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| Volume 64, Issue 8 | Rota-Scribe: Buck Catlin | |||||||||||
THE CSUF PERFORMING ARTS PROGRAM SAGA
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PREZ FRANKLIN kicked off the meeting with the PLEDGE and the QUARTET (The Boys of August -- GRIF, LEROY, DR. BILL and PDG JIM) followed by CHIEF PAT with a "Thought from the Past". It's not easy to relate Ralph Waldo Emerson and Yogi Berry (poetry and baseball!) but PAT made the connection! Visitors: Guests: Michael LA guest of DANIEL KANG Itnroduction of New Members: BILL MATHY heralded BILL KLINGHOFER and wife, Jean sponsored by DON BANKHEAD WALTER BARNES, and wife Adrianne , restored to our Club by RAY HANSEN District 5320 Paul Harris Society new members introduced by PDGs STARK and YOUNG: BILL PELOQUIN and LES CHRISTENSEN ROTARY CLUB FUND RAISER Sat JANUARY 29, 2005 will present BROADWAY -- Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow" . Mark your calendars, sayeth Prexy GRIF DUNCAN Recognition by Jim Blackburn - birthdays and anniversaries: BOB SATTLER --B/D -- Big 50 |
Dr. Jim Young, the founder of the Dramatic Arts Program at CSUF, chronicles its development from a small group of drama students in 1960 performing in a temporary building on campus into a major State University System Performing Arts Center. Along the way, Jim was the champion of dramatic academic freedom, and who espoused the principle that "Theater is a reflection of society. There are no seat belts on seats in theaters." One of the first faculty members joining the new Orange State College at Fullerton in 1960 from a strong drama backgound at Pepperdine College, he started the CSUF Theater/Dance Program. Facilities were so sparse, his young actors and actresses shared dressing rooms and rest rooms with Alex Omalev's "Titan" basketball team. Performances were often given at community shopping centers with props and stage furniture borrowed from adjacent stores. During one outside performance, a portly actress sat down hard on a loaned sofa which collapsed under her weight. The shop owner was made an Honorary member of the CSUF "Mask and Wig" Troupe as compensation. The first on-campus stage was established on the fifth floor of the new Langsdorf Building. During the turmoil of the late 1960s, there was much conservative political opposition to the experimental theater aspect of performing arts instruction in public institutions. "Dinner theater" actually got its impetus as a counter to municipal ordinances aimed at restricting the openness of contemporary drama. Non-traditional theater came under political attack. Jim stood firm in his defense of the CSUF Drama Department's right to academic freedom in the face of censure at the highest levels of elected State office. His was an act of personal courage. In 1969, Jim turned over the directorship of the Drama Department to younger leaders in his belief that new ideas should be accommodated in education. During his succeeding years at CSUF he held offices as Associate Dean of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and as Associate VP of Academic Programs before retiring in 1991. In retirement Jim continued his involvement in the advancement of CSUF resulting in the planning, design, and State approval of the Performing Arts Center scheduled for openning in 2006. In recognition of his lifetime of contributions to CSUF and the community. The 250-seat studio theater at the Center has been named "The James Young Theater". |
