Mark Siegel (U of M '69) to Share His Hollywood Career

Meet visual effects artist Mark Siegel this Friday, March 28th, 2014 at 10:00am at the Regis Center for Art in the In-Flux Gallery.

Siegel's exciting career path started with a Theatre Arts degree at the University of Minnesota. He is now a visual effects artist for major motion pictures and has worked on such monumental films as Ghostbusters, Star Wars, and Pirates of the Caribbean. He was kind enough to share some special images and stories as a sneak preview to his upcoming visit.

"People often ask me what my favorite movie I ever worked on was. And the answer, invariably, is Ghostbusters."

Siegel (in the plaid) sculpted the Slimer's teeth and tongue and was one of the puppeteers.

"Some people know this, but not a lot. Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis, when they were creating Ghostbusters, wanted John Belushi to be part of the project, but John Belushi had already passed away and so the intention was that this character, The Slimer... was supposed to embody kind of the spirit of John Belushi, especially his character in Animal House, you know, who's really kind of horrible looking and, you know, stuffing his face all the time, but somehow manages to be charming and funny at the same time."

Photo credit Sean Casey, Photoshop composite by Mark Siegel.

Siegel was asked to create a model of ET for the filming of remastered scenes in the 20th Anniversary Edition of the movie. This project involved a personal meeting with Steven Spielberg. The legendary director was amazingly open, down-to-earth and hands-on. "When he got to talking about some of the sequences and some of the things he wanted to see in the updated animation," Siegel recalls, "he was up on his feet acting things out." A few years later, Siegel's work was featured on one of the US Postal Service "American Filmmaking: Behind the Scenes" stamps. You can see his fingers!

The incredibly passionate and humble U of M graduate is eager to share his stories and advice with the community this Friday.

UDT's New Dance/New Space opens newly Renovated Kilburn Theatre and Larry Liu Stage

University Dance Theatre presents New Dance/New Space, in an evening of innovative pieces on the new Larry Liu stage in the Rarig Center's freshly renovated Kilburn Theatre, February 27 through March 9. Directed by Erin Thompson, the program offers a range of contemporary work from Larry Keigwin's Runaway restaged by Kile Hotchkiss of Keigwin and Company, to Joanna Rosenthal's Grey Noise, created for Same Planet Different World Company. Both Mr. Hotchkiss and Ms. Rosenthal are Visiting Artists through the Sage Cowles Land Grant Chair. In a special preview, audiences will see the UMTAD faculty/student works by Ananya Chatterjea, Elander Rosser and Darrius Strong which will represent the University of Minnesota at the regional American College Dance Festival conference later this spring at the University of Wisconsin.

Director Erin Thompson, honored with the Sage Award for Outstanding Dance Educator in 2008, began her dance career with the Minnesota Dance Theatre. She continued her career in New York City during the 1980s with the companies of Nina Wiener and Bebe Miller earning the New York Dance and Performance Award "BESSIE" in 1986. Thompson joined the faculty of the University of Minnesota's Department of Theatre Arts & Dance in 1990 as well as at Zenon Dance Company and TU Dance, where she continues to provide advanced professional modern dance training for the Twin Cities' dance community. She is also a certified teacher of the Alexander Technique.

Ananya Chatterjea, Director of Dance and founder of the Ananya Dance Theatre, presents Neel, a Blutopia for Interrupted Dreams, which explores dreams and their effect on our lives. According to Chatterjea, "the dreams we weave sustain us with hope while facing the harshness of life; sometimes that harshness interrupts the dream with the reality of life's troubling march." Ms. Chatterjea is dancer, choreographer, dance scholar, and dance educator, who envisions her work in the field of dance as a "call to action"(Dance Magazine) with a particular focus on women artists of color.

She is the Artistic Director of Ananya Dance Theatre, a company of women artists of color committed to the intersection of artistic excellence and social justice, (www.ananyadancetheatre.org) and serves as Director of the Dance Program and Professor in the Department of Theatre Arts & Dance at the University of Minnesota. She is the proud recipient of a 2011 Guggenheim Artist Fellowship for Choreography. She was named "Best Choreographer" by City Pages in 2007 and has received awards from the BIHA (Black Indian Hispanic Asian) Women In Action organization, the MN Women's Political Caucus, and the 21 leaders for the 21st Century Award from Women's E-News for her work weaving together artistic excellence, social justice, and community-building. She was honored by the Josie Johnson Social Justice and Human Rights Award at the University of Minnesota (2008).

Joanna Rosenthal, choreographer, dancer, teacher and Artistic Director for Same Planet Different World Dance Theatre, has been performing professionally and teaching dance since 1996. Grey Noise focuses on "various relationships, aggressive behavior, sustaining control and an anxiety of isolation by way of hyper physicality," according to Rosenthal. Inspired by film noir, she shows "a picture of individuals living in constant isolation because of a fear and the inability to commit, communicate and relinquish oneself to another. The piece depicts the dancers craving to make connections by way of sexual manipulation, aggressive behavior, formation of liaisons, and cautious observation."

Rosenthal received her BFA in dance from the University of Iowa and was an Iowa Arts Fellow at the University of Iowa where she earned her MFA in Choreography. Rosenthal has been on faculty at the Dance Center of Columbia College since 2004 and has taught at Lou Conte Dance Studio and Visceral Dance Center. Rosenthal has also taught at Roosevelt University, Joffrey Ballet Academy, Chicago's Academy for the Arts, Illinois State University, The University of Iowa, St. Paul's School and other local schools. She has performed extensively in Chicago, dancing for seven seasons with Mordine & Company Dance Theater, where she also served as director of the Mordine & Company Youth Dance Company, and as Associate Artistic Director. She performed for five years with Lucky Plush Productions.

Chicago Sun Times described Rosenthal's dancing as technically outstanding. Her choreography has been widely praised by critics in Chicago as well as Minneapolis. Lucia Maura of the Chicago Tribune describes her choreographic work as bold and exacting. Her work Grey Noise, which won an award from the Joyce Soho Foundation's A.W.A.R.D Show, has been described by Minneapolis critic Camille Lefevre as "a gripping work of astute intelligence and raw tension filtered through an economical movement vocabulary of barely controlled violence." Rosenthal's work has been presented in Chicago, Minneapolis, Iowa, Nebraska, Wisconsin, New York and St. Louis, Missouri.

Larry Keigwin, Artistic Director of KEIGWIN + COMPANY with his Associate Director Nicole Wolcott have created and presented an electrifying brand of contemporary dance since 2003 when Keigwin founded this unique company. K+C reaches national and international audiences invigorating diverse communities with a refreshing vision of dance that embodies a theatrical sensibility of wit, style, and heart.

In Runaway (2008), a fashion-inspired choreographic ride, Keigwin explores the dynamics behind the predatory world of runway modeling. Using a mathematical base and geometric structure, he creates a world within the lines and lanes of a runway show. To contrast this restrictive environment, the physical movement ranges from a modeled strut to propelling ravenously through space with a sense of abandon. Personal interactions and partnering follow a similar path- predator vs. prey relationships, stalking mentalities, and more. Runaway was proclaimed by Vanity Fair, "a thrilling coup d'theater."

Since K+C's premiere performance at Joyce Soho in 2003, Keigwin has created 24 dances, including the acclaimed large-scale community project, Bolero, which has been commissioned in seven communities across the country, and Runaway (2008). Over the decade, K+C has presented performances throughout NYC and nationwide at venues including the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Summerdance Santa Barbara, New York City Center, The Joyce Theater, the American Dance Festival, and Bates Dance Festival.

In 2010, Keigwin was named the Vail International Dance Festival's first artist-in-residence, during which time he created and premiered a new work with four of ballet's most prominent stars. Also he staged the opening event of Fashion Week: "Fashion's Night Out: The Show," which was produced by Vogue and featured over 150 of the industry's top models. In 2011, Keigwin choreographed the new musical Tales of the City, at the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, as well as the new off-Broadway production of RENT, now running at New World Stages. Keigwin received the Joe A. Callaway Award for his choreography in RENT in 2011. Keigwin most recently created a new ballet with the Royal New Zealand Ballet.

U of M undergraduate Darrius Strong created in his piece "Is There Only One Way..." as a very visually stimulating perfect picture, then transforms it. "This piece is meant to let the audience think and interpret the movements and a story line on their own. I have my own thoughts about the piece; however, I want to leave lots of room for thoughts when it comes to interpreting the piece." Everything is not as it seems.

Elander Rosser, student choreographer of Earth Song, drew inspiration from composer Frank Ticheli's choral work of the same name. Rosser's dance strives to convey the composer's "bid to find inner peace in a world that seems eternally bent on war and hate" (Source). Beginning with three seemingly violent duets in which the oppressed triumph over the oppressors, only to become oppressors themselves, the work depicts the never ending circle of power.

Quick Facts
What: University Dance Theatre's New Dance/New Space directed by Erin Thompson
Who: University of Minnesota Department of Theatre Arts & Dance
When: February 27-March 9, 2014
Where: Larry Liu Stage of Kilburn Theatre Rarig Center
330 21st Avenue South, Minneapolis, 55454
Tickets: $6 Students; $11 UMN faculty and staff; $16 General Admission.
U of M Ticket Office (612) 624-2345 or online at dance.umn.edu

Subject to availability, tickets will be sold at the door ONE hour before each the performance.

University Theatre Arts & Dance is a laboratory for performance and practice of content taught in the Department's academic programs. In keeping with the University of Minnesota's three public purposes - research, and discovery; teaching and learning; outreach and public service - the mission of the Department of Theatre Arts & Dance is to educate students and audiences about the performing arts, and about the social issues and human emotions the arts speak to so powerfully. We are committed to realizing this mission by creating, producing, and studying works of theatre and dance, and performing them publicly for diverse audiences drawn both from the University and the community at large. Patrons should expect to see performances that challenge the mind and are produced with the highest possible quality.

TU Dance & Penumbra Theatre, both founded by TAD faculty, each awarded $500,000 by Knight Foundation

Two of St. Paul's vibrant arts groups shared Twin Cities headlines when TU Dance Company and the Penumbra Theatre each received a $500,000 award from the Knight Foundation last week. Each was founded and blossomed under visionary artistic leaders, Toni Pierce-Sands and Lou Bellamy; both are faculty members in the department of Theatre Arts & Dance. In announcing these gifts to the St. Paul arts scene, Knight Foundation officials recognized the exciting work of both organizations and their ability to attract and engage audiences.

TU co-founder Toni Pierce-Sands commented, "We are delighted, so very happy for the Knight Foundation's support of our dream. As TU continues to grow its dance company and dance school we believe will have enormous impact on the city of St. Paul and the Minnesota dance scene." Launched in 2004 by Toni Pierce-Sands and her partner Uri Sands, TU Dance has garnered audience and critical acclaim for its diverse repertory and versatile artists, and for performances that are engaging, dynamic and generous. Modern dance, classical ballet, African-based, and urban vernacular movements are combined in inventive and unpredictable ways.

The StarTribune reported that Pierce-Sands, who grew up in St. Paul remembers taking the 16A bus with her sister to Minneapolis for dance classes. Now, TU will use its grant to fund dance classes for low-income St. Paul youths. "This is going to help us change the perception that St. Paul is Minnesota's political capital and Minneapolis is the arts capital," Toni commented. Visit http://www.tudance.org/ to learn more

Penumbra Theatre, which successfully overcame financial setbacks a year ago, will receive $500,000 to create two positions -- a marketing director and development director. Both were cut from the theater in 2012, according to the Pioneer Press. "This request was the first test of our recovery, of our business plan, of my vision," said Sarah Bellamy, recently named Penumbra's co-artistic director to Lou Bellamy. "Knight asked challenging and thoughtful questions. This award is testimony to their faith in our work, our mission, and our future. It is inspiring, not only for Penumbra but for the larger community. We are very grateful for their leadership, for taking such a bold and public position with Penumbra. It is a strong incentive to succeed."

Penumbra Theatre Company was started in 1976 by Lou Bellamy to create a forum for African-American voices in the Twin Cities' well-respected theatre community. Through its commitment to provide realistic, inspirational works that redefine the consciousness of its audience, the company flourished. As Minnesota's only professional African American theatre, (one of only three African American professional theatre companies in the nation presenting a full season), Penumbra has stayed on the cutting edge of the national theatre scene and continues to present groundbreaking work. It has achieved national recognition for its quality productions and leadership role in launching the career of many respected playwrights, including two-time Pulitzer Prize winner August Wilson. Visit http://penumbratheatre.org/ to learn more.

Dance Magazine spotlights Carl Flink and his Black Label Movement

"I never want to lose that passion to move, to be alive in my skin," says Carl Flink, founder/ Artistic director of Black Label Movement (BLM) in Dance Magazine's January issue. Flink, who also heads Theatre Arts and Dance department, is interviewed in a feature story titled "Flying through Space." Onstage and in TED Talks, Flink's Black Label Movement stretches the boundaries of physical possibility, according to this national arts publication.

Dance Magazine's article by Linda Shaprio is excerpted here:

Black Label Movement gives new meaning to risky behavior. Coming from a serious soccer background, founder Carl Flink has what he describes as "a commitment to flying into space without being worried about the impact." Onstage, his dances explore wildly physical action and dramatic subjects, such as the fate of people trapped in an airtight compartment of a sinking ship. Offstage, his collaborations with scientists have used dance to simulate molecular processes and navigate zero-gravity environments--and have become a sensation at TED Talks, the global big ideas conferences.

"When I was young, movement was about running, jumping, falling, catching," Flink says. "I never want to lose that passion to move, to be alive in my skin."

That full-throttle approach has made Flink into a dream choreographer for a certain kind of adrenaline-junkie dancer. "I'd never seen movement done that way--so visceral, dynamic, big," says Lauren Baker, who studied under Flink at the University of Minnesota before joining BLM in 2011. "It tore my world apart."
Presenters are also taking notice: Flink has recently gotten several commissions, and his Twin Cities-based company is increasingly touring beyond Minnesota's borders. His wide-ranging vision has brought BLM from the concert stage to science laboratories and the viral upper echelons of YouTube.

Flink, who holds a law degree from Stanford University, sees his work as an attempt to "manifest political statements in the work of the body." He first began taking dance classes at the University of Minnesota while majoring in political science and women's studies. After graduating in 1990, he performed with the Limón Dance Company in New York for six years, eventually moving back home to Minneapolis to work with the Farmers' Legal Action Group. He began teaching men's and partnering classes at the U of M, and in 2004, he left his career in law to become director of the dance program and later chair of the Department of Theatre Arts and Dance.

When Flink launched BLM in 2005, he named the company after generic food brands because of their no-nonsense way of communicating: "I liked those unrelenting black and yellow labels saying exactly what's inside--like 'peas.' "

Flink also calls his 10 dancers (many of whom are U of M graduates), "movers." He likens them to surfers trying to find ease riding natural forces they can't control.

This approach is part of why Flink has become an appealing collaborator for scientists. Biomedical engineer David Odde worked with Flink to develop "bodystorming," a technique where dancers model scientific theories, such as the tumultuous function of particles in a cell. That led to a dance entitled HIT that explores the impact of bodies colliding and finding, as the Minneapolis Star Tribune put it, "the unexpected poetry within aggression."

In 2011, BLM and John Bohannon, a Science magazine correspondent and the founder of the annual Dance Your Ph.D. contest, performed A Modest Proposal during TEDx Brussels. The 11-minute presentation examined ways that dance, science and communication could intersect to become an alternative to the dominant medium of PowerPoint. When posted on the main TED website, the video went viral. (Play Video of BLM in A Modest Proposal at ted.com/talks)

That success led to BLM working with Bohannon and the Minneapolis band Jelloslave to create a new presentation for the 2012 TED: Full Spectrum conference. Called "Let's Talk About Sex," it discusses how to explain the evolutionary nature of sex to young people. (Ed. note: Minneapolis showing March 27-29, 2014 at Cowles Center) Later that year, Flink's award-winning choreography for a Twin Cities production of Spring Awakening took some of those ideas to embody adolescent passion and pain, with dancers literally bouncing off of the walls.

- See more at: http://www.dancemagazine.com/issues/January-2014/Flying-Through-Space#sthash.LRDlHdQU.dpuf

Scott Rink joins Dance faculty as Visiting Professor; starts Spring '14

University of Minnesota's Theatre Arts & Dance Department (UMTAD) is pleased to announce the Dance Program has hired New York based dance artist Scott Rink as a contracted Faculty Assistant Professor. Beginning in the upcoming spring semester of 2014, Mr. Rink will be teaching a combination of Modern Dance and Dance Composition courses. "We are delighted to welcome four -time Sage Cowles Land Grant guest artist Scott Rink back to the our department," commented Ananya Chatterjea, Dance Program Coordinator. "Scott brings a rich wealth of professional experience as a choreographer/director to share with our students. His energy, vision and artistry are highly regarded both on stage and in the studio classroom."

As a teacher Mr. Rink has held visiting professorship positions at Harvard University, The Ailey School, UNCSA, University of Minnesota (Cowles Chair 2013, 2003, 2000, 1996), University of Utah, among others and taught master classes throughout the US, Europe and South America. Scott Rink has performed in the companies of Eliot Feld, Elisa Monte, Karole Armitage and Lar Lubovitch.

As a director/choreographer, Rink's work has been praised as "an unusual hybrid genre in which dance is part of a larger theatrical whole" (The Village Voice) using the dramatic text as a musical score where "patches of pure dance heighten dramas like light shining from beneath colored glass" (New York Times). For this fall's Dance Revolutions at the Barker Center for Dance, Rink re-created Here We Are based on a short story by Dorothy Parker, in which he links a duet and quartet with dancers and speakers. Premiered in 2003 at the University of Minnesota, the work performed by University students was selected to be presented the following spring at the 2004 American College Dance Festival national performances at Washington, D.C.'s Kennedy Center. Mr. Rink is a returning Cowles Visiting Artist who first was in residence re-staging a work by Lar Lubovitch in 1996.

Rink's Off-Broadway choreography credits include, Queen of The Mist (Transport Group, Dir. Jack Cumming III), Hello Again (Transport Group, Dir. Jack Cummings III), Being Audrey (Transport Group, Dir. Jack Cummings III), Crossing Brooklyn (Transport Group,Dir. Jack Cummings III) Songs For a New World (George St. Playhouse, Dir. Jack Cummings III), Nor'mal (Transport Group, Dir. Jack Cummings III), Minimum Wage (45 Bleeker, Dir. Guy Stroman).

His commissioned works include dances for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre II, American Ballet Theatre II, Oakland Ballet, Minnesota Dance Theatre, Repertory Dance Theatre, The Ailey School, Harvard University, and UNCSA. Mr. Rink has created a number of works for danceRINK performed in NYC most notably at Joyce Soho, Symphony Space, American Theatre of Actors, HERE, The Kitchen and Tribeca Performing Arts Center as well as other national and international dates. He has adapted, directed and choreographed three dance films from the works of Ray Bradbury and Kurt Vonnegut.

Department Chair Carl Flink commented, "Scott is a multi-faceted artist who brings nationally recognized depth as a performer, dance maker and instructor into our dance program's research and learning community."

Mr. Rink's assistant choreography credits include: BROADWAY The King & I (Dir. Christopher Renshaw), Allegro Encore Production (Dir. Susan Schulman); REGIONAL What The World Needs Now ,Roundabout Production (Dir. Gillian Lynne); TV World Music Awards (Chor. Lar Lubovitch); CONCERT DANCE American Ballet Theater, Royal Danish Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre (Chor. Lar Lubbovitch).

Theatre Department Alums Shine in Guthire's Born Yesterday and A Christmas Carol

This month Guthrie stages brim with holiday fun-- Garson Kanin's classic comedy Born Yesterday and Charles Dickens' perennial favorite A Christmas Carol now in its 39th season. Both companies shine with U of M alums -- talented actors who learned their craft through the Theatre Arts & Dance Department.

Nearly half of the professional actors in this year's A Christmas Carol cast trained and graduated from the U of M's theatre program earning B.A., B.F.A, and M.F.A. degrees. All have appeared on the Rarig Center's stages during their student days. Several gained invaluable experience performing on the University of Minnesota Centennial Showboat. Those in the U of M/Guthrie Theatre BFA Actor Training Program have studied in London for a semester.

From Young Scrooge (Paris Hunter Paul) and Belle (Eleonore S. Dendy), to Mrs. Crachit (Virginia S. Burke), to nephew Fred (Hugh Kennedy), to Mrs. Fezziwig (Suzanne Warmanen) and her daughter Dora (Virginia S. Burke), Deirdre (Anna Reichert), and the Ghost of Christmas Future (Torsten Johnson) all are former students strutting their stuff on the Guthrie's thrust stage.

Anna Reichert, who plays several characters and sings as a chorister identified training for the stage as one of her most valuable lessons. "You can always take [it] with you. When I feel I'm a bit too tired, I have come to depend on my physical training. I learned to be alive and present on the stage. Through training I can always rely on being there." The movement classes taught in the BFA program "with the dance and physical warm-ups, keep me physically fit ...yes, training and technique carry you through," especially on multiple show days. With the large number of characters in Dickens' tale, the play's production requires many actors to perform multiple roles making lightning-quick costumes changes and instant character transformations.

Another connection to the Guthrie is the costume design by award-winning U of M faculty member Mathew J. LeFebvre, creator of both the evocative Victorian costumes for A Christmas Carol and the elegant 40's look (described as "amazing" by the StarTrib) for Born Yesterday. Reflecting on that experience and the theatre program's Guthrie association, LeFebvre, said, "It's so gratifying to see all that work on stage--amazing to me because all those artists--the tailors, drapers, the dyers, technicians make me look better than I deserve. They invest so much of themselves into making them, so the result is always richer...I grew up in the profession working in this theatre, I learned so much in my sixteen years at the Guthrie. In a way, it's been my alma mater."

Behind the scenes, alums Jason Clusman (Assistant Stage Manager) and Joseph Stodola (Assistant Director) keep the large cast of 20 professional players, 11 non-speaking performers-- Party Guests, Pallbearers and Carolers, plus 14 children right on cue for every entrance. A Christmas Carol continues on the Wurtele Thrust Stage through December 29, 2013.

Asked about the most valued lessons learned, theatre arts alum Stuart Gates was quick to answer, "Interaction with local artists. Artists who had lectured, or taught as us as professionals, or people I had workshopped with, who I had seen on stage that was powerful...As someone starting out, you can say 'I speak the same language' because you were there (at the U)... A few years ago I had a class on the nuts and bolts of auditioning taught by director John Miller- Stephany, working with someone in the profession makes you rise to the challenge." Little did Gates know five years ago that he would be in the Born Yesterday company at the Guthrie directed by John Miller-Stephany.

The Born Yesterday company boasts five U of M theatre grads including Jennifer Blagen as Mrs. Hedges (BA), Stuart Gates as Hotel Manager (BFA), Miriam Schwartz as Manicurist (BFA), Michael Hanna as Bellhop (BFA) and Warren C. Bowels (MA and Ph.D). Calling the cues in the control booth, you'll find BA alum, Karen K. Wegner (Stage Manager) from the Duluth campus and Noah Bremer (Assistant Director ) trained at the U of M-Twin Cities helped with rehearsals notes and staging.
Two current seniors, Ryan Colbert as Waiter and Michael Fell as Bellhop, just 5 months shy of completing their Guthrie Theatre BFA Actor Training requirements, take stage complementing the Gopher contingent. Born Yesterday continues through January 5, 2014 on the McGuire Proscenium Stage.

In addition, Theatre Arts faculty/ associate faculty members made artistic contributions to the productions. Marcus Dilliard (Lighting Designer), Lucinda Holshue (Voice & Dialect), and Marcela Lorca (Movement) helped to bring Born Yesterday to life on stage, while Ryan Connealy (Recreated Lighting Design) and D'Arcy Smith (Voice & Dialect) added to the the success of this season's A Christmas Carol.
To paraphrase Tiny Tim, "God bless 'em everyone!"

Theatre Faculty Member Marcus Dilliard's work broadcast on PBS World Premiere of "Silent Night" by Minnesota Opera

On Friday, December 13, 8pm CST, as spotlights bring the stage to life for the national PBS broadcast of Minnesota Opera's Silent Night, the production's lighting designer Marcus Dilliard, who also heads U of M's Theatre Arts graduate program in Theatre Design and Technology, can smile with a sense of accomplishment.

"Silent Night has been quite the journey--starting in St. Paul, then on to Philadelphia, and now sharing it nationwide," said Dilliard, who has designed for opera, theatre and dance across North America and in Europe. His numerous Minnesota productions include work for the Guthrie Theater, Theatre Latte Da, Children's Theater Company, Minnesota Dance Theater and Theatre de la Jeune Lune. Recent designs include Born Yesterday for The Guthrie Theater, The Tempest and Metamorphoses for PlayMakers Repertory Company, Steerage Song for Theatre Latte Da, The Mikado for Lyric Opera Kansas City and Cosi fan Tutte for Boston Lyric Opera.

In the 2012 Pulitzer Prize winning opera Silent Night, composer Kevin Puts recalls an incident during World War I in which Scottish, French and German soldiers negotiate a Christmas truce and share their provisions and personal stories. The opera's libretto, by Mark Campbell, is in English, German, French, Italian and Latin. It was commissioned, and then developed through the Minnesota Opera New Works Initiative with the Philadelphia Opera Company.

While press notices were very enthusiastic for Silent Night as a whole, one reporter commented that Dillard created "a vibrant lighting display... capable of shifting from the chaos of battle to the tranquility of evening" (examiner.com). Another remarked the production was "evocatively lit by Dilliard" (Lorenzo Bassi, GB Opera).

"Theatre -- but especially opera -- is always a rich collaboration of artists," noted Mr. Dilliard. "Every production is a unique experience, but giving life to a new work like Silent Night is particularly challenging and rewarding. Each production element needs to be in harmony, working together, always telling the story."

In a related item, Mr. Dillard's lighting design supports Theatre Latte Da's production All Is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914, in another portrayal of the ceasefire, at Minneapolis' PantagesTheater this holiday season.

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