Setting the Stage for Collaboration
January 2006
Plans for new and renovated facilities for the School of Theatre and Dance are moving forward as the result of a $6.5 million pledge of capital support – the largest in Kent State history – from The Roe Green Foundation. The estimated $12 million, 70,000-square-foot project will unite theatre and dance under one roof for the first time since the two programs merged in 1994.
Groundbreaking for an addition to the Music and Speech Building is envisioned for summer 2008, along with major renovation of existing space. The construction, funded partially through state allocations, should be done in time for Kent State University's Centennial celebration in 2010.
"More than 300 students are involved in the theatre and dance programs and I feel they deserve to have a wonderful building to work in,” says alumna Roe Green, of Aurora, Ohio, who earned a master’s degree in theatre from Kent State in 1980. “Kent State will have all the performing arts under one roof, which to me is so important."
"There is a natural dialogue between the disciplines. In theatre we are storytelling; in dance, the body is telling the story," says John R. Crawford, director of the School of Theatre and Dance for the past 10 years. Dance programs currently operate from the gym annex, an inefficient arrangement that discourages intense collaboration. Enrollment in theatre and dance has doubled since 1998.
Green believes every student should take at least one drama course while in college, even if they don’t plan on making a career onstage. "Anybody can pick up a book," she says, but theatre gives students human connections that develop poise, public speaking skills and a fertile imagination. "Theatre people are very imaginative. They can make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. You don't get that when you're sitting at a computer."
Plans for the performing arts center call for a four-floor addition on the northwest side of the building (where two existing wings meet). Crawford and Green envision a new entrance complete with an atrium, lobby, box office, outdoor patio and café area. The top floor will feature four dance studios and a specialized room for Pilates and therapeutic movement.
The centerpiece of the new facility will be a "black box" theatre, a highly versatile space for more experimental productions. One immediate benefit will be having more flexibility to encourage theatre and dance students to explore and present their own work. "Right now, we don't have a place for that to happen," Crawford says.
Preliminary renovation plans include classrooms that will accommodate both lecture and lab activities, rooms for individual practice and coaching and a technical theatre lab to support the school’s new certificate program in entertainment arts and technologies. No longer will students need to use the "trap" area beneath Stump Theatre as a rehearsal hall, and faculty members will be able to move out of spaces intended as dressing rooms and into refurbished offices.
In addition, there will be two separate labs for learning set-making skills and for constructing the actual scenery used in productions. Also, there will be space to store theatrical sets that can be recycled; currently, these materials must be discarded when a production closes.
"This is a fabulous campus. Every single thing should be up-to-the-minute," says Green, who had seen the difference that private support had made for Kent State's fashion programs and wanted theatre and dance students to have access to the same high-quality working environment.
"Roe is very student-oriented," Crawford says. "She always sees her philanthropy from the vantage point of the students and what they need to reach their goals." In 2002, she created the Roe Green Visiting Director Series, which brings well known professionals to campus each spring for a seven-week period in which they produce a play.
Last year, guest director Sue Ott Rowlands did an award-winning production based on interviews with Laramie, Wyoming, residents and their reactions to the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard, a gay college student. "It was a wonderful experience to watch Sue in rehearsal with the students. She had them in the palm of her hand. Afterward, a student came up to me and said, 'Thank you so much for giving me a life-altering experience.' For me, that's what giving is all about," Green says.
"I have a philosophy in life," Green says. "If I have five oranges, I will give three of them away. One of them I'll eat, one I will save, and those other three – give them away."
She and Crawford met several years ago when Green began serving on the school's advisory board and later for the Porthouse Theatre. Green, who describes herself as a "backstage person" rather than an actress, has professional experience in stage and business management at Cain Park in Cleveland Heights, Cleveland Opera and the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park. She also was a competitive ballroom dancer for 12 years.
Green has served as a board member of the Cleveland Play House and as the president of C.A.V.O.R.T. Inc. (Conference About Volunteers of Regional Theatres). She is on the women's committees for the Cleveland Playhouse and Aurora Blossom Music Center. She has provided significant support to theatre programs at the University of Colorado, where she received her undergraduate degree, and in Jupiter, Florida, where she has a winter home. In addition, she is an active volunteer and donor to WomenSpace, which currently is constructing the Green House, a shelter in Chardon, Ohio, for victims of domestic violence.
Green is an insatiable theatergoer. It's not uncommon for her to see two shows a day. World travel also is a lifelong avocation for Green, who has visited more than 140 countries and says she has found one truth that stands out: "People are very creative. This is why I love Africa and some of the third-world countries. I've watched what people can do with nothing. In Guatemala, they take old rubber tires and make sandals. You can't destroy those sandals."
"The arts are what make us human," Green says. "When there are budget cuts in our schools, art is always the first to go and it's very sad." According to two recent studies, learning through the arts, when integrated with other K-12 school reforms, helps students achieve high-level thinking, collaborate with peers and perform better on standardized tests.
"If you give people half a chance, they can be very innovative and very creative. That's why it bothers me when I think our current generation is losing this creativity. I'm saying, 'Let's keep the arts alive here at Kent State.'"
| Setting the Stage for Collaboration January 2006 Plans for new and renovated facilities for the School of Theatre and Dance are moving forward as the result of a $6.5 million pledge of capital support – the largest in Kent State history – from The Roe Green Foundation. The estimated $12 million, 70,000-square-foot project will unite theatre and dance under one roof for the first time since the two programs merged in 1994. Groundbreaking for an addition to the Music and Speech Building is envisioned for summer 2008, along with major renovation of existing space. The construction, funded partially through state allocations, should be done in time for Kent State University's Centennial celebration in 2010. "More than 300 students are involved in the theatre and dance programs and I feel they deserve to have a wonderful building to work in,” says alumna Roe Green, of Aurora, Ohio, who earned a master’s degree in theatre from Kent State in 1980. “Kent State will have all the performing arts under one roof, which to me is so important."
Green believes every student should take at least one drama course while in college, even if they don’t plan on making a career onstage. "Anybody can pick up a book," she says, but theatre gives students human connections that develop poise, public speaking skills and a fertile imagination. "Theatre people are very imaginative. They can make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. You don't get that when you're sitting at a computer." Plans for the performing arts center call for a four-floor addition on the northwest side of the building (where two existing wings meet). Crawford and Green envision a new entrance complete with an atrium, lobby, box office, outdoor patio and café area. The top floor will feature four dance studios and a specialized room for Pilates and therapeutic movement. The centerpiece of the new facility will be a "black box" theatre, a highly versatile space for more experimental productions. One immediate benefit will be having more flexibility to encourage theatre and dance students to explore and present their own work. "Right now, we don't have a place for that to happen," Crawford says. Preliminary renovation plans include classrooms that will accommodate both lecture and lab activities, rooms for individual practice and coaching and a technical theatre lab to support the school’s new certificate program in entertainment arts and technologies. No longer will students need to use the "trap" area beneath Stump Theatre as a rehearsal hall, and faculty members will be able to move out of spaces intended as dressing rooms and into refurbished offices. In addition, there will be two separate labs for learning set-making skills and for constructing the actual scenery used in productions. Also, there will be space to store theatrical sets that can be recycled; currently, these materials must be discarded when a production closes. "This is a fabulous campus. Every single thing should be up-to-the-minute," says Green, who had seen the difference that private support had made for Kent State's fashion programs and wanted theatre and dance students to have access to the same high-quality working environment. "Roe is very student-oriented," Crawford says. "She always sees her philanthropy from the vantage point of the students and what they need to reach their goals." In 2002, she created the Roe Green Visiting Director Series, which brings well known professionals to campus each spring for a seven-week period in which they produce a play. Last year, guest director Sue Ott Rowlands did an award-winning production based on interviews with Laramie, Wyoming, residents and their reactions to the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard, a gay college student. "It was a wonderful experience to watch Sue in rehearsal with the students. She had them in the palm of her hand. Afterward, a student came up to me and said, 'Thank you so much for giving me a life-altering experience.' For me, that's what giving is all about," Green says. "I have a philosophy in life," Green says. "If I have five oranges, I will give three of them away. One of them I'll eat, one I will save, and those other three – give them away." She and Crawford met several years ago when Green began serving on the school's advisory board and later for the Porthouse Theatre. Green, who describes herself as a "backstage person" rather than an actress, has professional experience in stage and business management at Cain Park in Cleveland Heights, Cleveland Opera and the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park. She also was a competitive ballroom dancer for 12 years. Green has served as a board member of the Cleveland Play House and as the president of C.A.V.O.R.T. Inc. (Conference About Volunteers of Regional Theatres). She is on the women's committees for the Cleveland Playhouse and Aurora Blossom Music Center. She has provided significant support to theatre programs at the University of Colorado, where she received her undergraduate degree, and in Jupiter, Florida, where she has a winter home. In addition, she is an active volunteer and donor to WomenSpace, which currently is constructing the Green House, a shelter in Chardon, Ohio, for victims of domestic violence. Green is an insatiable theatergoer. It's not uncommon for her to see two shows a day. World travel also is a lifelong avocation for Green, who has visited more than 140 countries and says she has found one truth that stands out: "People are very creative. This is why I love Africa and some of the third-world countries. I've watched what people can do with nothing. In Guatemala, they take old rubber tires and make sandals. You can't destroy those sandals." "The arts are what make us human," Green says. "When there are budget cuts in our schools, art is always the first to go and it's very sad." According to two recent studies, learning through the arts, when integrated with other K-12 school reforms, helps students achieve high-level thinking, collaborate with peers and perform better on standardized tests. "If you give people half a chance, they can be very innovative and very creative. That's why it bothers me when I think our current generation is losing this creativity. I'm saying, 'Let's keep the arts alive here at Kent State.'" |