School of the Arts:
Conservatory of Theatre Arts & Film:
Design/Technology Faculty (Board of Study)

David Grill and Lori Wekselblatt, Co-Chairs of the Theatre Design/Technology Program

Narda E. Alcorn
Associate Professor of Theatre Design/Technology
B.F.A., DePaul University; M.F.A., Yale School of Drama. Production stage manager for August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean (Broadway, Goodman Theatre, Mark Taper Forum), and Jitney (Mark Taper Forum, Second Stage); stage manager for The Lion King, the Broadway revival of A Raisin in the Sun, and Seven Guitars (regionally and on Broadway). Production coordinator for Jitney at the National Theatre of Great Britain (Olivier Award winner); two seasons with Joseph Papp’s Public Theatre as associate production manager.
narda.alcorn@purchase.edu

Robert John Andrusko
Lecturer in Theatre Design/Technology (part-time)
B.F.A., Purchase College. Associate designer for Thoroughly Modern Millie (Broadway, West End, U.S. tour, La Jolla Playhouse). Assistant design credits on Broadway include Dance of the Vampires, King Hedley II, 42nd Street, Voices in the Dark, Titanic (and U.S. tour), The King and I (and U.S. tour), Swinging on a Star, and The Frogs for Lincoln Center Theater. Additional assistant design credits: U.S. tours of Rugrats and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying; Christmas Across America, Radio City Music Hall. Member of United Scenic Artists Local 829.
robert.andrusko@purchase.edu

Franco Colavecchia
Associate Professor of Theatre Design/Technology (part-time)
National Diplomas, Wimbledon Art School and St. Martin’s School of Art; also studied at the Slade School of Art, London University. Has taught at Harvard, Carnegie Mellon, Colgate, University of California at San Diego, DePaul University, North Carolina School of the Arts, and the American Opera Center at Juilliard. Has designed more than 40 opera productions at New York City Opera; Lyric Opera, Chicago; Houston Opera; Los Angeles Opera; Den Norske Oper, Oslo; Monte Carlo Opera House; Wolf Trap, Washington, D.C.; Glimmerglass Opera; Brooklyn Academy of Music; San Antonio Festival; Juilliard; Michigan Opera; Pacific Opera, Canada. Theatre/opera designs in museums in San Antonio and Harvard University. Represented the U.S. at the Prague Quadriennale three times.

Joseph Forbes
Lecturer in Theatre Design/Technology (part-time)
B.F.A., University of North Carolina, Greensboro; studied with Lester Polokov in New York. Has worked extensively as a scenic artist in theatre, ballet, film, and television. Founder/owner of Scenic Art Studios, Inc., a scene painting shop responsible for one-third of the scenery produced on Broadway. Co-founded The Studio and Forum of Scenic Arts to help teach the art of scenic painting to a new generation of theatrical artists. Member of United Scenic Artists Local 829 for more than 25 years.

Lana Fritz
Assistant Professor of Theatre Design/Technology (part-time)
B.F.A., M.F.A., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Has designed costumes for New York theatres, opera companies, the Edinburgh Festival and London Fringe, and the A&E and Bravo networks. Regional theatre work includes the Walnut Street Theatre, California Actors Theatre, Theatre Virginia, George Street Playhouse, Virginia Shakespeare Festival, Theatre at Monmouth, Hartman Theatre, and National Theatre of the Deaf. Designed for numerous premieres, including: Sorry, Wrong Number (Beeson); Fefu and Her Friends (Fornes); New York 1937 (Yglesias); The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (McCullers/ Bach); Personal Affairs (Silverman); and Kafka: Letter to My Father (Walden).
lana.fritz@purchase.edu

David Grill
Assistant Professor of Theatre Design/Technology (part-time)
B.F.A., Purchase College. Primetime Emmy Award for Best Lighting Direction, Salt Lake 2002 Olympic Winter Games Opening Ceremony. Dance credits include: Milwaukee Ballet, Atlanta Ballet, Ballet Met, Ballet NY, Northern Ballet Theatre, Cincinnati Ballet, Royal Winnipeg Ballet, and ABT 2. Associate designer, The Who’s Tommy (Tony, Dora, and Olivier Awards). Television credits include Last Comic Standing 2: New York, Paralympic Winter Games 2002, and the Republican National Convention (associate designer). Lighting direction: National Memorial Day and July 4th Concerts; numerous Superbowl half-time shows; the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular. Extensive corporate theatre credits include Estée Lauder, Pfizer, Avon, ITT, MassMutual, and Verizon.
david.grill@purchase.edu

Dan Hanessian
Associate Professor of Theatre Design/Technology
B.A., St. Mary’s College of Maryland; M.F.A., Purchase College. Professional experience includes the Broadway productions of Smokey Joe’s Café; Bring in ’Da Noise, Bring in ’Da Funk; A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum; Aspects of Love; Miss Saigon; The Will Rogers Follies; Guys and Dolls; Five Guys Named Moe; and A Streetcar Named Desire. Other projects include The Lion King Live Show Attraction (Disney World, Florida), Buccaneers Bay (Treasure Island Casino, Las Vegas), and Siegfried and Roy (Mirage Theatre, Las Vegas). Has played an active role in the integration and use of computer-aided technology in the planning, execution, and operation of productions across the entertainment industry. Member of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE).
dan.hanessian@purchase.edu

Kelly Hanson
Lecturer in Theatre Design/Technology (part-time, 2007–2008)
B.A .,Trinity University; M.F.A., University of California, San Diego.

Jason Lyons
Lecturer in Theatre Design/Technology (part-time)
B.F.A., Purchase College. Current: Barefoot in the Park. Upcoming: Threepenny Opera with director Scott Elliot. Additional lighting design credits include: Brilliant Mistake for Friends in Deed; Once Around the Sun, HurlyBurly, Good Vibrations, Patriot Act, Kiki & Herb: Coup de Theatre; The New Group: Abigail’s Party, Hurlyburly, ROAR, Aunt Dan and Lemon, Comedians, The Women of Lockerbie, Smelling a Rat; Massacre (Labryinth); NYMF: Nerds, Monica the Musical; NYS&F: Nerds, Good Canary, Roulette. Dance: Bitter Suite (Ailey 2), The Dark Side (Joyce SoHo), The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (ABT), Full on Night (Ailey 2), and several seasons for DanceRink with choreographer Scott Rink. Associate designer on the Broadway productions of The Pillowman, Fiddler on the Roof, Nine, Tartuffe, Frankie and Johnnie…, Into the Woods, The Women, A Thousand Clowns, and Judgment at Nuremberg.
jason.lyons@purchase.edu

Brian MacDevitt
Lecturer in Theatre Design/Technology (part-time)
B.F.A., Purchase College. Lighting designer at such venues as the New York Theatre Workshop, Manhattan Theatre Club, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Lincoln Center Theatre, Playwrights Horizons, Public Theatre, Mark Taper Forum, Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and Yale Repertory Theatre. More than 20 Broadway credits, including Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune, Into the Woods, Urinetown, The Dinner Party, A Thousand Clowns, Judgment at Nuremberg, True West, Night Must Fall, Wait Until Dark, The Diary of Anne Frank, Side Show, Love! Valour! Compassion!, and What’s Wrong with This Picture? Film credits: The Cradle Will Rock. Awards include the Obie, Lucille Lortel, Bessie (with Tere O’Connor), two Tony Awards, and three Los Angeles Ovation Awards; three Drama Desk Award nominations.

Ina Mayhew
Lecturer in Theatre Design/Technology (part-time)
B.F.A., Purchase College. Production designer: Diary of a Mad Black Woman, 200 Cigarettes, Girl 6, Get on the Bus, Turn It Up, Earthly Possessions, Above the Rim, Drop Squad, Woo, Rain Without Thunder, Sidewalk Stories, and The Code. Art director: Clockers, True Identity, and Alvin Hailey Hymn for PBS Great Performances. Has also designed an extensive list of music videos for such artists as Michael Jackson, Chaka Kahn, Bruce Hornsby, Branford Marsalis, and Renee Fleming.

Charles McCarry
Assistant Professor of Theatre Design/Technology
B.S., Temple University; M.F.A, Yale School of Drama. Scenic designer, associate and art director for theatre, film, and television. Has taught at Carnegie Mellon, New York University, Temple University, and Barnard College. Broadway credits include: The Will Rogers' Follies, Jerome Robbins' Broadway, Chess, and others. Off Broadway and regional work includes Yale Repertory Theatre, Playwrights' Horizons, The Goodspeed Opera, The Lambs Theatre, and others. Selected film and television credits: The Departed, School of Rock, The Sixth Sense, and Wall Street; Ugly Betty, Sex and the City, The Late Show with David Letterman, and Saturday Night Live. Member of United Scenic Artists, local 829. Designs featured in Designing and Drawing for the Theatre and Masters of Modern Costume Design by Lynn Pecktal.
charles.mccarry@purchase.edu

Gene O’Donovan
Lecturer in Theatre Design/Technology (part-time)
President of Aurora Productions, a production management company for Broadway shows and tours. Founder and former president of Hudson Scenic Studios, New York City’s largest scenic manufacturing facility. Since leaving Hudson in 1994, he has overseen the technical aspects of more than 150 shows and numerous tours. Recent projects include Julius Caesar; Doubt; Spamalot; Gem of the Ocean; Caroline, or Change; Shockheaded Peter; and Woman Before a Glass.

Atkin Pace (scenic design)
Assistant Professor of Theatre Design/Technology (part-time)
B.F.A., University of Utah; M.F.A., Yale School of Drama. Recent Broadway credits include The Boy From Oz, Flower Drum Song, The Producers, The Wild Party, Saturday Night Fever, and The Lion King. Regional credits include Yale Rep, San Francisco Spring Opera, Pennsylvania Stage Company, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, George Street Playhouse, and California Actors Theatre. Guest artist at the University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point; Queens College; Amherst College; Trinity College; San Jose State University; and several universities and institutes in South America.
atkin.pace@purchase.edu

Dennis Parichy
Lecturer in Theatre Design/Technology (part-time)
B.S., Northwestern University. An Obie Award-winning lighting designer with more than 400 productions credits, including Broadway, Off Broadway, regional theatre, dance, and summer theatre. Numerous Broadway credits include Talley’s Folly and Redwood Curtain (for which he received Tony nominations), Burn This, Crimes of the Heart, Penn & Teller, and The Water Engine. Designed for such regional companies as the People’s Light Theatre Company, Pittsburgh Public Theater, Mark Taper Forum, La Jolla Playhouse, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Arizona Theatre Company, Portland Opera, and Guthrie Theater.
dennis.parichy@purchase.edu

Jesse Edward Poleshuck
Lecturer in Theatre Design/Technology (part-time, 2007–2008)
B.F.A., Purchase College. Broadway debut in Sly Fox, starring Richard Dreyfuss and Eric Stoltz, directed by Arthur Penn. Off Broadway productions include: A Mother, a Daughter, and a Gun (starring Olympia Dukakis, directed by Jonathan Lynn), The Gorey Details (Century Center), Menopause the Musical (New York and Las Vegas), and the upcoming Neal Sedaka musical, Breaking Up is Hard to Do. Recently represented by the national tour of Legends!, starring Joan Collins and Linda Evans. Associate designer for numerous Broadway productions, including: Edward Albee's The Goat, Fortune's Fool, The Ride Down Mount Morgan, and The Best Man; has worked at Second Stage, The Guthrie, La Jolla Playhouse, the Old Globe, and the Palladium in London. Served as a puppet consultant on The Lion King, projection illustrator on Lennon, and special effects consultant for Universal Studios (Twister), and provided art direction for shows on CBS, MTV, PBS, and ABC.

John Sochocky
Lecturer in Theatre Design/Technology (part-time)
B.F.A., Purchase College. Project manager for fabricators involved in Broadway, permanent installations, and industrial shows; specialties include designing mechanical elements and solving difficult production-related problems. Currently a senior mechanical designer and project manager at Geiger Engineers, where he works on complex projects that span the spectrum of entertainment applications.

Tom Sullivan
Lecturer in Theatre Design/Technology (part-time, 2007–2008)
B.A., State University of New York, Albany; M.F.A., Yale School of Drama.

Jarid Sumner
Lecturer in Theatre Design/Technology (part-time, 2007–2008)
B.F.A., Purchase College.

Mark Viola
Lecturer in Theatre Design/Technology (part-time)
B.F.A., Purchase College. Vice president of production at Showman Fabricators, Inc., an 88,000-square-foot union shop with a 140-person staff. The company builds 8 to 10 Broadway shows annually and has a television client list that includes CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox, CNN, and HBO.

Leslie Tamarra Yarmo
Lecturer in Theatre Design/Technology (part-time, 2007–2008)
B.A., University of California, Los Angeles; M.F.A., New York University.

Lori R. Wekselblatt
Lecturer in Theatre Design/Technology (part-time)
B.A., Indiana University; M.S., Baruch College. Principal stage manager, American Ballet Theatre; founder and vice president, Independent Artists of America; production manager for the annual Career in Transition for Dancers Gala at City Center Theatre in New York. Has worked for ABT for 20 years, toured internationally, and stage-managed numerous galas, benefits, and special events.
lori.wekselblatt@purchase.edu

Additional guest faculty and lecturers:

• Andrea Anthony
• Murielle Etienne
• Judi Guralnick
• Justin Herminghouse
• Alison Hublard-Hershman

Emeritus Faculty

Patton Campbell
Associate Professor Emeritus of Theatre Design/Technology
M.F.A., Yale School of Drama. Extensive costume and scenery design credits include The Ballad of Baby Doe, The Makropoulos Affair, and La Traviata for the New York City Opera. Works for regional opera companies include Der Rosenkavalier, Falstaff, and La Bohème at Santa Fe. Numerous Broadway productions include the award-winning Man of La Mancha, Fallen Angels, and A Hole in the Head. Also taught at Columbia University, Brandeis University, and Southern Methodist University, among others.

Michael J. Cesario
Associate Professor Emeritus of Theatre Design/Technology
B.F.A., University of Wisconsin; M.F.A., Ohio University. Former head of the theatre design/technology program at Purchase College. Has designed costumes for Broadway, Off Broadway, and regional repertory stages throughout the United States. Professional credits include Playwrights Horizons, McCarter Theatre, Houston’s Alley Theatre, Indiana Rep, Pittsburgh Public Theatre, Disney World, and CBS-TV specials.

Hal Tiné
Associate Professor Emeritus of Theatre Design/Technology
B.F.A. and graduate study, Carnegie Mellon University. Designer for theatre, performing arts, media, and exhibits. Extensive design credits include sets for the original Broadway productions of Jerry's Girl with Dorothy Louden and Chita Rivera, and The Trip Back Down with John Cullum, as well as more than 120 Off Broadway, regional theatre, ballet, and opera productions for, among others, the Guthrie Theatre, Studio Arena Theatre, Pittsburgh Public Theatre, Metropolitan Opera, New York Grand Opera, and Continuing Education at Purchase College. His work also includes sets for ABC News, 20/20, and Good Morning America, as well as media-driven museum exhibits for the Smithsonian Institution, Brooklyn Museum of Art, and The Jewish Museum.

Updated Feb. 11, 2008