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July 2025 |
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CONGRATULATIONS, CLASS OF 2025 |
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On May 19, David Geffen School of Drama conferred 79 MFAs, 4 DFAs, 2 Certificates in Drama, and 12 Technical Internship Certificates on this year's class. Welcome, new alumni! |
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(left to right) Nickie Dubick ’25, Steph Burke ’25, Kino Dick
Alvarez ’25, Keira Jacobs ’25, Alex Theisen ’25, Shawn Poellet ’25 |
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(left to right) comfort ifeoma katchy ’25, ML Roberts ’25,
Ida Cuttler ’25 |
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A Salute to Joan Channick ’89 |
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(left to right) Deeksha Gaur ’07, Chloe Knight ’24, Joan Channick ’89, James Bundy ’95, Nancy Yao SOM ’99 |
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On April 23, more than 90 friends, colleagues, and former and current students gathered at Miso Restaurant in New Haven to honor Joan Channick ’89 on her retirement from serving as Chair of Theater Management. The evening was filled with heartfelt tributes for Joan’s decades of transformative leadership. Known for her empathy, rigor, and unwavering support of students, she revolutionized student life, championed diversity, and mentored generations of theater leaders. As guests toasted her achievements, Joan reflected on her journey from law to theater, calling it “the best thing I ever did.” Joan plans to continue teaching part-time. |
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Yale Summer Cabaret Team Announced
The Co-Artistic Directors of Yale Summer Cabaret 2025: Petri Dish will be rising third-year Playwriting students, Emily Breeze ’26, Matthew Chong ’26, and Andrew Rincón ’26. Rounding out the leadership team are Technical Design and Production student, Katie Chance ’26 as Managing Director, and Theater Management students Gavin Pak ’27 as Associate Managing Director and Sarah Saifi ’26, as Director of Development. The focus of the season is “to make weird art possible, build magic out of nothing, and operate at the height of our collective communal imagination.” The Yale Summer Cab season officially began on July 10. |
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(left to right) John B. Beinecke YC ’69, James Bundy ’95, Julie Turaj YC ’94 |
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DGSD Board of Advisors Has New Chair
After 13 years of leadership, John B. Beinecke YC ’69 has stepped down as Chair of DGSD Board of Advisors; he will continue to serve as a member of the Board. John’s decades-long commitment to the School and Rep have been instrumental in advancing the School’s mission.
Julie Turaj YC ’94, a Board member since 2023, has succeeded John as Chair. She began her term in the leadership position following the Board meeting on May 2. Julie has been a staunch supporter of the University and David Geffen School of Drama, as well as an engaged volunteer as a member of the For Humanity Campaign Committee. |
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Celebrating Josie Brown
Following 23 years of service in the Dean’s Office, Josie Brown has stepped into retirement. Known for her warmth, generosity, and welcoming smile, Josie greeted thousands of students, faculty, staff, and guest artists who passed through the doors at 222 York Street.
Friends and colleagues gathered on May 22 to celebrate Josie with a festive Candyland-themed event. “The party was so meaningful,” said Josie. “Throughout my time at Yale, the students always made each day special, and I’ve cherished reconnecting with alumni. I always tried to bring fun, make people happy, and build camaraderie. I’ll truly miss the wonderful people I’ve worked with over the years.” |
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First-year Theater Managers with Development staff and guests at “Making the Ask” workshop. |
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First Year Theater Managers “Make the Ask”
In April, first-year Theater Management students participated in a workshop of role-playing exercises that simulated high-stakes donor solicitations. They practiced making funding requests—ranging from $10,000 to $2 million—to a panel of “donors.” Portraying these fictional benefactors were Assistant Dean Carla L. Jackson ’99, Associate Artistic Director of the Schwarzman Center Jennifer Harrison Newman ’11, former Development staff member Janice Muirhead, Assistant Director of Audience Services Shane Quinn, and Registrar and Admission Administrator Ariel Yan. The workshop, led by Senior Director of Development Deborah Berman, gives students the chance to practice and gain confidence “making the ask.” |
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a.k. payne ’23 Wins 2025 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for Furlough’s Paradise |
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(left to right) Janiah-Camile François ’24 and Lauren F. Walker ’25 in Furlough’s Paradise by a.k. payne ’23. Carlotta Festival, 2023. |
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Playwright a.k. payne ’23 has been awarded the 2025 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for Furlough’s Paradise, a lyrical meditation on grief, home, kinship, and a utopia yet to be realized. The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize is an annual award recognizing women+ playwrights of outstanding English-language plays, celebrating bold, original voices in contemporary theater. Furlough’s Paradise was first produced in 2023 as part of the Carlotta Festival of New Plays at DGSD, where payne developed the work during her training under the mentorship of Tarell Alvin McCraney ’07. Set over a three-day prison furlough, the story follows two cousins as they navigate memory, loss, and the fragile bonds of home. Following its Yale debut, the play premiered at Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre in 2024 and ran at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles. Furlough’s Paradise will conclude the Yale Rep 2025-2026 season. |
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John Badham ’63, YC ’61 Honored
In recognition of his artistic achievements and dedication to film education, member of the DGSD Board of Advisors John Badham ’63, YC ’61 received an Honorary Doctor of Arts degree from Chapman University this spring. Badham, a visionary director, producer, and educator, helped shape the film industry over his six-decade career. He directed iconic films such as Saturday Night Fever and WarGames and earned five Academy Award nominations and two Emmy nominations, along with numerous other accolades. |
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Athol Fugard, Playwright |
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Athol Fugard DFAH ’83, the South African playwright who brought to light the harsh realities of apartheid in his native country, died on March 8, 2025, at his home in Stellenbosch, near Cape Town. He was 92.
Master Harold … and the Boys, perhaps Fugard’s most well-known play, had its world premiere at Yale Repertory Theatre in 1982 and later moved to Broadway. All told, eight of Fugard’s plays were staged at the Rep. Lloyd Richards MAH ’79 (Former Dean) began a long-standing and fruitful relationship with the playwright when he staged the first American production of A Lesson from Aloes in 1980 at Yale Rep.
“I had a sense of where Athol had been,“ Richards told The New York Times, “the possibility of love, the possibility of betrayal, the necessity of trust, the loneliness of responsibility. I found Athol a very raw human being, willing to go to the bone. That I had to respect. I knew what it cost.”
Fugard wrote more than 30 plays. Six were produced on Broadway, garnering him five Tony nominations for best play and three for best director. In 2011, Athol Fugard received a Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement. |
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Herman Krawitz, Arts Administrator |
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Herman Krawitz, a longtime Assistant General Manager of the Metropolitan Opera, and a former member of the School of Drama faculty, died on March 25, 2025. He was 100.
Krawitz began at the Met in 1953. He held several administrative posts before rising to the position of Assistant General Manager, reporting to the opera’s legendary leader, Rudolf Bing. One of his primary responsibilities at the Met was the planning of the company’s new home at Lincoln Center. His efforts played no small part in the development of what was to become one of the world’s premier opera houses.
In 1966, Robert Brustein ’51, MAH ’66 (Former Dean), recruited Krawitz to the the faculty to help found the Theater Administration program (now Theater Management), and to develop its initial core curriculum. Krawitz continued to teach at the School until 1979. He also served as Executive Director of American Ballet Theatre, was the Founder and Chairman of New World Records, and produced a number of cultural programs for television, among them The Nutcracker with Mikhail Baryshnikov (1977) and the Emmy and Peabody Award-winning Baryshnikov on Broadway (1980). |
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Nancy Thun, Designer |
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Set and costume designer Nancy Thun ’78 passed away on March 8, 2025. She was 73. During her 30-year theater career, Thun worked as an associate scenic designer on more than two dozen Broadway productions, including Tony Award winners Art (1998), The Real Thing (2000), Jersey Boys (2005), and A Raisin in the Sun (2014). She designed sets and costumes for American Repertory Theater, Virginia Stage Company, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Santa Fe Opera, and NBC’s daytime drama Another World. Most recently, Thun acted as a U.S. liaison to British set designers, helping to bring their work to Broadway, and then developing their designs for U.S. and international tours.
Thun was also a highly regarded and award-winning fiber artist who created extraordinary hooked yarn rugs and wall hangings. “Hooking with yarn,” she wrote, “my landscapes come alive…evolving into what I think of as hyper-realistic abstractions that tell a story. I do come from the theatre after all!” |
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| Join the DGSD Alumni Facebook Group |
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In addition to the public page, we have a private Facebook group for DGSD alums, where you can share your news and connect with the DGSD community. |
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| Sign up for Cross Campus |
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YAA is offering a new way to connect to fellow alumni and the entire Yale community: Cross Campus, Yale’s online networking and mentoring program. |
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Photo credits: Graduation photos by Defining Studios; Joan Channick photo by Linda-Cristal Young; Board of Advisors photo by Deborah Berman; Josie Brown photo courtesy of Sue Clark; “Making the Ask” photo by Scott Bartelson; Furlough's Paradise photo by T Charles Erickson; John Badham photo courtesy of Chapman University; Athol Fugard photo by T Charles Erickson; Herman Krawitz photo courtesy of Metropolitan Opera; Nancy Thun photo by Brooke Slezak. |
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ON & OFF YORK STREET is a publication of the Office of Development and Alumni Affairs
Deborah S. Berman, Editor
Scott Bartelson, Managing Editor
Contributing Editor: Leonard Sorcher |
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