ISLANDJIM

Adventures on Pacific and Atlantic Islands

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Pastimes in Paradise
Being Guamed (No man is a what?)

Had anyone suggested three years ago that I might soon be living and teaching on a tropical island some eight thousand miles from New York City, I would have surely thought them delirious.  When, in fact, I found myself entrenched on a beach off the eastern shore of Guahan, there seemed few options but to accept that I had been Guamed.

Now, I don't expect anyone to be shedding any tears over my plight.  Neither do I expect friends or family to be scrambling to their travel agents for reservations to Wonpat International Airport.  Such are the liabilities of a  middle-aged adventure to a volcanic rock 32 miles in length and 8 miles wide, surrounded on all sides by nearly 2 thousand miles of open ocean. 

As with most things, living on Guam has its charms and its frustrations.  This website is partly devoted to celebrating the opportunities a remote island of 150 thousand Asian, States-born, European, and Chamorro people can offer this academically inclined Anglo theatre practitioner who, for the forseeable future, is also a fellow Guamanian.

The idea for its creation came from a dear friend on a recent visit to New York City, where I have lived the great majority of my life as an actor, director, and college professor.  She suggested friends might be curious about my change in location, culture, and, ultimately, I suppose, mindset likely to occur over the course of a prolonged stay.  I agreed and vowed to record some of my life on the internet, because I was anxious to share my experiences directing plays, teaching theatre, writing a newspaper column, serving on the board of trustees for the local NPR public radio station KPRG, and exploring the amazing marine life that exists around the Marianas Islands.

I've titled my website "IslandJim" because this excursion to the western Pacific is by no means my first experience on an island.  In about 1915 my family joined an island community in Maine, where I have spent parts of every year of my life, walking the rocks and woods of coastal New England.  I've been fortunate to have shared the beauty of Mac Mahan Island with countless friends since childhood. 

Academic life affords the unique pleasure of workless summers (actors never take summers off) and mine are now spent by the Atlantic ocean.  I know, take out the handkerchiefs.

So, having evolved from a small fish in the enormous pond at the mouth of the Hudson River to a moderate-sized fish in the vast Pacific, who pretends in the summer to be a Downeaster, I guess no other domain name would suffice.

This site will also offer some perspectives on living on Guam: the history of the island,  commentaries on films that I review for The Marianas Variety, and photos from our productions at the University of Guam's Island Theatre. Hopefully I'll be able to add a few video surprises, and updated news about local culture, politics, and people in the Pacific region.  In the future I hope to offer a blog, for those who might wish to add to the dialogue.



Best friend for 10 years: Sammy





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Family and Friends


Sydney, Australia (Nov. 2006)

As I expect most of you visiting for the first time will be among many friends and family members who know of my moving to Guam, I thought it only proper to offer some glimpses of our visits over the last few years.

My daughter Alex and I, in 
Boston , January 2006. 


 


And some of the Walcutts.




 

Parts of a life, so far

Vitae

James Seymour, PhD. MA, BFA 
5201 UOG Station, Mangilao, Guam 96923 Phone: 671-789-4501
E-mail: jimbo125@aol.com

Objective: To nurture, help develop, and inspire a college theatre department by continuing to teach, direct, and mentor young theatre artists. 

      Current Position

[2004-Present] The University of Guam, Mangilao, 
      Guam   
      Associate Professor of Theatre:                
      Directing,Theatre History, Intro to Theatre, Writing

      Director: Island Theatre at UOG (We Won’t Pay, Natural Disasters, Laughing Stock, Catholic School Girls, Guam Teens Talk Tough)
      Actor: Relatively Speaking, Brimstone and Treacle 

       Work Experience

[2000-04] Queens College, City University of New York: Assistant Professor (Adjunct) 
   • Acting, Dramatic Literature, Intro to Theatre

[2002] Rutgers University (Writing Program); Lecturer: Expository Writing

[2001] Cider Mill Playhouse, Endicott, NY; Director: The Mousetrap

[2000-04] St. Thomas Aquinas College, Sparkill, NY; Assistant Professor (Adjunct) 
   • British Literature, English Composition

[1999-2000] University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Associate Professor of Acting (Department of Dramatic Art) 
   • Acting (Full-time/Graduate/Undergrad)
   • Director: UNC Kenan Theatre (The Bacchae, The Sneeze)

[1992-97] Marymount Manhattan College, NYC; Assistant Professor (Adjunct)    
   • Acting, Directing, Script Analysis    
   • Director: Marymount Manhattan Theatre (Road)

[1991-92) Professional Childrens’ School, NYC; Drama Teacher/ESL    
   • Director: This Is A Test, Animal Farm

[1989-91] Baruch College, City University of New York; Assistant Professor (Adjunct)    
   • Speech, Public Speaking

[1991] Signature Theatre Company, NYC; Actor: The Love Suicide at Schofield Barracks ( Bates)

[1991] CBS Television, NYC; Actor: Kate and Allie (Older Chip) [two episodes]

[1991] Nickelodeon Television Actor: Yours Truly (Father)

[1989] CBS Television, NYC; Actor: Song of Myself (Whitman’s companion w/Rip Torn)

[1987] Hartman Theatre, Stamford, CT; Actor: The Torchbearers (Twiller)

[1986] Dock St. Theatre, Charleston, SC; Actor: The Foreigner (Charlie)

[1985] Birmingham Theatre, Detroit; Director: I Love My Wife (Alvin) [w/ B’way cast]

[1983] District 1199 Cultural Center, NYC; Actor: Take Care, Take Care [musical tour]

[1982] Trinity Repertory Company, Providence; Actor: Translations (Owen)

[1981] Portland Stage Company, ME; Actor: The Dining Room (Ensemble)

[1980-81] Long Wharf Theatre, New Haven, CT; Actor: Privates On Parade (Kevin) [American Premiere w/ Jim Dale, Arvin Brown, Dir.] Solomon’s Child [World Premiere, John Tillinger, Dir.]

[1980] National Science Foundation; Actor: Genetic Fix (Host/Narrator) [Film Documentary]

[1980] Charlotte Repertory Company, NC; Actor: Whose Life Is It, Anyway? (Ken) LuAnn Hampton Laverty Oberlander (Corky)

[1979-80] Playwrights’ Horizons, NYC; Actor: Company (David) [w/ Peter Evans, Mary Testa, Christine Beranski, Andre Ernotte, Dir.) Oh, What a Lovely War!

[1979] Watertower Theatre, Chicago; Actor: I Love My Wife (Alvin) [B’way Tour]

[1979] American Stage Festival, NH; Actor: Feathertop (Tom)

[1979-80] Manhattan Theatre Club/Berkshire Theatre Festival; Actor: Four Years After the Revolution [Musical by Richard Peaslee]

[1978] The Colorado College, CO; Visiting Professor: Acting

[1978] Ethel Barrymore Theatre [B’way]; Actor: I Love My Wife [Alvin] [w/ James Naughton/Tony Award, Best Musical, 1977]

[1978] Franklin Pierce College, NH; Director: Hot L Baltimore

[1976-78] Peterborough Players, NH 
   Actor: Playboy of the Western World (Christy), Our Town (George), Absurd Person Singular (Sidney), Hay Fever (Simon), Ah, Wilderness (Richard), The Autumn Garden (Frederick) 
   Director: All The Way Home, The Rimers of Eldritch

[1978] Ensemble Studio Theatre, NYC; Director: All The Way Home

[1978] CBS Television, NYC; Actor: On Our Own (Tommy) [James Burrows, Dir.]

[1977] Studio Arena Theatre, Buffalo; Actor: Scapino (Leonardo) [Grover Dale, Dir.]

[1977] New Lafayette Theatre, NYC; Actor: The Bloodknot (Morris)

[1976] Circle Repertory Company, NYC;  Actor: St. Freud (Benjamin) [World Premiere by David Ives]

[1975] Equity Library Theatre, NYC; Actor: The Zykovs (Misha) [American Premiere by Maxim Gorky)

[1973-74] Lucille Lortel Theatre (Off-B’way); Actor: Moonchildren (Mike) [Obie Award: Best Director, John Pasquin]

[1972] The New Theatre [Off-B’way]; Actor: Small Craft Warnings (Bobby) [World Premiere w/ Tennessee Williams]

[1971] Museum School of Boston; Director: Krapp’s Last Tape

[1970-71] Theatre Company of Boston; Actor: The Peacemaker, The Love of Don Perlimplin

[1970] Boston University Theatre; Actor: The Emperor Jones (Smithers), The Beggar’s Opera (Mat)

[1969] LaMama ETC, NYC; Actor: Approaching Simone [World Premiere by Megan Terry/Obie Award]

[1968] Centennial Theatre, Univerity of Kentucky; Actor: King Lear (Edgar), You Can’t Take It With You (Tony)

[1966-67] Dorset Playhouse, VT; Actor: Bye, Bye Birdie (Conrad), Guys and Dolls (Harry) 

      Education 
   
[1989-97] The Graduate Center of New York, City University of New York, M.A., Ph.D.
      Theatre History: Ralph Allen   
      Theory: Marvin Carlson, Daniel Gerould       
      Classical Literature: Daniel Gerould, Judith Milhous, Marvin Carlson        
      Modern Lit:: Harry Carlson, Stanley Kauffmann, Arthur Schlesinger 
      Film: Stanley Kauffmann, Leonard Quart    
      Playwriting: Romulus Linney
      Participatory Workshops: Peter Brook, Anne Bogart, Andre Serban     
      Dissertation: Holy Ghosts and Hidden Histories: The Theatre of Romulus Linney, 1967-1995 [UMI Diss.Serv.,MI]

[1967-71] Boston University School of the Arts (Acting) B.F.A.     
      Acting: Ted Kazanoff, Maxine Klein, Robert Hobbs, Michael Howard        
      Voice/Speech: Van Macklin, Liz Smith, Bill Lacey, Roland Gagnon 
      Movement: Joe Gifford, John Wilson        
      History/Dramatic Lit: Elliot Norton, David Wheeler, John Watts           
      Circus/Mime: Hovey Burgess, Ron Martin

         Publications/Papers/
         Grants/Unpublished
         Plays

      Contributing Author: Peter Brook: Oxford to Orghast, Eds. Richard Helfer and Glenn Loney [Harwood Academic Pub., 1998] 
      Contributing Columnist (weekly): The Marianas Variety (film review) 
      Grantee: Guam Council of Arts and Humanities (Island Theatre) 
      Editorial Advisory Board: Theatre: It’s Art and Craft, 4th Ed. (Collegiate) 
      Conference Paper: Mid-America Theatre Conference, Omaha (03/12/98) [Romulus Linney and America’s Urge for Spiritual Identity] 

   The Gift of the Moment (play) 
   Astrid’s Dream (play based on material by and about Aphra Behn) 
   Primitive People (stage adaptation of novel by Francine Prose)
 
      Membership/Other 
      Interests 

   Actors’ Equity Association, Screen Actor’s Guild, AFTRA, PSC, AAUP 
   Piano, Guitar, Tennis, Diving 

   References:

Lawrence R. Scripp, Chair, Music Theory, New England Conservatory of Music, 31 Matchett St., Brighton, MA 02135 lscripp@aol.com (617) 787-2512

Stephen Bednarzyk, Ass’t. Professor of Music, University of Guam, Mangialo, GU 96923 smbed@guam.net (671) 734-9039

Richard Russell Ramos (Actor/Director/Teacher) 265 Riverside Dr., New York, NY 10025 3ars@prodigy.net (212) 666-0931 

   Other Referees:

Michael Weller, Playwright 212-674-4428 wellbert1@earthlink.net

Ray Dooley, Chair, Theatre Department, UNC 919-962-8272 rdooley@email.unc.edu


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Copyright 2005 Jim Seymour. All rights reserved.

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