Monday, January 12, 1998
A&E Briefs
Musical theater program funded
UCLA will establish a musical theater program, thanks to a $2.5
million donation from the Gwen and Ray Bolger trusts. The fund
enables the School of Theater, Film and Television to create and
maintain the new major beginning next fall.
Ray Bolger, who died in 1987, spent six decades singing and
dancing in vaudeville and on Broadway but is best known for his
role as the Scarecrow in the 1939 film "The Wizard of Oz."
The gift will encourage students to follow in his theatrical
footsteps by providing training in acting, voice, dance and singing
as well as courses in world and American theater history, play
reading and critical analysis, theatrical design, and production
technology. The endowment is part of the school’s Campaign UCLA, a
private fund-raising program attempting to raise $30 million.
To qualify for the new program, students must be registered as
freshman in the UCLA Department of Theater in the fall of 1998,
following prerequisite courses, an audition and interview.
For information on how to apply to the UCLA department of
theater undergraduate program, call (310) 206-8441 or e-mail
fdesk103@emelnitz.ucla.edu.
Documentary series screening
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Academy
Foundation, and the UCLA Film and Television Archive’s first 1998
installment of the Contemporary Documentary Screening Series has
been rescheduled for Tuesday.
The three films to be screened are the 1997 Academy Award winner
for Documentary Short Film "Breathing Lessons: The Life and Work of
Mark O’Brien," the 1996 Gold Medal winner in the Student Academy
Awards "Independent Little Cuss," and "Without Pity: A Film About
Abilities" which was produced and directed by Michael Mierendorf
and narrated by Christopher Reeve. Mierendorf will attend the
screening and take questions from the audience.
All screenings in the Contemporary Documentary Series are free
and open to the public. For more information about the series, call
(310) 247-3600.
A peek behind the Oscars
Beginning Thursday, "Behind the Scenes at the Oscars," a
photographic exhibit featuring images from the last four Academy
Awards presentations, will go on display at the Academy of Motion
Picture Arts and Sciences.
The exhibition, located in the Academy’s Grand Lobby Gallery
through April 12, will be free and open to the public. For more
information, call (310) 247-3600.
The 70th Academy Awards, which will be produced by UCLA’s dean
of School of Theater, Film and Television, Gilbert Cates, will be
hosted by Billy Crystal and will be broadcast live on ABC March 23
at 6 p.m.