William Grange

William Marshall Grange is Hixson-Lied Professor of Theatre Arts at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln's Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film.^[1] His research publications are mostly on the history of German-language theater and German-language literature.

Biography

William Grange was born in 1947 and attended Thomas A. DeVilbiss High School in Toledo. During 1964 and 1965, DeVilbiss High School won two state titles and senior class president of 1965 Randy Wertz nearly captured the state championship in tennis. The state championships awarded to DeVilbiss were in high school radio announcing (sponsored by Ohio State University) and in competitive patriotic speech (sponsored by the Sons of the American Revolution). Grange won the state championship in both contests.

Theatrical career

William Grange performed with the Light Opera of Manhattan, Public Theater (New York), Alabama Shakespeare Festival, TheatreWorks USA (New York), National Theatre Company (New York), Mark I Dinner Theatre (Florida), Haymarket Theatre Lincoln,and Nebraska Repertory Theatre. Member of Actors' Equity Association since 1972.^[2]

Academic career

Grange graduated in 1970 from the University of Toledo^[3] with a Bachelor of Arts degree. In 1972 he received a Master of Fine Arts degree from Columbia University in New York City, with a thesis titled "The Role of Tusenbach in Chekhov's 'The Three Sisters.'" ^[4] He received a doctorate from Indiana University in 1981 with a dissertation titled "The Collaboration of Carl Zuckmayer and Heinz Hilpert.".^[5]

Florida Southern College

At Florida Southern College, a small liberal arts institution in Lakeland, Florida and affiliated with the United Methodist Church, Grange chaired the Department of Theatre Arts and taught both academic and performance courses. He encountered difficulties with College officials when he staged the musicals Cabaret and Grease, because some considered the shows too racy for a Methodist institution. His productions of Shakespearean comedies and dramas by Henrik Ibsen, along with the Humperdinck opera Hansel and Gretel with mezzo-soprano Beverly Wolff met with approval.

Marquette University

Grange chaired the Performing Arts Department and directed numerous musicals at Marquette University, a Roman Catholic institution in Milwaukee, Wisconsin affiliated with the Jesuit Order. Among them were Happy End and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. He also directed new translations of dramas by Bertolt Brecht. He ran afoul of numerous Roman Catholic strictures at the Jesuit institution, though he published two books and several articles, and won fellowships from the German government and the National Endowment for the Humanities with full support from the Jesuit fathers. Other Roman Catholics, however, were glad when he departed in 1996 for the University of Nebraska.

University of Nebraska

At the University of Nebraska, in Lincoln, Grange has published several books, scholarly articles, and received numerous international awards for his scholarship and teaching, including three Fulbrights and four fellowships from the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (German Academic Exchange Service). At the University of Nebraska he has taught mostly academic courses while serving as Chairman of the Graduate Committee in the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film and on the Faculty Senate for over a decade.

Honors

In 2010, Grange was Guest Professor at the University of Heidelberg; in 2007, he held the Fulbright Distinguished Chair in Humanities and Cultural Studies at the University of Vienna, teaching in German. He also taught in German during 2000-2001 as Fulbright Guest Professor at the University of Cologne.

He has received five research fellowships from the German Academic Exchange Service; the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center; the National Endowment for the Humanities; the Dorot Foundation in Providence, Rhode Island; the Mellon Foundation, the International Institute of Education, the Hixson-Lied Trust Endowment, and the Jane Harrison Lyman Research Trust Fund. He has twice received Seed Grants in the Humanities from the Vice-chancellor for Research at the University of Nebraska.

Publications

Grange is the author of ten books currently in print, and he has also written several scholarly essays, book chapters, journal articles, reviews, and encyclopedia entries.

Books

• Author, Historical Dictionary of German Theater, Second Edition. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2015. ISBN 9781442250192.
• Author, A Primer in Theatre History. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 2013. ISBN 9780761860037.
• Author, Historical Dictionary of German Literature to 1945. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2011. ISBN 9780810867710.
  • Reviewed in Booklist.^[6]
• Author, Historical Dictionary of Postwar German Literature. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2009. ISBN 9780810859654
  • Reviewed in German Studies Review v30, no3, 2007.
  • Paperback ed. published as The A to Z of Postwar German Literature. ISBN 9780810876187
• Author, Cultural Chronicle of the Weimar Republic. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2008. ISBN 9780810859678.
• Author, Historical Dictionary of German Theater. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2006. ISBN 9780810853157. Held in 299 libraries, according to WorldCat.^[7]
  • Reviewed by J L Hagens in German Studies Review, 30, Part 3 (2007): 712-713
  • Paperback ed. published as The A to Z of German Theater. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Pr, 2010.
• Author, Hitler Laughing: Comedy in the Third Reich. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 2006.
• Author, Comedy in the Weimar Republic: A Chronicle of Incongruous Laughter. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1996. ISBN 9780313299834.
  • Reviewed in " German Studies Review" v22, no2: 295-297.
• Author, Partnership in the German Theatre: Zuckmayer and Hilpert, 1925-1961. New York: P. Lang Pub, 1991. ISBN 9780820414058.

References