Collier Woods, Jr. Scholarship
USITT recently announced that Niya John and Kim Parson have been selected as the 2022 recipients of the Collier Robert Woods, Jr. Scholarship. The scholarship, named to honor designer and technician Collier Robert Woods, Jr., who passed away in 2020, supports Black and African American students with interests in lighting design and/or theater production, technology, and associated theatrical fields. Woods was a veteran lighting designer and stage technician with extensive lighting design credits in opera, ballet, modern dance, music, and theater. “Supporting the careers of blossoming artists was a mission of Collier’s,” notes Woods’ wife, Anjali Austin. “That Ms. John and Ms. Parson have been selected as this year’s scholarship recipients is also representative of his belief in gender equity and inclusion. Through them Collier’s legacy continues—and I am ever thankful.”
Niya John is a lighting designer entering her junior year at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. “I am thrilled to be a Collier Robert Woods Jr. Scholarship recipient and, I am honored to be selected as someone to help carry on his legacy,” John said. “Thank you to USITT and Anjali Austin.”
Kim Parson will be a junior at McDaniel College this fall where she is currently training to become the potential master electrician for the campus theater and assistant lighting designer for future upcoming shows. She is currently majoring in theater arts with a minor in cinema. “I am truly honored to have been chosen to receive this amazing scholarship. My love and dedication to the theater is paying off, and to be able to be recognized for it is absolutely a blessing. Sending a huge thank you to Ms. Anjali Austin for her hard work and commitment in keeping Mr. Collier Woods’ legacy going. I truly hope I can be an inspiration in my years to come just as Mr. Woods was to so many people,” stated Parson. “Thank you again for this opportunity!”
USITT looks forward to continuing to help advance the training of the scholarship recipients as a way of honoring someone who dedicated himself to developing others.
Del Hughes Awards
The Stage Managers’ Association (SMA) has announced its annual Del Hughes Awards for Lifetime Achievement in the Art of Stage Management. The distinguished 2022 honorees are corporate, event, and theatrical stage manager Andrew Feigin, opera stage manager Raymond Menard, and theatrical stage manager Bernita Robinson. In addition to these Lifetime Achievement Awards, the SMA will honor Marguerite Price with The Founders Award and Narda E. Alcorn and Lisa Porter with a Special Recognition Award.
The SMA, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary year, is the only national professional organization for working stage managers across the U.S. The Del Hughes honor is awarded to those who represent the finest qualities and artistic achievement in stage management throughout their lifelong career. Instituted in 1986, the award was named for Del Hughes, who had an illustrious career as a Broadway and television stage manager as well as a TV director from 1933 to the 1970s. Honorees are chosen from nominations submitted by industry members. The Del Hughes Awards Event will take place on Monday, Oct. 24, 2022. Here is a little bit about the honorees:
Andrew Feigin’s career has spanned a joyous blend of genres and institutions for 47 years. He has stage managed at numerous LORT Theaters, Radio City Music Hall, Broadway, BAM, NY City Opera, and National Dance Institute. As a DGA stage manager, broadcasts include the Tony Awards and Kennedy Center Honors. Since forming AppleFig Productions in 2000, he has stage managed hundreds of corporate events. Feigin taught stage management at NYU from 2004-2015.
Raymond Menard joined the New York City Opera as Stage Director in 1978 where he received the Julius Rudel Award for excellence in artistic administration. In 1987, Menard was invited to join the stage management team at the Metropolitan Opera, and for the past 12 years he has been the Met’s Production Stage Manager. A passionate arts advocate, educator and mentor, he has taught at the University of Georgia and currently teaches music in the Theater Department of Columbia University School of the Arts. A member since 1978, Menard is the President of the American Guild of Musical Artists.
Bernita Robinson grew up in New York City and decided to become a stage manager at age 13. During her 35-year career as an Actors’ Equity stage manager, she has worked on Broadway, Off Broadway, LORT and travel within North America and parts of Africa. Credits include Sarafina!, Cats, Jelly’s Last Jam, Show Boat, the original Ragtime, A Moon for the Misbegotten, the first production of Carmen Jones in 75 years and the recent Broadway revival of for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf. Robinson has been an active AEA member and is currently serving as Councilor.
Marguerite Price will be honored with The Founders Award for her service to the SMA, specifically for her initiative in leading the Regional Representation Committee in building a national presence, followed by serving as the SMA Chair. As a stage manager, Price was privileged to support artists in professional theatre for 28 years. She had artistic homes at regional theaters within the Greater Philadelphia Area and served as a member of the AEA Philadelphia Liaison Committee from 1992 to 2007 and the Chair from 2005-2006.
Narda E. Alcorn and Lisa Porter will be acknowledged with a Special Recognition Award. At a time when equity and diversity were, and are, very much in the front of everyone’s consciousness, their writings and the breadth of their public appearances prompted many explorations and conversations about how we approach our art and craft and engage in truly anti-racist stage management practices. In 2020, professors and stage managers Alcorn and Porter published Stage Management Theory as a Guide to Practice: Cultivating a Creative Approach. Later that year, they published We Commit to Anti-Racist Stage Management Education in HowlRound Theatre Commons. Their research has been cited in multiple publications including The New York Times, American Theatre, and Stage Directions.
To learn more about the SMA, visit their website at www.stagemanagers.org.
