Our Proximity Advantage: Students Perform in the Big Apple
College Theater presents Museum at the Chelsea Art Museum in New York City
By Danielle Ward ’08Members of College Theater were able to take advantage of Lafayette’s close proximity to New York City by presenting a special production of Museum at the Chelsea Art Museum in April.
Museum, a comedy by Tina Howe, was College Theater’s spring production in 2007. Both the campus and New York productions were directed by Michael O’Neill, associate professor of English and director of theater.
For a number of weeks in March and early April, Lafayette students, faculty, and alumni traveled to the city to rehearse alongside professional actors.
“I was able to attend my classes and then hop in a van that took me directly into the city,” English major AJ Ernst ’09 (Lawrenceville, N.J.) says. “The commute is short and it was awesome to be able to have dinner in New York, have rehearsal, and then get back in time to do some work and go to bed.”
Ernst believes the New York City rehearsals were like nothing he had ever experienced in Lafayette College Theater. “This show took a college level activity and made it into a professional production,” he says. “The whole experience of traveling into the city and rehearsing in a professional space lifted my whole attitude toward theater.”
Rachel Ports ’10 (Baltimore, Md.), an international affairs major, agrees that the performance experience was exhilarating. “Just the task of performing in a play in New York City was stimulating, but having the opportunity to work in such a professional setting outside of Lafayette was a lot of fun and opened my eyes to what ‘real’ theater is like,” she says.
As a senior looking for a job in theater, Kelly Hess ’08 (Prospect Park, N.J.), who worked as stage manager for both productions, believes this experience will be a highlight on her resume. “Working on Museum was an invaluable experience, giving me a chance to work in the type of fast-paced, high-octane off-Broadway world that I hope to work for in the future,” she says. “I do not think it would be possible to have that type of experience if we were not so close to New York City.”
Other students, faculty, and alumni in the cast include: Daniel Massa ’08 (Carlisle, Pa.), biochemistry; Christopher Jupitz ’08 (Grasonville, Md.), English/economics & business; Keara McCarthy ’10 (Montclair, N.J.), English; Jacqueline Macri ’09 (Malvern, Pa.), psychology; Charles Felix ’08 (Brooklyn, N.Y.), engineering studies/English; Christopher Duru ’10 (New York, N.Y.), history/English; Allison Quensen Blatt, director of operations for the Williams Center; Mary-Jo Lodge, assistant professor of English; Terrence Monte ’03; Rose Pilato ’02; and Kiira Benzing ’07.
