JAMES J. CHRISTY ('65) served as a professor and director with Villanova Theatre for 36 years, acting as chairperson of the department for 13 years. He has received two Barrymore Awards and seven nominations for Best Director and earned the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2005 Barrymore Awards ceremony.

LESLIE LEE ('70) American playwright, Executive Director of the Negro Ensemble Company, and a founding artist of La MaMa ETC. His plays have been produced both on and off Broadway, and he has also written for film and television. Plays: Black Eagles, The First Breeze of Summer (Obie, Outer Critics Circle Award, Tony nomination), Elegy to a Down Queen, Colored People's Time, The War Party, Between Now and Then. Screenplays: The First Breeze of Summer, Almos' a Man, Go Tell It on the Mountain (American Playhouse), Summer Father. Awards: NEA grant in playwriting, Rockefeller Foundation Playwriting Grant, Shubert Foundation Playwriting Grant, New York State Council on the Arts grant for playwriting, and playwriting fellow at the O'Neill Playwrights Conference.

CARLA BELVER ('76) critically-acclaimed actress recently seen as Violet Weston in August: Osage County at The Arden Theatre Company and Dividing the Estate at People's Light and Theatre Company, with whom she has shared a long association. Last Fall she was in Pittsburgh at City Theatre featured as Erica Morini in The Morini Strad. Favorite roles include Linda in Death of A Salesman, and Kate in All My Sons, for which she was nominated for a Barrymore,The Faith Healer, Mornings at Seven, and The Heiress.

JANUS STEFANOWICZ ('81) Villanova Theatre's resident costume designer and costume shop manager. She has designed costumes for the Arden Theatre Company, Delaware Theatre Company, people's Light & Theatre Company, Philadelphia Theatre Company, The Wilma Theater, and Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival.  Janus has received sixteen Barrymore Award nominations for Outstanding Costume Design for Villanova Theatre's The Tempest, Parade, Chicago, Children of Eden, Into the Woods, Candide, and Evita; Philadelphia Theatre Company's Intimate Apparel (2006 Barrymore Award winner); and The Wilma Theater's Arcadia, On The Razzle (1998 Barrymore Award winner), The invention of Love, Magic Fire, Big Love (2003 Barrymore Award winner), Galileo and Age of Arousal.

JAMES SCHLATTER ('81) Professor, Theatre Arts Program at University of Pennsylvania. He received his PhD from the City University of New York and has been working at UPenn since 1989, serving as chair from 2004-7. A member of Actors’ Equity Association since 1984, Jim has performed in over sixty stage productions.  He worked for several years with the Villanova University Summer Theatre Festival, performing such roles as Malvolio in Twelfth Night, Capulet in Romeo and Juliet, Vladimir in Waiting for Godot, Reverend Morrell in George Bernard Shaw’s Candida, and Ben Franklin in 1776.  He performs, occasionally, with local Philadelphia area theatre companies.

DANA AMENDOLA ('84) Vice President of Operations, Disney Theatrical Group.

BRUCE GRAHAM ('88) Plays include Burkie, Early One Evening at the Rainbow Bar & Grille, Minor Demons, Moon Over The Brewery, The Champagne Charlie Stakes, Belmont Avenue Social Club, Desperate Affection, Coyote on a Fence, According to Goldman, Dex and Julie Sittin' In a Tree, Full Fiured, and Loves to Dance, Something Intangible (Best New Play Barrymore, 2009) Any Given Monday (Best New Play Barrymore, 2010), and The Outgoing Tide. Feature film credits include Dunston Checks In, Anastasia, and Steal This Movie.  He is also the author (with co-writer & fellow Villanova alum Michele Volansky) of The Collaborative Playwright, a Practical Guide to Getting Your Play Written, which was recently published by Heinemann. Graham has received grants from the Pew Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation and was a recipient of the Princess Grace Foundation Statuette Award. He currently teaches playwriting and film courses at the University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University.

LIZ WALSH ('89) Associate Vice President of Communication at Villanova University. Liz worked in marketing for the following non-profit organizations: Adventure Aquarium, The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, and The Wilma Theater.

MICHELE VOLANSKY ('92)  Associate Professor of Drama at Washington College. In addition to her role as the Conference Dramaturg and Associate Artist for the annual PlayPenn New Play Development Conference, she has worked at the Atlantic Theatre Company, the Arden Theater, Azuka Theatre Collective, 1812 Productions, Theatre Exile/Act 2 Playhouse, Victory Gardens, and Next Theatre. Volansky also served on the artistic staffs at Actors Theatre of Louisville (1992-95), Steppenwolf Theatre Company (1995-2000) and Philadelphia Theatre Company (2000-2004). In her career, she has worked on over 150 new and established plays, including the Broadway productions of Buried Child and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest as well as plays that have been produced in theaters across the United States and Europe. She is the 1999 inaugural recipient of the Elliot Hayes Award for Dramaturgy and is a past President of the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas. Her book on playwriting and collaboration, co-written with Bruce Graham and entitled The Collaborative Playwright, was published by Heinemann Press in March 2007. She holds a BA in English from Washington College, an MA from Villanova and a PhD from the University of Hull; her dissertation explored the politics and advocacy of the critics Kenneth Tynan and Frank Rich.

ROSE MALAGUE ('94) Director of Theatre Arts Program, University of Pennsylvania. Rose earned her PhD from City University of New York. A professional actor and member of Actors' Equity Association, she studied at Circle-in-the-Square Theatre School in New York, and received her master's degree from Villanova University. She teaches courses in acting, directing and theatre theory; her research interests include acting theory, actor training and feminist theatre. She frequently supervises senior acting and directing theses, and directs for the Theatre Arts Program.

VALERIE JOYCE ('95) became Assistant Professor of Theatre at Villanova University after earning her PhD from the University of Maryland.  Directing credits at Villanova include Carousel, Bat Boy: The Musical, Annie Get Your Gun, Cabaret, and Talley's Folly. Other credits include The Meat Opera and Up Your Ante for the New york and Philadelphia International Fringe Festivals; and Thank you for Sharing with Amaryllis Theatre Company.  Valerie has also worked as a professional costume designer for local and regional productions.

MAUREEN TORSNEY WEIR ('97) critically-acclaimed actress. Recent appearances include Sunday in the Park with George, The History Boys, Caroline or Change, A Prayer for Owen Meany, and The Baker's Wife (Arden Theatre). Most recent role: Lizzie in Cherry Bomb (1812). Played The Lady in Alan Bennett's Lady in the Van at Mum Puppettheare. Other Philly theatres: Walnut Street, InterAct, People's Light, Act II, Theatre Exile. Working in New York for many years noted for Grace in Faith Healer, and Ouisa in Six Degrees of Separation among many others. Film includes featured roles in In Her Shoes directed by Curtis Hanson, and the upcoming Lebanon and Buddy Gilbert. Individual Barrymore winner Best Supporting Actress - Angels in America, and Ensemble - Equus.

STEVE SMITH ('99) Stephen Smith is Assistant Professor of Drama at Delaware County Community College and the only full-time faculty member in the Drama department.  He has an M.A. in Theatre from Villanova University and an M.F.A. in Acting from The University of Delaware’s Professional Theatre Training Program.  He teaches all of the courses offered in Drama and directs one main stage production each semester at the College.  He is also a professional actor and director in Philadelphia and has performed in regional theatres throughout the country.  A member of Actors’ Equity, in 2005 he received two Philadelphia Barrymore Awards for Best Ensemble and Best Choreography for his direction of Tuesday at Amaryllis Theatre Company in Philadelphia.

MICHAEL ROSSMY ('00) Lecturer in Acting at Yale School of Drama. Michael Rossmy has acted on Broadway and in regional theatres, having in recent years appeared in the Lincoln Center production of Cymbeline, The Three Musketeers at Seattle Repertory Theatre, The Pirates of Penzance at the Goodspeed Opera House and the Papermill Theatre, in the opera of Cyrano de Bergerac at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, and others. In television and film, he has acted in The Guiding Light, Law and Order SVU, and Angels in America. He has served as a fight director beginning with A Tale of Two Cities and he is a lecturer in acting at Yale School of Drama as well as delivering guest lectures at the New School for Drama and the Neighborhood Playhouse.

HEZEKIAH LEWIS ('02) Writer/Director/Producer/Professor. Lewis received a Presidential Fellowship to attend Villanova’s graduate school and completed a Master’s degree in Theatre in 2002.  He played many roles in various theatrical productions including:  Peter in “Passion of the Christ,” Storyteller/Snake in “Children of Eden” and Papa Ge in “Once on This Island,” for which he was nominated for the Irene Ryan Award for Best Actor. He then earned an MFA in Directing from UCLA’s prestigious film school. At UCLA, Hezekiah completed various short films and documentaries promoting social change and awareness. He received numerous awards for his outstanding efforts, which commemorate and recognize Hezekiah for his dedication, and passion for filmmaking.

ELIZABETH POOL ('06) Resident Dramaturg at People’s Light and Theatre Company since 2006, working on over 20 productions including Stretch (A Fantasia), End Days, Glass Menagerie, Theophilus North, Six Characters in Search of an Author, Splittin’ the Raft, and The Crucible. New play dramaturgy at People’s Light includesKidnapped by Ernie Joselovitz,  Absence by Wendy Hammond, Eggs and Getting Near to Baby by Y York, Something You Did by Willy Holtzman, and four original Pantos by Kathryn Petersen – The Three Musketeers, Snow White, Cinderella, and Treasure Island. She also worked on new plays with Playpenn and 1812 Productions. She is on the Literary Committee for the Philadelphia Young Playwrights, the Steering Committee for the Philadelphia New Play Initiative and has been a reader for both The Playwrights’ Center in Minneapolis and PlayPenn.

CARRIE CHAPTER ('08) Literary Manager and Dramaturg, Philadelphia Theatre Company. In addition to Philadelphia Theatre Company, her credits include dramaturgical work at the PlayPenn New Play Conference, Inis Nua Theatre Company, Mauckingbird Theatre Company, Primary Stages, Playwrights Horizons, and GeVa Theatre Center. As a freelancer, Carrie proudly acted as an Artistic Consultant for Temple University’s que[e]ry project, in which student writers and performers created stories about the experiences of LGBT youth; also, she provided workshop dramaturgy for Broadway’s The Book of Mormon. In the summer months, Carrie leaves Philly for Connecticut, where she acts as a lead dramaturg for the National Music Theater Center at the O’Neill Center.

JESSICA BEDFORD ('10) Associate Artistic Director, Montgomery Theater. Playwright, actress, solo performance artist. Recently seen as Kaja in The Master Builder and Nurse Flinn in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (People’s Light), Rosalind in As You Like It and Lucienne in Le Dindon (Villanova Theatre), and Germaine in Never the Sinner (Mauckingbird Theatre). Recently produced first full-length play, Blessed Are at Passage Theatre Company.