7-21-06
Shedding Light on UIC's "Invisible" Theatre Department
When you hear “UIC theatre” you probably think of Kanye West’s latest show at the UIC Pavilion. But did you know the University of Illinois at Chicago has a theatre department? “It’s basically invisible to the public eye,” says Luigi Salerni, theatre professor and former department chair. Yep, UIC is probably the most prolific theatre department you’ve never heard of. In fact, on April 23, 2007 UIC will celebrate 60 years of theatre with an anticipated 400 theatre alumni returning to the campus for a gala show.
The Chicago theatre landscape is populated with UIC theatre grads in both professional and academic theatre. Just a few of the professional alumni to come out of UIC’s theatre program include: regional theatre actress Cheryl Lynn Bruce, Mechelle Moe of The Hypocrites, L. Walter Stearns of Porchlight Music Theatre and Venetia Stifler, who is the executive director of the Ruth Page Center. Television’s Michael Gross of Family Ties and Broadway’s Karen Mason also call UIC their alma mater.
UIC theatre actually began as an extracurricular activity in 1947 when the university was located on Navy Pier. It became an official department in 1964 and now offers approximately 70-80 students a BFA in performance and a BA in directing and design.
Because of the location and nature of the university, the racial and ethnic profile is very broad – not many theatre departments offer “Polish Drama in Translation.” Many students may be the first from their families to go to college, and most all of them have jobs to support themselves while they’re getting an education. Although this can make scheduling rehearsals a challenge, Salerni notes, “Our students are required to be totally disciplined because so much is on their plates.”
One way the university helps out is by offering class credit for students in mainstage productions. Not only do the students get to work with top UIC theatre faculty and guest directors, but they get to tick off three credit hours for performance, costume construction, lighting, sound or even public relations.
Another side effect of being the first in their family to go to college, according to professor and former department chair Anthony Graham-White, is “Many [students] will start off in other majors because it’s what their parents want. Then they transfer to theatre.” (Even Michael Gross started as pre-med.) He is quick to note, though, that the benefit is that there are no cliques and all students are eager to learn and do the work.
Salerni, who has been with UIC for 11 years, says, “We collaborate on every level of instruction and performance. One of our great strengths is that we actually all like each other. Academia can be so politically negative and take itself inappropriately seriously. It’s very territorial, but in reality the stakes are low and it [the infighting] becomes an absurdity.”
Bill Raffeld, professor and semi-official historian, loves to tout the department’s unsung success. “Did you know we have had exchange programs with Theatre Moscow Southwest?” he asks. “We took seven productions on tour through Russia from 1989 through 2001. And they brought seven productions here during that time.” Raffeld will be producing the gala reunion next April.
In the last three years, UIC has made significant changes to the theatre department, primarily making admission into the BFA and BA in Performance programs more competitive by instituting auditions to get in. Students seeking a BA in Design/Directing have to interview with a resume and portfolio of work.
Salerni says that they had a “great programmatic success in getting the new BFA and making it more competitive in structure. It was a risk for UIC, so their support of the change was critical.” He also notes that now that students must audition and the quality of student performance has improved, they are able to attract even better faculty.
This also translates into much more ambitious student productions. Last season saw UIC mainstage productions of Angels in America: Part One, Marisol, The Kentucky Cycle and Spunk (which, incidentally, was directed by UIC alumna Cheryl Lynn Bruce).
Anyone interested in the BFA or BA in Performance should prepare two short monologues. Students who would rather go for a BA in Design/Directing should prepare a resume and interview. For more information call 312/996-3991 or check out their Web site at www.uic.edu.
2006 College Issue
Shedding Light on UIC’s “Invisible” Theatre Department
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