Theater

Theater Ullom


Jeffery Ullom

Assistant Professor

Ph.D., University of Illinois-Champaign/Urbana

History & Criticism, Dramatic Literature

Office: Clark Hall
Phone: 216-368-6097
E-mail: jeffery.ullom@case.edu

Prof. Ullom comes to Case Western from his prior appointment at Vanderbilt University where he served as the theatre historian, dramaturg, and Director of Honors Studies. His research interests have focused on contemporary American theatre, especially new play development in the regional theatre circuit and on Broadway. His book The Humana Festival: A History of New Plays at Actors Theatre of Louisville (Southern Illinois University Press, 2008) charts the growth of the nation's leading new play festival and its ability to endure economic, administrative, and artistic challenges. In addition to publishing work in Theatre Studies, Theatre Topics, and the Journal of American Drama and Theatre, Ullom contributed a chapter to Angels in the American Theater: Patrons, Patronage, and Philanthropy (edited by Robert A. Schanke). He is currently at work on two new books: Pop Goes the Musical!, an exploration of the current trend of Broadway musicals, and A Student's Guide to Dramaturgy, co-written with past-president of the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas Michele Volansky.

Prof. Ullom's research interests were informed directly by his experience in professional theatre. He served in the literary department of Actors Theatre of Louisville during its twentieth anniversary Humana Festival, allowing him to work many great playwrights and theatre artists including Tony Kushner, John Patrick Shanley, David Henry Hwang, Craig Lucas, Anne Bogart, Naomi Wallace, and Dominic Dromgoole. While completing his doctoral studies at University of Illinois, he also worked as interim literary manager and conducted various research projects for Actors Theatre (including work for Bogart's Cabin Fever). He was the Theatre History Consultant for the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis from 2003-2006, and he currently serves as an advising partner for Xunesis (Chicago), a company of artists and scientists creating passion for science through theatre, film and media.

In addition to his research endeavors, Prof. Ullom has also directed many productions in academia. A fan of Vahktangov and Brecht, Prof. Ullom has enjoyed exploring and exploiting theatrical conventions through productions of The Bacchae, The Caucasian Chalk Circle, dramablog: an exploration of the personal and the political, Assassins, Two Rooms, The Comedy of Errors, Company, Bedroom Farce, The Last Five Years, and the world-premiere production of the Lope deVega comedy Wit's End (translated by Edward H. Friedman). He has been lauded "Best Director" by the local press in Nashville and also received an Individual Artist Grant from the Tennessee Arts Commission for his directing work.