Holy Cross Theatre Department Upgrades Facilities; Announces New Grant Program for Lighting Design Honoring the Late Jean Rosenthal

WORCESTER, Mass. – The theatre department at the College of the Holy Cross has opened a new computer design laboratory, and has also announced a new grant program for students working in lighting design. The new initiatives will help Holy Cross graduates compete in top graduate programs and to pursue professional design opportunities.

The new lab space, located on the fourth floor of O’Kane Hall, features design equipment that is both traditional (drafting tables and tools) as well as state-of-the-art (computers, digital drafting software, and printers) in one location. This integrated drafting and computer design facility will allow students to learn both theory and practical aspects of theatre design for the 21st century. Associate professor William Rynders, the theatre department’s technical director, has developed a computer design curriculum that utilizes the lab’s new features.

As a way to encourage students to pursue the study and practice of computer-assisted theatrical design, a new grant - the Jean Rosenthal Grant Program for Lighting Design - has been established by Sara Rosenthal, Jean’s niece, and Julie Prazich. Each year one rising senior who has demonstrated excellence in lighting design will be awarded the latest in theatrical lighting design software. The grant program honors the memory of Jean Rosenthal who was one of the foremost figures in the history of American theatre. A pioneer in her field, she designed lights for more than 400 productions including 80 different Broadway shows (The Night of the Iguana, West Side Story, Fiddler on the Roof, Becket A Taste of Honey). She was most known for her creativity, technical understanding, professionalism, and introducing side lighting to dance performance. She died in 1969 at the age of 57.

ABOUT THE THEATRE DEPARTMENT AT HOLY CROSS: A fully accredited member institution of the National Association of Schools of Theatre, the department offers students an integrated, pre-professional training program in a liberal arts environment. Five full-time professors and a range of part-time performance instructors offer courses and tutorials in a wide variety of disciplines, open to both majors and non-majors: acting, dance, and voice; Balinese performance; Shakespearean performance; directing and stage management; dramatic literature, and theatre history; costume, set, and lighting design; and film. The College’s theatrical season provides students with numerous performance and design opportunities. Each season, the department mounts two fully produced, faculty-directed main stage productions, two student-directed one-act festivals in the College’s experimental space, two evenings of Balinese dance and music, an annual student film festival, and an annual dance concert. In addition, the department supervises the student theatre organization, Alternative College Theatre, which produces a major musical and a comedy on the main stage. The intensity and range of productions provide numerous chances for student actors and designers to practice their crafts.