Congratulations to the Cast and Creative Team of
Viral
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Please join us in congratulating the cast and creative team of
Viral
on a terrific performance last night! The original film, created by and starring students and faculty from UC San Diego Theatre & Dance (many of whom are pictured in a still from the film, above), streamed on May 25th at 6pm via our
Spring 2020 Virtual Studio
!
Created by MFA students (and recent graduates), and directed by acting faculty member
Stephen Buescher,
the film was described as such: "A lovely night at the movies turns into a nightmare. Quarantine can't help you when everything goes VIRAL!"
Don't worry if you missed the livestream last night -- you can still watch
Viral
!
Click here
to view a recording of the performance (the film begins about 8:38' with an introduction from the director), and to learn more about the student and faculty artists involved. See below, in this newsletter, for more information about our upcoming virtual productions and events!
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Upcoming Productions & Events
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Spring 2020 Virtual Mainstage Productions:
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What would you do if the world was ending? When chaos roams the earth, you can either tie yourself to the bit of light left or fall into the darkness. Separated from your loved ones, you hold a notebook with you that lists all the people you are searching for. Maybe you're not searching. Maybe you just want to know they're alive. You and a group of people from across the country find yourselves recollecting an episode from
The Simpsons
, finding comfort through connection. What will you do to preserve the past and create a new future?
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Ground-breaking and innovative digital dance created by undergraduate dance students during the COVID-19 shelter-in-place era.
New Directions Experimental Dance and Digital Performance
is the first of its kind and will pave the way for future dance-making in our digital future.
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This Week's Featured Virtual LAB Production:
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Dial Q for Quarantine: A Zoom Whodunit
The Purell family has a problem. They've been quarantined since the beginning of the pandemic, and now someone has broken quarantine and their beloved dog, Chalice, is missing. So, they've hired a detective to get to the bottom of things.
May 31 @ 12pm PST
(Time subject to change. Check website for updates.)
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Upcoming Virtual LAB Productions*:
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Drive-In: A Salon Showcasing the Work of the MFA Costume Designers
Let’s all go to the movies and enjoy a treat: the visual worlds that Euihyun, Daniella, and Natalie have been creating while socially distancing. How do we showcase the body in the virtual world? Join us as we share and discuss our work as storytellers.
June 5 @ 5pm PST
Piece of the Pandemic
A choose your own adventure in a virtual setting about living in quarantine at a social distance.
June 6 @ 7:30pm PST
The Gathering
The Gathering is an ultra secret society whose purpose has been shrouded in mystery for millennia. All that is known is that somehow they are awakened to action when humanity is most in need of saving. Only a select few will be chosen for fellowship. Will you be brave enough to accept and rescue humanity before it's too late?
June 10 & 11 @ 7:30pm PST
Richard II Solo Project
A short video bringing together a number of speeches and the deposition scene from Shakespeare's Richard II. Exploring how to carry this story with just one actor, focusing on Richard as a character, and the journey of these specific speeches within the play.
June 11 @ 7:30pm PST
The Museum of You: An Audio Guide
Plug in your headphones, press play, and walk us through your space as we walk you through the museum. Take part in a few Institute-Approved Exercises, rediscover the life inside the objects around you, and empower yourself to see your space with fresh eyes. We hope you enjoy your visit.
June 12 @ 6pm
Do the Stars Gaze Back
On an outpost deep in outer space, a mysterious emergency forces everyone to flee in their individual escape pods. Drifting alone in space, gazing at the stars, yearning for human connection. Is there anybody out there? Do the stars gaze back?
June 12 @ 7:30pm
Virtual Meeting: Finger Me Through the Screen
The central theme of this variety piece revolves around taboo and catharsis and examines the societal significance of taboo and peoples’ fascination with it. Taboo attracts an intrinsic curiosity; if you forbid someone from doing something, they wonder what would happen if they did. The mysterious and deviant nature of taboo entices people and the goal of this piece is to capture its essence. The piece utilizes and embraces a 2D medium while incorporating video art to supplement movement elements.
June 13 @ 8pm
UCSD Chicanx Teatro Ensemble & Mobile Theater Unit
Looking at works/pieces created for mobile phones. But could be live and/or recorded as we develop the work, but anticipating those being via phones
TBD
Tangible Scores
TBD
*All LAB dates and information subject to change. Stay updated on all performance information by visiting our online
Spring 2020 Virtual Studio
. We will also continue to update information in our upcoming newsletters -- so keep your eyes peeled!
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Theatre & Dance Undergraduate Graduation
Friday, June 5th, 2020
5:00pm
Streamed live at the link below.
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Current Student Successes
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PhD Student Sam Mitchell Awarded Fellowship from UC San Diego's Arts & Community Engagement Initiative
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PhD student Sam Mitchell was recently awarded a Community Connections Fellowship through the Arts and Community Engagement initiative at UC San Diego. The fellowship will support an online performance project created in collaboration with and telling the stories of Native/Indigenous/POC artists.
The project will create a cross-dialogue between Native/Indigenous/POC artists between the communities of Minneapolis and San Diego, as well as on a national level. Through the restorative, healing properties of this choreographic project, new connections will be forged between Native/Indigenous/POC communities.
Confirmed collaborators include Sam Mitchell, Rosy Simas Danse, and UC San Diego's Intertribal Resource Center. Planning for the rehearsals, performances and workshops will take place in June 2020. Rehearsals, outreach and marketing will take place in July and August 2020. Virtual performances and workshops will take place September through November 2020.
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Professor Ursula Meyer Discusses
Henry V
for
On Book: The Old Globe's Shakespeare Reading Group
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Acting faculty member
Ursula Meyer
was recently featured in a video interview in which she spoke about rhetoric and inspiration in Shakespeare's
Henry V
with PhD alumna
Danielle Magas Amato,
Literary Manager/Dramaturg at The Old Globe, for
On Book: The Old Globe's Shakespeare Reading Group.
Audiences are invited to explore Shakespeare’s plays in
On Book: The Old Globe's Shakespeare Reading Group
, which offers an online space to read and discuss Shakespeare’s works with directors, actors, and other artists who have tackled these great masterworks for the Globe’s stages.
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Professor Julie Burelle Dramaturgs
Walks of Life
for La Jolla Playhouse's Digital WOW Festival
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PhD faculty member
Julie Burelle
recently acted as dramaturg for La Jolla Playhouse's Digital WOW production of
Walks of Life
, created by Blindspot Collective. The production is now available on the Playhouse's
website
.
Walks of Life
is an original work of auditory theatre featuring short scenes by playwrights and composers from across the country. In the midst of a pandemic that fractures and isolates our communities, this aural experience offers the opportunity to safely and imaginatively reconnect with each other by bearing witness to life’s intimate moments captured entirely in sound. Participants experience the performance while walking independently through their own neighborhoods, and over the course of three 30-minute parts, they are introduced to characters and stories that might be unfolding in the homes around them.
Click here
to learn more and experience the production.
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Alumni Lauren Yee and Johnny Wu Highlighted in
New York Times
Feature on Asian-American Theatre
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The
New York Times
recently published an article spotlighting a multitude of new plays and musicals by Asian-American theatermakers that were on the rise in New York theater this spring, only to be cut short or canceled because of COVID-19.
Featured in the article is MFA Playwriting alumna
Lauren Yee,
whose play
Cambodian Rock Band
had a lengthy run at Signature Theatre with plans of being extended -- only to close early. Also featured is MFA Acting alumnus
Johnny Wu
, pictured above in Christopher Chen’s LCT3 production of
The Headlands
, which had to close its sold out run early due to the pandemic (Photo: Sara Krulwich/
The New York Times
)
.
Click here
to read the full feature article in the
New York Times
.
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Alumni Daniel K. Isaac and Ryan McCarthy Reunited on Showtime's
Billions
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Undergraduate alumnus
Daniel K. Isaac
and MFA Acting alumnus
Ryan McCarthy
were recently reunited on the May 24, 2020 episode of Showtime's
Billions
, on which Isaac is a recurring cast member. McCarthy was featured in the episode as a powerful CEO.
Billions
is a complex drama about power politics in the world of New York high finance, starring Emmy and Golden Globe winners Paul Giamatti and Damian Lewis. Shrewd, savvy U.S. Attorney Chuck Rhoades (Giamatti) and the brilliant, ambitious hedge fund king Bobby "Axe" Axelrod (Lewis) are on an explosive collision course, with each using all of his considerable smarts, power and influence to outmaneuver the other. The stakes are in the billions in this timely, provocative series.
Click here
to learn more about Showtime's
Billions
.
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Need Help? Visit the COVID-19 Freelance Artist Resource Page
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The COVID-19 Freelance Artist Resource webpage is an aggregated list of FREE resources, opportunities, and financial relief options available to artists of all disciplines. It is specifically designed to serve freelance artists, and those interested in supporting the independent artist community. This includes, but is not limited to actors, designers, producers, technicians, stage managers, musicians, composers, choreographers, visual artists, filmmakers, craft artists, teaching artists, dancers, writers & playwrights, photographers, etc.
Click here
to visit the webpage and to learn more.
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Have news to share?
Send it to us at tanddnews@ucsd.edu and we'll pass it along for you. Photos are encouraged.
Miss a back edition? Visit the Newsletter Archives.
Sincerely, UC San Diego Theatre & Dance
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