notre Dame campus. The producing organization was Lewis Hall, and the production was staged in Hesburgh Library’s Carey Auditorium during the 1991-1992 academic year.
Cast
Truvy Jones: Ms. Mollie Griesedieck*
Annelle Dupuy-Desoto: Ms. Emily DeFazio*
Clairee Belcher: Ms. Danuta Sikora*
Shelby Eatenton-Latcherie: Ms. Kate Turner*
M’Lynn Eatenton: Ms. Callie Chaney
Ouiser Boudreaux: Ms. Maya Nyachae*
DJ: Mr. Gabe Ozaki*
Production
Producer: Kevin Dreyer
Director: Carys Kresny
Costume Designer/Costume Shop Manager: Lynn Holbrook
Set Designer: Marcus Stephens
Lighting Designer: Kevin Dreyer
Sound Designer: Carys Kresny
Stage Manager: Sam Grocock*
Technical Director: C. Kenneth Cole
Assistant Stage Managers: Carolyn Dell, Sydney Shoemaker
Lead Dresser: Deborah Mayers
Dressers: Irene Cornett, Angelina McKimson, Lilly Odiome, Lee Springman
Wig Designer: Stephanie Perrin
Stitcher: Kathleen Werner
Light Board Operator: Grace Osoteo
Sound Board Operator: Karla Guerra
Graphic Designer: Quin Earley
Dialect Coach: Siiri Scott
Music Curator: Nora Hayes
Costume Shop Assistants
Delna Balsara
Irene Cornett*
Lindsay Goldschmidt*
Jessica Hutfless
Elizabeth Maroshick*
Angelina McKimson
Macy Owen
Beri Tangka
Scene Shop Assistants
Karla Guerra
Nicolas Gutierrez
Megan McNelis
Grace Osoteo
Minsub Song
*denotes FTT major
Musical: Dawn’s Early Light
Author: Solomon Duane ’24
Date: February 23 – March 5, 2023
Producing Organization: Notre Dame Film, Television, and Theatre
Venue: Philbin Studio Theatre, DeBartolo Performing Arts Center
From the Archives
Dawn’s Early Light is the third student-written musical to emerge from the New Works Lab, a program that curates, workshops, and produces new musicals. Led by Matt Hawkins, who also directs this production, the New Works Lab has previously workshopped and produced An Old Family Recipe (2021) by Veronica Mansour ’21, and Stupid Humans (2019) by Jorge “Jay” Rivera-Herrans ’20, now revised and titled My Heart Says Go.
Cast
Val: Nick Buranicz+
Tommy: Tommy O’Brien+
Lucy: Theresa Thomas*
Reagan: Libby White
Jack: Christian Dunne
Rosalin: Olivia Seymour*+
Frank: Timothy Merkle*+
Donna: Mary Kate Temple*+
Ensemble
Evelyn Berry (Ethel, dancer)
Marcus Braun+ (Park Doctor, Officer Lee)
Jack Duncan* (Philip, Park Boy, FBI, Jacobs)
Joe Golden*+ (Hugo, Park Son, Mailman, FBI)
Macy Gunnell (Anne, Park Schoolgirl, dancer, janitor)
Camila Holden (Park Mom, dancer, Helen)
Harry Larson (Park Rob, Messenger, FBI officer)
Liz Maroshick*+ (Louise, dancer)
Kate Turner*+ (Martha, dancer)
Band
Drums: David Finnell
Flute: Sara Nelson
Clarinet, Saxophone: Madi Vacko
Clarinet, Saxophone: Nico Dinglasa
Bass: Matthew LaCapra
Trumpet: Matthew Baumstark
Trombone: Noah Sim
Piano: Dror Baitel
Production
Producer: Kevin Dreyer
Director: Matt Hawkins
Music Director: Dror Baitel
Choreographer: Theresa Thomas*
Orchestrators: Sean Ford and Emily Kane
Costume Designer/Costume Shop Manager: Lynn Holbrook
Set Designer: Marcus Stephens
Lighting Designer: Kevin Dreyer
Stage Manager: Sam Grocock*
Technical Director: C. Kenneth Cole
Dramaturg: Timothy Merkle*+
Assistant Dramaturgs: Abby Urban*+, Marcus Braun+
Production Advisor: Deb Gasper
Lead Carpenter/Scenic Artist: Jeff Szymanowski
Master Electrician: Jason Swift
Assistant Stage Managers: Lily Deng+, Dawson Yang
Associate Director: Isa Ruiz Maiz*
Associate Costume Designer: Jessica Hutfless
Associate Choreographer: Mary Kate Godfrey+
Social Media Manager: Kelly Harris+
Promo Video: Maggie Murray
Production Assistant: Caroline Doyal*
Dressers: Deborah Mayers, Carolyn Dell, Emily Gesino, Lee Springman
Stitcher: Kathleen Werner
Light Board Operator: Grace Osoteo
Sound: Brandon Waggy and Martin Leachman (Eventsys)
Dawn’s Early Light artwork: Evelyn Berry
Dialect Coach: Siiri Scott
Vocal Coach: Deborah Mayer
Costume Shop Assistants
Delna Balsara
Irene Cornett*+
Carolyn Dell
Liz Maroshick*+
Angelina McKimson
Macy Owen
Beri Tangka
Scene Shop Assistants
Karla Guerra
Nicolas Gutierrez
Megan McNelis
Grace Osoteo
Minsub Song
Musical Theatre Lab Class, Fall 2022
Lucy Barron*
Malia Bissen+
Marcus Braun+
Solomon Duane+
Joe Golden+
Emily Kane
Liz Maroshick*+
Mark Mehochko+
Nic Meringolo+
Timothy Merkle*+
Tommy O’Brien+
Isabel Ruiz Maiz*
Christina Sayut+
Delaney Schroeder+
Mary Kate Temple*+
Theresa Thomas*
Kate Turner*+
Abby Urban*+
Dawson Yang
*denotes FTT major
+denotes Musical Theatre minor
Play: TUKO! TUKO! Or Princess of the Lizard Moon
Author: Anton Juan
Date: April 19-23, 2023
Producing Organization: Notre Dame Film, Television, and Theatre
Venue: Philbin Studio Theatre, DeBartolo Performing Arts Center
From the Archives
Dr. Anton Juan was hired as a full professor in the Department of Film, Television and Theatre in 2005. He will retire in December 2023 after 18 years of distinguished university service. As a Filipino playwright, director, filmmaker and educator, Dr. Juan is a global leader in creating award-winning plays and films that highlight narratives of social justice. He has written and directed works across the world that educate audiences about injustice in his native Philippines, as well as other nations, through considering topics of migration, trauma, cultural loss, colonialism, erasure, memory, gender, sexuality and environmentalism, among many others. At Notre Dame, Dr. Juan has guided students to analyze and generate vibrant theatrical works that examine social injustice in their lives, in their communities and around the world.
Dr. Juan has directed many stunning productions at Notre Dame, including Antigona Furiosa by Griselda Gambaro, an homage to Argentina’s desaparecidos (disappeared) as well as his play, Shadows of the Reef, which explores a Filipina woman who wants to be crucified for sending her son to the illegal muro-ami fishing where he meets his death among the fish. Dr. Juan previously directed the Spanish-language premiere of Tuko! Tuko! or Princess of the Lizard Moon while teaching for a semester at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile Theatre School.
Over the past six years, I have co-taught three classes with Dr. Juan. In all three courses, I marveled at his capacity to guide our students to explore the intersections of theatre and social justice and to create their own characters and narratives that experiment with theatrical forms in order to generate new compelling works of theatre. As a colleague and collaborator, I have witnessed the many marvelous ways that Dr. Juan has indefatigably worked to empower students and colleagues to employ theatre and film as important tools to seek social justice.
-Anne García-Romero, Associate Professor, Department of Film, Television, and Theatre
Director’s Note
My first acting role was the angel during the Easter rites of the Mater Dolorosa in a black mourning veil meeting the Resurrected Christ. Harnessed onto a tall cross I was to descend and unveil the Blessed Virgin as a symbol of the Resurrection…It has been my assigned role and task, since then, as a writer and director, through the expressions of theatre and the other arts to resurrect the voices of the marginalized, voices muted and buried because of dominant powers, oppression, dictatorships, and states of cruelty. Nineteen years ago, I was asked by the provost what my philosophy of “education” was: “Ex Ducere” is where the word comes from – to lead students and audiences into other realities and other worlds. I thank the University of Notre Dame, and my esteemed colleagues at the Department of Film, Television, and Theatre particularly, who had the faith in hiring and embracing me as a tenured professor. I thank the Provost and Provost’s Office of Research, Kellogg Institute for International Studies, the Liu
Institute for Asia and Asian Studies, the Nanovic Institute for European Studies, the ISLA, the Notre Dame International, our staff, and our students, for all their support in helping me create works that carry the University of Notre Dame du Lac’s mission of social justice.
And now, it’s time once again to descend into the Global South, lift the veil of the
Blessed Virgin, and reveal her wounds of Seven Swords, where ghosts are waiting for their histories to be revealed.
Anton Juan, April 2023
Cast
Okamura/Ensemble (Musician/Butoh Student): Ayden Kowalski*
Master/Taka/Ensemble (Soldier #3/Puppeteer Priest): Brian Crooker*
Ensemble (Soldier #1/Puppeteer Priest/Butoh Student/Club Customer): Eli Gay
Ensemble (Soldier #2/Puppeteer Priest/Butoh Student/Club Customer): Erik Kaiser*
Perla/Ensemble (Puppeteer Acolyte & Tuko/Butoh Student): Grace Osoteo+
Sister Martha (Puppeteer Acolyte & Tuko/Butoh Student): Irene Cornett+
Fujio/Ensemble (Musician/Villager): Jacob Moniz
Erika/Ensemble (Musician): James Mahedy
Akito/Ensemble (Butoh Student): Jiaxin Xu
Ensemble (Butoh Student): Jimmy Grammig
Jurori Bunraku Chanter/Ensemble (Club Customer): Kieran Cantwell*
Ghost of Cherry: Jovie Calma
Mulawin: Timothy Merkle+
Celia/Ensemble (Puppeteer Acolyte & Tuko/Butoh Student): Xiyun Wu
The Comfort Woman/Delia/Ensemble (Villager/Butoh Student): Yining (Elena) Zhang
Production
Producer: Kevin Dreyer
Director: Anton Juan
Costume Designer/Costume Shop Manager: Lynn Holbrook
Set Designer: Marcus Stephens
Lighting Designer: Kevin Dreyer
Stage Manager: Carolyn Dell*
Technical Director: C. Kenneth Cole
Assistant Stage Manager: Jimmy Grammig
Assistant Costume Designers: Delna Balsara, Beri Tangka*
Make-Up: Beri Tangka
Stitchers: Kathleen Werner, Amalie Zarp-Karshott
Dressers: Deborah Mayer
Light Board Operator: Karla Guerra/Luke Valentino
Graphic Designer: Quin Earley*
Video Editor: Franz Sorilla IV
Sound/Projections: Minsub Song
Lead Carpenter/Scenic Artist: Jeff Szymanowski
Costume Shop Assistants
Delna Balsara
Irene Cornett+
Patrick Hsaio
Elizabeth Maroshick+
Angelina McKimson
Macy Owen
Beri Tangka
Scene Shop Assistants
Karla Guerra
Nicolas Gutierrez
Megan McNelis
Grace Osoteo
Minsub Song
*denotes FTT major
+denotes Musical Theatre minor
Play: This Is Our Youth
Author: Kenneth Lonergan
Date: April 28-30, 2023
Producing Organization: Notre Dame Film, Television, and Theatre
Venue: Philbin Studio Theatre, DeBartolo Performing Arts Center
Cast
Dennis Ziegler: Gabe Ozaki*
Warren Straub: Tommy O’Brien+
Jessica Goldman: Lucy Barron*
Production
Directors: Lucy Barron, Tommy O’Brien, Gabe Ozaki
Executive Producer: Lucy Barron*
Stage Manager: Sam Grocock*
Graphic Designer: Quin Earley*
Sound Technician: Karla Guerra
Technical Assistant: Quin Earley*
Faculty Advisors
Siiri Scott
Kevin Dreyer
C. Kenneth Cole
A senior theatre production by Lucy Barron, Tommy O’Brien, and Gabe Ozaki, This Is Our Youth began as a class project in Professor Siiri Scott’s Acting: Text and Technique class, a course that was developed to help students make the transition from scene study into rehearsal and performance. The students work on the material in class, perform the scenes for one another, and receive feedback – then later perform the material in a full production.