Stage and Screen Actor Estelle Parsons Holds Salon at UMD’s School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies

Estelle Parsons

Estelle Parsons photo by John Spellman
 

This event has been cancelled.

Academy Award-winner and four-time Tony nominee Estelle Parsons will work with students in the School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies (TDPS) at a salon to be held Tuesday, October 15 from 1:30-3:20 p.m. in studio 3736 in the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center.

Parsons will share personal stories about her experiences working on stage and screen and the five years she spent as artistic director of the Actors Studio.  Students will have the opportunity to participate in a master class with Parsons and engage in a Q-and-A session about her long and varied career.

“When guest artists come in, the students have the opportunity to hear new stories, and be exposed to familiar techniques from a different perspective,” said TDPS Associate Professor Leslie Felbain, who had the opportunity to work with Parsons over the summer at a directors’ symposium in Spoleto, Italy.

Parsons made her Broadway debut in 1956 in the ensemble of Happy Hunting and has gone on to star in or direct over 25 plays.  She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Blanche Barrow in 1967’s Bonnie and Clyde.  She is also known for her role on the sitcom Roseanne as Roseanne’s eccentric mother Beverly.  Inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame in 2004, Parsons is currently starring in The Velocity of Autumn at Arena Stage.

To participate in the salon, contact Leslie Felbain at lfelbain@umd.edu.