If you are looking for someone on grounds who knows a thing or two about theater, look no further. Fourth year Katie Ulmer may be one of the most drama savy students at UVA—she’s a Drama major and Media Studies minor. Katie has also been involved with FYP since her first semester, with positions including run crew chief, stage manager, technical director, and alumni chair. Always playing a crucial part behind the scenes, Katie’s current position is vital to the spring show How to Succeed In Buisness Without Really Trying—she’s the director!
What is the most difficult part of being the director? The most rewarding? The most difficult part of directing is the amount of time that it requires, but it is also one of the best parts because you are around your best friends all the time. The most rewarding thing is seeing an organization of over 100 people produce the show together.
What’s your secret to directing a production while at the same time staying on top of your school work? Time management and prioritizing—I make a lot of “to do” lists and try to stick to them as much as possible.
What are your other involvements around grounds? FYP takes a lot of my time these days, but I am also involved with my sorority and I am active in the University’s Drama Department.
Can you give us a brief description of the Spring show ? How to Succeed In Business Without Really Trying is a musical comedy about a man named Finch who follows the instructions in a book he finds to climb his way up the corporate ladder in just a matter of weeks.
Do you have a favorite moment in the show? The entire show is extremely entertaining, but two moments that stand out in my head are the songs “Brotherhood of Man” and “Grand Old Ivy”. Both of those numbers are show stoppers.
Were you already a fan of the story and music of How to Succeed? Yes, I was. The show is currently playing on Broadway and so the first time I saw it was when Daniel Radcliffe was in the cast about a year ago, and I fell in love with the show. It is such a fun show and is highly entertaining and I knew it would be a great choice for FYP.
How was the decision made to perform How to Succeed? Each semester, FYP goes through a show selection process. The selections committee holds interviews for each of the potential directors asking them questions about which show they are proposing to direct for the following semester. After hearing all of the interviews, the committee selects a show and for this semester it was How to Succeed.
Any funny anecdotes from rehearsal? Oh my, there are too many to count. Tuesday night, we were doing a run of the entire show. Everyone was very focused and putting a lot of energy into the show, which was great. We got to a scene where a boy has to pull a girl over to sit on his lap. When they got to this part, they had a little too much energy and ended up both falling out of the chair and onto the floor. It was a nice, fun break to the serious run of rehearsal. (I should also mention that they are both fine!)
Are there any shows you’ve dreamed of being involved in? My favorite show is South Pacific so I would love to be involved in a production of that. Other than that, I just like being involved with shows that I have never done before.
What do you hope to do post-graduation? Can we expect to see you on Broadway in the future? Broadway would be nice, but I am hoping to get more involved with television production after graduation.
Have you always been involved in theater, even before UVa? Yes, I have been doing theater in various different capacities every year since the 5th grade. My older sister started doing theater before me, and I got jealous of the fun she was having so I started to get involved.
Do you have advice for anyone else who hopes to one day direct an FYP show?Enjoy the entire experience. It can get really stressful and busy at times, but take the time to stop and really enjoy every moment because you will really miss it once it is over.
Who is your greatest inspiration?I guess for this show it would have to be Rob Ashford. He is the director the production that is currently on Broadway and it was seeing his production that made me want to direct this for FYP.
Current song on repeat on your IPod? “Cough Syrup” by Young The Giant
You can catch FYP’s “How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying” and see Katie’s hard work come together at the Student Activities Building from March 29th to April 1st. Tickets are fiver dollars.