Campus Life

“A Chorus Line was not just another hit show. It spoke to and for a generation. For those who loved it, the theater was forever changed, and our lives forever enriched by this "singular sensation.” – An assessment of the impact Chorus Line has had on its fans from the play’s website.

The West Virginia Wesleyan College Department of Theatre and Dance will present one of its biggest undertakings in recent years with its rendition of the musical A Chorus Line. It is easy to get lost in one of the department’s spectacular productions. All one has to do is sit back, relax the mind, and be swept away by the performances of Wesleyan students. But, have you ever wondered what goes on behind the curtain to make such a production a possible?

In preparing for such a complex production, it takes over 150 man-hours per person, over 75 participants, and approximately $6,000. “Give us the lights, the space, and a good script, and we can make it happen,” remarks Bess Park-Reynolds, director of musical theatre and dance at Wesleyan. This year, Park-Reynolds, choreographer for A Chorus Line, chose the triple theatre production (singing, acting, dancing) because of the students’ talents and experiences in those areas. A professor at Wesleyan for five years, Park-Reynolds believes the students are ready for the challenge.

The decision to produce A Chorus Line did not come easily. The theatre and dance faculty met a year in advance to discuss the different works previously performed. In addition, they considered the audience and the abilities of the students. Park-Reynolds shares, “Each year, we strive to go to a higher level of excellence. We want our students to experience increasingly complex theatrical challenges. Auditions and rehearsals begin 6-7 weeks before the show opens. A Chorus Line is one of the hardest shows to produce because it requires the talents of so many performers and production support personnel.”

The overall number of participants in the production is nearly 75 students, three faculty members, and a staff technical director. The cast includes 30 actors of which 18 will perform on the line. Faculty participants include Park-Reynolds, director of musical theatre and dance, Karl Paoletti, visiting assistant professor of music, as the music director, and Greg Mach, associate professor of theatre, cast in the role of the show’s director, Zack. Additional support will be provided by the Wesleyan jazz ensemble and background singers.

Wesleyan alumnus Dan Wilson ’93 of Morgantown has built the set. The lighting will be supervised by Barbara Thompson, a professional guest designer from the Pittsburgh Ballet. Over 20 students are needed to operate the light board, sound board, build the set, and serve as stage manager, assistant stage manager, spotlight crew, costume crew, and the set change crew.

Park-Reynolds concludes, “Our hope is to attract a larger audience from the campus and the surrounding community. I think this production will open the next chapter in our department’s development. As faculty, we are exceptionally proud of our students, and we want to showcase their talents in the very best ways possible.”

A Chorus Line opened on Broadway at the Shubert Theatre in 1975 and closed there in 1990 after 6,137 performances. While all shows are a result of collaboration, A Chorus Line particularly owed its success to its true creator, Michael Bennett. While Bennett knew that it had to have commercial audience appeal, he wanted a show that spotlighted "gypsies" (a theatrical term for chorus dancers) and honored a dancer's life.

The show will begin at Wesleyan on Wednesday, April 13 and continue until Saturday, April 16 in Atkinson Auditorium. Performances from Wednesday to Friday will begin at 8 p.m. while the Saturday presentation will start at 2 p.m. Admission is $5 for adults, $3 for students and senior citizens $2 with Wesleyan ID. For more information, please contact Bess Park Reynolds at (304) 473-8446 or email park-reynolds@wvwc.edu.

Baccalaureate and Commencement Speaker Announced

West Virginia Wesleyan College is pleased to announce the guest speakers for the baccalaureate and commencement ceremonies scheduled for April 30 and May 1.

The Reverend Malcolm Larry Frazier, Co-Chairperson of the United Methodist National Campus Ministers Coordinating Committee and an advisor for the Northeastern Jurisdiction United Methodist Student Movement, will speak to the graduating class at the baccalaureate service on Saturday, April 30 at 8 p.m. in Wesley Chapel. On Sunday, May 1 at 10 a.m. trustee William O. (Bill) Goodwin will be the speaker for the Commencement ceremony in Rockefeller Center.

Reverend Frazier is a native of Montgomery County, MD. He earned his bachelor of arts degree from Windham College in Putney, VT, in 1972. He worked nearly 25 years for Hewlett-Packard Company in Maryland and Virginia. In 2000, he graduated with honors from Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C. with a master of divinity degree. That same year, he was appointed as Associate Pastor at Asbury United Methodist Church in Washington, D.C., as well as the Campus Minister at Howard University where he is currently serving full time.

The Commencement speaker, William O. (Bill) Goodwin, is a native of Fairmont and is a graduate of Duke University. He is amanaging partner for the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company in Atlanta, GA, where he manages one of the largest insurance agencies in the nation. Goodwin currently serves as a member of the Wesleyan Board of Trustees and was a co-chair of the College’s recently concluded $46.4 million capital campaign. He has provided endowment gifts that support the College’s Outdoor Recreation Program and, with other members of his family, underwrote the construction of Wesleyan’s all-weather track as a memorial to his parents, Helen McWhorter Goodwin ’35 and Olin M. Goodwin ’37.

Web Development Team Updated College Web Site

The College’s soon to be launched updated web site will be an exciting tool for the Wesleyan community. Technology and innovation have provided new methods of establishing contact and sharing information with a wide range of people. Wesleyan has attempted to remain a leader in this field, and is pushing forward with its new web site to further those efforts. However, technology does not develop itself. Under the guidance and direction of Webmaster Adam Gregory, four Wesleyan students helped build the updated web site from the bottom up. Contributing a portion of their spring break in exchange for learning valuable web site development skills and techniques used by professionals, the students also sharpened their decision-making, as well as creative and critical thinking skills.

The four students participated as members of the College’s Web Development Team. Included in the project were the following: Erica Milanese, senior computer science major from Craigsville, WV; Jason Foote, junior computer information science major from Santa Rosa, CA; Brenton Stone, junior physics and engineering major from Buckhannon, WV; and Eric Stemple, freshman from Marlinton, WV.

“There is a large amount of information that has to be converted on a web site of this magnitude,” states Gregory. “It takes a tremendous amount of effort to make a process such as this work in an efficient manner. Without the hard work and dedication of the members of the Web Development Team, this could not have been achieved as quickly and successfully. Their hard work is greatly appreciated.”

The updated web site is expected to be launched by the end of April. The College worked with James Communication to create the new template. Funding for the project was provided by alumni Greg Burnell '84 and Allyson Winters Burnell '85.

Presidential Search Committee Announced

With the recent announcement of President William R. Haden's retirement at the end of the 2005-06 academic year, the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees at West Virginia Wesleyan College approved the appointment of members of the Presidential Search Committee.
The committee includes trustee, faculty, staff, student and alumni representatives. Individual members of the committee are: Christine Rapking Cox ‘69, chair and trustee; Robert L. Allman II ‘69, trustee; D. Scott Bellamy, faculty; Kevin W. Bruny ‘84, alumnus; Gavin Donaldson, staff; Charles R. Evans ‘69, trustee; Katherine R. Glenney, faculty; Katharine B. Gregg, faculty; Stephen W. Jones, staff; Bernard F. Keating, faculty; William E. Mallory, faculty; Zachary M. Morton ‘07, student; Alfred L. Moyè ‘60, trustee; Charlotte Reese Nath ‘68, trustee; and Krista L. Newton ‘07, student. Trustee chair Joseph S. Beeson ’68 and Bishop Ernest S. Lyght, West Virginia Conference of the United Methodist Church, will serve as ex-officio members.

Work of the committee will begin on April 29 and it is anticipated a new president will be selected by May 2006.

Library Offers Alumni Special OrangeLine Connection

During your student years at Wesleyan, you heard a lot about lifelong learning, and that a goal of the College is to prepare graduates to live effectively as members of society. With the amount of information exploding at an alarming rate, we realize that there are things which we can do to help you keep up! Some of you graduated long before the days of the WWW, and many of you may remember the old card catalog in our library. The catalog has been replaced with an online catalog among other advances in technology. Even recent graduates may benefit from hearing some tips for remaining up to date with information resources. Topics to be covered in this series of articles include:

• How the Library web site is still a valuable resource for alumni
• Googling: How to do it for the best results
• Information Literacy
• News Available Online
• West Virginia Authors Highlighted on Library Webpage
• Electronic Books
• Government Information on the Web (Including Tax Forms!)
• Finding Images on the Internet

If you have other topics that you would like for us to address, please contact:

Paula L. McGrew ‘78
Reference Librarian and Assistant Professor of Library Science
Annie Merner Pfeiffer Library
59 College Avenue
Buckhannon, WV 26201
mcgrew_p@wvwc.edu
(304) 473-8461

Arts Alive! Series Concludes this Month

The month of April will conclude another exciting Arts Alive! season. The following events are scheduled:
• The Augusta Youth Ballet under the direction of Nina Scattaregia, will perform a mixed repertoire of classical and new dance works on Friday and Saturday, April 8-9 at 8 p.m. in Atkinson Auditorium. Admission is $6 for adults and $3 for students and senior citizens.

• Opera scenes featuring Puccini’s La Boheme will be performed by Wesleyan Opera Workshop students on Saturday and Sunday, April 9-10 in Loar Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. respectively. Admission is free.

• Western Wind (see photo right), a vocal musical ensemble, will perform new works by contemporary composers and pop and jazz arrangements on Tuesday, April 12 at 7:30 p.m. in Wesley Chapel. Admission is $5 for adults and free to everyone with a valid Wesleyan ID.

•The Senior Thesis Art Exhibit will be on display in Sleeth Gallery April 12 through April 30. Admission is free.

•The Wesleyan Saxophone Camerata, under the direction of David Wright, will perform in concert Wednesday April 13 at 7:30 p.m. in Loar Auditorium. Admission is free.

•A Chorus Line, by James Kirkwood, Jr. and Nicholas Dante, and directed by Wesleyan’s Bess Park Reynolds will be staged from Wednesday, April 13 through Saturday, April 16 in Atkinson Auditorium. Performance times are 8 p.m. for Wednesday through Friday and 2 p.m. on Saturday. A Chorus Line’s story revolves around an audition for an upcoming Broadway production and the interaction between dancers as they struggle to be cast for the production. Admission is $5 for adults, $3 for students and senior citizens, and $2 with a valid Wesleyan ID.

•The Wesleyan Jazz Ensemble, under the direction of David Wright, will perform in concert on Thursday, April 14 at 7:30 p.m. in Wesley Chapel. Admission is free.

•The Wesleyan Concert Band and Wind Ensemble, under the direction of Robert Baden, will perform in concert on Tuesday, April 19 at 7:30 p.m. in Wesley Chapel. Admission is free.

•The Wesleyan Percussion Ensemble, under the direction of Robert Baden, will present a concert on Wednesday, April 20 at 7:30 p.m. in Wesley Chapel. Admission is free.

•Danceworks IX will be presented Thursday, April 21 through Saturday, April 23 at 8 p.m. in Atkinson Auditorium. The concert will feature of ballet, modern, jazz, and tap dance pieces choreographed by Wesleyan students and faculty. Admission is $5 for adults, $3 for students and senior citizens, and $2 with a valid Wesleyan ID.

• The Wesleyan Concert Chorale, under the direction of Dr. Larry Parsons, will present a concert on Friday, April 24 in Wesley Chapel at 3 p.m. Admission is free.

For more information about West Virginia Wesleyan’s Arts Alive! Series or any Wesleyan events, please visit the College’s online calendar.