Posted on Jan 20, 2010

Emmy Award-winning actress Elaine Bromka, a veteran of film, television and the stage, is on campus this week for a performance and master classes.

She will present “Lady Bird, Pat & Betty: Tea for Three,” a one-woman show about First Ladies Lady Bird Johnson, Pat Nixon and Betty Ford, Thursday, Jan. 21 at 7:30 p.m. at the Nott Memorial. The event is open to the public.

The show is sponsored by the Department of Theater and Dance with support from the Office of the President and the Department of Political Science. 

Taking place amid the dizzying change and political dissent of the 1960s and ’70s, “Tea for Three” depicts three women of uncommon valor who stood by their husbands, bringing wit and compassion to the country in what Pat Nixon called “the hardest unpaid job in the world.”

In her more than 30 years in the acting business, Bromka has tackled an array of challenging roles. She starred opposite Rich Little in the PBS show “The Presidents” and impersonated the last eight First Ladies. Intrigued by their stories, she went on to collaborate with playwright Eric H. Weinberger for “Tea for Three.”

Bromka conducted an “Acting on Camera” workshop for students Tuesday and Wednesday night. The workshop offered individualized coaching and detailed analysis of voice, facial and body habits, as well as overall onscreen image.

“We’re delighted to have this award-winning actress and gifted teacher share her expertise with our students,” said Patricia Culbert, senior artist-in-residence, Department of Theater and Dance. “Our department serves students from across the academic spectrum, and a professional technique workshop such as this provides far more than the individualized coaching of the actor’s craft.”

The heart of the workshop, Culbert noted, is the heightened self-esteem that comes with increased awareness of one’s strengths and challenges.With this foundation, “students sharpen skills to perform well in a wide range of situations – from job interviews to social interaction to group presentations.”

A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Smith College who has conducted workshops at schools across the country, Bromka is currently on the faculty of the National Theatre Institute. She played the mother in “Uncle Buck” opposite John Candy and Tchaikowska with Vanessa Redgrave in “Playing for Time.” She won an Emmy for her work in “Catch a Rainbow.” 

Free tickets for “Tea for Three” are available in the Yulman Box Office and at the door. Seating is limited. For more information, call ext. 6545, or visit www.teaforthree.com.

Posted on Jan 18, 2010

In December, 12 Union students spent 18 days traveling from Charleston, S.C., to New Orleans, La., on the inaugural Civil Rights Public History Miniterm. Winding their way south through nine cities along the path of the fight for equality, they talked to civil rights veterans like Charles Person, a CORE Freedom Rider, C.T. Vivian, a close ally of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Joann Bland, a participant in the Bloody Sunday march on the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

“I doubt I will ever forget what it was like to cross this bridge for the rest of my days,” said Peter Haviland-Eduah ’10 of walking the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., where hundreds of people marching for black voting rights were beaten.

“The bridge is a symbol of moving from the past to the future, and I was privileged enough to get to make this physical connection to history.”

Joining Haviland-Eduah on the mini-term were juniors Sarayfah Bolling, Amanda Egan and Georgia Swan-Ambrose, seniors Marissa Gaines, Jared Gourrier, Ewodaghe Harrell, Elizabeth Mariapen, Aaron Ray, James Schellens and Sarah Tardiff, and sophomore Jessica Johnson.

The group was co-led by History Department Lecturer Melinda Lawson and Director of Post-Baccalaureate Fellowships Maggie Tongue, both of whom started planning the trip several years ago.

To learn more about the mini-term, part of Union’s new public history program, click here.

Posted on Jan 18, 2010

In December, 12 Union students spent 18 days traveling from Charleston, S.C., to New Orleans, La., on the inaugural Civil Rights Public History Miniterm. Winding their way south through nine cities along the path of the fight for equality, they talked to civil rights veterans like Charles Person, a CORE Freedom Rider, C.T. Vivian, a close ally of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Joann Bland, a participant in the Bloody Sunday march on the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

“I doubt I will ever forget what it was like to cross this bridge for the rest of my days,” said Peter Haviland-Eduah ’10 of walking the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., where hundreds of people marching for black voting rights were beaten.

“The bridge is a symbol of moving from the past to the future, and I was privileged enough to get to make this physical connection to history.”

Joining Haviland-Eduah on the mini-term were juniors Sarayfah Bolling, Amanda Egan and Georgia Swan-Ambrose, seniors Marissa Gaines, Jared Gourrier, Ewodaghe Harrell, Elizabeth Mariapen, Aaron Ray, James Schellens and Sarah Tardiff, and sophomore Jessica Johnson.

The group was co-led by History Department Lecturer Melinda Lawson and Director of Post-Baccalaureate Fellowships Maggie Tongue, both of whom started planning the trip several years ago.

To learn more about the mini-term, part of Union’s new public history program, click here.

http://ublog.union.edu/hst277t/

Posted on Jan 18, 2010

In December, 12 Union students spent 18 days traveling from Charleston, S.C., to New Orleans, La., on the inaugural Civil Rights Public History Miniterm. Winding their way south through nine cities along the path of the fight for equality, they talked to civil rights veterans like Charles Person, a CORE Freedom Rider, C.T. Vivian, a close ally of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Joann Bland, a participant in the Bloody Sunday march on the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

“I doubt I will ever forget what it was like to cross this bridge for the rest of my days,” said Peter Haviland-Eduah ’10 of walking the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., where hundreds of people marching for black voting rights were beaten.

“The bridge is a symbol of moving from the past to the future, and I was privileged enough to get to make this physical connection to history.”

Joining Haviland-Eduah on the mini-term were juniors Sarayfah Bolling, Amanda Egan and Georgia Swan-Ambrose, seniors Marissa Gaines, Jared Gourrier, Ewodaghe Harrell, Elizabeth Mariapen, Aaron Ray, James Schellens and Sarah Tardiff, and sophomore Jessica Johnson.

The group was co-led by History Department Lecturer Melinda Lawson and Director of Post-Baccalaureate Fellowships Maggie Tongue, both of whom started planning the trip several years ago.

To learn more about the mini-term, part of Union’s new public history program, click here.

http://ublog.union.edu/hst277t/

Posted on Jan 18, 2010

Named after Antonie Brentano, believed by many to be Beethoven's "Immortal Beloved," the Brentano String Quartet will return to Union Sunday, Jan. 24 at 3 p.m.

Composed of violinists Mark Steinberg and Serena Canin, violist Misha Amory and cellist Nina Lee, the group will present an all-Beethoven program during its upcoming Chamber Concert Series performance. They will play Op. 18 No. 1 in F, Op. 59 No. 3 in C and Op. 127 in E flat.

Since its inception in 1992, the quartet has garnered critical and popular acclaim around the world, having played at prestigious venues like Alice Tully Hall in New York, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and Suntory Hall in Tokyo. An inaugural member of the Chamber Music Society Two, Brentano has captured the Cleveland Quartet Award and the Naumburg Chamber Music Award.

In addition to performing a two-century range of the standard quartet repertoire, Brentano also has a strong interest in new music. The quartet has worked closely with modern composers like Steven Mackey, Bruce Adolphe, Chou Wen-chung and Charles Wuorinen.

Following Nina Lee’s succession of founding quartet member Michael Kannen in 1998, the group became the first resident string quartet at Princeton University.

The show is free to members of the Union community. General admission tickets cost $20, though area students may attend for $8. For a full Concert Series schedule, click here.