Theater - Musical Theater (BFA)

In a video released Aug. 31, actor Will Smith surprised recent UArts alum Jabari Banks BFA '20 (Musical Theater) with a life-altering piece of news: Banks would be stepping into Smith's shoes to reprise his iconic role in a dramatic reboot of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. The news broke on the YouTube channel for NBC's streaming service, Peacock, where the new series will air, and in trade publications Variety and Deadline.

"From the deepest parts of my heart, I want to say congratulations to you," Smith told Banks in the video. "You have the role of Will on Bel-Air." 
 
Banks' background makes him the perfect fit to play Will, his first TV role. He lives in West Philadelphia, the birthplace of his celebrated character, and is an accomplished rapper, singer, songwriter and basketball player. In high school, Banks said, he encouraged his friends to dress up as cast members from the original show.

"I'm so ready," Banks said during the announcement. "I'm ready to bite down."
 
The new series, Bel-Air, received a two-season order in September 2020, according to Deadline. It's based on a viral concept trailer created by Morgan Cooper, who has been tapped to write, direct and executive produce the series. Chris Collins of The Man in the High Castle and The Wire fame will be Bel-Air's co-writer. The show is a product of Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith's Westbrook Studios and Universal Television. Quincy Jones and the original series' creators, Andy and Susan Borowitz, will also serve as executive producers.
 
When it debuted in 2019, Cooper's trailer was a stark departure from the original series' comedic tone, hinting at the serious trouble that forced main character Will to relocate to his aunt and uncle's mansion in Bel-Air. It has since racked up nearly 7 million views on YouTube. 

Announced as a "dramatic analogue" [sic] to the original sitcom, Bel-Air will fully flesh out Cooper's concept, tracing Will's complex journey to the ritzy, gated California community while exploring the conflicts and emotions surrounding it. The new series' hour-long format promises to deliver a bit more gravitas while maintaining the trademark swagger of the original 148 episodes.
 
Bel-Air will film in both Philadelphia and California. A release date has not yet been announced, but it is expected to debut in 2022.

Of almost two dozen nominees from UArts alone, four UArts theater professionals took home Barrymore Awards at the annual ceremony at the Bok Building. It was announced during the celebration on Monday evening, Oct. 14, that the following Brind School alumni, faculty and staff were given the highest honor for their work.

• Outstanding Leading Performance in a Play
  • Brandi Burgess BFA ’12 (Acting) for Cry it Out at Simpatico Theatre
  • Justin Jain BFA ’04 (Acting), and senior lecturer, for The Great Leap at InterAct Theatre Company
• Outstanding Supporting Performance in a Musical
  • Brett Ashley Robinson, Pig Iron graduate and senior lecturer, for The Appointment at Lightning Rod Special
• Outstanding Costume Design
  • LeVonne Lindsay, adjunct assistant professor and costume shop manager, for Gem of the Ocean at Arden Theatre Company
• Outstanding Musical Direction
  • Amanda Morton, senior lecturer, for The Color Purple at Theatre Horizon

The Ira Brind School of Theater Arts includes 60 instructors, the majority of which are employed as theater professionals. Alumni often return to UArts as educators and hold central roles in Philadelphia’s theater culture. 

“Brind School faculty and alumni always feature heavily, but this year is an exceptional crop,” David Howey, dean of the Brind School, says. “We are present in depth and breadth, through actors, singers, directors, writers, composers, musical directors and designers.”

The Barrymore Awards, established in 1994, are a nationally recognized symbol of excellence for professional theater in the greater Philadelphia region and are given annually by Theatre Philadelphia. This year’s winners each received a newly designed trophy—a 9-inch-high rectangular sculpture designed by Philadelphia artist Sharif Pendleton.

See the full list of award winners.

Congratulations to the almost two dozen UArts alumni, faculty and staff who are nominated for the 2019 Barrymore Awards, a nationally recognized symbol of excellence for professional theater in the greater Philadelphia region. The Barrymores are given annually by Theatre Philadelphia, an organization which nurtures local theater artists, fosters the creation of extraordinary work and forges stronger connections between Philadelphia’s art and audiences.

Awards will be announced at the 25th Annual Barrymore Awards Ceremony and Celebration on Oct. 14 at the Bok Building. The UArts nominees are:

Outstanding Direction of a Play

• Rebecca Wright (Indecent, Arden Theatre Company) - Adjunct Assistant Professor

Outstanding Leading Performance in a Play

• Brandi Burgess (Cry It Out, Simpatico Theatre) - BFA ’12 (Acting)

• Justin Jain (The Great Leap, InterAct Theatre Company) - BFA ’04 (Acting), Senior Lecturer

• Brandon Pierce (Kill Move Paradise, The Wilma Theater) - BFA ’12 (Acting)

• Leah Walton (Indecent, Arden Theatre Company) - Senior Lecturer

Outstanding Leading Performance in a Musical

• Sav Souza (Basic Witches, Hager Productions) - BFA ’18 (Musical Theater)

Outstanding Supporting Performance in a Play

• Anthony Martinez-Briggs (Kill Move Paradise, The Wilma Theater) - BFA ’13 (Acting)

• Jahzeer Terrell (Three Sisters, Two, EgoPo Classic Theater) - BFA ’15 (Acting)

• Rob Tucker (This is the Week That Is, 1812 Productions) - BFA ’04 (Musical Theater), Program Head (Musical Theater Minor), Visiting Assistant Professor

Outstanding Supporting Performance in a Musical

• Brett Ashley Robinson (The Appointment, Lightning Rod Special) - Pig Iron Graduate, Senior Lecturer

• Terran Scott (Minors, Lantern Theater Company) - BFA ’19 (Musical Theater)

Outstanding Scenic Design

• Colin Mcllvaine (Among the Dead, Theatre Exile) - Senior Lecturer

Outstanding Costume Design

• Jillian Keys (Treasure Island, Arden Theatre Company) - BFA ’11 (Theater Design and Technology)

• LeVonne Lindsay (Gem of the Ocean, Arden Theatre Company) - Costume Shop Manager, Adjunct Assistant Professor

Costume Shop Manager and Adjunct Assistant Professor, LeVonne Lindsay, was nominated for Outstanding Costume Design for  ‘Gem of the Ocean’ at Arden Theatre Company.

Outstanding Original Music

• Alex Bechtel (The Appointment, Lightning Rod Special) - BFA ’08 (Musical Theater), Pig Iron Graduate, Senior Lecturer

• Larry Fowler (Hype Man: A Break Beat Play, InterAct Theatre Company) - Senior Lecturer

• Jamison Foreman (The Monster in the Hall, Inis Nua Theatre Company) - BFA ’10 (Musical Theater)

Outstanding Music Direction

• Jamison Foreman (The Monster in the Hall, Inis Nua Theatre Company) - BFA ’10 (Musical Theater)

• Amanda Morton (The Bridges of Madison County, Philadelphia Theatre Company) - Senior Lecturer

• Amanda Morton (The Color Purple, Theatre Horizon) - Senior Lecturer

• Ryan Touhey (Once, Arden Theatre Company) - BFA ’09 (Musical Theater)

Independence Foundation Award for Outstanding New Play/Musical

• Erlina Ortiz (Morir Sonyando, Passage Theatre Company) - Senior Lecturer

• Alice Yorke with Eva Steinmetz, Alex Bechtel, Scott R Sheppard, and the ensemble / Music and Lyrics - Alex Bechtel (The Appointment, Lightning Rod Special) - Pig Iron Graduates, Senior Lecturers

F. Otto Haas Award for an Emerging Philadelphia Theatre Artist

• Dan O’Neil - BFA ’10 (Musical Theater)

The Ira Brind School of Theater Arts includes 60 instructors, the majority of which are employed as theater professionals. Alumni often return to UArts as educators and hold central roles in Philadelphia’s theater culture. 

“Brind School faculty and alumni always feature heavily in the Barrymore Award nominations, but this year is an exceptional crop," David Howey, dean of the Brind School, says. “We are present in depth and breadth, with actors, singers, directors, writers, composers, musical directors and designers. A special congratulations goes to Dan O’Neil for his nomination for the prestigious F. Otto Haas Award for an Emerging Philadelphia Artist.”

Above: Alum and Barrymore Nominee Terran Scott BFA '19 (Musical Theater) in the Brind School's 2018 Polyphone Festival production of 'Ancient Future' 

Photo: Paola Nogueras

Kym Moore, an innovative and imaginative leader, theater-maker and scholar who continues to demonstrate the interconnected power of creative disciplines to impact and shape our reality, will join University of the Arts as dean of the Ira Brind School of Theater Arts. Moore brings a passion and conviction that inspires joy, unity and drive within the artists, makers and creatives fortunate enough to work with her. Moore’s appointment will begin in January and concludes a nine-month national search for the future leader of the Ira Brind School of Theater Arts, which began in fall 2019.

Currently, Moore serves as full professor and director of undergraduate studies in Brown University’s Department of Theatre Arts and Performance Studies, where she has taught for more than a decade. As an educator, theater-maker and producer, she directs, devises and writes works that utilize the unique materials of theater to examine the multiple dimensions of human existence and seek to cultivate a “culture worth living in.” She is the co-founder/co-artistic director of the Antigravity Performance Project, which was founded in 2012 to challenge the boundaries of theatrical convention and forge new frontiers in performance-making. Moore and her collaborators recently completed their second residency at the Yale Center for Collaborative Arts and Media toward the creation of a transmedia performance installation, Do Eye Know You? which they plan to premiere in Philadelphia next season. As a director and producer, Moore has received numerous awards together with her collaborators, including the Salomon Award (Time’s Up!), the Pen and Brush Playwriting Award (The Date) and two Dorry Awards for Best Direction and Production of a Play (The Road Weeps, The Well Runs Dry).

“We set out to find a truly imaginative and future-focused leader who gets the relevance of art and creativity today, and how it can change our world,” says UArts President and CEO David Yager. “In Kym we have found that leader, and she also defies the boundaries between disciplines. She understands what creatives bring to our society and knows how we must prepare—the work we must lead—to be relevant and reflective of the world we live in. To say we are pleased to welcome Kym to UArts is a great understatement. I can say with confidence, and together with the Office of the Provost and the entire search committee, from her very first on-campus visit back in March, we all feel as though we are welcoming Kym home.”

“The thought of working collaboratively across disciplines to ‘advance human creativity’ is
beyond my wildest expectations!” says Moore. “Centering the arts as a primary contributor to the development of society has been my mission as an artist and educator from the very start. To find an institution filled with faculty, students, staff and administrators that share the mission is surely a dream come true. I’m thrilled to be coming ‘home’ to a place I didn’t know existed beyond that dream state.”

Throughout her career, Moore has taught acting and directing nationally and internationally at Swarthmore College, Hampshire College, SUNY Purchase, Sarah Lawrence College, Notre Dame University, Indiana State University, the Juilliard School, Carnegie Mellon University, the SIBIU International Theater Festival (Romania), and the Belgrade Theatre (UK), among many other organizations. Her course Acting Outside the Box: Considering Race, Class, Gender & Sexuality in Performance has also been taught nationally and internationally, including at the National Theater Institute/Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, NYU Graduate Acting, University of Oklahoma/Norman, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Columbia University and the Juilliard School. Moore is a graduate of the State University of New York New Paltz (BA) and University of Massachusetts Amherst (MFA). She is an associate member of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers, and a member of the Lincoln Center Directors Lab and the National Alliance of Acting Teachers.

Moore will assume leadership of University of the Arts’ theater programs, originally founded by Walter Dallas in 1983 and which became known as the Ira Brind School of Theater Arts in 2009. The school comprises four undergraduate degree programs and two graduate programs in partnership with Pig Iron Theater Company. The Ira Brind School of Theater Arts is one of seven schools at University of the Arts that span art, dance, design, film, music and theater.

Moore will succeed current Dean David Howey, who has announced his retirement after 24 years of outstanding service to University of the Arts as a faculty member, program head and dean. Moore’s appointment concludes a nine-month-long search process, charged by the Office of the Provost and led by a search committee comprising a truly interdisciplinary team of faculty and staff.