Sandra Hawthorne

Sandra Tottle Hawthorne is a life-long theatre director and actor.  She studied piano at the Peabody Conservatory for ten years and painting at the Maryland Institute of Fine arts.  After graduating from Columbia University, she began a theatre career in Wiesbaden, Germany.  She has been a major force in bringing theatre to the Mendocino Coast in California.  She directed the first Broadway musical on the north coast, "My Fair Lady", in 1968 and is a founding member of the Mendocino Theatre Company (MTC) and the Gloriana Opera Company, frequently directing and acting for both.  She co-produced the first Mendocino film festival and has performed on commercial television and radio.  She has a long acting history with MTC in leading roles and has served the company for 9 years as Associate Artistic Director.  She has a lifetime credential in the dramatic arts from the College of the Redwoods and created a production class for College of the Redwoods that involved the schools in professional dramatic productions. She has directed 4 operas for the Mendocino Music Festival and directed the first and two subsequent productions of Opera Fresca, based in Mendocino, of which she was a charter member.

 

Education

  • Instructor Lifetime Credential in Theatre Arts, California Community Colleges
  • Bachelor of Arts Degree in Philosophy from Barnard College, Columbia University, New York, NY
  • Graduate of Bryn Mawr School, Baltimore, Maryland

 

Theatre Affiliations

  • Opera Fresca, Mendocino, CA
  • The Mendocino Music Festival
  • Instructor of Theatre Arts for College of the Redwoods, Fort Bragg, CA
  • Founding member of Mendocino Performing Arts Co. (MPAC), now The Mendocino Theatre Co. (MTC), Mendocino, CA
  • Founding member of Gloriana Opera Co., Mendocino, CA
  • United States Air Force Theatre, Wiesbaden, Germany

Director

  • Trying, MTC
  • 1959 Pink Thunderbird, MTC
  • The Fantastics, Gloriana Opera Co.
  • Art, MTC
  • The Mikado, Gloriana Opera Co.
  • Madame Butterfly, Opera Fresca
  • Noyes Fludde, Gloriana Opera Co.
  • Die Fledermaus, Opera Fresca
  • The Search for Intelligent Life in the Universe, MTC
  • Cosi Fan Tutti, Opera Fresca
  • Mike’s Case, Independent Production, Mendocino
  • A Happy Journey to Camden and Trenton, Independent Production, Mendocino
  • Rigoletto, Mendocino Music Festival
  • David and Lisa, Independent Production, Mendocino
  • Clown, MTC
  • Speed The Plow, MTC
  • La Bohème, Mendocino Music Festival
  • L' Heure Espagnol. Mendocino Music Festival
  • The Miser, MTC
  • Road to Mecca, MTC
  • I'm Not Rappaport, MTC
  • Hay Fever, MPAC
  • Woman in Mind, MPAC
  • Steel Magnolias, MPAC
  • Curse of the Starving Class, MPAC
  • The Importance of Being Earnest, MPAC
  • Crimes of the Heart, MPAC
  • Mornings at Seven, MPAC
  • The Odd Couple, MPAC
  • Dido and Aeneas, Independent Production, Fort Bragg, CA
  • The Field, MPAC
  • Talking With, MPAC
  • All the Way Home, MPAC
  • Oklahoma!, Gloriana Opera Co.
  • The Rainmaker, MPAC
  • A Streetcar Named Desire, MPAC
  • Iolanthe, Gloriana Opera Co.
  • The Seahorse, MPAC
  • The Mikado, Gloriana Opera Co.
  • My Fair Lady, Independent Production

Leading Female Roles

  • The Impossible Marriage (Kandall Kingsley) MTC
  • Movie: Hallelujah – (Mother), Fogline Films
  • A Delicate Balance, (Agnes), MTC
  • A Perfect Ganesh (Margaret), MTC
  • The Cocktail Hour (Ann), MTC
  • All My Sons (Kate), MTC
  • Ghosts (Helen Alving), MPAC
  • Death of a Salesman (Linda), MPAC
  • Wings (Helen Stilson), MPAC
  • The Glass Menagerie (Amanda Wingfield), MPAC
  • The Dining Room (First Actress), MPAC
  • The Crucible (Elizabeth Proctor), MPAC
  • Charlies's Aunt (Title role), MPAC
  • Blithe Spirit (Ruth), MPAC
  • Candida (Candida), MPAC
  • Children's Hour (Martha Dobie), MPAC
  • Arsenic and Old Lace (Elaine Harper) Mendocino Art Center
  • A Phoenix too Frequent (Dynamenen), Mendocino Art Center
  • Miss Julie (Julie), Mendocino Art Center
  • Light Up the Sky (Irene), U.S. Air Force Theatre
  • The Rivals (Mrs. Malaprop), U.S. Air Force Theatre
  • Come Back Little Sheba (Lois), U.S. Air Force Theatre

Supporting Roles

  • A Christmas Carol (Ghost of Christmas Past/Mrs. Cratchit) MTC
  • Moon Over Buffalo (Grand mother) MTC
  • Dimly Perceived Threats to the System, (Dr. Grey) MTC
  • Blithe Spirit, (Madame Arcati) MTC
  • Black Comedy, (Mrs. Furnival), MTC
  • My Fair Lady (Mrs. Higgins), Gloriana Opera Co.
  • Carmen, Mendocino Music Festival
  • Man of La Mancha, Gloriana Opera Co
  • You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown, Gloriana Opera Co
  • Don Giovani, Mendocino Music Festival
  • Goodnight Desdemona, Good Morning Juliet, MTC
  • The Marriage of Bette and Boo, MPAC
  • Which Dreamed It, Mendocino Art Center
  • Antigone, Mendocino Art Center
  • Three Penny Opera, Independent Production
  • Our Town, Mendocino Art Center
  • Playboy of the Western World, Independent Production
  • The Mad Woman of Chaillot, Mendocino Art Center
  • The Celebration, Independent Production
  • Under Milkwood, Independent Production
  • Paint Your Wagon, U.S. Air Force Theatre
  • Kismet, U.S. Air Force Theatre

Television

  • Assistant producer "Unsolved Mysteries":  Geologist's Murder
  • "MURDER SHE WROTE":  'Joshua Peabody Died Here' - Mavis the Librarian
  • Various T.V. commercials shot on location in the Mendocino Coastal area.

Readings

  • Liaison Dangereuses, Mdme de Volange
  • The Mai, Granma Fraochlan
  • House of Yes, Mrs. Pascal
  • Equus, Hester
  • Top Girls, Pope Joan
  • The Lady’s Not for Burning, Mother
  • The Breath of Life, Madeleine
  • The Cherry Orchard, Lubov Andreyevna Ranevskaya
  • Antigone, Telemacaus
  • Lettice and Lovage, Lettice
  • The Gin Game

Choral Singing and Performance

  • Mendocino Music Festival
  • College of the Redwoods
  • Bryn Mawr School
  • Columbia University

Related Experience

  • Associate Artistic Director, The Mendocino Theatre Company
  • Property Manager, The Mendocino Theatre Company
  • Chairman of the Board, The Mendocino Performing Arts Company
  • Fund raiser for The Mendocino Performing Arts Company
  • Created and organized the Mendocino Film Festival
  • A founding Member of The Gloriana Opera Company
  • Member of Board of Trustees of The Mendocino Performing Arts Company
  • A founder of The Mendocino Performing Arts Company

Teaching Theatre Arts

  • Production Classes, College of the Redwoods
  • Advanced Acting, College of the Redwoods

Workshops

  • Don Bovingloh, Power Play Workshop
  • Dan Kozloff, Jean Shelton School of Drama, San Francisco, Acting
  • Jeff Corey, Hollywood, Acting
  • San Francisco Mime Troupe, "commedia dell' arte"
  • Robert Crawford Workshop in Theatre Administration
  • Jane Hill, Dell 'Arte Players Company, Blue Lake, California, Language, Breathing and Stage Accents.
  • Lee Edmundson, Stage Lighting
  • Paul Bennett Townsend, Stage Lighting
  • Doug Nunn and Tracy Burns, Improvisation