SHSU - Department of Drama

News and Events

October 2006

October 7, 2006- The 50 th Anniversary Scholarship Gala was held in the University Theatre Center . The Gala commemorated the Department of Theatre and Dance's 50th anniversary. The Gala was a wonderful time for the department's Faculty, staff, students, and guests. The Gala raised a great amount for student scholarships and allowed patrons, both new and existing, to learn more about the department and mingle with faculty, staff, and the students, most importantly. If you are interested in making a tax-deductible donation, call 936-294-1329 for more information.

October 2, 2006- Michael York visited SHSU's Department of Theatre and Dance. He conducted a master class in the acting of Shakespeare on the University Theatre Center Mainstage. The workshop was well attended and gave students the opportunity to work with Mr. York and observe him working with others. Mr. York offered students valuable insight into the worlds of stage and screen acting.

Mr. York also held a public lecture in the Killinger Auditorium at the George Beto Criminal Justice Center. This lecture was also well attended by students, university faculty and the Huntsville Public. The lecture, titled, "Rogues and Vagabonds: An entertainment about actors and acting from past to present" included a book signing of Mr. York's current book, A Shakespearian Actor Prepares .

October 3, 2006- Michael York participated in a question and answer session, similar to "Inside the Actor's Studio". The Q&A was moderated by SHSU's Theatre and Dance faculty member Ron Song Destro.

Michael York's recent visit to SHSU was a terrific success. It was an experience that will be remembered by all and will certainly benefit everyone who participated.

MICHAEL YORK Biography

Audiences have long admired Michael York's versatility. With an impressive body of work over the past 42 years on screen, stage, television and with audio recording, this consummate performer still retains the fire for the actor's life that first blazed when he was a teenager in England .

After joining the National Youth Theatre and playing Shakespeare in London and Europe, York went on to Oxford University (where fellow performers included future Monty Pythons Terry Jones and Michael Palin) from which he graduated with an MA in English.

"Afterwards, I just knew I wouldn't be happy if I didn't give the profession a try," recalls York who, following a traditional stint in 'rep', joined Laurence Olivier's new National Theatre Company in 1965 in a production directed by Franco Zeffirelli. "A year later I got a call to audition for his film of "The Taming of the Shrew" with Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. Luckily, I got the role and with it this other label as a movie actor." York was also Tybalt in Zeffirelli's award-winning "Romeo and Juliet," and played John the Baptist in his landmark "Jesus of Nazareth."

York's more than 60 other screen credits include memorable roles in such films as Bob Fosse's Oscar-winning "Cabaret" opposite Liza Minnelli; "Something for Everyone" with Angela Lansbury, directed by Hal Prince; the all-star "Murder on the Orient Express," "The Last Remake of Beau Geste" with Marty Feldman; as D'Artagnan in "The Three Musketeers," as the title character in the sci-fi classic "Logan's Run;" and opposite Burt Lancaster in "The Island of Dr. Moreau." He even played himself in Billy Wilder's "Fedora."

Recent work includes "Borstal Boy", and all three "Austin Powers" movies. He also starred in both "Omega Code" films. His latest is "Moscow Heat", filmed in Russia and released in 2005.

His television work comprises over 80 credits that include "The Forsythe Saga," "Great Expectations," "Space," "The Heat of the Day," "A Knight in Camelot" with Whoopi Goldberg, and "The Lot" for which he was Emmy-nominated. Recently a guest in Larry David's HBO comedy series, "Curb Your Enthusiasm," he played D'Artagnan again in "La Femme Musketeer". He was recently seen in "Icon", also for Hallmark, and as a guest character on "The Simpsons" and in the 100 th episode of "Law and Order: Criminal Intent".

Broadway and regional theater credits include "Someone Who'll Watch Over Me," "Bent," the musical of "The Little Prince," "The Crucible", the world premiere of Tennessee Williams' "Outcry" and the title role in "Cyrano de Bergerac".

York 's distinctive voice is in constant demand, with over 70 audio book credits as varied as "The Book of Psalms," Carl Jung's "Memories, Dreams, Reflections," "The Vampire Lestat", and his own children's book, "The Magic Paw Paw." Grammy-nominated in 1996 for " Treasure Island ," he won an Audie Award for "The Fencing Master", and a 2000 Listen Up Award for "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe". He received an Audie Award nomination and an Audio File Earphones Award for "Creating True Peace", as well as an Audie nomination for "The Bounty". Recent recordings include "Goodbye to Berlin " (Audio File Award and APA Spoken Word Silver Award), "Seasons of the Heart" and "How Do I Love Thee?".

As well as presenting Shakespeare with music at the Kennedy Center , the Hollywood Bowl and with the Fort Worth Symphony, he has narrated William Walton's setting of Shakespeare's "Henry V" and played the title role in the world premiere concert performance of Walton's "Christopher Columbus." He was Peer Gynt in a concert version of the play with the Pasadena Symphony, and recently Salieri in a special version of "Amadeus" at the Hollywood Bowl. His recording of "Enoch Arden," the Tennyson/Strauss melodrama, with pianist John Bell Young, was released in 2003 and followed by several international concert performances.

His numerous travels have enabled York to indulge a hobby: "collecting anything to do with the theater, ballet and opera - costume sketches, scenic designs, the practical things." His wife Pat, the celebrated photographer, is his frequent traveling companion. Pat's photographs have been exhibited all over the world, including Moscow , New York , Belgium , London , Washington , D.C., Cologne and Basel . "Imaging and Imagining: the film world of Pat York" opened at LA's Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in September '03 and traveled to Prague and Mannheim . The two met in 1967 when Pat was assigned to photograph him. Married a year later, they have made their home in Los Angeles since 1976.

York also enjoys writing. "Dispatches from Armageddon: Making the Movie Megiddo" was published in January 2002. Prof. Richard Brown of NYU hailed it as "One of the most readable, literate, and insightful works ever written on the process of making movies." In 2001 he co-authored "A Shakespearean Actor Prepares" (with a longtime colleague, actor/director Adrian Brine) which the 'Spectator' magazine reviewed as "A triumph... the most illuminating study of the dramatist since Granville Barker's 'Prefaces'. It deserves to become a classic." A finalist in the Independent Publisher Book Awards 2001, this book followed his 1991 autobiography "Accidentally on Purpose" (British title: "Traveling Player") of which the Associated Press enthused, "Michael York inherits the mantle of his fellow countryman, David Niven, as a premiere storyteller." His new book is "Are My Blinkers Showing?" about filmmaking in the new Russia ("What a delight. York 's writing is gentle and elegant, his observations keen and strangely selfless. The kind of vision that ideally settles calmly over the ego after 40 years of practicing one's art. Ahh, the actor's life, well used." LA Times.)

He also lectures internationally -- on Shakespeare, the movies and the history and art of acting. His contribution to his profession has been recognized with the award of Britain 's OBE, France 's Arts et Lettres and a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

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