From the Dean’s opening remarks to the

class speakers representing the three

degree programs – Bachelor of Arts,

Bachelor of Fine Arts and Master of

Fine Arts – to the keynote address by

award-winning writer José Rivera, our annual

Commencement celebration is a time to honor

those present, to reflect on the past year and

to inspire one and all for the future.

Khalia Davis, representing the Bachelor of Arts

graduates, performed a mock audition for a “lead-

ing part” in an imaginary reality show, “Life After

College”, and won knowing laughter from her

fellow students with her account of her undergraduate

career. She closed her speech – and imaginary

audition – by thanking her colleagues, friends and

family “who I know will be calling and texting in

their votes for as long as the line is open.”

Speaking for the Bachelor of Fine Arts graduates,

Tomm Polos wittily set up and undercut the earnest

clichés associated with commencement speeches.

“We are a generation of artists in a mystifying

climate,” Polos announced. “Rumor has it that this

is not an easy industry. And I’ve heard that L.A.

is a soul-crushing place – like waking up to take

Theatre 130 every day. If we stick to telling stories

we care about and keep a sense of humor about

ourselves,” professed Polos, abandoning his

pretend cynicism, “we can go vast distances.”

McKinley Belcher III likened the professional train-

ing the Master of Fine Arts graduates received

to the agoge, the rigorous regimen by which the

ancient Spartans molded their boys into hardened

soldiers who would serve as the ‘Walls of Sparta.’

“We are the ‘walls’ of a new generation of art

and stand ready to be inducted into the artistic

community,” Belcher declared and he thanked

his professors for “giving us not what we always

wanted but what we needed.”

s u m m e R 2 0 1 0

PAGe 4Focus on Faculty

PAGe 2Playwrights’ Arena Honors Dean Puzo

PAGe 319th Annual Awards Ceremony

(continued on page 2)

Commencement 2010 “I’m sure for many of you, this day always seemed far off, somehow never-gonna-come, some where in the future, not right now,” Dean Madeleine Puzo told the exuberant crowd packing the Bing Theatre for the School of Theatre’s 2010 Commencement ceremony. “But today, it is here, it is now.”

Above: The Class of 2010 celebrates on stage at the Bing Theatre; Top Right: B.A. class speaker Khalia Davis; Bottom Right: Keynote speaker José Rivera.

A BeAutiFul YeAr

We have just finished a big, beautiful year – one that has given me, and hopefully our students, many

vivid memories.

The School started the year interacting with leading artists from around the world – from the extraor-

dinary performance of scenes from Sophocles’ Antigone, performed by Elena Papadopoulos and Nikos

Charalambous, internationally renowned artists long associated with the National Theatre of Cyprus;

to the deeply poetic work of Girish Karnad, one of India’s preeminent playwrights and, indeed, a central

figure in the development of modern Indian theatre; to the rigorous and disciplined creativity of award-

winning director/choreographer Twyla Tharp – each of them sharing with our students how they, in their

own cultural tradition, explore our very ancient art.

The appearance of these artists at USC is evidence that we, as a school and as individuals who study, explore

and teach the art, are becoming more global in our thinking. And it is also a sign that the School is becom-

ing more recognized on – really, I know I should but I can’t resist the phrase – the international stage.

And we ended the year with another artist whose visit left a deep impression on me and on the School,

the playwright José Rivera, who gave the keynote speech at our 2010 Commencement. And what a

speech it was – a rich, eloquent, clever and poetic tour de force full of wit and hard earned wisdom

about the tribulations and joys of working in the theatre. It was moving and exhilarating in its illumination

and unapologetic celebration of why we do theatre no matter the difficulties and frustrations. You can

read excerpts from his inspiring speech in our cover story.

I hope you have a great summer and I look forward to talking to you next fall.

Madeline Puzo

Dean

A   m e S S A g e   F r O m   T h e   d e A N

Dean Madeline Puzo

Playwrights’ Arena Honors Dean Puzo

David Anderle, Lisa Barkett, LeVar Burton, Tim Curry, Charles Dillingham, Lauren Schuler Donner, Tate Donovan, Michele Dedeaux Engemann

(Founding Chair), Michael Gilligan (Chair, USC School of Theatre Parents Council), Robert Greenblatt,

Patti Gribow, Susan A. Grode, Paula Holt, Donna Isaacson, Gary Lask, Sheila Lipinsky,

Martin Massman, Jimmy Miller, Madeline Puzo, Andy Tennant, Allison Thomas, Rik Toulon,

Joe Tremaine, Richard Weinberg (Chair)

S C h O O L   O F   T h e A T r e   B O A r d   O F   C O U N C I L O r S

2

“We have never had a playwright address a

graduating class,” observed Dean Puzo in intro-

ducing keynote speaker José Rivera. “Possibly

because we are so used to saying the play-

wright’s words we forget that they have a voice

of their own.” Rivera, an Obie Award-winning

playwright and Academy Award nominated

screenwriter, quietly demonstrated the power

of words with a poetic, passionate and sly speech

that distilled his long experience of the joys and

tough realities of a life in the theatre.

“We are apostles of language, dreamers of

blank verse, aristocrats of sight gags who thrive

on complexity,” affirmed Rivera, welcoming

the graduates as colleagues. “We turn awful

experience and bad relationships and murder-

ous office jobs and loveless parents and poverty

and addictions and angst and loss and death

itself into the fearsome gold of art.”

Rivera described some of the highs and lows

awaiting the graduates, including “bliss when

you’ve written that perfect sentence,” and “anger

when that barbarian in the second row keeps tex-

ting his lawyer…or the MacArthur people over-

looked you again…or the culture’s going north

while you’re going south…and you’ve forgotten

the joy and magic, the purpose and need for it

all. But then you remember and you come back.”

Rivera continued, “That’s the amazing part. You

come back the next day because this activity con-

nects you to your most essential and naked self.”

“I think you are ready,” declared Rivera. “You,

the fighter and hero of this morning’s tale, are

trained and ready to unpack your Heiner Müller

and your colored pencils and your tap shoes. And

you are brimming with ideas and are full of cour-

age and full of fight and you know the obstacles

and laugh in their faces. And the dragons you

fight are windmills and the windmills you fight

are straw and the time to talk about doing it is

over. It’s time to do it. So let’s go out now, you

and I; let’s go out and make some art.”

Commencement 2010(continued from cover)

Playwrights’ Arena, “original works for adventurous minds,” held their annual benefit, Hot Night in the

City, on Tuesday, May 4, 2010, at Ultra-Suede in West Hollywood, honoring Dean Madeline Puzo, along

with Ben Guillory, Artistic Director of the Robey Theatre Company, and Terence McFarland, Executive

Director of LA Stage Alliance, for their outstanding contribution to the Los Angeles theatre community.

Puzo has been Dean of the USC School of Theatre since 2002. Under her leadership, the School has inau-

gurated three new graduate degrees, revised and expanded its undergraduate programs and has doubled

its faculty. Prior to USC, she was a creative producer for some of the country’s leading regional theatres,

including the Ahmanson Theatre and the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles and the Guthrie Theater in

Minneapolis, for over 20 years. She has commissioned and/or produced work by such noted theatre artists

as Bill T. Jones, JoAnne Akalaitis, Spalding Gray, Joe Chaikin, Philip Glass, Femi Osofisan, Girish Karnad,

Bart Sher and Robert Woodruff and has produced such diverse plays as House Arrest: An Introgression,

Acts I & II by Anna Deavere Smith; Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure and A Midsummer Night’s Dream,

directed by Sir Peter Hall; and David Henry Hwang’s new version of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Flower

Drum Song. Her adaptation of Truman Capote’s A Christmas Memory was presented by the Mark Taper

Forum for 10 consecutive years and toured Eastern Europe. While director of Taper, Too, the Mark Taper

Forum’s second theatre, she won nine L.A. Drama Critics Circle Awards. She served as co-director for the

theatre portion of the 1984 Olympic International Arts Festival and has been a consultant for the National

Endowment of the Arts, the Pew Charitable Trust, Theatre Communications Group, the Rockefeller and

Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Foundations.

3

19th Annual Awards CeremonyThe School of Theatre’s 19th Annual Awards Celebration acknowledged the exceptional work done by students in all areas of discipline over the last academic year, including acting, design, stage management and technical direction. We are extremely proud of the extraordinary work of our talented students and of the dedicated faculty who guide them with such skill and expertise. Congratulations to all!

Aileen stanley memorial Award For undergraduate studentsSarah GiseWill Sammons

John Blankenchip/Bill White scholarship For Outstanding ContributionsManuel PrietoConnor Kelly-Eiding

usC Alumni and Friends AwardFor Creative student ActivitiesKhalia Davis

Ruth and Albert mcKinlay Award For Two undergraduate B.A. studentsPerformer: Miya FolickHighest G.P.A.: Melanie Lynch, Diana Vaden

student Council Award For a Graduating seniorMelissa Trupp

Nancy Kehr Reed Award For funding an Independent student ProductionLukas Kanter

David Dukes Acting scholarshipFor a Junior studentMargaret Ivey

Ava Greenwald memorial Award For a Graduate ActorMcKinley Belcher III

James B. Pendleton AwardFor Outstanding ContributionsMolly McGraw

John Ritter Award For Comic PerformanceJoe DeSoto

stanley musgrove Award For Outstanding Creative TalentLiza Burns

Jack Nicholson Award For Outstanding undergraduate Actress: Thea RubleyActor: Shaheed Sabrin

Ritchie spencer memorial Award For a Graduating DesignerSean Foote

James and Nony Doolittle Award For Graduating seniorsMatthew LittleSara FoxChris SchulzAlexandra Wright

Outstanding Dance Choreographer Awards spring Concert: Brooke Badger, Emily Shum

Bill White Faculty Recognition AwardMary-Joan Negro

2009-10 AWARD ReCIPIeNTs

Tom Ontiveros Assistant Professor

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F O C U S   O N   F A C U L T Y

Tom Ontiveros is an Assistant Professor of

Lighting Design. He designs with light and

projection for theatre, dance, and live music.

He is a three-time recipient of the Dean

Goodman Award for Lighting Design and

was featured in San Francisco’s Callboard

magazine. He is a board member for viBe,

an NYC organization providing performance

and writing programs to high school girls

with limited access to the arts. His lighting

and projection designs have appeared at the

Hungarian National Theatre Festival in Cluj,

Romania; the Holland Festival in Amsterdam; the International Festival

of Arts and Ideas in New Haven; the San Diego Museum of Art; the

Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art; SUSHI Performing Arts; The Joyce

SoHo; the Japan America Theatre; the Mondavi Center; The Phoenix

Symphony; and Zellerbach Studio Theatre. Recent collaborators include

Rinde Eckert, Paul Dresher, Cornerstone Theatre and Circle X. Credits also

include collaborations with Michael Greif (Most Wanted), Bob Balaban

(The Exonerated), Naomi Iizuka (The Language of Angels), Charles Mee

(Summertime), as well as having served as Resident Designer for the

Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music. He received his M.F.A. and the

Award for Teaching Excellence from UC San Diego. He teaches Lighting

Design I & II and mentors student lighting and projection designers.

Jack Rowe is an Associate Dean and Artistic

Director for the School of Theatre. He received

his B.A. from USC and is a founding member

of the Company Theatre, a Los Angeles-based

theatre company begun by USC graduates

in 1967. During its 12-year existence, the

Company received awards and acclaim from

Los Angeles drama critics and the national

press, including such publications as Time,

Newsweek and The New Yorker. He worked

with the Company as an actor, director, stage

manager, composer and musician. He began

his professional affiliation with the School of Theatre in 1979. He teaches

acting classes in both the B.A. and B.F.A. programs and directs School of

Theatre productions as often as possible. As Artistic Director for the

School, he selects over a dozen productions that are seen on our many

stages, including the Bing Theatre, the Scene Dock Theatre, the McClintock

Theatre, and the Massman Theatre. Last year, he directed The Triangle

Factory Fire Project in the fall and Bullet, part of the Blueprints: M.F.A.

in Dramatic Playwrights Workshop, in the spring. Last fall, he also staged

An Evening with Girish Karnad at the Bing Theatre for Visions and Voices,

the USC Arts & Humanities Initiative.

Jack Rowe Associate Professor of Theatre Practice