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Few planning sessions for Center Stage have been as impassioned as the one for this year's edition. While we explored the theme of "pop culture," both the definition of the term and the names of Juilliard alumni who might represent it were elusive. How would the alums who are mavens of what we are calling "pop" react to this label? Would they feel "outed" to the Juilliard (read "classical") community? And would you, the reader, be engaged by the topic? We hope you will see from this year's edition of Center Stage, our fifth, that pop culture is a very serious pursuit of many highly trained and committed artists. Their connection with this art form is genuine. They prove that there is room for both "pop" and "classical" in the psyche of a single performer. In short, they excel at "pop" for its own sake and set all definitions aside.
— Jamée Ard,
Director of National Advancement and Alumni Relations
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Two Worlds—or One?
By MARGARET SHAKESPEARE
More and more, the lines between “classical” and “pop” are getting blurrier. Indeed, many Juilliard alums—like Shelly Watson and Kate Rigg (photo)—shuttle comfortably back and forth to both arenas. What exactly is going on these days in the world of the performing arts? Or is that worlds? Are they colliding? Coexisting? Complementing and entwining? More...
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Lunch With Alum
By ANNA O’DONOGHUE
You would think that someone with such a fast-paced, packed résumé as Stephen Schwartz’s would be fairly imposing. But on November 16, when the Broadway composer/lyricist entered a room full of Juilliard students eager to have “Lunch With an Alum,” he brought a low-key directness, answering our questions with the dexterity of a professional wordsmith. More...
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Spotlight on Jed Rubenfeld
By HEIDI TORVIK
Jed Rubenfeld (Drama, Group 13) studied acting at Juilliard and law at Harvard. But now Rubenfeld has a new title tacked to his name: novelist. After never having written a page of fiction in his life, the 47-year-old deputy dean of Yale Law School wrote a novel titled The Interpretation of Murder (Henry Holt and Co., 2006). It made its debut in September on the Wall Street Journal’s best-seller list and has been among the most talked about books of the fall season. More...
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Spotlight on Paul Dowling
By JANE RUBINSKY
In the high-tech world of forensic science, just one clue can point investigators in the right direction. True-crime buffs can find out how experts put all the pieces together in the dramatic show Forensic Files, which airs six nights a week on Court TV and is watched in 142 countries. The creator and executive producer of Forensic Files is Juilliard alumnus Paul Dowling (BM ’75, MM ’76, percussion), who followed a number of clues himself on the path to creating and refining this popular phenomenon. More...
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Q&A With Bennyroyce Royon
By EMILY REGAS
Life after Juilliard has been quite busy for recent dance graduate Bennyroyce Royon. In addition to appearing with the Metropolitan Opera Ballet this season, his interest in choreography has prompted him to launch his own dance production company, Bennyroyce & Company. He is working on a collaborative dance film project that he hopes to release in late spring or early summer, to coincide with workshops at the New York Institute for Special Education, a school for disabled children. In a short interview, he talks with Emily Regas about the project. More...
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