Some people are never celebrated enough. A prime example of suitable tribute is Arthur Wagner, founder and emeritus faculty member of the University of California San Diego’s (UCSD) Department of Theatre and Dance. At a Friday, Nov. 21, campus reception at Galbraith Hall, Room 157, Wagner will receive special recognition for his service and support of the arts. The reception begins at 4 p.m. That special recognition comes in the form of the Arthur Wagner Theatre, a marvelously adaptable, fully equipped 99-seat black box theater used for numerous graduate and undergraduate projects, rehearsals and classes, as well as the annual Baldwin New Play Festival. So now, like playwright Neil Simon on Broadway, Wagner has a theater named for him in La Jolla. “Oh, yeah,” he quips, “but there’s quite a difference in the size of the theaters!” Then he adds that his is a delightful space, “important because it’s where the students do their work.” Wagner trained as an actor and earned a Ph.D. in drama from Stanford University. After founding professional actor-training programs at Tulane, Ohio and Temple universities, he was recruited by UCSD in 1971 to be the first chair of the drama department. It was at UCSD that he developed, along with three other original faculty, the undergraduate and graduate programs in what is now recognized as one of the three top graduate theater training programs in the nation. “It was called the Department of Drama at that time,” Wagner said. “I was told that the faculty would grow to maybe seven. The faculty is now well over 30 full-time.” The department confers MFA degrees in the areas of acting, design, directing, playwriting, sound design, stage management and dance theater as well as a Ph.D. in theater. Among the department’s distinguished, award-winning graduates are actor/writer/producer Yareli Arizmendi, whose work includes the feature films “A Day Without a Mexican” and “Like Water for Chocolate”; actor Ricardo Chavira, who plays Carlos Solis in ABC’s “Desperate Housewives”; two-time Tony Award nominee Danny Burnstein, currently playing Luther Billis in the Broadway revival of “South Pacific”; Jefferson Mays, 2004 Tony Award winner for best actor (“I Am My Own Wife”); prolific international theater and opera scenic designer Neil Patel; New York-based choreographer Monica Bill Barnes; and nationally acclaimed playwright Naomi Iisuka, head of UCSD’s playwriting program. “I adore Arthur,” Mays said, “but he was actually on sabbatical when I arrived, so I missed my whole first year with him. I believe our first class was tightrope walking. He is a delight, and he and Molli [his wife] have provided such kind support over the years, even coming to New York to see me act. He’s one of the most beloved teachers I’ve ever had. Masses of love pour out to him from all his former students.” What more can the La Jolla and university communities do to honor this man? “The only accolade I want from here on out is my granddaughter’s,” Wagner said. For information, visit www.theatre.ucsd.edu. To attend the Friday reception and dedication, call Frank Teplin, (858) 534-9050, or e-mail [email protected].
