Professor Gary Gardner's beloved teaching style

The Daily Bruin ran an article recently on Professor Gary Gardner:

Gardner received his master of fine arts in playwriting from UCLA in 1968, and since returning to UCLA 35 years ago he has touched the lives of thousands of Bruins with his gregarious nature and compassion while teaching and directing in the School of Theater, Film and Television.

"I run into people all the time, of all ages, who have either been in classes of or gone to school with Gary Gardner. He will never be out of my life," said Marley McClean, a third-year theater student, who met Gardner when she was considering attending UCLA. McClean was immediately taken by his friendliness and honesty.

"I try to know everybody's name in the class so that I can pick on them when they fall asleep," said Gardner.

However, Gardner's knowledge of his students is much deeper than their names. He makes an effort to get to know his students on a more personal level. He cannot sit outside of Macgowan Hall for more than five minutes without running into current or former students who happily say hello as he inquires about their lives.

…

Unlike most professors, Gardner does not hesitate to tell his students stories of the stupid mistakes he made when he was younger. This way they can learn from his mistakes, such as stubbornly thinking after he graduated that he was going to set the world on fire when ultimately, he would rather set a classroom of students afire with a passion to learn.

"He literally entertains you when he teaches," said McClean, referring to Theater 110: "The History of American Musical," which she said Gardner taught in a stream-of-consciousness style. Without a set of PowerPoint slides or notes, he spoke from memory so that students would learn without realizing that they were learning.

For many students who have taken this class, their most memorable moment was when Gardner did a striptease, taking off his tie and belt, to the song "Let Me Entertain You" from the musical "Gypsy."

Turteltaub calls this moment, "the glory that is Gary Gardner stripteasing." While the students were thoroughly entertained, they also learned the difference between vaudeville and burlesque, striptease and lap dance, in order to better understand the musical.

"I want people to take theater very seriously, but you have to have fun doing it," said Gardner.

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