A Walz House

Mentions + depictions of Eating Disorders

My goal as the Director is to help tell a personal story defying expectation, breaking boundaries, and pulling the audience into the story’s themes. Together we have developed a piece with varying depths. We explore 11-year-old Ellen’s daily life as a homeschooled, complicatedly only child.

I have worked on directing throughout my previous years of college. This has allowed me to explore the options with what medium to use and the options within it. Creating a devised piece with two people is so much different than a “typical” theater piece in that it is two people deciding how and what to tell to make a driven story that “says” something. We have worked on the show for this entire year to get this version. If there is one thing I hope to accomplish with this piece of theater it is to share an extraordinary story with nuances to themes and obstacles that Ellen as a homeschooled child relates to kids all over the world. All audience members can relate to experiences from childhood and how they shape who we are today.

Ellen Walz is a Senior Theatre & Performance major from the Twin Cities, currently living in Manhattan. She graduated from the Musical Theatre track at Saint Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists in 2018. Outside of her studies, she has played Diane in Bare: A Pop Opera, Felicity in The Shadow Box, and Mona in Chicago. She was most recently seen in this past years Let’s Make A Theatre Company’s projects as a Director, Writer, and Actor. Thank you to her Mom and Dad for their unwavering support, and her friends for always embracing her tears.

Benjamin “Benjiy” Dengler is the Director and Collaborator of Ellen’s solo performance, “A Walz House”. This is his last semester at SUNY Purchase studying Theater and Performance with a concentration in Directing. Together, Benjiy and Ellen have devised a piece called, “A Walz House” which focuses on Ellen’s Childhood experiences. Audience members will find this piece engaging with nuanced shreds of humor.

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