Alumni Updates 1970-1979

Jill Kyle-Keith (BA 1979) is a professional puppeteer who was inspired by her puppetry teacher at the University of Maryland. [04/00]

Lawrence Redmond (BA 1979) has been active in Washington Theatre since returning from NYC in 1982. He is an eight-time nominee and two-time recipient of the Helen Hayes Award, and multiple recipient of the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities Artist Fellowship Grant. Recent work includes the role of Jerry Springer in Jerry Springer: The Opera at Studio Theatre 2ndStage, Montague in Romeo and Juliet at Shakespeare Theatre Company, Antigonus/Time in The Winter's Tale at Folger Theatre and the Interrogator in Rock 'n' Roll at The Studio Theatre. [10/08]

Daniel MacLean Wagner (BA 1979, MA 1982) is Chair and Professor at the Department of Theatre at the University of Maryland as well as Acting Chair of the Department of Dance. Dan has a very active career in the Washington area as a lighting designer and is a 8 time recipient of the Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Lighting Design. [09/07]

Rick Adamson (Inguanti) (BA 1979) After doing some theatre for several years, Rick has focused his efforts on voiceovers, audiobook narration and educational and corporate communications as a spokesman and actor. He's married with three boys and lives in northern NJ. Click him on the web at www.RickAdamson.com [11/07]

Gail Berman (BA 1978) Was appointed President of Paramount Pictures in March 2005. Previously, she was etertainment President of Fox Broadcasting Co. (since May 2000). She was listed on the One Hundred Notable Alumni list for the University in 1999. She is the former President of Regency Television, the studio that created Malcolm in the Middle. She is married to fellow alum William (Bill) Masters, a TV writer and producer.[07/05]

Lynne Wintersteller- McGrath (BA 1978) played Mrs. Muir in the musical production of Ghost and Mrs. Muir in LA at the NoHo Cultural Arts Center in North Hollywood.   She also participated in a reading of Rasputin: The Musical at the John Houseman Theatre. [02/06]

Saundra (Daniel) Cuyler (MA 1978) is training an acting troups for the drama ministry in her church and enjoying retirement. [05/00]

Bruce Kluger (BA 1978) is a writer, columnist and commentator whose work appears regularly in newspapers and magazines across the country, as well as on the internet, and on TV and radio stations nationwide. Currently a member of the Board of Contributors for USA Today, Bruce is also a featured columnist for Parenting magazine and a regular contributor to National Public Radio’s All Things Considered, Psychology Today and The Los Angeles Times. Formerly an editor of Playboy magazine and a columnist for Us Weekly, Bruce has written for The New York Times, The New York Post, The New York Daily News, Newsweek, Arrive, Time.com, Salon.com, Alternet.org and the Sesame Street Workshop. He co-edited the books The Right Words at the Right Time, The Right Words at the Right Time, Vol. 2 and Thanks & Giving: All Year Long, all by Marlo Thomas. As an actor, Bruce appeared in the movies The Chosen, The Burning and Playing For Keeps, and on the TV show Diff’rent Strokes. Television enthusiasts might also remember Bruce from his three-year assignment as an on-air correspondent for the E! Channel’s The Gossip Show.[ 10/05]

Joel Snyder (MA 1978) is a specialist for arts presenting organizations at the National Endowment for the Arts. He is an internationally recognized "audio describer" and trainer of describers to aid people who are blind or have low vision. In addition, his acting credits include regional theatre, dinner theatre, children’s theatre, as well as film work.[04/00]

R. Patrick Williams (MA 1978) works in the office of Media Relations and Marketing at Utah State University where he is the senior writer and President’s speech and commentary writer. [05/00]

William Lucas Walker (BA 1978, BS Journalism) worked at U.S. News and World Report before founding Dragonfly Theatre Company in New York City, where he collaborated with Pulizer-Prize winning playwright Lanford Wilson to produce a collection of one-acts. He moved to LA in 1991 and was selected for the Warner Bros. Writers Workshop. He has since written for the sitcoms Roseanne, Frasier (Emmy Award) Cybill and Will and Grace. He created the critically acclaimed Showtime series The Chris Isaak Show. Heis currently at work on a novel and a screenplay. [09/07]

Richard Atkins (BA 1977) is currently working on his new play The Men of Mahjong with playwright/dramaturg Mark Medoff who will direct the piece in Palm Springs in April of 2006. Bob Newhart and George Segal are looking at the script for the two leads. Before that, he worked in NYC as a top hotel pianist as well as playing for such clients as the New York Yankees, Edgar Bronfman at Seagrams, the Broadcaster’s Foundation and Howard Stern’s daughter’s bat mitzvah party. He has also worked as an actor in many regional and Off-Broadway productions. After 9/11, he moved his wife Cheryl and 12 year old daughter Rebecca to New Mexico where he is working with Governor Bill Richardson to build a 13 million dollar cultural arts center between Santa Fe and Albuquerque.

John Combs (BA 1977) spent over 20 years in NYC studying and applying his acting craft. He now lives in Los Angeles and is a member of the classical acting company, The Antaeus Company, as well as the ground-breaking Circle-X theatre company. He has appeared in many plays in LA as well as co-starring on TV shows such as Judging Amy, Crossing Jordan, The District, Dragnet, Family Law, and Law and Order, among others.  He is a very active member of the theatre community in Los Angeles and enjoys the challenges of bringing live theatre to the community. [12/06]

Nancy L. Sawyer (BA 1977) is currently working with a small startup business company testing software. She worked at the Public Theatre in New York from graduation through 1980. [05/00]

Bradford Watkins (BA 1977) is a freelance consultant in theatrical marketing and public relations for a national touring company, a freelance director, and a judge for the Helen Hayes Awards. [05/00]

Sal Ritz (BA 1977) toured the country as an actor/lecturer for Rick Trow Productions, Philadelphia, after graduating and then attended the John Davidson Singer's Summer Workshop, Catalina Island, CA in 1979. He served as Advisor and Director of the Voorhees High School Theatre from 1987-2003 and 2003-2005 he assisted in the creation of the Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Performing Arts in Bethlehem, PA, serving as it's first Artistic Director of Theatre and Production. As of Sept. 2005, he has been the Producing Director for the Saucon Valley School District Fine Arts. Sal operates his own theatrical production company and also works as a casual laborer for IATSE Local #200 Bethlehem, PA. In his career, Sal has directed and designed over 60 plays and musicals. [09/08]

William (Bill) Masters (BA 1976) After graduating, Masters got some small acting jobs in the area and put together a stand up comedy routine. In 1980, after performing regularly at Washington clubs such as Garvin's and the Cellar Door, he moved to New York and married Gail Berman (BA 1978), who had become a theater producer. He has produced episodes of "Murphy Brown," and "It's Like, You Know...," with fellow Maryland grad, golfing partner and personal friend, Peter Mehlman ('77 BA History). [02/01]

Thomas Donahue (MA 1976) received a PhD in Public Communications from the University of Maryland in 1990, and is now the Chair of the Drama Department at the Catholic University of America. [02/03]

Stephen Judge (BA 1976) Graduate of Boston College Law School in 1982. Currently the Associate Attorney General for the State of New Hampshire. Also a trial lawyer.[02/03]

Kevin Murray (BA 1975) is currently Managing Director and Casting Director for Theatre of the First Amendment (TFA) of the George Mason University for the Arts. He served as TFA's Company Manager from 1991-98 and adjunct faculty at GMU. He spent 25 years as a freelance actor in film, TV, and on stage and was co-founder of DC's Smallbeer Theatre Co. Mr. Murray is married to Mary Lechter (BA 1985). [04/01]

Deborah R. Lapidus (BA in English, 1974) has been teaching at Juilliard in the Drama Division the past twelve years and at NYU for nineteen. In the near future she will be directing "Camelot" at the Berkshire Theatre Festival. Most recently, she was Musical Supervisor for La Ronde (Williamstown Theatre Festival) and Waiting for Lefty (Blue Light), both directed by Joanne Woodward. [04/00]

Ilene Marks-Savage (BA 1974) works as a performing arts teacher at a school for special needs students in Annapolis, Maryland. She also directed the first musical comedy at the Harbour School, Annie . Prior to her teaching career, she was a professional makeup artist for nine years. [02/06]

Mary Wise (BA 1974) attended the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Clown College in 1975, and worked as a circus clown and juggler for the next three years. Since then, she developed her career in technical communication. She now directs the design and development of all product documentation and online help for Manugistics, a supply chain management software company. She is active in the international Society for Technical Communication, where she served on the Board of Directors and as President. She is a frequent conference keynote speaker and presenter on technical communication topics. [11/01]

Elizabeth Loftus Singer (BA in Theatre, BS in Journalism, 1974-9) is a Psychotherapist in private practice. [05/00]

Katie Helene (BA English/Theatre, 1973) works in the Special Programs office of the Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland. [05/00]

Eugene Kallman (1972) (who was in Man and the Masses, Camino Real, Hairy Apeand other University Theatre productions) and Jack Kyrieleison(also class of '72)Man of La Mancha, Henry IVetc.) have teamed up. Jack has written a musical, Reunion,directed by Ron Holgate, which Eugene produced in New York off-Broadway to rave reviews. Now the two of them are bringing it to Ford's Theatre for a long run from March through June. This play-within-a-play weaves the actual works of key Civil War figures and period music into a patriotic celebration of struggle, inspiration, and freedom. Reunion depicts a vaudeville troupe of six actors led by Harry Hawk - the actor who was on stage at the time Lincoln was shot. Jack conceived Reunion in 1992 and spent the next three years researching the events and music of the Civil War period. Eugene lives in Santa Monica and writes screen plays. The two of them are planning a project for A&E Television. [04/00]

Jack Kyrieleison (1972)Wrote the book to Reunion - directed by Ron Holgate and produced at Ford’s Theatre. Previously played in NY. A play within a play--which weaves the actual works of key civil war figures and period music into a musical epic in miniature. [02/03]

Rosemary Pardee Slocum (BA 1972) is currently designing costumes for Arena Stage and the Kennedy Center, and has been a 7 time nominee and recipient of the Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Costume Design, as well as resident designer at The Round House Theatre, Interact Theatre Company, the Everyman Theatre, and Gallaudet University Department of Theatre. [02/03]

Dr. Carole W. Singleton (MA 1971, Ph.D. 1975) is Professor of Theatre at Howard University, Director of College Productions, Chair of the Committee on Research for the National Association of Schools of Theatre, and Coordinator of Theatre Education at Howard University.[04/00]

Tom Garey (BA 1971) received his MA from the University of California, Santa Barbara.   He is the Academic Chair of the Theatre Department and Director of Design and Technology at Santa Barbara City College where he has taught for the past thirty years. [02/06]

Michele Ehrgott Kyrieleison (BA 1971) makes her professional career as a wig artist. [02/03]

Nancy Lee Torchia (BA 1970) performs North Indian classical music at colleges and other venue throughout the U.S. and in India and Europe. [05/00]

Judith Freeman Garey (BS Speech & Drama Education 1970) completed her MA at the University of Illinois and a Ph.D. in Education at the University of California, Santa Barbara.   She is a Fellow of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching in Higher Education and currently teaches and directs at Ventura College, Ventura, CA.   [02/06]

Glorie Magram (BA in Secondary Education, 1970) handles employee training and development for the federal government.[06/00]

Arthur Runyan (BA 1970) went on to receive M.Div. (Master of Divinity) from Lancaster Theological Seminary in 1983. Pastored Metropolitan Community Churches in Lancaster, PA, Richmond, VA and Piscataway, NJ for a total of 20 years. Currently retired from parish ministry, is now working a part-time itinerant evangelist while holding down a day job as a system analyst for
Johnson & Johnson. He and his partner, Mike and their three cats live in central New Jersey. [10/03]