DePaul Theatre School Announces New Faculty

The Theatre School at DePaul University welcomes new faculty members: SHARON BRIDGFORTH, Ernie Nolan, JULIA NEARY & MARCELLE MCVAY Talented New Faculty Members Serve as Addition to Award-Winning Faculty & Staff.

The Theatre School at DePaul University is pleased to announce the appointment of three new full-time faculty members:  Sharon Bridgforth, award-winning writer working in the theatrical jazz aesthetic, Ernie Nolan, regional director and playwright, and Julia Neary, award-winning actress, director, and choreographer.  Joining them is also Marcelle (Marcie) McVay, long time Managing Director of Victory Gardens Theater and founding member of the League of Chicago Theatres, who will serve as an adjunct professor and the Interim Head of the Theatre Management program.

With these newest members of the faculty comes a renewed commitment on behalf of The Theatre School to offer world-class training with faculty and staff members from a wide variety of professional, cultural and ethnic backgrounds.

In the Visiting Multicultural Faculty position, New Dramatists member Sharon Bridgforth brings her extensive professional experience as a writer working in the Theatrical Jazz Aesthetic to The Theatre School. As an interdisciplinary artist, activist, teacher, and counselor, Bridgforth's work has received support from the National Endowment for the Arts Commissioning Program; the National Endowment for the Arts/Theatre Communications Group Playwright in Residence Program; the National Performance Network Commissioning Fund; the Paul Robeson Fund for Independent Media; and the Rockefeller Foundation Multi-Arts Production Fund. Her work has been presented around the country at venues including the Walker Art Center and La Pena Cultural Center. Bridgforth is author of the Lambda Literary Award winning THE BULL-JEAN STORIES and LOVE CONJURE/BLUES, a performance/novel. Her piece BLOOD PUDDING is in the 2010 New York SummerStage Festival. Bridgforth's Finding Voice Facilitation Manuel is published in Experiments in a Jazz Aesthetic: Art, Activism, Academia, and the Austin Project.

Marcelle McVay states that she is "thrilled to be working with the next generation of performing arts managers" as the Interim Head of the Theatre Management program, and that she "looks forward to addressing the field's opportunities and challenges in DePaul's conservatory setting."  McVay's significant experience in the Chicago theatre community will be an invaluable resource to the program. She has worked with Victory Gardens Theater since its inception in 1974 as Business Manager, Development Director, and Managing Director until her retirement in 2009.  She oversaw the budget growth of the organization to the $3 million level and provided leadership during the $11.8 million capital campaign to purchase and renovate Chicago's historic Biograph Theater as the theater's mainstage home.  McVay was also a founding member of the League of Chicago Theatres and the Producers Association of Chicago-Area Theatres.  She has received numerous awards, including the Lifetime Achievement award for the League of Chicago Theatres and, on behalf of Victory Gardens Theater, the 2001 Regional Theatre Tony Award, the Actors' Equity's Rosseta Lenoire Award, among numerous other awards and honors.

"I am always impressed with Theatre School students' talents, creativity, and ability to communicate," says director and playwright Ernie Nolan, "I am thrilled to help cultivate and inspire the next generation of great theatre artists at DePaul."  Nolan is dedicated to new works and reimagining classic stories for young audiences, and will join The Theatre School as a visiting full-time Theatre Studies faculty member. Nolan received his BFA in Musical Theatre from the University of Michigan Musical Theatre Program, and received his MFA in Directing from The Theatre School at DePaul University.  His work as a director and playwright has been featured both nationally and internationally.  Nolan is the Associate Artistic Director of Emerald City Theatre and has created The PlayGround, a process for the development of new works for ages 0-10. A resident artist of The Coterie Theatre in Kansas City, Missouri, named by Time Magazine as one of the top theatres for young audiences in the country, he has also directed and choreographed world premieres by such Tony-nominated artists as Willy and Rob Reale, Stephen Schwartz, Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens, and Bill Russell and Henry Krieger. Nolan was awarded an Anne Shaw Fellowship, and currently serves as the Vice-President of Theatre for Young Audiences USO, the national
service organization promoting the power of professional theatre for young audiences through excellence, collaboration, and innovation across cultural and international boundaries.

Adjunct faculty member and alumna Julia Neary will join The Theatre School as an Assistant Professor of Movement and Acting. An award-winning actress, Julia studied Veiwpoints and the Suzuki Method with Anne Bogart and the Siti Company, attended the IMS Program at the University of Utah for a  graduate level certification in Laban/Bartenieff Fundamentals, and is currently in training with the Institute of Somatic Education for the Certification as a Teacher/Practitioner of the Feldenkrais Method.  She has directed and choreographed dances, movement and combat in theatre, commercials, music videos, and film.  She has adapted three novels for the stage, which received two After Dark Awards, as well as a nomination for a Joseph
Jefferson Award for Best Adaptation. She was a founding company member of The Collective at the Organic Theatre, Powertap Productions, and Running with Scissors all of which concentrated on the development of original, highly physical and visual work for the stage.  Neary has been an adjunct faculty member at The Theatre School for the past ten years, as a director, choreographer, and teacher.

For interviews, or more information about The Theatre School and its faculty, please contact Andrea Tichy at atichy@depaul.edu.

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