Letter from the Theatre Arts Program Director, John Lawton Haehl

I am delighted to join the Fine Arts Faculty at Gavilan College at such a dynamic and important period of growth and re-construction. This year brings many changes in the organization of the Theatre Arts facilities, including the relocation of our scenic and costume shops to the buildings adjacent to the Main Theatre (Th127 & Th130) during the summer and early fall.

Building on the tremendous success of the STAR program and our Children’s Repertory Class, I plan on focusing future development of the program in the fields of Educational Theatre and Arts Education. This will enhance the Theatre Arts Program’s ability to become a major force in educational theatre, as well as enhance our current programs, (STAR, ABC) which provide a vital exposure to the arts as well as an early awareness of college to thousands of K-10 students from the greater South Valley Community.

I have launched two new exciting programs at Gavilan College. The first is a visiting artist series which brings working professional artists in performance (Actors, Directors, Designers, Choreographers) to work with Gavilan Students. The second program, ABC, is a pilot program near and dear to my heart. I invite you to read the short article about this year’s program.

This Fall we begin work on Grimm's Tales, a new adaptation that I will develop with the Children’s Repertory Class (Thea 2a/b). Following the format of our successful production of Just So Stories, the students and I will create our own script through improvisation and writing exercises. We then perform the play for local South Valley school children (K-6) here at Gavilan College. Last Fall, over 4000 children attended performances at our Theatre, in 2008 we plan to increase that number to 5000!

Would you like to become involved? Our Theatre Arts Program needs many community Angels to help us grow! You could assist in a variety of ways from ushering and box office, to helping us fund our ABC & Visiting Artist programs, to housing a visiting artist, and so much more. Please contact my office if you would like to help. Email is best, as I’m generally onstage during school hours.