students and the alumni

community, and the hosting of

even more regional events

celebrating the proud tradition

of Georgetown theatre. These

projects seek to create a more

robust and cohesive alumni

organization, one which serves

both as a vehicle for commemo-

rating the past and a means of supporting the future of student

theatre at Georgetown.

Hoya Saxa and Happy Holidays,

The GTA Board

2010 has been a growth year for

GTA, with the unveiling of a

new website (gutheatre.com) ,

open houses with student

leaders, and a very productive

general membership meeting

held during Homecoming. We

also held a spring fundraising

drive and collected $700, which

was utilized to purchase much needed equipment for use in the

Poulton Hall Mask and Bauble

Office . In addition to GTA-

hosted Alumni Nights Out to

support student shows on

campus, we attended shows

written by, directed by,

designed by, and starring GTA

members in locales ranging from

Boston to DC and from New

York to the silver screen. In

October, many alumni gathered

back on campus to celebrate

the 80th birthday of Donn B.

Murphy, one of the most

influential advocates for student

theatre at Georgetown since

the 1950s.

The Board eagerly looks forward to 2011, with plans to

further strengthen the GTA

organization and increase our

engagement with the current

student theatre groups. Major

initiatives include the continued

development of our new

website, the creation of liaison

positions to provide a direct link

between current Georgetown

Happy Holidays from the GTA Executive Board

December 2010

Contact Us:

On the web at

www.gutheatre.com/

Join our Facebook Group

Send us an email at

gutheatre@gmail.com

Inside this issue:

Happy Holidays

from the GTA

Board

1

A Christmas

Carol

2

Donate to GTA 2

Digging in the

GTA Archives

3

Mission Statement

Georgetown Theatre Alumni

(GTA) is a group of alumni

committed to: connecting the

Georgetown theatre commu-

nity from the past, present

and future, supporting student

theatre and alumni produc-

tions, and initiating social and

organizational events so you

can be part of the GTA family.

Gra

phic

Desi

gn b

y K

err

y G

ibbons

(‗05)

Student theatre at Georgetown

is constantly evolving, but one

thing has remained constant:

the need to support students

as they explore their passions,

expand their creativity, and

develop life-long translatable

skills. Since the creation of

GTA, the financial support of

alumni has enabled the ambitious projects of student

groups, including Mask and

Bauble‘s complete renovation

of the Poulton Hall scene shop

and Nomadic Theatre‘s

groundbreaking outreach to

the DC homeless community.

In 2010 alone, Mask and

Bauble crossed new

club computers off of their

wish list thanks to generous

support from our member-

ship. In an effort to make

similar impact in the future, we

ask that you add a gift to GTA

and student theatre to your

own holiday shopping list.

Your contribution will produce

college experiences that

students will remember their

entire lives, the kinds of

experiences you remember

from your time in Georgetown

theatre. With your help, we

can create these memories in a

way that‘s so meaningful for

both students and alumni. Your

donation will go a long way to

keep what you loved about

Georgetown student theatre

great!

From hosting events to buying

an ad in a show‘s program,

from supporting up-and-coming alumni theatre groups to

bringing Georgetown theatre

alumni back to campus, GTA

wants to help theater students

from the past, present and

future. You, the alumni, are

the lifeblood of GTA, and we

thank you for all that you do.

Donate to GTA and Georgetown Student Theatre

A Christmas Carol

was produced by Melissa Miller

('12) and co-directed by Harry

Wilken ('14) and Victoria

Glock-Molloy ('11), with

Andrew Colford (‘12) in the

role of Ebenezer Scrooge.

Share in the Holiday fun by

checking out these pictures

below:

On Friday 3 December, Mask

and Bauble Dramatic Society

held their annual production of

A Christmas Carol in Dahlgren

Quad. For the first year, this

show was staged in conjunction

with the university‘s tree

lighting ceremony rather than

its traditional venue of Red

Square. This year‘s production

Page 2 State of the Arts

“For it is good to

be children

sometimes, and

never better than

at Christmas…”

-A Christmas Carol-

To donate, simply click

on the Donate link on our website,

www.gutheatre.com. Alternatively,

you may send a check made

out to Georgetown University,

specifying that the donation go to

Georgetown Theatre Alumni, to this

address:

GTA, c/o Ron Lignelli

Department of Performing Arts,

Georgetown University

37th and O Streets, NW

108 Davis Performing Arts Center,

Box 571063

Washington, DC 20057

The following is a February 1981 review

of a Mask and Bauble production of A

Midsummer Night’s Dream, written by

Clovis Sangrail under the headline

―M&B‘s Midsummer is a Comical

Dream.‖

The best thing about attending any good theatrical production (especially a

comedy) is seeing a polished set of

actors have as much fun onstage as

their audience does watching them. Just

this type of camaraderie is obvious

around the cast members in Mask and

Bauble‘s latest production, A Midsummer

Night’s Dream, which played to two sold

-out audiences last weekend.

For close to five years the persistent

call of ―Bring Back Shakespeare!‖ has

echoed through Poulton‘s Stage III— a

call which luckily has been answered

before some of M&B‘s best talent

graduates in May. And, given the

opportunity for spontaneous hilarity

this comedy affords, that talent is well

employed.

Jim Goniea and

Kim Merrill (as

Oberon and

Titania , the

feuding Kind and

Q u e e n o f

Fairyland), have

taken on the

most demanding

roles. Although

there are many

components to

this comedy–

magic, drama,

r o m a n c e ,

s l a p s t i c k –

neither of the

two actors is

left behind by the shifting pace of

Shakespeare‘s plot.

The main action takes place in a wood

outside of Athens as Theseus, Duke of Athens,

prepares to wed Hippolyta, Queen of the

Amazons. On this particular midsummer night,

the Athenian wood harbors a pair of lovers,

Hermia (Diane Treat) and Lysander (Todd

Bernhardt), in addition to a band of Athenian

workmen who are rehearsing a play for the

Duke‘s wedding. The lovers are fleeing from

Hermia‘s father Egeus (Michael Zampelli), as

well as Lysander‘s rival, Demetrius (Chic

Dunne).

On the whole, Dianne and Todd‘s perform-

ances are strong, but their best moment– and

most amusing scene– occurs when Lysander

casts off the ―dwarfish‖ Hermia in favor of a

―taller personage,‖ Helena (Trish Sullivan).

Trish, by the way, is simply a riot. (And in

addition to appearing in the show, she is also

responsible for the set design.)

After telling Demetrius of the lovers‘ flight,

Helena herself follows them into the wood,

only to fall victim to Puck (Bill Kelly), Oberon‘s

favorite prankster. By means of a magical

flower, Puck sets the lovers at cross purposes

and, meanwhile, makes Titania fall in love with

Bottom, the weaver (Joe Banno), on whom he has clapped an ass‘s head. Joe‘s performance is

uniformly hilarious– especially as the

band of workmen present their

version of ―Pyramus and Thisby‖ at

Theseus‘ wedding festival.

Not to be overlooked is the superb

acting of Michael Zampelli as Egeus.

His melodramatic verbal inflections

are as comical as his ever-obsequious gesticulations. Freshman Bill Kelly, in

one of the more energetic roles,

mimes, sings, and performs acrobatics

in this, this second, M&B appearance.

A fabulous original musical score was

written for M&B by Marcus Capone

(who also conducts the production‘s

small orchestra). Wendy Campagna,

Suzi Zibelli, Patricia Kelly, and Kara

Boatman (all Titania‘s attendant

fairies), should be applauded for their

incredibly harmonious vocals as they

sing a lullaby to their Queen.

You may notice in the program notes

that the ―Fencing

Coach‖ is listed

as Chic Dunne

( h e p l a y s

Demetrius). The

bouts between

Demetrius and

Lysander are

v e r y w e l l

directed, yet

seem to be

spon taneous–

and it is no

accident that

Chic appears to

win most of

them.

F i n a l l y ,

congratulations

must be extended to Midsummer’s

director, Rick Lombardo, for re-

introducing Shakespeare to campus

theater with such a successful

production. For the first time in its

1980-1981 season, M&B gives us a

comedy, an entertainment, for fun!

Digging In the GTA Archives: A Review of Mask and Bauble’s 1981 Production

of A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Page 3 State of the Arts

Todd Bernhardt (’82), as Lysander, and

Diane Treat (’81), as Hermia.

Joe Banno (’81), as Bottom, surrounded by Titania’s fairies

Bill Kelly (’84), as Puck