Section Title

Instructor

MFA, MS

Theatre, Communication & Fine Arts

Paula is a full-time instructor of Theatre, Communication, and Fine Arts at Gannon. She is also a member of the Humanities Task Force and serves as advisor for the honorary dramatic fraternity Alpha Psi Omega, Kappa Beta Cast. Paula holds a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, a Master of Fine Arts in Acting from Pennsylvania State University, and a Master of Science in Education from Fordham University in NYC.

For most of her theatre career, Paula was based in New York City where she continued theatre studies at the HB Studio with Bill Hickey. Her performing experience includes commercial work, film, daytime television, and voice overs as well as theatre in such NYC venues as La Mama and Playwright’s Horizon. In regional theatre, Paula has performed in repertory at the Champlain Shakespeare Festival in Burlington, Vermont, and The Barter Theatre in Abington, Virginia, among others. For two years, she served as Artist-in-Residence at the South Jersey Regional Theatre, performing in the company and heading up the Impact Arts Outreach program for the state. She is a founding member of the Brooklyn Project dedicated to developing and producing works by new playwrights.

Since joining the theatre faculty at Gannon, Paula has taught a variety of courses including Fundamentals of Acting, Improvisation, Creative Movement, Acting Styles, Voice and Diction, and Theatre & Culture. She has also directed numerous plays for Gannon’s mainstage including Fool for Love, The Laramie Project, Tartuffe, Henry V, The Dining Room, Nicholas Nickleby, and I Love You Because. For the launch of Gannon’s Shakespeare Summer Nights in 2004, Paula directed Twelfth Night and has gone on to play Titania in Midsummer Night’s Dream and, this past summer, Gertrude in Hamlet.

Start thinking of yourself as a life-long learner. Develop an open and curious mind and never miss an opportunity to learn something new. Keep your eyes and heart open. Stay in the moment. Don’t miss out.

The people! Students, faculty and staff alike are warm, friendly people who create a campus atmosphere that feels relaxed and comfortable and very conducive to learning.

As I watch my student actors interact and follow creative impulses, I see success on many levels in so many different ways: academically, creatively, interpersonally, even spiritually. As Theatre students develop their craft and their skills, they grow into confident, centered, and creative problem-solvers…what more could I ask?

Any class in which the student group has a positive energy and spirit to learn and take creative risks. With each classroom experience, it’s always my goal to help create and contribute to that spirit and energy.

The impact of the arts, especially theatre, in education and in the classroom; the presentation of self in every day life; nurturing and development of creativity.