Nellie Bransfield
( Acting )
Elizabeth A. Sieghardt and William E. Marfuggi

Robert Edmond Jones
( Excellence in Design and Technology. )
Jodi L. Zanetti

      Theatre Majors Toni Caracci, J.D. Johnson, Will Marfuggi, Julie Myers, John Ryan, Beth Sieghardt and Jodi Zanetti received their BA's on Friday, May 24, in traditional ceremonies on Fitton Field.

      In addition, a number of other student graduated who were very active in the department - Erin Butler, Susanne Calabrese, Justin D'Elia, Patrick Dowd, Patrick Finley, Colleen Hughes, Susan P. Kelly, Jen Mahon, Kelly Pereira, Marianne Rubino andAllison Rudman. 

      The Department extends our congratulations to all and wish them all the best. 

2001-2002 Highlights

The production year began with Lift High the Cross, an original pageant to kick-off the capital campaign. Undertaken at the request of Paul Sheff, Vice President of Development and Alumni Relations, the script was developed by Professors Kremer, Vineberg, and Isser. Material for the pageant came from Thy Honored Name, a history of the college by Anthony J. Kuzniewski, S.J., the College Mission Statement, and the College Profile. The pageant included music, singing, recitation, and shadow puppets; the set started as a podium and was rebuilt as Fenwick Hall after a reenactment of the 1852 fire.

The pageant was performed on September 8th, requiring 41 students to return early to campus for rehearsal. There was a second performance on November 10th. Because the two venues for the pageant, the intimate space of Hogan Ballroom and the auditorium space of Kimball Dining Hall, were vastly different, staging Lift High the Cross presented complex staging challenges. A professional sound company was required to deal with the acoustics in Kimball. September 8th the audience was made up of 200 of the College's most generous donors and benefactors; the November 10th audience was made up of the President's Council. Both productions received standing ovations. (See Holy Cross Magazine article)

Fenwick Theatre hosted five mainstage productions this year: three under the auspices of the Department of Theatre and two presented by ACT. The fall mainstage production of Silence! was the world premiere of a script by Brian Dykstra, who has had his work performed in Los Angeles, New York, and London. The play was directed by Margarett Perry '86, her third production in Fenwick Theatre. She directed Equus as an undergraduate and Psycho Beach Party in 1989. Three freshmen (Sara Ann Schleicher-Dilks, Courtney Correnti, and Peter Harrison) were cast in major roles in this small cast show. An adjudicator invited three majors to the KC/ACTF in recognition of their work on the production: Liz Constabile '03 and William Marguffi '02 for acting and Jodi Zanetti '02 for costumes. The department sent Tyler Dobrowsky '03 and Emily Strong '04, both of whom also appeared in Silence, to the KC/ACTF as scene partners.

The spring production of The Tempest directed by Professor Edward Isser with choreography and music by Luce Scholar Desak Made Suarti Laksmi was virtually sold out. The presence of Mel Cobb of Shakespeare & Company as Prospero anchored strong performances by the undergraduates. An Equity Actor both in the United States and Great Britain, Mr. Cobb worked on reconstruction of the Old Globe in London for 15 years and is working on reconstruction of The Rose in Lenox, Massachusetts. The undergraduate cast benefited from his experience thanks to the generous financial support of the Center for Religion, Ethics, and Culture. Visually, the production was spectacular. Professor Rynders set centered on a huge banyan tree. Choreographer SuartiLaksmi made full use of its possibilities when dancers appeared like exotic butterflies on its branches. The 110 costumes by Mr. Hultgren were a striking contrast of 17th-century European and Balinese influences. In total, 107 students worked on the production and over 1300 people saw performances. At the College of the Holy Cross, The Tempest was incorporated into CREC's The Anatomy of Evil Conference, the First Year Program, the Sophomore Honors Program, and the Academic Conference; it was part of the Shakespeare Conference at Clark University. (Tempest production photos)

The week after The Tempest closed, Daniel McCusker and Kathleen Ridlon staged the spring Dance Concert. Ballet, modern dance, Duncan repertoire, jazz: The concert featured an eclectic mix of dance styles. Sandra Zarotney, a member of the "Dances by Isadora" group, staged three Duncan pieces for the concert with three undergraduates. Carol Somers, "one of the most innovative choreographers on the Boston scene" (The Boston Globe), made a ballet titled "Tango Suite" performed by seven students fromn the ballet tutorial. Two pieces came out of McCusker's Dance Performance class: Joseph Cardillo '02 and Bryan Juwa '02 performed a duet and Abigail Ruettegers '03 developed a solo project. Under the direction of Professor McCusker, Professor Isser's Basic Acting class combined movement with excerpts from poems by Emily Dickinson. Professor Ridlon's choreographed "Seat of Knowledge" for her ballet class and collaborated on the choreography for Jazz Voyage with her jazz class. In total 104 students were involved in the concert. They performed before an appreciative SRO audience.

Away from the mainstage, Gamelan Gita Sari performed in two concerts. The first in Brooks Concert Hall on November 30 was SRO; the second, in Middletown, Connecticut, was at the invitation of Wesleyan University. Both programs featured not only the gamelan, but also dancers taught by Luce Scholar Desak Made Suarti Laksmi. Twenty-seven Gamelan Gita Sari musicians and dancers were also integrated into performances of The Tempest.

Several guest artists visited the campus under the auspices of the Holy Cross Dance Collective. In the fall, Debra Bluth gave a lecture/demonstration in the Dance Studio at the invitation of Professor Ridlon; in addition to guest choreographers Carol Somers and Sandra Zarotney in the spring, Professor Ridlon invited Jeanette Neil and Professor McCusker invited Jody Weber and dancers and Gretchen Hayden-Ruckett for lectures /demonstrations. Another guest artist, Tara Ahmed, brought her classical Indian dance troupe Lasya to Brooks Concert Hall at the invitation of Professor Kremer.

- Joan Townsend