Robin VerHage-Abrams

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CURRICULUM VITAE
Robin VerHage-Abrams- Associate Professor
rxverhage@gmail.com

 
  Education

   M.F.A.  Theatre Design, Costume Emphasis.  The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.  1982.  Thesis Title:  A  Production Design for The Rake’s Progress.

 B.A.  Art, English.  Grand Valley University, Allendale, MI.  1978.  With High Honors.


Teaching Experience


Washington University, St. Louis, MO 2001 - present.
 Associate Professor School of Art. Currently teaching Junior and Senior   Fashion Illustration, Portfolio Development, and Textiles
Lecturer, Assistant Professor, School of Art.  Taught Junior and Senior Fashion Illustration.1998-2001

Webster University, St. Louis, MO Fall Semester 1992-1994, 1998
Sabbatical Replacement, Adjunct Faculty Member. Rheatre  Conservatory, taught various Design and Visual History Classes, supervised student costume designs for production.

Wayne State University, Detroit, MI.  1986 - 1988.
Assistant Professor, Department of Theatre.   Head of Graduate Program in Costume Design, resident costume designer for Hilberry Theatre, taught variety of courses in theory and design, supervised master’s theses, supervised costume shop manager and staff, performed committee.

University of Akron, Akron, OH. 1984 - 1986
Assistant Professor.  Department of Music, Theatre, and Dance.  Taught variety of courses in design, supervised costume shop manager and staff, resident costume designer for departmental productions, served on curriculum committee.




Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI.  1982 – 1984
Lecturer.  Department of Theatre, Taught variety of courses in design, managed costume shop, designed costumes for departmental productions, committee service.

   


Design and Related Experience

Opera Theatre of St. Louis, St. Louis, MO
 2004 - 2005
Costume Design for “Dream of the Pacific” an opera premier commissioned to coincide with the national 200th anniversary celebration of the Lewis and Clark Expedition Exhibit opening at The Missouri Historical Society.  The design will be used for the Opera Theatre of St. Louis production and several additional opera companies along the historic route of the Lewis and Clark expedition.
1989 - 2003
Costume Designer and Consultant, Designed or coordinated costumes for Abduction from the Seraglio, The Tale of Genji, Otello, Joshua’s Boots, Arianna, The Thunder of Horses, The Barber of Seville, The Black Spider, Candide, The Very Last Green Thing, Tosca, Billy Budd, The Merry Widow. Designed costumes and scenery for Brundibar.  Assisted with educational programs, production planning, budget creation and management.

Metro Theatre Company, St. Louis, MO. 2002, 2000
Costume Designer: The Short Tree, More Stuff.

Prison Performing Arts Project, St. Louis, MO. 2000, Costume Designer, Hamlet, Act I.

St. Louis Black Repertory Theatre, St. Louis, MO. 1999.
Costume Designer: Waiting for Godot.

The New Theatre, St. Louis, MO. 1998, 1997, 1992.
Costume Designer: Prelude to a Kiss, Angel City, Off the Map
Costume and Scenery Designer: Molly Sweeney.

Tirelli Costumi, Rome, Italy, 1996, Costume Research in Rome Opera Costume Archives.

Theatre Project Company, St. Louis, MO. 1991.
Costume Designer: A Kurt Weill Cabaret.

Circle Repertory Theatre, New York, NY. 1989
Costume Coordinator: Brilliant Traces.

The University of Michigan Power Center Series, Ann Arbor, MI.  1988.
Costume Designer, A Chorus Line.

Detroit Public Theatre, Detroit, MI. 1987.
Costume Designer, The Blood Knot.

South Carolina Ballet, Columbia, SC.  1987.
Costume Designer: Beauty and the Beast.

The Hilberry Repertory Theatre, Detroit, MI. with Laterna Magika, Prague, Czechoslovakia.1986.
Costume Designer: The Black Monk.

The Hilberry Repertory Theatre, Detroit, MI. 1986 - 1988.
Costume Designer: Nicholas Nickelby, Tartuffe, King Lear, The Black American Dream, Snoopy, Amadeus.

Jim Henson Associates: Sesame Street Live, New York, NY.  1986.
Design Production Assistant. 

The University of Akron, Department of Theatre, Music, and Dance, Akron, OH. 1984-86
Costume Designer: The Country Wife, Crimes of the Heart, The Venetian Twins, Roshomon, The 1940’s Radio Hour, Come Back to the Five and Dime Jimmy Dean, The Taming of the Shrew.

          Fast Forward Video, New York, NY. 1985.
Makeup Designer/Makeup Artist: Love is Blue. Fast Forward Video Productions, New York ., NY.

Western Michigan Department of Theatre, Kalamazoo, MI. 1982-84.
Costume Designer: Equus, The Magic Flute, The Dining Room, The Journey of the Fifth Horse, Gypsy, Ah Wilderness!, The Pirates of Penzance, The Laundry, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Grease.

The University of Michigan Professional Theatre Program, Ann Arbor, MI  1979-82.
Costume Designer, Misalliance, Tartuffe, All the Way Home, Of Thee I Sing, Tango.
 
Exhibitions, Presentations - Invited or Refereed 

“Clothing Communiqué”, PowerPoint Lecture/ Clothing Presentation delivered to St. Louis Women’s Club, St. Louis, MO, January 2003
   
“ Costume? Fashion? What’s the Difference?”  PowerPoint Lecture/ Clothing Presentation delivered to Washington University Women’s Society, St Louis, MO, December 2002
   
“Costume Sketches from Joshua’s Boots” accepted for Member’s Media Exhibit, Costume Society of America, Chicago, IL. June 2002.

“ Costume? Fashion? What’s the Difference?”  PowerPoint/Costume Lecture delivered to Fashion Group International, St. Louis Chapter, March 2002

“ Intuitive Reasoning as an Avenue toward Creative Design” presented with Jan Chambers to The United States Institute for Theatre Technology, Minneapolis, MN, April 1987

“The Theatre Design of Josef Svoboda”, Organized and Presented photographic exhibit of career retrospective, Theatre Department Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI. 1983

“ Intuitive Approach to Design in the Theatre Classroom” presented with Jan Chambers at the American Theatre Association National Convention, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 1985.



Professional Affiliations

Member, Fundraiser for Scholarships, Fashion Group International, 2002-present

Member, Costume Society of America. 2002- present

Member, Textile Society of America, 2002-present




Honors and Awards

Critical Acclaim for Costume Design- Candide, (New York Times,               Allan Kozinn , London Sunday Times, Hugh Canning, Variety,    Joseph Pollack) 1994.

Theatre Excellence Award for Nicholas Nickelby.  Detroit Free Press, 1988.

Merit Award for Superior Performance (Teaching).  Western Michigan University, 1983.

Professional Theatre Program Fellowship.  The University of Michigan, 1979 - 1982.

Best of Show, Textiles Category, Grand Valley State University Art Department 1978.

Alternate, E.W. Oldenburg Scholarship for English Literature. Grand  Valley University 1976.