The Connecticut Critics Circle has announced the recipients
of Special Awards to be presented at its annual ceremony, this year to be held
at The Iseman Theater in New Haven
on Monday, June 22. The recipients include Carmen de Lavallade, who will
receive the Killen Award for outstanding contribution to Connecticut theater, the Summer Theatre of
New Canaan for its DramaRamas program, the Split Knuckle Theatre Company for
its production of “Endurance,” and Shawn Boyle, for his work on Yale Repertory’s
production of Elevada.”
The Iseman Theater is located at 1156 Chapel Street in New Haven . The event, which begins at 7:30
p.m., is open to the public. Seating is limited and will be available on a
first-come-first-served basis.
About the recipients
Carmen de Lavallade
Carmen de Lavallade
Carmen de Lavallade -- dancer, actor and teacher -- was a
key member as teacher and performer in the early days of the Yale Repertory
Theatre and the new Yale School of Drama under the tenure of Robert Brustein.
She was a powerfully influential teacher to a generation of actors there,
including Meryl Streep, who has often cited De Lavallade as having a profound
influence on the shaping of her talent in those early days. Some of de
Lavallade’s performances -- including in "The Tempest" and especially
her Titania in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" -- are often cited as some
of the best ever at the Rep; indeed in CT.
Now 84, de Lavallade is performing her solo autobiographical
show, "As I See It," which will be playing at the International
Festival of Arts & Ideas at the Festival during the week of the awards
ceremony.
De Lavallade was a member of the Lester Horton Dance Theater
in 1949 where she danced as a lead dancer until her departure for New York City with Alvin
Ailey in 1954. Like all of Horton's students, de Lavallade studied other art
forms, including painting, acting, music, set design and costuming, as well as
ballet and other forms of modern and ethnic dance. She studied dancing with
ballerina Carmelita Maracci and acting with Stella Adler. In 1954, de Lavallade
made her Broadway debut partnered with Alvin Ailey in Truman Capote's musical
House of Flowers (starring Pearl Bailey).
In 1955, she married dancer/actor Geoffrey Holder, who died
last year. It was with Holder that de Lavallade choreographed her signature
solo Come Sunday, to a black spiritual sung by Odetta (then known as Odetta
Gordon). The following year, de Lavallade danced as the prima ballerina in
Samson and Delilah, and Aida at the Metropolitan Opera.
She made her television debut in John Butler's ballet
Flight, and in 1957 she appeared in the television production of Duke
Ellington's A Drum Is a Woman. She appeared in several off-Broadway
productions, including Othello and Death of a Salesman. An introduction to 20th
Century Fox executives by Lena Horne led to more acting roles between 1952 and
1955. She appeared in several films, including Carmen Jones (1954) with Dorothy
Dandridge and Odds Against Tomorrow (1959) with Harry Belafonte.
De Lavallade was a principal guest performer with the Alvin
Ailey Dance Company on the company's tour of Asia and in some countries the
company was billed as de Lavallade-Ailey American Dance Company. Other
performances included dancing with Donald McKayle and appearing in Agnes de
Mille's American Ballet Theatre productions of The Four Marys and The Frail
Quarry in 1965.
Summer Theatre of New Canaan’s DramaRamas Program
In June 2011, the Summer Theatre of New Canaan expanded its
educational programs to
include a unique musical theatre program, the DramaRamas.
The program is designed specifically for young people with special needs (such
as those with autism, Down syndrome, developmental delays and disorders, etc.).
DramaRamas and their mentors
Created and directed by Melody Meitrott Libonati, Summer
Theatre’s artistic director, the program matches a DramaRama actor with one of
the college interns and professional actors who will be performing in the
festival show. They mentor each DramaRama actor one on one, helping them
interpret and perform the roles in a special presentation performance which is
open to the public with free admission. While working with professional staff
and volunteers, the DramaRamas learn basic performance skills such as singing,
dancing, acting, and experience the magic of a professional show with a full
house audience. The program has profoundly affected the students, their
families, the summer theatre staff and the audience attending their
performance. Many of the students return year after year.
The DramaRama program is now in its fifth year with the
production of “Legally Blonde Jr.”
Previous productions have included “Frog and Toad”, “The Wizard of Oz”,
“The Little Mermaid,”, and “Hairspray, Jr.”
Scholarships are made available to any DramaRama who wishes
to participate regardless of ability to pay the tuition fee. The Summer Theatre
of New Canaan acknowledges with gratitude the many local individuals and
organizations supporting the program and continue to recognize the value of
this program for its students, their families and the community in general.
Split Knuckle Theatre Company
Split Knuckle is a critically acclaimed company that creates
dynamic, physical, visually striking theater from simple materials. The company
members trained at the London International School of Performing Arts in the
methods of Jacques Lecoq, leading them to through imagination, text and
movement to create vast landscapes, vivid characters and epic stories.
Greg Weber, Jason Bohan, Andrew Grusetskie and
Michael Toomey in "Endurance"
Michael Toomey in "Endurance"
This was
evident in the company’s 2014 presentation of “Endurance” at Long Wharf
Theatre. With minimal costume changes – just some hats and a shawl – the actors
bring to life a host of characters while physically manipulating the few props
they have – chief among them desks, which serve as, among other things, a
shower, an elevator, several boats and menacing towers of ice. In a review of
the performance, one critic wrote: “In an era often dominated by excess and
over-production, ‘Endurance’ cleanses the theatrical palate and again makes us
realize what four talented actors are capable of creating…almost out of thin
air.”
Shawn Boyle
Laurel Casillo in Elevada, framed by astral projections
created by Shawn Boyle. Photo by Carol Rosegg
created by Shawn Boyle. Photo by Carol Rosegg
Shawn Boyle designed the projections for the Yale Repertory
production of “Elevada,” which dramatically and often viscerally captured and
enhanced the various moods and tensions inherent in the play. Boyle is a
third-year MFA candidate at Yale School of Drama, where his credits include
“Bird Fire Fly” and “THUNDERBODIES.” He holds a BFA from Mason
Gross School
of the Arts at Rutgers
University
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