Elections Announced for URTA Board of Directors

The University/Resident Theatre Association (URTA) announced today the results of the association's 2012 elections for its Board of Directors. The President, Vice President and two Directors were elected by a unanimous vote of participating URTA member universities.

Cal MacLean was elected to a second, two-year term as president of URTA. MacLean is department head of theatre at the University of Tennessee and artistic director of the Clarence Brown Theatre Company, Tennessee's only LORT theatre. Prior to Tennessee, MacLean was professor of theatre and head of directing at Illinois State University, and artistic director of the Illinois Shakespeare Festival, a professional company partnered with the university. Active in Chicago, mostly with Famous Door Theatre, his 1999 production of Joshua Sobol's play Ghetto earned four of Chicago's Joseph Jefferson Awards, including Outstanding Production of a Play and the first-ever Michael Maggio Award for Outstanding Direction.

Re-elected as URTA's vice president was Brant Pope, chair of the department of theatre and dance at the University of Texas, Austin. Pope's experience includes being the head of the department of theatre at the University of Illinois, and head of acting at Pennsylvania State University from 2001-2007. He was the director of the Florida State University/Asolo Conservatory and associate artistic director of the Asolo Theatre Company from 1991-2001. Pope is a member of AEA and SDC, and his work as an actor and director has been seen Off-Broadway, in regional theatre, opera, film, and television. At the Asolo, he directed 30 productions including regional premieres of Three Days of Rain, Beast on the Moon, and Kindertransport. Pope is the author of the play Sins of Omission, as well as numerous publications.

Karen Ryker was elected as a new member of URTA's board of directors. Ryker is professor of voice and acting at the department of dramatic arts at the University of Connecticut. A Fulbright Scholar and guest director of The Magic Flute in Dublin, Ireland, she previously served as head of voice and speech and director of the MFA acting program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Ryker's professional voice/text coaching credits include Berkshire Theatre Festival, Illinois Shakespeare Festival, American Players Theatre, and the Madison Repertory Theatre. Her acting or directing credits include Shakespeare and Co., The Huntington Theatre, Lyric Stage, La Mama E.T.C., and in industrial and commercial work in radio, television, and film. Ryker's articles on methods for protecting actors' voices during scenes involving "vocal violence" have been published in The Journal of Voice, The Voice and Speech Review and The Complete Voice and Speech Workout Book. She served on the board of the Voice and Speech Trainers Association, and is a member of The Voice Foundation.

Also elected to URTA's board of directors was Daniel MacLean Wagner, professor in lighting design and director of the school of theatre, dance, and performance studies at the University of Maryland. Wagner's other responsibilities include resident lighting designer at the Olney Theatre Center (1992 - present), artistic associate at Signature Theatre (1996 - present), and associate artist at Round House Theatre (2003-present). Wagner has designed lights for more than 350 productions at many regional theatres, including Arena Stage, Berkshire Theatre Festival, Portland Stage, Philadelphia Theatre Company, The Shakespeare Theatre, The John F. Kennedy Center, The Studio Theatre, Signature Theatre, Potomac Theatre Project, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, and National Players; he has also designed for Boston Lyric Opera, and several Off-Broadway productions. Recent credits include The Odd Couple and Lost in Yonkers at Theater J, Dinner with Friends and Trumpery at the Olney Theatre Center, and The Picture of Dorian Gray at Round House Theatre. Wagner is an eight-time recipient of the Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Lighting Design (most recently for The Diary of Anne Frank at Round House Theatre in 2005).

Scott L. Steele, URTA's executive director, said "The re-election of Cal MacLean as president signals an endorsement of the initiatives URTA has undertaken the last two years, including an investment in international membership, and added efforts to build use of URTA's Contract Management Program. Brant Pope has been tireless in his work for URTA and his re-election as vice president acknowledges this fact." Regarding Karen Ryker and Daniel Wagner, Steele said "If you look at their theatre resumes, and you look at the programs they teach and run, what you're looking at are practicing professionals and professional teachers of the highest order. URTA is very fortunate to have them join the board."

Other URTA board members include: Sarah Nash Gates, University of Washington; Holly Durbin, University of California, Irvine; Alexander Gelman, Northern Illinois University; Joanne Gordon, California State University, Long Beach; Harris Smith, University of Nebraska, Lincoln; and Erica Tobolski, University of South Carolina.

The University/Resident Theatre Association (URTA) is the nation's oldest and largest (40 members) consortium of professional, graduate (MFA) theatre training programs, and partnered professional theatre companies. URTA advances theatre by connecting educational theatre programs with professional theatre and performing arts industries, promoting professional practices and artistic excellence in higher education, and assisting students with their transition into the profession. URTA provides a variety of services and informational programs to its members, and to non-member students, theatre professionals, and producing companies. URTA services include the Contract Management Program (CMP), the largest not-for-profit contract management service of its kind in the country, which makes it possible for many different kinds of organizations to employ professional actors, stage managers, designers, and directors. In addition, U/RTA maintains agreements with most theatrical unions that provide contracts for use by colleges and universities.