Robert Broadfoot - Scenic Design

Robert Broadfoot, assistant professor of theatre, teaches Introduction to Theater, Scenic Design, Advanced Scenic Design, Scenic Painting, and Drafting.

Robert recently relocated from California, where he works in many of the region’s most respected professional venues. He was awarded the Bay Area Critic’s Circle Award in scenic design in 2007 for ‘Bot at The Magic Theatre and again in 2008 for The Musical of Musicals, the Musical at Center Repertory. Robert also designed The Hasty Heart at Pacific Resident Theatre, the 2007 Los Angeles Drama Critic’s Circle Award winner for best revival. The 2009 film Pornography - A Thriller, an official selection for the Frameline, Newfest and Outfest film festivals, featured his art direction.

His recent theater projects include The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at San Jose Repertory, Cabaret at Center Repertory, and On the Town for Diablo Theatre Company. He will design the west coast premier of Emily Mann’s A Seagull in the Hamptons for Shotgun Players this spring. In addition to his own ambitious slate of design projects, Robert assists legendary Broadway designers Douglas W. Schmidt and John Iacovelli on various projects, including Broadway bound works, national tours, and television. His career includes several years of corporate entertainment design in Las Vegas and he has worked in theater production across the United States as a scenic artist, prop artisan, and stage carpenter.

Robert belongs to United Scenic Artists local 829 as a scenic designer, The United States Institute of Theater Technology, Theater Bay Area, and the Los Angeles Stage Alliance. He received his Bachelor of Arts from California State University, Fullerton and his Master of Fine Arts in theater design from the University of California at Davis. He is thrilled to be a part of the dynamic theater program at USI.

Check out Robert's personal website.

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Douglas Hubbell

Dr. Hubbell, associate professor emeritus of theatre, has designed sets and done tech work for Indiana University, USI, Vincennes University and New Harmony Theatre.  He has also been seen as a performer on numerous stages as well as two films. 

Dr. Hubbell holds a masters degree from University of Iowa and a Ph.D. from Indiana University.

 

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Shan Jensen - Costume Design

Check out Shan's personal website...

Shan Jensen, associate professor of theatre, teaches costume design, stage make-up, costume technology, costume crafts, and stage management.

Shan has designed extensively for stage and film.  In New York, her work has been seen at the Samuel Beckett Theatre, The American Jewish Theatre, The Theatre In the Park, The Whole Theatre, The Village Gate and the Home For Contemporary Art and Theatre.  She also designed The Dubliners for The Lincoln Center’s  tour.  Her film and television credits include McBain, The Accident, League of Their Own, Rude Awakening, Billy Bathgate, Brenda Starr, and A Special Friendship. 

She has also styled numerous commercials over the years.   In addition, Shan has been the resident costume designer for The New Harmony Theatre for the past sixteen seasons, designing such shows as Always Patsy Cline, The Cherry Orchard, Death of a Salesman, The Mystery of Irma Vep, Twelfth Night and She Loves Me. 

She is a member of the United States Scenic Artists  and received her MFA from the University of Virginia.

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Leonard Leibowitz - Acting and Musical Theatre

Leonard Leibowitz, assistant professor of theatre, is teaching Acting and Musical Theatre, along with being the Artistic Director of the New Harmony Theatre.

He has directed professionally in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, DC, and Seattle. He directed the world premiere of Making Tracks, which workshopped at the Joseph Papp Public Theatre and ran Off-Broadway at Rockefeller Center’s Taipei Theater. 

Lenny has directed productions at some of the nation’s leading regional theatres, including the Olney Theatre in Maryland and the Boston Playwrights’ Theatre.  Recently, he directed Romeo and Juliet for the National Players, the country’s oldest and most prestigious classical touring company.  

Other regional theatre credits include the Huntington Theatre’s Breaking Ground Festival (Boston), where he staged David Rambo’s Ice Breakers, and Seattle’s Intiman Theatre, where he co-wrote, developed and directed Before the Rain as the recipient of a Freehold grant.

As artistic director of the Civic Theatre of Allentown, Lenny staged over twenty productions, including the Pennsylvania premiere of James Joyce’s The Dead. He has also been a resident director for the Chamber Theatre Company in Boston. 

A Philadelphia native, Lenny made his professional debut as a piano soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra. As a musical director, he has conducted the first European tours of On the Town and Grease. He received his B.A. from Columbia University and his M.F.A. from Boston University, where he was also a member of the conservatory faculty. 

Lenny is a member of Actors' Equity Association and of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers, the union of professional directors in the United States. 

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Thomas (Tommy) Thompson - Technical Theatre

Tommy Thompson, instructor of theatre, holds an MFA in theatre technology and a BS in theatre design and production from the University of Illinois. Professional credits include the Blues Clues Live national tour 2003, Western Michigan’s Cherry County Playhouse, and the Veggie Tales Live national tour 2002. Tommy has served as technical director for University of Illinois at Urbana, Breadline Theatre Group, Heartland Theatre, and Morris Theatre Guild. He has also done scenic design and painting for many shows at Illinois State University, Breadline Theatre, and Morris Theatre. He is a member of I.A.T.S.E. Local 193.

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Elliot Wasserman - Playwriting, Acting and Directing

Elliot H. Wasserman, department chair and professor of theatre, teaches courses in acting, directing, and playwriting. A member of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers, he has directed major musicals at professional venues around the country, including such favorites as Guys and Dolls, The Sound of Music, Cabaret, Gigi, Man of La Mancha,  and I Do! I Do!. During this career he has directed such Broadway stars as Kay McClelland, Tony award nominee Mark Baker, and Tony Award winner for Best Actress in a Musical Donna Mckechnie.  In June 2007, he directed a production of A Few Good Men starring film actor Lou Diamond Phillips (La Bamba, Young Guns) and television star Jensen Ackles (Supernatural, Dark Angel, Smallville), and in 2008, he directed a production of Damn Yankees starring Richard Kind. Most recently, he directed a production of Anything Goes at Kansas City Starlight Theatre starring Rachel York.  From 1992-2005 he served as artistic director of the Lincoln Amphitheatre.

Wasserman's University directing credits are diverse, ranging from Shakespeare and Chekhov to such contemporary playwrights as Samuel Beckett and Christopher Durang. He is an occasional actor, having performed such roles as Frank Butler in Annie Get Your Gun! and Joe Keller in All My Sons. In 2007, he appeared on the New Harmony Theatre stage in The Importance of Being Earnest.

A writer, Wasserman has created a translation/adaptation of Aristophanes’ Lysistrata, and his short play Outlaws received a New York premiere in 2003, after earlier productions in Los Angeles and at the Actors Theatre of Louisville.

In April of 2005, he was selected as one of eight theatre educators nationally as a Directing Fellow of the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival in Washington, and in January of 2006 he was awarded the KCACTF Gold Medallion Award for Excellence in Theatre Education.

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Craig Young - Lighting Design

Craig Young is an assistant professor of theatre and a lighting designer, who received his MFA in Lighting Design and Scenography from Virginia Tech and his BA in Technical Theatre from Lock Haven University. He has designed professionally at The New Harmony Theatre, Actors Theatre of Louisville, The Independent Eye, Touchstone Theatre, LaMama and the Baltimore Theatre Project. His international credits include the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Festival Internacional De Danza Contemporanea in Mexico, Festival Sucrentino Internacional De Danza in Venezuela and the Suitcase Festival of International Theatre in Bulgaria. At USI he has designed Jacque Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.