Katherine Kavanagh
Professor
Speech, Communications and Theatre Arts
EMAIL: kkavanagh@bmcc.cuny.edu
Office: S-628N
Office Hours: By appointment
Phone: +1 (212) 776-6296
Katherine Kavanagh, Professor (tenured in 2008)
Professor Kavanagh is a theater maker and educator. In 2020, she wrote the musical “The Life of Mary Rogers: An Incredible, Plausible, Entirely Made Up, True Story from 1841” with Tariq Hamami and Thomas Hodges. The stage production, starring BMCC students, was cancelled due to COVID, so Kavanagh reimagined the show and adapted it as a four-part audio musical now streaming on Apple Podcast and Spotify (links below).
Since arriving at BMCC/City University, Kavanagh has developed new courses; collaborated with BMCC and other CUNY colleagues from Theater, English, Business, Economics and Criminal Justice; has been an active Peer Mentor in the BMCC Teaching Academy; and created off-campus professional opportunities for students. She has also forged long-standing external partnerships with several theater companies including SoHo Rep, Manhattan Theatre Club, Theatre Development Fund, The Broadway League, EMURSIVE, and WalkRunFly Inc. She has maintained a twenty-year relationship with Northern Ireland’s Sole Purpose, a theater dedicated to social justice, and in 2019 was an associate producer for their latest award-winning production, Blinkered, at the Irish Arts Festival in NYC.
Before her tenure at BMCC, Professor Kavanagh was the Director of Minor Latham Playhouse, where she produced international theater artists and taught in the Barnard-Columbia College Theatre Department for ten years. During this time she devised and directed work throughout the East Village, served on the board of Clemente Soto Velez Cultural Center, and helped launch NYC Fringe as the Director of Community Affairs.
Kavanagh has co-written three plays “13 Heavens and 9 Hells” (with Jess Lynn, published by Baker’s Plays), “SONHO: in progress” and “Still Life w/ AIDS,” which toured NYC and to the International Thespis Festival in Jerusalem.
Dedicated to community engagement, Kavanagh has served as a board member for the Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural Center, Tribeca Performing Arts Center, Brooklyn Children’s Theater, and Manhattan Theatre Club’s Educational Advisory Board. A life-long learner, Kavanagh recently trained with Tectonic Theater.
“The Life of Mary Rogers: An Incredible, Plausible, Entirely Made Up, True Story from 1841”
Production, dramaturgical page, and listening links: https://www.bmcc.cuny.edu/mary-rogers/
Expertise
Producing and Theatre Management; Collaboration; Generating new work; Navigating the theater industry; Economics of theater
Degrees
- MFA Columbia University’s School of the Arts, Creative Producing and Theatre Management,
- BA Antioch College, Theater
Courses Taught
- The collaborative nature of the theatrical event will be explored in readings, presentations, play attendance, papers and creative projects. Contributions of the playwright, actor, director, designer, architect, critic, producer and audience will be investigated through selected periods, genres, theatre spaces and styles of production. The student's potential roles and responsibilities in creating theatre will be emphasized.
- This variable topics course provides practical training in rehearsal, performance and production practices, including acting, stage management, and running crew. The play to be produced will be announced at registration. Enrollment is by audition only. Course may be taken up to three times for credit.
- This course is designed to help students develop the skills and knowledge essential to execute stage management duties in preproduction work, rehearsal and performance of theatrical productions. Students will examine dramatic texts from the perspective of the stage manager. The stage management skills gained will also provide practical insights into many fields, including film, television, special events, and any business where timely, effective communication and coordination between groups is essential.
Prerequisite: THE 100 - Drawing from examples and occasional guest speakers from the New York theatre world, this course provides an introduction to the theory, principles and practices of theatre management. Students will create their own fictional theatre company, applying the principles of mission structure, and financial planning. Practical experience in management is gained through crew assignments. Oral and written presentations, resulting in a casework, aim to sharpen communication skills and prepare students for further study in theatre management.
Prerequisite: THE 100 - Students serve as interns for a production company in the entertainment industry. The work of the internship can include technical skills, front-of-house, marketing, performance, directing, choreography or other aspects of production, including publications and other media.
Prerequisite: THE 125 and departmental approval - This studio course is designed to provide students with advanced creative techniques to deepen their skills as performers. Topics are presented by visiting theatre practitioners in a workshop series. Focus is on creating original work in the following areas: devised work, dance and movement for actors, and solo work. Exercises and improvisation are designed to enhance concentration, imagination, resonance, movement and will culminate into performances after each section. Students will create and workshop performances with a focus on learning new approaches to language, structure and movement. The course emphasizes the collaborative nature of theatre. Appropriate research and reading will be required in addition to artistic assignments. Prerequisite: THE 110, THE 121 and audition or departmental permission
Research and Projects
SoHo Rep Professor Kavanagh works with the leadership team to bring guest speakers into the classroom and students to SoHo Rep’s productions every season.
Industry Access Creating programs to enhance BMCC students’ theater education and exposure to the New York theater industry by collaborating with Manhattan Theatre Club and How to Stand Out to support BMCC students in becoming more competitive candidates for theater internships and jobs.
WalkRunFly Inc. Professor Kavanagh has partnered with this dynamic production company helmed by Warren Adams, Brandon Victor Dixon, and Jenifer Isaacson, to create practical opportunities and internships for students. Students have worked with Tony nominated artists assisting WRF in different departments such as stage management, technical support and dramaturgy. http://www.walkrunfly.com/
LOVE / YOUTH FOUNDING PRODUCERS: Akin Salawu, Bridgit Antoinette Evans, Chandra Thomas, Hope Salas, Kat Kavanagh, Winter Miller. CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS: Sinead O’Connor, Matisyahu, Antony and the Johnsons, Ben Jelen, Colman Domingo, Nilo Cruz, Lynn Nottage, Kia Corthron, David Henry Hwang, Tarell Alvin McCraney, Betty Shamieh, Staceyann Chin, Jessica Care Moore
In fall of 2010, 5 artists concerned with the alarming rise of suicides of LGBT youth asked a simple question: What would happen if we mobilized the very best resources of the theater, music, film and visual arts community to help students across the country address the prevalence of bullying in their schools and communities? LOVE/YOUTH is the answer to this question – a mass galvanization of nearly 100 high profile and emerging artists who created high-impact works of art and social media that explore the roots of bullying of LGBT youth and build a world where all children and youth are free to discover who they are without fear of persecution.
Second Generation at Second Stage Theatre Professor Kavanagh created a partnership with Second Stage Theatre (2009-2015) which allowed hundreds of BMCC students to attend the theater for free each year. Students networked with patrons and staff at the theater during the pre-show party and engaged in the Q & A with the creative staff of the production after the show. This program is on hiatus.
Publications
“The Role of Performing Arts Centers: A Case for the City University of New York” The International Journal of Learning
“Why David Ives Pulled the Rights to a Student Production and Other True Stories of Producing in Academic Programs” Conference Paper: Association for Theatre in Higher Education
“CUNY’s Creative Campus: Performing Arts Centers on the College Campus”, Conference Paper: Popular Culture Association Conference
“The Value of Social Entrepreneurship” Conference Paper: Association for Theatre in Higher Education
“Creative Fundraising Techniques” Conference: New York State Theatre Education Association
Honors, Awards and Affiliations
Additional Information
Articles on some of Professor Kavanagh’s productions, programs and research:
Theatre Program Debuts Original Musical Podcast, “The Life Of Mary Rogers” https://www1.cuny.edu/mu/forum/2021/02/01/theatre-program-debuts-original-musical-podcast-the-life-of-mary-rogers/
BMCC Theatre Production Keeps Show’s Spirit Alive and Strengthens Community https://www.bmcc.cuny.edu/news/bmcc-theatre-production-keeps-shows-spirit-alive-and-strengthens-community/
Tony Nominee Brandon Victor Dixon Meets with BMCC Students https://www.bmcc.cuny.edu/news/tony-nominee-brandon-victor-dixon-meets-with-bmcc-students/
BMCC President Antonio Pérez attends the stunning BMCC production, Almost Maine, written by John Cariani and directed by Theatre Professor Katherine Kavanagh https://www.bmcc.cuny.edu/wp-content/newsletters/12152016.html
Bridging the Drama Divide/news/bridging-the-drama-divide/
The Curtain Rises /news/the-curtain-rises-on-chit-chat/
Toward a True Creative Campus /news/toward-a-true-creative-campus/
Broadway Speakers Bureau Attracts Theatre Students /news/broadway-speakers-bureau-attracts-theatre-students/
Mayor’s Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting http://www.nyc.gov/html/film/html/news/050108_bmcc_career_fair.shtml
