I am eternally grateful to the Department of Theatre/Dance for all they have given me. This department has always been a home away from home, where I could freely be creative and learn around people as passionate as myself about our amazing world of Theatre. I would like to thank all of the professors and faculty here, but especially John Forbes and Bert Crosby for always supporting me in my education. I would of course like to thank my family for raising me in the arts and in Theatre my whole life, and for always believing in me and my crazy dreams. I am so proud of my fellow seniors for making it through, and I can’t wait to work with you all again in the future.

I am beyond grateful for the efforts of everyone in this department to ensure the best end of the year as possible. I’m so sad that I can’t celebrate the end of the year in person; the banquet is always a blast!! I want to thank my parents, who—surprisingly—were the ones who sat me down four years ago and told me to study what I loved (as long as I had a backup in business), starting me on this rollercoaster of a journey in this department. I want to thank Jeff and Sara, who put me down the painted path of scenery where I feel truly happy; Sara especially, who despite all of the hurdles of her first year, taught me so much in so little time. I give all my love to my fellow seniors and friends, doing calisthenics above me as I paint in the scene shop underneath, feeling like I’m under a stampede. And in this time of crisis, when our mental health is variable and the future uncertain, and I’m currently building a scarecrow out of chicken wire, old clothes, and a lamb skull for a feature film, I think my traditional banquet message is more important than ever: make weird art!

Saying goodbye to this department is so extremely bittersweet. While it is so hard to say goodbye, I am so grateful for all of the friendships, lessons, and opportunities I have gained. I can say with 100% certainty that the thing that made my time here so special, was all of the people that I’ve met along the way! Something I have always cherished about this department has been the fact that I can walk into the building and be greeted by a familiar face. To my peers, I am genuinely going to miss walking into the green room for a quick minute and ending up spending hours there, thank you for inspiring me with your passion for everything you do. To the faculty of the department, thank you for fostering an environment that allows students to feel valued and appreciated.  Finally, to my fellow seniors, while our year ended in some major disappointments, I will forever treasure the times we spent together and the memories we have made along the way.

My niche. My tribe. My kinship group. My family. Among many other descriptive words, I feel absolutely blessed to be able to call the lovely humans in the Dance Department these things. Although it took me like seven different majors to land on this one, I could not be happier to have found one that enables me to roll around in muddy grass for class. In all seriousness though, this major and the people in this department have provided such a support system to foster my creativity, challenge me, and inspire me to pursue a career in this field. No thank you could be big enough but from the bottom of my heart and my dancing tippy toes, thank you.

"How should I sum up four transformative years in a paragraph? To start, I am so grateful for my time at UVM and for all those that made it memorable. To Sarah and Craig, thank you for directing me and helping me to reach highs, and lows, in acting that I did not think I was capable of. To John, Bert, Martin, Sarah Bush, Sara Nelson, Jeff, and Pat, thank you for introducing me to a new love of the technical sides of this art form. To Larry and Katie, thank you for pushing me academically and bringing my loves of history and theatre together into three fun-filled and challenging semesters. To Gregory, Wayne, Paul, and Kellie, thank you for all your hard work in making this department the best it can be. To all of my friends and the family I have found over the last four years, I love you all so much, and you all mean more to me than I can say. Catch you on the flip side."

Bad news, everyone! Anna is taking an extra semester, so you’re not done dealing with her! Ha, you thought! Alas, she’s super grateful for everyone who has put up with her for these four amazing years in this department. Seriously, you people (students and professors!)  are actually the best. She will forever hold the RTT in the warmest part of her heart. Alright, anyone up for a chorus of No Time At All?

"I'd just like to thank everyone involved in my 3 years with the UVM Department of Theatre, who all patiently coaxed this socially anxious introvert out of his corner-of-the-greenroom hiding and onto the stage of this amazingly tempestuous and rewarding life as your friend and student. It was here that I discovered my love of story-telling and collaboration, and made relationships that will last a lifetime. From man-buns to mullets to pee-soaked jeans, you've seen it all and embraced me every step of the way. I hope to repay this debt by taking all I have learned and telling the most open-minded, welcoming, loving, and empathetic stories I can tell. For that has been the constant lesson throughout my entire education: love.

In 'Sense & Sensibility' I learned that love is building families that grow, cry, and laugh together. In 'Peter' I learned that love is holding fast to your sense of play and adventure, and always defending innocence. In 'Hand To God' I learned that love is a verb, an action that we must constantly practice not preach. In 'Pippin' I learned that love is throwing your whole self into what you do, cause you never know who might just need to be doused in glitter. In 'The Normal Heart' I learned that love is a tireless battle for justice, and never losing your sense of outrage at those who seek to take it away. And in 'Shakespeare In Love' I learned that words have the power to conjure, so let them always summon love. I love you all.

The Theatre and Dance department at UVM has created many opportunities for me to grow as an actor and stagehand. For the short time I have been at UVM I have loved getting to work on the sets and given the opportunity to try my hand at the technical part of the theater. I have always known that I enjoy acting, but it has been an Informative and fun experience to learn about lighting and scenery. Learning about lighting took me out of my comfort zone but really helped incorporate technical aspects into my present and hopefully future work. I have also loved taking mask transformational acting class during this pandemic because it has allowed me to be creative even during this difficult time. I am so glad to be graduating with a truly positive and hardworking senior class.

When I started with the UVM theatre and dance department, I believed that dance is where I came from and theatre is where I was going. It took a few years, lots of required courses, a trip around the world, and a few emotional breakdowns to find a path that felt genuine to me: a path that leads towards filmmaking, but includes dance and theatre elements. I had to experience all the things that I do not want in my life to figure out what I do want in my life: collaboration, leadership, mentorship, self-expression, and creativity. Ironically, it is thanks to being a theatre major at UVM that I learned not to pursue theatre. Instead, I will follow a winding and open-ended path towards being an artist, whatever that will mean for me.

I cannot thank the theatre department enough for what it has done for not only my professional preparation, but also myself as a person. Through six mainstages, two Toys, three years as a student rep, two one acts, and way too many late nights in the design room trying to finish final projects, I have grown so much and formed what I know will be lasting connections with the students, faculty, and staff. I wish we were all able to say a proper goodbye to each other. Special shoutouts to the cast of The Wolves and the Shakespeare in Love stage management team for filling my senior year with a ridiculous amount of love and support.

The UVM Department of Theatre feels like home to me. I feel held by you all. As I may have mentioned a few times (read: talk about incessantly), I moved around a lot before coming to UVM, I never really felt that before. I want to thank all of the faculty and staff for their patience and support; I needed it. I want to thank the other graduating seniors for having effective communication skills. Lastly, I want to thank Wayne, because like so many other things I've done for this department, I'm turning in this feature late.

Juls Sundberg is a Theatre major and History minor. He got involved with UVM Theatre as a freshman, when he took Sarah Carleton’s Acting I TAP Class. Juls met many wonderful fellow department members when he was cast as Cheerleader #1 in The Toys Take Over Christmas 2016 and in the 2017 One Acts as Pierrot. He was thrilled to be named a Student Representative at the end of his freshman year. Juls continued to be heavily involved in the department throughout his college career, as ASM for The Exonerated, The Toys Take Over Christmas 2017, and Shakespeare in Love, and as Ted in Peter in the Starcatcher. He gained his first professional credit as an ASM for Vermont Stage’s The Legend of Georgia McBride, and went on to work with Vermont Stage for three more shows. Juls would like to thank all of his professors in the theatre department, especially Sarah Carleton, Larry Connolly, Katie Gough, and Sara Nelson, for helping him cultivate his art and scholarship and supporting him through good times and bad. To all of his fellow graduating seniors and the entire department, Juls would like to express his love, friendship, and heartfelt thanks for a wonderful 4 years. Here’s to the next adventure!

Switching into the College of Arts and Sciences to become a theatre major was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made in my life.  Not only did I succeed in finding my passion, but I was also able to make friends with the best people and create memories that I will never forget - I think aCtiNg V might be my favorite!  The theatre department truly holds a special place in my heart, and it is because of everyone here that makes it so.  I would like to thank both faculty and friends who have been there for me in the past two years and helped me become who I am today.  It is with your guidance and support that allowed me the opportunity to better myself each day I was here.  I wish I was able to spend more time here and am sad to go, although I’m excited for the next chapter
of my life.  Hopefully, our paths will cross in the future.  Missing you all, already.

I have had the amazing opportunity to be apart of the UVM Theater Department. I have been able to work on 12 staged productions and have worked beside some incredibly talented students and professors. I have had amazing opportunities working in the areas of scenic crew, charge painter, assistant lighting designer, costume crew, sound designer, sound mixer and stage management.
When I committed to UVM I did not intend on becoming a theater major. I thought I would try it out for fun because it was something I enjoyed doing in high school. When I met the professors, specifically Jeff and John, I saw their commitment to the students, classes and productions. I saw the community that the department was and wanted to be apart of it. I had the lucky experience being able to work with and become best friends with people I hope to call friends for the rest of my life. There won't be a day that goes by where I won't think about the people I have met there and the productions I have worked on. I mean it when I say I love you all and I hope to see and work with ya'll in the future.

I’ve studied for four years to get a degree in English and somehow I still haven’t found the correct words to express what movement means to me. Even after all these years of studying, reading, and discussing the world’s finest combinations of words, I have come to realize that dance really is my first language and I really have so much to say. I feel like I can most accurately and truthfully portray my emotions and thoughts through movement. One lift of a finger can ignite a whole world of possibilities if you let it. The UVM dance department is a home filled with friends, family, and mentors. I can't wait to see how the department grows and flourishes into something even more spectacular than it already is. My art feels important, tender, and relevant because of the people I have met here. I am absolutely honored to call myself the first graduating dance major at UVM.