The Graduation Issue > May 3, 2007

By Elliot Engstrom | Assistant news editor

One of the great things about the university is that it continually produces outstanding students in a vast variety of departments. Excellence at the university is not only considered excelling in one’s own personal niche, but also being involved in a variety of areas that others may be shy to approach. Laura Halsey is an ideal example of this well-rounded excellence, coming from the theatre and dance department.

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Throughout her university career, Halsey participated in many theatre productions, both on stage and behind the scenes. (Sophie Mullinax)

Since her start at the university, Halsey has contributed to the department and the university as a whole in countless ways.

Her acting tenure includes roles in more than nine theatre productions, including Catch-22, Hayfever, Twelfth Night, Psycho Beach Party and most recently, Romeo and Juliet, in which she played the role of the Nurse.

“This role was a huge struggle for me, but pretty rewarding,” Halsey said. “It was difficult to play a woman who had been through much more than I ever have and who is so different from myself.”

“As an actor Laura has a huge range,” Cindy Gendrich, associate professor of theatre said.

“She can play sexy vamps and dorky teenagers, and has gone from playing Little Red Riding Hood in Into the Woods four years ago to playing the Nurse in our department’s recent production of Romeo and Juliet.”

Halsey has worked with Gendrich a great deal – three times as an actor and one time as a crewmember.

She came to the university with a Presidential Scholarship in dance.

However, this changed once she discovered where her passions were leading her.

“They changed the scholarship for me over to one in theatre since I was finding myself wanting so badly to be a part of as many plays as possible, which made it difficult to participate in the dance concerts,” Halsey said.

She played one of her favorite roles during her senior year, in the production Psycho Beach Party, the part of Berdine, a rather dorky girl.

“I played a huge dork with a lot of spunk and got to play opposite my best friend in real life, (senior) Erich Jones,” Halsey said.

“This was an outrageously funny play and every day was fun making new discoveries into my inner dork.”

Halsey also studied directing at the university, and for her senior capstone project directed The Mystery at Twicknham Vicarage.

“It was so scary but tons of fun to get on the other side of the process than I am used to,” Halsey said.

“It taught me a lot about my own acting and helped me to get over a bunch of my fears of being the one in charge of things.”

Of Halsey’s directing, Gendrich said, “In addition to her excellent analysis work, one of the strongest things about the show was her excellent sense of the physical style and the twisted (but rather elegant) reality of the piece.”

Dance has also been a passion of Halsey’s ever since she was a young girl, having participated in the medium through the Massachusetts Youth Ballet.

During her junior year, she was able to get back into dancing with a part in the production Kiss Me, Kate.

“This was a fun way to be able to dance again since I had not been in a dance concert since first semester freshman year,” Halsey said.

“I had to take about a year and a half off from dancing because of my class schedule, but I started ballet again this year and I also took my first ever jazz class. It was so great to be back dancing again and I never want to take any more time off from it.”

“Laura is also a beautiful dancer,” Gendrich said.

“She’s been in ballet since she was a little girl, so she has a very strong sense of what works physically.”

Halsey has spent her years at the university working towards a Bachelor of Arts in theatre. She has had training in a wide variety of areas, including voice, acting, dynamics of voice and movement, directing and on-camera performance.

“I have had a blast and I love every single one of the dance and theatre faculty,” Halsey said of the department.

“It is going to be really hard to leave them all and no longer have auditions and classes to stress out about and attend.”