RÉSUMÉ

                                                                                                                                                          

DEBORAH BELL

1303 Clarendon Drive                                                     phone:  (336) 299:3409/334-4076

Greensboro, NC  27410                                                   email:  Deb_Bell@uncg.edu

 

web page:  https://sites.google.com/a/uncg.edu/deborah-bell/        

                                          

                                                                                                                                             

M.F.A. in Theatre Design/Technical Theatre (emphasis in Costume Design), University of Minnesota

 

TEACHING EXPERIENCE:

 

The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Department of Theatre

   1997 to Present:  Professor-Costume Design

   1987 to 1997:  Associate Professor-Costume Design

   1980 to 1987:  Assistant Professor-Costume Design

 

Akron University

   1978 to1980:  Lecturer-Costume Design

 

University of Wisconsin-Parkside

   1976 to 1978:  Lecturer-Costume Design

 

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

 

University of North Carolina, Greensboro:

Romeo and Juliet, Hänsel and Gretel, Oklahoma!, L'Enfant et les Sortiléges, Picnic (opera), The Ballad of Baby Doe, Death and the

King’s Horseman, Lakmè, Susannah, The Trestle at Pope Lick Creek, Sound of Music, The Magic Flute, Roman

Fever, Orpheus In the Underworld, The Consul, We Won’t Pay!, Driving Around the House, La Bohème, The

Cocoanuts, The Illusion, Phantom, A Christmas Carol, Cabaret, Tartuffe, Amahl and the Night Visitors, Gianni

Schicchi, Suor Angelica, Sweet Charity, The Mother of Us All, The Beaux’ Stratagem, The White-Haired Girl,

Geniuses, Medea, Mother Hicks, Bye Bye Birdie, The Magic Flute, Urashima Taro, !Sizzle Stix!, Tales of Hoffmann,

South Pacific, A Raisin In the Sun, The School for Scandal, The Sea Gull, Antigone, Cosi Fan Tutte, Beauty and the

Beast, La Bohème, Kennedy’s Children, The Miser, The Philadelphia Story, Oliver, Sweet Bird of Youth, Macbeth,

Faust, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Fall 1980 to Present). 

 

University of Wisconsin-Parkside:

Pygmalion, The Measures Taken, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Kennedy’s Children, The Children’s Hour, The

Mousetrap, Celebration, The Merchant (scene and costume design), The Owl and the Pussycat, Endgame, Act

Without Words, Ghosts.

 

Theatre Companies:

   The Tennessee Playboy, Triad Stage, Greensboro, NC. 2013.

   Duck Hunter Shoots Angel, Twin City Stage, Winston-Salem, NC. 2011.

   Doubt, Triad Stage, Greensboro, NC. 2008.

   The Caretaker, Triad Stage, Greensboro, NC.  2007. 

   North Star, Triad Stage, Greensboro, NC.  2005.

   Walking Across Egypt, Winston-Salem Little Theatre, Greensboro, NC.  2005.  

   Proof, Triad Stage, Greensboro, NC.  2004.

    A Lesson Before Dying, Triad Stage, Greensboro, NC.  2002.

   Damn Yankees, The Gondoliers, Seaside Music Theatre, Daytona Beach, FL 2000.

   Antony and Cleopatra, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA, 1999.

   H.M.S. Pinafore and Rags, Seaside Music Theatre, Daytona Beach, FL, 1999.

   La Ronde, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, 1999.  

   Children of Eden, The Western Stage, Salinas, CA, 1998.

   Moon Over Buffalo, Winston-Salem Little Theatre, Winston-Salem, NC, 1998.

   Oklahoma, High Point University, High Point, NC, 1997.

   The Voice of the Prairie and Uncommon Enemies, TheatreFest, Montclair, NJ, 1996.

   Trojan Women, Morehead State University, Morehead, KY, 1995.

   Cannery Row, The Western Stage, Salinas, CA, 1995.

   As You Like It, Colorado Shakespeare Festival, Boulder, CO, 1995.

   Nutcracker Suite, Harvard-Radcliffe Dance Company, Boston, MA, 1994.

   Lend Me A Tenor and The Voice of the Prairie, Idaho Repertory Company, Moscow, ID, 1993.

   Mournin’, North Carolina Playwrights Center, 1989, and national tour, February - May, 1991.

   Ring Round the Moon and Riversong, Idaho Repertory Company, Moscow, ID, 1990.

   Opera!, New Ambiente Theatre Company, Crema, Italy, 1989 and United States Southeastern Tour, 1990.

   Oedipus at Colonus, University of Minnesota, Duluth, MN, 1988.

   Ceremony of Carols, Mary Washington Dance Company, Fredericksburg, VA, 1986.

   C’era Una Volta, Ambiente Theatre Company, Crema, Italy, 1986.

   Captured Angels, Greensboro Ballet Company, Greensboro, NC, 1986.

   The Nutcracker, Greensboro Ballet Company, Greensboro, NC, 1983-1995 (Annual Event).

   Touch Mime Tour, Chapel Hill Arts Center, Carrboro, NC, 1984.  Southeast Tour.

   Wait Until Dark, The Miser, and South Pacific, Fredericksburg Summer Theatre Company, Fredericksburg, VA, 1983.

   The Apple Tree, Damn Yankees, NKU Dinner Theatre, Highland Heights, KY, 1981.

   Shenandoah, The Good Doctor, The Boys from Syracuse, and A Lion In Winter, Berea Summer Theatre, Cleveland, 

        OH, 1980.    

   Romeo and Juliet, Baldwin-Wallace College, Berea, OH, 1979.

   The Marriage of Figaro, Oberlin College, guest pattern maker, Oberlin, OH, 1979.

   Little Mary Sunshine, University of Akron, guest costume designer, Akron, OH, 1979.

 

HONORS:

United Scenic Artists Union Member, Local 350 since 1979.  Current member of USA Local 829. 

2009:  USITT Fellowship:  $4,000 for interviewing mask makers in Mexico

2006:  USITT Grant:  $7,000 for interviewing mask makers in Nigeria and Malaw

2006:  Herbert D. Gregg’s Award for scholarship.  The Mask Maker’s Magic.   

2005:  Faculty Design Fellowship Nominee, Region IV, American College Theatre Festiva 

2008 and 2003:  University Research Assignment for spring semester and $7000 Research Funding to interview and

 write mask makers around the world and their creative processes.  Within 8 years I interviewed mask makers in Bali, Italy,

 Sweden, Korea, Japan, Mexico, Northwest Canada, Trinidad, New York, California, Brazil, Nigeria, and Malawi. 

2003:  Joan C. Edwards Distinguished Professor, Marshall University, October/ November.  Presented two public 

  lectures:  Commedia dell’Arte-Past and Present and Mask Makers Around the World.  Conducted a leather mask making and

  rendering workshop.

1997:   United States Institute for Theatre Technology-Southeast Founders Award for Outstanding Teaching 

1994:  Six-week university summer research award, Dario Fo Center, Milan, Italy

1992:  Invited Guest Lecturer at Korea University, Seoul, Korea, and Chicushi Jogakuen College, Fukuoka, Japan, October.

1988:  Artist-In-Residence with the summer University of Georgia Studies Abroad Program, University of Parma, Italy

1984:  Artist-In-Residence with the summer University of Georgia Studies Abroad Program, Cortona, Italy

  

MAJOR PUBLICATIONS, PRESENTATIONS AND EXHIBITS:

Mask Makers and Their Craft:  An Illustrated Worldwide Study. Jefferson, North Carolina/London, Great Britain:  

      McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, (2010).  

Mask Makers in Nigeria Inspired by Yoruba Traditions.  Theatre Design & Technology, 44 (1), 41-53, (2008):  Winter.

Nyau Secret Society Mask Makers for Gule Wamkulu (The Great Dance).  Association of Theatre in Higher Education, 

      Denver, Colorado, (2008):  July.  

Masks of Transformation.  Theatre Design & Technology, 42 (2), 38-45, (2006):  Spring.  

Minshall’s Masks, Dancing Mobiles, and Walking Sculptures:  A Legacy for Mas’ Mask Markers in Trinidad,   

       International MaskConference Catalogue.  University of Southern Illinois, Carbondale.  20-27, (2005):  October

The Mask Maker’s Magic, Theatre Design and Technology.  41(1), 29-43, (2005): Winter.   

Making Contemporary Northern California Masks in a Shamanic Spirit.  Hawaii International Conference on Arts and 

            Humanities, Honolulu, Hawaii.  (2004): January. 

“Balinese Masks and Mask Makers.”  Joint presentation with Ron Naversen.  USITT national conference, Long Beach,   

          California. (2004), April.

Mask Maker Bruce Marrs at Dell’Arte International. Costume Research Journal.  vol. xii, no. 4 (2002):  Spring.

Iowa’s Extraordinary Mask Conference.  Theatre Design & Technology. 38 (1), 36-41, (2002):  Winter.

John Conklin’s Design Process.  Invited paper presented at the International Theatre Conference sponsored by the

          Estonian Academy of Arts, Tallinn, Estonia, (2000):  November.  

Jeanne Button Looks Back, Southern Theatre.  (1998):  Summer.

Interviewing Techniques, Southern Theatre.  (1998):  Winter.

Dressed in Stages, Weatherspoon Art Gallery, Greensboro, NC, (1995):  Fall.  Retrospective of Costume Designs. 

Dario Fo’s Contemporary Commedia dell’Arte Spirit, American College Theatre Festival, (1995):  February.  Photos and 

     Description of Fo’s work, obtained and assembled from six weeks of research at the Dario Fo Archival Collection in Milan,

     Italy.

Invited exhibitor in Spirit Square Center for the Arts, Charlotte, NC.  Costume Design for The Mother of Us All.  

            (1993):  Spring.

Commedia dell’Arte and Italian Opera: Two Universal Languages in a Foreign Land, invited paper presented at the 

             Southeastern Commedia dell’Arte Symposium, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, (1992):  April.  Published in 

            Southern Theatre.  (1993):  Winter 

Commedia Costuming in Contemporary Italy: Communication through form and Historical Evolution, USITT 

             International Costume Symposium, Oakland, CA, (1986), March.

International Prague Quadrennial Exhibitor, Tales of Hoffmann.  (1987):  Summer.

Juried member of the 1986 USITT Biennial Scenography Exposition, national two-year tour, (1986 to 1988).  Costume 

         Design for Tales of Hoffmann.

The School for Scandal and The Nutcracker Costume Designs exhibited at the Palazzo Vangotti, Cortona, Italy.  (1984): 

            Summer.

Millinery for the ‘80's.  Handcraft Magazine. (1984):  April.

 

Southeastern Theatre Conference Presentations, 1982 to present:  Historical Sources for Patterning; The Mask as

 a Global Art Form; Balinese Wood Carved Masks; Design South I (several conferences); Costume Padding:

Pushing It In and Pulling It Out; Stage Costume Accessories, Rendering Techniques, Fabric Modification, Jewelry

Techniques, Stage Millinery Techniques, Stage Armor; Visual Expression and Approaches of Contemporary Italian

Commedia Theatre Companies; Rendering Demonstration(several conferences—also several conferences at

USITT); Design Concept Statements, Successful Interviews; Collaboration Efforts on Original Scripts, Directors on

Designers; Masks, Myths, and Mind; Making a Leather Commedia dell’Arte Mask Using Frozen Clay; The Mask

Maker’s Sacred Quest:  Exploring Cultural diversity with Honors Students; Creative Challenges for Mask Makers

Worldwide.

 

Co-coordinator for Greensboro’s International Performing Arts Festival for Children, annual event.  Initiated  

           preliminary proposal, raised $98,000, and hired professional marketing director and guest artists (1993-1995).

 

Co-ordinator of the Italian New Ambiente Theatre Company’s United States Southeastern Tour, $52,000  

project. Produced the tour: wrote grant proposals, raised the money, arranged for performance sites, and promoted the tour

for the company.  Company performed at four universities, Piccolo Spoleto, International Festival at EPCOT and several 

other theatre sites, including Italian sites.  Responsible for arrangement of sites and funding in the U.S.A. (1990):   

April through June.   

 

COSTUME DESIGN AWARDS:

National Opera Association First Place or Second Place Production Awards for L'Enfant et les Sortiléges,

 Susannah, Orpheus In the Underworld, The Consul and Gianni Schicci.

 

Opera! Costume Sketch purchased at Boston ‘91 USITT Conference in silent auction.  La Ronde costume

 sketch purchased at Denver 2000 USITT Conference in silent auction. 

 

Juried exhibitor in several juried Design Competitions: La Ronde, La Boheme, As You Like It, As You Like It,

Opera!, Medea, Oedipus at Colonus, The Magic Flute. 

 

Purchase Prize Award for Tales of Hoffmann.  (One of five to receive such an award  hosted by the USITT Biennial   

Scenography Exposition).  (1986): April.

 

Cleveland Critics Circle Achievement Award for Costume Design for The Boys from Syracuse, (1980):  Summer.

  

PROFESSIONAL SERVICE:  

USITT National Publications Committee, 2009 to present.

Design Respondent for ACTF’s Region 4, Pittsburgh, PA.  2002 and 2003.

Graduate Costume Design Advisor for The Tooth of Crime, University of Michigan, (1996): Spring.  

National Commissioner on Education for USITT, April, 1989-1992. 

Director-at-Large for National USITT, served for three years: 1987-1990.

USITT-Southeastern Region Chairperson, 1985-1987, Vice Chairperson, 1983-1985, Treasurer, 1982-1983.

Founder and Co-editor of the USITT-Southeast Region Newsletter, 1982-1987.