Faculty and Staff
Chair NDNU Theatre Arts Department, with NDNU since 1978. Michael has directed and produced over 250 stage productions at NDNU and throughout the Bay Area and Northern California. Recent NDNU: LYSISTRATA, 1940's RADIO HOUR, A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM, and the world premiere of the play version of Helen Prejean's DEAD MAN WALKING. January 2006: directed staged reading of PASSAGES OF MARTIN LUTHER KING at Stanford University. Michael has performed the role of Ebenezer Scrooge for 20 years in NDNU's A CHRISTMAS CAROL. Awards: George M. Keller Teaching Award for Teaching Excellence, The Sister Catharine Julie Cunningham Teaching Project Award at NDNU, Hillbarn Theatre BRAVO Award for Outstanding Service to the Peninsula Theatre Community, the City of Belmont's William Chapman Ralston Award for Outstanding Service to the Community. |
Professor Michael B. Elkins, M.F.A., Chair, Department of Theatre and Dance|
Recent NDNU: DEAD MAN WALKING, 1940'S RADIO HOUR, BLOOD WEDDING, ROOSTERS, LYSISTRATA. Creator and Producer of the NDNU Labor Day Theatre Festival; Lighting design and upgrades to scenery for the past seven years of A CHRISTMAS CAROL. Other design credits: Hillbarn Theatre, Coastal Rep. |
Professor R. Dutch Fritz, M.F.A., Theater Production and Stagecraft, Scenic Design, Lighting Design|
Coleen Lorenz is on faculty at Notre Dame de Namur University - Department of Theatre & Dance - and is the director of the NDNU Dance Minor. Coleen has artistically developed and directed NDNU Moves dance productions over the past eight years including: Evolution Through Motion, Dreams Made Flesh, Moving Through Illusion, Mosaic ‘n’ Motion, Poetic Motion, and Dancing Beyond: Uniting A Starving World. Coleen is also the choreographer for the annual NDNU production of A Christmas Carol – The Gift. Coleen is the Founder and Artistic Director of the New Ground Theatre Dance Company. This professional company is premiering its second storyline production as part of the NDNU Theatre & Dance Festival, and apprentices NDNU Dance Minor students by invitation and audition. She is also the director of the dance program at Notre Dame High School. Coleen received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees From UCLA in Dance Choreography/Performance, and Psychology/Dance Movement Therapy. She is a Reiki Master and a Board Certified Expressive Arts/Movement Therapist. Coleen has been a performance artist since the age of eleven; traveling both nationally and internationally as a gymnast and dancer. She has directed dance performances at UCLA and headed the UCLA Dance Team. Coleen was also the Founder and Artistic Director of the New Moves Dance Company in Ann Arbor, Michigan. During her time as faculty at University of Michigan, she received state funded awards for best choreography and creative design with her company’s piece Conflicting Emotions. Coleen performed in Songs of the Disinherited in 2008 with members of the San Jose Dance Company under the direction of Donald Mackayle. She also performed as a guest artist in Jose Limon’s The Winged with the San Jose Dance Company under the direction of Gary Masters and Maria Basile in 2009. She has worked as a choreographer for productions in Ann Arbor, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, including the musicals: Grease, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Bye Bye Birdie, Fiddler on the Roof, A Little Night Music, Much Ado About Nothing, Secret Garden and others. |
Coleen Lorenz, M.A., ADTR., Director, NDNU Dance program, Choreographer|
Has designed for opera, theatre, and dance companies including The Magic Theatre in San Francisco, the Berkeley Shakespeare Festival, and the Marin Theatre Company. Kate has also worked for the English National Opera in London and for the Long Beach Opera. She teaches theatre history, play writing, and costume and make-up design at NDNU. |
Katherine Irvine Mills, Costume Designer, DirectorVirginia Musante M.A., Lecturer: Children’s Theatre, Theatre In The Schools Has been teaching theatre and directing in the Bay area for over twenty-five years. She performed with Riot Squad and San Francisco Improv for many years in San Francisco. Virginia recently was awarded the 2007 BRAVO! Award for her dedication to bringing performing arts and its benefits to children’s lives and to the community through training in theatre and directing quality presentations. |
Will Springhorn M.F.A., Lecturer: Beginning Acting, Shakespeare, Stage Combat, directing coach KCACTF nominated students, Light Designer BA Theatre - University of Minnesota |
Ed Trujillo M..A., Lecturer: Playwriting to Performance BA St. Mary’s College-English, MA University of Washington-Theatre, University of Massachusetts-Post Graduate work in Theatre. Additional Training: Barie Rolf-Commedia ‘ dell arte, Marcel Marceau. Directing: Acting and lecturing with such professional companies as Seattle, Group Theatre, Black Arts West, Creede Repertory Theatre and Sonoma Valley Shakespeare and California Shakespeare Festival. Professional Organizations: California Educational Theatre Association Board Member, Chair of the Diversity Forum, Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Adjudicator, Latino Leadership Council Education-Chair, Not In Our Town Facilitator. Publications: Diversity Forum, editor-California Educational Theatre News,1999- |
Bruce Williams has been a professional actor for 34 years. A member of SAG, AFTRA, and Actors’ Equity, he has performed and produced commercials, industrials and television productions and has extensive theater experience as well. Bruce has been a long standing, faculty and core company member at the American Conservatory Theater (ACT), acting in more than 44 main stage productions and where for 12 years he was the director of the Studio ACT and Summer Training Congress professional training programs also teaching and directing extensively in the Master of Fine Arts program. He has also appeared on several other West Coast stages including the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the Magic Theatre, Berkeley Repertory Theater, California Shakespeare Theater, the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, the Eureka Theater, Theatreworks, the Marines Memorial Theater, and many others. He has also taught on a regular basis at Stanford University, Santa Clara University, the University of Hawaii, the Nancy Hayes Acting Studio, the Berkeley Digital Film Institute, and Notre Dame de Namur University. Previous directing duties at NDNU have included Much Ado About Nothing, You Can’t Take It With You, Hotel Paradiso, and Misalliance. This fall he will be directing The Beard of Avon by Amy Freed. Bruce is a member of the Board of Trustees for Theatre Bay Area and has a private practice teaching audition technique for the stage and camera. |
|
A veteran performer and production team member of NDNU's The Music of Dickens' A Christmas Carol, Mary joined NDNU as Administrative Assistant and has become invaluable both as a staff member, producer, performer and surrogate mom. She has much experience both as a performer for many regional and community theatres in the area, as well as a professional music career, and is a proud mother of an NDNU student and alum. |
Mary Hill, Dept Administrative Assistant, Assoc. Producer, Box Office Manager