The Drake Theatre Arts Department was featured in the Spotlight article in the December issue of Stage Directions magazine under the headline “More than a laboratory of learning, Drake University bridges the gap between academia and the real world.”
John Pomeroy, chair of the department, is quoted as saying “Our thought is that a theatre student who comes to Drake is interested in working professionally in theatre. So we are an active part of the professional theater world and pay careful attention to its expectations.”
The article notes that Drake’s theatre arts program has 70 students with declared majors, including acting, directing, design and tech, musical theatre and theatre education.
In other theatre news, costumes from Drake’s recent production of “Picnic” were nominated to be included in the Festival Costume Parade for the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival – Region V. This honor was extended to only 19 of the hundreds of productions adjudicated in the region this past year. Josie Poppen, theatre costume designer, and Megan Benzig, student assistant costume designer, designed costumes for “Picnic”.
In addition, costumes designed by Drake graduates Virginia B. Johnson, AS’96, and Lesley Case, AS’04, were seen on the four-part PBS miniseries “The War that Made America,” which aired in January.
Johnson and Case also designed costumes for “John and Abigail Adams,” another PBS program in January.