ExpressionT H E M A G A Z I N E F O R A L U M N I A N D F R I E N D S O F E M E R S O N C O L L E G ES P R I N G 2 0 0 2

From all walks of theater life.Young actor on the rise NathanGehan ’99 (left) and Stewart F.Lane, co-producer of theBroadway hit ThoroughlyModern Millie, flank BonnieComley, MA ’94 (left), of theMillie production team, andElizabeth Elkins ’89, who isstarring in Off-Broadway’s FoolFor Love. They gather at NewYork City’s Great White Way.

TheMiracleof

Theater LAUNCHING NEW WORKSBROADWAY’SBOOM INREVIVALSTHE ACTOR’SLOT

The 21st annual EVVY Awards had

Emersonians starry-eyed this spring.

Emerson’s version of the Emmy

awards, the evening show at the

Emerson Majestic Theatre included

the presentation of some 34 EVVYs

for outstanding student work. The

elaborately staged production, com-

plete with dance numbers and comedy

sketches, was broadcast live, using

eight cameras, on the Emerson Chan-

nel. Below left: Linda Corradina, execu-

tive producer for Oxygen Media; below

right: Boston broadcasters Randy

Price and David Brudnoy; bottom:

student hosts Steve Basilone, Sarah

Donovan and Mike Garrity.

EVVY AWARDS WOW THE HOUSE

2 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

3 CAMPUS DIGESTThree ‘legends’ retire from the faculty this

year, new trustees are elected to the Board,

the Los Angeles Center sports a large, new

exterior sign and more

8 INNOVATORS OF EMERSONGroundbreakers, trailblazers and moguls

who have gone where few have gone before.

Here, they tell how they scaled the heights

14 ROLL CREDITS!What are gaffers, best boys and grips, any-

way? Industry alums reveal the answers

18 THE MIRACLE OF THEATERIt takes a herculean effort to bring a new

work to the stage. Explore the world of the-

ater from new work to the boom in Broad-

way revivals to the lives of struggling actors

24 ALUMNI DIGESTA look at the new officers of the Executive

Committee of the Alumni Association’s

Board of Directors, and photos from events

held around the country

28 CLASS NOTES

33 PROFILESMeet a man who tutors the biggest child

actors of the day, a perfumer with a Midas

touch, and a Vermont TV producer whose

specialty is farming

36 MY TURNGrad student Erika Hahn has her father to

thank for her budding career in television

For alumni and friends of

Emerson College

EXECUTIVE EDITOR

DAVID ROSEN

EDITOR

RHEA BECKER

WRITER

CHRISTOPHER HENNESSY

DESIGN CONSULTANT

RONN CAMPISI

EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

JESSICA NADEAU

Cover photograph by Joshua Paul

EXPRESSION is published three

times a year (fall, winter and spring)

for alumni and friends of Emerson

College by the Office of Public Af-

fairs (David Rosen, associate vice

president) in conjunction with the

Department of Institutional Ad-

vancement (Jeanne Brodeur ’72,

vice president) and the Office of

Alumni Relations (Barbara Rutberg

’68, director).

OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

public_affairs@emerson.edu

(617) 824-8540,

fax (617) 824-8916

OFFICE OF ALUMNI RELATIONS

alumni@emerson.edu

(800) 255-4259, (617) 824-8535,

fax (617) 824-7807

Copyright © 2002

Emerson College

120 Boylston St.

Boston, MA 02116-4624

Expression

CONTENTS SPRING 2002

PA G E 8

PA G E 1 4

PA G E 3 3

PA G E 3 4

Hey, kids, let’s put on a show! —

except, these days, it’s more dif-

ficult than ever to launch a new

work for the theater. From New

York’s Broadway stage to region-

al venues across the country,

theater professionals face long

odds but determinedly push for-

ward, creating culture as they

produce new plays. Our cover

story takes a look at this world —

including the launch of new

works, the boom in revivals and

adaptations on Broadway, and

what life is like for actors as they

try to establish their ca-

reers.

What makes an “inno-

vator”? We hand-picked

six special alumni who

have made their marks

as innovators in their re-

spective fields — televi-

sion, business, litera-

ture, communication

sciences and theater.

Learn about the person-

al characteristics, creativity and

energy it took to scale the

heights of their professions.

Do you ever read the credits

that come up at the end of a film

or TV show and wonder what all

those people with the esoteric ti-

tles actually do—gaffer, grip, film

loader? Wonder no more. We will

define the jobs that help make

Hollywood film and television

run, through talks with Emerson

alums who perform those jobs

every day.

In our Profiles section, you’ll

meet a modern-day alchemist

who creates personalized per-

fumes, a man with a one-of-a-

kind occupation: teaching science

to child actors on location, and a

veritable institution in Vermont

television.

And don’t forget to check the

Class Notes for news on your

classmates!

Rhea Becker, editor

2 E X P R E S S I O N S P R I N G 2 0 0 2

Timely story on journalism’s dangers

Iread with interest your article

“Media Under Pressure” in the re-

cent edition of Expression. I wanted

to share with you how much I enjoyed

the article. I have made copies of the

piece for students in my “Special Top-

ics” course, which currently highlights

media concerns post-Sept. 11. In addi-

tion, I have given copies of the story to

our journalism professors, who I know

will savor every word of the analysis. I

could not help but think about the

timeliness of the story as we reflect on

the horror of Daniel Pearl’s murder in

Pakistan. Please know that your efforts

will be part of our class discussions and

continued analyses in the Department

of Communication at the College of

Saint Elizabeth.

Marjorie Feinstein ’72West Orange, N.J.

Another first-class edition of

Expression. I am so proud to be

an alumna!

Caren M. Block, MA ’85Stoneham, Mass.

As a journalist and public

relations officer for nearly 30

years, I am proud to see the

evolution of the former Beacon maga-

zine into a first-class alumni publica-

tion now called Expression.

In particular, I enjoyed the article

“Lawyers of Emerson,” which featured

the careers of several graduates who

have made their marks in the commu-

nication/broadcast industry as well as

in private practice as attorneys. What

better way to use the powerful commu-

nication skills that have been Emer-

son’s specialty since its inception.

For alums who do not get to Boston

often, the short piece on the ground-

breaking of the new 11-story Tufte Cen-

ter is indeed a milestone for all who

have passed through Emerson’s doors.

Emerson has clearly set a firm founda-

tion at its new location on the Common

and thus established the facility and city

presence needed to serve the faculty,

staff and students.

I look forward to receiving my copy

of Expression, because it keeps me

well informed about the programs,

people and progress at Emerson. Excel-

lent feature stories, coupled with quali-

ty photographs and artwork, make Ex-pression enjoyable to

read. My congratula-

tions to your staff

and all those who

have a hand in pro-

ducing such an excel-

lent product.

Tom Bauer ’68Pemberton, N.J.

Thank you for sharing the won-

derful talent of the seven poets

featured in the winter edition of

Expression. While Emerson has gained

national recognition for attracting a dy-

namic community of poets, the nearby

city of Cambridge has long been identi-

fied as an international haven for poets.

This spring, the Cambridge Arts Coun-

cil with support from the Cambridge

Center for Adult Education was able to

tap into this trend and launch a new

Performance Poetry component at the

24th Cambridge River Festival. Last

year, a group of Emerson young alumni

supported the event through communi-

ty service by volunteering to carry out a

number of important tasks on the day

of the event.

I appreciate the many benefits of-

fered to Emerson alumni, not the least

of which includes access to valuable

volunteers like the Emerson Young

Alumni group and the updates and

stories shared in Expression.

Mary Ann Cicala ’99Belmont, Mass.

IN THIS ISSUE letters

Expression welcomes short

letters to the editor on top-

ics covered in the magazine.

The editor will select a rep-

resentative sample of letters

to publish and reserves the

right to edit copy for style

and length. Send letters to:

Editor, Expression, Office of

Public Affairs, Emerson Col-

lege, 120 Boylston St.,

Boston, MA 02116-4624.

S P R I N G 2 0 0 2 E X P R E S S I O N 3

Three longtime facultymembers, with an aggregate of

more than 100 years of teaching

at Emerson, retired this year. They are:

professors Joan Brigham (art history),

Henry Stonie (sociology) and Walter

Littlefield (political communication).

Following are brief biographies of each.

JOAN BRIGHAM

In 1971, Joan Brigham entered her first

Emerson classroom to teach courses on

modern art. She retires as a professor

of visual and media arts, and says she

“will carry with me the students and my

friends on the faculty. I’ll miss the daily

contact.”

Brigham’s memo-

ries include helping

to found the Col-

lege’s Institute for

Liberal Arts and In-

terdisciplinary Stud-

ies.

Brigham’s own

work as an artist has

brought her much

recognition through

the years. Her unusual medium—

steam—is a prominent element of her

public art installations. “For a long

time, I was the only person doing it,”

she says. In the Boston area, she has

two works on permanent view, the Tan-

ner Fountain at Harvard University

(1985) and the Galaxy Fountain in

Kendall Square, Cambridge (1990).

Her public art has been on view in New

York City, Chicago, Philadelphia, Pitts-

burgh and Seattle as well as in Europe.

Brigham has accepted an appoint-

ment as a visiting scholar at M.I.T.’s

Center for Advanced Visual Studies,

where she will write a book on the

Center.

WALTER LITTLEFIELD

A specialist in propaganda and politics

in the mass media, Associate Professor

Walter Littlefield spent nearly 40 years

teaching at the College. Among the

courses he taught are Propaganda; Poli-tics and the Mass Media; Argumentation;

and Propaganda and Public Opinion. Lit-

tlefield was internship director for the

Department of Communication for the

past 15 years. He also directed the Com-

munication Industries Management

Program in 1997-98 and was co-direc-

tor of the program in Communication,

Politics and Law since 1980.

“I have enjoyed the Emerson stu-

dents and sustain friendships with

many of them after they leave,” says Lit-

tlefield. In addition, he will always re-

member “the wonderful teachers I’ve

had the opportunity to work with.”

He is looking forward to devoting

more time to his avocation: the Boston

Lamplight Puppet Theatre, which

brings puppet shows to public schools

around Massachusetts. He and his wife,

Marcia Littlefield, a former part-time

speech instructor at Emerson, share the

work, writing the scripts, building the

sets, making the puppets and perform-

ing the shows.

He and his wife will also continue to

do consulting work, teaching commu-

nication skills for a longtime client, the

School Transportation Association of

Massachusetts.

“There are still a lot of things I want

to do,” says Littlefield with enthusiasm.

HENRY STONIE

Henry Stonie began teaching at the Col-

lege in 1956. He was chair of the De-

partment of Humanities and Social Sci-

ences from 1978 to 1980 and from

1988 to 1998. Among the courses he

taught are Principles of Sociology; TheFamily; Sociological Theory; Communitiesand Race Relations; Sociology of Religion;

and Organizational Behavior.Stonie led the religious activities of-

fice for three years and was founding

president of the American Association

of University Professors.

“I spent my life here, and there have

been so many different eras,” he re-

calls. “It’s a different Emerson today.”

His son and wife both have degrees

from Emerson, thus the College “was a

centerpiece in our lives.”

Stonie looks forward to big changes

in his lifestyle. “There’s too much to do

out there,” he says.

Stonie will be traveling with his wife

to their second home on Waikiki and

working in Lithuania in teacher train-

ing programs. Stonie got his first taste

of teaching there while on sabbatical at

Vytautas Magnus Universitetas.

Stonie is also a Unitarian minister,

and has served as minister at Union

Chapel-Interdenominational Church in

North Hampton, N.H., for the past two

decades.

campus digest

Three ‘legends’ retire from facultyBrigham, Littlefield and Stonie step down

Over 100

years

at the

College

TOP: Joan Brigham

ABOVE: Henry Stonie (left) and Walter

Littlefield

4 E X P R E S S I O N S P R I N G 2 0 0 2

campus digest

More than 1,100 under-

graduate and graduate

degrees were awarded

to students at the

2002 Commencement

Exercises, held in May

at the Wang Center for

the Performing Arts in

Boston.

Sherry Lansing, chair-

man and chief executive

officer of Paramount

Pictures Motion Picture

Group and one of the

most influential women

in the entertainment

industry, spoke at the

undergraduate ceremony.

Ed Eskandarian, chair-

man and CEO of Arnold

Worldwide Partners in

Boston, an international

advertising network,

spoke at the graduate

ceremony.

Lansing and

Eskandarian received

honorary degrees along

with Boston Globe

reporter Walter Robinson

and theater entrepreneur

Gerald Schoenfeld, chair-

man of the Shubert

Organization.

The fall issue of

Expression will contain

full Commencement

2002 coverage.

An evaluation team selected

by the New England Associa-

tion of Schools and Colleges

(NEASC), one of eight regional accred-

iting bodies in the United States, will

visit the Emerson campus Nov. 3-6 as

part of the College’s 10-year reaccredita-

tion review.

The team will be

chaired by William

Adams, president of

Colby College in

Maine, and is expect-

ed to include faculty

members and admin-

istrators from seven

other schools. They

will meet with ad-

ministrators, deans

and faculty members and review a com-

prehensive self-study of Emerson that

will be finalized this summer. Based on

the evaluation committee’s recommen-

dation, NEASC will decide on the ac-

creditation status of the College and

cite any areas that need

improvement.

More than 75 faculty,

students and staff have

participated in the self-

study process, which is

overseen by a steering

committee of faculty

members and administra-

tors chaired by Dorothy

Aram, vice president for

academic affairs, and

Mickey Zemon, executive

director of the Library.

The participants were di-

vided into 11 self-study

committees that correspond to the 11

accreditation standards the College

must meet (see list below).

In the fall of 2001, the committees

prepared preliminary reports. These

were posted on a special website

(http://cafe.emerson.edu/selfstudy/)

and discussed at two open forums. In

March, the steering committee re-

Accreditation visit slated

A report

will be

posted

online

2002 Commencement Exercises held in May

Ed Eskandarian Sherry Lansing

turned the reports to the self-study

committees with comments and recom-

mendations. These committees submit-

ted drafts late in April, and the steering

committee reviewed the documents in

May.

The Board of Trustees has followed

the progress of the self-study and is ex-

pected to approve a final draft of the re-

port over the summer. This report will

be posted on the self-study website, and

an open meeting for all members of the

Emerson community will be held early

in August. When the report is pub-

lished, the committee will welcome

feedback from community members,

including alumni and friends, via the

website.

Steering Committee members are

Dorothy Aram (co-chair), Cynthia

Bartlett, David Bogen, Kathleen Dono-

hue, Rob Sabal, Michael Weiler, Trustee

Larry Rasky, Mickey Zemon (co-chair).

Self-study Committee chairs are

Mission and Purpose, Maureen Shea;

Planning and Evaluation, Stuart Sig-

man; Organization and Governance,

Mary Harkins; Programs and Instruc-

tion, David Bogen; Faculty, Michael

Weiler; Student Services, Ronald Lud-

man; Physical Resources, Robert Silver-

man; Financial Resources, Robert Sil-

verman; Public Disclosure, Suzanne

Swope; Integrity, Jeffrey Seglin.

S P R I N G 2 0 0 2 E X P R E S S I O N 5

Our name in lightsNew sign dedicated at the College’s Los Angeles Center

New trusteeselected to boardMedia executive Peter H. Smyth

and inventor/businesswoman

Sheryl Levy ’68 have been

elected to the Emerson College

Board of Trustees.

Smyth is president and chief

operating officer of Greater

Media Inc. (GMI), a national

broadcast conglomerate that

manages 18 stations, including

five in Boston (WMJX, WKLB,

WTKK, WROR and WBOS). He is

a graduate of the College of the

Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass.

Levy is a partner in Richard

C. Levy Associates, which spe-

cializes in the invention, devel-

opment and licensing of toys,

games and juvenile products.

While her primary corporate

responsibilities are finance and

investment, she has co-invented

or contributed creatively to

many of the company’s best-

selling games, including Wayne’s

World, Chicken Soup for the

Soul, and Men Are From Mars,

Women Are From Venus. She

holds a bachelor’s degree in

speech therapy from Emerson.

Kathleen Turnermakes return visitStage and film actress Kathleen

Turner impressed an audience of

more than 100 during a casual

but informative hour-long Q&A

session last winter. Turner, who

holds a 1990 Emerson honorary

degree, described theater as “a

real communal experience.” Her

visit was similar to a session

she held with students here in

the fall of 2000. Chair of

Performing Arts Maureen Shea

presented Turner with a hooded

Emerson sweatshirt as a token

of appreciation and to accompa-

ny her Emerson master’s hood.

Every day, approximately12,000 cars speed past Emerson

College’s campus on the West

Coast—known as the Los Angeles Cen-

ter. But few realize it because there has

never been a sign or any other mark-

ings to reveal the creative work that

goes on inside.

That all changed this past winter,

when a 42-foot-long illuminated sign

reading “Emerson College” was un-

veiled in a formal ceremony as part of

an entire weekend of special activities

held in Los Angeles in March.

When Jim Lane, executive director

of the Los Angeles Center, arrived at the

Los Angeles Center two years ago, he

noted “the glaring absence of a sign, so

I put it very high on the priority list for

the Center.”

His dream came to fruition when

the sign was recently purchased with

funds supplied by an anonymous

donor. The sign is expected to bring a

great deal of “graphic visibility to the

College because Los Angeles is a car

culture,” says Lane, “and since the Los

Angeles Center is near the Warner

Brothers, NBC and ABC studios, driv-

ers who come by freeway must pass our

building to get to these studios.”

campus digest

STUDENTS WIN 15 PRIZES IN ASSOCIATED PRESS COMPETITION

IN BROADCAST JOURNALISM

Student broadcast news media at Emerson garnered a record 15 prizes in

the 2002 Associated Press Broadcasters Awards for Massachusetts and

Rhode Island. The awards were presented this past spring.

Nine awards, including college news station of the year, went to WEBN.

Five went to WERS-FM and one to Emerson Independent Video (EIV).

Several of the awards recognized exceptional coverage of events and issues

related to the Sept. 11 attacks. Others were in categories ranging from

sports to special events to enterprise reporting.

“This is a marvelous achievement for Emerson and especially for the

students who have worked so hard to earn these coveted awards,” said

Associate Professor of Journalism Marsha Della-Giustina. “We always do

well in this competition, but 15 awards is certainly a record.”

The Los Angeles Center sports a new sign.

6 E X P R E S S I O N S P R I N G 2 0 0 2

campus digest

Second annualstudent filmfestival heldin Los Angeles

New student films were

screened at the College’s

Second Annual Festival of Film,

held in March 2002 in Los

Angeles.

Directors of the films were

Elza Kephart ’98, Fouad Mahfuz

’00, Stu Silverman ’99, Eric

Torvi ’98 and Andrew van den

Houton ’02.

The festival was curated by

Jim Lane, executive director of

Emerson’s Los Angeles Center.

“The word-of-mouth about

the festival has created a

buzz,” said Lane. “We had a lot

of submissions this year, and

it’s become competitive.”

The festival was part of a

weekend of activities called

“Away in L.A.,” which was

designed by the College’s Office

of Alumni Relations to provide

an opportunity for current stu-

dents and faculty in Los

Angeles to mix with California-

based alumni. The weekend

included the dedication of a

new sign for the building in

which the Los Angeles Center

is housed (see story on page 5)

and a visit to the set of the

popular television show Friends,

where co-producer Kevin Bright

’76 greeted alums and gave a

talk.

A scene from The Still Point, a

student film by Eric Torvi ’98.

THINK GLOBALLY, SPEAK LOCALLYAdvertising CEO Joseph Cronin came to campus

in March to deliver the 2002 Irma S. Mann

Distinguished Lecture. The Saatchi & Saatchi vice

chairman spoke about his experiences in global

advertising and addressed the future and chal-

lenges of worldwide marketing and advertising.

Each year, a noted marketing communications

professional is selected to deliver the lecture and receive the Irma S. Mann

Award. The lecture series is endowed by Mann (’67, ’92 Hon.), former mem-

ber and chairperson emerita of the Emerson Board of Trustees. Mann is

founder and former chair of Irma S. Mann Strategic Marketing Inc. and cur-

rently chair of Irma, Inc.

Emersonians score big withSuper Bowl coverage

While new englanderseverywhere celebrated the

Patriots’ surprise Super Bowl

win this past winter, intrepid Emerson

journalists were working hard to pro-

vide special on-site coverage of the his-

toric game for the Emerson communi-

ty. The students gained valuable

experience in the process.

The students trekked cross-country

to New Orleans to cover pre-game fes-

tivities, the competition itself and the

ensuing celebrations. Students in

Boston covered the city’s own parade of

champions, which cut through Emer-

son’s campus on its way to a City Hall

Plaza rally.

The students compiled audio reports

for WERS-FM (88.9) and numerous

video reports as well. The video footage

was used to create a special broadcast

for Emerson’s own WEBN-TV as well

as local cable channels.

Student reporters not only covered

the game but also filed stories about the

National Guard’s presence at the game,

security searches and even scalpers. Re-

porters talked with players and coaches

from both teams and snagged inter-

views with Boston Pops conductor Kei-

th Lockhart, pre-game musical per-

former Mary J. Blige, and “Hall of

Fame”-er Bill Kelley.

While the students were still report-

ing from New Orleans, the technology

manager for the School of Communica-

tion, Michelle Johnson, was making

these reports available on the web.

An Emerson student films

a reveler in New Orleans

during Super Bowl weekend

2002 coverage.

S P R I N G 2 0 0 2 E X P R E S S I O N 7

Overlooking a big dig con-

struction site in Boston, the

light-filled factory-studio of Lyn

Hovey Studio Inc. is filled with pieces

of stained glass of every dimension and

shape. They sit atop expansive wooden

work tables and come from works-in-

progress: windows of cathedrals, syna-

gogues, schools, and other institu-

tions—waiting to be disassembled,

cleaned, restored

and reassembled.

From beneath

one of these tables

a worker pulls out

a large horizontal

wooden board, and

there it is: one of the

Emerson Majestic

Theatre’s cobalt-blue

stained glass windows, measuring

some 3 feet across—in pieces, but

shaped as if it were on display.

The studio, which has specialized in

the creation and restoration of stained

glass windows for the past 30 years, has

been commissioned to restore the Ma-

jestic Theatre’s stained glass as part of

a $10 million project to restore the The-

atre, which is expected to be completed

in the spring of 2003. Some of the stu-

dio’s past work includes the restoration

of 1895 and 1898 Tiffany windows for

two Massachusetts churches.

Work on the Emerson windows be-

gan in the summer of 2001 when Pro-

ject Manager Tom Barber of Lyn Hovey

Studio made a site visit to the Majestic.

What he found was four sets of win-

dows, nearly 100 years old, in “horri-

ble” shape, he said in a recent inter-

view. “There was buckling, bowing and

breaking,” he said.

When the Majestic was constructed

as an opera house in 1903, stained

glass was a common feature in Ameri-

can architecture. As the neighborhood

declined and the use of the building

changed—it was once a movie theater

in the 1980s, and it was completely

shuttered for several years—many sec-

tions of the large-scale decorative

stained glass windows fell into disre-

pair. Pieces were broken or lost.

During the site visit, Barber pho-

tographed the windows, which came

in varying shapes, designs and loca-

tions on the façade of the building.

Then each one was carefully removed

and trucked to the waterfront studio in

South Boston, where the work would

take place.

Once the stained glass arrives at the

studio, it is cleaned, the old lead is re-

moved (or “unzipped”) along with the

old putty, the glass is repaired or re-

placed, and the pieces are releaded,

reputtied and soldered. The studio em-

ploys a negative-air exhaust system to

handle harmful lead dust.

Many of the Majestic windows were

constructed using opalescent glass—

a milky, opaque look popular in turn-

of-the-century American stained glass.

When the studio could not find match-

ing replacement glass among its own

stock, the material was ordered from an

Indiana-based firm called Kokomo

Opalescent Glass Co., which is the

world’s oldest manufacturer of the

product. “You try to salvage broken

glass if it’s special,” said Brian Roche,

marketing manager for Lyn Hovey Stu-

dio. “If you need to replace it, you

shouldn’t make a random choice.”

Top-of-the-line products and cen-

turies’-old techniques are employed in

the restoration. “One of the first things

that can fail in a window is the putty,”

said Barber. “We use a linseed oil-based

putty,” he said, kneading a small ball

of black putty. “There is nothing today

that is any better.”

The entire stained glass project is

expected to be completed this summer,

when the windows will be transported

back to the Theatre and re-installed,

ready for the next 100 years.

— Rhea Becker

Stained glass windows enjoy a second actThe Emerson Majestic Theatre’s adornments are being meticulously restored

4 sets of

windows

...100

years old

campus digest

ABOVE: Workers remove stained glass

windows from the façade of the Emerson

Majestic Theatre.

BELOW: A section of stained glass awaits

restoration.

8 E X P R E S S I O N S P R I N G 2 0 0 2

you can almost feel it in the air. It’s an electricity. We live inAmerica, and nowhere else in the world do people have more free-dom to innovate, be different and be themselves.

Inventive people are individuals who do not wait for opportunity;instead, they overcome resistance and hunt for change.They dare to be unique and refuse to trade incentive forsecurity.

Innovation is about tackling problems and learning fromfailure, for there can be no success without failure. It isabout making mistakes, the by-product of experimenta-tion. It is about having absolute, unshakable trust in your-self and your ideas. It is about fun and the joy of creatingsomething original.

Emerson has a proud heritage of ingenious people who,discontent with the status quo, have the courage to meethardships head-on, introduce change to the skeptical, andcross a threshold of discovery.

The six alumni profiled here have made their respec-tive marks in television, business, literature, communi-cation disorders and theater. Each person took the raw ma-terials of ambition, dedication, vision, and something thateludes definition, and saw their dreams materialize. Readtheir words and discover the keys to their unique powers of creativityand imagination.

Some people say, “If it’s not broken, don’t fix it.” My mantra is, “Ifit’s not broken, break it!”

innovatorsof Emerson

A LETTER FROM RICHARD C . LEVY ‘68

Six trailblazing alums and how they electrified andtransformed their professions

Richard C. (Ricardo) Levy’68 is a toy and game in-ventor and marketer whohas licensed more than 125products and holds morethan 50 patents and trade-marks. His products,which include the toy Fur-by, and games based uponthe best-selling booksChicken Soup For The

Soul and Men Are From

Mars, Women Are From

Venus, have generatedmore than $1 billion in re-tail sales. He is the authorof The Complete Idiot’s

Guide To Cashing In On

Your Inventions (AlphaBooks, 2001).

S P R I N G 2 0 0 2 E X P R E S S I O N 9

Susan Batson ’64COACHING GURU

When nicole kidman won a 2002 Gold-

en Globe for her starring role in MoulinRouge, she thanked Susan Batson ’64

from the podium. Who is Susan Batson and

how has she come to be linked with some of the film world’s

biggest names: Juliette Binoche, Tom Cruise, Madonna, Jen-

nifer Lopez and many others? She is a top New York City-

based acting coach, teaching at her Black Nexxus studio in

Soho, which provides equal op-

portunity to a range of actors,

from the well-established to the

fledgling. As a child growing up

in the Roxbury neighborhood of

Boston, Batson began acting with

a children’s theater company at

the age of 8. Upon graduating

from Emerson College, she set

out for the Big Apple that very

evening to launch her acting ca-

reer. She landed a role in the hit

musical Hair. Although she has

received plaudits for her own act-

ing (an Obie Award, and New

York and Los Angeles Drama Critics awards), the moment

she tried her hand at coaching to earn money after a divorce,

she discovered her true passion — and her clients might say

her true gift. Batson was recently the subject of major pro-

files in The New Yorker and The Hollywood Reporter. Babson

was recognized with an Alumni Achievement Award from

Emerson this year.

Q: What acting method do you teach?

A: There’s a lot of thievery [laughs]. Lee Strasberg, Harold

Courman, Herbert Bergoff and Uta Hagen were my primary

teachers. What I did was learn from them and then created

my own process. That is the process that I share. No two ac-

tors are alike. You first encourage an actor to examine their

own instrument to see what tools they have and what tools

they need.

Q: Where do you get the confidence to work with some of

the big names you’ve worked with?

A: I have a passion and a love for the work. And I have a

terrific love for acting. It makes me a little fearless, and I’m

slightly arrogant about it. When I come into the room, I

don’t care who you are, you better love it.

Q: Will you work with anyone who comes through the

doors of your studio?

A: I work with people who’ve never had any training, and

that keeps me very honest. I have to find answers for these

new people. I have to really get down and find

what they need, their method.

It keeps me studying new talent.

Q: Can anyone, with coaching, be an actor?

A: In my book, no, not everyone can act.

When Spike Lee wanted to cast a real basket-

ball player in his film He Got Game, we audi-

tioned all around the country, the New York Knicks, L.A.,

and so on. We finally found Ray Allen of the Milwaukee

Bucks. The difference that made us determine that he was

capable of acting was that he had an immediate vulnerabili-

ty. I worked with him, and he really surprised everybody. He

was even nominated for an MTV new arrival award. You can

feed a lot of people, but very few people will digest it.

Q: When you work with actors, what kinds of problems

most frequently come up?

A: There’s a block—emotional or psychological—that

leaves the actor’s instrument limited. They can’t completely

express rage or they can’t be vulnerable. Those are the two

ends of the spectrum.

Q: You act only occasionally now. Do you miss it?

A: I’m afraid that the coaching satiated me very early on.

I never liked the business or trusted it.

Q: What drives you?

A: My mother [Ruth Batson, prominent civil rights activist

in Massachusetts] was the first this and the first that, a list of

‘firsts.’ And you can’t get much stronger than my mother.

We were always told as children that we had to make a con-

tribution to black life and so on. From very young, we had

this responsibility. It’s a big imprinting on your psyche.

Bobbi Brown ’79MAKEUP MOGUL

Drawing on a lifelong fascination with makeup,

Bobbi Brown ’79 was innovative from the start: she

fashioned her very own ma-

jor in theatrical makeup at Emer-

son College. After graduation, she

moved to New York and began to

work as a freelance makeup artist.

When she discovered that she

couldn’t find the shades she need-

ed, she invented her own. Profes-

sional models began borrowing

the lipsticks Brown had created,

and in 1991 she found herself in-

troducing her own product line.

She and a business partner set up

a small display table in New York

City’s Bergdorf Goodman store

‘I HAVE ATERRIFICLOVE FORACTING. ITMAKES MEA LITTLE

FEARLESS...’

SUSAN BATSON ’64

1 0 E X P R E S S I O N S P R I N G 2 0 0 2

with a modest 100 tubes of Bobbi Brown lip-

stick. All 100 were sold by the end of the first

day, and Bobbi Brown Essentials was born. The

company was purchased by Estee Lauder in

1995. Brown remains CEO of Bobbi Brown

Professional Cosmetics. Today, she is credited

with popularizing ‘natural-looking’ makeup.

Just a few of the notable faces she has made up are Brooke

Shields, Christie Brinkley, Susan Sarandon and Andie Mac-

Dowell. She has written three books on makeup, including

Bobbi Brown Beauty: The Ultimate Beauty Resource, and is

beauty editor for NBC’s Today show. She has been profiled

in Women’s Wear Daily, People, Vogue and Elle.

Q: You created a major in theatrical makeup at Emerson.

How did this background figure into your ultimate career

path?

A: My love for makeup goes back even further than my

college days at Emerson. It all started when I was 5 years old

and discovered my mom’s drawer of makeup. I still remem-

ber watching all her beauty rituals, like when she applied

her white eye shadow and pale lips.

Q: What prompted you to take your ambition to the next

level?

A: After years of working as a makeup artist in New York,

I had trouble finding the exact shades and textures to natu-

rally enhance a woman’s face and skin tone. I decided to

take my favorite, hand-mixed shades to a chemist and had

him turn my creations into actual lipsticks. When I realized

how big the demand was for natural-looking makeup, I ex-

tended my product line to a full range of products.

Q: You’re a pioneer in the cosmetics field. How do you

maintain your products’ distinctive characteristics?

A: My philosophy has always been that makeup should

help a woman look and feel like herself, only prettier and

more confident—and that’s something that defines every-

thing I do. All of the products and colors in my makeup line

are designed to make makeup quick and easy for women.

Q: Your business was bought by Estee Lauder Co. and

you’ve stayed on as CEO. What is your role currently?

A: My day-to-day involves everything from meeting with

advertising and creative; brainstorming new products and

shades with product development; doing press interviews;

to creating makeup looks for magazine covers and editorial

shoots.

Q: How involved are you in developing new products? New

shades?

A: I’m just as involved in the creation of new products

and shades as I was when I first started my line over 10

years ago.

Q: Who are some of the public figures who use your line of

beauty products?

A: Alicia Silverstone, Lauryn Hill, Brooke

Shields, Sarah Jessica Parker, Minnie Driver.

Q: Where did you get your confidence and

drive to go the distance?

A: My family has always been the biggest

inspiration. From my grandfather I learned the

virtue of hard work and from my parents I

learned the value of taking chances. My husband and three

sons are my secret to staying Zen. They’ve helped me find a

balance between work and home, constantly teach me

patience and love, and have helped me prioritize what’s

important.

Thomas Lux ’70POETIC POWERHOUSE

Thomas lux “may be one of the poets on whom the

future of the genre depends,” believes award-winning

writer Sven Birkerts. If so, the future is in good hands.

As one of the most individual artists in poetry today, Lux’s

clarity of voice and message serve as a powerful dictum for

modern verse. He is equally brilliant whether writing about

maraschino cherries or the brutality of the human race or

even the blank page itself:

A hard task—the blank

so creamy, a cold

and perfect snowfield upon which

a human, it’s only human,

wants to leave

his inky black and awkward marks.

As a student at Emerson in the late ’60s, Lux published

a chapbook during his senior year at Emerson, and his first

full-length book was published two years later. He would

also become one of Emerson’s first poets-in-residence (1972-

1973), and one of the first editors for Ploughshares, a role he’s

thrice performed.

Lux has been publishing innovative

verse for more than 30 years. His

most recent book is The Street ofClocks (Houghton Mifflin, 2001). His

work has received recognition such as

the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award and

he has been awarded three National

Endowment for the Arts grants and a

Guggenheim Fellowship. He’s taught

at Sarah Lawrence College and the

Warren Wilson low-residency M.F.A.

Program for Writers in Asheville,

N.C. After 27 years at Sarah Lawrence

directing its M.F.A. program in poet-

ry, Lux will become the Bourne Pro-

‘FROM MYGRAND-FATHER ILEARNED

THE VIRTUEOF HARDWORK...’

BOBBIBROWN ’79

S P R I N G 2 0 0 2 E X P R E S S I O N 11

fessor of Poetry this fall at Georgia Institute of

Technology.

Q: How do you keep your work innovative,

fresh, evolving?

A: By continuing to work, study and practice

the craft, and to read everything I possibly can.

I read everything, including huge amounts of

history and nonfiction. I also read, of course, poetry and

books about poets and poetry. And it all informs my work.

I think poets should look at the world and consider the

world, quarrel with it or praise it. That’s where history is;

that’s where the world is—in history.

Q: You’ve been called a “powerful advocate” for the rele-

vance of poetry in American culture. Do you use your poet-

ry as a medium of persuasion on this score?

A: I don’t consciously use poetry as a medium of persua-

sion. But I believe that poetry can make us a little bit more

human, a little bit less alone, a little bit more alive. I don’t

look upon poetry as a kind of luxury; I look at it as a kind of

necessity, along the lines of bread and air.

Q: Are your riskier poems more successful, and if so,

why?

A: Risk is something one is always supposed to be doing

as an artist. But sometimes when one believes one is taking

risks, one is really just making mistakes. I hope one learns

from one’s mistakes. And every artist has many more mis-

takes than they do successes. I would say my more success-

ful poems are actually more accessible. But I want all of my

poems to be accessible. I want to be understood by dogs and

cats, if possible.

Q: Did certain Emerson professors drive you to push your

verse further?

A: I was incredibly lucky—being at the right place at the

right time at Emerson. Noel Peyrouton, an English composi-

tion teacher, was very encouraging to me, as was James Ran-

dall [founder of the Emerson College writing program], who

also became my first publisher. Most importantly, my junior

year, when Emerson first started hiring poets and fiction

writers, there was Helen Chasin. It was probably the biggest

break I ever had, to have a really good, tough workshop

teacher who was a poet herself. (She had just won the Yale

Younger Poets Prize.) I wouldn’t have found that anywhere

else at that time. I am really grateful for my years at Emer-

son.

Q: What does it take to create a memorable poem?

A: Sweat, work, trial and error. Thirty or 40 drafts. There’s

nothing glamorous or magical about it. It’s a process and a

great deal of work. And the idea, of course, is to end up with

something that is supposed to sound completely sponta-

neous and fluid, but in order to do that I, at least, have to

sweat blood.

Max Mutchnick ’87TELEVISION TRAILBLAZER

What if the secret to life were as sim-

ple as just being oneself? According to

Max Mutchnick, that’s the best place to

start. Growing up in Los Angeles, an alum of Beverly Hills

High School and, of course, Emerson College, Mutchnick

has always been surrounded by creativity. But it was his

mother, with her motto, “Nobody knows anything,” that

taught him that he was smart, capable and as right as any-

one else. Armed with unstoppable self-confidence, Mutch-

nick went on to make entertainment history when he co-cre-

ated (with David Kohan) Will & Grace, the first show ever to

be created with a gay character in a lead role. Even more

amazingly, the show premiered on the heels of the cancella-

tion of the Ellen DeGeneres Show shortly after her character

announced she was gay. Legendary television director James

Burrows credits Mutchnick and Kohan with “the genius of

the show”—it’s “not about a gay guy and a straight girl, but

a show about humanity and a show that makes you laugh.”

In its fourth season, Will & Graceis regarded as “the biggest come-

dy hit of the last four years,” ac-

cording to NBC Entertainment

President Jeff Zucker. Among

many awards garnered over the

past four years, the show won

three Emmys in 2000, including

Outstanding Comedy Series.

Q: Will & Grace came at a

treacherous time for gay lead

characters. Looking back to your

personal history, where do you

think you got the guts to intro-

duce two new major gay charac-

ters (Will and Jack) at such a culturally sensitive time?

A: My father died when I was very young. As a result, my

mother had one goal in her life—that her children should be

comfortable, because they’d just experienced something that

was wholly uncomfortable. From that comfort came a confi-

dence that whatever I did and whatever I said was okay. I’m

ultimately going to be Max Mutchnick, whether I’m walking

into the Oval Office or into Debra Messing’s [the actress

who plays Grace] dressing room or my family’s dining

room. I was really encouraged to be everything that I felt I

needed or wanted to be.

And then I ended up at Emerson, which does this remark-

able job of making people feel good about who they are.

When I left Emerson, I was really ready to take on the world.

‘POETRY CANMAKE US ALITTLE BIT

MORE HUMAN,... A LITTLEBIT MORE

ALIVE.’

THOMASLUX ’70

1 2 E X P R E S S I O N S P R I N G 2 0 0 2

Q: You and David Kohan were the head writ-

ers for the first 98 episodes of Will & Grace.

How much direct impact do you want to have

on the shows you produce?

A: I am involved with everything from the

stock of the film it’s shot on to the buttons on

Eric McCormick’s [Will] suit coat. There’s noth-

ing that happens that I’m not aware of.

Q: Is your new show, Good Morning, Miami, going to break

any new ground for you?

A: I’m going to try to do both jobs, producer and writer,

at once. It’s going to be on Thursdays at 9:30, after Will &Grace. So, if I can keep that show as fresh and exciting as

Will & Grace, I’ll have broken plenty of new ground because

I’ll have NBC viewers laughing for an hour.

Q: It’s against all odds to turn a pilot into a hit show, and

the odds are even greater when the show’s content is poten-

tially controversial. How did you maintain your drive to see

Will & Grace realized?

A: We got the show on the air because we didn’t worry

about the roadblocks that were facing us: the fall of the EllenDeGeneres Show, the fact that gay characters historically were

not successful on network television. But the drive was our

comfort in who we were and knowing that it was funny to

us. We are what we are. And I think that’s the lesson for

everybody. You don’t have to pound your chest or speak

through a megaphone. You just have to look someone in

the eye and have a very strong sense of self.

Bonnie Singer ‘87, ‘88, ‘97LITERACY LEADER

Dr. bonnie singer spends her days immersed in “the

next frontier in the field,” an aspect of the communica-

tion-disorders world in which few others work: develop-

ing the writing and literacy skills of students who have

speech-language and learning problems. She has criss-

crossed the country to spread the word, consulting with pub-

lic school systems in the development and implementation

of new methods of written language intervention, conduct-

ing teacher training sessions, and delivering papers on the

topic at conferences nationwide. Among the cities she has

consulted in are New York, Seattle, Detroit and Rochester.

She teaches an innovative technique called POWER, which

she developed with Anthony Bashir, disability services coor-

dinator at Emerson College. Teachers use this strategy to

teach the process of writing compositions, and students use

it as they write. She also trains teachers in the use of ‘Think-

ing Maps’, graphic tools that support cognition and learn-

ing. When she is not on the road, she spends time doing

assessments and interventions, working one-on-one with

young clients in her Newton, Mass., office. Fi-

nally, she has distinguished herself in another,

completely different, way: She is the first per-

son ever to receive all three of her communica-

tion sciences and disorders degrees from

Emerson College—bachelor’s (1987), master’s

(’88) and doctoral (’97).

Q: You are a speech pathologist, yet you specialize in

literacy. How did this come about?

A: The field had been focused, by and large, on working

with students on listening, speaking and producing lan-

guage. Over the last 10 years, the field has shifted quite a bit

in that there is a much greater interest in reading and litera-

cy. But the area of writing is still very young. I would say I

am one of a handful of

people who are very en-

trenched in figuring out

why students with lan-

guage disorders and learn-

ing disabilities have diffi-

culty writing and what to

do about it. I owe it to my

doctoral advisor, Dorothy

Aram [currently vice pres-

ident of academic affairs

at Emerson], who steered

me in the direction of

writing. It was the next

frontier in the field.

Q: Could you describe your typical client?

A: I work with students from first grade through college.

They are kids who have attention deficit disorders, nonver-

bal learning disabilities, or language disorders and who have

difficulty with reading, writing or some aspect of learning.

Q: What are some of the writing problems you see most

frequently?

A: The majority of students that I work with have trouble

with organization. They don’t know how to organize their

thoughts or an essay, or how to approach an assignment and

have it come out in a way that meets the demands of the as-

signment. Grammar is another common problem. Some

kids don’t know how to write a grammatically intact sen-

tence. So even though they have a lot to say, they are not able

to get their meaning across. Some students have predomi-

nantly reading-based issues. Usually if you have a reading

issue, writing is even harder for you. Some kids are com-

pletely stumped in the face of a writing assignment. They

have no strategies and no insight into the process of how to

make it happen.

Q: When you were 18 you already knew you were going

into the field of communication disorders?

‘WE GOT THESHOW ON THEAIR BECAUSE

WE DIDN’TWORRY

ABOUT THEROADBLOCKS.’

MAX MUTCHNICK ’87

S P R I N G 2 0 0 2 E X P R E S S I O N 13

A: Actually, the reason I came to Emerson is

that I wanted to be a vocal performance major.

I was in a theater troupe in high school with a

deaf student. This was a traveling company and

we spent a lot of time in cars and he taught me

sign language. I was really eager to figure out

how to break that barrier and did. Then when I

read a description of communication disorders in the Emer-

son catalogue, I thought, ‘That is so cool.’ I realized that you

could actually do that for a living, and it was clear that this

was what I wanted to do.

Q: Where do you get your drive and energy?

A: I just came this way [laughs]. I feel very fortunate that

I love what I do and I can’t imagine doing anything else.

Spalding Gray ’65PEERLESS PERFORMER

Anyone who has ever witnessed a live performance

by monologuist Spalding Gray will never forget his in-

tensely personal, penetrating monologues, delivered

with a trademark breathlessness while seated incongruously

behind a desk. His work is anxiety-ridden, quirky, touching,

hilarious. In 1982, Gray’s innovative style sparked a move-

ment in American theater, paving the way for the perform-

ance artists and monologuists of the 1980s and ’90s, and

creating an art form to reckon with. Gray’s solo work began

with Swimming to Cambodia, a piece about his experiences

working on location as a bit actor in the film The KillingFields. The show, which won an Obie Award in 1984, is one

of almost two dozen works created by Gray, many of which

have been collected in book form, including Gray’s Anatomy,

A Personal History of the American Theater, and Monster in aBox. Other works have been made into films, including

Swimming to Cambodia (1987; director Jonathan Demme)

and Gray’s Anatomy (1996; director Steven Soderbergh).

Gray, who once called himself a “poetic reporter,” has

received a Guggenheim Fellowship as well as grants

from the National Endowment for the Arts and the

Rockefeller Foundation. In the early 1970s, Gray co-

founded the award-winning Wooster Group, an experi-

mental theater troupe in New York’s Soho that contin-

ues to showcase innovative performances.

Q: How did you make the transition from straight

acting to monologues?

A: The original energy source for that moment was

during Sam Shepard’s The Tooth of Crime. We did the

New York premiere [1974] and I played the lead, Hoss.

The audience was standing around like they were at a

golf match; there were no fixed seats—it was environ-

mental theater. The director, Richard Schechner, asked

me, at the end of one of my long speeches, to

stop and just look the audience in the eye. So

there we were! Same level, same lights. That

was very strong for me—the power I picked

up from being able to silently look from face

to face and command that focus. And then the

internal voice began to whisper, “What if the

next line you said was yours and not Sam Shepard’s? What

would it be?” That provoked me.

Q: The monologues you perform are incredibly personal—

it’s just you on a stage with a chair, maybe a desk and a mi-

crophone. Where did you find the confidence to pursue the

genre of solo performance when few, if any, other perform-

ers were doing it successfully?

A: I found the confidence when I was collaborating with

the Wooster Group. In 1977, we did an autobiographical

piece based on my life, but it was a group piece. In that

piece, Rumstick Road, I would step forward and say to the

audience, “My name is ‘Spud’ Spalding Gray.” And this was

a very strong, liberating event for me. It’s one thing to look

at a fellow actor, and it’s another thing to look directly at the

audience and tear away that fourth wall and receive all the

direct energy from an audience. But what I want to tell you

is that the confidence came from the Wooster Group, who

were my first cheerleaders.

Q: Is audience response important to you?

A: I never do any pre-writing before I sit in front of an

audience. I just outline what I think I’m going to say, and

then I just flounder my way through [which gives the piece]

its rare, raw edge. And the audience can sense that. It’s al-

most like improv, but whereas improv tends to go out fur-

ther and further, my ambition or desire is to draw in closer

and closer.

Q: Were your Emerson acting days meaningful to you lat-

er in life?

A: Absolutely. Emerson was a very good school for me be-

cause it was small, and I was feel-

ing very inadequate. I hadn’t

done a lot of theater. My sopho-

more year I got the lead in HeWho Got Slapped, and that was

invaluable. I did all the acting I

could do. All of that was impor-

tant because other performance

artists don’t have that acting

background. I’m an actor; I’m

playing myself.

Concept by Christopher Hennessy.Story written by Christopher Hen-nessy and Rhea Becker.

‘I NEVER OUT-LINE WHAT I

THINK I’MGOING TO SAY,[WHICH GIVESIT] ITS RARE,RAW EDGE.’

SPALDING GRAY’65

1 4 E X P R E S S I O N S P R I N G 2 0 0 2

Rollcredits!

ade to black. You’re sitting in your local cineplex,basking in that warm after-movie glow, when the filmcredits scroll past like a secret code: “Grips?”“Gaffers?” “Best Boys?” You’ve probably asked your-self countless times, Who are these people, what roles

do they play in making celluloid, and why the funnynames? In the following story, we asked a few of Holly-wood’s unheralded technicians to reveal the secretsbehind their work and explain the parts they play increating the film and television images that we all love.

HOLLYWOOD’SUNSUNG TECHNICIANSREVEALED

FGAFFERBILL KLAYER ’77LOCATION: New York City

WHAT I DO: “I’m the chief lighting technician, in charge

of setting up the lights on the set. I go to locations ahead

of time and figure out how we’re going to light the sets.

One day this past season, we were on the 34th floor of an

office building that was lit by fluorescent light and I had

to figure out how to balance it with the sunlight.”

CURRENT JOB: Law & Order (NBC) – his 11th season

OK, SO WHAT’S A ‘BEST BOY’?: “A first assistant, as in

Best Boy Electric.”

BEST PART OF JOB: “The job remains the same, but

every day is different. And you go to places the public

never gets to see.”

WORST PART OF JOB: “The hours.”

RÉSUMÉ: Includes Basketball Diaries (1995)

BOOM OPERATORKEN BEAUCHENE ’69LOCATION: Los Angeles

WHAT I DO: “I capture dialogue. The boom microphone

is basically a microphone attached to a long pole and

held overhead. I must be able to hold the mike above the

action, keeping the shadows out, and swinging from ac-

tor to actor to catch the lines.”

CURRENT JOB: The District (CBS)

PHYSICAL DEMANDS: “Most scenes are under 3 to 4

S P R I N G 2 0 0 2 E X P R E S S I O N 15I L L U S T R A T I O N B Y A D A M M A C C A U LY

minutes, so it’s not that difficult.”

CHALLENGES: “If the actors improvise, I end up mov-

ing the mike at the wrong time.”

BEST PART OF JOB: “I call it the best seat in the house.

You see the actors, you hear the actors.”

PERKS: “Meeting Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Hanks, Bruce

Willis and John Travolta.”

WHEN ACTORS REFUSE TO STAY STILL: “I worked on

The West Wing and there would be six mikes out at a

time: four lavaliers and two booms, and they’re always

walking down the hall!”

RÉSUMÉ: Includes Lois and Clark (ABC), Roswell (WB);

Bonfires of the Vanities (1990), A Night at the Roxbury(1998), Halloween H2O (1998)

FILM LOADERMIKE GENTILE ’93LOCATION: Los Angeles

WHAT I DO: “I order and maintain film stock and I load

it into film magazines using a portable darkroom on a

camera truck. When the film is exposed, I send it to the

lab for processing. In addition, I assist the camera crew

however I can, changing lenses and filters, slating [a

slate is a board that indicates the scene numbers and

takes] the camera.”

CHALLENGES: “Long hours, hard physical labor. You’re

frequently carrying a lot of camera gear around under

undesirable and sometimes stressful conditions, includ-

ing rain, smoke, heat/cold, etc. Also, employment can be

ELECTRICAL EXPERT. A "gaffer," which literally means "old man," is the chief electrician responsible for lighting on a film or television set.

1 6 E X P R E S S I O N S P R I N G 2 0 0 2

sporadic and unpredictable.”

REALITY CHECK: “The industry, overall, isn’t as glam-

orous as people think. It’s an unglamorous job punctuat-

ed with moments of glamour.”

BEST PART OF JOB: “There are those moments that

make it all worthwhile: when you get to work with a fa-

mous actor or when you capture that major stunt on

film or that tear in the actor’s eye.”

THE GLORY: “For American Beauty, I worked as second

unit second assistant cameraman. The second unit does

pickup shots that the first unit doesn’t have time to do: a

hand pouring a glass of wine, a car passing by, etc. I feel

honored to have played a tiny role in the creation of a

film that will forever be recognized as an Academy

Award winner.”

RÉSUMÉ: Includes Contact (1997)

SCRIPT SUPERVISORKELLY ‘EVIL EYE’ CRONIN, MA ’96LOCATION: Boston

WHAT I DO: “I’m the editor on set. In pre-production, if

a character appears early in the script and the writer for-

gets to bring them back in, I point that out. In pre-pro-

duction I also do a continuity breakdown. Basically, I

make sure the movie can be put together seamlessly. I

watch continuity in wardrobe, hair and makeup, dia-

logue and props. I keep notes on, for instance, how long

a scene runs to make sure we don’t have a four-hour-

long film when we’re done, I keep track of lenses used,

filters, settings on the camera. I take Polaroid pictures of

the sets. I place the eye lines—where actors look when

they’re looking off camera. We may shoot a scene with

an actress running and sweating through the streets,

and three weeks later we shoot the scene that comes

right after, and I have to make sure if she had matted

hair, she has that in the later scene. It’s surprising how

much a director needs a script supervisor.”

CHALLENGES: “If you shoot a scene in eight different

ways over two days, it can’t look different. The takes

must be done exactly the same way, but generally the ac-

tors don’t do it the same way. I notice that the more sea-

soned actors do it, but the younger ones…They say, ‘Oh,

I really do have to hold the cigarette in my right hand?’

Every film has continuity flaws. That’s why you work on

a team. One person can’t do it all.”

BEST PART OF JOB: “The director relies on me. I like

that a lot. I work with every single department. I can be

creative.”

RÉSUMÉ: Includes What’s the Worst That Could Happen?(2001); Session 9 (2001)

SCRIPT SUPERVISORKIM RAMOS ’89LOCATION: Los Angeles

WHAT I DO: “I record the director’s comments on each

shot. On the set my job is to make sure the continuity is

working. I watch which glass was used, I see if a person

had a pink shirt, not a blue one. We absorb every aspect

of filmmaking. I’m so involved in the script. It all comes

down to the script supervisor because we have the

notes.”

BEST PART OF JOB: “The diversity of the projects. Meet-

ing such different people. I’ve traveled all over the world

with my job.”

CHALLENGES: “It’s not an exact science. It takes years

and years to become a great script supervisor, and I’ve

been doing it for 10 years. We take every precaution and

we hope mistakes don’t happen, but everyone likes to

point out continuity errors in finished films. And the

hours are hard. It’s not a conventional lifestyle.”

RÉSUMÉ: Includes commercials for Budweiser, Got

Milk?, McDonald’s, Mercedes Benz

CAMERA ASSISTANTDOUG JOHNSON ’95LOCATION: Los Angeles

WHAT I DO: “There are a lot of responsibilities. I take

care of the lenses and make sure all the camera gear is

there and organized. I keep track of the amount of film

available for use and what is left in the camera before a

scene is shot, so we don’t run out in the middle. I hold

the slate in front of the camera and take notes on each

scene and take.”

CHALLENGES: “If you mess up, the film could be out of

focus or the director of photography could expose the

film at the wrong exposure.”

BEST PART OF JOB: “I love the creative teamwork in-

volved in it. You’re all working toward the same goal.

And I love setting up for each shot, finally shooting it

and then ripping it down and setting up for another

one.”

RÉSUMÉ: Includes American History X (1998); Goosed(1999)

DOLLY GRIPMILES STRASSNER ’74LOCATION: New York City

WHAT I DO: “The camera and camera operator are often

mounted on a small vehicle. I move that, tracking the

speed and movement of the actors. It has more to do

S P R I N G 2 0 0 2 E X P R E S S I O N 17

with timing than anything else.” (Grips, in general, ad-

just the scenery, lights, cranes and dollies on sets.)

CURRENT JOB: Law & Order (NBC)—his 9th season

BEST PART OF JOB: “I love what I do. You’re helping

make the frame that the director will use. I help create

that vision.”

CHALLENGES: “No one ever does the same thing the

same way twice. We do four to five takes on average.”

DETAILS, DETAILS: “We shoot the show at Chelsea Pier.

We spend eight days per episode: four days in and

around Manhattan and four days on the set.”

RÉSUMÉ: Includes Malcolm X (1992), Scent of a Woman(1992)

ASSISTANT DIRECTORMICHELLE PARVIN ’92LOCATION: Los Angeles

CURRENT JOB: The Practice (ABC)—her 4th season

WHAT I DO: “It’s like being a stage manager. I give infor-

mation to the crew and cast. I make a daily list of what

we will be shooting, I must be sure everyone is in the

right costumes, I note if there is a hair change, who’s in

the scene, the crew call times, all the elements needed

on the set, etc. On the set, I’m always thinking three to

four shots ahead. There are constant distractions, but

the key is to keep things moving. It’s all-encompassing.”

BEST PART OF JOB: “I wake up, and every day is differ-

ent. You work in all different locations you wouldn’t get

a chance to work in. And it has a nice energy to it.”

BEST ANECDOTE: “Lara Flynn Boyle has two dogs. If

she brings in a dog, I’ll take it for a walk to help things

keep going.”

RÉSUMÉ: Includes ER (NBC), Mad about You (NBC);

Halloween H2O (1998), The Deep End of the Ocean (1999)

PROP AND WARDROBE STYLISTAMY WHITTEN, MA ’92LOCATION: Boston

WHAT I DO: “Through research and my own sense of

things, I go out into the world to find the objects that

help the director’s vision come true. There aren’t many

prop shops in Boston, so I ‘power shop’ for a living. I

also rent things from local businesses and go to the Sal-

vation Army and other thrift shops. I work with furni-

ture, objects and clothing. If you’re on location, you tend

to work with what’s there, enhancing things with what

you bring in. I may take measurements for curtains on

the set, and so on. I’m always lugging things around.”

BIGGEST CHALLENGE: “For a low-budget feature I had

to find a telephone booth from the 1960s. We finally

found it but it was too expensive, so the scenes were cut

from the film.”

BEST PART OF JOB: “Being based in the Boston area,

the projects in this part of the world tend to be short, in-

tense bursts ranging from a few days to a week or so,

and then it’s over. Every job is different. I like the be-

hind-the-scenes nature of it. I get to see things that ‘civil-

ians’ don’t. I like the team or ‘family’ aspect of doing a

film.”

RÉSUMÉ: Includes commercials for Lotus Corp., BB

Kids; Easy Listening (2002), a Slamdance Festival entry

SCENIC STORAGE MANAGERLESLIE (RICKERT) PENNICK ’80LOCATION: Los Angeles

CURRENT JOB: Columbia Tristar Television at Sony Stu-

dios

WHAT I DO: “I track sets for television programs. That

means that I take photos of scenery used on television

and manage a database of the images so that producers

and art directors can see what sets we have and refur-

bish them. For example, for Mad About You, which is off

the air now, their sets may be reused for a new show. For

The King of Queens, when the character Carrie’s office

goes offstage, if after two or three episodes you need to

bring it back, it is easy to locate and the art director can

set it up as it was before or redesign it.”

GOOD REASON TO RECYCLE SETS: “I was amazed at

how much television scenery in the industry is not

reused but is thrown away instead. We ask our produc-

ers and art directors to consider reusing sets. You could

spend a lot of money to build a set and you see it for 30

seconds.”

RÉSUMÉ: Includes Mad About You (NBC), Family Law(CBS), The Guardian (CBS) n

Interviews by Rhea Becker

‘For a low-budget feature I had to find a telephonebooth from the 1960s. We finally found it but it wastoo expensive, so the scenes were cut from the film.’— Amy Whitten, MA ’92, prop and wardrobe stylist

1 8 E X P R E S S I O N S P R I N G 2 0 0 2

Themiracleof theater

n the beginning there is the word. Lots of words, in fact, compris-ing the dialogue, the scenes and the acts that ultimately make up a newwork for the stage.

The magic and miracle of theater is not just the exhilaration thataudience members feel as the curtains go up. The magic and miracle oftheater is that new work is ever launched at all.

With few producers willing to take the financial risk of showcasingnew playwrights, and many theatergoers feeling positively queasy aboutspending top dollar to see ‘untested’ plays, new work has some formidablefoes. Yet it is the life-blood of any theater scene. So how in the world do newshows ever find their audiences?

Prolific playwright and award-winning Boston-based actor John Kuntz ’90knows all about getting new work on stage. After all, at the tender age of 34

he has already authored nine plays and seen allnine produced.

“Sometimes you need a theater to nurture you, sometimes you need anangel,” says Kuntz. By ‘angel’ he means those artistic directors who champi-on and nurture playwrights in whom they see extraordinary potential and tal-ent.

Even though Kuntz has won three Elliot Norton Awards (including BestFringe Production for his original one-man show Freaks! in 1998 and forwriting and starring in Sing Me to Sleep in 1999), each of Kuntz’s new-worklaunches has been fraught with challenges. “Artistic directors are really waryabout producing new plays,” he says. Theater is an expensive art form and anunproven writer is risky business, he says. “We need more people who arewilling to take a chance on young playwrights.”

Nationally speaking, with few exceptions, “we don’t have an American ver-sion of [England’s] Royal Court Theatre that’s solidly committed to new writ-ing,” declares Stanley Richardson, playwright and adjunct professor atEmerson.

SOMETIMES A NEW WORK’S JOURNEY TO THE STAGE TAKES ON EPIC PROPORTIONS

BY CHRISTOPHER HENNESSY

I

S P R I N G 2 0 0 2 E X P R E S S I O N 19

The goal of producing new work, then, has fallen to the

estimated 1,100 not-for-profit theaters that span the country.

These regional centers of development often serve as the

first link in a chain of production that keeps American the-

ater alive and growing.

American Theatre magazine notes that many of those

1,000+ theaters are committed to new plays, workshops and

staged readings of new work. The magazine points out that

since 1973 (with one exception) every Pulitzer Prize for dra-

ma has gone to works developed in the not-for-profit sector.

In fact, the 2002 award went to Suzan-Lori Parks for Top-dog/Underdog, a play that began at the Public Theater (Off-

Broadway) written by a playwright nurtured by the not-for-

profit sector.

“The truth is, interesting work is happening everywhere,”

says Melia Bensussen, Emerson assistant professor and pro-

ducing director for the College’s production arm, Emerson

Stage. “[But] If we want our national culture to change and

be elevated, we’ve got to invest in the new voices,” she urges.

Bensussen, who won an Obie Award (the Off-Broadway ver-

sion of the Tony) in 1999 for her direction of The Turn of theScrew, specializes in directing the work of new playwrights

and knows that the costs of producing theater and the

scene’s relative lack of subsidization make new work inher-

ently difficult to produce. She is, however,

equally aware of the necessity that new

work find audiences.

Many theater professionals point to a

particular regional theater that stands out

in its commitment to new work: The Ac-

tors Theater of Louisville (Ky.) and its Hu-

mana Festival, which has been called “the

center of the theater world” by Time maga-

zine. The Festival has produced more than

300 plays since 1976.

But this kind of attention to new work is

unusual.

Michael Bush, MA ’79, who spent 23

years working at New York’s Manhattan

Theatre Club, which has a reputation for

producing exciting new work Off-Broad-

way, is now taking the reins at Charlotte

Repertory Theatre in Charlotte, N.C. Bush

recognizes the role of regional theater as a

pipeline to larger venues. He plans to ensure the Charlotte

Rep’s new play festival will really service the playwrights

who participate. “I want the playwright to feel that his or her

play was better for having been at the festival,” says Bush.

Bush explains that the Charlotte Festival will focus on the

process—taking the play from the page to the stage. Produc-

tion is where the learning process can take off, many theater

artists believe. Richardson adds, “[Playwrights] need to work,

they need to write a script that’s actually going to be cast,

that’s going to have actors and directors poking at them, say-

ing, ‘Why don’t we change this?’”

Richardson has had a hand in creating venues for new

work in the New England area by founding a writers’ theater

(the now-defunct New Voices) as well as the Clauder Compe-

tition for new playwrights in New England, now directed by

Emerson adjunct playwriting professor Betsy Carpenter.

A contest or a grant can mean an instant audience for

new work. In 1996, playwright-director Carol Korty, Emer-

son professor emerita, and composer Scott Wheeler, Emer-

son associate professor, entered their play Baba Yaga and theBlack Sunflower in the Kennedy Center New Vision, New

Voices program. They won a spot in the program’s line-up of

new shows, and the play was later produced at the Emerson

Majestic Theatre under the auspices of the program. Korty

P H O T O G R A P H B Y J O S H U A P A U L

FROM ALL WALKS OF THEATER LIFE.

Sharing a moment in New York City’s

famed Times Square are (from center

clockwise) Elizabeth Elkins ’89, star of

Off-Broadway’s Fool for Love; young

New York City actor Nathan Gehan ’99;

and producer Stewart Lane and Bonnie

Comley, MA ‘94, from the production

team that launched the Tony-winning

Best Musical Thoroughly Modern Millie.

2 0 E X P R E S S I O N S P R I N G 2 0 0 2

points out that such programs are “invaluable for the writer,

for plays still being ‘shaken down.’” Not only can the play-

wright observe audience reactions, but any time a play is

produced, interest from producers and artistic directors can

be generated, she says.

But even with these support systems, the obstacles don’t

stop there. Playwright-actor Kuntz jokingly calls his original

plays “flowers that bloom for three weeks and never again.”

He is referring to a phenomenon that playwrights often face:

even if a play is produced in a major venue, often no one is

willing to stage it again. The pervading sentiment is: if it’s

not a premiere and if it’s not from a recognizable name,

who’s going to come see it?

AND THEN THERE WERE LIGHTS…

But some new works do make it to the heart of the Ameri-

can theater scene: Broadway and off-Broadway, where new

works are staged with varying frequency. Some of the works

even taste great success.

When Robbie McCauley, Emerson associate professor

and actor-director-playwright, wrote Sally’s Rape, a play that

weaves together African-American slave narratives while

telling the story of two Sallys (McCauley’s great-great grand-

mother and Thomas Jefferson’s slave Sally Hemings), she

admits she had few illusions that the play would draw atten-

tion. But critics and audiences were touched by the work,

and McCauley won the 1992 Best Play Obie Award. The ex-

perience taught her that playwrights can “be true to a vi-

sion,” that they can experiment and still succeed in finding

an audience.

Still, those who pursue a career in the production of new

work—playwrights, directors and actors—face obstacles of

high unemployment rates and salaries that are shockingly

low.

Broadway’s spring 2002 season is belt-

ing out a tune about our faith in old fa-

vorites. Half of the new season’s shows

aren’t technically ‘new’: audiences have

had a whopping 14 revivals to choose

from — a 25% increase over last season.

Nearly all the big-budget shows are ei-

ther revivals or adaptations. And that’s

not counting the Off-Broadway ‘re-dos’.

This year’s Broadway revivals include

Oklahoma! (starring Emerson alum An-

drea Martin ’69), The Elephant Man, The

Crucible, Into the Woods, Hedda Gabler

and shows from Noel Coward and George

Bernard Shaw. And still running from

previous seasons are Cabaret, Chicago

and 42nd Street. Furthermore, many of

the revivals are star-driven, with ticket-

selling names like Liam Neeson and Lau-

ra Linney (both starring in The Crucible).

A recent New York Times headline

spells it out: “If It’s a Musical, It Was a

Movie.” Adaptations include the new mu-

sical Thoroughly Modern Millie (from a

production team that includes co-pro-

ducer Stewart Lane and Bonnie Comley,

MA ’94) and the star-studded stage

adaptation of The Graduate. Mega-hits

The Producers and The Lion King and

the long-running The Full Monty are a

few of the carry-overs from previous

seasons.

But, of course, audiences expect a lot

from million-dollar-budget shows, so

sometimes the old has to be made new

again. For example, the big-budget Thor-

oughly Modern Millie, based on the 1967

movie about a flapper coming of age in

the Roaring Twenties, boasts a dozen

new original songs. Lane and Comley in-

fused the story with “a strong sense of

style and theatricality.” “We’re not try-

ing to recreate the movie on stage,” ex-

plains two-time Tony Award winner Lane.

Their strategy paid off when the show

won the Tony for Best Musical. Even

Oklahoma!, the granddaddy of the mod-

ern American musical, needed something

new: what’s being billed as a more ma-

ture and “much darker” production.

Revivals also offer a chance for the-

ater artists to take a fresh, contempo-

rary perspective on the

material, to breathe

new life into old fa-

vorites, or to offer sto-

ries to a new genera-

tion. Revivals are often

shows that “deserve a

new look,” because the

show suddenly has a

new relevance to the

current culture that it

might not have had a

generation ago, explains

Michael Bush, MA ’79,

who now leads the

Charlotte Repertory

Theatre in North Carolina. Consider the

cultural echo of Oklahoma!’s return — as

a writer from the New York Times puts it

— “We are again at war, against the same

kind of enemy as in 1943: solipsistic,

vastly intolerant and gunning to restore

Stone Age values. Oklahoma! reminds us

why we fight. It’s about the people, the

land.”

Some revivals represent “timeless,

universal” work, says Bush. Theater pro-

fessionals and audiences alike can’t help

but be attracted to a “work that is al-

ready revered,” he explains. “We don’t do

revivals of bad shows,” laughs Bush, who

worked for 11 years as associate artistic

director at the Manhattan Theatre Club,

where he spent a quarter-century influ-

EVERYTHING’S COMING UP REVIVALS!

Soon after Thoroughly Modern Millie opened this past

spring, the show won the Tony Award for Best Musical.

The producing team behind the show includes co-producer

Stewart Lane and Bonnie Comley, MA ’94.

S P R I N G 2 0 0 2 E X P R E S S I O N 21

“I lose money every time I direct,” says director Ben-

sussen. “By and large, I pay babysitters more than I get paid

to direct.” When Bensussen directed a production of All inthe Timing, by David Ives, at Primary Stages (Off-Broadway),

she was paid a mere $2,000 for six weeks of on-site work

and three to four months of pre-production work such as de-

sign meetings and casting. Actors often share this experi-

ence (see accompanying article).

And yet even with such prospects, “The talent is there

and it’s very exciting when you see fresh, talented people,”

says Charles Rosen ’68, president of New York City’s

Charles Rosen Casting. What’s also encouraging is that the

number of college acting programs continues to grow. But

actors act simply because they must—“not because they

have any illusions that they’re going to ‘make it,’” says Rhea

Gaisner, head of the Acting Department at Emerson.

Emerson artist-in-residence Sarah Hickler, a performer,

director and movement and improvisation expert, points out

that Emerson graduates are “very creative about envisioning

their lives in theater.” This may be tied to a general trend

Hickler sees: more and more actors are seeking greater con-

trol over their careers, leading them to direct, produce or

write. Playwright Richardson believes playwrights, directors

and actors should, in fact, take control of their art: “Make

your own theater—and lo and behold—after 15 years you’ve

got a career at some level.” This cross-fertilization is not only

a positive step for many young actors, giving them control

and a wider base of experience, but it might also be seen as

energizing the theater scene in general.

FEEDING THE MASSES

Theater professionals roundly agree that new work almost

always aims to move from smaller audiences to larger audi-

ences, for example, from regional showplaces to the presti-

encing the New York theater scene.

The revival, with its proven track

record, can also “provide an opportunity

to train the next generation of theater

artists with the most challenging

works,” explains Grafton Nunes, Emer-

son’s Dean of the School of the Arts and

former supervisor of Columbia Universi-

ty’s theater producing and management

track.

The current popularity of revivals and

adaptations is not entirely surprising

given the tumultuous economy and the

general post-9/11 desire to “embrace the

recognizable,” as Variety puts it. Those

behind and starring in revivals say the

shows offer audiences comfort and safe-

ty — in other words, little risk and the

knowledge the show will meet certain

expectations. For producers the revival

also means less financial risk.

Speaking of the recognizable, produc-

er Lane notes that much of the material

being used on Broadway can be traced

back to the culture of the ’60s and early

’70s — a trend he believes may be tied to

the “graying of America.” The trend can

be seen in shows like mega-hit Mamma

Mia! (based on ABBA’s hit music), say

Lane and Comley. “There’s a certain

comfort we get from familiar music,”

for example, says Lane.

These ideas help explain why revivals

are booming, why producers see success

in the old, and why audiences flock to

the “new” old productions. But what do

actors see?

Tony Award winner Andrea Martin

’69, who plays Aunt Eller in Oklahoma!,

says she was determined to be a part of

the reconceptualized production, even

enduring an audition process that

stretched out over nearly four months.

Aunt Eller is the “voice of wisdom,” a

pivotal part in this new production, Mar-

tin reports. Due to the popular appeal

the show has enjoyed as a classic of the

American musical theater, Martin also

relishes the opportunity to “reach as

many people as I do nightly.”

Even the Off-Broadway playhouses

that usually seek out new work can be

found staging a revival here and there.

At the 29th Street Rep, Elizabeth Elkins

’89 is starring in this year’s revival of

Sam Shepard’s Fool For Love, about for-

mer lovers who reunite at a seedy motel

at the edge of the Mojave Desert. For

Elkins, the show offered exactly what

she looks for: a role that was “enticing,

intense, with a great emotional range.”

While Elkins is most often attracted to

new work, many actors look to revivals

for that role they’ve always wanted to

play.

Sometimes, however, even the power

of the familiar begins to wheeze and

sputter. Just as the revival business is

booming, the theater world also wit-

nessed the end of an era. In January

2002 the longest running musical in

history, The Fantasticks, closed after 42

years. And yet, even now, perhaps some-

where a young producer or director is

awaiting her turn to make it new again.

Elizabeth Elkins ’89 in Fool for Love at

Off-Broadway’s 29th Street Rep.

Andrea Martin ’69 plays

Aunt Eller in the Broad-

way musical Oklahoma!

MIC

HA

EL

LE

PO

ER

TR

EN

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2 2 E X P R E S S I O N S P R I N G 2 0 0 2

gious houses of New York City. And Broadway, to be specific,

is the dream destination for many shows.

“Broadway is the center of American theater, the hub, the

Valhalla, it is the place where all shows want to travel,” says

two-time Tony Award-winning producer Stewart Lane. Even

so, new work faces a daunting path as it creeps closer and

closer to the Great White Way—because Broadway, with its

big-budget shows and fickle audiences, faces its own obsta-

cles, a fact evidenced by the surge in revivals on Broadway

(see accompanying article). And yet where there’s a will—

and deep pockets—there’s a way.

“How do you make a small fortune in the theater? Start

with a large one,” quips Lane, quoting the running joke on

Broadway. Producer Lane and wife Bonnie Comley, MA ’94,

are part of the team behind the new Tony-winning Broadway

musical Thoroughly Modern Millie. Multi-million-dollar shows

like Millie not only require major launch capital, but they can

cost up to half a million dollars a week to keep them run-

ning, explain Lane and Comley. “If you don’t sell tickets,

you’re in trouble,” Comley adds. In addition to the cost of

rent, checks must be cut for advertising, box office and house

personnel, and, of course, talent. Even with positive reviews,

a show can prove too expensive to keep open, the producers

explain.

“Broadway as a business should have folded years ago, but

there are a lot of people who think there should be Broadway

theater,” Comley says. Charlotte Rep’s Bush agrees, adding,

“There are still adventurous producers out there who pro-

duce plays because they believe in them.” For Bush, this is a

clear sign of “an incredibly healthy industry.” Theater vision-

aries are often those who don’t expect any commercial re-

wards, but rather they support work they view as important.

Bush speaks from experience: he and his colleagues at the

Manhattan Theatre Club first produced the Pulitzer Prize-

winning play Proof, now en route to becoming one of the

most successful shows produced on Broadway, he says. They

championed the new play (by David Auburn) “because we be-

lieved in it artistically.” Casting director Rosen agrees. He

worked on The Last Session, because “at that time there were

no musicals about AIDS and that [issue] was very important

to me.” The show was produced in 1997 at New York City’s

off-off-Broadway Currican Theatre and later moved to Off-

Broadway’s 47th Street Theatre. The attention both to artistic

goals and personal vision is perhaps what keeps Broadway’s

riches from drying up, despite the risks.

“Broadway’s making more money than it ever did,” claims

Bush. In late spring 2002, tallies showed a weekly gross total

of more than $15 million, for example, and in March 2002 a

weekly gross of $12.2 million registered at an incredible 16

percent increase over that same week last year. At that time,

despite the post-9/11 economic slump all of Broadway’s the-

aters, except one, had been booked.

Most signs point to an American theater scene that mirac-

ulously insists on marching forward, whatever the obstacles.

Its vitality may lie in a potent mix of new work and venerable

tradition, giving audiences the excitement, challenge and en-

tertainment they have come to expect from live theater. n

Years of “cattle calls,” weeks of callbacks, an interminable

list of odd jobs to pay the bills — this is the real life many

actors experience. “Paying your dues” is a veritable rite of

passage for actors.

“Talent rarely has much to do with who succeeds in this

business,” says Brad Lemack ’77, author of The Business of

Acting (Ingenuity Press, 2002). For an actor who wants to

get ahead, “career-building skills trump talent,” he says.

A typical route for the young theatrical actor might in-

clude summer stock, regional theater, a move to New York

City, the search for an agent, and perhaps, some day, the

big Broadway break. Of course, most never make it that far,

and instead slowly scale a daunting ladder.

Working actors seem to agree everyone should set their

own realistic goals and avoid rigid timelines for success.

Nathan Gehan’s recipe: put ego aside and pursue a ca-

reer “full force and you’ll get somewhere.” Gehan ’99 ap-

peared in the pre-Broadway production of Moby Dick at the

New Repertory Theatre in Greater Boston before he moved

to New York, where’s he’s always in search of the next gig.

“You have to be open to every experience,” says Nicole

Johndrow ’99, who is currently part of the North American

tour of Cats. Johndrow says touring can mean “your whole

life is in two suitcases,” but, for her, the experience is well

worth it.

Lemack, who teaches the Business of Acting and other

courses at Emerson’s Los Angeles Center, urges a budding

thespian to think of him- or herself as a business, which

means creating a business plan. Equity actor Deb Martin

’95 agrees: “You need to know as much about the business

as an investor knows about where his money is going.” Ac-

tor’s Equity is the union of American theatrical actors and

stage managers.

While being business-savvy is a must, Lemack adds that

actors shouldn’t focus on finding representation — a manag-

er or an agent — too early in their career but instead should

build their résumés with acting classes, TV commercials,

and as many acting gigs as possible.

Jeffry Gray ’95, a New York City actor-turned-Broad-

way-event-planner, agrees that everyday life for actors is

intertwined with the work of becoming a professional thes-

pian: “You spend 95% of your time pursuing work and

maybe 5% actually performing.”

For Heather Brown ’92, who appeared in 1998 in The Life

on Broadway, “One hundred percent of my time was dedi-

cated to the business.” Brown worked three part-time jobs

while “juggling all of them to allow me to be free for audi-

THE ACTOR’S LOT

The trials and tribulationsof life as a working

thespian

S P R I N G 2 0 0 2 E X P R E S S I O N 23

tions,” she says.

She’s now pursuing a

speech pathology graduate

degree while acting occa-

sionally in commercials and

corporate films.

A big chunk of pursuing

work is auditioning, of

course, which can be “a

whole other life,” says

Gehan. Actors must stand in

line for entire mornings for

an audition that might take

two minutes, for ex-

ample. This can

mean lots of frus-

tration, says

Johndrow. “You get

one shot — to sing

maybe 16 bars of

music” before they

call “Next!”

Charles Rosen,

’68 president of

Charles Rosen Cast-

ing in New York City,

urges young actors

to view an audition

“not as an event” but as a “multi-layered process: Listen

and react to what the director, producer or casting director

is asking.”

A bevy of other tasks keeps an actor busy. Every day

Balele Shoka ’99 reads magazines such as Variety, Daily

Variety-Gotham and Backstage East, as well as surfs web-

sites like Playbill.com. Gray adds, “Backstage is vital be-

cause it lists most of the open and Equity casting calls” and

American Theatre is the place to learn about the regional

theater scene, says Martin. David Beris ’80, an Equity actor

for 17 years, checks the Equity online casting bulletin board

several times a day.

And actors get nowhere without a professional headshot

and résumé. The headshot is “the first and sometimes only

impression you’ll get to make on a casting director” so pay

for a high-quality shot, Gray suggests.

Shoka also trains with special classes, as do most ac-

tors, whenever he’s able. His classes vary from improvisa-

tion to yoga to scene study. Martin says constant training

is as important for an actor as it is

for an Olympic athlete. She’s cur-

rently studying with David Mamet’s

Atlantic Theater Company in an “in-

tense” two-year pro-

fessional program.

Voice lessons are

important as well, ac-

tors say, even for

non-musical theater

performers. At one

point, Gray was tak-

ing lessons every two

weeks, which cost

from $40 to $100 for

a 50-minute session.

And the vocal cords

aren’t the only thing that need a workout. Johndrow insists

that staying healthy is essential. Physically demanding

roles means it’s daily workouts or else risk “just dying on

stage.”

“The harshest reality I learned about the business is

that good looks sell tickets,” declares Gray.

Of course, finding gainful employment is a must for ac-

tors. According to Actor’s Equity statistics, fewer than 15

percent of its dues-paying members actually worked during

any given week during 2000. Mid-range earnings for profes-

sional actors in 2000 was less than $10,000. Off-Broadway

actors receive salaries that are half that much or less.

Gainful employment in between gigs is a must, too. Beris

suggests that non-acting theater jobs — he’s often busy as

a stage manager — keep him afloat between acting gigs but

also greatly increase his networking options. For former ac-

tor Gray, income came from “a combination of performing

gigs, survival jobs and odd jobs that most people wouldn’t

dream existed.” He was once even paid to laugh and ap-

plaud, with the hopes that others would join in, at a failing

Broadway show.

The rejection, dearth of work and long hours lead many

to leave the business. So what fuels the staying power of

those who tread on? Passion. For 14-year veteran Elizabeth

Elkins ’89 (currently starring Off-Broadway in Sam Shep-

ard’s Fool for Love at the 29th Street Rep), the acting life

is like “an addiction — it keeps us going. I’ve been giving this

up for the past 10 years, and then something always hap-

pens to draw me back in.”

—C.H.

Balele Shoka ’99

NIcole Johndrow ’99

Heather Brown ’92

Deb Martin ’95

Jeffry Gray ’95

David Beris ’80

24 E X P R E S S I O N S P R I N G 2 0 0 2

alumni digestMeet your Reps!New officers elected to Alumni Association’s Exec Committee

this june, six new officers will take their places on the Executive Committeeof Emerson’s Alumni Association Board of Directors. They bring diverse work andlife experiences to their new roles and have crafted careers that reflect skills honedat Emerson. Like all Board members, the Executive Committee serves in a volun-teer capacity.

Anyone who has spent two years or more studying at Emerson College is part of

the Alumni Association, which currently boasts some 18,000 alumni/members.

The new officers are as follows:

ROBERT FRIEND ’79,TREASURER

Robert currently serves asexecutive director of Young Au-

diences of Connecticut, one of

35 state chapters of Young Audiences

Inc., the largest non-profit, educational

arts organization in the country. He is

also founder/president of Strategic En-

tertainment Group, a media, market-

ing, sales and technology solutions con-

sulting firm for the performing arts,

and an adjunct lecturer at the Brooklyn

College Department of Theatre’s Grad-

uate Arts Management Program. Earli-

er in his career, Robert led marketing

and sales initiatives at two nationally

renowned region-

al theaters, La Jol-

la Playhouse in La

Jolla, Calif., and

Long Wharf The-

atre in New

Haven, and

served as vice

president of

sales/marketing for HILL Arts & Enter-

tainment Systems, now Tickets.com. As

director of institutional advancement

for the Garde Arts Center—a newly re-

stored 1926 movie palace in New Lon-

don, Conn.—he helped increase the or-

ganization’s presence in the

community and enhanced its annual

fundraising activities by more than

25%.

SANDRA GOLDFARB’78, PRESIDENT

Sandi established an inde-

pendent consulting practice in

1996 following her 13-year

tenure as head of communications at

New England

Aquarium. She

provides market-

ing, strategic

planning, media

relations and writ-

ing/editing serv-

ices to corporate

and non-profit clients, including

Boston’s Museum of Science, the Na-

tional Park Service, Weller/Grossman

Productions and Zipcar, an innovative

car-sharing firm she helped launch in

June 2000. During the early 1980s,

Sandi created media relations cam-

paigns, public affairs programs and

special events for advertising agency

Arnold Worldwide. Other experience

includes work with Robert Landau As-

sociates—a New York-based marketing

firm—for clients such as Burger King

and Miller Beer, and managing media

and community relations for the Office

for Children, a state advocacy agency.

From 1994 through 1997 Sandi chaired

the Boston Advertising Club’s Founda-

tion Advisory Board Communications

Committee.

GARY GROSSMAN’70, PAST PRESIDENT

Many remember Gary as a

popular faculty member dur-

ing the mid-1970s. The author

of two books on television history, Gary

has produced prime-time specials and

series for all the

major broadcast

networks. His

nine-year-old

firm, Weller/

Grossman Pro-

ductions, is the

leader in reality,

service, informa-

S P R I N G 2 0 0 2 E X P R E S S I O N 25

tional, documentary and entertainment

television, with the production of more

than 4,300 shows. Networks airing

W/G programming include NBC, Food

Network, A&E, The History Channel,

HGTV, USA Network, Sci Fi Channel,

Discovery, Discovery Health, TLC, The

National Geographic Channel, Fine Liv-

ing, ESPN, Court TV, The History

Channel International, Biography

Channel and DIY. Their work has gar-

nered virtually every important honor

in the television industry, including the

coveted Governor’s Emmy Award.

PETER LOGE ’87,VICE PRESIDENT

As director of the Campaign

for Criminal Justice Reform at

The Justice Project, Peter is

working for death penalty and criminal

justice reform at the federal and state

levels. Peter has worked in both the

House and Senate, most notably as

deputy to the chief of staff for Sen.

Edward Kennedy and chief of staff for

Rep. Brad Sherman. His career has in-

cluded stints with the Concord Coali-

tion, as well as work as a reporter and

a political consultant. Peter was on the

faculty of Clemson University and has

taught and lectured at numerous col-

leges and universities around the coun-

try. He has published and presented

scholarly papers in several academic

disciplines, is an award-winning artist,

an occasional political satirist on Na-

tional Public Radio, an advisor to the

U.S. Soccer Foundation and is presi-

dent of the Board of Directors for the

DC SCORES, an after-school soccer

and literacy program in Washington.

GLENN MEEHAN ’83,REPRESENTATIVETO THE BOARD OFTRUSTEES

Glenn is the co-creator of

Paramount Television’s HotTicket, a weekly movie review

program starring renowned film critic

Leonard Maltin. Hot Ticket is seen in

190 markets throughout the country

and has been renewed for a second sea-

son. Before spending two years as a

development executive at Paramount,

Glenn was managing editor for Enter-tainment Tonight. He joined the top en-

tertainment/news magazine soon after

graduation and served as a segment

producer on ET for five years. Glenn’s

career also includes the world of talk

shows, where he helped launch the

NBC cable network, “America’s Talk-

ing” (now MSNBC). He also worked as

senior producer for successful CNBC

prime-time talk shows, overseeing

Rivera Live, Grodin and America AfterHours. Meehan currently lives in Los

Angeles, where he has launched his

own production company, Marble Faun

Entertainment. While at Emerson,

Glenn and fellow Alum Martie Cook

created the EVVY Awards, which just

marked its 21st anniversary.

SYBIL TONKONOGY’58, SECRETARY

For a quarter-century, Sybil

has been one of the most highly

regarded communications con-

sultants in the Boston area. Her work

focuses on interpersonal communica-

tions, presentation skills, voice and ar-

ticulation and media training for corpo-

rate and private clients, including

Fidelity Investments, Pilgrim Health-

care and the Girl Scouts of America.

She has appeared before a wide range

of organizations, including the Publici-

ty Club of Boston, the Cambridge Adult

Education Board and Toastmasters As-

sociation Inc. Sybil is known to a loyal

radio audience as host of “1550 Today,”

which is broadcast on WNTN, a New-

ton, Mass.-based station. Her show fea-

tures talks with authors, lively discus-

sions of the Boston arts and

entertainment scene, examinations of

health and lifestyle issues, restaurant

reviews and current events. She has in-

terviewed national political figures such

as President Jimmy Carter and well-

known entertainers such as Eartha Kitt.

In addition to her work with the Alum-

ni Board, Sybil served as president of

the New England Alumni Club Chapter

for four years.

alumni digest

A letter from yourpresident

Dear Fellow Alumni/ae,

I want to tell you a few more

things about the new Executive

Committee members that can’t

be found in their official biogra-

phies.

In addition to his expertise in

the arts, entertainment and

technology, Robert Friend brings

a keen intellect and tremendous

insight to the board. He is hard

working, energetic and a true col-

laborator.

As an Emerson graduate, for-

mer faculty member and active

alum, Gary Grossman offers a

unique perspective. His warm,

open manner and creative ap-

proach to problem solving make

him a valuable resource to stu-

dents, graduates and faculty

alike.

Peter Loge freely shares his ex-

perience as a teacher, his politi-

cal savvy and his sense of humor.

And since, as he constantly re-

minds me, he is much closer in

age to current students than I,

he possesses a real understand-

ing of the demands of campus

life.

Glenn Meehan is one of Emer-

son’s most dedicated ambassa-

dors, with a genuine interest in

student productions. His willing-

ness to mentor students and as-

sist those new to the job market

exemplifies the way that Board

members can make a real differ-

ence.

Sybil Tonkonogy’s commitment

to Emerson and the Alumni

Board is unparalleled. Her com-

mon-sense approach keeps us all

in line, while her enthusiasm for

the College, its faculty, students

and programs keeps us focused.

I look forward to serving you in

the coming years in the company

of this fine group.

Sandi Goldfarb ‘78

26 E X P R E S S I O N S P R I N G 2 0 0 2

alumni digest

The student filmmakers are joined by Jim

Lane, executive director of the Los Angeles

Center. Top row (from left): Jim Lane, Stu

Silverman ’99, Fouad Mahfuz ’00; seated:

Eric Torvi ’98, Elza Kephart ’98, Andrew

van den Houton ’02, producer Antti Ranta-

nen ’01 and actress Medina Mahfuz ’01.

Mike Doto ’97, Iris Dubinsky ’98, Tara Etienne ’02

and Azeem Robinson ’98 at the L.A. festival.

Grafton Nunes, Dean of Emerson’s School of the Arts; Kate Boutilier ’81; and Amy Sullivan

Berkeley, of the College’s Office of Institutional Advancement, at the festival.

Among those who attended the film festival were (from left): Aaron Barro-

cas ’00, Bethel Nathan ’00, Daniel Gutierrez ’00, Erika Giomnez ’99 and

Jon Gursha ’01.

SIGN DEDICATION

Attending a reception to

celebrate the dedication

were (from left): President

Jacqueline Liebergott, Lisa

Sanders Harwin ’74 and

College Trustee Marillyn

Zacharis.

Los Angeles“AWAY IN L.A.” WEEKEND

Many exciting alumni events were held in Los Ange-

les in March, including the second annual juried stu-

dent film program, the Festival of Film; the dedica-

tion of a new, 42-foot-long exterior sign at the Los

Angeles Center; and a visit to the set of the hit tel-

evision show Friends, where co-producer Kevin

Bright ’76 met with the visiting alums.

On the ‘Friends’ Set

New YorkThe New York chapter of

the Alumni Association

elected new officers and

board members this past

winter. They are (standing,

from left): Tripp Whetsell

’94, Elaine Kessler ’69, Pe-

ter Mones ’83, Frank Gel-

man (VP) ’79, Lee Addiss

’46; Jon Satriale (president)

’94 and Guy Helson ’94;

(front, kneeling): Cynthia

Crane ’57 and Jane Green-

berg ’79.

alumni digest

Craig Smith ’82 and Barbara

Segal Rutberg ’68, director of

Alumni Relations for the Col-

lege, on the set of Friends.

This spring saw a special

New York event for alumni.

A private reception was held

following a performance of

Tony-winning Thoroughly

Modern Millie, with co-pro-

ducer Stewart Lane along

with Bonnie Comley, MA 94.

Alumni and College officials

had an opportunity to mix

with the producers and cast

of the show.

Alums and others gather on the set of Friends, where co-producer Kevin Bright ’76 spoke to the

group about the creation and production of the hit show.

BostonA panel of young alumni re-

turned to campus for “Where

Are They Now,” an event in

which they spoke about how

Emerson helped them get to

where they are today.

From left, Hadley Klein ’05,

Sara Jane Keskula ’03 and

Katie McGrath ’03 join panelist

Mary Ann Cicala ’99 at “Where

Are They Now.” Other panelists

were: Travis Small ’97, market-

ing communications specialist

with Hosting.com; Jared Bowen

’98, field producer for Greater

Boston; Jason Kelliher ’98, hu-

man resources manager at

Structure; Mary Ann Cicala ’99,

community arts administrator

for the Cambridge Arts Council;

and Danielle Reddy ’00, a first-

year law student at Suffolk Law

School.

AN

ITA

SH

EV

ET

T

28 E X P R E S S I O N S P R I N G 2 0 0 2

class notes

1 9 5 350th Reunion

TIM LANGENHAHN and his wife,

Shirley, recently appeared on

the big screen. They answered

a casting call for extras to be in

crowd scenes in the film

Ocean’s 11. It was a long wait to

find out if they “made it past the

cutting room floor.” Tim and

Shirley spotted themselves in a

brief scene at the racetrack,

sharing the screen with Brad

Pitt and Carl Reiner.

1 9 5 6Actress MIMI COZZENS ’56 ap-

peared in a production of The

Last of Mrs. Lincoln in summer

2001 at the El Portal Center for

the Arts in North Hollywood.

She appeared with DOROTHY

CONSTANTINE ’59.

1 9 5 7DEMETRA DALAPAS TIMS and her

husband have been asked to

serve on the committee for the

2002 Universal Round Dance

Council, a major national dance

convention to be held in Joplin,

Mo. They participate in many

dance events around the coun-

try. Demetra is a retired school-

teacher, a master certified

handwriting analyst, a member

of Sweet Adelines Internation-

al, currently singing in the Tuc-

son Goodtime Chorus and in a

barbershop quartet, Options.

1 9 6 1ROBERTA (BINDER) AUNGST re-

tired after 30 years as director

of audiology at Ear, Nose and

Throat Associates in Norris-

town, Pa. She moved to Cape

May, N.J., and plans to provide

clinical services and consulta-

tion to ear, nose and throat

practices in South Jersey. She

also plans to take long walks on

the beach and catch up on read-

ing and needlework.

PHILIP A. WEINER, president of

Weiner Broadcasting Inc., was

recently recognized by Radio

Ink, a national radio industry

magazine, as one of the “Five

Best Small-Market Operators”

in the United States and Cana-

da. Weiner Broadcasting owns

WUPE-FM and WUHN-AM

radio of Pittsfield, Mass. Both

stations were chosen two years

in succession as the “Massa-

chusetts Radio Stations of the

Year” by the Massachusetts

Broadcasters Association.

1 9 6 340th Reunion

CAROL AMATO is a nature writer,

nature science educator and

speech and language specialist.

Her most recent children’s

book is Backyard Pets: Activities

for Exploring Wildlife Close to

Home (John Wiley and Sons).

She has authored many other

children’s books, including The

Truth About Sharks, The Giant

Panda and The Adventures of a

Tarantula (all in Barron’s

“Young Readers Series”).

1 9 6 9ELLEN (RESNIKOFF) CARR’s

daughter was married in Au-

gust 2001, with many Emerson

alums attending.

RANDY (KALIKOW) KETIVE was

named Realtor of the Year 2002

for the entire state of New Jer-

sey. She was chosen from

among 80,000 licensees in the

state. Her company, Classic Re-

alty Group, has offices in Fort

Lee, Englewood and Tenafly,

N.J.

1 9 7 0New York University’s Bobst Li-

brary has just purchased an

archival collection from MARK

HALL AMITIN documenting 35

years of his work in theater and

film for its research collection.

A ceremony is planned for fall

2002. Earlier archives were

purchased by and are housed at

the Shields Library at Univer-

sity of California, Davis.

1 9 7 2A documentary produced by

BARRY SCHNEIER was aired na-

tionally on PBS this spring.

Stonewalk tells the story of a

group of individuals who in

Expression welcomes Class

Notes submissions. We re-

serve the right to edit copy

and regret that we may

have to withhold some

items due to space limita-

tions. Send news items and

nonreturnable photos to

Barbara Rutberg, Office of

Alumni Relations, 120 Boyl-

ston St., Boston, MA 02116-

4624 or e-mail Barbara_

Rutberg@emerson.edu.

Please include information

on how we can contact you.

ROBERTA LYONS KONEN ’56 has been involved in

theater for the past 25 years. She is currently direct-

ing Rumors for a community theater group in Green

Valley, Ariz. Before that, she directed and appeared in

a dinner theater presentation of Bermuda AvenueTriangle. In November, she and her husband, who

designs and builds all of her sets, will be traveling to

their old hometown of Fort Walton Beach, Fla. They

have been hired to do a dinner theater presentation

and will get to work with cast and crew they used to

work with when they had their own traveling theater

company.

RHONDA BRISCOE-

FAULKNER ’75

recently received a

doctor of audiology

degree from the

University of Florida.

S P R I N G 2 0 0 2 E X P R E S S I O N 29

1999 advocated for a memori-

al to be placed in Arlington Na-

tional Cemetery for civilian ca-

sualties of all wars. In order to

get their message across, they

had a one-ton memorial stone

inscribed with “Unknown

Civilians Killed in War” and

walked it 500 miles over 33 days

from Massachusetts to Wash-

ington, D.C. Schneier has set

up a small independent film

company, Progressive Produc-

tions, for the purpose of mak-

ing films on peace and social

justice.

1 9 7 330th Reunion

ALAN SHILLER is the recipient of

this year’s Excellence in Teach-

ing award for Southern Illinois

University, Edwardsville. Alan

feels “honored and humbled to

be chosen for this award. It all

goes back to the wonderful

foundation I received at Emer-

son.”

1 9 7 5STEVE SCHECHTER and his wife,

Serin, and dog, Spikey, recent-

ly moved back to Hong Kong,

where he is in charge of infor-

mation technology for Warner

Bros. film, home video, TV and

consumer products divisions

throughout the

Asia Pacific region.

He is very happy to

be back in Asia and

putting his skills to

work at an enter-

tainment company,

“the best one in the

world.” Emerson

friends passing

through can reach

him at steve.

schechter@warner-

bros.com.

SALLY DHRUVA’

STEPHENSON gradu-

ated in 2001 from

West Virginia University with

her Ed.D. in curriculum and in-

struction, with emphases in

creative arts and gifted and ear-

ly childhood education. Her

dissertation was on “Portraits

of the Songwriting Process in

Elementary Classrooms.” She

is a faculty member at Frost-

burg State University in Mary-

land. Sally is also a singer-song-

writer. She would love to hear

from Emersonians of her era:

sstephenson @frostburg. edu.

1 9 7 6The Boston/New England

chapter of the National Acade-

my of Television Arts and Sci-

ences presented AT&T 3’s

weekly entertainment maga-

zine Chowdah with an Emmy

Award at its 25th Annual

Boston/New England Emmy

Awards. Co-produced by MADE-

LINE YUSNA, who is AT&T 3’s

manager and executive pro-

ducer of entertainment, the

show captures the sights and

sounds of New England.

1 9 7 7JOHN GLYNN’s publication, Com-

mentary and Reference Survey: a

guide to the most important com-

mentaries, references and mono-

graphs on the Bible, will be pub-

lished this August by Kregel

Publications (Grand Rapids,

Mich.), one of the country’s

leading religious publishing

houses. John would like to

thank his former Emerson in-

structor Jean Kilbourne for in-

spiring him to pursue his writ-

ing career.

1 9 7 825th Reunion

STEPHEN FARRELL appeared in a

production of South Pacific in

February at the Camille Light-

ner Playhouse in Brownsville,

Texas.

1 9 8 0JIM PANAGAS recently began his

eighth year as a freelance writer

and marketing consultant to

software and technology com-

panies across North America.

He has helped companies such

as Getronics, MatrixOne, Pic-

tureTel, SolidWorks and Sur-

fware with the development of

marketing materials. Jim is a

member of the Society of Pro-

fessional Consultants.

1 9 8 2JULIA HINDEN BARDEN is a

spokesperson for AT&T Broad-

band, and is currently navigat-

class notes

ERIC ALEXANDER

’78 was recently

named chief operating

officer of Wall Street

Access, a New York

Stock Exchange

Member firm offering

services to institu-

tions and retail

investors.

JOHN AHLIN, former Emerson faculty member and

counselor for men (pictured), with wife MARJORIE

WHITING ’58, was honored during his recent 80th

birthday celebration in Machias, Maine. Emerson

Professor HENRY STONIE and his wife, MARY JO

STONIE ’60, attended the party.

LAURA (CERVONE)

MCDOWELL ’90 was

married to Matthew

McDowell on July 21,

2001. They met during

a community theater

production of TheMusic Man for Weston

Friendly Society. The

wedding took place in

Andover, Mass.

Bridesmaids in attendance included Emersonians NICOLE

MARQUIS ’90, SAMANTHA (RUTHERFORD) SULLIVAN ’89

and JENNIFER (JONES) ROONEY ’89. Laura is currently man-

ager of media relations and company spokesperson for the T.J.

Maxx and Marshalls stores nationwide.

30 E X P R E S S I O N S P R I N G 2 0 0 2

ing her way through the up-

coming merger with Comcast.

She is also raising three “hope-

fully” Emerson-bound sons,

ages 7, 12 and 16. She contin-

ues her advocacy work on be-

half of her Latino brethren and

recently hosted Virginia’s gov-

ernor in her home for a His-

panic community reception.

LISA JOY BURICK is the proud

new mother of Alexander. She

is hoping to see everyone at the

next big reunion.

IRIS GREENBERG SOLOMON

married Emerson sweetheart

Ron Solomon and they started

their own company, Swingset

Press, which publishes diaries,

phone directories and other

products for children and pets.

They have two “energetic and

charismatic” sons, Jacob and

Ethan, ages 10 and 7.

1 9 8 4CAROL KAMERSCHEN gave birth

to her second child, Julia Elena,

on June 23, 2001.

1 9 8 7KIRSTEN CARBONE and her hus-

band, Peter Majewski, are

thrilled to announce the birth

of their daughter, Grace, on

Feb. 22, 2001. All three are en-

joying living in Los Angeles.

RACHELLE ROMBERG TUBER

and her husband, Douglas Tu-

ber, welcomed their first child,

a son, Max Tuber, on Feb. 10,

2002.

1 9 8 815th Reunion

RENEE KLUCZNIK now has a

daughter, Grace Carolyne.

1 9 8 9DIANNE WEISS of Hopkinton,

Mass., gave birth to twin boys,

Paul Jr. and Patrick. She works

at Concord Communications as

a senior software technical

writer producing user docu-

mentation.

1 9 9 0After graduating, WILLIAM LAM-

BERT lived and worked as an

English teacher in Budapest.

He then received his master’s

degree in English literature

from the Claremont Graduate

School. After

that, he joined

the Peace Corps,

spending two

years in Poland

and another two

in Madagascar.

Since returning

to the U.S. he

has been pursu-

ing his Ph.D. in

comparative ed-

ucation at Co-

lumbia Univer-

sity. In June

2001 he mar-

ried Cheryl de-

Jong and has

since changed

his last name to

d e Jo n g - L a m -

bert.

1 9 9 1MARIA AMATO is teaching fifth

grade in Arlington, Mass. Her

husband, MICHAEL ’91, teaches

third grade in Medford, Mass.

CHRISTOPHER BIGELOW is us-

ing his Emerson College edu-

cation to help spice up the Mor-

mon culture. Inspired by The

Onion, he started a satirical

Mormon news website called

The Sugar Beet, which has

logged nearly 10,000 unique

hits. He also publishes an al-

ternative Mormon literary quar-

terly called Irreantum, a printed

magazine with a circulation of

500. He works as a marketing

copywriter for a multinational

nutrition company and lives

with his wife, Ann, and three

children in Provo, Utah.

ELLEN STONE is working to-

ward elementary schoolteacher

certification at Bridgewater

State College in the post-bac-

calaureate professional educa-

tion program. Meanwhile, she

performed in an original com-

edy called The MOMologues at

the ICA Theatre in Boston last

spring.

1 9 9 2BARBARA SIROIS DOYLE and hus-

band Alex of Lee, N.H., have

had their first child, a son, Finn

deVeer, on March 7, 2002. Pri-

or to Finn’s birth, Barbara was

an educational program coor-

dinator for the President’s

Commissions on the Status of

Women, the Status of People of

Color and GLBT Issues at the

University of New Hampshire.

Barbara was awarded the Pres-

ident’s Award of Excellence for

outstanding dedication and

service to the university com-

munity in 2001.

TIM GOOD has accepted a new

position as assistant professor

in the Theater Program at De-

Pauw University in Greencas-

tle, Ind. Last October, Tim’s

wife, Caroline, gave birth to

Charlie, who was warmly wel-

class notes

BRENDA BRIEN ’90 attended

the inauguration ceremony of the

new president of Roger Williams

University in Bristol, R.I., in fall

2001 as representative of Emerson

College in place of President

Jacqueline Liebergott. Brien works

for Hodess Building Co. in North

Attleborough, Mass., as production

coordinator and serves as a mem-

ber-at-large

on the

Executive

Board of the

Emerson

College

Alumni New

England

Chapter.

MOLLY BECK ‘94 and JAMES C. FERGUSON ‘93

were married on Dec. 31, 2001, in Oxnard, Calif. Their

wedding was an alumni-studded event, including the

father of the bride, PAUL R. BECK ’69; the brother of

the bride, JOEL BECK ‘98; readers DREW DAYWALT

‘93 and MARICHELLE (INONOG) DAYWALT ‘93; and

ushers PAUL HUNGERFORD ‘93, BRANDON KRUSE

‘93, and TIM STEPICH ‘87. In true Emersonian fash-

ion, Molly and James asked friends and family to put

on an “after-dinner show,” which included alumni

DAVID SCHNEIDER ‘92, JASON DOBIN ‘93, DAN

O’BRIEN ‘95, Paul Beck, Joel Beck, JOHN CRYE ‘93,

Paul Hungerford, Brandon Kruse, MIKE D’ALONZO

’93, DEB MARTIN ‘95 and Molly and James. Mr. and

Mrs. Ferguson are residing in North Hollywood and can

be reached at james_and_molly@hotmail.com.

S P R I N G 2 0 0 2 E X P R E S S I O N 31

comed by sisters Keri Lynn and

Lauren and brother Jonathan.

RICHARD PEZZUOLO, assistant

professor of communications

at Kansas Wesleyan Universi-

ty, has been named chair of the

newly formed Department of

Communications. As a volun-

teer and member of the board

of directors for Salina, Kans.,

Community Access Television,

he uses the facility to teach stu-

dents about television produc-

tion.

BELINDA SLOCUMB and Robert

Brown welcomed their first

baby, Marcus Allan Brown, on

July 17, 2001. Belinda is now a

stay-at-home mom (a job she

really loves) and is working on

writing and photography in the

“much warmer” climate of

Georgia.

1 9 9 310th Reunion

MARINA (FULLER) GIORDANO gave

birth to a second child, Antonio

David Giordano, on Jan. 8,

2002. Marina also won a New

England Emmy Award in 2001

for Live Directing.

ANDREW MILLER and his wife,

Donna, had their first child,

Matthew, in February 2001.

Andrew is a copywriter at J.

Walter Thompson in New York.

He can be reached at an-

drew.miller@jwtworks.com.

JEFF MULQUEEN and his band

The Naked Sams recently won

Best Rock and Roll Band in the

first annual Altar Native’s

Worldwide Music Awards. The

band competed in the category

against bands from New York

City, Los Angeles and London.

CHRISTOPHER SMALLEY, MA,

completed his first feature-

length screenplay, Diversionary

Tactics, and will be submitting

it to the Austin and the Sun-

dance screenplay festivals in

mid-2002. He also finished

voice-over work on a soon-to-

be-released documentary City-

Lab Academy and is writing a

short screenplay for an Emer-

son graduate student film.

1 9 9 4NICOLE AMATO is completing her

second year at Tufts University

School of Veterinary Medicine.

MOLLY BECK and JAMES FER-

GUSON ’93 were married this

past New Year’s Eve in South-

ern California. There were 35 to

40 Emersonians in attendance.

AMI (GOURWITZ) BURNS and

her husband CRAIG BURNS ’94

welcomed their second son,

Joshua Liam, born at home on

Jan. 5, 2002. He joins big

brother Justin Ryan, 3 years old.

Ami left her full-time position

as associate producer for the

PBS television series ZOOM to

spend more time with her boys

and focus on her business Birth

Talk. Birth Talk offers inde-

pendent childbirth classes,

choices in childbirth work-

shops and birth doula services

throughout the Boston area.

RICIA CHANSKY, MA, profes-

sor at George Washington Uni-

versity in Washington, D.C., is

co-author of the 3rd edition of

the Newcomer’s Handbook for

Washington, D.C. The book in-

cludes more than 200 pages of

advice, including information

on finding a home, choosing

schools and child care, and get-

ting around the area.

1 9 9 5BRIDGET CONNOLE WEST and hus-

band KEN WEST ’94 announce

the birth of their first child,

Emma Anne West, on March

11, 2001. Ken just started his

tenth year at WZLX Radio in

Boston (100.7 FM), where he

works as morning show pro-

ducer and assistant music di-

rector. Bridget has taken a leave

of absence from her third-grade

teaching job in Shrewsbury,

Mass., to be home with Emma.

HEATHER MACAYEAL HARDY

gave birth to a baby boy,

Zachary, in May 2001. Heather,

who lives in Needham, Mass.,

resigned her position at Thayer

Academy to spend her days

with Zack. She writes: “Life is

very good!”

KAREN RUSSELL, MA, of Old

Forge, N.Y., gave birth to Caitlin

class notes

WHERE ARE YOU AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING?

Please use the form below to submit news that you would like to share with your fellow

Emersonians. Or, if you prefer, e-mail your news to Barbara_Rutberg@emerson.edu.

New job? Recently engaged or married? New baby? Moving? Recently ran into an old

classmate? Received an award? Let us know.

NAME ORIGINAL LAST NAME CLASS YEAR

ADDRESS CITY STATE ZIP

HOME PHONE E-MAIL

YOUR NEWS

Mail to: Class Notes, Emerson College, Office of Alumni Relations, 120 Boylston St., Boston, MA 02116-4624

·

BILL FIALA ‘95 and

TIBOR SZAKALY ‘86

entered their work in the

Boston Underground Film

Festival. Nougat is an ani-

mated short film that uti-

lizes the voice talents of

other Emerson gradu-

ates. Nougat was the runner-up winner in the “Best

Animation” category. Nougat also screened in March

at the South By Southwest Festival, Austin, Texas,

where it tied for “Best Midnight Short.”

32 E X P R E S S I O N S P R I N G 2 0 0 2

Rose on June 19, 2001.

JEFFREY WAGNER ’95 is get-

ting married in July to Mary

Ann Burke. Fellow Emersonian

DESTIN RADDER ’96 will be best

man. Jeff is currently working

as a freelance director of pho-

tography and editor and runs a

small production company

called Galactic Pictures. Look

for Jeff’s new short film TheOpponent: A Case for Perpetu-al Motion in the 2003 festivals.

KATE WORTHINGTON is en-

gaged to Brian Poitras and will

be married in July 2002 in

Boston. Friends can reach her

at katellen@rcn.com.

1 9 9 6MARY KELLY BONE recently re-

ceived her doctor of audiology

degree and now lives in Mont-

gomery, Ala.

DAVID RICHWINE of York, Pa.,

now has a daughter, Lily Jane.

1 9 9 7PETE ALPERN is working as a

sports reporter for The Dickin-

son Press in Dickinson, N.D.,

where he covers local prep and

college sports. He also writes a

regular column. Friends can

reach him at palpern@thedick-

insonpress.com.

BROOKE KAPLAN ’97 recently

moved to Las Vegas to accept an

American Sign Language in-

terpreting position with a pri-

vate agency. She would love to

hear from classmates and any

other Emersonians that may be

in the area. Her e-mail is

BJKOPHELIA@aol.com.

JAY LEIBOWITZ is starring in a

Sports Illustrated commercial

that’s been receiving heavy air-

play on ESPN, TNT, TBS and

other outlets. Jay not only

starred in the commercial, he

also created the concept around

the character that he plays, “SI

Guy.” Jay is also currently in

pre-production for a movie that

he wrote and will be directing,

producing and co-starring in

and he is also at work on a re-

vival of the musical Carnival at

the New Jersey Shakespeare

Festival.

Since his days at WERS, BEN

SPARKS moved to New York and

landed a job with WNEW. He is

currently producer of the na-

tionally syndicated Opie and

Anthony Show, aired in 22 mar-

kets and locally in Boston on

WBCN.

1 9 9 85th Reunion

MICHELE DEXTER just completed

her master’s at the Harvard

Graduate School of Education.

SKIP PERHAM is a vice presi-

dent at Clarke & Company,

New England’s largest inde-

pendent public relations firm.

He previously worked at Jack-

son & Company and joined

Clarke after the merger of the

two firms. Skip manages pub-

lic relations activities for the

Boston Beer Company, the

makers of Samuel Adams

Boston Lager, and Sprint PCS

in New England. Skip can be

reached at sperham@clarke-

co.com.

1 9 9 9GLENN JONES has been promot-

ed to weekend anchor at

WBBH in Fort Myers, Fla.

OLEN STEINHAUER, MFA, will

have his first novel, The Bridge

of Sighs, published by St. Mar-

tin’s Press in winter 2003.

2 0 0 0ANNA BARBER was selected as a

corps member of Teach for

America, a national service

corps that places graduates in

two-year teaching positions at

disadvantaged schools. She be-

gan teaching drama at I.S. 90,

a New York City school last Sep-

tember.

TIFFANY (CORSO) CONLON mar-

ried Joseph Conlon on July 14,

2001. She is director of alum-

ni relations at Bishop Feehan

High School in Attleborough,

Mass.

ROB HUNTER is working at

WSKY-FM, where he produces

the morning talk show The Bob

Rose Show and hosts his own

weekend sports show called Big

Time Sports. He lives in

Gainesville, Fla.

class notes

RODNEY SNELL ’97

is the new student

activities coordinator

at Brookdale

Community College

in Lincroft, N.J.

I N M E M O R I A M

1929 MAE E. BROWN of Indian Orchard, Mass.

1931 MARY BELL HOLTZCLAW of Virginia Beach, Va.

1931 FREDA WINETT of Brookline, Mass.

1932 GERTRUDE GASTON of Mount Pleasant, S.C.

1941 FLORA WING CHAMPLIN of Albion, Maine

1942 LEVI SALONEN of Norwood, Mass.

1944 LEE KLEIN LINTEN of New York City

1951 ANTHONY R. GRASSIA of Winchester, Mass.

1952 ARTHUR DAWSON of Hagerstown, Md.

1957, 1958 (MA) ROBERT SWIFT HANDY of West

Palm Beach, Fla.

1958 KAREN DOW CLAIN of Conway, N.H.

1965 HOWARD RATNER of Framingham, Mass.

1963 CAROLE GALE KADITZ BRUNONE of Tolland,

Conn.

1966 GORDON W. HERBSTER of Onancock, Va.

1966 ARNOLD HOWARD of Cambridge, Mass.

1977 PAMELA BROOKES of Topsfield, Mass.

1977 MELISSA GRAY of Morris Township, N.J.

1984 BEN GOLDEN of New City, New York

1995, MFA GREGORY L. WILLIAMS of Arlington,

Mass.

1995 JASON E. YOUNG of Warwick, R.I.

Actresses MIMI COZZENS

’56 (right) and DOROTHY

CONSTANTINE ’59

appeared in The Last ofMrs. Lincoln in 2001 at the

El Portal Center for the

Arts in North Hollywood.

S P R I N G 2 0 0 2 E X P R E S S I O N 33

imagine driving to work in a blue

ambulance-turned-science-lab. Imagine

your place of work is populated with

robots, vampires and strangers in col-

orful and crazy costumes. Imagine dis-

secting frogs one minute and watching

Steven Spielberg direct a film the next.

Welcome to Bob Pflugfelder’s life.

For the past six years, Pflugfelder

has been science teacher to the stars,

teaching child actors right on the sets

of their shows and films. A fan of sci-

ence since he was just 6 years old, “Sci-

ence Bob,” as he’s called, has been a

regular on studio sets since his days at

Emerson, where he earned a B.S. in tel-

evision production in 1989. So

Pflugfelder combined the two passions,

and the resulting marriage has turned

into a rewarding ca-

reer teaching some

of the industry’s

brightest new talent.

His students have included Oscar-

nominated Haley Joel Osment (whom

he taught during the filming of Spiel-

berg’s A.I.); Jonathan Lipnicki (JerryMaguire), and currently youngsters

from TV shows like 7th Heaven, Every-body Loves Raymond, Grounded for Life,

Once and Again and Malcolm in the Mid-dle, where he teaches Emmy-nominated

Frankie Muniz.

Pflugfelder is known for engaging

students with a “dramatic,” hands-on

teaching style. Even with a mobile lab

stocked with fun experiments that

serves as a classroom, Science Bob

knows kids want excitement. “Can we

blow something up?” they ask. “So, we

find ways to safely blow things up every

now and then to keep their interest go-

ing.” His students see science in action

as they blast off rockets, create giant

electrical charges, and conduct experi-

ments with bubbling chemicals.

Pflugfelder’s students also enjoy dis-

secting squid, frogs and crayfish.

Pflugfelder explains that he tailors

classes to each student. For example,

teenage actress Michelle Trachtenberg

(from the hit show Buffy the VampireSlayer) is currently learning physics; the

two perform experiments by rolling

marbles down ramps, examining the

motion of pendulums, and studying

centripetal force by swinging weights

on a string over her head.

While at Emerson, Pflugfelder was

as inquisitive as his own students are

now. “Emerson was like a big, college-

level sand box,” he quips. The “open”

atmosphere of the College, where stu-

dents could dabble in many different

areas, attracted the burgeoning scien-

tist. He enjoyed classes like Drama as aLearning Medium but the “science geek”

in him relished ThePhysics of Sound.

As Science Bob,

Pflugfelder also has

worked with America

Online as a cyber-tutor in

their “Homework Help”

chat rooms, visits schools

to perform special

demonstrations, and has

his own Website,

www.Sciencebob.com.

Among other features,

the site offers directions

for trying experiments at

home and has ideas and

help for science fair proj-

ects, he explains. The site

receives 1,000 hits a day,

and kids from all over the

world—Seattle to Singapore,

Boston to Taiwan—e-mail Sci-

ence Bob a few hundred ques-

tions per week.

Science Bob would also like to pur-

sue the “ultimate mix of teaching and

television”—his own science show in

the tradition of Bill Nye and Mr. Wiz-

ard. He’s looking into the idea, but he’s

still searching for a producing team

with whom he’ll have the right chem-

istry.

For now, Pflugfelder is content

working behind the scenes with his

students (he reports he’s never experi-

enced the stereotypical spoiled child

star). “Child actors tend to be very cre-

ative and like doing hands-on activities,

more than typical kids,” he explains.

Happily, his students see science class

as a welcome break from work, and it’s

gratifying, he says, to hear a student ask

director Steven Spielberg, “Is that the

last take? Science Bob is here.”

— Christopher Hennessy

TURNING STARS INTO STAR PUPILS‘Science Bob’ Pflugfelder ’89 is science teacher to Hollywood’s young elite

profiles

IT’S GRATIFYING TO HEAR A STUDENT ASK DIRECTOR STEVEN SPIELBERG, ‘IS THAT THE

LAST TAKE? SCIENCE BOB IS HERE.’

34 E X P R E S S I O N S P R I N G 2 0 0 2

sarah horowitz ’92 is in love—with

her unusual vocation.

At an oceanside studio in Malibu,

Calif., Horowitz meets clients one-on-

one, and gets to know them by asking

a series of carefully planned questions.

After 90 minutes and a bit of alchemy,

she presents the individual with a bottle

of custom-designed perfume.

Horowitz’s work has attracted a

great deal of attention, resulting in cov-

erage in the national media, including

Women’s Wear Daily, Marie Claire, TheNew York Times, and Rosie. Her compa-

ny, Creative Scentualization Inc., spe-

cializes not only in the creation of cus-

tom-designed scents but it also has a

product line of 10 pre-blended scents

called Perfect Perfumes, and a private

label branch, creating small-distribu-

tion fragrances to be marketed under

labels other than her own.

Philosophically speaking, “perfume

has always been associated with some-

thing higher than yourself,” she says.

Scientifically speaking, “your olfactory

nerve is directly linked to your limbic

system, which holds your memory,”

she says. “It’s like a time machine, so

when you sniff something, there’s a

primal reaction.”

So how did a young woman who

once had her heart set on acting be-

come a purveyor of fine perfumes?

It all started when Horowitz, an

Emerson freshman newly arrived from

Woodbury, N.Y., decided to venture out

and explore the neighborhood. “I was

new to Boston, so, of course, I went

shopping on Newbury Street,” she re-

calls. She wandered into a perfume

store that was set up “just like an 18th-

century apothecary,” where customers

could have perfumes custom blended.

“A guy came up to me and said, ‘May I

anoint you?’” Instantly, Horowitz knew

she’d “fallen in love with perfumery

like I’d never loved anything before,”

she says. “I missed my next class.”

She worked at the perfume store

throughout her college career, and at

the same time began signing up for

philosophy and religion courses. Upon

graduation, she bought the business

with a partner and the pair operated the

store for two years. Horowitz sold her

half of the business and moved to Cali-

fornia to launch her own company.

The centerpiece of her work is the

“Fragrance Journey,” a session in which

she meets with an individual and delves

into his or her psyche (“almost like

therapy”) in order to create—on the

spot—a custom-designed scent.

“To make a fragrance that represents

who a person is, you need to know

them,” she says. Her questions include:

“What scents did your mother wear?”

“What textures feel best against your

skin?” and “What is your favorite time

of day?” She wryly admits, “It’s a way

to ask those kinds of questions without

being a bartender.”

As Horowitz uncovers a client’s

tastes and emotional landscape, she

pulls bottles from her fragrance or-

gan—a desk-like piece of furniture that

holds some 240 oils imported from In-

dia, Egypt and Indonesia and other lo-

cales. She asks her client to sniff each

one, blending essences along the way

and moving closer and closer to a final

product. At the end of the session, the

client leaves with a quarter-ounce bot-

tle, which can last up to a year. The

service starts at $295 and refills cost

between $25 and $120.

Horowitz estimates that she meets

with some 200 clients a year and has

some 1,800 personalized scents on file.

“It’s a labor of love,” she says. Her fa-

vorite essences include sandalwood,

vanilla and gardenia, as well as euphor-

ic blood orange and exotic bergamot.

Horowitz wears her own creations and

“feels naked without a scent,” some-

thing she hopes many others feel as

well.

— Rhea Becker

SCENTS OF A WOMANSarah Horowitz ’92 creates fragrance ‘fingerprints’ with some art and some science

profiles

‘TO MAKE A FRAGRANCE THAT REPRESENTS WHO A PERSON IS,YOU NEED TO KNOW THEM: WHAT SCENTS DID YOUR MOTHER

WEAR? WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE TIME OF DAY?,’ SHE ASKS.

S P R I N G 2 0 0 2 E X P R E S S I O N 35

although he hasn’t tended a crop

in his life, Lyn Jarvis ’61 knows more

about farming than you can shake a

stick at.

Growing up amid “a couple of” cows

and some chickens in rural Andover,

Vt., and studying television production

as an undergraduate at Emerson Col-

lege, Jarvis ’61 is producer and co-host

of Across the Fence, a home and farm

show produced by the University of

Vermont Extension that is regarded as

the longest-running locally produced

telecast in the United States. Jarvis

joined the show in 1975, when the pro-

gram was still being filmed live and in

black and white.

Today, after nearly three decades and

some 7,000 programs, Jarvis is an in-

stitution in Vermont television. When

he recently announced that he was step-

ping down in June 2002, the news of

his retirement rippled all across the

Green Mountain State.

“I was getting my hair cut the other

day and a woman said to me, ‘I just

heard you were retiring,” says Jarvis.

“At the Laundromat, someone else

came up to me and asked about my

retirement.”

Across the Fence airs on WCAX-TV,

Vermont’s CBS affiliate station, on

weekdays at 12:10 p.m. It wouldn’t be

an exaggeration to say that life pauses

each day for the 16-minute broadcast:

according to Nielsen ratings, some

80,000 viewers in the U.S. and Canada

watch the program daily.

Vermonters have been eating up the

show since its debut in 1955. After all,

the topics it covers are interesting, use-

ful and positively ‘down-home’, includ-

ing a visit to the 7th annual Hook Rug

Exhibit in Shelburne; easy and econom-

ical meals for senior citizens; 4-H

camping opportunities; a ‘how-to’ on

starting seedlings indoors; and a live

telecast of the governor of Vermont tap-

ping a maple tree in Essex Junction.

Although the number of farms in

Vermont has greatly declined over the

years, farming remains a basic part

of the show, whether it is “dairy, maple

sugaring or backyard gardening,” says

Jarvis. And he deeply admires the folks

who make their living in agriculture.

“In every case, farmers are hospitable

and hard-working,” he says. “And peo-

ple in agriculture have been underap-

preciated and undervalued. Their lives

depend on the weather and the seeds

they buy. It’s a difficult life. So it’s a

good feeling to work with them and get

their stories out.” Jarvis estimates he

has visited about a third of the state’s

farms over the years.

Jarvis himself does get off the farm

once in while. He has traveled to Russia

and China to work with other agricul-

tural communicators and exchange

information.

Before his career with Across theFence, Jarvis was a producer for Ver-

mont Public Television, where he

worked on shows like Vermont Daily Al-manac and Vermont Cracker Barrel and

created specials such as Snowflake Bent-

ley and Home of Calvin Coolidge.

Jarvis’ work has been recognized

with an agricultural communications

award as ‘outstanding communicator

in electronic media.’

When he arrived on the Emerson

campus as an undergraduate some 40

years ago, Jarvis was “coming from a

small rural town. It was a huge adjust-

ment for me. The transition was diffi-

cult.” He fondly recalls several of the

people who helped ease him into col-

lege life: faculty members Kenneth

Crannell, “Mrs. Mitchell,” George

Quenzel and Stuart Postle.

In his retirement Jarvis will be farm-

ing a quarter-acre of land in South

Hero, Vt., an island community on

Lake Champlain. “It’s all weeds, and

the neighbors have been complaining.”

But, says Jarvis with enthusiasm, “I’m

going to clear it and plant fruit trees

and perennials,” using all he has

learned over the years from his work

with the farmers of Vermont.

— Rhea Becker

FARMERS’ FR IENDLyn Jarvis ’61 has been the voice of Vermont agriculture for three decades

profiles

PRODUCER LYN JARVIS IS GREETED BY FANS AT‘LYN JARVIS DAY’ AT THE VERMONT FARM

SHOW HELD EARLIER THIS YEAR

36 E X P R E S S I O N S P R I N G 2 0 0 2

In My Father’s FootstepsGrad student Erika Hahn ’03 follows a career path whose seeds were sown when she was just a child by erika hahn

I graduated from college in the ’80s

and spent my twenties wandering aim-

lessly around Europe and the U.S. Back

home, I took assorted jobs just for the

money—hardly an existence to crow

about at a high school reunion. Now in

my thirties, life is starting to take on a

new direction.

I don’t know if you subscribe to

the nature vs. nurture theory, but my

father’s ability to look through a camera

lens and capture images that still capti-

vate 30 years later is in me. It began

clawing its way out five years ago. In

1998 I began to take photos at film fes-

tivals. That led to a photographer gig at

Imagine magazine in Boston. My love

of image-making then led me to take

video classes at a public access TV sta-

tion in the town where I lived. I spent

countless hours in the editing suite.

When I decided that I wanted a ca-

reer in television production,

everyone I met insisted that

a master’s degree from

Emerson was just the thing I

needed. I was admitted to

the graduate program, and since the fall

of 2001, my classes have trained me

not only to make technically superb tel-

evision, but to understand the theory

below the surface. This summer I plan

to attend Emerson’s Prague Program,

which consists of a month-long stay at

the FAMU film school in the Czech Re-

public. As a Europhile, I can’t wait to

discover a more European approach to

film and video producing.

My aunt told me years ago that she

was sure that had my father lived he

would have excelled in television. Re-

ceiving my Emerson degree is going to

allow me to pursue something he was

only just beginning to explore. Captur-

ing real life and reproducing it for oth-

ers to learn from and enjoy is some-

thing I love doing, just like my father

did before me.

So, I’m following in his footsteps.

Completing a path he might have

tread? Perhaps. I see myself a year from

now revealing the wonders of the world

via television. Everything in his profes-

sional life he did intensely, and I’m

proud to say I’m definitely a chip off

the old block.

Erika Hahn ’03 is a graduate student in vi-sual and media arts at Emerson Collegestudying television production with a con-centration in documentary.

I’m well on my way to a career in documentary televi-sion thanks to Emerson College. I see myself on thecutting edge at National Geographic Explorer or TheDiscovery Channel, visiting far-off lands and bring-

ing back award-winning video to America.Papa would be proud. Although he died 30 years ago, my father

lives on in my family. He was a real charac-ter, a man of many talents: oceanographer,photographer, cinematographer, sciencewriter, journal editor, world traveler, world-class yachtsman and teacher. He spentmuch of his life plying the briny deep of theAtlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. Many ofhis talents live on in me, but it took a longtime to figure this out.

my turn

Remembering Emerson College

For information about planned giving, contact Jeanne Brodeur,

Office of Institutional Advancement, Emerson College

120 Boylston St., Boston, MA 02116-4624; (617) 824-8533.

For more than a century, Emerson

College has helped talented young

people find their voices, broaden their

horizons and pursue successful

careers. By including bequests to

Emerson in their wills, alumni and

friends are helping to assure that the

College can continue

its vital mission for

many years to come.

GARY S. SAGENDORF ’88

“As I prepared my will,

I chose to remember

Emerson in a way that

was special and lasting—commensurate with

the lasting impression Emerson and the city of

Boston have had on my life,” said Gary S.

Sagendorf ’88, a systems administrator at

AT&T Labs in Florham Park, N.J. “I believe in

Emerson’s mission, its alumni and its students.

By making a bequest I can

help future students fulfill their

dream of an Emerson

education.”

CHARLES ROSEN ’68

“Emerson was a major

influence in the progression of

my life—from a rural Maine upbringing to

discovering my communication skills in

Boston,” says Charles Rosen ’68, president

of the Manhattan casting firm that bears his

name. He and his domestic partner, David

Panzer, president of a travel agency in

Harrison, N.Y., have designated a portion of

their estate to establish a scholarship fund at

Emerson. “We want to assure that deserving

students who cannot afford to pay tuition will

have an opportunity to study at Emerson.”

BARNEY T. BISHOP III ‘73

“I came to Emerson with a

scholarship in forensics,”

said Barney T. Bishop III

’73, president of The

Windsor Group, a public

affairs and government

relations consulting firm in

Tallahassee, Fla. He and his

wife, Shelby Bishop, have

designated a portion of their estate to support

activities associated with debate. “The lessons

I learned at Emerson gave me the self-

confidence and skills I needed to succeed.

Forensics is making a comeback at Emerson,

and I want to make sure it continues to

flourish.”

CHARLES ROSEN (LEFT)AND DAVID PANZER

BARNEY AND SHELBY BISHOP

GARY SAGENDORF

Non-ProfitUS Postage

PAIDPermit No. 902Providence, RI

Emerson College120 Boylston StreetBoston, MA 02116-4624

Strike a pose!Dancers at the 21st Annual EVVY Awards create a tableau during one of the show’s dance numbers.

The annual event is a high point for the campus, a celebration of the best work, in many disciplines,

that students have produced throughout the year.