Index of University Press Releases

Mar. 6, 2008

DWU theatre students attend off-campus events

Standing: Ben Floyd, Madi Miller, Melissa Tafoya, Dee Antoine, Heather Graham, Danny Richardson, Christine Stroman, Katie Jarabek, A.J. Miller, Joe Schoenfelder. Kneeling: Melissa Vatter-Miller and Melody Howell.

MITCHELL – Dan Miller, assistant professor of communication and theatre/director of theatre, took a group of DWU students and community members to the American College Theatre Festival in Omaha, Neb., in January, and participated in a day at the Washington Pavilion in Sioux Falls in February.

While in Omaha for the week-long festival, Miller and his students participated in acting, movement, improvisation, auditioning and design workshops. They received helpful hints and suggestions from Equity, the national actors union, and auditioned for performances held that week. In the evenings, DWU theatre majors and minors attended productions from other universities.

“All in all, a very intensive week of theatre,” said Miller. “By the end of the week we were all exhausted.”

At the Washington Pavilion, Miller’s group attended an actors’ workshop led by Heather Graham, an Equity actor and actor in the Montana Repertory touring production of Tennessee Williams’ “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.” The workshop was designed for the actor to explore movement as a way to better create characters. Theatre students moved and manipulated their bodies in such a way as to find the perfect appearance and movement for a character.

Miller later hosted “Performance Insights” with the Pavilion audience and members of the award-winning Montana Repertory, in which he led the discussion on Tennessee Williams and “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.” It was followed by question and answer time with the company members.

The group ended the day by watching the Montana Repertory perform “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.”