USD Magazine Spring 2008

O ld Globe/USD stu- that includes acting, voice and speech, movement, dra- matic literature, stage com- bat, audition technique and singing. In the second year, students spend two weeks in London seeing plays and par- ticipating in tours of historic and theatrical landmarks. At the Globe, they appear in the summer Shakespeare Festival productions and serve as understudies for most main- stage plays in the regular sea- son. “Our students work and perform in the professional dents study a compre- hensive curriculum

tant, says Seer, since it shows commitment as well as an ability to perform at the Globe alongside some of the finest actors in the country. Before Rod Brogan ’04 came to USD, he had numerous television roles to his credit, including regular appearances on Major Dad and One Life to Live . But when he decided to try more theater, his agent told him he needed real theatrical train- ing. “One of the big things they taught me when I first got to USD was that being a TV actor I was largely acting from my neck up,” he says. On a similar note, Christine

between Globe Founding director Craig Noel and USD Vice President and Provost Sally Furay. “The two of them thought we needed to train young actors to do the kind of work that the Globe is known for, especially the Shakespeare,” explains Seer. Though Noel’s alma mater, San Diego State University, was keen on joining forces with the Globe, Seer explains that the University of San Diego was granted the privi- lege because of his relation- ship to Furay, and also be- cause USD was very open to the Globe having a major say in

scholarship from USD (two of which are endowed by the Shileys) and a monthly stipend from the Globe. Darlene Shiley, herself a former actress and current chair of USD’s Board of Trus- tees, calls the program a boffo success and even takes personal pride in students’ accomplishments. “I get really excited when I go to the Globe and I see one of our kids up there,” she raves. “It’s like my own child.” Just getting into the pro- gram is an accomplishment. Out of hundreds of applicants each year, only seven are

theater — and I can say this with a certain amount of con- fidence — more than any other students anywhere in the country,” says Seer. Brogan says that this connection with The Old Globe is what led him to USD. “If you go to NYU or Yale or Julliard, F i r s t y e a r M . F. A . s t u d e n t B r i a n L e e H u y n h ( a t l e f t ) l a y s h i m s e l f o p e n emo t i o n a l - l y t o g r e a t d r ama t i c e f f e c t d u r i n g a mo n o l o g u e .

Marie Brown ’01 performed Shakespeare on a year-long tour with the American Shakespeare Center before joining the program. During that time, she realized the importance of classical train- ing. “On the tour, we weren’t from any school of thought when it came to Shakespeare or acting. I felt I was sur- rounded by a lot of immaturi- ty and bad habits as far as acting and performing goes, and I thought, ‘Wow, I’m not sure I know what good acting is anymore.’”

how the program was set up. “The university has been great through the whole relationship, and as a conse- quence the Globe has very much done its part too,” says Seer. “To my knowledge, we have probably the best rela- tionship in the country of a university to a professional theater.” Globe benefactors Donald and Darlene Marcos Shiley got the program on its feet by supplying a million-dollar endowment. Each student accepted into the program is awarded a full-tuition

selected, making this one of the most competitive M.F.A. programs in the country, with an acceptance rate of just 2 percent. That’s more cutthroat than Harvard Law. “It’s amazing to see how many people really want to get in,” says program coordi- nator Llance Bower. “We have students that turn down Yale, NYU — the top programs in the country — to come here.” Nearly all students enter the program with some pro- fessional experience in addi- tion to an undergraduate theater degree. This is impor-

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