Peggy Gaither Adams
Undergraduate Dance Adviser
Professor

Office | Physical Education Athletic Complex 203
Phone | (808) 956-3264
Email | adamsp@hawaii.edu

Peggy Gaither Adams, MFA U. of Utah, has been director of her own dance groups, Dance Import, Four Bare Fete, and Gaither-Unger Dance. In this capacity and independently she has presented in many areas of the US as well as at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland, Hong Kong Academy of the Performing Arts, Auckland New Zealand community, NZ School of Performing Arts in Wellington, for Japan television, and in the Legends 2000 concert in Beijing China. She served on the faculties of OSU and Cornell U. prior to UH. Peggy enjoys collaborating with other artists. Her collaborative work with Brent Adams, animation, and Paul Palmore, music and sound effects, has been presented at the Dance For Camera Festival in NYC. At UH Peggy has directed concerts that have provided diverse learning and performance programs for the students by showcasing ballet, modern dance, and traditional and contemporary dances of Japan, Korea, China, Cuba, Mexico, India, Philippines, and Hawai&lsquoi.

Tammy Hailiʻōpua Baker
Assistant Professor
Hawaiian Theatre

Office | KT 102B
Phone | (808) 956-3229
Email | tbaker@hawaii.edu

Assistant Professor of Hawaiian Theatre Tammy Hailiʻōpua Baker is a pioneer in her field. Her work focuses on the development of an indigenous Hawaiian theatre aesthetic and form. Baker's senior thesis (Kaluaikoʻolau: Ke Kāʻeʻaʻeʻa o nā Pali Kalalau) and MFA production (Māuiakamalo: Ka Hoʻokala Kupua o ka Moku) explored and generated the foundation for the genre of Hawaiian theatre. Baker's academic work focuses on the revitalization of Hawaiian language and culture, covering the use of theatre as a tool for language learning, the empowerment of cultural identity through stage performance, and the works of Ka Hālau Hanakeaka, a Hawaiian medium theatre troupe she co-founded.

In addition to her Hawaiian medium plays Baker's English and Pidgin (Hawaiian Creole English) plays have been produced at Leeward Community College Theatre (Nānākuli and Mānoa: The Story of Kahalaopuna), Earle Ernst Lab Theatre (Maʻalili and Mōhala ka Lehua), Kapiʻolani Community College (Nāwahī: A Hero Remembered) and Kumu Kahua Theatre (Kupua). In the Department of Theatre and Dance she oversees the MFA Playwriting Program and is currently developing curriculum for the new Hawaiian Theatre Program.

Ian Belton
Assistant Professor
Directing

Office | Kuykendahl 401
Phone | (808) 956-6418
Email | ibelton@hawaii.edu

Ian Belton is a dramaturge, director, writer, teacher and producer for stage and film. He is the recipient of a Bachelor's degree from Skidmore College, a Masters of Philosophy from Trinity College Dublin, Ireland; the Andrew W. Mellon Directing Fellowship from the Juilliard School; the Richard E. Sherwood Award from the Mark Taper Forum; the Sir John Gielgud Fellowship from the Stage Directors’ and Choreographers’ Foundation as well as the Career Development Program for Directors from the National Endowment for the Arts in association with Theatre Communications Group.

His directing credits for stage include: Guinea Pig Solo (The Public/LAByrinth), The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant by Rainer Werner Fassbinder (off-Broadway premier, two Drama Desk Nom.), Barefoot in the Park (Singapore Rep), Borrego by Bob Glaudini (L.A.), Contagion of the Night by Paul Guzzardo (St. Louis), The Picture by Ionesco (CSC & Chashama, NYC), Sam Shepard’s Simpatico, Madame de Sade by Yukio Mishima, Killer Joe by Tracy Letts, Sincerity Forever by Mac Wellman, Heiner Müller’s Philoctetes, The Maids by Jean Genet, Crimes & Crimes by August Strindberg, The Seagull by Chekhov, The Secretaries by The Five Lesbian Brothers and The Soldier's Tale by Igor Stravinsky.

In addition to adapting the texts for The Maids and The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant, Ian's writing credits include Cocaine, Blood Flood, B&G, Medeamachine, Couch Surfer & Kitchen Floor, Manifest Destiny as well as Amargo: The Gypsy Tritico. Medeamachine was done as part of the NYC Fringe in 2002, then extended and coupled on a double-bill with Amargo at the now defunct Theatertorium.

Ian has led masterclasses and taught multimedia theater, script analysis and theater history for Skidmore College, Bard College, the University of Iowa, the University of Rochester and the University of California at Santa Barbara among others. This past summer Ian served as the Director of Programming for the venerable Nuyorican Poets Cafe in downtown New York.

Mark Branner
TYA Program Director
Assistant Professor
Theatre for Young Audiences, Puppetry, Mask, Clown

Office | KT 102A
Phone | (808) 956-2931
Email | branner@hawaii.edu

Born in Los Angeles but raised primarily in Taiwan, Mark returned to the U.S. to attend college, whereupon he quickly dropped a scholarship from UCLA to work as a clown with the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Mark eventually received an M.F.A. from the University of Hawai‘i, Mānoa.

He teaches courses in theatre for young audiences, puppetry, mask, and physical comedy. Previously Mark served as the director and producer of Theatre Arts at Antelope Valley College in Lancaster, California.

He has toured nationally with various groups, including Diavolo, and performed extensively in Asia, most notably in Sichuan Opera, a regional Chinese theatre form. He and his family operate CiRCO Redempto, a community outreach program designed to benefit children from the Nosu Yi minority nationality of central China.

Glenn Cannon
Professor of Theatre
Acting and Directing for Stage, Film and Television

Office | KT 109
Phone | (808) 956-2110
Email | gcannon@hawaii.edu

Glenn Cannon is in his 44th year as Professor of Theatre at UH. His specialties include acting and directing for stage and television and film. He has performed on Broadway, Off-Broadway, on tour, in films and television series and television motion-pictures in principle roles, including recurring roles in the original Hawai‘i 5-0 and Magnum PI. He has directed over 125 plays and starred in 17 plays in Hawai‘i. He has won numerous awards for acting and directing, including the Hawai‘i State Theatre Council's Pierre Bowman Award for Lifetime Achievement in Theatre in Hawai‘i. He is currently in his 18th year as President of the Screen Actors' Guild—Hawai‘i branch.

Joseph Dodd
Design Program Director
Professor
Scenic Design

Office | KT 402
Phone | (808) 956-2604
Email | jdodd@hawaii.edu

Betsy Fisher
Professor

Office | Physical Education Athletic Complex 202
Phone | 808 956-9626
Email | efisher@hawaii.edu

Betsy Fisher has performed and presented her choreography throughout the US, Europe and Asia. She joined the UHM faculty in 1994 where she is now a Professor of Dance. From 1991-94 she was the Senior Lecturer of Dance at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. Teaching credentials also include University of California Santa Cruz and Stanford University. In 1990-91 Betsy was a Senior Lecturer of Dance at The Theater Academy of Finland as a Fulbright Scholar. A leading member of The Murray Louis Dance Company from 1980-88, she served as dance captain and rehearsal director from 1984-88. The company toured extensively, performed on Off-Broadway, and in television and film productions internationally. Betsy holds a Doctorate of Arts in Dance from the Theater Academy of Finland. Her published thesis is entitled Creating and Re-Creating Dance: Performing Dances Related to Ausdruckstanz. She also holds an MA from NYU, and a BFA-Dance from The Juilliard School.

Current projects include eMotion.s: German Lineage in Contemporary Dance, a presentation of solos she performs that share heritage from the German lineage in contemporary dance. Another solo endeavor entitled Dancing Through the Archive presents the body as a living library of dance in a theatrical blending of text with original and repertory choreography. Her DVD entitled The German Lineage in Modern Dance: Wigman through Nikolais, published by Dancetime Publications, features her performances and spoken text.

Julie Iezzi
Asian Theatre Program Director
Undergraduate Adviser
Associate Professor
Asian Theatre, Japanese Focus

Office | Henke Hall 309
Phone | (808) 956-4377
Email | iezzi@hawaii.edu

Iezzi holds an MA in Asian Theatre (UHM), MA in Musicology (Tokyo University of Fine Arts and Music), and PhD in Asian Theatre (UHM). She currently serves as director of Asian Theatre.

She translates, publishes and directs kabuki and kyogen plays, and continues to practice and perform tokiwazu narrative music and nagauta shamisen. Iezzi teaches practicum and lecture courses on traditional Japanese Theatre, and seminars on contemporary Asian Theatre and Multicultural Directing.

Most recent publication: special edition of Asian Theatre Journal on Kyogen (spring 2007). She is currently co-editing and writing for A History of Japanese Theatre: Tradition and Innovation (forthcoming 2012).

Gregg Lizenbery
Director of Dance Program
Graduate Dance Adviser
Professor

Office |
Phone | (808) 956-2464
Email | lgreg@hawaii.edu

Kara Miller
Assistant Professor

Office | Physical Education Athletic Complex 203
Phone | (808) 956-2596
Email | karamill@hawaii.edu

Kara Miller teaches field research methods, dance ethnology, and digital technology for dancers. She collaborates with dancers internationally creating experimental performances, installations, and ethnographic dance films. Her research and creative work has been presented in Turkey, Prague, Canada, Mexico, China, India, Sri Lanka and the U.S. She has worked professionally in broadcast television and film and is the co-director of the annual DANCEonFILM Festival. Kara is a graduate of The Juilliard School in dance in New York and holds an M.F.A. from the University of California, Irvine. She is a recipient of the Jacob K. Javits Research Fellowship and is currently writing her dissertation in Performance Studies through the University of California, Davis.

Paul T. Mitri
Department Chair
Associate Professor of Theatre
Acting, Voice and Movement, Styles, Shakespeare

Office | KT 114
Phone | (808) 956-8445
Email | mitri@hawaii.edu

Paul has worked on over 150 productions as an actor, director, playwright, fight choreographer, dance choreographer, videographer and roducer. He was the Principal Founder and served as Artistic Director of the Seattle Shakespeare Company. Other administrative positions include irector of Theatre at the American University in Cairo, Egypt; Artistic Director of Salem Theatre Company and Summer Theatre in Salem, MA; and currently the Artistic Director of All the World's a Stage Theatre Company. In Hawaii, he is a multiple Po'okela Award recipient for acting and directing and serves on the board as Vice President for the Hawaii State Theatre Council.

Paul teaches advanced voice, movement and acting classes, including Auditioning, Period Styles, Shakespeare, Stage Combat, and Dialects.

As an actor, roles have included George in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, the Wizard in The Wizard of Oz, John Barrymore in I Hate Hamlet; Igor in the musical Young Frankenstein, Richard in Richard III and appearing in LOST, Off the Map, and Hawaii Five-O. Directing credits include the English language premiere of the newly reconstructed Brecht play The Judith of Shimoda, Hamlet, the Hawaii premiere of the musical Spring Awakening, Children of a Lesser God, Macbeth, Servant of Many Masters, Inventing Van Gogh, Art, Grease, Dracula, The Complete Works of Wm Shakespeare Abridged, and his own play Moliere. Paul is also currently serving as Dialect Coach for ABC-TV's Last Resort. He is a member of SAG/AFTRA and AEA, and received his BA in Stage Movement and his MFA from the Professional Actors' Training Program at the University of Washington.

Lurana Donnels O'Malley
Western Theatre Program Director
Professor
Theatre History, Dramatic Literature, Directing

On Sabbatical Spring 2012

Office | KT 111
Phone | (808) 956-9609
Email | omalley@hawaii.edu
Website | http://www2.hawaii.edu/~omalley

O'Malley received her PhD in Theatre History and Criticism from the University of Texas at Austin. She is a past recipient of the UHM Presidential Citation for Excellence in Teaching, and the Arts and Humanities Excellence in Scholarship award.

She teaches Western theatre history, dramatic literature, theatre research methods, and directing. Research: Russian and African-American theatre. Most recent book: The Dramatic Works Catherine the Great: Theatre and Politics in Eighteenth-Century Russia.

O'Malley serves as director of Western Theatre and Page to Stage outreach, and as Late Night Theatre faculty advisor. Recent productions: Churchill's Vinegar Tom, Williams's A Streetcar Named Desire, Friel's Translations, and Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma!.

O'Malley dances with Encore Dance Project and Na Wahine o Ke Kai Ola. A native of New Orleans, she is the daughter of artist Johnny Donnels.

Kirstin A. Pauka
Professor
Asian Theatre, South / Southeast Asian Focus

Office | Henke Hall 310
Phone | (808) 956-2587
Email | pauka@hawaii.edu

Kirstin Pauka teaches Southeast Asian theatre history, field research methods, digital design, directing, Asian acting styles, Randai. Research: Randai, Indonesian and Southeast Asian theatre and dance, Asian puppetry, ritual performance, martial arts. Recent productions: Randai plays 'Umbuik Mudo and the Magic FLute', 'Luck and Loss: Manandin's Gamble', 'The Genteel Sabai'; and 'Balinese Tempest'. Pauka is the director of Graduate Studies in Theatre. She is a 2011 recipient of the University of Hawaii Board of Regent's Medal for Excellence in Teaching.

Kirstin Pauka is a member of the Kenny Endo Taiko Ensemble.

Amy Lynn Schiffner
Assistant Professor

Office | Physical Education Athletic Complex 202
Phone | (808) 956-2359
Email | amyls@hawaii.edu

Brian S. Shevelenko
Assistant Professor
Design

Office | KT 206B
Phone | (808) 956-3481
Email | bshev@hawaii.edu

Brian received a BA from Carnegie Mellon and an MFA in Theatrical Lighting Design from San Diego State University. He has had 12+ years of free-lance theatre work much of which was in the San Jose/San Francisco area. Brian has received awards for his lighting from Stage Scene LA, Playbill Magazine, KPBS, LA Stage Alliance, and has been nominated for an LA Drama Critics Circle Award. His teaching history includes Sacred Heart Schools teaching theatre to K-12, GTA at San Diego State University, Visiting Artist at CSU-San Bernardino, and as Lecturer and Technical Director at Texas A&M University. Brian also taught for the American Red Cross in several different parts of the country for nearly 20 years.

Professional credits include work at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, NYC International Fringe Festival, San Diego Dance Company, California Center for the Arts, Armstrong/Bergeron Dance Company, The Old Globe Theatre, Chance Theatre, Sledgehammer Theatre, and others. For the last 4 years, Brian has been a Designer, Entertainment Technician, Project Coordinator, and Technical Director for Disneyland Resorts and Walt Disney Imagineering.

Cheri Vasek
Assistant Professor

Office | KT 109
Phone | (808) 956-2589
Email | cheriv@hawaii.edu

Cheri Vasek is Assistant Professor of Costume Design and Technology at the University of Hawai‘i, Mānoa. She teaches a variety of costume design and technology courses at beginning, intermediate and advanced levels, mentors student designers, and designs for UHM Theatre & Dance productions.

Prof. Vasek designed costumes for UHM, University of Idaho, Idaho Repertory Theatre, Washington State University, Central Washington University, University of West Virginia, University of the South, The Electric Theatre Company (Pennsylvania) and The Road Company (Tennessee).

Prof. Vasek has worked as a costume craftsperson in several professional regional theatres throughout the United States, including The Guthrie Theatre (Minneapolis) and American Conservatory Theatre (San Francisco). She was the head Costume Dyer at the Santa Fe Opera for four seasons (2003-2005 and 2008).

Prof. Vasek's current research interest is the process of Costume Designers in the Indian Film Industry. To that end, she recently completed a 2-month field research trip to India under a USITT grant.

Marcus Wessendorf
Associate Professor
Dramatic Criticism and Theatre Theory, Experimental and Avant-garde Theatre

Office | Sakamaki A404
Phone | (808) 956-2600
Email | wessendo@hawaii.edu
Website | http://www2.hawaii.edu/~wessendo/

Markus Wessendorf holds a PhD in Applied Theater Studies from the University of Giessen and is currently Associate Professor at the Department of Theatre and Dance at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. His publications include a monograph on Richard Foreman's Ontological-Hysteric Theater and a co-edited volume on interdisciplinary relationships between theater and the other arts. He has also written essays and articles on Bertolt Brecht, The Wooster Group, Richard Maxwell, Mark Ravenhill, and various other modern theater artists and dramatists.

As a director, he has staged Heiner Müller's Germania Death in Berlin (New York 1989), Norman Price's Barking Dogs (Brisbane 1998), and Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot (Honolulu 2010). He is also the translator of the English version of Brecht's Die Judith von Shimoda. In 2010, he was the main organizer of the 13th IBS Symposium on "Brecht in/and Asia" in Honolulu, the proceedings of which he edited for the Brecht Yearbook 36 (University of Wisconsin Press, 2011).

Elizabeth A. Wichmann-Walczak
Professor
Asian Theatre, Chinese Theatre Focus

Office | KT 113
Phone | (808) 956-2597
Email | ewichman@hawaii.edu

While carrying out the field research for her UHM doctoral dissertation, Elizabeth Wichmann-Walczak became the first non-Chinese to perform Jingju in the People's Republic of China. She has received China's National Xiqu Music Association's Kong Sanchuan award for excellence in research, creation, and performance, as well as its National Festival of Jingju's Golden Chrysanthemum Award for outstanding achievements in promoting and developing Jingju, and is the first honorary (and first non-Chinese) member of the National Xiqu Institute and of the Chinese Theatre Artists Associations of Shanghai and Jiangsu Province.

She teaches Chinese and Asian theatre history, dramatic literature, and theory; field research methods; stage makeup; and directing. Her most recent English-language publications include "King Lear at the Shanghai Jingju Company: Dream of the King of Qi," in Alexander Huang and Charles Ross, ed., Shakespeare in Hollywood, Asia, and Cyberspace; and "Re-acting an Actor's Reaction to the Occupation: the Beijing Jingju Company's Mei Lanfang," in Richard King and Cody Poulton, ed., China, Japan, and the Dynamics of Transculturation.

Wichmann-Walczak regularly produces Jingju training residencies at UHM, hosting leading actor-teachers from China in intensive programs lasting 6-8 months, and translating and directing the culminating productions, which have included: The White Snake; Women Generals of the Yang Family; Judge Bao and the Case of Qin Xianglian; Silang Tan Mu, Love and Loyalty; Shajjiabang, Spark Amid the Reeds; Yu Tang Chun the Jade Hall of Spring; and The Phoenix Returns to Its Nest. At Chinese invitation, three productions have been given performance tours of mainland China.

Lori Ann Chun
Department Secretary

Office | KT 115
Phone | (808) 956-7622
Email | lorichun@hawaii.edu

Rick Greaver
Production Manager
Office | KT 108J
Phone | (808) 956-2594
Email | greaver@hawaii.edu

Rick majored in both music and theater at California State University Northridge and graduated with a degree in Theater. He has worked for almost 20 years in entertainment production, in theme parks such as Six Flags Magic Mountain, television studios such as CBS Television City, and in various theaters, universities, and stages; stage managing, producing, and directing numerous productions and events. He returned to California State University Northridge Department of Theatre in 2001 and worked as the Production Stage Manager for eleven years until most recently moving to Hawaii as the Production & Facilities Manager for the Kennedy Theatre and the Department of Theatre and Dance.