The 21-year-old Tarrytown native became interested in stage managing as a high school freshman. “I saw The Who’s Tommy that year. I love musicals. I can’t sing or dance, but I wanted to be a part of them. So I got bitten by the stage managing bug, and I’ve been stage managing ever since.”

A stage manager, Carly explains, is “in charge of the crew, the actors, the lighting and sound, and gives rehearsal and production reports to all the team members. It’s not always easy, but I love having my hand in everything. Every day is different. I know I’m going to be one of those few people who can wake up every morning and be excited to go to work.”

Carly has been a stage manager at UAlbany’s Department of Theatre since she was a freshman. Last summer, she performed in that capacity with The Donkey Show, which opened at New York City’s Club El Flamingo more than a year ago. Initially a stage management intern, she is now paid for her work as a spotlight operator with the show. Previously, Carly did an internship with another off-Broadway show, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, an experience she says “completely changed my life. I always knew I wanted to stage manage, but I got to work in a professional setting. I loved it. It gave me a lot of confidence and helped me grow not only professionally, but personally.”

The Donkey Show, Carly explains, “was started by a group called Project 400. Its goal was to make 400 original productions; The Donkey Show was No. 33. It’s really ingenious; it’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream set to 1970s disco music like ‘Knock on Wood’ and ‘Car Wash.’ The show doesn’t take place in a traditional theater; the setting is an actual club. The action takes place all around the club, with the audience standing on the floor, which is also a stage, and in the balcony.”

Logistically speaking, “it’s a challenge to stage a show with 500 club-goers,” Carly admits. “Drinks are served throughout the show, and cast members have to move through the audience. We keep all the props in the room and improvise a dressing room. I sometimes have to readjust the spotlight, since the shutters have been set differently [for club use than they are for the show]. Normally, I wouldn’t worry about them. And the original cast took the show to London this past July, so it’s been a very interesting transition, working with a new cast.”

Carly’s own schedule would be enough for any merely mortal stage manager to contend with. “I have classes from 9 a.m. Friday until 1:15 p.m. When they’re over, I go straight to my car and drive to Tarrytown. I get there around 3:30; I try to be in the city about 5:45. There are two shows, at 8 and 10:30, Friday and Saturday nights. I get out of work around midnight and home to Tarrytown by 12:45,” she relates, with the practiced delivery of the veteran commuter recounting an oft-taken route. While the schedule seems daunting, “I’m used to it,” Carly assures a visitor.

In addition, she takes a full course load of 15 academic credits. “That’s always a challenge, and it can get really crazy. But in the real world, I won’t have to worry about mid-terms or papers.” Theater majors, stresses Carly, who has also acted in such UAlbany productions as Playboy of the Western World and School for Scandal, “work as hard as, or even harder than, other students. We have to go to rehearsal every night, then do homework for 9 a.m. classes the next day.”

Carly and her friends among the cast and crew of The Donkey Show “are really a family. It’s a great troupe of people. We’re all friends; we all go out together sometimes after the show. And some of my closest friends are from Hedwig and the Angry Inch.”

“I’m glad I’ve had the opportunity to work with them,” Carly adds. “I’m always learning. The faculty here have asked me to come back and stage manage next semester; I’m glad they haven’t forgotten me. I haven’t decided yet if I’ll do that. I have a lot of options in New York, and that’s a really good thing.”

Carly, who will graduate in May, is philosophical about her post-Albany prospects. “I find a lot of college seniors are scared about graduating and about what they’re going to do with their lives. I’m excited about my future. I can’t wait for it; I can taste it every weekend.”

In the meantime, she enjoys looking back on “how far I’ve come. I think I’m doing the right thing. I’m happy.

“When I’m feeling down, I look at what I’ve done already. I’m just so excited to think what else is out there for me.”

The Artful Body in Old French Culture Theme of Sarah R. Cohen’s New Book
By Vinny Reda
For the aristocracy of 17th and 18th century France, the presentation of their bodies in art and dance conveyed more than authority. Through visual performance, it expressed uniquely to the observer and to the subjects themselves what it truly meant to be nobility.

This is the exploration made by Sarah R. Cohen of the Department of Art in her new book, Art, Dance, and the Body in French Culture of the Ancien Régime (Cambridge University Press, 2000). A renowned scholar of African art, Cohen borrows a phrase from Margaret Drewall’s study of African culture, in stating that she is pursuing “a philosophy that is enacted.”

“Styles of bodily representation can themselves probe questions of nature, identity, and social dynamics,” writes Cohen in the book’s introduction. “In the era of Louis XIV an intricate alliance among pictorial representation, architectural structure, and physical arts such as dancing constituted such meaningful enactment.”

Color plates of paintings of Louis himself lend strong support for the nobility’s quest to define itself in a culture fastened on appearance. Louis seems not only prepared to pose in these portraits; he seems ready to dance for all of us.

“On the one hand,” writes Cohen, “general principles of honnête (honorable) behavior could offer the old, established nobility an idealized image of itself, aloof from the vulgarities of social and financial competition. On the other hand, such principles could allow those not of the nobility, or newly entered into its ranks, the promise of attaining honnête or of experiencing it vicariously.”

Cohen depicts how such representation of “the Artful Body” carried over into aristocratic dance and the masquerade ball, emphasizing qualities of movement, gesture, bodily spectacle, and theatricality. “Under Louis XIV,” Cohen points out, “a particular style of dancing was developed for the ballet, to correspond with the new use of the proscenium stage; presenting the body outwardly, as a picture ‘framed’ . . . the dance featured intricate step movements, flowing arm gestures, and travel that delineated elegant patterns.”

Possibly most important in these cultural expressions, writes Cohen, is not the relation of the body to the world as much as the relation of bodies to one another. Social interaction took on a form of a distinctly aristocratic style, and Cohen finds “the most provocative and sustained articulation of this social urge” in the paintings and drawings of Antoine Watteau.

Watteau’s paintings of social gatherings - fêtes galantes - “revolve to a great extent around the mystery provoked by these artful bodies,” writes Cohen. “Plotted and integrated as precisely as any drama . . . the fêtes galantes’ elegant linear groupings appear both naturally interactive and threaded together by artifice.”

Cohen’s book also inspects the decorative work of Charles Le Brun, as well as designs in theater, garden, and interior design, and explores their interrelationships a-mong all the other visual forms in light of the Ancien Régime’s search for identity in appearances. She links this quest to our current social world, and explores the changing implications of gender in the workings of the artful body.

Finally, in her last chapter, Cohen explores how, with the Enlightenment, the ballet (as well as Louis’s poses) would acquire a feminine aura that exists today. Established at that point would be a bourgeois politics with clear and separate roles for men and women. Rejected, in turn, would be “many of the arts associated with aristocratic corporeality.”

Chapel House Offers Serenity to Campus Community
By Carol Olechowski
One of the most versatile spaces on the University at Albany’s Uptown Campus may also be one of its best-kept secrets.

Chapel House, located on the southwest side of Perimeter Road across from University Field, is a venue that suits many purposes. Students can go there, of course, for religious services, spiritual direction, and meditation. But Chapel House also lends itself to fellowship, study, and entertainment.

The building features Christian and Jewish chapels; an organ and a piano; and fully equipped kosher and non-kosher kitchens. Students come to the meditation room to think and pray; or visit the library, which is well stocked with Jewish and Christian books. The library also has a fireplace and couches where students can watch videos, study, or hold meetings.

A garden out back has bird feeders, chairs, a semicircular stone wall - and an aura of peace. In fact, a pole in the garden is inscribed, in English, Latin, Hebrew, and Greek, with the message “May Peace Prevail on Earth.”

“We do have a mission of hospitality here,” pointed out Sister Maureen O’Leary, Catholic chaplain, “as well as of reconciliation and meditation.” Chapel House is “not just for the students. We are here for faculty and staff, too - and not just in times of trial.” Campus groups are welcome to reserve rooms for meetings and other events. Until this year, for example, the University’s international students held their annual Thanksgiving dinner there.

Abraham Sherer, D.D.S., Chapel House president, would like to put the site “on the map” by making it more well known to students, faculty, and staff. “I am very much in favor that the building should be used for the necessities - psychological, educational, and religious - of the campus. I am amazed to find that a good number of students, and even faculty and staff, do not even know where or what Chapel House is.”

What Chapel House is, according to Sherer, is “a great necessity for the campus community. There is a great need for students of all faiths who require encouragement, counseling, and questions answered above and beyond what they learn in school. It is a place where people can meet and get to know one another. And through Chapel House, we may just be able to do a tiny, microcosmic bit toward helping people to live with one another.

“I have spent most of my adult life working for community causes,” he added, “and it is a great honor for me to work with Chapel House. I am absolutely amazed and impressed by the cooperation and friendliness that I get from [President] Karen Hitchcock and everyone else at the University. They are just super people,” Sherer said.

So are the chaplains, in Sherer’s estimation. Sister Maureen and the others, Hillel director David Liebschutz and Protestant chaplain Rev. David Moore, “know and respect one another. I can’t praise them enough.” Adds Vice President for Student Affairs James P. Doellefeld: “David Liebschutz, Sister Maureen, and Moore provide a rich religious/cultural/spiritual dimension to the out-of-class life of University at Albany students. They are wonderful partners in caring for and supporting students.”

Liebschutz, executive director of the Hillels of Northeastern New York, part of Hillel Foundation for Jewish Campus Life, began his term at Chapel House this year. As executive director, he advises the Jewish student groups on the UAlbany campus - Hillel, Tagar, Ruach, and l’Chaim - as well as students at Union, Rensselaer, Skidmore, and Sage. “Our mission is to engage Jewish students on campus through religious services, community projects, and social events,” he explained. Hillel sponsors Sabbath observances at Chapel House at 6:30 p.m. Fridays and at 10 a.m. Saturdays.

“In addition to activities on campus, we are working hard to bring students into the community for various activities,” Liebschutz said. “I want the community and the University to be real partners. That’s the right thing to do. Many of the students who graduate from the University stay in the Capital Region. By reaching out to them, we can strengthen institutions both secular and religious, and bolster our area’s economic growth. We want to make University faculty, staff, and students much more aware of where they live.”

Liebschutz also hopes to become more active in “fundraising to support the activities of students on campus. There is much more we can do to support Judaic Studies and educational and cultural events. And last but not least, we are partners with the other two faith communities at Chapel House. I look forward to more interfaith activities.”

What Liebschutz would most like to create is “a program with some legs, some vitality, a program that can run on its own merits . . . I am trying to increase our resources so that we can build a more vibrant Jewish community.

“There are many people in this area who need help, such as those participating in the United Jewish Federation’s Literacy Project, which takes people in inner-city schools to read to children. That is one example of the type of community service program I would like to get our students involved in. It allows them to help others but also teaches them skills, self-reliance, and participation in the world. When they graduate from the University at Albany, those are the qualities they will need. There are many ways to get students engaged,” Liebschutz remarked.

Moore became UAlbany’s campus minister for Protestant students in 1999. His ministry is supported by six denominations: American Baptist, Lutheran, Presbyterian, United Methodist, Reformed Church of America, and United Church of Christ.

Aside from participating in services conducted at Chapel House Sunday evenings from 5:30 to 7 p.m., Protestant students take part in such community-based service activities as Habitat for Humanity and the Crop Walk; they also volunteer with Big Brothers/Big Sisters and with various mentoring and tutoring programs. In addition, they recently formed FishNet, which is “shaping up to be an open-minded Christian student group where people will feel comfortable expressing their ideas, asking their questions, and sharing their insights,” said Moore, who serves as the group’s adviser.

The Protestant Campus Ministry also expects to provide for spring break alternatives, such as Habitat for Humanity. “We are willing to help wherever we can in the community. We are glad to work in partnership with the University, as well,” said Moore, who taught RSP 213, Jesus: His Life and History, this semester. In the spring, Moore will teach The ABCs of Christianity. As is the case with Liebschutz, Moore is “seeking ways to help support students on campus, and to encourage them to work with local congregations. Churches often request that students work with youth or Bible study groups. And churches can get involved with issues of concern raised by students. It is a two-way street.”

Moore is delighted to be working with college students. “It helps them to know they have a place to come and talk with someone. Many of them just need someone who will listen.”

Sister Maureen, Catholic campus minister at UAlbany since 1989, also relishes that aspect of her work. Some of the students she sees “are lonely or homesick. I’ve found that chocolate chip cookies and milk - combined with talk - are a marvelous remedy. I’m a willing ear for the kids. Some of them have very heavy hearts; when they talk, it’s nice to see them lighten. I see and hear their goodness. They give me hope for the future of society, as well as for the Church. They are souls searching for God in their lives, and for spirituality.”

In addition to being available for spiritual direction, Sister Maureen advises the campus Newman Association, which is affiliated with the national organization of the same name founded by John Henry Cardinal Newman more than a century ago. The Newman Association, according to Sister Maureen, affords Catholic students a forum “to sit and talk about philosophy and Catholic thought,” and provides opportunities for them to combine faith with the social aspects of college life. The local group has about 50 members, and “we really do get into some wonderful conversations. Their parents would be proud of them,” she said.

The students’ involvement in community programs would also make their parents proud. “They volunteer at Ronald McDonald House, Mercy House, Partnership for the Homeless, and other organizations, and they donate time, items, and good will to other organizations” that serve people in need, noted Sister Maureen.

Mass is offered at 6 p.m. Sundays in the Campus Center Assembly Hall. In addition, Newman Association members host a dinner each Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. while classes are in session; all are welcome to attend.

As director of campus ministry for Albany’s Roman Catholic diocese, Sister Maureen also ministers to Catholic students at ten other Capital Region campuses. This fall, she continued to expand her interactions with UAlbany students by teaching RSP 299Q, Contemporary Catholic Church.

Building administrator Joann Brodzik M.S., and a board of directors oversee the Chapel House facility, which derives support from the three major faith communities associated with it, as well as from The University at Albany Foundation. This year, Sherer said, The Foundation provided about half of the $20,000 required for repaving of the Chapel House driveway and parking lot; it will also pay $2,000 toward “an upgraded DSL computer system, which is very much needed.”

As important as the monetary support, noted Sherer, is “the psychological support” Chapel House and its board and chaplains receive from The Foundation and the University administration. That support “encourages us to want to do more and better things.” One of those things is a drive that Sherer hopes will raise $15,000 to $20,000. The appeal, which will be directed toward parents of students of the Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish faiths, is expected to begin early next year.

And Sherer has even higher aspirations. “The day will come when we will have to double the size of Chapel House,” he predicted.

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