“Vassar Voices” to tour US and world stages

Most sesquicentennial events have stayed confined to the Poughkeepsie area; however, one production, after debuting for the Vassar community tonight, will continue on to tour all over the country and abroad. Composed of letters, diaries, public speeches, oral histories and memoirs, Vassar Voices promises to deliver a performance that captures just that—a dramatic reading of unique and varied voices of Vassar known and not so known throughout history.

Director of Development Communication Lance Ringel said of the performance, "The heart of it, as the title Vassar Voices implies, is hearing in their own words from people, from the famous to the heretofore unknown, who've lived the Vassar experience over the past 150 years."

Ringel made the first selection of material for Vassar Voices from a huge number of sources, including back issues of the Vassar Quarterly, the Libraries' Special Collections and Betty Daniel's online Vassar Encyclopedia, among others. After this initial compilation, Ringel worked with Drama Professor Chris Grabowski and students in the Drama Department to shape, edit and refine a narrative documenting first hand accounts of life at Vassar.

The "voices" that made the cut document a highly varied set of historically, socially and campus-related issues. Said Ringel, "Life in the residence halls and the classrooms, presidential addresses and encounters with the larger world off campus, a wide range of points of view—we've tried to incorporate all of that and more."

Before the accounts reach the 21st century era, each is treated chronologically, with the hope that, as Ringel explained, "Audiences may come away with a sense that the College's history in some ways parallels that of the country."

One reoccurring theme present in the voices is a desire for greater inclusion, specifically gender related. Such topics serve as a testament to the fact that the voice of Vassar has always been one to challenge the status quo in a bold and powerful way.

What is perhaps most exciting about Vassar Voices, is the fact that it will share the history of the College with individuals all over the United States. At each stop, the production will pick up new cast members, each drawn from a pool of professional alumnae/i actors. When the performance makes its first stop at Lincoln Center, both Meryl Streep '69 and Lisa Kudrow '85 will join the company. After going to New York, the performance will grace stages in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, Washington D.C., Chicago and London, to name a few.

Joining the company in Boston, D.C., Philadelphia, San Francisco and Los Angeles is a chamber choir made up of 14 individuals drawn from the Vassar Choir and Women's Chorus. Tonight, however, all members from both choral groups will perform.

Julia Anrather '13 is a part of Company One, the group of drama students who will unveil the performance tonight for the Vassar community. "We've been focusing on making the piece ready for Company Two, which is the group of actors who'll be performing it in New York City on Feb. 24," she explained.

Of all sesquicentennial events, Vassar Voices presents the most intimate and retrospective representation of the College. According to Anrather, "Every birthday should include embarrassing-celebratory speeches about the birthday person! And that's what the Voices does. Collectively we play the role of Vassar's dorky best friend who has seen it all and even remembers the dates."

No doubt the experience of a Vassar education has changed considerably over time. For this reason, some featured voices are pulled from the last 10 years, treated as "the present day." In addition to the scripted narrative, poems from notable Vassar poets and sporadic "fun facts" about the College will be included.

Vassar Voices serves predominately to share with the public our school's rich and diverse history, but it also functions as a mechanism to connect the past and present of the College with cross-generational, cross-cultural ties. "If we've done our job right, I think many people in today's Vassar community will come away recognizing an even greater kinship between ourselves and the people who've lived the Vassar experience before us," explained Ringel.

By taking the production all over the country and abroad, this sesquicentennial event propagates am image of Vassar as a cutting edge institution with a legacy of independently-minded thinkers: "What we are hoping viewers see and hear is a college that, sometimes institutionally and sometimes through the individuals it educates and the individuals who do the educating, has been and is continually willing to challenge convention and question received wisdom," explained Ringel.

Along with the presentation of Vassar Voices and several choral performances, the traveling program will also feature a screening of a specially made film entitled Vassar: A Sentimental Journey as well as remarks by President Catharine Bond Hill.

Ringel summed up the mission of the sesquicentennial program, emphasizing the importance of looking at history, but also of looking to the future: "This work underscores our commonality with those who came before us, whose words and deeds are still helping to shape the lives we live here on campus today. And we will do likewise for those who follow us. All of that is well worth a celebration."

This traveling program will debut tonight in Skinner Hall at 5:30 p.m. and again at 8:00 p.m. No tickets are required; however, seating is available on a first-come, first-serve basis.