USITT extends congratulations to both our 2023 Joel E. Rubin Founders Award winner Elynmarie Kazle as well as our honor and merit Herbert D. Greggs Awards winners! Our winners will be honored at USITT23 March 15-18 in St. Louis.

Joel E. Rubin Founders Award

The Joel E. Rubin Founder's Award is presented to a USITT member in recognition of outstanding and continued service to the Institute. This award was named in honor of Dr. Joel E. Rubin, co-founder and the second president of the Institute. Given to USITT members in recognition of extraordinary and continued service to the Institute, the award is presented as an important highlight of the Annual Conference & Stage Expo.

Winner: Elynmarie Kazle

Elynmarie Kazle is a production manager, fundraiser, management consultant and stage director. Director of over 15 plays including Lauren Gunderson’s The Revolutionists and Eric Overmeyer’s On the Verge, she directed the yet unpublished Four Women Talking about the Man Under the Sheet a play about the birth of abolition and women’s rights by Elaine Jarvik in 2022.  Consulting for a variety of theatrical, educational and business institutions, she specializes in organizational development and fundraising and is a successful grant writer and theatre manager.  Kazle has designed signature stage management curricula and mentoring for a variety of institutions across the country including USITT’s Stage Management Mentoring Program.  Currently teaching management as an adjunct for Ohio Northern University, recent SM gigs include Match Girl/Columbus Dance Theatre and Regional Emmy Awards for NATAS as well as director of Teacher Training for the Southeastern Summer Theatre Institute (SSTI).  She currently serves as Vice Chair for Special Projects USITT Ohio Valley, as well as on the national Membership and Development Committees. After serving 9 years (8 as Chair) for the Stage Managers’ Association/USA, she became the founding President of the Stage Managers’ Association Foundation. Previous production work includes stints for Brooklyn Academy of Music, Deaf West, Great Lakes and Cleveland Play House, Los Angeles Classical Ballet, San Diego and Opera Columbus and three international tours, working with artists such as Mikhail Barynishkov, Phillip Glass and Tommy Tune. She served 2 years as a cultural ambassador to Sweden, 9 years on the Equity West Coast SM Committee, and 3 years working for the Stage Directors Union (SDC). Named to the National Theatre Conference, prior to the pan pause, she is one of the youngest Fellows to be named by USITT. Her BFA is from the University of Mn, Duluth and MFA in Theatre Management from Ohio University. She is a play responder/workshop presenter for International and state Thespians. She’s been an adult volunteer leader for Scouting USA for over 15 years and is the proud mom of an Eagle Scout.

Herbert D. Greggs Awards

The Herbert D. Greggs Awards promote innovative, in-depth writing about theatre design and technology in TD&T. Merit awards are also given.

Herbert D. Greggs Award (highest honor) and the Herbert D. Greggs Merit Award promote innovative, in-depth writing about theatre design and technology in TD&T. Named in honor of a highly-regarded former USITT General Manager, the Herbert D. Greggs Award was first given in 1979. The "Merit Awards" began in 1998.

Winners:

Jerry Idah Odeh - “Merging the Old with the New” (Summer 2022) published in TD&T – Theatre Design & Technology.

Kathleen Holland - “Dying to Make Theatre” (Summer 2022) published in TD&T – Theatre Design & Technology.

Naoko Skala - “Experiencing the Japanese Nohgaku Theatre” (Winter 2022) published in TD&T – Theatre Design & Technology.