Mary Best

With classic red draperies framing the stage and and silhouettes of the orchestra tuning against a blue scrim, SBU Theater presented their nostalgic adaptation of Robert and Willie Reale's musical A YEAR WITH FROG AND TOAD last weekend in the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts.

Once a Bonnie, always a Bonnie. That's a commonplace phrase creeping into conversations around springtime on the Olean, N.Y. college campus, but it rings true for Alexandra Herryman, a 2004 Bonaventure graduate returning to her former home to bring her puppetry skills to SBU Theater's production of Robert and Willie Reale's musical A YEAR WITH FROG AND TOAD.

With 5 shows together under their belts, Bonaventure seniors Brett Keegan and Ian Rogers are preparing to share the stage in SBU Theater's production of Robert and Willie Reale's musical A YEAR WITH FROG AND TOAD. Keegan, a philosophy major playing Frog, and Rogers, a modern languages major playing Toad, sat down to talk about their favorite parts of the show, future plans and playing best friends onstage.

Ready to hop into its first musical in more than five years, SBU Theater's production of A YEAR WITH FROG AND TOAD directed by Ed. Simone opens Wednesday evening at the Rigas Family Theater at the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts.

Most college theater students have plenty of opportunities to take the stage at their universities in leading roles, ensemble characters or even behind the scenes. Some Drexel University students, however, have the opportunity to work alongside professional actors as part of the Mandell Professionals in Residence Project (MPiRP).

Just as we were settling into a comfortably insane routine of Starbucks and shows, Festival 45 was over before we knew it.

Day 3 of the festival brought what's to be expected - more great performances and more coffee concoctions to combat the exhaustion.

In full festival hangover, we crawled out of bed early Monday morning to kick off day two of KCACTF. With our usual Starbucks in hand, most of our group headed to campus to see FOR SALE, by Garrett Lee Milton, a student playwright from James Madison University.

We have arrived! The St. Bonaventure University group has conquered day one of the Region 2 Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival at Towson University. As a third year festival participant, I was thrilled to joined SBU Theater in four days of shows, competitions and a whole lot of Starbucks.

A projection design artist isn't necessarily a commonplace credit under a technical crew listing in a playbill, but a handful of designers have joined this fresh new approach to technology in theater. Jared Mezzocchi, a pioneer of the new design field and recent addition to the faculty of the School of Theater, Dance & Performance Studies at the University of Maryland (UMD), had plenty of insights about the emerging art form and its various capacities.

With old movie posters splashed on the walls, a giant tree and a grill hanging from the ceiling, the Garret Theater stage was set for "Knowing and Un-Knowing," the revival of SBU Theater's biennial one-act festival, which ran Nov 30-Dec. 2.

There's no denying the endless list of responsibilities designated to a production's beloved stage manager. It's hard to imagine a show running smoothly without one, and even harder to believe shows like that even happen. Ruth Anne Watkins, a senior at the University of Maryland, taught an entire crew how to operate with a stage manager when the School of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies and National Academy of Chinese Theater Arts' bilingual production of A Midsummer Night's Dream went overseas to Beijing, China.

Mitchell Hébert, professor of theater at the University of Maryland, co-directed the School of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies and National Academy of Chinese Theater Arts' bilingual production of William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. The Helen Hayes Award winner discussed being a part of such a groundbreaking project and seeing it evolve from concept to successful stage production.

The University of Maryland's School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies performed their original interpretation of the Shakespearean comedy in collaboration with the National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts at UMD in September and Beijing, China in October. Helen Huang, professor of Costume Design at UMD, talks about this groundbreaking production.

Do you know what it takes to make a functional rod puppet? What about a giant batch of fake blood? Senior Emily West knows how to make both those and more as part of her many skills showcased through her set, costume and prop designs as a dedicated member of St. Bonaventure University Theater. And now, Emily plans to pursuer her passion post-grad.