{"id":38489,"date":"2015-10-08T09:56:26","date_gmt":"2015-10-08T13:56:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/?p=38489"},"modified":"2022-09-29T12:29:45","modified_gmt":"2022-09-29T16:29:45","slug":"curtain-call","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/2015\/10\/08\/curtain-call\/","title":{"rendered":"Curtain call"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Abe<\/a>

Abe Bassett, founder of Wright State\u2019s theatre program, and W. Stuart McDowell, current chair and artistic director for the Department of Theatre, Dance and Motion Pictures. (Photos by Chris Snyder)<\/p><\/div>\n

After giving a talk to alumni on the behind-the-curtain history of Wright State University\u2019s theatre program<\/a>, Abe Bassett decided to share his knowledge with the world by writing \u201cProducer\u2019s Notes.\u201d<\/p>\n

The book is a vividly written personal history of a department that within 10 years of its founding became Ohio\u2019s dominant undergraduate theatre program. It is today considered one of the nation\u2019s top exclusively undergraduate theatre programs.<\/p>\n

Bassett started the program in 1970 and was its director for 18 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom the beginning, I was just amazed at the quality of the students that we had,\u201d he said. \u201cWe really had some good young people \u2014 bright, intelligent, hard-working. They were the kernel that enabled us to grow.\u201d<\/p>\n

The department started in 1970 with two faculty members, six theatre courses and no facilities. By 1981, Wright State had 229 dance and theatre majors, eclipsing Ohio University\u2019s 202 and more than the lowest six state universities combined. And more than 38,000 people attended Wright State plays that year.<\/p>\n

Among the nuggets in \u201cProducer\u2019s Notes\u201d:<\/p>\n