Carolina Alumni Review - September/October 2011

In 2005, Adam Gerdts ’00, Kate Middleton ’00 and fellow UNC theater arts grads all were struggling to break into the New York theater scene and finding themselves in some disappointing productions.

“We were just not satisfied with the quality
of some of the work we were doing,” Middleton
says. “We realized that we took for granted
what we had at UNC.”
With a similar sort of do-it-yourself determi-
nation in those old “hey, let’s put on a show”
movies, the group picked a play, The Shape of
Things, and found a space. “I don’t think the
theater even had a light grid, but we made it
work. We had sold-out houses and a great
response,” Middleton says, still looking aston-
ished. “So we thought, ‘Hey, maybe there is
something to this.’ ”
That “maybe” became a business plan, and
the nonprofit theater company Ground UP
Productions was born. Once assembled, it was
inevitable that the troop would reflect back on
their shared journey from Chapel Hill to New
York.

Ground UP spawned Underground, a week
of master classes at UNC, led by Ground UP
members, culminating in a performance by the
students. Gerdts credits UNC drama instructors as
“the people who had an amazing impact on our
lives.” “But,” Middleton jumps in, “Underground
focuses on the other side of a career in theater.
We are building a bridge over that limbo space
Building
Theater
Ground
Up
From the

Alumni help students make a smoother transition to professional careers

between undergrad and the real hard work of
making it in the business of theater.”
In addition to acting and staging, the master
classes include a strong dose of how to be suc-
cessful in the move to professional theater. In
2010, the program added a week of immersion
in New York, with acting, doing technical
work, going to shows and networking with
people fledgling professionals need to know.

“Coming back to UNC has become my
favorite part of the company,” Middleton says.
“This year we see the first people that were in
our program as freshmen graduate and move to
New York — and they will thrive because they
will have a network and a UNC family. We’ve
actually seen it come full circle.”
The circle this year included the first region-
al theater show for Ground UP, The Importance
of Being Earnest, at the Summit Playhouse in
Summit, N.J., in May and June, directed by
Andrew Slater ’ 10, an Underground veteran,
and Three Days of Rain in the UNC Kenan
Theater in August, starring Zachary Moon
’ 11 and students John Thomas “Jack” Utrata
and Melanie Ann Johnson.