{"id":8177,"date":"2019-10-02T09:50:36","date_gmt":"2019-10-02T13:50:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transy.edu\/1780\/?p=8177"},"modified":"2020-07-14T14:32:41","modified_gmt":"2020-07-14T18:32:41","slug":"transylvanias-tosha-fowler-to-direct-athenswest-production-of-brighton-beach-memoirs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transy.edu\/1780\/2019\/10\/transylvanias-tosha-fowler-to-direct-athenswest-production-of-brighton-beach-memoirs\/","title":{"rendered":"Transylvania’s Tosha Fowler to direct AthensWest production of ‘Brighton Beach Memoirs’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Tosha Fowler<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Tosha Fowler, Transylvania\nUniversity\u2019s Lucille C. Little Chair of Theater and program director, will help\nLexington’s professional AthensWest Theatre Company kick off its 2019-20 season<\/a> Friday as director of Neil\nSimon’s “Brighton Beach Memoirs.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fowler sees her involvement with\nthe production, which runs through Oct. 20, as a chance to expand the\nuniversity’s involvement in the community. “We have a responsibility as a\nmajor institution in Lexington to help create the culture,” she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2018 Fowler moved to town from\nChicago, where she was an acclaimed theater professional, and soon got to know\nBo List, the producing artistic director of AthensWest and director of theatre\nat the Sayre School. List collaborated with Transylvania last fall when he\ndirected a public staged reading<\/a> of\n\u201cKilling of a Gentleman Defender,” and Fowler made sure to catch all of\nthe AthensWest productions last season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Lexington theater scene \u2014 and Fowler’s involvement in it \u2014 is an asset to Transylvania and its students. “It’s only going to make us better to be part of the fabric of the theater community,” said Fowler, who is having students in her Preparing to Act class see “Brighton Beach” and write a paper about it. (They\u2019ll do the same with an upcoming Transy Theater production.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It’s important for the\nstudents to see a certain level of theater being created,” she said.\n“They need those examples.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fowler\u2019s involvement in the\nprofessional community also is a draw for potential students \u2014 especially those\nwho want to pursue a career in theater and are looking for a high level of\nengagement in their teachers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, Fowler gets to promote Transylvania through her media appearances for “Brighton Beach.\u201d She has two live interviews lined up \u2014 Thursday at 10 a.m. on WLEX and Oct. 10 at 9 a.m. on WTVQ. On Friday, a WUKY interview with her will air at 8:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. Plus, check out today’s Herald-Leader article<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fowler highly encourages people to\nsee the show, which is about a New York Jewish family during the Depression.\n“It’s a heartfelt family drama, and it’s funny,” she said. “And\nI think right now we could all use a good laugh.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for Transylvania Theater’s season<\/a>, that kicks off next month with “Picnic” by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright William Inge. With four productions, the season takes on the topic of resilience \u2014 the university\u2019s theme<\/a> for this academic year. As with “Brighton Beach,” Transylvania’s shows will remind us of our capacity to overcome challenges with both grit and humor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n