Dancing at Lughnasa at SUNY Ulster
by M.R. Smith
...You’re constantly in the business of selling yourself, marketing yourself, and you have to have a clear idea of what your product is, and you’ve got to know whom you’re selling to. You have to have a business head.” While he says this in reference to his students, this statement can apply to any student, in any discipline.
Jerry should know. A well-groomed gentleman scholar with a genial twinkle in this eye—one of those actor-types whose age is impossible to nail down—he’s been in the business, both professional and academic, long enough for two careers. After graduating with his MFA from the University of Virginia (the state he was born and raised in), he got into the journeyman regional theatre life, working all around the country: Tennessee, Ohio, Indiana—before ending up in New York City, doing mostly off-Broadway.
During a stint with Virginia’s prestigious Barter Theatre, the president of nearby Emory and Henry College offered Jerry a position as a visiting instructor, with the opportunity to direct. Like many actors, he couldn’t resist, and found himself on a new life-track. Further positions at Cornell, Marymount Manhattan, and finally Oswego State filled in the resume blanks with experience in all aspects of live theatre, including management and administration. Then, the SUNY Ulster position came up, with a new 2-year program which is essentially designed for students that want to go on to a major 4-year program elsewhere, or just directly vie for an entry-level spot with a professional repertory company. Jerry started last August, with a new program, new funding, and fresh students considering a career on stage and screen.
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