Department of
Theater, Film, and Media Studies

Last FOUR PERFORMANCES of the musical WORKING, April 25-28. Don't Miss Out!

Based on Studs Terkel’s best-selling book of interviews with American workers, WORKING paints a vivid portrait of the men and women the world so often takes for granted and whose lives rarely make it to the musical stage: the schoolteacher, the parking lot attendant, the waitress, the millworker, the mason, the trucker, the firefighter, the housewife and stay-at-home-mom, just to name a handful. It’s a highly original look at the American landscape that’s simply impossible to forget. Co-produced by the departments of Theater, Film, and Media Studies and Music. With stage direction by Michael Ellis-Tolaydo and Jonathan M. Rizzardi, musical direction by Larry Vote.

To reserve tickets for WORKING, contact the Theater Box Office at 240-895-4243 (ext. 4243), or e-mail boxoffice@smcm.edu. Ticket prices are $4 for students, faculty, SMCM staff, senior citizens, and Arts Alliance members; $6 general admission. For the April 25 performance, Box Office management offers a special "two-for-the-price-of-one" deal: bring a guest and see the show for $2/ticket (this offer excludes general admission purchases). (WORKING poster design by Drama Queen Graphics, http://dramaqueengraphics.com.)

To TFMS faculty members Leonard Cruz, who recently successfully defended his doctoral dissertation in urban education to become "Dr." Cruz (Leonard also holds an M.F.A. in dance); Joanne Klein and Mark A. Rhoda, whose 2004 production of Jean-Claude Van Itallie's "The Serpent" is featured in The Enjoyment of Theatre (9th ed.) and A Concise History of Theatre (1st ed.), by Jim Patterson and Tim Donahue, Penguin Academic/Pearson, January 2013; Michael Ellis-Tolaydo, who has been made an Associate-Artist-in-Residence for Washington, D.C. Theater J’s 2012-2013 season. A Theater J and D.C. favorite, Michael was last seen at Theater J as Mortera in “New Jerusalem: The Interrogation of Baruch de Spinoza." Other Theater J shows include “Pangs of the Messiah,” “The Accident,” and “Benedictus.” For Theater J’s upcoming season, Michael will appear in “Boged: An Enemy of the People” and “Apples from the Desert,” two plays which are part of the Voices from the Changing Middle East Festival; David Ellsworth, recipient of the Grand MUFF Prize at the 2012 Montréal Underground Film Festival and the Jury's Choice Award from the Black Maria Film and Video Festival for his 2011 short film, "Front Street Yard," which is also a selection of the 2012 Antimatter Film Festival in Victoria, BC, Canada and the 2012 Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival, Hot Springs, Arkansas.

To TFMS student Elliott Shugoll ('13) for his selection to perform his solo dance piece, "Moon Viewing," during the March 2013 American College Dance Festival's final gala evening of dance (Elliott's piece originally performed as part of the recent TFMS dance concert, "On the Move! Dance for the 21st Century"); adjudicators at the Tampa dance festival remarked of Elliott’s choreography and performance: "What a refreshing piece to have in a Festival where we have not seen this genre of dance! It was like a lotus blossoming or a bird flying in the night sky!" "I was moved by this piece. It was very sculptural and yet so simple. Dance does not mean that you have to always get up and kick your legs. The twisting and contortion of the body [were] just amazing." Additional KUDOS to Elizabeth Porter ('14), recipient of the 2013 Arts Alliance Award for Theater Excellence; Kevin Koeser ('14), recipient of the 2013 Arts Alliance Award for Excellence in Film and Media Studies; and Tobias Franzén ('13), recipient of the 2013 Torre M. Meringolo Theater Award (for outstanding work as a stage performer). Huzzahs to all!

Department of Theater, Film, and Media Studies, 2012
All Rights Reserved