Eurydice

This play has been a part of my journey at SUNY Purchase since the beginning. It was through this play that I met my first collaborators on campus (three of which are in this production.) The story of Orpheus and Eurydice is very personal to me. The tale of an artist calling out has been one I have been entangled in for a long time. But here, in Ruhl’s re-telling, I have also found a place closer to my heart in Eurydice and her struggles. In losing her memories and gaining them back, everything feels foreign. It is remembered differently. The light is brighter; the shadows darker. But one thing remains the same: kindness, love, and warmth. We must always remember to keep hanging on, and keep fighting.

Gabriella Carlino is a Junior Playwriting/Screenwriting major. This is her first time Assistant Directing. Though previously she’s been a costume manager for her high schools musical productions in her Junior and Senior years. While she co-managed the costume department during the schools fall plays. Currently Gabby is making her directing debut with a new musical, written by this productions own director. The show will go up Summer 2021.

Jason Fineberg is looking forward in playing the Loud Stone in Eurydice as part of his Senior Project. Throughout his time at Purchase, Jason has been seen in productions such as Charming Really by Kiana Livingston, My Own Eyes by Brennan Saur and Welcome to America by Zanneya Pomales. Jason has previously worked with Kai Dondero, Hale Fishman and Dante Megias on Eurydice two years ago in Directing I and would like to thank both Hale and Kai especially for getting him into this play. As a senior, Jason would also like to thank everyone not only on this production but everyone he has met and befriended at Purchase.

Hale Fishman is a fourth year senior Theatre BA here at SUNY Purchase College. He is a playwright and performer, perhaps best known for his work as drag king Lucky Jack Valentine. Although currently on hiatus, he has performed around the Westchester area, Brooklyn, and in Syracuse, NY. His work can be found on Instagram at @luckyjackvalentine. He would like to dedicate his performance to the amazing fellow cast and crew, and to loves past.

Reed Gordon is experiencing his first production at SUNY Purchase. He is glad that his inaugural show had such a great cast and crew who worked so hard to bring this wonderful script to life.

Sean Gordon is a third year BA theatre and performance major from Albany, New York. Purchase stage credits include: ​Dance Nation (Dance Teacher Pat), A Robot Wrote This (Cast Member/Devisor), Always Plenty of Light at the Starlight All Night Diner (Dr. Moxie), the Spring 2019 Mainstage (Devisor), Springtime (Ray), and Short Eyes (Clark Davis). Short film credits include The ​Best Man’s Privilege (Groomsman​), City Limits (Asshole), and Sow A Little Tenderness (The Director). Thanks so much to his family for their love, and to his friends for their constant support.

Adam Hamdy is a New York and New Jersey based lighting designer and is a recent graduate of Purchase College. His most recent theater work at Purchase includes the Sonnets project, Vessel and Beautiful Misanthropic Illusion and Springtime. Outside Purchase College he has worked on Cinderella, We need a little Christmas and the Hitchcock radio plays for Surflight Theatre. He has also designed for bands including the Rave-ons, Promised land and spot operated for Randy Rainbow and the Oak Ridge Boys.

Liz Hershberger is a senior acting in her senior project as Little Stone! Other acts she has been associated with have been Titania in a Midsummer Night’s Dream, Mother in Barefoot in the Park, and Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing. Liz would like to thank her supportive friends and family for being with her through this entire process, as well as her lovely castmates who she has truly enjoyed collaborating with. 

Benné McCants is a current senior doing Eurydice as her senior project. She fell in love with this myth over a year ago and is incredibly excited to bring life to Eurydice. She gives special thanks to Kai and everyone who has always believed in her.

Dante Megias is a senior Playwriting/Screenwriting major with a minor in Film/Video Production. He played the role of Luke in an online production of Dance Nation during the Fall 2020 semester. He would like to thank his family, loved ones, friends, and Purchase faculty that support him.

Adrienne Torres is a junior with a Theatre and Performance major with a minor in literature. Past productions include several senior projects, including Cheat Day Fall 2020, and other performance projects including student film productions. Adrienne has been in the ensemble for multiple musicals including Grease, The Little Mermaid, The Addams Family, and Cinderella. I am so proud of the cast and crew, and I am so happy we all get to show our progress and all of the heart and soul we put forth throughout the past few months. I have grown bonds I’ll cherish forever, and I wish the best of luck to the seniors moving forward outside SUNY Purchase. Congrats to everyone involved! We got this!

Tess Walsh is a freshman in the Theatre and Performance program at SUNY Purchase. She is also a graduate of the screened theatre program at Edward R. Murrow High School and the Wendy Wasserstein Program at TDF. Currently, she is a playwright in the Hudson Valley New Voices Festival at the Westchester Collaborative Theater. She loves Lady Gaga. She thinks she’s a really interesting artist.

Kai DonDero is a theatre and performance Senior. Their past Purchase credits include Cheat Day! In the fall of 2020, and BMI: Beautiful Misanthropic Illusion, In the fall of 2019. Credits outside of purchase include “Dog, Deer, and Me,” In collaboration with the Rockwell Museum, along with Teraphobia and Our Worst Selves: A Reincarnation Play with their own theatre company, The Olive Branch Theatre. They wish to send the biggest thanks to those near and far who support them in a million tiny ways.

In our teaching and art, the Conservatory values inclusiveness, equality, and excellence. Upholding all of our training is our aim to train and graduate citizen artists: multifaceted people with a strong sense of purpose in approaching an arts education.

What is a citizen artist? Citizen artists seek to discover how their unique voices can contribute to our world. They understand what it means to be an artist, and what they are here on earth to say and do and make.

The Conservatory trains future citizen artists in three degree programs:

+ BFA Actor Training. The BFA is an intensive professional training program offered to a highly select and diverse group of students. The professional training is anchored in four years of study in acting, voice, speech, and movement, complemented by offerings in dramatic literature and analysis, history of the theatre, stage combat, improvisation, mask work, acting for the camera, and the business of acting. As one of five schools in the Consortium of Professional Theatre Training Programs, Purchase is one of a handful of colleges in the world capable of training artists at this level—and of drawing a faculty from the ranks of professional theatre.

+ BFA in Theatre Design/Technology. Emphasizing studio and classroom training, our professional training program in theatre design/technology gives students the guidance and support of established and theatre industry professionals. Many of our alumni are recognized at the top of their field, and have received Tony, Emmy, Obie, and Drama Desk Awards, among other honors. Quite literally, Purchase grads are working in or have worked in every theatre on Broadway, in all tristate venues, and with countless touring productions.

+ BA program in Theatre and Performance. From traditional theatre to cutting-edge interdisciplinary work, the theatre and performance major encourages creativity, intellectual curiosity, social engagement, and critical thinking. The core requirements combine scholarship and practice to provide students with a strong foundation in theatre history and dramatic literature, with mandatory stagecraft/production courses. Theatre and Performance majors are encouraged to expand the scope of their education by studying abroad, as well as pursuing coursework in other programs of study within the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Purchase College.