THEATRE FACULTY & STAFF
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Rebekkah Meixner Assistant Professor of Theatre Theatre Department Coordinator Stage Lighting, Scene Design, Theatre Appreciation, Stage Makeup, Costume Construction, History of Theatre Office: OG 184 Phone: (812)941-2653 e-mail: rmeixner@ius.edu Prior to joining the Indiana University Southeast theatre family in the Fall of 2005, Rebekkah worked as a successful Properties Master for numerous regional theatres throughout the Northeast. When not being a Properties Master she has built a career around working in various technical theatre positions and Theatrical design. Rebekkah obtained her Masters in Fine Arts for theatre design and production from the University of Louisville and holds her B.A. from the State University of New York at Oswego. Memorable design credits include; My Name is Tracy, Bust Stop, Proof, Sweet Bird of Youth, Noises Off, among many others. Regional Technical Theatre Credits Include: Bunbury Theater in Louisville KY, University of Louisville in Louisville KY, New Harmony Theatre in Evansville IN, Worcester Foothills Theatre in Worcester MA, The Boston Conservatory of Music in Boston MA, Merry-Go-Round Playhouse in Auburn NY, as well as others. |
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Herbert Caldwell Visiting Assistant Professor of Theatre Stagecraft, Theatre Appreciation Office: OG 184 Phone: (812)941-2666 e-mail: hcaldwel@ius.edu |
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Jim Hesselman Assistant Professor of Theatre Acting, Directing, Movement for the Theatre Office: OG 068 Phone: (812)941-2227 e-mail: jhesselm@ius.edu Jim Hesselman is an actor/director/playwright from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, who has made the Kentuckiana area his home for over twenty years. In that time he received his MFA from the University of Louisville, where he directed last season’s production of Urinetown, and currently teaches a course in Musical Theatre. Jim has acted in, written and/or directed over one hundred and fifty productions at Derby Dinner Playhouse and runs his own Production Company, Theatre Island Productions. He has performed all over the country, including almost two years on the road playing Billy Crocker opposite “Days Of Our Lives” diva Gloria Loring on the National Tour of Anything Goes. Jim has also been Producing Artistic Director of both the Shawnee Summer Theatre and Music Theatre Louisville and has written fourteen children’s musicals, a gospel musical called Celebrate, and co-written the gospel musical comedies, Peace In The Valley and Sing Hallelujah! which broke box office records at Derby Dinner Playhouse this past September. As an actor, Jim most recently toured in the 20th Anniversary of the original Nunsense starring Kaye Ballard, Lee Meriwether, Georgia Engel, Mimi Hines and Darlene Love. That experience yielded some wonderful friendships and began yet another career turn as an author. His memoir with Ms. Ballard, How I Lost 10 Pounds In 53 Years was published last September and he is currently finishing up work with Lee Meriwether on her biography and a manuscript with television pioneer, I Love Lucy and Bewitched director, William Asher. |
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Ramona Morris Adjunct Lecturer in Theatre Playwriting Office: OG 058 e-mail: rmorris@ius.edu Ramona L. Morris received her MA from Southern Illinois University. This is her third year at IU Southeast where she teaches playwriting, theatre appreciation, and theatre history. She resides in New Albany with her two children. |
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Dru Pilmer Adjunct Lecturer in Theatre Acting, Movement, Voice Office: OG 058 Voice mail: (812) 941-2100 ext. 6515 e-mail: dpilmer@ius.edu Since she began teaching at IU Southeast in the fall of 1998, Dru Pilmer has taught Acting, Voice for the Actor, Movement for the Actor, and private voice lessons. Local TV stations have also sought her skills as a voice teacher to coach on-air personalities. She also teaches for Shakespeare and Company’s (of Massachusetts) Weekend Intensive workshops held annually in Louisville. She teaches for the Kentucky Shakespeare Festival’s Camp Shakespeare summer program; and she has taught for the Arts Council of Southern Indiana’s Kids Culture Club, Jefferson County School Teachers music teachers Professional Development Seminar, IU Southeast’s Arts Institute, the University of Louisville, Spalding University, Jefferson Community College, and Bellarmine College. Ms. Pilmer has trained with Second City’s Martin de Maat of Chicago and Gary Izza of Disney, in improvisational acting, and was a member of The Louisville Improvisors for 3½ years. At the internationally renowned Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, Massachusetts, she studied extensively for many years with teachers from the Royal Shakespeare Company, London’s Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, Yale, New York University, and California School of the Arts, to name a few. Dru Pilmer is one of a limited number of designated Linklater Voice teachers, having trained with New York’s Kristin Linklater. As a Linklater Voice teacher, she has served as voice coach for several local productions, she teaches private and university voice classes, and has led voice workshops both in Louisville (for U of L’s First Harvest Festival and for Massachusetts’ Shakespeare & Company Intensive Weekend) and at the Florida School of the Arts. Ms. Pilmer’s directorial credits include A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Boys Next Door at IU Southeast, Kate & Isabel with The Pleiades, How Long Have I Been Dead Anyway? for the 1999 Pleiades Stars of the Future New Play Festival, and Sylvia at Bunbury Theatre. Additional acting credits include the following—Regional Theatre: Four seasons with Nebraska Theatre Caravan’s West Coast tour of A Christmas Carol, Oklahoma Shakespearean Festival, Southern Appalachian Repertory Theatre in North Carolina, Sterling Renaissance Festival in New York, and Lexington Children’s theatre. Local Theatre: Pleiades, Bunbury Theatre, Juneteenth Festival at Actors Theatre, Boathouse Troupe, Kentucky Shakespeare in the Schools, Pegasus Rising, and Kentucky Contemporary Theatre. Film: a recent, yet-to-be named film produced by Archie Borders, After the Big One, and Life. Additional Credits: Radio voice work, T.V. commercials, professional portrait and abstract artist, and the design of her own house. |
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Ken Atkins Office Administrator Office: OG 051 Phone: (812)941-2655 e-mail: kewatkin@ius.edu Kenneth W. Atkins received his Bachelor of Music degree in Music Composition from DePauw University where he also served as president of Duzer Du, a collegiate dramatic honorary society and appeared in several theatrical productions. An alumnus of New Albany High School, he was a member of the NAHS Student Theatre and a founding member of Student Theatre & Company - a semi-professional summer stock theatre affiliated with the New Albany High School Theatre Department where he served as both actor and music director. Favorite roles include the title character of Argan in Molière's The Imaginary Invalid, Sheridan Whiteside in The Man Who Came to Dinner, Ralph in All The Way Home, Charlie in On Golden Pond, Finian in Finian's Rainbow, Horace Vandergelder in The Matchmaker, Rev. Dr. Hale in The Crucible, Albert in Hobson's Choice, and Rev. Dr. Lloyd in Life With Father. |
