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William RaffeldQuick Contacts email the dept. of performing arts email the music dept. email the theater dept.
UIC Department of Performing Arts |
Acting, International Exchange  William F. Raffeld is Associate Professor and Director of Theatre. His training in theatre began at the Pasadena Playhouse College of Theater Arts where he earned two degrees-Bachelor and Masters degrees in Theatre Arts. After finishing theatre school he directed plays for various theatres in Hollywood and worked at ABC Television in Hollywood in the production department. Eventually he returned to Chicago and worked on his PH.D at Northwestern University. His work has also included working in a number of summer stock companies as an actor and dancer, He has directed for the Pasadena Playhouse, Northwestern University, Cal State Long Beach where he was a resident guest artist for two years and UIC. He has directed for a number of Chicago theaters way back when—before the current group of companies existed. He founded his own theatre school in the 80’s at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts. He founded his own theater company in Chicago, the Old World Theatre Company in 1979. He was the associate artistic director and artistic director of Timberlake Playhouse where he worked for 16 summers. He worked for the Latin School of Chicago as a director and teacher for 16 years. He has worked at UIC for 45 years. His various titles have been associate professor, director of the theater, coordinator of the theater program, coordinator for the international theatre exchange programs and head of the BFA and degree programs. His primary teaching is in performance courses—all levels of acting, directing and staging plays. He has also worked as a dancer/actor in Chicago . He was the grandfather in the Nutcracker at the Arie Crown Theater for 26 years and continues to play the role for Civic Ballet of Chicago’s Nutcracker. He has directed over 200 plays including those he has directed in Moscow , Russia for the Theatre of Moscow Southwest. One of his greatest pleasures has been the development of the international exchange with Theatre of Moscow Southwest. During the past 18 years he has taken seven student productions and one alumni production there and hosted seven residencies of the Theater of Moscow Southwest here. Exchanges in theatre have also been set up with the Royal National Theatre of Great Britain between the years 1986 and 1992. The National has brought over three productions. A number of guest artists from the theatre in England have come to UIC to teach conservatory classes in theatre. His directing work includes all forms and styles of theatre from Shakespeare to musical comedy, tragedy, melodrama and comedy—you name it he’s done it. A scholarship at UIC has been set up in his name. He serves on a number of boards and committees in including the Civic Ballet of Chicago, the Chicago/Moscow Sister Cities Committee and Congregation Kol Emeth. |
