Mayor Johnson's arts initiative comes to the Mondavi Center

For Art's SakeUC Davis is preparing to host a general meeting of For Art’s Sake, Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson’s art initiative.

Chancellor Linda Katehi is scheduled to give a welcome to the more than 100 people expected to attend the March 31 meeting at the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts.

“The Mondavi Center is a significant part of the regional arts scene, and as such is delighted to host the For Art’s Sake general meeting,” said Don Roth, the center’s executive director.

Roth is chairman of For Art’s Sake Film Committee, one of five committees. The others are deal with funding, facilities, marketing and arts education.

Mayor Johnson, elected in 2008, established For Art’s Sake last June for the purpose of creating a collective vision and direction for arts in Sacramento. According to the For Art’s Sake Web site, Johnson challenged citizens to be bold, work collaboratively and reinvent the way the arts are defined and supported in the community.

The general meeting is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. March 31 in the Vanderhoef Studio Theatre. Upon the meeting's conclusion, Roth said, participants will be given tours of the Mondavi Center.

8 UC Davis affiliates honored

Maggie Morgan, an associate professor in the Department of Theatre and Dance, is one of eight people with UC Davis theatre-dance and music connections to be nominated for 2009 San Francisco Bay Area Theater Critics Circle Awards.

The critics circle, comprising print and electronic media, gives awards in musical and drama categories, with each of those broken down by size of the performance venue: 99 or fewer seats, 100 to 300 seats, and more than 300 seats. The critics circle also honors touring productions.

Morgan's nomination is for costume design for Center Repertory Company's Enchanted April, in the drama category (100-300 seats). Walnut Creek's Center Rep received an "entire production" nomination for Enchanted April.

Mindy Cooper, a former Granada artist in residence in the Department of Theatre and Dance (spring 2007: director, Urinetown; and spring 2009: director-choreographer, Oklahoma!), received critics circle nominations for directing and choreography.

For directing, she was nominated for Center Repertory Company's Cabaret (100-300), which received an "entire production" nomination in the musical category. For choreography, she was nominated with Charlie Anderson for the Diablo Theatre Company's On the Town (301-plus); Walnut Creek's Diablo Theatre Company received an "entire production" nomination for On the Town, in the musical category.

Nominations also went to four recent theatre-dance Master of Fine Arts graduates:

• Robert Broadfoot, two nominations, both for set design, for The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, San Jose Repertory Theatre (301-plus), which received an "entire production" nomination in the musical category; and Cabaret, Center Repertory Company (100-300).

• Victoria Livingston-Hall, costume design, Cabaret, Center Repertory
Company (100-300).

• Susannah Martin, director, The Threepenny Opera, Shotgun Players (100-300); the Berkeley company received an "entire production" nomination for The Threepenny Opera, in the musical category.

• Hope Mirlis, principal performance, On the Town, Diablo Theatre Company (301-plus).

Recent UC Davis graduate and frequent Department of Theatre and Dance
performer Emma Goldin received a nomination for supporting performance in On the Town, Diablo Theatre Company (301-plus).

David Moschler, recent recipient of an M.F.A. from the Department of Music, received a nomination as musical director, The Threepenny Opera, Shotgun Players (100-300).

The awards are due to be presented May 3 in the lobby of the Palace of Fine Arts Theatre, San Francisco.

More information, including a link for tickets.