TADA!

Like the headline says, the Fredonia Theatre and Dance blog is moving to a new location on the web. We like WordPress.com and all, but its limitations can be frustrating. So we are moving to a server where we can set up a more flexible and capable website to run our blog – all this to bring you more exciting ways to stay in touch with us, such as with Facebook and Twitter. So here is our new address on the web:

http://tada.fredonia.edu

You will need to make the changes to any bookmarks you have for this site, as this web address will go dead as of today Tuesday August 25, 2009. We will leave the blog on the web for this semester, but if you’d like to stay current with everything we are doing, make sure you change your bookmarks NOW so as to update our site location. After December 31, this site will cease to exist.

Thanks for joining us here, and we hope to see you there!

-Tom Loughlin, Professor and Webmaster

Welcome back!  Or to those of you who are new, welcome!

I’ve been back on campus for a week now.  Ted Sharon had hired me to be the music director this year for the drama day camp, Playground.  Playground is a week long camp for kids in the area to experience the thrill of theatre.  This year, we put a production of Suessical Jr. together.  On Monday morning, the campers auditioned for Marc de la Concha (an alumni of the department) who directed the show.  After lunch, Marc and I along with other staff ran callbacks and cast the show.  We rushed into rehearsals that day.

Over the course of the five days, the campers learned 30 musical numbers, 6 dancers, and also took classes in musical theatre, dance, and writing.  I worked the Musical Theatre Workshop with Aundre Seals.  During class, we taught the campers a range of things from storytelling to objectives.  We also worked on teaching the vocals to the show and telling the story through the lyrics.

On Saturday, the kids performed for their parents.  It was such a rewarding thing to watch these kids flourish so strongly.  By the end, every kids took something away from the show, whether it was a new friend, a new love for theatre or a new skill.  And that’s why I love camps like Playground.  Some of these kids will never step on stage again.  But it’s now a part of them.  They will always have this appreciation for theatre.

Today, the semester started for the campus.  Personally, I have a new pet peeve about Fredoina.  They are “going green” left and right and it’s becoming an annoyance.  We no longer are being handed out syllabi for our classes.  They are on ANGEL and we can print them out if we want or if they requrie us to.  So now, for the first day of classes, we do not go over the syllabus in a class.  So if there are important we need to know, we don’t get to see it written out unless they email or post it for us.  Also, we don’t get our bills via mail any more.  We now have an “ebill” where the only way to get your bill is electronically.  I’m sorry, but this is utter bull.  Call me old fashioned, but I like to have the paper in my hand so I can visually see what I need to know when I need to know it.  And I don’t always have an internet connection.  Personally, I think the whole “going green” thing is a bit of a waste of time.  Yes, I understand that we should be nice to the environment.  But we don’t have to become monks and inconvenience ourselves at every corner.

Alright, I think that’s enough for now.  Time for meetings and auditions!  Wahoo!

KAB

IMG_0192

Originally uploaded by theatre.dance

This summer the Department of Theatre and Dance undertook the process of enlarging its Drafting Studio. By switching one office and the old drafting room we were able to add four more tables to make the lab a total of ten. It will share a new digital projector with the CAD lab as well.

Todd Proffitt
Associate Professor Lighting and Sound Design.

Greetings everyone! Welcome back! Hope you like our new look!

It has been a very wonderful and productive summer here at SUNY Fredonia’s Department of Theatre and Dance. Students have been running around doing all sorts of things, and are now deep into preparations for auditions for this year’s season of mainstage shows. Faculty are getting those last few days of summer vacation in before buckling down and preparing for classes. Final repairs and maintenance to equipment is taking place. Our Summer Theatre Playground for Kids will commence next week. And in less than two weeks the curtain will rise for another semester of theatrical mayhem.

Our big announcement for this post is that the department is now ready to accept applications for auditions for the 2010-11 academic year. Auditions will begin in December 2009 and continue into the spring 2010 semester. You can find the online form and other information about auditions by clicking this link. We’ll be sure to keep you informed as to upcoming dates as the year progresses.

As we begin this new academic year, we hope to add even more features to this blog. If there is something you’d like to see us try or write about, don’t be hesitant to give us feedback in the comment section of each post. We enjoy hearing from you as we look for better ways to let you know what we’re up to, and to make SUNY Fredonia the place you’d like to further your theatrical training. The new academic year always brings with it an air of excitement, and we hope you’re just as excited as we are!