12-3-25: Well, NU caved, capitulated, paid tribute to a tinpot tyrant.....I worked all summer on this website in hopes of making a dent in their deliberations, but alas......my alma mater is dead to me now.  I hope you enjoy the website nonetheless.  - Robert Mendel

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An  A R C H I V E of the history of NU Student Theater 

C L I C K  H E R E

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NOTABLE ALUMNI BIOGRAPHIES- CLICK HERE

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This site was built to DISCOURAGE Northwestern Administration from "bending the knee" / "settling" / "capitulating" to the Trump regime and also to ENCOURAGE  Northwestern Administration  to symbolically embrace and support Free, Unfettered, & Independent Student Theater @ NU by embarking on a cost-effective project to remove the sightline-destroying support poles in  SHANLEY HALL / PAVILLION and replace them with overhead steel beams and new support beams on the perimeter.  By doing so, NU would be  committing to preserving Shanley Hall / Pavillion to be a permanent fixture on campus, reserved exclusively for Student Theater Presentations. 

By "happy accident" in 1974  the Mee-Ow Show was invented to mock Waa-Mu, an elephantine presence on campus since 1929.  From that year onward,  the allure of improv comedy that resulted, and the fierce determination of  students to mount more of their own independent productions during the protracted period of delays to building the Theater & Interpretation Building, (i.e. a criminal lack of production opportunities for all the students the Theater/Interp Departments were admitting at the time), has rewarded NU with a bounty of talented and famous alums who have advanced the reputation of NU as a fertile hub of theater training and experience in American Academia.

 It is high time that the University acknowledge their good fortune and make a meaningful commitment to the health and welfare of a strong, free, and independent Student Theater Tradition @ NU!

Doing a structural improvement to Shanley Hall would be a big job, but perhaps with a "steampunk" alteration, leaving "the shack" intact (but with "braces"), the budget could be managed.  

It would be relatively CHEAP to erect steel "braces" on the outside of Shanley, fly steel beams from the outside struts throught the walls and inside overhead to support lighting grids and hold up the ceiling, and then water-proof the whole thing, make sure the toilets flush, and walk away. 

I propose that the newly announced partnership between the Institute for Enlightened Disagreement and the NU Department of Student Services tap into the $20+ million and accomplish this improvement while simultaneously acknowledging the tremendous contribution to the study of "Enlightened Disagreement" that a Free, Un-fettered, Adventurous & Bold Culture of INDEPENDENT Student Theater can contribute to the Academic Culture of Northwestern University.

For well over 20 years, the University has debated replacing Norris Center with a larger "University Commons" which would include 1 or 2 black box theaters for student theater, but funding problems have prevented this from happening.  Tearing down Shanley Hall/Pavillion after a replacement for Student Theater is achieved has always been the University's assumption, but in the face of the University Commons' seemingly permanent delay, I suggest a "steampunk" stabilization and improvement project for Shanley that would preserve it's beloved "shack" appeal to the unconventional theater expression that flourishes there!

I loved my time at NU producing for Arts Alliance and am happy to encourage other alums from my generation to contribute to student theater as well.

CLICK HERE TO SUPPORT STUDENT THEATER FINANCIALLY   

INSTRUCTIONS: 

1.   Navigate to the   

Northwestern's Giving page.

2.   Under designation, scroll down to select “Other, please specify in the text box”

3.  Enter the student theatre organization into the text box that populates:

3. 4.   A list of the current active student theatre organizations can be found  here -  NU STUDENT THEATER GROUPS LIST - CLICK HERE, 

   and alumni can also donate to The Dolphin Show.

    - Click here for: All Things Student Theatre at Northwestern!

   or  StuCo Home Page - Click Here

 -------------Shanley is the only dedicated venue for independent, non-faculty guided/influenced student theater and comedy on the Evanston Campus.  It is where we rehearsed HAiR in 1977, and where Mee-Ow presents its shows today, along with many other student theater productions.  Shanley has been neglected for improvement for decades - Despite complaints and pleas for improvement - the University has never put a nickel into the building, while building a new stadium, a showplace practice facility on the lakefront, and myriad other edifices.  -------------------

In 2007, the Daily wrote an article about poor Shanley Pavilion.

 This site is also cognizant of the “chilling effect” recent events on campus and elsewhere may have toward alumni gifts, and attempts to bring information, history, and context to these stories - especially the potential for more costly “capitulation” to the Trump Administration.  

I pray that NU resists "settling" with the Trump Regime.  Such a “settlement” may very well be in the University’s best interest, but I hope to make the community aware of alumni concerns with regard to recent DEI reductions,

  Student Theater cancelling performances over content-related controversies, 

and legal settlements that give pause to impulses of generosity by alumni. 

In this difficult moment I believe we need to be clear-eyed and united in our support for the University, but with hopes that it doesn’t blunder into more “brand destruction” by not being full-throated with it’s support for Academic Freedom &  freedom of speech including the encouragement of broad, brave, un-fettered (sometimes even “un-hinged”!) Student Theater and Student Comedy Presentation! - “Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

Robert Mendel

About Me: 

IMDB

My Eldercare story: THE ELDERCARE MONOLOGUES
A HIPPIE-ADJACENT GOOD SON TELLS YOU ALL ABOUT IT! - Tips On Doin’ Right By Mom ‘N Dad
Without It Bein’ A Buzzkill

My Professional Tutorials

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ON THIS SITE: (See Site Menu at Left or click on the folders below)

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NOT ON THIS SITE:

My Facebook pages for shows I Produced at Arts Alliance - 1976-1980:

HAiR - October 6-9, 1977 - Rehearsed in Shanley Hall. Performed in The Louis Room, Norris Center

Of Mice & Men May 18, 19, 20 & 21, 1978 Mc Cormick Auditorium Norris Center Arts Alliance

The Runner Stumbles Feb. 22,23, 24 & 25, 1979 The Louis Room Arts Alliance

Threepenny Opera - NU Arts Alliance 5-15-thru 18-1980

Photography by Anne Fishbein Listen to the complete recording done at the pick Staiger concert hall June 6 1980 on Soundcloud! https://on.soundcloud.com/KIOgfsRpRzU2lWgKcV

Arts Alliance Miscellaneous ephemera - 1975-1980

Robert mendel’s appreciation pages:

Roy Hine - Set Designer Dolphin Show 1978 & others - https://www.facebook.com/groups/141089182723959

Dwight Conquergood -Associate Professor, Ethnographer -  Department of Interpretation -  https://www.facebook.com/groups/10041705301

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An  A R C H I V E of the history of NU Student Theater 

C L I C K  H E R E

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NOTABLE ALUMNI BIOGRAPHIES- CLICK HERE

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