UCLA's Theater Department - "RELEVANCE AND EXCITEMENT ON CAMPUS"

In theater these days, for either political or commercial reasons, there is a lack of artistic adventure, resulting in a general malaise. But this is not the case at UCLA’s Department of Theater: from Charles Mee to William Shakespeare, they are producing both traditional and groundbreaking material.

This is in keeping with the credo of UCLA Director and Professor Mel Shapiro : “I think we try to do material that is intellectually stimulating, that an audience can’t get to see most places, that challenges our students in terms of their growth and development, that sharpens the skills and the techniques of the students with a diversity of repertoire.”

Speaking with Mr. Shapiro was, as one might expect, educational. When asked why he had decided to resurrect the musical “Hair” in the last school year, Mel matter-of-factly answered, “Because I had made a commitment to do a musical. ‘Hair’ was interesting because it was passé and irrelevant, but the issue of peace made it appropriate at that time.” He reflected, “The benefit of hindsight made it easier to place the play in perspective. I could draw upon my personal experience. I was never into extolling drugs, but I protested the war too.” He paused. “This play is about the loss of innocence. I put the cast through a rigorous training…they had to read about Viet Nam and the draft. They learned about a time when government controlled lives by spinning truths and untruths.”

He chuckled about the student response to the group nudity in the play. “I put up a note saying there would be nudity. Originally, half were raring to go and do it, half were reluctant, but when the time actually came, EVERYONE wanted to take their clothes off and it became a matter of honor to do the nude scene.” He laughed. “So many wanted to do it, the stage wasn’t big enough for everyone! Some got mad they weren’t included, saying, ‘What’s wrong with ME?’”

Shapiro, who is part of the Ray Bolger Musical Theater teaching staff, grew up in Brooklyn, got involved in theater during war service, and then formally pursued his craft. He delights in his formative position at the school, but doesn’t have an ideology to impart to his charges: “Nobody discouraged me, so I don’t have the right to discourage others.”

He reflected on the state of theater 2003. “Commercial theater is going where it’s always been — to revivals. Theater is going to the youth. Young voices that are daring, who are the future, want to change it and make it better and rebel against the middlebrow, middle class crap that’s being sold us as Theater.”

Yet many youth he finds to be “very conventional. Being in such a rigorous, competitive program like UCLA’s helps them listen to their own drummer. That’s the music I listen for.”

While Shapiro finds “wave upon wave” of acting talent (“There’s a lot of natural talent out there.”) and a very skilled pool of technicians (“They are raised on digital.”) in the next generation, he regrets that there is not enough talent on the playwrighting side. “So much is mediocre, they don’t have a fucking thing to say, and they just replicate form and content.”

As a feature, he “tries not to screw talent up badly, and meet it and recognize it. In these times of massive budget cuts and program downsizing, I want to teach them how to teach themselves.”

Drawing his inspiration from directorial greats Tyrone Guthrie and Michael Langham, Shapiro is preparing a “Mee, Mee, Mee” Series for the next year. Charles Mee, the playwright, is “wild and extravagant, he updates ancient myths and is incredibly out there with great imagination and humor, and uses contemporary language in a classical framework.”

Then we caught up with Monica Quintanilla, one of the more promising stars in the UCLA Theatre firmament. The spunky actress is almost unconsciously optimistic, though her optimism is firmly reality-based. This Philadelphia native shared her thoughts on the theater with us with refreshing candor. Bringing an African-American sensibility with her, Ms. Quintanilla opined that being an African-American actor brings nothing but advantages with it, as in this day and age, she can play traditionally “white” roles as well as roles requiring ethnicity. “It’s a win-win situation if you are doing the female roles,” although she admitted this is not always the case if you are doing the African-American male roles.

Attending UCLA has been a great experience for her. “It’s almost like a conservatory,” the magnetic actress observed. “It’s very demanding of time and self. I go from 10am to 11pm on days when I perform. It’s an agenda that makes you ask yourself serious questions and it can be frustrating.” She paused, and then continued, “It challenges me in so many ways and demands that I hone in on what I need to work on. I’ve learned to be patient and I’ve learned a theatrical work ethic.” She told me that; “The teachers are up close and personal with you. They are teachers because they really care about their students.” She turned quiet and confessed, “They have taught me self-discipline and that I don’t always get my way.”

Acting has come naturally for Monica. “It’s just part of my nature and I’m passionate about theater. I’m interested in bringing a story to life, not in technical theater.” With her fine voice and supple movements, she is a natural for musical theater. “Musicals are a product,” she admitted. She noted “acting is living truthfully in imaginary circumstances,” a mantra she learned at school.

She shone in the recent production of “Hair” that the school produced. Why did she do “Hair”, I asked her. “It was the only musical the department did this year,” she blandly replied. “I didn’t understand it at first and if I had children I wouldn’t take them to hear its pro-drug use statements, but ultimately it has a strong sense of humanity and the point of the story is in the music,” which transcends time.

She was personally and artistically freed by taking part in the play’s group nude scene. “It helped me as an actress and as a person,” she asserted. “I hadn’t felt comfortable in my skin, but by letting myself be vulnerable, I felt more open and not ashamed of my body.” She continued, “Now I’m not afraid to take risks,” and will be prepared for any other role that requires nudity.

Monica loves the entire acting experience; blessed with a very good memory, she retains lines easily, even overnight. “I love every aspect of the theater, from blocking through the excitement of feeling a production come together, through the technical aspects of a play and the costuming.” She feels the theater to be the art of the Eternal Now: “Theater is more personal than film. You can do many takes in cinema. When you’re on stage, when you mess up, you have to deal with it.” She assumed a Zen-like perspective when she observed, “Stage performance only happens once; it is not repeatable.”

She plans, after graduating, to head for the bright lights of Broadway, which she is confident she will conquer. If her acting career does not flourish, she adroitly plans to enter Entertainment Law on the other side of the floodlights. She most wants to play Tamoon in “Once Upon This Island,” which appeals to her as it can also be done for children.

A true Gemini who dives deep inside herself in preparing for a role, yet whose admitted exhibitionism loves the presence of an audience, she takes a healthy approach to her craft, keeping the roles she plays clearly separate from her personal identity and not allowing any method to stunt her artistic growth, a very canny move.

But it’s just one example of a keen intelligence at work housed as it is within the façade of a student. Outlook readers are encouraged to come up to campus to see artistic relevance this coming year. The department is opening the school year with two plays performed in repertory, Mee’s “Orestes 2.0,” along with the same playwright’s “True Love.” Professor Michael McClain will direct both. “Orestes 2.0” is drawn from Euripides, Vogue magazine, the Menendez brothers and based loosely on the myth of a man who kills his mother to avenge the death of his father. “True Love,” in contrast, is a reexamination of love and sex in all their complexities. They will run from Nov. 12-22.

Slated for January are two more plays by Mee, performed in repertory, “Summertime” and “Wintertime.” Shapiro will direct these. Running from Jan. 21-February 7, “Summertime” is about a group of sexual deviants, while “Wintertime” examines broken relationships.

In March, Genet’s acclaimed “The Balcony,” juxtaposing revolution and prostitution, will be staged in the Little Theater on campus, between March 5-13. And the final quarter of the school year will bring the annual Ray Bolger Musical Theater Production (June 4-12) along with the Bard’s “Twelfth Night,” which concerns Countess Olivia and her romantic misadventures. A student, Aaron Feinstein, will direct it.

The Bolger production is of note, as it teaches the students the triple play: acting, singing and dancing. The program itself was launched with a generous $2.5 million dollar grant from the Gwen and Ray Bolger Trust. Based on the quality work the department did with “Hair” last year, the Scarecrow would be proud.

And, in addition to their play series, the Department will host two complementary events, the Francis Ford Coppola One-Act Marathon (Dec. 4 – Dec. 6) and “New Play Festival” (May 12 – June 11). For ticket information about any of these events, call the UCLA Central Ticket Office at (310) 825-2101.

The blunt truth is that real artistic excitement is not to be found in the bright lights of Broadway (or even the Pantages), but instead in the hallowed halls of this Westwood campus. UCLA represents a life raft for theatergoers drowning in a sea of revivals and mediocrity. Adventurous souls can take heart.

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Keywords

"francis ford coppola" "mel shapiro" 

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