Department of Theatre, Dance & Film

Faculty

Kate Ambrosini
Special Lecturer
M.F.A., Brooklyn College

Born the tenth of eleven children, Kathleen Moore Ambrosini, grew up in New York. Her performance career was launched at age 5, and she began to study professionally in her teens. Kate earned her Bachelor's Degree from Binghamton University, studying Meisner Technique under Tom Kremer, and then moved back to New York to study Method Acting with Penny Allen and Mark Zeller. While living in NY, she performed Off-Broadway, before completing a Master's Degree at Brooklyn College. She moved to Providence and performed at Alias Stage, Brown University, the Sandra-Feinstein Theater, The Granite Theater, and at Mechanics Hall in Worchester. In 1999, she became a Visiting Lecturer for Providence College. In 2002, she was hired at Brown University as an instructor in the Arts/Lit Program. Kate currently teaches at Providence College, Brown, and R.I.S.D.   In 2006, she was nominated at R.I.S.D. for the John R. Frazier Award. The Frazier Award is presented "in recognition of an exceptionally gifted faculty member." 

Her courses at PC include Acting, Public Speaking, Oral Interpretation, and Theatre Appreciation. 

David Costa-Cabral is a full-time Associate Professor of Theater at Providence College where he is the Resident Scenic and Costume Designer.  David received his M.F.A. in Theater Design from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.  His designs for the stage have included works for the Public Theatre, the New York International Fringe Festival, The Boston Conservatory and The Green Mountain Guild, The Walnut Hill School, The Boston Lyric Stage and many others.  Among his assorted design credits are The Tempest (Providence College), Follies (The Boston Conservatory), The Who's Tommy (The Walnut Hill School), Side Show (The Boston Conservatory) and A Little Night Music (The Boston Lyric Stage).

Courses that David Costa-Cabral teaches at Providence College are Theatre Appreciation, Intro. To Theatre Design, Intro. To Theatre, Dance & Film, History of Fashion and Costume, and American Musical Theatre.

Lindsay Craven
Choreographer, Teacher, Dancer - Jazz, Modern, Ballet
M.F.A., University of Arizona

Lindsay Craven is a dancer, choreographer, and teacher who currently resides in Warwick, Rhode Island. She is currently on faculty at Providence College where she teaches classes in ballet, jazz, and modern in addition to choreographing for Providence College's Dance Company.  Lindsay teaches Dance History, Choreography, and technique classes at Salve Regina University as well.  In the Spring of 2007 Lindsay established the Salve Regina University Dance Company.  She will remain artistic director of the company and continue to set works on the dancers.  Lindsay moved to Rhode Island in August of 2006, just months after completing her M.F.A. in Dance at the University of Arizona.  Her studies there were concentrated in choreography, research, pedagogy and biomechanics.  Lindsay taught beginning to advanced levels of jazz, modern, and theatre dance while at the University of Arizona. 

Lindsay grew up in Buffalo, New York and began her dance training in the area.  Her goal of becoming proficient in numerous jazz and modern styles led her to study with well-known dance artists across the country.  Some of her most influential teachers and mentors are: Tom Ralabate, Amy Earst, Sam Watson, Doug Neilson, Susan Quinn, and Michael Williams.  She was able to perform extensively with both her undergraduate (SUNY at Buffalo, where she was a member of Zodiaque Dance Company) and graduate programs in addition to her work with a number of companies and festivals throughout the East Coast. Her choreography has been featured at numerous venues across the country including university concerts, art festivals, and dance-related conferences. 

Lindsay teaches Ballet, Intermediate Ballet, Jazz, Intermediate Jazz, Intermediate Modern, and Dance for Musical Theatre at Providence College.

Mary G. Farrell
Director
Professor
M.F.A., Illinois State University

Mary G. Farrell is a Professor in the Department of Theatre, Dance and Film and head of the Acting Program at Providence College.  In the course of her tenure here, she has directed over 25 productions in the Blackfriars, most recently, Seagull (for which she received a CAFR (Committee on Aid to Faculty Research) grant to study at Chekhov's estate, Melikhove, near Moscow, Waiting for Godot and Picasso at the Lapin Agile.  Outside the College her work has been seen locally at the former Alias Stage (now Sandra Feinstein Gamm Theatre), Newgate Theatre, the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra Family Series and 1st Stage Providence, which she co-founded with Nancy Mundy.  She has been an active member of the American College Theatre Festival and has been invited to direct in their 10 minute Play Festival at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.  Recently, Prof. Farrell collaborated with PC alumnus Aidan Connolly ('92) on an adaptation of James Joyce's Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and directed its premiere at the Irish Arts Center in NYC.

Courses that Mary Farrell teaches at Providence College are Intro. To Acting, Acting Realism, Acting Improvisation, Acting Presentational Styles, and Children's Theatre and Creative Drama.

John Garrity has been a member of the Providence College Faculty since 1976. In his capacity as Managing Director of Theatre he is responsible for the administration of the production programs in the Department of Theatre, Dance and Film and for theatre facilities within the Smith Center for the Arts. John has worked at the Olney Theatre Center in Maryland, at the MCC theatre in New York and has directed over 30 plays at Providence College.  Some of the most recent of these include Amadeus, The Tempest, and Agnes of God.  In 2006 the Masterpool Foundation established a theatre scholarship fund at Providence College in Mr. Garrity's name.

John Garrity teaches Script Analysis, Directing, Seminar, and Production courses, and serves as a mentor to student directors.

Father Kenneth Gumbert is an Associate Professor of Film Studies in the Department of Theatre, Dance and Film.  Besides being a filmmaker, he is a painter and sculptor.   Father Kenneth Gumbert was born in Framingham, MA, attended Arizona State University, Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley CA, and University of Utah, where he received a masters degree in fine arts.  While in graduate school, he produced two documentary films that aired on PBS: "Ritual Ways" and "Between Two Worlds."  He won a Dore Schary award for human relations for one of these documentaries, "Ritual Ways."  In 1994, Father Gumbert served as a Production Assistant on the set of the film "Federal Hill," where he earned the nickname "Padre to the Stars."  In 2003, he created a documentary, "Saving Grace," which focused on religious persecution in the former Czechoslovakia.  Though originally shown on PBS, "Saving Grace" was also shown on the Providence College campus, and several film festivals since.  In 2005, Father won a Gabriel Award from the Catholic Academy for Communication Arts Professionals for this documentary.  Father Gumbert has been a professor of Humanities and has taught Philosophy, Art and Film at Providence College since his arrival here in 1992. 

Fr. Gumbert teaches History of Film (Classic and Silent Era), The Catholic Imagination of Four American Filmmakers (John Ford, Frank Capra, Alfred Hitchcock and Martin Scorsese), Film Video Production and Women in Cinema for the women's studies program, where we explore theoretical concerns of women who make and consume films.

David Harper
Musical Director and Conductor
M.Mus., Virginia Commonwealth University
M.Mus., Boston University

After completing his undergraduate work at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, David Harper went on to earn a Master of Music from Virginia Commonwealth University.  He continued his studies at Boston University, as Dean's Scholar, earning a second Master's degree from the School of Music in 1994, graduating with top honors.  He is a member of the Pi Kappa Lambda music society.  As a singer, he studied with Richard Cassilly; as a pianist, his teachers include Daniel Ericourt and Anthony di Bonaventura.  He has accompanied such illustrious Metropolitan Opera singers as Richard Cassilly and Patricia Craig in concert and has twice been chosen to participate in the prestigious Cleveland Art Song Festival where he worked with such artists as Warren Jones, Roger Vignoles, Olaf Bar and Sarah Walker.  David has held teaching positions at both Boston University and Rhode Island College, and is currently Coordinator of Vocal Studies in the Department of Music and Musical Director in the Department of Theatre, Dance and Film at Providence College.  At Trinity Repertory Theater in Providence, Rhode Island, David was musical director for the premier of the Richard Cumming opera, The Picnic and in 2004 he served as the assistant musical director for A Christmas Carol.  He has also done national tours of To Whom It May Concern by Carol Hall and A Child's Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas.  David was the musical director and conductor of Providence College's last season's Carousel, as well as the musical director for Brigadoon in 2005 and Merrily We Roll Along in 2002.

David Harper teaches Voice Class, Lyric Diction, Song Repertoire, Opera/Musical Workshop, Music in the Theatre, Music Appreciation, and Voice and Diction.

Wendy Oliver
Professor, Chairperson
M.F.A., Temple University
Ed.D., Columbia University

Wendy Oliver has an M.F.A. in dance from Temple University and an Ed.D. in Dance Education from Columbia University.  She has been teaching and choreographing at Providence College since 1985, and is the director of the PC Dance Company.  Before coming to Providence College, she performed with the Minneapolis-based company Contactworks, performing and teaching throughout the upper Midwest.  She is the past recipient of choreographic grants from the Minnesota State Arts Board and the National Endowment for the Arts.  Dr. Oliver is Chair of the Department of Theatre, Dance and Film, and also runs the Children's Dance program on Saturdays on the Providence College campus.  She is currently working with the Arts Learning Network to create and implement dance proficiencies for high school graduation throughout Rhode Island.  She has published two books and several articles, most recently "Reading the Ballerina's Body: Susan Bordo Sheds Light on Anastasia Volochkova and Heidi Guenther" in Dance Research Journal, and "Dance Proficiency in Rhode Islands, Opportunities and Challenges," in Journal of Dance in Education.

Wendy Oliver teaches Intro. To Dance, Modern Dance, Women in Dance and Sport, Women in the Arts, Children's Dance, and runs the Providence College Dance Company.

Jack Phelan
Adjunct Instructor
M.A., Ashford University

Adjunct Instructor of Film Studies, Jack Phelan earned his B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin and his M.A. from Ashford University in Clinton, Iowa.  He has worked extensively in the film and television industry for the past 20 years.  He recently produced and directed The Fifth String, a feature-length film based on one of his original screenplays, which has now won a number of awards including the Aurora Platinum Award for Best Digital Feature, The Communicator Crystal Award for Directing, The Cineplay Award for Outstanding Screenplay and the 2006 Best Narrative Feature Award at the WV Filmmakers Festival.  In 2007, Jack produced the award-winning documentary House of Dreams, which recently won the Golden Remi at the Houston International Film Festival.  Also in 2007, he produced and directed a new variety program for National Public Radio featuring U.S. poet laureate Donald Hall entitled Panorama.  His areas of expertise are in screenwriting, film production, and film history.

Jack currently teaches The Fundamentals of Screenwriting, History of Film-The Silent Era, Film & Video Production, Writing a Screenplay, History of Film-The Classic Era, and Advanced Video Production.  He is also mentoring independent student film projects and screenplays.

Courses that Father Powell teaches at Providence College are Theatre Appreciation, Oral Interpretation, History of Theatre Production, Public Speaking, Readings in Dramatic Lit, and 20th Century American Drama.

Maria Coppa
Senior Office Assistant

Maria was a Principal Secretary in the Admissions Office from 1988 to 1995, after which she worked as the Administrative Assistant in the Executive Office of the College working for the President, Executive Vice President, and Assistant to the President.  She was also the secretary to the Providence College Board of Trustees.  Maria performed her duties in the Executive Office from 1995 to 2005 when she came to the Department of Theatre, Dance and Film.

Spencer Crockett
Assistant Technical Director
B.A., Providence College

Spencer earned his B.A. in Theatre in 2004 from Providence College and completed additional courses in Design and Production at Rhode Island College.  Before he returned to PC in 2006, Spencer worked as Technical Director for LaSalle Academy and assisted with several Blackfriars Theatre Mainstage productions and student independent projects, working as a lighting designer, master electrician and technical consultant.  He has also worked as a Production Assistant at the Walnut Hill School, High Output, and East Coast Lighting and Production Services.

George Marks
Technical Director
B.F.A., University of Rhode Island

George Marks, Technical Director, received his BFA in technical theatre from University of Rhode Island in 1972.  He has been working at Providence College since 1997.  Previously, he worked as a carpenter and a master carpenter at Trinity Repertory Theatre.  He also served as Technical Director at Rhode Island College, and has worked in commercial and industrial mechanical contracting as well as residential construction.

Susan Werner
Production Office Assistant - Theatre

Susan comes to the theatre world from the visual arts.  She is a still life photographer, working with both found and constructed objects.  Her exhibition record includes solo and two-person exhibitions at the Wheeler Gallery (Providence, RI), The Print Center (Philadelphia, PA), Cornell University (Ithaca, NY) and abroad in Italy, in both Assisi and Rome.  During the years Susan lived in Rome, she taught photography for Temple University Rome, and for Cornell University's Program in Rome, and was a visiting artist for the Rhode Island School of Design's European Honors Program.  In 2004 she received a Merit Award in Photography from the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts.  In addition to her work in the studio, she is writing a novel.   

Maxine Wheelock
Costume Shop Supervisor

Maxine Wheelock, Costume Shop Supervisor, has worked at Providence College since 2005.  She has extensive experience in dressmaking, including work with Wood and Poplyk Costume Design, Costume World, Inc., Worcester Forum Theatre, and the Worcester Foothills Theatre.  She was the principal dressmaker for Showboat, produced by Papermill Playhouse in New Jersey, then filmed for PBS for their "Great Performances" series, which led to an Emmy nomination for costume design.  More recently, she ran her own business, Maxine's Custom Dressmaking, in Uxbridge, MA, where she specialized in wedding gowns, bridal parties, and theatre costumes.