Jenifer Alonzo

Jenifer Alonzo, a multi-disciplinary theatre artist, is particularly interested in the collaborative creation of new work for the stage and in the creation of image-based theatre. She is currently working with deaf and hearing collaborators on a visual adaptation of A Streetcar Named Desire for all audiences (including: deaf, hearing, and non-English-speaking) in the D.C./Baltimore area.

Ms. Alonzo holds an MFA in Theatre from Towson University. Her thesis focused on undergraduate training in the collaborative creation of site-specific and image-based work. Additionally, Ms. Alonzo has developed theatre workshops for professionals who wish to employ the tools of the actor to strengthen their work in health care, teaching, and law.

As a director, Ms. Alonzo seeks to create collaborative opportunities for designers and actors to work more closely together. Ms. Alonzo’s current project is Aristophanes Birds at ODU, through which student actors and designers will work in direct collaboration to create CloudCuckooLand's Center'sinhabitants. Ms. Alonzo is also a designer; her designs have appeared on the Towson University Stage, at the Baltimore Theatre Project, and on The Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage. Ms Alonzo wrote and performed Flying Blind, which she also produced at Towson University, and she has performed in more than 30 productions since she began acting at the age of eight.

Ms. Alonzo teaches Experimental Theatre, Theatre History, Performance and Script Analysis, the Theatre Experience, and the Creative Self. As a teacher, Ms. Alonzo is interested in developing pedagogy that encourages theatre-students to develop skills that allow them to function as flexible artists and self-reliant professionals.

Christopher Hanna

Currently the Artistic Director of the Virginia Stage Company (LORT-C) in residence at the historic Wells Theatre in downtown Norfolk, Christopher Hanna's experience has encompassed both academic and professional theatre, alternating assignments as director, teacher, and producer. He began his career as an administrative intern at Hartford Stage Company while earning a BA in Theatre and English from Trinity College, Connecticut. His first New York assignment was as assistant to producer Joseph Papp at the New York Shakespeare Festival; he worked in a variety of capacities on the festival's Broadway productions of "A Chorus Line" and "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide when the Rainbow Is Enough," and on its productions of "Shakespeare in Central Park."

He received his MFA in Directing at the University of California, San Diego, under the late Alan Schneider (original director of both "Waiting for Godot" and "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?") and followed Schneider to London as assistant director of the world premier of Beckett's "Rockabye" (subsequently performed at both the National Theatre of Great Britain and La Mama, etc.) in New York City. Hanna stayed on in England to serve as a literary assistant at the prestigious Royal Court Theatre, and toured to the Edinburgh Festival with the avant garde British company, Lumiere and Son. Upon returning to the United States, Hanna served as assistant director for John Houseman's "The Acting Company" on nationally toured productions of Beckett's "Krapp's Last Tape," "Come and Go," and "Play." He directed the premier of Frank Higgins' "Never Say Die" Off-Off Broadway, and carried out support assignments for the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers.

In 1982, Hanna began an eight-year engagement as associate artistic director of the Virginia Stage Company, a professional Equity theatre in Norfolk. In addition to directing the plays of Williams, Shaw, O'Neill, and Churchill on the main stage of the historic Wells Theatre, Hanna also coordinated the theatre's well-known new plays program. He directed the premieres of work by Harry Kondoleon and Allan Havis, which earned the theatre and its writers awards from the National Endowment of the Arts, the Guggenheim Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation of the Dramatist Guild, CBS Television, and HBO. Hanna also headed the company's Professional Theatre School and taught scene study to area actors.

Hanna began his association with the theatre program at Old Dominion University in 1984, teaching adjunct classes in acting while in Norfolk with the Virginia Stage Company. Between 1984 and 1991, he directed scripts by Shakespeare, Chekhov, Synge, and Bond for the university. He returned to Old Dominion as Assistant Professor of Theatre in 1993, and has continued his directing there with works by Wilder, Gogol, Guare, Moliere, and Kushner. He regularly teaches Advanced Acting and Directing courses for the theatre program.

Stephen Pullen

Stephen Pullen received his BA in theatre and film from Brigham Young Univesity and his Advanced Certificate in Classical Acting from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. While in London, his original play, "Hombre y Hombre" was selected by the Questor's Theatre of Hammersmith as one of its "Best New Plays" and received a production at this West End theatre under the patronage of Dame Judi Dench. Following LAMDA, Stephen organized a theatre company which produced two original plays at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland. Both plays found enthusiastic audiences and received critical acclaim.

Stephen returned to the United States to undertake coursework in film and television production at the University of Southern California which culminated in an MFA. While at USC, he was the recipient of the Jack Nicholson Award for Excellence in Directing. Stephen's first script, SALLY LOVED ME, was optioned by producer David Wyler soon after graduating from USC. His second script, ABSOLUTION, was optioned by Howard "Hawk" Koch and Susan Sarandon. Over the ensuing several years, Stephen continued to option and sell his original work and also worked under contract at MGM, Paramount, Sony, Warner Bros., and Fox.

Stephen joined the faculty at Old Dominion University in the Fall of 2004. He teaches courses in Screenwriting, Film/Video Production, and Acting for Film, Television and Stage. In addition to his teaching duties, Stephen directs for the department's mainstage theatre season.

Jennifer Baker

Konrad Winters

Konrad Winters is a Production Designer and Director of Technical Production at Old Dominion University and teaches courses in Film and Theatre Design and Production. Prior to his arrival at Old Dominion University in 1986, Mr. Winters taught theatre design and technical production at the University of Houston-Clear Lake (Tx.), Mankato State University (Minn.), and Chadron State College (Nebr.).

Mr. Winters’ academic background includes a Bachelor of Science in Education from Concordia Teachers College (Nebr.) with an emphasis in Speech and Drama, a Master of Science in Theatre and a Master of Fine Arts in Scenic Design (1982) from Illinois State University (Ill.). Mr. Winters has been teaching design and technical production on the college level since 1976 and has designed and constructed over 100 theatrical productions in both academic and commercial venues.

Konrad Winters’ professional credits include Producing Director of the Houston Shaw Festival, Scenic and/or Lighting designs for: Magic 2000 at the Virginia International Waterfront Festival, The Virginia Ballet Theatre, Contemporary Ballet Theatre of Williamsburg, Virginia, High Frequency Wavelengths Dance Company, (New York City, NY), The San Jacinto Ballet (Houston, Texas), The Houston Shaw Festival, and the Opera and Theatre divisions of the Virginia Governor’s School of the Arts.

Mr. Winters recently served as a member of the National Board of Directors ( Director at Large) for the United States Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT) where he also served as the immediate past National Commissioner for Education. Mr. Winters is also a member of the Chesapeake Section of USITT.

THEATRE STAFF

Elwood Robinson
Elwood Robinson is the Facilities Manager for the theatre complex at Old Dominion University . In addition to overseeing the day to day operations of the theatre plant he designs (scenery and lighting) several shows each year for both the theatre and dance aspects of the Theatre Arts Program, the Governor's School of the Arts (Dance and Opera) and visiting Dance Companies who perform in the University Theatre performance space. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from Stephens College in 1980 and has worked in New York at the Public Theatre and designed Off-Off Broadway. Prior to his position at ODU, Mr. Robinson has worked in San Francisco, North Carolina, Iowa, and Missouri. He served as a member of the staff at the Virginia Stage Company (LORT C) but is best known locally for his designs at the Generic Theatre where he was resident designer for six years. Mr. Robinson says of ODU, "The students here are great and their energy and creativity are what make this job a joy.

ADJUNCT FACULTY
(listed in alphabetically)

Bailey Cole
Bailey is a Costume Designer and Costume Shop Manager for the Theatre and Film Program at ODU.

Christopher Cole
Chris is a Lighting Designer and member of the adjunct faculty for the Theatre and Film Program at ODU.

Steve Earle
Steve J. Earle is Chair of the Theatre Department at the Governor's School for the Arts and the Associate Director of the Workshop Theatre Group in Norfolk. He has been an actor and director for over twenty-five years.

Acting credits include the Virginia Stage Company, Theatre IV, Swift Creek Mill Playhouse, Richmond Triangle Players, and numerous other theatres.

Television credits include F.B.I. Files, Interpol, and commercial work. Directing credits include The Cripple of Inishmaan, The Who’s Tommy, Galileo, Boys in the Band, Marriage of Bette ‘n Boo, Deranged Durang, Tempest, Playboy of the Western World, Dracula, Heathen Valley, 1984, The Investigation, and several others.

Mr. Earle holds an M.F.A. from Virginia Commonwealth University and a B.F.A. from the University of North Carolina-Charlotte. He has also studied at the Gaiety School for Acting in Dublin, Ireland and he studied "The Meisner Technique" with Jon Ruskin of the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York and with Janet Wilson of the Firehouse Theatre in Richmond, VA.

Before coming to Norfolk., Mr. Earle taught at Longwood College, The Governor’s School for Visual and Performing Arts at the University of Richmond, Virginia Commonwealth University and the School for the Performing Arts in the Richmond Community as well as other places. Steve is a member of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers.

Keith Flippen
Keith Flippen is a professional film, television, and voiceover actor with 20 years of experience and teaches courses in Voice, Dialects, and Acting for the Camera. Shortly after he graduated from Virginia Tech with BA in Theatre Arts, Keith Flippen participated in a Soviet-American Actor Exchange program at the National Theater Institute in Connecticut in 1990. Upon his return to Virginia Beach from the Leningrad State Institute of Theatre Music and Film, Mr. Flippen appeared in a number of critically acclaimed roles in local and regional theatre and in early 1992, booking his first major television job on CBS's The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles .
That fall , Mr. Flippen returned to Russia as the U.S. Administrator of the Russian American Theatre for several months working in St. Petersburg, Moscow and Minsk to produce plays for children in the country of Byelorus. Mr. Flippen's film credits include The Wire (HBO), American Gothic (CBS), Minority Report, Dawson's Creek (WB), Surface (NBC), Virus , as well as the Emmy Award winning From the Earth to the Moon (miniseries) and Iron Jawed Angels , both for HBO. Recently, Mr. Flippen appeared in ABC's Same as it Never Was with Lacey Chabert and Wendi Malik as well as in CBS's Heartless with Melanie Griffith and Esai Morales. Mr. Flippen has just finished shooting Ruffian for ABC/ESPN with Sam Shepard which will air on ABC in July 2007. Over the years Mr. Flippen has been a talent agent, produced television commercials, theatre administrator, professional dialect coach, and is currently owner of The Actors' Place, Inc., a private acting school in VA Beach.

Dana Margulies

Patrick Mullins

Alish Riggs-Demody

Lauren Sexton

Lee Smith