ULV Department of Theatre Arts Alumni News

"My experiences at ULV were unforgettable, both personally and professionally, and I thank everyone who helped me and inspired me to pursue my dream." - Dennis Keeley (1992), member Actor's Equity

Alumni email contact sheet and Alumni family news

News as of April 2002

James D. Tittle (1995) and Kimberly Tittle (Tanaka) (1994) for the past two years have been working a 22-minute short movie entitled Café Tango through thier production comany Elyod Productions, in association with Otero Dance Company. "The story is accomplished without the use of dialogue. This emphasizes that the dance, along with the music, serves as the driving force of the piece. A Tango coudle retreat to a café after a show, driven by their Limo Driver (Gaston Cena). He longs for a different life; something he feels is far beyond his reach. The passion of the Tango sparks a burning desire in a Pretty Woman, who dares to use the dance to seduce the man of her desires. This drives the Tango Woman (Gloria Otero) to intervene, as she is not going to let her partner get away from her that easily. The Tango seems to have other plans in store for them and for the Café patrons as well." Café Tango is directed by James D. Tittle and written by Kimberly Tittle. Café Tango shows a press screening on Saturday May 11th, 2002 at the LA Film School and will have a premiere on Monday May 13, 2002 at Café Sevilla in Riverside.

Jim had previously been working as a digital special effects coordinator for Centropolis Effects, a company doing effects for television and motion pictures. He worked on productions such as: ID4, Flubber, Contact, Conspiracy Theory, Godzilla, The Faculty, Thirteenth Floor, Stuart Little and End of Days. Recently Jim has taken a new position as a Digital Special Effects Producer at a company called VisionArt.

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Scot McElvany (1995) after graduation joined the Bretheren Volunteer Service and was assigned to Bosnia. It was there that he met his wife, Niele. She was there doing her year of service before beginning her University program in Berlin. The two fo them have formed a company called Community Arts Berlin, which sponsors seminars throughout the Balkans to work on issues of justice and identity. They work in cooperation with Schuler Helfen Leben, a German student organization.

at left: Sonja Kuftinec, Scot McElvany (1995), Niele Julius McElvany

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Gregory James (1989), recently promoted to deputy probation officer with Los Angeles County, was awarded the LA County TOP TEN Award for the 2001 juvenile prevention program that has impacted over 10,000 youth. His performance group, the Honors Drama Ensemble, is a theatre program that uses minors who are wards of the court to educate students in the school and community to abstain from lifestyles of delinquency. Gregory originated this work with the Camp Afflerbaugh Honors Drama Ensemble which invloved bringing ULV students and Afflerbaugh students together to share original work, Shakespearean scenes, and other theatre and performance events. Gregroy has also received the Los Angeles County Employee of the Month award in 1998.

left: 1998, Gregory James accepts Los Angeles County Employee of the Month award from Yvonne Braithwaite Burke, L. A. County Board Chair

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Nathan Hamilton (1995), has been building clients for Theatmosphere, his independent design trademark.. "My big project this year was doing the set for the Loving Lucy Convention at the Burbank Hilton... you may have seen news coverage." Pictures here.

His most recent project was a Halloween gig he does every year called the Hallowed Haunting Grounds. It's a wonderful 'haunted cemetary' of some noteriety in the Studio City area. The guy who started it has been working it since 1973, and the event is known throughout the haunt industry. Among the varied press attention, last year the Odyssey Channel did a documentary on the event, and this year we are featured in Haunted Attraction Magazine's new CD ROM release, "Gary (the owner) gets most of the press, as it is his 'baby', but I have become one of the main 5... the web site soon to reflect that. :o) Along with that, I got to star for a few nights in the Hanging show at Knott's Scary Farm as the Crypt Keeper (filling in for one of my good puppeteer friends who needed some time off).

"As a side note, I'm also helping renovate a friend's house that he just acquired... building secret panels, switches, and all sorts of fun novelties, in addition to molding work and painting faux finishes on the walls."

Since June of 2000 he has been programming protoype toys for Tiger and Hasbro as a Digital Puppeteer. "I actually work for Sid and Marty Krofft (you know, Sigmund and the Sea Monsters, HR PufNStuf, Land of the Lost, etc)." The work involves puppeteering with computers; afterwards the microchips for the toys are burned with the computer data. The projects he's worked on include: Baby Furby, E.T., I-Cybie (cyber-dog planned to rival Sony's Aibo), and a little critter named Shelby (Furby's friend). He is also teaching dance to 3 show choirs in Glendora (1 middle school and 2 high school) "My girlfriend, Sheryl, is the choreographer, and I'm more the dance director...I clean them and help with technique."

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Lisa Reneé (1999) Was touring England, Scotland and Wales, in Death of a Salesman with the Compass Theatre Company through the fall of 2001. She is living in London and working on her company, Vista Films Ltd. Vista's debut film, Suite for Three Oranges, premiered at the Headrush Film Festival in London, UK. She also played a lead role in a Canadian film: Blue and Black, and has worked on the Raindance Film Festival.

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Kim Towley (1993) has returned to the Boston area and is taking acting for the camera classes at Harvard. She has her MFA equivalent from her studies at the Guildford School of Acting in England.

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Stacey Cobalt (1997) "I'm taking an improv acting class to sharpen my skills. I can't believe how much creative atrophy I've incurred after my year long hibernation. This class is good. It's sponsored by The Next Stage theatre group. I'm sending away for a book on grants. My next plan (now that I'm meeting theatre folk) is to try to secure some funding and get some original work done. I really miss the performance work I was doing at Highways in Santa Monica. I want more of that. So, I'll make it for myself. I have half a million ideas. I'll pick one, draw up a proposal and see if I can get funding."

Stacey has worked as a location assistant on commercials and several films, including The Princess Diaries staring Julie Andrews "I was responsible for prepping a neighborhood in the Excelsior District. I talked to neighbors, got contracts signed, paid outstretched hands, etc. It was a good experience, but not much different than commercials. I was looking forward to seeing more than 5 lines of dialogue exchanged in one scene. No such luck. It was lighting adjustments for a million years and then a scene with 2 lines was shot seven times."

Stacey has also been paying the bills working for I.A.T.S.E. Local 16 as a stage hand, due in large part to her active involvement in backstage work at ULV even when she was knee deep in heavy roles such as Medea (1995). "I even focused lights for a Bill Clinton event. He wasn't there at the time, but the place was crawling with Secret Service and I checked out Bill's bullet proof podium), I am grateful to finally have a job that put my college degree to use. You can actually get a decent job using your theatre degree!"

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Alice Gasparian (1993) was last seen performing in Pasadena and later in Venice at the Electric Lodge in SAUL AND DAVID: A BIBLICAL MASQUE in May/June 2001.

Since graduation, she designed the costumes for Georgij Paro’s Pains of Youth at ULV Theatre in May of 1998, and has been performing local theate in LA. She has played Olivia in Twelfth Night at ACTG in Alhambra and as Constanze Weber in Amadeus at Inland Valley Repertory Theatre and has studied with Charles Conrad Studios. Since 1995 she has been working as a dresser at Universal Studios Hollywood Theme Park on their Waterworld and Flintstones shows; as of January 2002 she has been promoted to Wigs Supervisor for the entire them park.

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Melle Richardson (1991) Has been spotted rubbing elbows with Kevin Spacey.

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News as of January 2001

Dennis Keeley (1992) recently completed work on another independent film called Searching for the Light in the role of Mike. He has appeared on two episodes of NBC's Third Watch, both of which will be airing in the 2000-2001 season. He has also made appearances on All My Children, Spin City, and Law and Order - Special Victims Unit. About a year and a half ago he received his first part in an independent film playing Bill in The Push. "Although I don't know how popular the film got anywhere other than New York (showing at Lincoln Center), it was quite a thrill to see myself on the big screen as I always dreamed." Dennis is scheduled to start work on his next film in January, "And if you don't sneeze, you might be able to catch me sharing about 3 seconds of screen time with Richard Gere in Autumn in New York." About 2 years ago, after playing the part of Joe in Dotted Line, his last Off-Broadway play so far, Dennis received his Actor's Equity Card. He has also been doing sketch comedy and improvisation with groups throughout NYC theatres,comedy clubs and local television. "Film and TV as well as writing have taken up much of my time since then."

"My experiences at ULV were unforgettable both personally and professionally and I thank everyone who helped me and inspired me to pursue my dream. It has paid off. David and Jane, you are incredible people and wonderful teachers. Whatever I didn't understand then, I certainly understand now...and you were right! Everything I learned from you has been valuable and applies to every piece of work I do as an actor. Steve Kent, I probably wouldn't be in New York if it wasn't for your inspiration. Working with you in White People was a life-changing experience. Who knows where I would've gone after graduation if I didn't get the chance to experience your wisdom and charm?"

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Sean Dillon (1987) finished his MFA in Directing at Purdue University in Indiana, and worked for several years as a film publicist for Universal Film as well as directing independent projects that he is developing (see photos below). He directed Tom Griffin's EINSTEIN AND THE POLAR BEAR which opened in April 2001. Prior to his degree at Purdue, he worked with Barry Morrow Productions on the TV movies "Darrow" and "Christmas on Division Street" as well as teaching theatre history and screenwriting for several years at ULV.

				Gerritt VanderMeer stars in Dramatis Personae, "A one-man show that I wrote and directed with Curtis Krick. It's styles include Greek tragedy, Jacobean revenge play, commedia dell'arte, 19th century Russian, and contemporary American. Gerritt plays seven characters in one hour, and shifts scenery and operates all of his own sound and light cues, too!"
			A moment from I Had to Break My Neck to Get Here starring Nancy Becker Kennedy, an actress, activist and comic. Adapted for the stage from Nancy's diaries, the one-woman show is told with humor, but deals with everything from self-image issues to quadriplegia and battling breast cancer.
		A moment from Keely and Du by Jane Martin. Starring Cheri Johnson and Kristine Holtvedt, this is a tense play about human issues set against the abortion controversy.

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Wayne Trimmer (1976) sends greetings from "a small town between Lansing and Flint, MI" and memories of the early days of the Dailey Theatre: "Just read your note on updates to the facility; I'm unfamiliar with your usage of the word 'equipment.' Is that refering to a device that is more complicated than handsaws and Yankee screwdrivers? That's all we were allowed in the olden days. All of the money was spent on the building and when I arrived (hired by Linda De Vries in '72) and the new director Jack Woodruff came in from Minnesota, we had to build our lighting system with stovepipe, ceramic fixtures and a couple of miles of heavy cable hooked up to six heavy duty rheostats in the lightroom; we needed that large room if only for heat dissemination."

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Erik Johnson (1998) has been spending his time after ULV starting his own business by using his theatre craft skills building toward designing better topiary. Pacific Coast Topiary's quality hand crafted topiary can bee seen in the Southland (So Cal) at your neighborhood Armstrong Garden Centers and other fine nurseries.

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Tracy (Ruple) Governatori (1991), is currently working in Human Resources on at ULV and working toward her teaching credentials to be a kindergarten teacher. As an alumna, she performed in Woyzeck (Dec 2001), Don Juan (April 2001) and Company (Fall 1997)

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Tom (Moose) Möse (2000) recently worked on Collateral Damage, Arnold Scharzenegger's new flick, as an extra and has been heavily working the extras scene.

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More news, 2000, 1998 and before, click here

email your theatre alumni news to pietrzak@ulv.edu
or snail mail to:
Theatre Department News,1950 Third Street, La Verne, CA 91750