May 9, 2002
INFORMATION: Sue Bozman or John McElwain, (661) 362-3415 or 3494

Student's Over-the-Top 'Whim' Rewarded with Steppenwolf Scholarship

Technically, she shouldn't have even been attending the American College Theater Festival at Cal State Hayward this past February.

She wasn't a part of last season's production of Shakespeare's Woodland Magic that garnered critical acclaim and the invitation. She was performing in an off-campus play that dominated her time.

She wavered about tagging along to the fair when a fellow student - who had been invited - asked her to come along and be his partner. She didn't want to intrude.

When the group of six student-actors from College of the Canyons finally did arrive in Hayward, she wasn't sure if she wanted to take part in any of the events. What was the point?

She changed her mind.

"I went all out instead," she said.

Eva Vander Giessen read for the role of 'She' in a student-written production called Simply Beautiful, a two-person play about an eccentric husband and wife. Directing the play just happened to be Dr. John Mayer, Cal State Stanislaus' Theater Department chairman and member of the prestigious Steppenwolf Theater Company of Chicago.

After watching Vander Giessen's over-the-top portrayal, Mayer handed her a scholarship to study with the Steppenwolf School on the spot.

"Total jaw droppage," said Vander Giessen of her reaction to being offered the scholarship. "I was stunned. I started crying."

Lauded by theater critics around the world for its groundbreaking work in both acting and directing, the Steppenwolf Theater receives numerous requests from students and professionals alike to study with the group.

In 1998, Steppenwolf founded the School at Steppenwolf, a once-a-year 10-week training residency held in Chicago and designed for gifted actors. Only 20 seats are available, and anyone interested in enrolling must audition against actors from across the country to secure a place in the class. It costs $50 to just submit the required paperwork, with no guarantee of an audition.

This year, though, the Steppenwolf School will take its act on the road and hold a two-week version of the highly sought after class at the CSU Summer Arts Festival in Fresno. Only 32 seats are available and anyone interested must audition against actors from across the western U.S. to secure a place in the class.

Vander Giessen is one of 32.

"I had gone on this trip on a whim," said Vander Giessen, a graduate of Frazier Park High School who is currently studying acting and psychology at College of the Canyons. "But since I was there, I had to make most of it."

Vander Giessen's whim will allow her to ply her trade with some of theater's top performers, including stage and television actor Jeff Perry of Nash Bridges fame, who has taught portions of the Steppenwolf School since its inception four years ago. The school trains budding actors in improvisation, movement and scene study and ends in a group performance by the class.

While she looks forward to the excitement of the Steppenwolf School in July, Vander Giessen will get an early taste of working with professionals this month. She will portray Juliet in the College of the Canyons' production of Romeo and Juliet on May 17, 18 and 19. The production will feature professional equity actors from the Shakespeare and Friends Foundation in some of the parts - including the role of Juliet's paramour, Romeo.

"To be acting with people who I'd pay $50 to see is just incredible," said Vander Giessen. "I went to the Shakespeare and Friends production of Hamlet at the Mark Taper Forum and they blew my mind. I didn't know anyone could do what they do with Shakespeare.

"Just watching them, listening to them and being with them can increase your personal growth," said Vander Giessen.

Vander Giessen hopes to take what she learns from both the Steppenwolf School and the Romeo and Juliet performance and apply it to the goal she's chased for years: performance and dance therapy.

"I want to be able to touch people with what I'm doing," said Vander Giessen. "I want to be able to reach people."

Her most memorable role came doing exactly that, not on the stage but in the classroom.

"In high school, the drama club went from room to room to perform small scenes about abuse in the home," said Vander Giessen. "When I was on stage, my friends would always yell 'Yeah Eva!' But when they watched me during this skit, they stopped looking at me as Eva and were touched by the message of the play. If I could help people heal and grow with what I do, that would be fantastic."