DARREN PATRICK BLANEY, PHD
darrenblaney@cs.com
ABBREVIATED CURRICULUM VITAE
EDUCATION
Ph.D., Dramatic Art/Performance Studies with a graduate minor in Critical Theory, University of California, Davis
Graduate Certificate, Acting & Theater Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz
STC Certificate, Acting, American Conservatory Theater, San Francisco, California
B.A., Art, Reed College, Portland, Oregon
Université de Rennes, France, exchange student
Cathedral High School, Springfield, Massachusetts
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Full-time Lecturer of Acting & Theatre Arts, University of Miami, Florida, 2013-2020
Adjunct Lecturer of Theatre History, University of Miami, Florida, 2012
Lecturer of Theatre, Pomona College, Claremont, CA, 2008-2010
Visiting Assistant Professor of Acting and Dramatic Literature, Pomona College, Claremont, CA, 2007-2008
Critical Inquiry Faculty, Pomona Academy for Youth Success, Pomona College, Claremont, CA, 2008-2010
Playwriting Teacher & Director, Claremont School of Theatre Art, Pomona College, Claremont, CA, 2009
Acting Instructor: Meisner Technique and Long-form Improvisation, Alexander Hughes Community Center, Claremont, CA, 2008-2009
Teaching Assistant, University of California, Davis, 2006-2007
Teaching Assistant, University of California, Santa Cruz, 2002-2004
Assistant Art Teacher, Board of Education, P.S. 154: The Bronx, NY, 1993-1995
DIRECTORIAL EXPERIENCE
The Mask of Blackness, written & performed by Estella McNair, Director, Spring 2019, University of Miami, Florida
The Dining Room, Director, Scenic & Lighting Design, Fall 2018, Hecht Studio Theater, University of Miami, Florida
Talley’s Folly, Director & Scenic Design, Spring 2018, Hecht Studio Theater, University of Miami, Florida
24-Hour Play Festival, Director, 2016, 2017 & 2019, Jerry Herman Ring Theater, University of Miami
As Is, Fall 2015, Director, Stonewall National Museum and Archives, Wilton Manors, Florida
Burn This, Director, Scenic & Lighting Design, Spring 2015, Hecht Studio Theater, University of Miami, Florida
Minatory Mansion, Director, Summer 2009, Claremont School of Theatre Arts, Pomona College
Fifth of July, Director, Scenic & Lighting Design, Fall 2007, Virginia Princehouse-Allen Theater, Pomona College
Hey Baby How’ve You Been?, Director & Devisor, Fall 2007, Highways Performance Space, Santa Monica, California
Scene Studies, 2002-2019, As an acting teacher, I have directed hundreds of scene studies by a variety of modern and contemporary playwrights including Albee, Beckett, Chambers, Chekhov, Durang, Fornes, Inge, Kondoleon, Kushner, Lorca, Moraga, Norman, Odets, Pinter, Shanley, Shepard, Stoppard, Valdez, Vogel, Wasserstein, Wilde, Wilson, and Williams
Artistic Direction / Producing
Catastrophe Collective, Spring 2019, Theatre Arts BA Capstone Project: AD/Faculty Supervisor, Hecht Studio Theater, University of Miami, Florida
24-Hour Play Festival, 2017, 2019 & 2020, Co-Producer & Artistic Director, Jerry Herman Ring Theatre, University of Miami, Florida
Lucid, Spring 2018, Theatre Arts BA Capstone Project: Artistic Director/Faculty Supervisor, Hecht Studio Theater, University of Miami, Florida
As Is, Fall 2015, Co-Producer, Stonewall National Museum and Archives, Wilton Manors, Florida
Reanimating Spectral Collections, Fall 2014, Co-Producer, cryptic readings from the Jackie Gleason Collection: a collaboration between the Theatre Arts Department and the Special Collections Department of the Richter Library, University of Miami, Florida
10-Minute Play Festival, Fall 2007, Spring 2009, Spring 2010, Artistic Director/Producer, Pomona College Department of Theatre and Dance
PERFORMANCE & ACTING RESUME
Acting: Theater
My Christmas List: A Pandemic Yuletide Tale, Tim (lead), Sea Tea Comedy Theater, Hartford, CT
Stage Kiss, Adrian Schwalbach aka Director, Main Street Playhouse, Miami Lakes, FL
As Is, Saul, Stonewall National Museum, Fort Lauderdale, FL
Don’t Dress for Dinner (staged reading), Bernard, Main Street Playhouse, Miami Lakes, FL
Muscle Bears (staged reading), Mason, Island City Stage, Wilton Manors, FL
Live! with Homer, (staged reading), Homer, Meeting House Miami, FL
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Cheswick, Andrews Living Arts Theatre, Fort Lauderdale, FL
Cymbeline (dir. Daniel Fish), Ensemble, California Shakespeare Festival, Bruns Ampitheater, Orinda, CA
Richard II (dir. Leonard Pronko), John of Gaunt, Seaver Theater, Claremont, CA
Zoot Suit (30th anniversary production, dir. Alma Martinez), Lieutenant Edwards/Bailiff/Swabbie, Seaver Theater, Claremont, CA
The Dying Gaul (dir. Bruce Elsberger), Dr. Michael Foss, New Conservatory Theater, San Francisco, CA
Ragnarok (dir. Conrad Bishop), Bjorn/Heimdall/Builder/Verdandi, Shotgun Players, Berkeley, CA
The Tempest, Sebastian, Marin Shakespeare, Marin, CA
Othello, Montano/First Senator, San Domenico TheaterArts, CA
My Own Private Eyeshadow, Various characters, Crowbar Theater, Off-Off Broadway, NYC
365 Days/365 Plays, Soldier/Man, UC Davis, CA
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, George, UC Santa Cruz, CA
The Pope and the Witch, Professor Carlo Ridolfi, UC Santa Cruz, CA
Pancatantra: Animal Tales of the Hindu World (dir. Kathy Foley), Tawny the Lion/Old Monkey/Dancer, UC Santa Cruz, CA
Acting: Film & Television
World Astonishing News, Duo Creative, Japan, Guest Star
RENT, dir. Chris Colombus, Revolution Studios
Broken Glass, dir. Paul Ciasullo, Lead
Andy Warhol Is Dead, dir. Christopher Steele, Lead
Glittering in the Garden, dir. Charlotte Chenille, Lead
Thirty Minutes, dir. Michael Chiu, Co-Star
The Forgotten, Season 1, ABC Studios
Cold Case, Season 7, CBS Studios
Solo Performance
Hey Baby How've You Been, 30 minute solo piece with 3 characters, Highways Performance Space, 2007
You May Now Kiss... My Sass...?, 60 minute solo show with 12 characters, San Francisco Fringe Festival, 2005
You May Now Kiss... My Sass...?, 60 minute solo show with 12 characters, University of California, Davis, 2005
The Bird Club: Letter to Sandra Bernhard, 60 minute solo show with 6 characters, Works San Jose, 2004
The Bird Club: Letter to Sandra Bernhard, 60 minute solo show with 6 characters, Broadway Playhouse, 2004
The Bird Club: Letter to Sandra Bernhard, 60 minute solo show with 6 characters, San Francisco Fringe Festival, 2001
The Bird Club: Letter to Sandra Bernhard, 60 minute solo show with 6 characters, Shotwell Studios, San Francisco, 2001
Solo Performer's Festival, 20 minute solo piece, City College, San Francisco, 2000,
Stand Up Comedy, 5-10 minute sets, Sadie's Flying Elephant, Mock Café at The Marsh, Gay Comedy at Piaf's, etc.
Walk On By Montage, Fabulessa, Trannie Shack, San Francisco, CA
I Feel Pretty Witty, Fabulessa, Trannie Shack San Francisco & Cake New York City
An Egyptian Christmas, Dee Nile, Limelight, NYC
Music & Dance Performance
Cabaret Evening of Original Songs, lead singer/guitarist, Sanctuary Bar, Brooklyn, NY, 1998
Rubber Baby, singer/drummer (3 years), Various clubs incl. CBGBs in the East Village of NYC, Lauderbox in Brooklyn, NY, & Yale Democracy Club in New Haven, CT, 1995-1998
Amy Bennett-Gaehler Dance Company, featured jazz dancer (1 year), Reed Theater, Portland, OR, 1992
For complete acting and performance resume, please see: http://resumes.actorsaccess.com/darrenblaney
PRODUCED ORIGINAL PLAYS / Devising
You May Now Kiss… My Sass…?
San Francisco Fringe Festival, 2005, Exit Stage Left Theater; University of California, Davis, 2005
This solo show satirizes the issue of same-sex marriage during the Iraq War era, and features eleven character depictions that demand rapid character shifts
What the Hell Is Going on Here?
Chautauqua Festival, Experimental Theater, University of California, Santa Cruz, 2003
This play was co-authored with feminist playwright Kristina Goodnight, and featured eleven diverse characters. A political satire, the play grappled with the inherent ironies of living in a pluralistic American society post-9/11
The Bird Club: Letter to Sandra Bernhard
Highways Performance Space, Los Angeles, 2007; Broadway Playhouse, Santa Cruz, 2004; Works San Jose, 2004; San Francisco Fringe Festival, Phoenix Theater 2001; Shotwell Studios, San Francisco, 2001
This solo show features seven distinctive character monologues that require intricate physical and vocal work in performance
DRAMATURGY / Script Development & Consultation
Exodus (concept album) / Star of Freedom (The Ivoryton Playhouse), 2021-2022. Playwright: Jeff Blaney
My Christmas List: A Pandemic Yuletide Tale, Sea Tea Comedy Theater, 2020-2022. Playwright: Jeff Blaney
Romeo and Juliet, Jerry Herman Ring Theatre, University of Miami, Fall 2017. Director: Laura Rikard
Spring Awakening, Jerry Herman Ring Theatre, University of Miami, Spring 2017. Director: Laura Rikard
Additional Performance Training
Movement & Voice, Pomona College, 2007-2010
Feldenkrais, Alexander, Chicano theater, Physical Acting, Commedia Dell’Arte, Shakespearean Verse, Diction, & Period Style
Movement & Voice, University of California, Davis, 2005-2007
Fitzmaurice, Dialects, “Body Energy Centers”/Chakra Acting & Movement
Meisner Technique, Ian McRae Running Dog Studio, Santa Cruz, CA, 2003-2004
Studied privately in an intensive program with Ian McRae, who held a seven-year tenure as a senior acting instructor & assistant to Sanford Meisner at NYC’s Neighborhood Playhouse
Yoga, University of California, Santa Cruz, 2002-2004
Iyengar yoga for two years; in addition, Ashtanga, Hatha, Kundalini, Vinyassa, & Bikram yoga at various studios for over 25 years
Improvisation, Bay Area Theater Sports, San Francisco, CA, 2000-2002
Long-form Improvisation with Regina Saisi, Diane Rachel, & Rafe Chase
Acting, Improvisatkon & Linklater Voice Technique, Herbert Berghof Studio & Baruch College, New York City, 1996-1999
Studied Acting, Improvisation, & Linklater Voice at these Manhattan schools
Private Vocal Coaching, New York City, 1995-1999
Opera, Voice for the stage & Contemporary vocal styles with Aïnegua, Barbara Christopher, & Ron Toutz
Ballet, Modern & Jazz dance, Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance, Dance Space Inc., Smith College, & Reed College 1991-1995
PEER-REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS
“Queering ethnicity and shattering the disco: Is there an enduring gay ethnic dance?” The Oxford Handbook of Dance and Ethnicity, edited by Shay, Anthony, and Sellers-Young, Barbara. Oxford University Press, 2016, pp. 91-112. Print. Oxford Handbooks.
“1964: The Birth of Gay Theater.” The Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide, vol. 21, no. 1, 2014, pp. 17–21.
“Queering the Domestic and Domesticating the Queer: Utopian Genealogies in Lanford Wilson’s Fifth of July.” New England Theatre Journal, vol. 22., 2011, pp. 125-146.
“The AIDS Show Broke the Silence.” The Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide, vol. 18, no. 2, 2011, pp. 13–16.
BOOK/PERFORMANCE REVIEWS
“How to Do Agitprop. Staging Social Justice: Collaborating to Create Activist Theatre (Review).” The Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide, vol. 20, no. 6, 2013, p. 43-44.
“Queer Theatre and the Legacy of Cal Yeomans by Robert A. Schanke (Review).” Modern Drama, vol. 56, no. 4, 2013, pp. 569–571.
“Lay of the Land (Review).” Theatre Journal, vol. 64, no. 4, 2012, pp. 598–601.
ACADEMIC CONFERENCE PAPERS/PRESENTATIONS
2018, Missouri Self-Taught: Lanford Wilson and the American Drama, University of Missouri
Participant in the Lanford Wilson and the Queerness, Subversion, and Silence panel
Paper: Necessary Distractions as Integral Tactics: Staging Ensemble and Queer Visibility in Lanford Wilson’s Balm in Gilead
2015: ATHE: Association for Theater in Higher Education, Montreal
Participant in the From Triage to Marriage: Teaching GLBTQ Theatre and Film History panel
2011: Comparative Drama Conference, Los Angeles
Participant in the Queer(ing) Memory panel
Paper: Constructing Community at the Caffe Cino through a Utopian Staging of Self: Robert Patrick’s The Haunted Host
2010: ATHE: Association for Theater in Higher Education, Los Angeles
Participant in the Theory and Criticism panel entitled: Night of the Living Dead!: Performing Survival/Surviving Performance
Paper: Theatrical gifts as negotiations of exchange that enable survival: Theatre Rhinoceros’ utopian confrontations with the AIDS crisis
2010: ATHE: Association for Theater in Higher Education, Los Angeles
Organizer/Moderator of an LGBT Focus Group panel entitled: Surviving Queerly, Why theater needs YOU more than YouTube: Advice from practitioners about the necessity of theater in a well-balanced queer survival diet. Panelists included: Joan Lipkin, Tim Miller, Randy Paulos, Cynthia Ruffin, Steven Ruiz, Robert Schanke, and Denise Uyehara
Organizer/Moderator of an LGBT Focus Group panel entitled: Caffe Cino: The Cradle of Gay Theater: An interview with Robert Patrick
2010: Women and Theater Program/LGBT Focus Group Joint Preconference: ATHE, Los Angeles
Speaker/participant in Women and Theatre Program/LGBT Focus Group joint preconference plenary panel: Kinship and Shared Spaces / Exploring Queer Childhood
Other panelists included Ricardo A. Bracho, Norma Bowles, and Ashley Lucas
2010: Comparative Drama Conference, Los Angeles
Participant in the Gender and Sexual Identity on Stage panel
Paper: Lanford Wilson’s The Madness of Lady Bright: A Queen’s Plea for Home as a Harbinger of Hope and a Duenna of Defiance
2007: Comparative Drama Conference, Los Angeles
Participant in the Mothers, Language, and Power in Shakespeare panel
Paper: A Victory for Matriarchy? - Is All Well When Paroles Doesn't End Well?
2005: ATHE: Association for Theater in Higher Education, San Francisco
Participant/Actor: Play Development Workshop
Participant/Actor: Jane Chambers Play Development Workshop, LGBT Focus Group
Guest Lecturing / Extra-Curricular Teaching
University of Miami, Depts of English, History, and American Studies. ENG389/HIS372/ AMS337: The Sixties, an interdisciplinary team-taught course. Participated on a panel and lectured on gay theater and its concurrence with and influence on LGBT political activism in the mid-1960s. (2014 & 2017)
Stonewall National Museum and Archives, Wilton Manors, Florida. Volunteer guest cultural historian/speaker for a 30th Anniversary dramatic reading of William M. Hoffman’s groundbreaking 1985 play As Is, the first Broadway play to address the AIDS crisis. (2015)
Vanguard Sanctuary for the Arts, Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Participated in a panel discussion after a performance of Thinking Cap Theatre’s critically-acclaimed production of Vita and Virginia. Two Virginia Woolf specialists (Dr. Kathleen Waites, Nova Southeastern University and Dr. Eric Berlatsky, Florida Atlantic University) also participated. My talk focused on the play’s contributions as both revisionist literary history and queer theater. (2015)
Pomona College Women’s Center & Dean’s Office. Lecture on LGBTQ Theater. (2009)
Pomona College, Critical Inquiry Seminar/Orientation Week. Orientation trip/introductory seminar participating Critical Inquiry Faculty for incoming first-year students. Source material: Barack Obama’s Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance and John McCain & Mark Salter’s Worth the Fighting For: the Education of an American Maverick and the Heroes Who Inspired Him (2008)
Kenji Yoshino’s Covering: The Hidden Assault on Our Civil Rights (2009)
UC Davis Department of Theatre & Dance. Lecture on the American “Radical Theater Movement”, focusing on the collaborative work of The Living Theater in the 1960s (2007)
UC Davis Department of Theatre & Dance. Lecture on American naturalistic acting, with a particular focus on the reception of Stanislavski’s “Method” and its subsequent elaborations by Stella Adler, Sanford Meisner, and Lee Strasberg (2006)
UC Davis Department of Comparative Literature. Lecture on the history of the LGBT civil rights movement in postmodern America (2005)
PROFESSIONAL SERVICE
2013-2020, B.A. Curriculum/Recruitment Committee – Ongoing committee working in consultation with the Chair of Theatre Arts and the Dean of Arts and Sciences, University of Miami. As a committee member, my contributions included creating course proposals and syllabi for UM’s Senior Theatre Arts Capstone, and an LGBTQ theater history class
2013-2020, Academic Advisor – Advised B.A. Theatre majors and minors at the University of Miami, Florida
2017-2019, Manuscript Peer Reviewer – American Studies, Managing Editor: Justine Greve, amerstud@ku.edu
2011, Manuscript Peer Reviewer – Dance Research Journal, editor: Professor Mark Franko
2008-10, Curriculum Development Committee – Assisted in formulating learned outcomes, learning goals, and assessment criteria for the Acting and General Theater majors in the Pomona College Department of Theatre and Dance
2006-7, Graduate Student Representative – Attended faculty meetings, compiled notes, mediated and expressed graduate student concerns, and acted as a liaison between faculty and students for the Department of Theater & Dance at UC Davis
2006-8, Research Assistant – Associate Professor Jon Rossini, UC Davis
2003-present, Academic Reference – Have written over 40 recommendations for former and current students for graduate work, scholarships, or study abroad
FELLOWSHIPS & AWARDS
2010, Semifinalist, American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) New Faculty Fellowship
2004-2006, Eugene Cota-Robles Fellowship, University of California, Davis
OTHER PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Current Position: Director of Aquatics at Berkshire South Regional Community Center, a busy nonprofit community center. Red Cross Water Safety Instructor (WSI) and Lifeguard Instructor (LGI). Manage aquatics programs for all ages, including intergenerational programming. Manage 35 aquatics employees, including lifeguards, aqua-aerobics & swim instructors, and aquatics facilities staff. Program and personnel administration. Manage/staff lifeguards at three locations, including two waterfront lake sites during the summer months. Swim instructor for students of all ages, from infants to seniors.
Director of Aquatics, Berkshire South Regional Community Center, Great Barrington MA, 2023
Red Cross Certified Head Lifeguard & Swimming Instructor, Berkshire South Regional Community Center, Great Barrington MA, 2022
Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, MA, Security & Public Relations, 2021-2022
Freelance Actor & Performer, 1985-present
Independent Producer, 1990-present
Red-Cross Certified Swimming Instructor & Lifeguard, Fort Lauderdale, 2012-2013
Freelance Graphic Artist and Administrator, New York & San Francisco, 1998-2002
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, Security & Public Relations, 1995-1998
INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE
Resided in Rennes, France for six months in an undergraduate student exchange program, 1989-1990
Regular active participant at the French language table at Pomona College’s Oldenborg Center for Modern Languages and International Relations, 2007-2010
Traveled abroad in Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Holland, Ireland, Mexico, Morocco, Spain, and Sweden
Conversant in French, beginner in Spanish
MEMBERSHIPS
American Studies Association (ASA)
Association for Theater in Higher Education (ATHE)
American Society for Theatre Research (ASTR)