UNL professor fills interim
post in theater department
By Lindsey Wright
Staff Reporter
The University of Nebraska
Lincoln’s performing arts department
will experience a scene change this
fall when Charles O’Connor takes
center stage.
O’Connor, associate professor of
theater, has been named interim
chairman of die department of theatre
arts and dance. O’Connor replaces
Kevin Paul Hofeditz, who, after 15
years at Nebraska, will become pro
fessor and chair of theatre at
Southern Methodist University in
Dallas.
“It is unquestionable to me that
this department is among some of the
top tier programs in the country,”
O’Connor said in a press release.
“The faculty is outstanding and
auic iu auraci siuuenis irom an
around the country and world. With
some of the changes and new person
nel arriving, we stand the chance to
become nationally prominent in
some areas.”
O’Connor heads the scenic
design and computer-aided design
program at UNL and serves as the
director of film and new media pro
duction. He has been at UNL since
1993.
Julie Hagemeier, theater manag
er, said O’Connor was very anxious
to work in the Lied Center and other
production halls. O’Connor is look
ing forward to “A Christmas Carol,”
which will return to the Lied Center
this winter.
Hagemeier said that she expected
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no sweeping changes to be made until
a permanent position could be filled
But O’Connor, she said, was planning
to upgrade the University’s perform
ing arts facilities.
Prior to coming to UNL,
O’Connor headed the design pro
gram at the University of Arizona.
O’Connor has been an art director
for television and was the recipient of
the CableAce Award for Outstanding
Art Direction for his scenic designs
for “Mother Goose Rock On
Rhyme,” produced by Disney for
ABC. He has been a consulting
designer for Disneyland and the resi
dent assistant designer at the Mark
Taper Forum in Los Angeles.
He is the resident scenic designer
at die Utah Shakespearean Festival,
where this summer he is designing
“King John,” “All’s Well That Ends
Well” and “The Taminp nf the
Shrew.”
O’Connor’s television credits
include “My Two Dads,” on NBC,
“Small Wonder,” on Fox and “Shelley
Duvall’s Tall Tales,” on Showtime.
Other theatrical credits include
“Damn Yankees” and “Carousel” for
Music Theatre of Wichita; “She
Loves Me,” “Table Manners” and
“Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” at the
Nebraska Reperatory Theatre; “Alice
in Wonderland” at the Omaha Theatre
Company for Young Audiences;
“Fabiola” at the Ensemble Studio
Theatre in Los Angeles and “One
Flew over the Cuckoos Nest” at the
Omaha Community Playhouse.
He has won two Caddie Awards
for his computer-aided design from
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