2012

Assistant Professor of Theatre Jeffrey Casazza was the winner of the 2011–12 Visual and Performing Arts Excellence in Teaching award. The annual monetary and recognition award was given by the VPA Faculty Affairs Committee to acknowledge excellence in the classroom, accomplishments in one’s creative endeavor, and advancements in teaching within the department.

Victoria Adams-Zischke is currently, performing through June in Vanishing Point, for American Stage Theatre Company (ASC) in St. Petersburg, Florida.  Agatha Christie vanished for eleven days in 1926. That same year, evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson vanished for three weeks. Amelia Earhart disappeared during her 1937 around-the-world flight and never was seen again. Agatha and Aimee never spoke of what happened during their disappearances. Vanishing Point, a musical fantasy, brings these three women together on a road trip through time and space as they recall their past and explore their future, stepping in and out of one another’s lives.  http://www.americanstage.org/vanishing-point.php

Assistant Professor of acting, movement and voice Jeffrey Casazza received a $1,000 Grant-in-Aid from Office of Research and External Support to sustain his work in Italy with Kristin Linklater during June, 2012.  Kristin Linklater is a Scottish vocal coach, dialect coach, acting teacher, actor, theatre director, and author. She was Head of Acting in the Theatre Arts Division of Columbia University. Linklater has trained many well-known actors, including Patrick Stewart, Donald Sutherland, Alfre Woodard, Mary Tyler Moore, Bill Murray, Angela Bassett, Sigourney Weaver and Bernadette Peters.

Assistant Professor of Theatre Victoria Adams-Zischke and her husband, Kurt Zischke, will appear on stage together for the upcoming Fort Wayne Philharmonic Signature Series Mozart: Revealed, an original production telling the story of Mozart in his own words—through drama, opera and orchestral music. The Zischkes, both professional actors, will be featured in the production written and directed by Werner Trieschmann, with Andrew Constantine conducting the orchestra. Performances are Friday, April 27 at 7 p.m. or Sunday, April 29, at 2:30 p.m. Both performances are at the Arts United Center. For more information fwphil.org/

2011

During July, John O’Connell continued his professional directing career with a production of Barefoot in the Park for American Stage Theatre Company (ASC) in St. Petersburg, Fla. This production garnered a nomination for a Jeff Norton Award for Best Direction, and in September, ASTC management notified O’Connell that Barefoot broke their 30-year attendance record, making it the highest attended play in ASTC history

2009

Assistant Professor of Theatre Shari Troy presented her paper “Replications, Proliferations, and American Reverberations: The Image of the Fiddler in Fiddler on the Roof” at New York University during the Sixth Annual Meeting of the Cultural Studies Association in May 2008. Troy is also an ambassador for The Remnant Trust at IPFW exhibit, playing Rosie the Riveter. The exhibit is open through April 2009 in the IPFW Helmke Library. (remnanttrust.ipfw.edu.)

Jeff Moore played the lead role of author C. S. Lewis in Shadowlands at the Fort Wayne Civic Theatre in March 2008. The play chronicles the unlikely love story between the Irish Lewis and American poet Joy Davidman during the 1950s. Lewis is perhaps best known as the author of the children’s series, The Chronicles of Narnia. Moore is also an ambassador for The Remnant Trust at IPFW exhibit, playing America’s second president, John Adams.

Maggie Hunter is an ambassador for The Remnant Trust at IPFW exhibit, playing Frankenstein author, Mary Shelley. An early edition of Frankenstein is a part of the exhibit, which is a collection of
controversial documents that have changed history.

Assistant Professor Jeff Casazza presented the movement workshop “Seeing With Your Body” at the 2009 Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival–Region III in January 2009 at Saginaw Valley State University in Saginaw, Mich. He designed his workshop to help actors discover new ways of becoming aware of their bodies, their surroundings, and how the two interact

The faculty are the greatest resource of the Department of Theatre. They design and deliver the curriculum, and mentor and advise students while establishing regional, national and international reputations for their expertise and contributions to the profession. The Theatre faculty earned their credentials from premiere institutions and were selected to teach at IPFW for their extraordinary abilities as artists, performers and scholars, and for their proven abilities to communicate effectively with students.

The Theatre faculty number 6 full-time and 1 half-time professor, augmented by 5 part-time faculty.  This highly qualified and experienced faculty teaches interactively in small classes and through individualized instruction and mentoring.  All classes are taught by accomplished professionals; there are no graduate assistants teaching in the arts at IPFW. VPA faculty have garnered wide recognition for their research and creative endeavor in specialized disciplines and presentational venues.  We invite you to explore a sampling of recent Theatre faculty research and creative endeavor by clicking below.