Alumni Days at Shakespeare 2014

What an amazing week we had June 23-26 as we hosted Alumni Days at Shakespeare and the Big Sky Alumni Director's Annual Conference!

More than 100 alumni and their guests joined us for the fourth year of Alumni Days at Shakespeare, held June 23-25. Alumni Days continues to grow in popularity and we are excited each year to offer alumni the opportunity to return to campus (still as beautiful as always), enjoy the summer season of the Utah Shakespeare Festival (at a discounted rate) and participate in unique events planned specifically for them.

This year's Utah Shakespeare Festival (USF) plays included Twelfth Night, Henry IV Part One, Sense and Sensibility, Measure for Measure, Into the Woods and The Comedy of Errors. All of the productions were wonderful, but perhaps a favorite was The Comedy of Errors as we saw a few of the actors get so caught up in the humor of the show, that even they had to stop to laugh and then work to compose themselves!

Fred C. Adams, Founder of the Utah Shakespeare Festival.

Our traditional Dinner in the Pines was held on the Hunter Conference Center Patio where we enjoyed a delicious dinner and heard from Festival Founder Fred C. Adams, Festival Executive Director R. Scott Phillips, SUU Associate Vice President for Advancement Staci Carson and Alumni Executive Director Mindy Benson. In addition, SUU alumnae Kaitlin Mills (actor in The Comedy of Errors and Sense and Sensibility) and Rebecca Fischer (Stage Management Administrative Assistant) both talked about their roles at the Festival and told moving stories of how their educational experiences at SUU influenced their love of theater and has brought them success.

Jeff & Katy Wilbur at the
Frontier Homestead State Park Museum.

In addition to our dinner, alumni stepped back in time with a visit to the Frontier Homestead State Park Museum (formerly the Iron Mission State Park), participated in their own in-depth USF Backstage Tour and for the finale, attended an Ice Cream Social where they rubbed shoulders with dozens of the Festival's 2014 cast and crew.

The Alumni Relations Office was also pleased to host the annual Big Sky Alumni Director's Conference June 24-25. In attendance were directors, staff and board members from Eastern Washington, Idaho, Idaho State, Montana, Montana State, Northern Arizona, Northern Colorado, Portland State, Sacramento State, Weber State and UC Davis. It was wonderful to share programming ideas and showcase our campus, Cedar Mountain and the Utah Shakespeare Festival. It was a pleasure having them on campus.

Alumni Days at Shakespeare 2015, will be held June 25-27. Mark your calendars now (tickets will go on sale early in 2015) and plan to attend. You won't be disappointed!

Laun Maher, Dawndria Maher and Beverly Maher
following dinner on the Hunter Conference Center Patio.

Ruth Humphrey Wilder and Karlene Humphrey Bauer
on the Hunter Conference Center Patio.

Jane & Abe Hunt at the Frontier Homestead State
Park Museum trying their hands at old fashion log cutting.

Suzanne Driggs, Lindsey Lopez (Miss SUU), Violet Wager and
Michael Wager enjoying pioneer games at the
Frontier Homestead State Park Museum.

Elaine Beckstrom and Susan Ison in front of the iron ore
kiln replica at the Frontier Homestead State Park Museum.

Michael Don Bahr, Education Director at the Utah Shakespeare Festival
showing the intricacies of make-up (wigs and mustaches included)
for the production Measure for Measure.

The backstage tour also included the front of stage at the Adams Theatre.

Ice Cream Social.

Ice Cream Social.

Lindsey Lopez, Miss SUU, and Festival Actors.