Selected SCRC Biographies
SCRC is pleased to be working with such talented people
to bring you this year's performances on Hilton Head. We look forward
to bringing more of these collaborations to the residents of and
visitors to Hilton Head Island.
Dr. Al
Balkin
Dr. Al Balkin began is association with SCRC in 1996 when he and Pat Haskell, Artistic Director, collaborated on the musical The Frog Prince. He has also done shows for SCRC on Rogers, Hart and Hammerstein, the Gershwin Brothers, Irving Berlin and Cole Porter. His Cole Porter show was the inaugural show at the new SCRC playhouse on Beach City Road.
Dr. Al has a dual background of New York cabaret singer/pianist and university professor. He received his doctorate degree from Columbia University and taught for many years at Western Michigan University. He lives in Hilton Head Plantation with his wife Rita and their dog Leo.
Clifton "Chip" Egan, director/actor
Chip Egan is the dean of the College of Art at Clemson University and is past Chair of the Department of Performing Arts at Clemson. He received his BA in theatre from Hanover College and his MFA from Northwestern University. He has a wide variety of credits as a director, designer and actor, including the Highlands Playhouse in Highlands, NC; Mill Mountain Theatre in Roanoke, VA; Idaho Repertory Theatre in Moscow, ID; the Historic Shuler Theatre in Raton, NM; Centre Stage, South Carolina and The Warehouse Theatre in Greenville, SC; as well as several colleges and universities. For SCRC, he has directed The Gin Game, Grace and Glorie, Professional Skepticism, Yellow Dog Crossing, and Tomfoolery and appeared in The Good Doctor, Four Beers, The Drawer Boy, The Car and Greetings.
Chip is past president of the Southeastern Theatre Conference and also a past president of the South Carolina Theatre Association. In the 1970's Pat Haskell and daughter Jan Haskell attended Clemson University and worked closely with Chip in the theatre department. Chip encouraged both Pat and Jan to attend graduate school at the University of Georgia where Pat earned her MFA in 1985. In 1998, Chip and Pat designed SCRC's new theatre on Beach City Road. Chip and his wife, Diane, have two children, Patrick and Erin.
For the 2007/08 season, Chip will be directing the romantic comedy Almost Maine.
Tom Evans, director
Tom Evans retired in 1999 after 32 years as the Chair of the Theatre Department at Hanover College in Indiana. As Chair, he garnered widespread recognition for developing the institution's theatre department into one of the nation's best. During his years at Hanover, the program captured four national awards from the American College Theatre Festival, including two for staging original works by students. He guided the playwriting talents of James Leonard, whose And They Dance Real Slow in Jackson and The Diviners were written and premiered in Hanover. Tom later directed both in New York and Washington, DC. Tom is also a playwright who spent several years joining his wife, actress Barbara Farrar, in developing new plays at the Shenandoah International Play Retreat in Staunton, VA. In 1990, Governor Evan Bayh honored the pair with Sagamores of the Wabash for their contributions to theatre in Indiana.
Tom has directed over 15 productions for SCRC, including W;t, Proof, Four Beers, The Drawer Boy and God’s Man in Texas. Tom’s play Yellow Dog Crossing was also produced to great acclaim as part of our 2005/06 season.
For the 2007/08 season, Tom will be directing the Pulitzer Prize winners Doubt and Rabbit Hole as well the ode to country living, Foxfire.
Hank Haskell, Business Manager
Hank Haskell is a graduate of Bowdoin College and Harvard Business School. He was president and principal owner of Brunswick Yarns, a nationally known manufacturer and distributor of hand knitting yarns which was sold to Coats and Clark in 1995. Hank handles finances and public relations for SCRC.
Hank is also an avid writer with 4 books in print -- Sailing with the Salty Four, Brunswick’s Legacy, A Learned Man, W. Stewart Woodfill: Master of Mackinac's Grand Hotel, and The Art is the Thing, which is the inside story of SCRC from its inception in 1992 through a celebration of its first twelve years and 54 productions.
Pat
Haskell, Artistic Director
Pat Haskell founded SCRC with her husband Hank in 1992. She earned her Art degree at Furman University in 1975 and her MFA in Theatre at the University of Georgian in 1985. She has directed many shows and acted numerous times all across the state of South Carolina. In Hilton Head, Pat has been seen on stage at the Arts Center of Coastal Carolina and appeared on the SCRC stage in shows such as The Gin Game, Driving Miss. Daisy, Love Letters, Auntie and Me, and Take up the Song. Some of Pat’s credits as a director for SCRC are Cotton Patch Gospel, Collected Stories, and The Frog Prince.
Much of our Artistic Director’s work can be seen behind the scenes. Pat regularly gets her hands dirty as a costume, sound, and properties designer, as well as running the light or sound boards.
Blake White, Production Associate
Blake White is thrilled to be joining SCRC full time after appearing in Proof, Four Beers, Professional Skepticism and The Car. As an actor, Blake has worked with the Invisible City Theatre Company, Turnip Theatre Festival, Manhattan Comedy Collective and Caution: Artists at Work, all of which are in New York City. Regionally, Blake appeared on the stages of Actors Theatre of Louisville, the Cider Mill Playhouse, the Mythmakers Theatre Company and The Warehouse Theatre. Blake is especially thrilled to be married to the best actress on the planet, Peggy Trecker.
For the 2007/08 season, Blake will be appearing in Foxfire and Doubt. |
