Vol. XXI No. 4
December 2005

Seeing Stars

To amplify a sentiment expressed by Carole Schweid in the October Letters to the Editor: I wonder why The Journal has such singular focus. For as long as I have been familiar with Juilliard publications, the majority of the alumni focus has definitely been on the "stars," which I believe sends the wrong message to the current student body. It also tends to be exactly the same people over and over again, which becomes dull. I know that many Juilliard alums like myself have forged successful careers in entertainment professions that may not be specifically the ones they studied at "the Yard." There is great validity in those choices too, and they were certainly made possible at least in part by the training they received while there. Wouldn't it be a good idea to cover them as well? Successful writers, producers, stage managers, and dare I say, even dialect coaches? Were it not for teachers like Edith Skinner, Timothy Monich, and Robert Neff Williams, I would have a very different life today. I also think suggesting the possibilities of some of these other career options to the student body might inspire a different perspective.

Jessica Drake (Drama, Group 10)
Los Angeles





The editor replies:

At a school such as Juilliard, which boasts an alumni roster that includes so many renowned performers, it becomes easy to fall into the trap of focusing on the well-known names to the exclusion of others. Being aware of this potential pitfall, The Journal has attempted to present more balance in our alumni coverage—though perhaps, as indicated by both Ms. Schweid's and Ms. Drake's letters, not successfully enough. For example, last year's Center Stage, our annual special alumni section, was devoted almost exclusively to Juilliard alumni who, as we said in its intro, have become "players of a different sort—running dance companies, orchestras, and theaters; shaping the films we watch and the recordings we listen to; managing artists; writing about the arts." And many of our Alumni Spotlight columns have focused on alums who have ventured into careers far afield from the performing arts (a woman who founded a chocolate company, another who became a sculptor, a man who became a Zen Buddhist priest). But obviously, we can do better, and we appreciate our readers voicing their concerns, which gives us a chance to re-evaluate our editorial decisions.
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