Marissa Savaris currently attends Fordham
University Law School in New York.
1. Majors: Dramatic Art & English.
2. Did you have any internships during or after
college? “No, during college I did not have the
chance to intern or work anywhere. I was President of Studio 301
Productions my senior year and a member of Tri Delta, so between
those commitments and classes I had barely any extra time.”
3. Did you travel during or after
college? “I studied abroad in Oxford, England the
summer before my Senior Year. It was the Oxford: Portal to
Fantasy program through the English Department with Amy Clarke.
We studied children’s and young adult fantasy literature that had
roots in Oxford, ranging from Harry Potter and Alice in
Wonderland to Howl’s Moving Castle. At the risk of sounding
cheesy, it was the most magical experience.”
4. Did you have any internships/apprenticeships/jobs
after you graduated from UCD? “Yes, immediately
after graduating, I moved to the east coast to work as a Company
Management Intern at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in the
Berkshires. Once the summer was over, I moved to New York to be
the Company Management Intern at Manhattan Theatre Club. MTC
produces Broadway productions at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre
on 47th Street and Off-Broadway productions at City Center on
55th Street. It is one of only four non-profit organizations in
NYC with a resident home on Broadway. I had the opportunity to
work on some incredible productions, including
Constellations with Jake Gyllenhaal and Ruth Wilson. I
worked briefly at MTC as the General Management Assistant, and
then moved to the American Associates of the National Theatre as
the Development & Special Events Assistant. The AANT is a
501(c)(3) non-profit organization that supports the work of the
National Theatre in London and any productions that transfer to
New York, such as War Horse, The Curious Incident of
the Dog in the Night-Time, and Angels in America.”
6. Hometown? Where are you located now?
“Oak Park, California. “I currently reside in New York,
where I just finished my first year of law school at Fordham
University School of Law. I hope to pursue a career in
entertainment law.”
What was your major(s)? “Double majored in
English/Theatre and Dance.”
Did you do any research/projects in your time as a
Theatre major? “I wrote a one-act play for the Dead Arts
Society student theatre club with Professor Rossini advising. I
was assistant director ’Do Not Obey’ for Margaret
Laurena Kemp and Lisa Quoresimo. I performed in 6 department
shows, including ‘Mr. Burns: A Post Electric Play’ and ‘Romeo and
Juliet.’”
Did you have any internships or other jobs during
college? “I had an internship through the English
department as they developed ‘Play the Knave,’ an interactive
Shakespeare-performance game.”
Did you travel while you were a student or after you
graduated? “I studied abroad in London for
two weeks over winter break.”
Have you had any internships/apprenticeships/other jobs
after graduating? “Since leaving UC Davis, I worked as
an apprentice at Capital Stage in Sacramento for a year. I now
work for a solar panel company and at Big Idea Theatre in
Sacramento.”
“In my last quarter at UC Davis, I was cast at Davis Shakespeare
Ensemble for their summer repertory. I have worked consistently
with them, and this will be my third season when I return in the
fall. During the run of those, my first season I was accepted
into the Capital Stage Apprenticeship Program and started that at
the end of August 2016.”
Where is your hometown, and where are you located
now? “I grew up in Santa Cruz, CA and now
live in Sacramento.”
Advice? “Work hard, play fair, and try to keep a
sense of humor about yourself. It’s a tough business but if you
want it, you’ll make it happen somehow.”
Jacqueline Goldfinger, 2017 Yale Drama Series
Prize and Barrymore Award-winning playwright, will be
the fall 2020 Granada Artist-in-Residence for the Department
of Theatre and Dance.
Alumnus Ryan Gerberding, B.A. 2018, makes his in Big Idea Theatre debut in
the upcoming production of Small Mouth Sounds, running
March 6 through April 4. The play centers around six
runaways from city life embarking on a silent retreat.
Toby Sedgwick trained at the Jacques Lecoq
School in Paris, where he founded The Moving Picture Mime Show,
which established itself as one of the innovators of “physical
theatre” throughout the world. He was part of Danny Boyle”s
creative team as director of movement and choreographer for the
Green and Pleasant Land and Industrial Revolution sequences of
the London 2012 Olympics Opening Ceremony.
David Grenke, Department of Theatre and Dance chair, recently
participated in a seminar at New York’s Lincoln Center
celebrating dance pioneer Paul Taylor, who passed away in 2018.
Professor Mindy Cooper, theatre and dance, is profiled in the
fall 2019 edition of SDC Journal, a quarterly
publication of the Stage Directors
and Choreographers Society.
22-year-old Matt Gumley is a musician, writer, actor, and
Broadway veteran. He first found his way into New York City’s
theater scene when he played Chip in “Disney’s Beauty and the
Beast “on Broadway at the age of seven, and now he is here with
us at Davis as an instrumental part of the hit new punk rock
musical, “Fat Kid Rules the World.”
Professor John Iacovelli shares his photographs of his set models
for the South Coast Repertory Theatre’s production of “Sweeney
Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.” The production runs in
Costa Mesa Jna. 19 through Feb. 16.
John Iacovelli, professor of theatre and dance at UC Davis,
and alum Kent Nicholson are collaborating on the South Coast
Repertory Theatre’s upcoming production of Stephen Sondheim and
Hugh Wheeler’s award-winning musical “Sweeney Todd, The
Demon Barber of Fleet Street.” Iacovelli is scenic
designer and Nicholson is the dark musical’s director.
These are the songs from the score of “Flora the Red
Menace” that will be used in the auditions. Please click the link
for a specific character’s material.
These are the scenes from the script of “Flora the Red Menace”
that will be used in the auditions. Please click the link for a
specific character’s material. Characters may have more than one
scene, so please read all of their scenes.
UC Davis alumni are working alongside each other in a bilingual
production of Dr. Seuss’s beloved classic “A Cat in the Hat/El
Gato Ensombrerado” at the Bay Area Children’s Theatre in
Berkeley.
Maria Castro serves as the show’s production manager, while
Jennifer Vega plays the role of The Fish/El Pez. Alumna and
lecturer Michele Apriña Leavy is the production’s Movement
Director (Directora de Movimiento).
UC Davis students and alumni are working alongside each other at
this summer’s Davis Shakespeare Festival.
Charlie Lavaroni, student in the Department of Theatre and Dance,
is appearing in various roles in the musical comedy “On the
20th Century” which is directed by the festival’s
co-artistic director Gia Battista, a Theatre and Dance alumna.
Broadway veteran Mindy Cooper, professor of theatre, has directed
the popular 1930s musical comedy “Me and My Girl” for San
Francisco’s 42nd Street
Moon Theatre. The production runs through May 20 at the
Gateway Theatre.
Theatre alumna Melissa Cunha, class 2017, has joined the newly
created Bike City Theatre
Company in Davis. She serves as Company Manager and will be
stage manager for their inaugural production, “Gutenberg, the
Musical.”
Department of Theatre and Dance alumna Ari Laura Kreith, MFA 1995,
has been named as artistic director of New Jersey’s Luna Stage.
As a director and artistic director, Ari Laura Kreith will join
Luna Stage with an extensive resume of creating new work
through community engagement. Her work as Artistic Director in
theaters who work with original plays will continue Luna’s
tradition of developing vital new works for the stage.
Here are publicity photographs and set model for the
upcoming production of Vanya and Sonia and Masha and
Spike. The Tony Award-winning comedy plays the Main
Theatre, Wright Hall, Feb. 23-25 and Mar. 2-4, Thursday
through Saturday at 7 p.m. with 2 p.m. matinees on Feb. 25 and
Mar. 4.
Publicity photos by Huan Yu, copyright UC Davis, Set model
photo by John Iacovelli, copyright UC Davis
What are you doing these days? We want to hear about your life
since you graduated. Are you working, attending grad school,
or performing somewhere? Please fill out this form to tell
us about your work, accomplishments, awards or future plans.
To Mondavi Center: From I-80 take the UC
Davis/Mondavi Center exit and follow signs.
To Wyatt Pavilion and Nelson Hall Studio:
Proceed as above, continuing on Old Davis Road past the Mondavi
Center to Visitor Parking Lot 5.
To Main Theatre, Arena Theatre, and Laboratory Theatre
A: These three theatres are located in Wright
Hall, a short walk through the Arboretum from Visitor
Parking Lot 5.
