New Department Chair


10/07/2015

An exciting change has happened this semester! Daniel Rairdin-Hale graduated as a theatre major from St. Ambrose University in 2004 and now, in the year 2015, just 11 years later, he's the chair of the department! He's also directing our musical Parade - which is two and half hours long and has a cast of 26 - and let's not forget that he has a wife and three beautiful children. So how does he do it?

He said the people who have previously held this position are his inspiration, looking to former chair Dr. Corinne Johnson for advice. He also said "other chairs in other departments are a lot of help, and I look to them for guidance."

Professor Rairdin-Hale also will remind himself about all the exciting things that he will try to make happen. There are also things that are in the works already! (He couldn't tell me everything, so it's thrilling to know this is just the start!)

Excitement #1: The Year of Shakespeare next year! We are basing next year's season entirely off of Shakespeare. Students will get a year devoted to learning Shakespeare, doing Shakespeare, and thinking about Shakespeare on a daily basis. Rairdin-Hale is teaching an advanced acting class this semester in preparation for this project. The class is focusing specifically on Shakespeare to give these students a little taste into next year. "I've been talking with students and faculty members about what we can do," he said.

Excitement #2: He's putting together a proposal for a theatre acting classroom. "I've also been in conversation with the athletic department about possible sharing a room. It could serve as a dance/acting room. With the new athletic building coming in, we could could get something in the works very soon. I would really like to have a space dedicated to theatre classes that works for what we need it to do." That would also be great to work with other departments to share a space that works for both areas.

Excitement #3: New classes and opportunities. "We've gotten a lot of feedback from graduates saying an improv class would have been beneficial. So we're exploring how that could fit into the curriculum."

Excitement #4: Continuing what is already so great about the Ambrose theatre department. "I enjoy the student-driven work a lot, and I think that has room to grow. We have Fresh Face Revue, the directing one acts, and the studio theater series. These are areas doing really well that benefit the students so much. I would love to keep fostering those existing ideas and keep coming up with more ideas similar to that!"

We wish Professor Rairdin-Hale all the best as he takes on this mountain of activities.

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