DR. GEORGE POPOVICH
313-845-6478
George Popovich was born in Monterey, California. He received B.A. and M.A.Degrees in English from the California State University and a Secondary Teaching Credential and Community College Teaching Credential from the California State University. He received an M.A. in Directing from the University of Texas and a Ph.D. in Theater from the Ohio State University. He has taught secondary school full-time in California, Ohio, and Texas and University and Community College in California, Texas, Ohio and Michigan.
He is a graduate of South Coast Repertory Acting Conservatory, which won a Tony award for best regional theater in the United States in 1988. While in California, Popovich founded the Tustin Theater Guild, a professional acting company. He directed professionally in California at The Cabrillo Playhouse, Laguna Playhouse, and The Sandcastle Players.
He has been the full-time Director of Theater Arts at Henry Ford Community College in Dearborn, Michigan since 1985. Popovich developed the Associate Arts Degree in Theater at HFCC and founded The New Playwright's Workshop in 1996, which produces new plays by Michigan playwrights each spring. Popovich's productions of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Macbeth, The Grapes Of Wrath, The Tempest and The Skriker have been honored by the Kennedy Center's American College Theater Festival. He has directed over 400 productions at the college, professional, and community theater levels and has designed scenery, lights, costumes, makeup, special effects, and sound for over 220 productions. He is the Director of HFCC's Virtual Theatricality Lab. Dr. Popovich is a member of the Association for Theater in Higher Education.
Popovich has taught Acting I, II, III and IV, Directing, Theater History, Public Speaking, Film Genres, Film History and Criticism, Technical Theater and Advanced Technical Theater, Theatrical Production and Advanced Theatrical Production, Experimental Theater, One Act Play Production, Stage Makeup, Virtual Reality in Theatrical Production, Theater Appreciation, Film Acting, and Honors Directed Study at HFCC.
Popovich has been the recipient of several technology research grants from HFCC's Technology Improvement Fund. In 1996 he received a 35,000.00 grant to implement computers and multimedia into the HFCC Theater Arts curriculum. In 1998 he received another 40,000.00 grant to continue his research. In 2001 he received an 85,000.00 grant from The Technology Investment Fund to explore the theatrical applications of virtual reality. In 2005 he received a 115,000.00 grant to explore the applications of motion capture technology to live performance.
Locally, Popovich has been recognized in newspaper editorials and feature articles. In 1993, he received The Dearborn Mayor's Arts Council Award for best Performer/Artist and in 1995 he was inducted into The Dearborn Theater Hall of Fame. His productions have won over 35 Press and Guide Entertainment awards, including 3 awards for best director and awards for best sound design, best non-musical, best musical, best special effects, best makeup, best lighting, and best technical director.
Popovich's articles on film, performance theory, and digital theater have appeared in many scholarly journals and his essay on the advanced theoretical applications of computer-generated theatrical scenery were included in Theater and Cyberspace, a book of of critical essays. His dissertation on modern science fiction films serves as a reference work for scholars in the United States and in Europe . His inter-disciplinary course "Science Fiction and Horror Films" is one of the most popular course offerings in the Fine Arts Department.
His virtual reality production of "The Tempest" was a regional winner at The Kennedy Center's American College Theater Festival at Illinois State University, January 2004. He directed the 2006 production of of HFCC's Virtual Theatricality Lab, Caryl Churchill's "The Skriker." He is listed in the 2007 and 2008 editions of WHO'S WHO IN AMERICA for his pioneering work in digital theater through The Virtual Theatricality Lab. He was invited to the Kennedy Center's American College Theater Festival in January, 2007 to give a Motion Capture Workshop. Popovich, along with Virtual Theatricality Lab Team member Alan Contino, won the Michigan Education LAND award for best innovation team, January, 2007 and the Community College Innovation League Award , in March, 2007. In October, 2007, Popovich's Virtual Theatricality Lab was visited by Dr. Guangyao Bai, Vice President, The National Academy of Chinese Theater Arts Beijing, China. His Virtual Theatricality Lab was a national finalist for The Bellwether Award in November, 2007. Popovich is currently researching the next production of the VTL. In Spring of 2009, he created The Motion Capture Certificate Program and is currently supervising the rennovation of The Virtual Theatricality Lab, scheduled to open in October, 2009.
GERRY DZUIBLINSKI
313-845-9817
GERRY DZUIBLINSKI, (Stage Technical Director) a Detroit native, studied engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology before transferring to Antioch College to obtain his BA in Communications and Growth Environments. There he studied theatre, psychology, video production and visual art. He spent his senior year at the London, England extension campus, where he studied movement, improvisation and technical theatre at the Cockpit Theatre. Returning to Detroit, he taught theatre and mathematics at an alternative high school for two years before forming his own 501(c) 3 production company, the Experimental Performing Arts Association, of which he is still the Artistic Director. He wrote, co-wrote and adapted material for several one and two person shows, which he toured through the seven state Midwest region and Canada. His work with the EPAA has been supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Michigan and Detroit Arts Councils and the Southeast Michigan Community Foundation. He has taught drama to elementary and high school students, and in the mental health system.
In 1989 he began teaching and directing at Henry Ford Community College. In 1990 he became the Director of the Theatre for Young Audiences program, which annually brings Wayne County Elementary school students to the campus. He recently expanded the program to two weeks of matinees, and three weekends for families, and brought high school students to campus to see Shakespeare’s TWELFTH NIGHT. He received his MA in Directing from Antioch University in 1992, which included study with Marcel Marceau. In 1996 he became Technical Director and resident designer. He is the faculty liaison to the Honors Program, and has taught 20 different classes on campus, including Honors Great Works: Dramatic Literature. He often supervises the New Playwright’s Workshop, in which he premiered an original work, WHEN THE LIONS ROARS. He has also adapted A CHRISTMAS CAROL and PINOCCHIO for the Theatre for Young Audiences program, and translated and adapted Moliere’s SCAPINO. He has won awards for Best Production, Technical Direction, Scenic, Lighting, Makeup and Props Design. He has served as adjunct faculty at Wayne State University, University of Detroit-Mercy, and both Casablancas and Powers Talent and Modeling. He is listed in Marquis’ WHO'S WHO, by the International Biographical Centre and in the WHO’S WHO OF AMERICAN TEACHERS. He is on the Michigan Board of Directors of a tri-state Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment Center. Dzuiblinski recieved the Dearborn Mayor's Award for Educator of the Year in 2006.
E. ALAN CONTINO
313-845-6475
E. Alan Contino completed his first animated short film when he was 12 years old. Alan had already begun studying electrical engineering, specializing in digital video and audio technology. By the time he was 15, Alan was a featured cable television producer and director for local origination programming on several different cable broadcast systems around the metro Detroit area.
Alan began regularly producing and directing live broadcasts when he was 19 years old, making him the youngest broadcast engineer and director in America. Alan has more than 50 screen credits in motion picture and television productions, including an experimental film he wrote, produced & directed, Kill Joi. With more than 17 years of professional experience, Alan has become Chief Executive Officer/Producer and Senior Partner of Delirium Films.
Delirium Films formed in 1996 in order to help young talent find the means and the education to produce their own works of art, while representing their abilities to clientele in a professional manner in order to gain legitimate work experience. Alan has never given up on his love for technology and is contracted as Chief Research Engineer for the Virtual Theatricality Laboratory at the Henry Ford Community College Theater.
GARY GLASER
313-845-6475
Gary Glaser was born and raised in Detroit. Gary was the first person to graduate from Oakland University with a film and television degree, an independent study (1974), and he holds a master’s degree in Radio, TV, and Film from Wayne State University (2001). Marking his 30th year in television and film production, Glaser has been producing documentaries exclusively for 20 years. He has completed 14 documentaries that have won 5 Emmy Awards, 14 Nominations, and several other awards. Gary’s background includes working in Los Angeles for Golden West Broadcasters on the former Warner Bros lot. Usually as a stage manager or prop guy, Glaser worked on such shows as “Jeopardy !,” “ WKRP in Cincinnati,” and “Solid Gold”.
While in Los Angeles, Gary also worked as a segment producer for Allen Funt’s “Candid Camera.” Before going to L.A., Gary worked in local Detroit television serving as a stage manager for the popular “Bill Kennedy Show” on WKBD Ch. 50 and as a film camera operator for “Michigan Outdoors” on WXYZ Ch. 7.
"Stranded at the Corner," an expose on the “demolition by neglect” of historic Tiger Stadium had its world premiere in high definition April 24th 2007 at the Gem Theatre in Detroit. It won three 2006 Telly Awards and the top prize at the Battle Creek Film Festival. It was screened at the 2006 National Baseball Hall of Fame Film Festival in Cooperstown, New York. In May of 2007, "Stranded" garnered 2 Emmys and 11 nominations. Gary’s work has been featured in various newspapers and magazines, including the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times. Clips of Gary’s work can be viewed on his site: http://www.glaserproductions.com. Mr. Glaser teaches advanced classes for HFCC's Virtual Theatricality Lab.
CHRIS BREMER
313-845-9817
Christopher Bremer (Instructor/Shop Foreman) is a Detroit native who attained his BA in Liberal Arts from the University of Detroit and is currently working on his Masters degree in theatre, also from the University of Detroit Mercy.
After a stint as a banker, in 1993 he became Production Manger for ECA/Mr. Wizard shows where he would produce, direct and in some cases perform over 4,000 shows annually in elementary and Middle Schools all over the United States. In 1999 he moved on to the Jewish Ensemble Theatre, a 501-c-3 not for profit professional theatre located in West Bloomfield Michigan, where he became Managing Director and is now the Acting Artistic Director. The Jewish Ensemble Theatre (JET) produces five main stage shows and reaches over 40,000 children annually with its outreach touring shows which deliver messages about bullying and tolerance of diversity.
In 2005 Mr. Bremer was selected as one of the five best directors in metropolitan Detroit by the Detroit Free Press. He has been nominated for best director by the Detroit Free Press, The Oakland Press and Between the Lines in 2005, 2006 and 2007. He has directed shows for Meadowbrook Theatre, JET, The University of Detroit Mercy (in Athens Greece), Henry Ford Community College as well as community theatres in the Detroit area. He has also performed in Italy, Greece, and 44 of the United States
MICHAEL COCHRAN
313-845-6475
Mike has appeared on the HFCC stage in THE GAME, I BET YOUR LIFE, COMMEDIA AMERICANA, PEER GYNT, THE TEMPEST and TALES FROM THE ARABIAN NIGHTS. He is an HFCC Alumni and is currently attending Wayne State University and is majoring in Theater. He plans to move to Los Angeles or New York and pursue a film career. Mike is the publicity specialist for the Theater program.
JENNIFER STREAMER
313-845-9817
Jennifer Streamer, (adjunct faculty) a Detroit native, studied drama, music and dance at Interlochen Arts Academy before earning a B.F.A in Theater and a B.A. in Psychology at Wayne State University. She continued her education at the University of Reading in Reading, England, where she studied Shakespeare. Jennifer also completed a Theater Internship at the Westport Country Playhouse in Westport, Connecticut. She has also earned an M.A. in Counseling from Eastern Michigan University. Jennifer has taught theater at the college level, to private students of all ages, and to elementary and high school groups.
Jennifer has been an adjunct faculty member of the HFCC theater department since 2001. She has taught classes and directed The Bear in 2007's Chekhov Festival. Besides teaching theater, Jennifer works for Bridges Transitions, a Xap Corporation company. She provides professional development to educators around the country and develops educational materials to improve education and increase student success.
JENNIFER GAZDECKI
313-845-9817
(Lighting Designer, Sound Technician) is a native of Downriver and studied Lighting Design at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. She has designed several productions for the University of Michigan including, “Our Lady of 121st Street” and “Polaroid Stories”. She graduated with her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Design and Production concentrating in Lighting Design. She has worked as a lighting intern at the distinguished Williamstown Theatre Festival in Williamstown, MA. She has also interned with the improv group Chicago City Limits of New York City and Teale-Edwards Productions also of New York. Since graduating she has had the opportunity to work with the Jewish Ensemble Theatre in West Bloomfield, MI where she designed the lighting for their production of “Sleuth”. She was also honored to be picked out of several applicants to be work for Iron Core Media as a production assistant. Ms. Gazdecki is also an alumni of Henry Ford Community College.
JUDY FLETCHER
313-845-9772
Judith Fletcher is a Detroit native,studied art at Michigan State and Wayne State University before raising a family and relocating several times in the U.S. Returning to Mich. in 1989, she began studying Theatre, first at Macomb Community College, then transferring to Wayne State to complete her BFA in acting while also taking several classes in Costume Design and Theatrical Makeup. She spent one summer touring with the U of D/Mercy Theatre Company in Greece and another summer at Cobalt Studio in White Lake, NY studying Scenic Art. Upon returning from NY she founded a studio--"Ariadne's Atelier" specializing in Scenic and Decorative Art for commercial and residential environments.
She came to HFCC in 1995 to teach Theatre classes and to oversee the Costume Department. She has won awards for her costume and makeup designs. She has designed and built costumes for the Dance Department at HFCC and also was the assistant costumer at Michigan Opera Theatre for several years. She has directed productions for HFCC, most recently the Theatre for Young Audiences production of "To Kill a Mockingbird" in 2007.
ALEX CARR
313-845-6478
Alexander L. Carr is an Adjunct Faculty member in the Henry Ford Comunity College Theater Department. Mr. Carr is a carpenter and draftsman and a scenic and properties painter and designer. He teaches first year theater courses and is one of the Assistant Technical Directors in the HFCC Theater Scene Shop. Mr. Carr has been affiliated with the HFCC Theater Program since June of 2002, contributing to over a dozen HFCC Theater Productions. Mr. Carr was the Technical Director at the Jewish Ensemble Theatre in West Bloomfield in 2008, previous to his position at HFCC.
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