January 25, 2006

Metro President JoAnn McDowell teamed with playwright Edward Albee to organize an Alaskan theater festival before moving to Omaha. Reprinted with permission from the Omaha World-Herald.

Theater Event Will Lure Elite to Omaha

By Bob Fischbach
World-Herald Staff Writer

Reprinted with permission from the Omaha World-Herald.

Is this for real?

That was the reaction from many in Omaha's theater community upon hearing that several of America's premier playwrights and other Broadway luminaries will come to the city for a weeklong theater conference.

The list of writers coming to the first Great Plains Theatre Conference includes triple Pulitzer winner Edward Albee ("Three Tall Women"), Tony winner Terrence McNally ("Love! Valour! Compassion!") and Tony nominee Arthur Kopit ("Nine").

In addition, Oscar-winning actress Patricia Neal and Tony-winning director Lloyd Richards, who directed many of August Wilson's plays on Broadway, will be here. More big names are expected to sign on before the conference begins.

The conference, May 27 through June 3, will be on the Fort Omaha campus of Metropolitan Community College. Evening performances at the Holland Performing Arts Center, Omaha Community Playhouse and Joslyn Art Museum will feature Albee, Neal, Kopit, McNally and others.

It's for real, thanks to an accident of birth, hard work and a personal touch - all connected to Metro's new president, Dr. JoAnn C. McDowell.

After growing up on a dairy farm near Cherryvale, Kan., McDowell went to Independence (Kan.) Community College, just 10 miles away.

Independence is the home of Pulitzer-winning playwright William Inge, who wrote "Bus Stop," "Picnic," "Come Back, Little Sheba" and "The Dark at the Top of the Stairs." Inge also won an Oscar for the screenplay of "Splendor in the Grass."

"Howard in 'Picnic' comes from Cherryvale," McDowell said. "I know people just like those he (Inge) wrote about."

The same community college English teacher who taught Inge also taught Margaret Goheen, McDowell's English teacher. Goheen passed along her love of Inge and "lit the torch" for McDowell's love of theater.

But as a practical farmer's daughter, McDowell was taught not to look at theater as a way to make a living. Her bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees, all from Kansas schools, are in psychology and educational administration.

Inge committed suicide in 1973. Soon after, as director of development at Independence Community College, McDowell and others found the money to catalog Inge's papers and to create a center for the study of his works.

"We wanted to do something to bring attention to this collection of Inge's papers," McDowell said. Playwright Jerome Lawrence, co-author of "Auntie Mame" and "Inherit the Wind," suggested honoring a playwright each year.

Thus was born the William Inge Award and the college's William Inge Festival in Independence, Kan., which continues annually.

Great Plains Theatre Conference When: May 27 to June 3 Where: Fort Omaha campus, Metropolitan Community College. Evening events at several local venues Artists participating: Playwrights Edward Albee, Terrence McNally, Arthur Kopit; director Lloyd Richards; actors Courtney B. Vance and Patricia Neal Cost: $225 before May 12, $275 after. Student rate: $50. One-day passes: $50. Deadline: March 1 for original plays and for scholarly papers on the works of Arthur Kopit. Information: (402) 457-2415 or on the Web at www.mccneb.edu/theatreconference

Albee, best known for writing "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf," was honored at the festival in 1991. He clicked with McDowell, who by then was the college's president. When she became president of Prince William Sound Community College in Valdez, Alaska, in 1992, Albee offered to come for a playwriting festival, and he brought friends.

For 12 years in Valdez, McDowell and Albee organized and promoted the annual Last Frontier Theatre Conference to nurture young actors, directors and especially playwrights.

The list of participants is loaded with premier American playwrights: Arthur Miller, August Wilson, Lanford Wilson, John Guare, Paula Vogel, Tony Kushner, A.R. Gurney, Robert Anderson, Horton Foote.

On the directors list: John Tillinger, Scott Elliott, Mark Brokaw, Joseph Chaikin, Lawrence Sacharow, Joe Mantello.

Actors who came to Alaska include Paula Prentiss, Shirley Knight, Eva Marie Saint, Jean Stapleton, John Heard, Marian Seldes, Betty Buckley, Michael Learned, Courtney B. Vance, Chris Noth, Laura Linney, Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara.

None of these people is paid. It's their way of giving back, nurturing theater, and connecting with others who feel as they do about the stage.

The festival in Alaska grew from three days to 10. By its 12th year in 2004, it drew 900 participants and up to 250 scripts from writers hoping to be part of the playwrights lab.

McDowell said only the Humana Festival of New American Plays in Louisville, Ky., and the Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center's National Playwrights Conference in Waterford, Conn., rivaled it in size and prestige.

When McDowell told Albee she was considering a job in Omaha, he didn't say much.

But when she accepted the Metro presidency, she recalled, he said: "Omaha, they do my work there. They invited me there. (He spoke at a conference here in May 1988.) And we will have a better audience. When do you want me to come?"

Delighted, McDowell began planning the first of what she hopes are many Great Plains Theatre Conferences.

And once again, Albee will bring friends.

"It was very expensive to fly to Alaska and stay in a tourist resort," McDowell said. "We absolutely expect this festival to grow in Omaha. People can drive here. It's less expensive."

Writers already have submitted 30 plays for consideration. Planners field phone calls and e-mails daily. Last week, 21 community theaters in Omaha, Lincoln and the area received invitations to participate in the playwright labs and other aspects of the conference.

"We have a moment in time here that's magic," McDowell said. "I want to pass on that torch, the love for theater and the arts. A great teacher lit that torch for me. Passing on that baton is missionary work for me."

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Metropolitan Community College
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