Press Releases
UNL JOHNNY CARSON SCHOOL OF THEATRE AND FILM DEDICATION WILL BE OCTOBER 12, 2007
Lincoln, Neb.—The University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film will be dedicated on Friday, October 12, 2007, during UNL's Homecoming Weekend.
"The Dedication pays homage to Nebraska's most prolific son, Johnny Carson," said Paul Steger, Director of the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film. "The Temple Building was where Johnny spent much of his time while at the University of Nebraska. His generosity makes it possible for future generations of students to have opportunities they couldn't have anywhere else."
As part of the Dedication Weekend festivities, Johnny Carson's audio senior thesis, "How to Write Comedy for Radio," will be available for the first time through the UNL Libraries Digital Commons website. The thesis will be available at <http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/theaterstudent/1> starting Friday, Oct. 12. The 45-minute recording was a scholarly examination of the techniques and devices that radio comedy writers used to construct the jokes and gags in comedy radio shows. Using bits from several well-known comedians, such as Jack Benny and Bob Hope, Carson illustrated the various techniques used to write comedy.
The Dedication Weekend kicks off on Oct. 12 with a private dedication ceremony for students and faculty and invited guests at 11:00 a.m. in the Howell Theatre Lobby of the Temple Building (12th and R sts.) to be followed by a luncheon.
The UNL Homecoming parade, which celebrates the Homecoming theme "Big Red Studios: A Tribute to Johnny Carson," begins at 6 p.m. The parade route ends at 12th and R sts. at the Temple Building. The parade is free and open to the public and will feature the UNL Cornhusker Marching Band and other floats and banners.
A private dinner Friday evening at the Temple Building following the parade will celebrate the life, legacy and philanthropy of Johnny Carson. The program will include the premiere of a video created by four students (two each from the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film and the Broadcasting program in the College of Journalism and Mass Communications) about Johnny Carson for the event.
In addition, Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman has issued a proclamation that Friday, Oct. 12, 2007, will be "Johnny Carson Day" in Nebraska.
On Saturday, a special Chancellor's Pre-Game Celebration for invited guests will take place in the Nebraska Union at 9:00 a.m. ahead of the Cornhuskers Homecoming football game against the Oklahoma State Cowboys at 11:30 a.m. Members of the Carson Family will be introduced at the game at the first quarter break. A free open house will also be held at the Temple Building on Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. so the public can tour the building during the dedication weekend and view the memorabilia that will be on display, including items on loan from the Elkhorn Valley Museum and Research Center in Carson's hometown of Norfolk, Neb.
"The Johnny Carson School is honored to have a variety of memorabilia on display for the enjoyment of our patrons and visitors," Steger said.
The weekend ends on Sunday, Oct. 14 with special alumni events. A private lunch for the Carson Family, faculty, students, alumni and invited guests will be held at 11:30 a.m. at the Lied Center for Performing Arts.
At 1 p.m. there will be an encore showing in Howell Theatre (Temple Building) of the student film on Johnny Carson that premieres on Friday night. This screening is free and open to the public; however, seating is limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis.
The film screening will be followed by a special event at the Temple Building to have selected alumni who are returning for the weekend share their stories about the Temple Building and their careers. The alumni event at the Temple Building at 1:30 p.m. is free and open to the public.
"We have a lot of things to be happy for and a lot of things to celebrate," Steger said.
Entertainment and television icon and University of Nebraska alumnus Johnny Carson announced in November 2004 a gift of $5.3 million to the University of Nebraska Foundation to support the renovation and expansion of the Temple Building, home to the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film, and to create an endowment to keep performance spaces equipped with the latest advances in lighting and sound technologies.
Following Carson's death in January 2005, the University of Nebraska Foundation received an additional gift of $5 million from the estate of Carson for endowed support of programs in theatre, film and broadcasting. Annual income from the endowment provides support to the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film in the Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts and the broadcast program in the College of Journalism and Mass Communications.
In August 2005, the University of Nebraska renamed the Department of Theatre Arts the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film.
The renovation project, which began in June 2006 and was completed in June 2007, is the first work done on the building in 25 years. The renovation included a new combination black box theatre and film sound stage for students to use in their productions, a newly remodeled and expanded scene shop and updated lighting facilities, new computer-aided design and theatre class lab space, enhanced storage facilities, and an updated lobby for Howell Theatre.
The new black box theatre has a state-of-the-art lighting grid custom designed by The Shalleck Collaborative in San Francisco and built and installed by StageCraft Industries in Portland, Oregon. The grid features 9 independently motorized studio lighting box trusses with integral lighting circuits and control that will provide professional level lighting capabilities for theatre performances, education, TV and film production, and is the only one of its kind in the Midwest.
Steger said the weekend will be a fitting tribute to Carson, who represents the epitome of excellence.
"This is an individual who was a regular five nights a week in everybody's home in the United States for 30 years. That's 4,000 shows, and each one was just as good as the last one. It always had to be fresh, and it always had to be on the mark. He was just tenacious in his pursuit of comedy," Steger said. "Hopefully some of our students will inherit that tenacity and persistence and realize that it's important and vital to being a creative artist."
