A good review…

Alumni Scott Gaines (’11, B.A. Theatre Performance) recently appeared in the We Happy Few production of Shakespeare’s The Tempest in the Metro DC area.  The review of the production contained the following comment:

“Britt Duff’s Miranda was interesting, and a take on the character that I found unexpected. Duff’s chemistry with Scott Gaines’s Ferdinand is wonderful to behold. Gaines’s understanding of the language and the way he plays physically with this role is wonderful.”

Congratulations, Scott – keep up the great work!

Scott Gaines (in purple) as Ferdinand in We Happy Few’s The Tempest

Young Alumnae of the Year 2012!

Bonnie McDonald Grubbs (’08 – Theatre Performance) was named the 2012 Belhaven University Young Alumnae of the Year!  After completing her undergrad work at Belhaven, Bonnie finished a masters in education at Mary Baldwin College before accepting a position at Achievement First, a charter school in Brooklyn, New York – where her class is named ‘Belhaven’ and her student scholars are ‘Blazers’.  We are so very proud of Bonnie’s accomplishments – and pleased to see her continuing to use all of her gifts to do the Lord’s work.

View the video of her speech at the Homecoming Luncheon!

Bonnie McDonald Grubbs and her husband Alex visiting Belhaven for Homecoming 2012

Devised Theatre Workshop with Alex Grubbs

Alex Grubbs instructing students on principles of Devised Theatre

On Friday, Oct 12, we had a visit from one of our alumni, Alex Grubbs (’08).  Alex and his wife Bonnie (who is receiving the distinguished Young Alumni award from Belhaven this fall) now live in NYC after completing their masters educations, Bonnie in Education at Mary Baldwin College and Alex in Acting from the University of Virginia.

Students showcasing their combined Devised works

Alex led a workshop of students combined from several classes in exercises in Devised Theatre – a process of collaborative creation for works of theatre.  After some brief introductory exercises and discussions, students developed short works based on personal stories of their fellow classmates, then combined those individual pieces into group performances.

Students working with Alex Grubbs on individual pieces of Devised work

Alumni work on independent film!

We are very proud of Belhaven theatre alumni Amile Wilson (’07) and Clarence “Doc” Davis (’08), who recently worked on the independent feature film “The Dynamiter” for Elysium Films.  Amile was a Producer and Davis worked on sound.  The film was recently screened at the Berlinale Film Festival.

Read reviews of the film in Variety and at Screen Daily

The Dynamiter image

Erin Brownfield – guest artist and almunus

Guest Artist and Alumnus, Erin Brownfield, speaking in Departmental Meeting on October 22, 2010

Guest Artist and Alumnus, Erin Brownfield, speaking in Departmental Meeting on October 22, 2010

We were pleased and blessed to have alumnus Erin Brownfield (’10) return to Belhaven to share her experiences auditioning and working for the Disney corporation as an amusement park character performer.  She had this to share here on our blog:

This past weekend I had the pleasure of visiting Belhaven after graduating from there this past May. What brought me back was to catch up with people and to see the department’s production of “Juliet + Her Romeo”. The play was brilliant in all aspects and simply was amazing. Beautiful job all the way around.

Since graduating from Belhaven, I have been working for the Disney Company at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. I am one of the Character Performers there. While pursuing this job, I was also able to use a few things I had learned from my years at Belhaven. For instance, I was able to present the company with a professional resume and headshot while some of the other people auditioning were not. I also was able to go into the audition with full confidence and focus. In other words, Belhaven helped give me a firm theatre foundation which I could stand upon.

Anyway, I hope the year continues to go well for all of you. Break a leg in all your future endeavors!

Erin Brownfield