Centreville's Nina Sharp Receives Mary Martin Drama Scholarship at Washington College

Nina Sharp as Philia in a 2010 production
of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way
 to the Forum at Washington College.

CHESTERTOWN, MD—The Washington College Department of Drama has named Nina Sharp, a rising senior from Centreville, Md., as the recipient of the 2012 Mary Martin Drama Scholarship. Established in 1992 by Matthew Weir ’90 in honor of his grandmother, the great actress Mary Martin, the scholarship is awarded each year to a student majoring in Drama who demonstrates great dedication to any area of the theater arts. The 2012 scholarship award is expected to be approximately $16,000.

Sharp, a drama major with a minor in English, has been a self-described “theater geek” since she took on her first roles at Centreville Middle School, roles that included the same character, Peter Pan, that Mary Martin played to great acclaim. Sharp has since played the title role of Anne in The Diary of Anne Frank, Abigail Williams in The Crucible,  Philia in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and, most recently, Jill in a production of Equus at Church Hill Theatre.  

Aside from acting, Nina also has a passion for the technical side of theater, and has excelled in directing, stage-managing, costuming, set constructing, and much more. She has spent countless hours rehearsing, working, learning and playing in Washington College's cutting-edge Gibson Center for the Arts, and will be directing her thesis there in November of 2012.

Nina has worked as a part-time stagehand at the Wicomico Youth and Civic Center, and this summer she is interning at Church Hill Theatre as an assistant director for the Green Room Gang Theatre Group. She has worked for five years at Chestertown Natural Foods and served as a dormitory Resident Assistant on campus her junior year. She has earned a spot on the Dean’s List each semester of her college career.

“Nina is one of those students that we all love to work with, both in and out of the classroom,” says Dr. Michele Volansky, an associate professor of drama and chair of the Drama Department.  “She is a stand-out citizen of the department as well as a natural leader who sets the bar high for her peers.”

Mary Martin with grandson Matt Weir '90

Volansky says Sharp shares with the famous Mary Martin the ability to take a part and make it her own. For theater people, the mention of Martin’s name brings to mind a particularly vivid set of images: Ensign Nellie Forbush washing that man right outa her hair, Dolly Winslow—whose heart belongs to Daddy—shedding her furs, and Peter Pan teaching the Darling children to fly and to crow. Working on stage, screen and radio, Martin brought to life a formidable range of other characters, including Maria in The Sound of Music, for which she won the Tony Award in 1960. Martin also garnered Tony Awards for her work as Peter Pan (1955) and as Annie Oakley in the touring company of Annie Get Your Gun (1948).  She toured the United States and the world as Dolly Levi in the international touring company of Hello, Dolly!, which included engagements in Okinawa, Korea, Japan, South Vietnam, and London.

For more information on the Drama Department and the Mary Martin Scholarship, please visit:  http://drama.washcoll.edu.

Scholar Explores 'Life In Venetian Archives' In Rose O'Neill Literary House Talk

CHESTERTOWN – Benjamin Kohl, Professor Emeritus of History at Vassar College, will offer a presentation on “Life in the Venetian Archives” at Washington College’s Rose O’Neill Literary House on Thursday, January 28; tea and light refreshments will be served at 4 p.m., with Dr. Kohl’s talk beginning at 4:30 p.m.

From 1966 until his retirement in 1998, Dr. Kohl taught medieval and early modern history at Vassar, where he served as chair of the department for seven years.

Among his publications are the edited volumes The Earthly Republic: Italian Humanists on Government and Society (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1978), Major Problems in the History of the Italian Renaissance (Boston: Houghton-Mifflin, 1995), and an abridged translation of Johann Weyer’s De praestigiis daemonum (Asheville, N.C.: Pegasus Press, 1998); and books including Padua under the Carrara, 1318-1405 (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998) and a collection of 14 of his papers, published as Culture and Politics in Early Renaissance Padua (Aldershot, Eng.: Ashgate, 2001).

Kohl currently resides in Betterton, Maryland, where he is working on a book on the governance of late medieval Venice.
In addition to his work as a scholar, on the Eastern Shore Kohl teaches in the local Elderhostel, directs the Hedgelawn Foundation Inc. (a small charitable trust dedicated to the promotion of the humanities, historic preservation, and the visual and performing arts), serves as the Secretary of the Town of Betterton Planning Commission, and drives for Food Link.

Dr. Kohl’s presentation is part of the Rose O’Neill Literary House’s recently relaunched “Tea and Talk” series, which will continue through the spring with presentations by Associate Professor of Political Science and International Studies Christine Wade and Assistant Professor of Drama Michele Volansky.

Admission is free and open to the public. For more information, call 410/778-7899 or visit lithouse.washcoll.edu.

Scholar Explores Emerson, Photography in Rose O'Neill Literary House Talk

CHESTERTOWN – Sean Meehan, Assistant Professor of English at Washington College, will present “‘This is a Fragment of Me’: Emerson and the Poetics of Metonymy” at the Rose O’Neill Literary House on Tuesday, November 17, at 4 p.m.

Dr. Meehan began his scholarly focus on the American writer Ralph Waldo Emerson with a dissertation on photography in 19th-century American autobiography, completed at the University of Iowa.

Dr. Meehan recently published a book based on that dissertation, Mediating American Autobiography: Photography in Emerson, Thoreau, Douglass, and Whitman. His upcoming lecture on Emerson and metonymy is part of his current work-in-progress, a study of Emerson’s engagement with the practice and theory of education and an exploration of Emersonian ways of learning both from the past and for the future.

Dr. Meehan was awarded the Ralph Waldo Emerson Memorial Association Fellowship for 2005-2006 from Houghton Library, Harvard University. He published an article based on research he did at Houghton in Emerson Society Papers (2006), “Living Learning: Lessons from Emerson’s School.”

In addition to teaching the courses “Emerson and Whitman” and “American Environmental Writing,” Dr. Meehan teaches “Literature and Composition” and is the Director of Writing for Washington College.

Dr. Meehan’s presentation is part of the Rose O’Neill Literary House’s recently relaunched “Tea and Talk” series, which highlights the work of authors and scholars on the faculty and staff of Washington College.

The series will continue in Spring 2010 with presentations by Associate Professor of Political Science and International Studies Christine Wade, Assistant Professor of Drama Michele Volansky, and Vassar College Professor Emeritus of History (and Washington College Trustee) Benjamin Kohl.

Admission to “‘This is a Fragment of Me’: Emerson and the Poetics of Metonymy” is free and open to the public. For more information, call 410/778-7899 or visit lithouse.washcoll.edu.

Trends In Contemporary Theatre Subject Of Tea & Talk, Feb. 16

Chestertown, MD, February 6, 2004 — The Rose O'Neill Tea & Talk Series presents “Contemporary Theatre: New Voices, New Trends,” a talk by professional dramaturg and Washington College alumna Michele Volansky, Monday, February 16, at the O'Neill Literary House. Volansky will discuss emerging playwrights and directors, trends in contemporary American drama, and the challenges and rewards of working in professional theatre. The event is free and all are welcomed to enjoy tea, conviviality and discussion. Tea served at 4 p.m., talk begins at 4:30.

A 1990 graduate of the College, Volansky is now in her fourth season as dramaturg for the Philadelphia Theatre Company. She has worked on over 100 new and established plays in her 12-year career, developing new works by writers such as Sam Shepard, Daniel Stern, Warren Leight, Jeffrey Hatcher, Bruce Graham, and Tina Landau. Her work on Shepard's rewrite of Buried Child (directed by Gary Sinise) and Dale Wasserman's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (directed by Terry Kinney and starring Gary Sinise) earned her two Broadway credits and participation in the Tony Award for Best Revival of Cuckoo's Nest. She also has served as a guest dramaturg at South Coast Rep, the Atlantic Theatre Company, Victory Gardens, and Next Theatre, in addition to her staff time at Actors Theatre of Louisville (1992-95) and Steppenwolf Theatre Company (1995-2000). Her own play, titled Whispering City, was produced as part of the Steppenwolf Arts Exchange Program in Fall 1999. She is the 1999 inaugural recipient of the Elliot Hayes Award for Dramaturgy and is the president of LMDA, the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas. In addition, Volansky is a member of the Advisory Board for Theatre Forum magazine and an artistic advisor for the Chicago-based Serendipity Theatre Company and Chicago Dramatists. She has served as an artistic consultant for the TCG playwright residency program, a reader for the Eugene O'Neill Center's National Playwrights Conference, and grants review panelist for the Five-County Arts Council.

Volansky earned her B.A. in English from Washington College—where she works as a lecturer in drama—and her M.A. in theatre from Villanova University.

The Rose O'Neill Tea & Talk Series showcases the research, writing and talent of Washington College's faculty and is held in the College's O'Neill Literary House. Established in 1985, the Literary House was acquired and refurbished through a generous gift of alumna Betty Casey, Class of 1947, and her late husband Eugene, in memory of his mother, Rose O'Neill Casey. Now approaching its 20th anniversary, the O'Neill Literary House is a large, eclectic Victorian home that reflects the spirit of Washington College's creative writing culture.

Bohemian Rhapsody: Alumni to Discuss Careers in the Arts during Fall Family Day

Chestertown, MD, October 18, 2001 — Washington College's Alumni Council will host a Life After Liberal Arts Symposium to coincide with Fall Family Day on Saturday, October 27 from 1:30 to 3:00 p.m. in the Norman James Theatre, William Smith Hall. Students, parents, alumni and the community are invited to this event to interact with and learn from alumni who have put their degrees to good and sometimes unusual use in the working world. This symposium will focus on "The Performance of a Lifetime: Careers in the Arts" and will feature alumni John Harris '94, Vicco Von Voss '91 and Michele Volansky '90 discussing the challenges, lessons, opportunities, and successes that they have encountered through careers in the arts. Drama Department Chairman Dale Daigle will moderate the event.

John Harris, a 1994 graduate in music, is a trombonist who decided to pursue a career in business, joining an Annapolis-based company manufacturing and marketing small wooden boat kits. He eventually bought the firm, Chesapeake Light Craft Company, and has made it one of the largest wooden boat kit companies in the nation, but he has not given up his love of music. John pursues a second career as a jazz musician and has created a small jazz ensemble that plays at music festivals, including Chestertown's Saturday Evening Concert series. John credits Washington College with fostering his love of the arts while helping him develop writing skills and business acumen.

Vicco Von Voss is a 1991 graduate who majored in art. During college, Vicco worked with a local furniture restorer and discovered his love of wood, bringing natural forms into functional existence. After college, Vicco began a three-year carpentry and furniture-making apprenticeship in Germany and returned to the Eastern Shore to pursue his dream as a master furnituremaker. Vicco credits the art department with encouraging his love of the visual arts and natural forms, an appreciation that inspires the function and unique aesthetics of his handmade furniture.

Michele Volansky is a 1990 graduate who currently works for the Philadelphia Theatre Company and lectures in drama at Washington College. An English major with a devotion to theatre, Michele pursued a masters in theatre and dramaturgy from Villanova University. She has been a guest dramaturg at the Atlantic Theatre Company, Victory Gardens and Next Theatre, in addition to serving on the staff of Actors Theatre of Louisville and as dramaturg/literary manager at the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago. Her play "Whispering City" was produced as part of the Steppenwolf Arts Exchange Program in 1999, and she is currently at work on a musical adaptation of Thulani Davis' novel "1959". Michelle serves on the advisory board of" Theatre Forum" magazine and is an artistic consultant for the Chicago-based Serendipity Theatre Company.

Life After Liberal Arts is sponsored by the Washington College Alumni Council.