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Live this month in OC: Man of La Mancha AND Laguna Art Museum

UCI Claire Trevor School of the Arts director Don Hill presents his version of “Man of La Mancha,” in this year’s dramatic arts theme Care/Cure/Corruption, at the Irvine Barclay Theater. Ticket sales are brisk and available at www.arts.uci.edu or the...
 
Shaken, Not Stirred

Be careful wandering around Irvine, Calif.—you could get ambushed by with some Bard-spewing prose by a fobbing lily-livered vassal! Or at least a University of California Irvine student. Jane Page, head of drama, has taken Shakespeare off the boards...
Alumni, Faculty 
Jaymi Smith, Noelle Hoffman (MFA '11), and Karyn Lawrence (MFA '12) Nominated for Ovation Awards

Congratulations to our outstanding faculty and CTSA alumna for their 2015 Ovation Award nominations.  The Ovation Awards are the only peer-judged theatre awards in Los Angeles, created to recognize excellence in theatrical performance, production and design in the Greater Los Angeles area. This...
 
Student-written musical gets the star treatment

The Festival of New American Musicals, in residence at UC Irvine, hosts a nationwide search each year for new short musicals created by high school and college students. Show Search 2015 included six musicals written by aspiring artists ages 16-23 and...
 
You've only got 10 minutes: Can you put on a musical? They did, in contest performances at UC

The winners of a national musical-writing competition for college and high school students were declared Aug. 29 after the six student finalists debuted their shows at UC Irvine. Judges at the Showsearch performance in the Claire Trevor Theatre...
Alumni 
Laura D'Andre Stars in 'Hair'

Laura D’Andre (BA Drama ’07) stars as Sheila in Hair at the Sacramento Music Circus. The production is musically directed by Senior Lecturer and Head of Music Theater, Dennis Castellano.
Alumni 
Allison Case Returning to Broadway

Allison Case (Drama ’05) is returning to Broadway and starring as Miss Honey in the hit musical, Matilda.   Broadway.com - Click to read article...  
 
UCI's first fine arts dean, Clayton Garrison, dies at 93

Clayton Garrison, stage director, theater professor and inaugural dean of the school of fine arts at UC Irvine, died July 27. He was 93. The university's founding chancellor, Daniel G. Aldrich Jr., invited Garrison to create the school in 1964, luring...
Alumni 
Ryan Fransworth Appearing in National Tour of 'Beautiful – The Carol King Musical'

Ryan Farnsworth (BFA/Music Theatre ’09) will be appearing in the national tour of Beautiful - The Carol King Musical.  
 
Founder of UC Irvine fine arts school was a 'Renaissance man'

Clayton Garrison, an internationally acclaimed choreographer and director, left a lasting legacy at UC Irvine. The founding dean of the School of Fine Arts, now known as the Claire Trevor School of the Arts, he envisioned a full-fledged conservatory...
Alumni 
Andrew Samonsky playing Cinderella’s Prince in ‘Into the Woods’

Andrew Samonsky (MFA/Acting ’03) is playing Cinderella’s Prince in Into the Woods at The Muny in St. Louis MO.    
Alumni 
Kari Yancy stars as Belle in ‘Beauty and the Beast’

Kari Yancy (BA/Drama ’11) stars as Belle in Beauty & the Beast at Tuacahn Amphitheatre in Utah.  
 
UCI's New Swan Shakespeare Festival Brings On the Bard

Eli Simon wanted to build a theater. Like, a really cool theater. He had the money, thanks to funds from a department of excellence award (given to the UC Irvine drama department), as well as generous donors. He had the talent; he's been UC Irvine chancel
Alumni 
Ben Gibson Appearing in the Musical "Dogfight"

Ben Gibson (Drama ’13) is appearing in Dogfight at the Cygnet Theatre in San Diego, California.
Alumni 
Sharon Rietkirk and Laura D’Andre Star in the New Musical “Triangle”

Sharon Rietkirk (Drama/Honors in Music Theatre ’06) and Laura D’Andre (Drama ’07) star in the new musical, Triangle, at Theatreworks in Palo Alto, California.
Alumni 
Jenn Colella Playing the Title Role in "Peter Pan"

Jenn Colella (MFA/Acting ’02) is playing the title role in Peter Pan at the Sacramento Music Circus.
Faculty 
With Sandra Tsing Loh back to lead the way, change is very good

by Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times Writer-performer Sandra Tsing Loh wants the world to know that she didn't set out to become the spokesperson for menopause. What woman would sign up to be the poster child for "old" and "dry"? she asks in her signature frisky manner, composed of equal parts...
 
On Theater: UCI bringing Shakespeare into modern age

Shakespeare under the stars has become a summer fixture at UC Irvine, where the university's New Swan Shakespeare Festival is gearing up for its fourth season. This year's schedule, opening next Friday, features a tragedy and a comedy, "Macbeth" and...