In the fall of 1977, Jimmy Carter was president. NASA launched the Voyager I fly-by mission past Jupiter and Saturn. “The Mary Tyler Moore” show earned an Emmy for outstanding comedy, and the Atari 2600 gaming system went on the market. The Emotions’ “The Best of My Love” hit number one on the pop charts.

It was also the year Baltimore native Teresa Kearney entered UMBC as a dance major. But her route to a dance degree has been circuitous. She anticipates graduating in 2025.

From the classroom to the dance floor

At Walbrook High School in West Baltimore, Kearney danced under the direction of Beverly Marshall Johnson, who she still keeps in touch with today. As a young dancer, she performed regularly on TV channel 45’s “Soul City” (later renamed “Moonman Connection”)—a teen-dance show akin to the beloved “Soul Train” and “American Bandstand.” Kearney was accepted to UMBC with scholarships but, after two years, she heeded the call of Hollywood and decided to take a chance on professional dance opportunities on the West Coast.  

 By 1979, Kearney and her dance partner were regulars on the competitive social dance circuit. “We were getting really popular, my dance partner and I,” she says. “We got a chance to go to Hollywood and be on ‘Dance Fever’ and compete from state to state, city to city. We made our living in dance for a long time.” 

Kearney held onto the goal of a UMBC degree for decades as life intervened. In between, she took on acting roles, was an instructor for LaBlast Fitness under Louis van Amstel of “Dancing with the Stars,” graduated from the Broadcasting Institute of Maryland for air talent for radio and TV, including an FCC license, sold insurance and real estate, and helped put her nephew through medical school, to name a few of her jobs and activities. “Then my mother, Lillie Kearney, passed away three years ago. She was also a dancer, and I thought this is the time for me to go back to college,” she says. “It was on my bucket list.”   

Keeping the standard

As a long-time professional dancer—who never actually retired—Kearney continues to challenge herself by learning new techniques and styles. And she’s worked hard to re-train her body after decades dancing in heels on Latin and social dance circuits. “I’m still learning,” she says. “There’s a contemporary African dance class required now for all dance majors. For a two-and-a-half-hour class, it’s very energetic. And even though I’m 65, we all have challenges in that class,” she notes of her younger classmates.

Ballet instructor Alison Crosby could see Kearney was working hard, and says, “Teresa made it easy for me to keep the standard of the course, because she asked for no changes, asked for nothing to be different.” Plus, by showing up on time, preparing her body with gentle stretches to warm up her muscles and feet, and finding her place at the barre, Kearney modeled the appropriate dancer’s discipline that is expected in professional classes and rehearsals. 

“Her experience in dance is wide and professional,” Crosby adds, “and she modeled the discipline and respect for coming to ballet class.” As an instructor, Crosby noticed how easily Kearney connected with her much younger classmates. “Teresa was involved with even the first-years. They all saw Teresa with great respect.”

In fact, Kearney shares that her classmates in the dance program often seek her out for advice or just a listening ear. She’s noticed that these students face far more self-doubt and pressures than she did when she was a student in the 1970s.

“Last semester, I was talking with a group of students,” Kearney recalls. “We were overwhelmed with classes and how hard it is. I said, ‘Wait a minute. We’re here getting a degree….We’re here to learn even when it’s hard.’” 

“Once in a while,” Crosby says, “I’ll ask a student to show something as a positive model for the rest of the class. I asked Teresa…she just was dancing and using her eyes and her head so beautifully—everything she’d learned through her dance life. It’s still in her—that artistry through all the years and her different careers—her artistry has just stayed with her.”

By Lisa Traiger

When asked to describe the cinematic masterpiece that is Cocaine Bear, Scott Seiss ’16, media and communication studies, didn’t mince any words to deliver his thoughts on the hit film based on true events.

“I think ‘cocaine’ and ‘bear,’ just those two words pretty much sum it up. A wild rollercoaster ride of gore and jokes.”

What started as a Facebook message to then-agentless Seiss’ spam folder with the suspicious but apt subject line “COCAINE” has led to a debut on the silver screen and launched this Retriever from Dundalk onto the national comedy stage.

Bear for now, dog for life

Seiss, who plays the ill-fated paramedic Tom in Elizabeth Banks’ recent romp, Cocaine Bear, credits much of his comedic career to the opportunities and support he got while attending UMBC.

“There were a lot of things that came from UMBC that I think really just helped me along the comedy journey and gave me a lot of confidence and experience and skills that I might not have necessarily had going somewhere else,” says Seiss.

At this point in his career, there are a few places you may have seen Seiss—on stage performing with Dog-Collar Comedy Troupe (he was a part of the founding group at UMBC 10 years ago), on TikTok with his viral “Angry Ikea Guy” series, or opening for the likes of Patton Oswalt (on tour in 2022) or for Bo Burnham at UMBC in 2014. (At the time he thought, “Well, I’ve peaked. This is the coolest thing I’ll ever get to do in comedy.”)

Seiss got his start on UMBC’s Flat Tuesdays stage and then started bouncing around Baltimore to begin his stand-up journey. He eventually moved to New Jersey, pursued stand up in New York every night, and then the pandemic happened. That’s when he turned to TikTok. Drawing on his own experiences in customer service, Seiss soon amassed a massive following and, once a compilation video of his hits started making the rounds, Hollywood took notice.

Seiss explains, “Elizabeth Banks and her husband and producing partner Max Handelman saw the videos and loved them, thought they were funny, and they were like, ‘We got to see this guy screaming for his life.’”

Retriever skills on the silver screen

They got their money’s worth from Seiss’ shouts. On set, he says, “I had to do one day of all screaming, where I was just screaming and getting attacked.” He credits Lynn Watson, theatre, for his vocal technique. “I did all the stuff that she had taught me, the Fitzmaurice diaphragmatic breathing, tremors, all this kind of stuff, to be able to project and scream. I never lost my voice.”

In fact, Seiss often thought of advice he got from UMBC while filming. “Eve Muson, who is the best acting professor of all time, is also the best acting coach of all time. It was always her voice in my head when I was acting. I could just hear her saying, ‘Don’t pretend to be afraid of the bear, be afraid of the bear.’ That was one of her go-tos: don’t pretend, actually do it,” says Seiss. “So, every time I did a take on Cocaine Bear, I would just go back and I’d go, ‘Oh my God, would Eve have liked that?’ That was my barometer for if it was good.”

It’s a mutual admiration for Muson. “I loved working with Scott when he was a student here at UMBC. He was my assistant director for our epic production of Rhinoceros. Scott was our chief script doctor—every night I would send him home with notes to update this classic work of political theatre,” said Muson, who has been at UMBC since 2009. “Every day he’d come in with really funny gags and jokes for the actors to try out. I’m delighted (but hardly surprised) that Scott’s considerable comedic talents are being recognized by his TikTok following and now the film industry.”

The mentorship he received from the UMBC faculty played a huge part in his success. “Jason Loviglio from media and communications is just incredible. He really encouraged me when it came to comedy, specifically,” remembers Seiss.

Seiss also attributes some of his comedy prowess to his peers, including the other performers in UMBC’s Dog-Collar Comedy Troupe. “It was just nice being around such a creative and funny and supportive group of people who just wanted to push each other and try to be as funny as possible,” says Seiss.

Sitting down to write for stand up

Cocaine Bear may have wrapped, but fans looking for more can catch him in Randall Park’s directorial debut, Shortcomings, which premiered at Sundance earlier this year. He’s also working on new content for his stand-up tour.

“My writing style is pretty chaotic. Sometimes I’ll sit down and try to go through some sort of free-write exercise to pull an idea out, and then sometimes it’s just like you’re walking around, you get an idea,” says Seiss.

For any budding creatives looking to break into the business, Seiss says, “The most important thing is that you have to make your own stuff and you have to show people that you can do it before they will start letting you.”

Well, that and always check your spam messages on Facebook (proceed with caution).

A group of UMBC theatre alumni have something to say about life in the arts, and they’re saying it with a new Baltimore-based web series, B.F.A.

On the group’s Indiegogo fundraising page, they explain the series:

B.F.A. is a new web series about young theatre artists in Baltimore. B.F.A. stands for Bachelor of Fine Arts, but also many other things, including Baltimore, Friends, and Artists. In B.F.A., four recent college graduates are trying to find their niche in the Baltimore theatre scene when Ryan, a friendly nemesis from school, returns home after a successful stint in “the biz.” As Ryan tries to make himself at home in a place he is unwelcome, his new habits learned while on the road follow, shaking up the lives of his begrudging roommates and old friends. A web of romances, friendships, and business partnerships intertwine as these 20-something artists attempt to navigate through post-college life in Charm City.

The series is being written, acted, directed and produced by a cast of alumni including Katie Kopajtic ’11, acting; Sean McComas ’11, acting; Kiirstn Pagan ’11, theatre; Katie Hileman ’12, acting; David Brasington ’12, acting; Anderson Wells ’13, acting; and Jessica Poole ’13, acting. 

They’ve already produced the first episode of B.F.A. and held a screening party at the Creative Alliance in June. They are currently working to raise money for the production of the remainder of the the first season. As they explain on Indiegogo, they believe that the series will “change the way people view Baltimore. B.F.A. will not only give jobs to young creative professionals in the Baltimore area, it will promote the arts in Baltimore to a large population of people who are unaware of the exciting emerging independent theatre and art.”

Learn more about B.F.A. and the group of UMBC alumni behind it.

Every so often, we’ll chat with an alum about what they do and how they got there. Today, we’re talking with executive director of Young Playwrights’ Theater, Brigitte Pribnow Moore ’05, theatre, about what it’s like to combine multiple interests and skills into one awesome career. 

Name: Brigitte Pribnow Moore
Job Title: Executive Director
Employer: Young Playwrights’ Theater
Scholarships Received at UMBC: UMBC University Fellow 2001-2005

Q:  Tell us a little about how you wound up at UMBC. What’s your background?

I came to UMBC from a small town in Connecticut. I knew I wanted to study theatre, and I heard that UMBC’s BFA in Acting program was a “hidden gem.” I came out for an audition and I fell in love. The year I started at UMBC, the theatre department was a small program with a brilliant faculty providing rigorous artistic training, and producing innovative, high-quality performances with fairly limited resources. It has been such a joy watching UMBC’s theatre program grow in resources and recognition over the past decade, and the new Performing Arts and Humanities Building is a beautiful addition to the campus. I am so excited to see what future theatre students create and share in that space.

Q:  You’ve been able to combine multiple loves/skills into a career. How did you figure out that you wanted to do all those things, and do you have any advice for other folks who find themselves with multiple, diverse career interests?

I left UMBC with an incredible artistic education, but I also had the opportunity to explore a wealth of liberal arts courses outside my department. I spent my time at UMBC completing my theatre degree, but I also took classes that ranged from political science, to film history, to statistics, to non-western civilizations. I participated in volunteer and part-time work outside UMBC that complemented my interests, serving on political campaigns and writing and editing a weekly newsletter for a statewide advocacy organization. When I graduated, I did not have a solid career plan, but I had a rich and varied academic foundation, a network of community contacts in Baltimore and DC, and a strong sense of the impact I wanted to have on the world. I didn’t leave UMBC with a career goal. I left with a mission. And that mission carried me through almost a decade of diverse jobs that included working on union organizing campaigns, serving as the legislative director for two Maryland state delegates, and, ultimately, running Young Playwrights’ Theater.

My advice for other folks with a variety of interests: don’t put yourself in a box. Dive deep and excel in your major, but dare to take classes outside your discipline, and to engage boldly with the rich and diverse off-campus community that surrounds UMBC. Also, wait on grad school until you have worked for a few years and know exactly what, if anything, you need to learn to succeed in your career. If you’re like me, you may not be where you expected, and your evolving interests and needs may surprise you.

Q:  Tell us about your career. Were there any lessons you learned, in particular, at UMBC that you carried with you into your work?

I currently serve as the Executive Director of Young Playwrights’ Theater, a DC-based nonprofit that uses the arts to inspire young people to realize the power of their own voices and stories. I feel incredibly lucky to have found myself in a career that allows me to make a living doing something I love, and my time at UMBC was instrumental in helping me to discover and pursue and my dreams. The study of theatre is, at its heart, the study of what it means to be human – to relate and connect with others and to ponder and pursue one’s place in the world. My classes taught me a great deal about the art of theatre, but they also taught me the art of empathy, critical and analytical thinking, and persuasive communication. I left UMBC with an intellectual and interpersonal toolkit that helped me in every professional task I took on – from writing an impactful speech for a political candidate, to inspiring a donor to support a cause, to effectively leveraging the talents of a professional team.

Q:  Is there a particular class or professor who really inspired you?

All of them? Seriously, the UMBC theatre department employs such brilliant, talented, and caring instructors. I felt privileged to know and learn from each of them. I did have a particularly inspiring experience in a directing class I took with Christopher Owens. I learned so much about the power of good stories, and I discovered that I was happiest and most comfortable in artistic and professional roles that allowed me to direct people and resources toward a big picture vision. That class was transformational for me.

Q:  What advice would you give to students considering UMBC?

Pull your application materials together and send them along. UMBC is special place with a wealth of opportunities to learn and explore with gifted, caring professors and a diverse, talented community of students. You won’t regret your decision.

Maryland House Speaker Pro Tem Delegate Adrienne Jones ’76, psychology, toured the new Performing Arts & Humanities building this morning along with UMBC president Dr. Freeman Hrabowski and others.

“It is clear that our governor and other state officials understand how important this project is for our campus.  And the leadership of our alumna, Del. Jones, was pivotal in ensuring the building’s completion,” said Dr. Hrabowski.

The first phase of the building will open in Fall 2012; the second phase will open in 2015. Read more about the PAHB here.

(L-R): UMBC architect Joe Rexing, Patty Carper (Whiting Turner), Dr. Freeman Hrabowski, Del. Adrienne Jones ’76, Michael “Mickey” Miller (University of Maryland, Baltimore), and Ron Brown (University of Maryland, Baltimore). Photo by Michelle Jordan ’93.

Read more alumni stories on Retriever Net.

UMBC’s Department of Theatre takes center stage at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts – and extends the university’s impressive legacy in college theatre’s biggest annual festival.

By Richard Byrne ’86

Washington, D.C. – It’s 7 a.m. and a pickup truck pulls up outside the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts as the purples and pinks of a May dawn fade into morning daylight. Inside the truck is the entire set for the UMBC Department of Theatre’s production of Lynn Nottage’s play Las Meninas.

It’s going to be a big day for the students, faculty and staff gathered at this early hour to prepare for UMBC’s appearance at the American College Theatre Festival (ACTF). But before the cast performs before a sold-out Terrace Theatre 13 hours from now, there’s a truck that needs to be unloaded. And a set to build. And a show to rehearse. And all of it accomplished on an unfamiliar stage.

The first hurdle has already appeared. A broken freight elevator means that the pieces of associate professor of theatre Elena Zlotescu’s dynamic set must be taken up bit by bit through the Kennedy Center’s standard elevators.

Greggory Schraven ’97, the department’s technical director, is already rallying his bleary-eyed troops from the back of the pickup truck. “God gave you muscles as well as good looks,” Schraven says to one student without a piece of the set in hand.

Director Eve Muson clucks like a mother hen over cast members feeling the crush of pollen on this warm spring day. Other students hope for a glimpse of Broadway legend Bernadette Peters, who is rehearsing for a production of Stephen Sondheim’s Follies elsewhere in the building.

* * * * *

UMBC’s performance of Las Meninas at the Kennedy Center tonight is the capstone to another tremendous achievement in the theatre department’s rich history. The American College Theatre Festival is American college theatre’s biggest event, and UMBC’s selection as one of four universities to perform full-length plays here at the festival finale is the equivalent of reaching the Final Four in men’s and women’s college basketball.

“Participating in the ACTF affords us the opportunity to celebrate the unique contributions that university and college programs make to American theatre,” says Alan Kreizenbeck, a professor of theatre who also serves as the department chair. “UMBC’s long-term success in the festival demonstrates that we take this opportunity seriously and that our colleagues and audiences respond enthusiastically.”

UMBC’s path to the Kennedy Center wasn’t easy, but it was straightforward. Las Meninas advanced through an initial round of judging on campus in November 2010, and then triumphed in a second regional round of adjudication held at Towson University in January.

The investment of time, energy and money required for success in the ACTF is immense – so the university only enters every four years or so. And this year’s success with Las Meninas is only the latest chapter in UMBC’s long legacy of appearances at the ACTF.

Only Boston University has appeared more times at the Kennedy Center as part of the festival than UMBC, and Las Meninas joins a string of winning productions that started in 1975 with You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown and continued in 1979 with Five by Beckett. The theater department went two years in a row in the 1980s – with a 1987 production of The Importance of Being Oscar and again in 1988 with Springs Awakening. The last two visits to the Kennedy Center were in 1996 (The Diary of a Scoundrel) and in 2004 (Buried).

“There’s clearly a commitment at UMBC Theatre to never rest on laurels, or to simply warm-over an old idea,” says ACTF artistic director Gregg Henry. “The program always seems to be investigating, probing, and challenging the cross-disciplinary boundaries of the performing arts, consistently collaborating to make unforgettable and vital theatre events.”

The foundation of UMBC’s winning production was the play itself. Las Meninas is an early work by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage, who used a mysterious 17th century rumor of an affair between French Queen Marie-Therese of Austria and an African dwarf named Nabo as the springboard for a tragicomic meditation on race, sexual desire, politics and the clash of cultures. Las Meninas begins as a broad but brainy physical comedy and ends having explored dark corners of the human soul.

Muson recalls being attracted by the play’s provocative intelligence when she first read Las Meninas in 2001 in American Theatre magazine, and says it was near the top of her list when the department decided to compete in the 2010-2011 ACTF cycle.

“But it wasn’t just the director’s passion for it,” says Muson. “The faculty was immediately taken with it, too. The play speaks to the department’s aspirations. We can bring a lot of design creativity to it. In the world of UMBC theatre, we do unusual plays in unusual ways – or plays that you know in unusual ways. So Las Meninas is in line with our aesthetic.”

The students in the cast and crew shared that view. Rising senior Katherine Hileman, who played Queen Marie-Therese, says that “in reading the play last summer, I never looked at it as a period piece. It’s so contemporary and so true to today…. [Muson] couldn’t have picked a better script.”

Las Meninas had another plus in its favor. The play’s diversity of gender and race allowed a broad range of roles for student actors at a university as diverse as UMBC.

“You’re always looking for something with a mixed race cast,” says Muson. “When you find that play, you get really excited. You say: ‘I have the kids to do this.’”

The cast of Las Meninas was not only diverse, but also talented enough to pull off a difficult and idiosyncratic play. Among the leads, rising senior Sean McComas had the sensitivity and steel to play Louis XIV as a boy king. Katherine Kopajtic ’11 doubled up in roles as a Mother Superior and Queen Mother of France – two women perched on precisely opposite poles of sexual permissiveness.

Hileman was selected to tackle the broad tonal shifts from comedy to tragedy in Nottage’s depiction of Queen Marie-Therese – a spoiled naïve monarch who falls in love with a tiny African jester and bears his child. But the greatest challenge was assigned to Keilyn Durrel Jones ’11 who had to answer the question: How does a 6’1” actor play a dwarf?

Mostly in a swaggering crouch, it turns out. “It was very taxing,” Jones says with a gentle laugh. “I was icing my knees often, and there was always the smell of Ben Gay and ibuprofen.”

Muson concurs. “It was hard,” she says. “The body had to be believable enough. But what I find with theatre audiences is that if you say, ‘This is how we’re going to do a dwarf,’ the audience will be happy to go with you as long as you don’t violate it.”

Terrace Theatre – 11 a.m.

It’s late morning, and all is quiet backstage. The costumes are hung carefully in silent dressing rooms.

But the stage buzzes with activity and high-spirited banter. Department associate staff member Terry Cobb has got the lights arranged, and now everyone else (actors included) lay down the gaudy floor of the set and wipe down the Mylar panels that evoke the multitude of mirrors at the palace of Versailles. Greggory Schraven’s voice punctuates each accomplishment with a persistent and enthusiastic cry of “Rock’n’roll!”

Indeed, spirits are a little too high and unfocused for Eve Muson, who comes back into the theatre as the set nears completion and tries to get everyone refocused on the imminent performance. She asks sharp questions, assigns tasks, sets a time to break for lunch – and frets.

“It’s getting a little oodgie-poodgie,” observes Muson of the mood onstage. She wants less oodge and less poodge and more concentration.

* * * * *

Another factor in selecting Las Meninas as UMBC’s entry in the ACTF was the possibilities offered for Elena Zlotescu to depict French King Louis XIV’s sumptuous court at Versailles in her set and costume design.

But as an accomplished and award-winning designer, Zlotescu is less obsessed with the look of the play (“anyone can design a beautiful set”) than with how the play’s richness will shine through in her work. Las Meninas is told from the point of view of the convent-bound child of Queen Marie-Therese and Nabo, and an air of fable and fact mix uneasily in the story.

“You can’t tell from the play what is real, what is memory, what is imagination,” says Zlotescu. “It’s a combination of different worlds.” The two-way mirrors used by police in interrogation rooms were one inspiration: “You are behind the mirror, but you see everything.”

Versailles and its startling mirrored halls were also an inspiration, Zlotescu adds, as much for their usefulness in the political ambitions of the French court as their grandiose beauty.

“The most impressive moment in Versailles is when you are in the lobby with a lot of mirrors,” Zlotescu observes. “But why did Louis XIV choose to have mirrors on both sides? Well if you are in that hall with just five people, you will be multiplied and it seems as if you are surrounded by 100 people. It was about power.”

Zlotescu’s set mirrored the play’s intellectual complexity, but it also possessed a remarkable simplicity in its practical design – a key to allowing the technical team to meet the festival’s requirements that departments build and strike the set within a single day. “I don’t like things too complicated,” says Zlotescu. “You can suggest everything with simplicity.”

Despite its simplicity, Zlotescu’s set did challenge the technical capabilities of UMBC’s department. The department’s secret weapon in making things work smoothly, she says, is Greggory Schraven.

“He will never say ‘no,’” says Zlotescu.

Schraven says that the planning required for the traveling versions of Las Meninas at Towson University and the Kennedy Center “is intensive, almost military.” There are spreadsheets and schedules coordinated with a team led by senior stage manager Kiirstn Pagan ’11.

Pagan says that “things do have to change a bit” when the show shifts to a new theatre. At Towson, she says, the crew and actors were “super enthusiastic and energetic to get the show up in the three hours that we had to do it.”

The careful preparation and energy, Pagan and others say, led to the performance at Towson being one of the best of the entire Las Meninas experience. “We were all shocked at Towson at how well and how relaxed we were with the show.”

Interviewed a week or so before the Kennedy Center performance, however, Schraven was already wrestling with the fact that “the Kennedy Center was not made for the modern truck.”

Little did he know that the freight elevator would be busted, too. Yet Schraven made sure that everything went to plan on the big day – even with that unexpected hurdle.

Terrace Theatre – 1 p.m.

The load-in and construction are accomplished. Now it’s time for the cast to sharpen their performances.

Muson’s style of directing is pitched perfectly for the excellent student actors in her cast: authoritative yet never overpowering. She begins with a vocalization exercise as the actors come back from lunch – carefully pushing the cast to adjust their voices to the theatre.

“It’s a great big space,” says Muson, filling the room with her own voice. “But you’re a great big person. You’re the court of France.”

As the afternoon progresses, time gets tight. Some technical delays seep in, and one can see the gears in Muson’s mind racing. She continues to give acting notes to the cast, and changes some of the blocking on the fly.

Muson has a brainstorm deep in the second act: a simple shift in movement to liberate Kopajtic, who plays the Queen Mother, from a tight spot on the set and give her more range to perform. She seems bemused and irritated to discover a simple thing so late in the game.

“They should take away my M.F.A.,” Muson wisecracks.

One problem in the rehearsal is a fussy latch that attaches the two separate parts of the Queen’s bed which come in from opposite sides of the stage. There is a note to fix it.

Otherwise, Las Meninas is ready to go.

* * * * *

The excitement of performance is enthralling, but UMBC’s Department of Theatre is also in the education business. So what are the students involved with Las Meninas learning?

Many of the students involved in the play also take it as a six-credit class – and what they study isn’t just their lines, or the intricate details of stage management. A complicated historical play like Las Meninas offered a chance for all the students involved to dive into the play’s nooks and crannies.

“It’s a complex play, and it gives our students opportunities for research,” says Muson. “Part of what I love to do is immerse them in that research into the world of the play.” That world included the fashion, court politics and dance of the era.

The other invaluable experience for students involved in Las Meninas is the chance to take the show on the road with a talented faculty and staff who also work professionally in regional theatre.

Muson and the rest of the faculty and staff “all treat us with professionalism,” says Jones. “They train us to be professionals and they treat us as professionals. So when we got to this festival, we were relaxed, we had a confident air and professionalism about us.” McComas says the confidence imparted by Muson and the rest of the faculty led to the cast’s quiet certitude that they were putting together a play that would get them to the Kennedy Center. “We never talked about it in rehearsal,” he elaborates. “We didn’t care. It was about doing the best work we could do right here, and if we went on, we went on.”

“We treated it as any other UMBC production,” says Pagan, “which shows you the level of UMBC productions.”

Terrace Theatre – 8 p.m.

The show is officially sold out, and there’s electricity in the air as the crowd files in and finds their seats. Soon the lights go down and the play begins. Having watched the afternoon’s rehearsal, tonight’s performance of Las Meninas seems supercharged.

Indeed, the only unintended drama tonight was foreshadowed in the rehearsal. The fussy latch of Queen Marie-Therese’s bed came undone not once but twice – and there are some nervous moments on- and off-stage as Hileman and Jones successfully keep their balance and their focus in their scenes of tenderness and terror.

When the show ends, the audience showers the performers with applause. The crew is also called to the stage. Gregg Henry presents Muson with a plaque and lauds not only the performers, but their parents and UMBC administrators for their support.

For Muson, the Las Meninas journey is not over. Under her direction, the play will be part of the Columbia-based RepStage’s 2011-2012 season, incorporating much of Zlotescu’s design work.

But for this cast and crew, it’s almost over. After the show, UMBC President Freeman A. Hrabowski, III, and his wife Jackie wander back to congratulate the actors. Most of them are already in dressing rooms, basking in their triumph and removing makeup, but when they hear that Hrabowski is backstage, they emerge quickly in groups of two and three – many happily disheveled – to say hello and accept their kudos from the president.

It’s a moment in which elation and exhaustion exist in simultaneity – a brief window before the cast and crew must strike the set and come home from their most excellent adventure.

Photos by Chris Hartlove

* * * * *

Web Extra

Video: Las Meninas Load-In and Rehearsal