Anniversary

DeBaun Center for Performing Arts celebrated 10 years of productions, ranging from theater to
music to dance (and everything in between!) under its roof. The theater was dedicated the Grace.
E. and Kenneth W. DeBaun Auditorium in a three-day celebration, October 15-17, 1998, so it
seemed only too appropriate that we celebrated our anniversary exactly 10 years later on that very
same weekend.

On Saturday, October 18, 2008 many Stevens Alumni and staff members, and past performers
gathered in the Bissinger Room in the Wesley J. Howe Center to celebrate our past and usher in
another 10 wonderful years. Performances included "The Great Writer" from Snoopy!!! as sung by
Joe D'Andrea as Snoopy, "Climb Every Mountain" from The Sound of Music as sung by Lisa
Pierce (pictured right) as Mother Superior, "Snoopy" from You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown as
sung by Robert Gonzales Jr. as Snoopy, "I'm a Woman" from Smokey Joe's Café as sung by
Margaret Leone, Judith Moss and Kelly Nichols as Pattie B.J. and Delee respectively, and
"Moment in the Woods" from Into the Woods as sung by Kelly Nichols as the Baker's Wife. Most
of these performers were reprising the roles they originated on the DeBaun stage, which was a
delight for the audience.

During the celebration, and on behalf of the 10th Anniversary Committee,
Executive Director David Zimmerman announced the estabilshement of a
new award in the name of Linda Vollkommer (pictured left). The award has
been named for Linda, who has been influential in advancing student
involvement in the performing arts at Stevens for decades, and instrumental
in the renovation of DeBaun Auditorium. The Linda Vollkommer Award will
be given annually, in addition to the already established Robert Reed
Service Award, to a Stevens undergraduate student who has had the most
influence on advancing theater that year at Stevens Institute of Technology
and DeBaun Center for Performing Arts. Linda was both surpised and
humbled by the naming of the award and spoke briefly on why it is so
important to her to have the students of Stevens involved in performing arts.

Before the audience departed for the 8pm performance of The Secret Garden - A Concert
Production, a retrospective multimedia presentation was shown to guests, highlighting the
productions and events produced and presented on the DeBaun Auditorium stage as part of the
Center for Performing Arts. This presentation can be viewed here.

Once at DeBaun for the evening's performance of The Secret Garden - A Concert Production,
David Zimmerman again addressed the audience who were now joined by regular theater-goers
and the composer of the original score, Ms. Lucy Simon. David announced that the DeBaun
Center was dedicating the six performances of the production to Grace E. and Kenneth W.
DeBaun, our theater's namesakes and the two people who set forth a standard of excellence for
us all to aspire to.

As the evening drew to a close, we reflected on who we are and what we have done for the past 10
years. We have seen companies grow, like the Actors Shakespeare Company, Waterfront
Ensemble, and Lyric Orchestra. The DeBaun Players, created in 2000, is now The Theater
Company in residence at DeBaun, which brings in thousands of patrons and trains hundreds of
students with its productions each season.

We have seen children grow, like our young cast members from The Wizard of Oz who are now in
high school or college. We have watched our student staff and actors grow and develop in their
craft, some of which have gone on to professional careers in technical theater or acting. A few
have even become the next stars on Broadway, such as Piper Arpan from Smokey Joe's Café
went on to Spamalot, and Leah Greenhaus from Seussical went on to Shrek the Musical.

We have seen the growth of our Music Series, which started with local folk and rock music acts
and has transformed into an avenue for the Stevens community. We now feature our many student
musical groups, such as the Concert Band, Choir, Jazz Band, Ensembles (Brass, Woodwind,
String, and Saxophone) and Recitals (piano, string, and voice). Concerts are now given across
campus, including the Ondrick Music Room and the S.C. Williams Library, in addition to DeBaun
Auditorium.

We have seen all of this and much more over the last 10 years, more than can be included in a
webpage or one evening. We thank our audiences for joining us on the evening of our Anniversary
Celebration and for being a part of our history. We also look forward to the future, as we are sure
the next 10 years will be even more exciting than the first!