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At 75, CUA Drama
Earns Rave Reviews
By Janice Colvin
I
n rehearsal for the fall 2012 drama production, Hedda Gabler, three students work
intensely through their lines in Callan
Theatre, a small and intimate performance
space just off the larger Hartke Theatre at the
western edge of the main campus.
They fix an occasional mistake as they
move through the dialogue. Back and forth,
they pace the wooden floor — the boards
scuffed, faded, and striped with bits of tape
markings where props and actors’ feet have
stood in performances past.
Each student, in turn, calls for a missed
line from the assistant following the script
just off stage. This night, the actors don portions of the period costumes they will wear
during the performance just a few short
weeks away.
Director Eleanor Holdridge, head of the
M.F.A. directing program, stops them
every so often. She talks about motivation —
22 The Catholic University of America Magazine
what’s going on inside: Think like the character,
move like the character, become that person.
An award-winning director in theaters in
Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Baltimore,
and New York, she has worked with many
actors in just this way. Her words help draw
her students further into a world set apart
from the mundane — the world of the play.
As they prepare for their opening night in
October, the students follow in the footsteps
of thousands of CUA drama alumni, including
actors Philip Bosco (D.F.A. 1997, B.A. 1957)
and Siobhan Fallon Hogan (M.F.A. 1985),
who got their start treading the old stage in
the now demolished Department of Drama’s
U.S. Army surplus theater building or the
well-worn floorboards of Callan and Hartke
theatres.
Supported over the last 75 years by a tightknit cadre of actors, directors and playwrights, students and professors, and fans, the
department maintains a rich legacy. This
year, it celebrates the 75th anniversary of
its founding with a full playbook of performances, concluding with a two-day gala
celebration set for April 26 and 27, 2013.
(For more details on the gala, visit
drama.cua.edu.)
Hedda Gabler was the 525th production
since the founding of the department in
1937 by Rev. Gilbert V. Hartke, O.P., who
headed the department until 1974 and built
a foundation of excellence in performing
arts training.
“It was a successful kickoff to our anniversary season,” says Gail Beach, department
chair, who also worked on the costume
design and fabrication for Henrik Ibsen’s
classic. “Everyone who has had the joy of this
department in their lives is invited to come
back and celebrate where we are today, 75
years later.”
Gary Sloan, professor, has been a professional actor for 30 years and has performed leading
roles in New York, Los Angeles, and regional
theaters. On stage, he has appeared opposite
such recognizable names as Sigourney Weaver,
Marsha Mason, Lynn Redgrave, Hal Holbrook,
Tom Hulce, and Peter Gallagher.
“I really love teaching grads and undergrads
together, and working with professionals,”
says Hedda Gabler director Holdridge. “I love
the mix we have in this city, because there is
so much theater.”
The drama department partners with local
theater companies, which offer internships
for students, who receive training in performance arts, and in business management and
marketing. The department has long worked
with such companies in the D.C. area as The
Washington Stage Guild, Woolly Mammoth,
Folger Theater, Arena Stage, Theatre J, and
the Shakespeare Theatre Company.
Brendan McMahon, a junior drama major,
has acted in several University performances
including Hedda Gabler. He worked as a summer 2012 theater intern at The Washington
Stage Guild and says his experience as an
assistant stage manager was eye-opening.
“One thing I learned was all the work it takes to
actually run a successful theater company.
Ann (Norton) and I would talk about liability,
workman’s comp, equity paperwork, where
your budget goes, government grants, and
scheduling.” He says, “It was wonderful to
see the other side of it.” He plans a career as a
professional actor.
Actress Fallon Hogan notes that her CUA
education led to her long-running acting
career. Fallon Hogan’s myriad acting credits
in television, stage, and screen roles include
Saturday Night Live, several episodes of Seinfeld,
as well as Forrest Gump, Men in Black, The
Negotiator, Daddy Day Care, Holes, Dancer in
the Dark, and Dogville.
“My training at Catholic University was
superb,” she says. “Mark Hammer was a great
teacher. Father Hartke was the absolute best,
and I will treasure his wisdom, guidance, and
humor forever.”
Web Extra:
For more stories on the
Sideshow Theatre Company and Father
Hartke, visit cuamagazine.cua.edu.
The American Catholic History Research Center and University Archives
Tartuffe, Fall 2011
Drama alumni are, literally, “everywhere,”
and they are making a significant impact in
major theater towns such as New York, Los
Angeles, Boston, D.C., and Chicago, she adds.
“What is really stunning is what is referred
to in the greater theater community as the
‘CU Mafia,’” says Ann Norton (B.A. 1975),
founding executive director of The Washington
Stage Guild in D.C. “It is very rare that if you
walk into any theater setting today and ask,
‘oh, do you know so and so,’ they won’t reply
‘oh, yeah, they went to Catholic University.’
It is astounding.”
Megan Smith (B.A. 2006), Bruce Phillips
(B.A. 2005), and Jeff Tinley (B.A. 2005) are
part of this special group. Smith, Phillips,
Tinley, and several other drama friends
founded Sideshow Theatre Company in
Chicago in 2007. Already the winner of one of
Chicago’s top theater awards, the Jeff Award for
2011 for Artistic Specialization, the company is
entering its sixth season. Smith is the executive
director and also directs several plays a year.
Such an undertaking wouldn’t have been
possible without the training and support she
received at Catholic University, Smith says.
“There’s something about that program that
attracts a really wonderful type of person that I
don’t necessarily think is the case at a larger
institution,” she adds. “We got a lot of personal attention and a lot of opportunities to
fail, and I mean that in a good way.”
Norton agrees. “The one thing I learned at
Catholic University right off the bat is that
theater is hard work.” And she learned that
quickly, she says. Hartke Hall, which houses
Callan and Hartke theatres, opened in her
freshman year in 1970, with the department
at that time offering up to 21 shows a year.
Alumni accomplishments and contributions
throughout the industry are notable, thanks
to nurturing by a talented, award-winning
faculty with national reputations in acting,
playwriting, and directing. Jon Klein, head of
the M.F.A. playwriting program, is the author
of more than 20 plays, presented Off-Broadway
and at more than 100 American regional theaters. He has won three National Endowment
for the Arts Playwriting Fellowships for his
work, as well as the Dramatists Guild/CBS
New Play Award, the HBO Playwrights USA
Award, and more.
Father Hartke and a student at the Hartke Theatre construction site.
Fall 2012 23