Juniata Magazine

Long Journey into the Lights

All's Well that Ends Well as Juniata Theatre Grows By Leaps and Bounds

Josh Beckel '09 came to Juniata from Hollidaysburg, Pa., with a performing resume that might have given even the most jaded casting agent pause. He found parts in plays in community and regional theatre and spent more than 10 years learning tap, ballet and modern dance moves at a regional dance studio.

But, he had chosen Juniata not for its theatre department, but for its first-rate mathematics department. Once he set foot on campus, however, the numbers started to add up: he could pursue both disciplines with equal passion.

Well on his way to earning a degree in performing arts and mathematics, Beckel is one of nearly 30 Juniata students majoring in theatre,performing arts or arts management. Enthusiasm for theatre and related disciplines is experiencing leaps in popularity worthy of Rudolf Nureyev-numbers made all the more impressive considering the performing arts and arts management POEs were approved just three years ago, in 2005.

"I can share my excitement for the program with new students," says Beckel. "I don't really think of myself as a leader, though-more like a guinea pig that can tell people about his experiences."

And he has more than enough experiences to share. As this magazine arrives in homes he will have just ended his performing run in Crispin at the People's Light Theatre Company in Malvern, Pa., the first Juniata-produced show to tour at a professional theatre. But his pathway to the professional stage started last summer when Andy Belser, professor of theatre, agreed to combine the talents of Juniata's students and faculty, the theatre professionals who comprise The Gravity Project, and the People's Light company, to take Crispin from "workshop to professional production."

"The students are at the center of this," Belser explains. "They are doing a six-week residency with the playwright (Russell Davis) who works daily with the students to develop an aesthetic for the play-you can't imagine the confidence they're taking away from this."

Beckel, who has acted or worked in more than seven productions in his time at Juniata and as a result has learned to juggle and dance on a trapeze, in addition to more prosaic theatre skills, says the reason students seek Juniata for its theatre program is the sense of community and adventure each production instills.

"We are always an ensemble creating the piece together," Beckel says. "When I came here I had never done experimental theatre, and it was scary at first, but then you see the beauty of it-it challenges your expectations of what theatre can be."

Actors cast in a Juniata production rarely just hit their marks and recite lines. Our Town this isn't. Students are expected to dance, to swing, to sing, to move, to groove and possibly to change their idea of a theatrical experience or career. Juniata theatre also can be a collaborative experience designed to incorporate students at every phase of aproduction. Crispin's genesis started with a professional playwright affiliated with the People's Light Theatre who sought a workshop experience with students and the professional consultants available through The Gravity Project, culminating in a professional production. Another play, Nine Gates, a Juniata production conceived by Belser and the Gravity Project, was created at the College, shopped around by a theatrical agent, and will begin a professional tour next year.

Opportunities such as these do not happen just in front of the footlights. Almost every student pursuing a theatre-related or arts administration degree has obtained internships at theatres, performance venues, museums or arts organizations. Jesse Parsons '08, of Roosevelt, N.J., is pursuing a career in technical theatre as a lighting and sound designer. He has worked on various technical crews for every Juniata production over his four years and has found internships at the McCracken Theatre at Princeton University, the New Jersey Opera and at the Shuler Theatre in Raton, N.M.

"Our program gives you a good set of tools to bring out into the world," says Parsons, who helped create the shadow puppets and shadow boxes used in Crispin, and worked on the technical crew for the People's Light professional production. "It's exciting to me that I've been able to follow this show from the first performance to a professional space. Opportunities like this, (combined with) the new theatre POE, will attract students who bring in new energy. The enthusiasm throughout the program is higher, and the quality of the work goes up."

The program's reputation for avantgarde projects and a willingness to submerge students into productions from the moment they set foot in the Suzanne von Liebig Theatre has not just energized the students on campus. Word of mouth has reached high school drama programs and students in other university programs. Skye Hatton-Hopkins '10, of Bellefonte, Pa., transferred to Juniata from the University of West Virginia's theatre program in large part because he could participate in productions immediately.

The Juniata program's collaboration with The Gravity Project was purposefully designed to act as a marketing tool for student recruitment. For example, during the touring production of Nine Gates, the Gravity Project will conduct workshops at local high schools. "Those are de facto recruiting visits," Belser says.

In addition to the program's on-campus opportunities, nearly every junior or senior has obtained a major internship. Danielle Rohar '09, of Cresson, Pa., worked at a paid internship at South Park Theatre near Pittsburgh for the past two summers, Megan Monahan '09, of Pottstown, Pa., worked at Raton Theatre in New Mexico, and Beckel interned in New York City with acting teacher Kathleen Clarke Burroughs at NOVA Studio.

"We like to say you're getting a conservatory approach in a liberal arts setting," says Chad Herzog '99, director of performing arts, who oversees the student internships in arts administration. "You're working with professionals from day one. It's been pretty amazing growth. It's almost viral. We had five or six freshmen last year come in as theatre POEs without really doing any marketing to high schools or theatre magazines."

Nearly every student, not to mention Belser, has been astounded by the way prospective students seek out the theatre program before even visiting the campus. Once students are on campus, it usually takes only one look at the ultramodern theatre to elicit an awed response. "The space works perfectly because you can make it any world you want it to be," Beckel says. "The theatre is like the POE-it's always changing and transforming. It's a blessing to have it."