Profile: George Hillow, Associate Professor and Head of DesignBy: Alyson Lamb

1.“My particular passion would be musicals. I just love the history of the musical.” 2.“Theatre is first in our hearts, but what we get paid for teaching.” – George Hillow these are just some quotes he said that stood out to me and I was hoping to put them somewhere other than the article so they stand out more.. I especially love the first one. Would these work as a deck? Just curious.. if not let me know and then I can place it in the article…

Professor George Hillow has been an educator for the state of Virginia for twenty-five years. He has had the pleasure of teaching at Christopher Newport University since 1991 as an Associate Professor and Head of the Design Department and has enjoyed every moment of it. Hillow has had his share of being the director of many shows, and now his “artistic focus” is aimed towards scene design. Hillow teaches many courses here at CNU, with his most intricate courses focused on \ drawing and drafting, as well as several scene design courses. He also has the pleasure of teaching several literature courses, as well as some writing intensive courses. There is a course that he created himself, Theatre 361, Broadway to Hollywood, which Hillow says he created out of “self-defense”. Hillow wanted to teach a course exploring the differences between the movies of a musical and the musical itself, which also lends itself to Hillow teaching a course, focused on his greatest passion: musical theatre.

Hillow graduated as an Undergrad from Duke University, with a BA in psychology. While Hillow was in school, he never really had much interest for theatre and just decided to major solely in psychology. It wasn’t until he graduated that he realized he probably would have doubled majored in psychology and English, as English courses dominated his electives in school. When he first graduated, Hillow spent a lot of his time working a day job as a counselor at a local department of corrections, while several of his friends were busy beginning their acting careers. Once Hillow started to join in with his friends and experience the life of an actor, he was just excited to have found something new and fun to begin doing. Shortly after, when Hillow wasn’t working his day job, he was pursuing his newfound interest for theatre, going from audition to audition. It wasn’t until two years had passed that Hillow’s interest in theatre “waxed,” as his interest in corrections “waned.” Not too long after, Hillow made a choice that would change his life forever.

Hillow was on a street in North Carolina discussing possible theatre careers with a friend one day, when the topic of “educational theatre” arose. The idea of teaching theatre, as opposed to pursuing an acting career, just clicked for Hillow, and in that moment he decided to become a theatre person for life and a teacher at the same time. With that decision made, Hillow continued his education and received his Masters Degree from Memphis, following shortly with his Masters in Fine Arts Degree from Virginia Commonwealth University. Hillow spends most of

his time teaching and being an administrator, while always keeping theatre in his heart, helping him to become so much more as a teacher.

Hillow has been at CNU for twenty-two years, and prior to that he also taught at James Madison University, as well as some work with the Virginia Stage Company. His favorite part of his job is always the students, who also happen to be his least favorite part of the job. When he comes across a student that is so enthralled by theatre and who is willing and wanting to learn, Hillow finds the most pleasure in teaching. On the other hand, when a student is taking a course to simply fill a requirement and shows no interest in the topic, the job as a teacher becomes so much more difficult. It’s never pleasant to teach someone who is unwilling to learn, but Hillow has learned to look past all of that and focus on the best aspects of this job. It’s no surprise then that Hillow does not have a favorite thing to teach, as he just loves teaching.

When it comes to designing a show, Hillow’s focus stems from his work with directing. Having gone to graduate school to learn how to direct, and gaining a lot of experience with directing, this has really become a useful tool in how Hillow approaches shows. The point of view for a director is always about how certain things will look on the stage, from the audience’s perspective. To design the set and the concept of a show, focusing perspective is the number one priority and Hillow has a lot of fun with that. He enjoys all aspects of theatre, but one of the beneficial parts of scene design is that you have more control over the final product and how it is perceived, than you would in many other aspects.

Hillow’s main focus when designing the scenery is on how the scenery will liven and ultimately improve the show. With this year’s musical production of Chicago, the theme design stemmed from the concept of the “prison in the nightclub.” After designing the sketch for this production, Hillow really wanted to give a larger than life, presentational quality of the show, as it hasn’t been done before. Leaving no detail unfinished, Hillow is excited for CNU to witness his interpretation on one of his favorite shows, Chicago.

While scene design may be Hillow’s niche, his passion will forever be musical theatre. Hillow has been a witness to many a musical performance, most of which left him astonished, while others were not meant to last past intermission. One of his most memorable experiences was his first Broadway show ever, Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music, in 1973. Hillow found himself so enthralled within the show, he had to be asked to leave the theatre once the show was over by an usher, simply because he did not want to move from his seat. From this show Hillow also became exposed to the art of theatre, as well as the theatrical form taken by Stephen Sondheim, whom Hillow describes as a genius. Sondheim’s imagination and his inventive form of creating is so amazing to Hillow and is a lot of the reason why Hillow enjoys so much of what he does with his career.

Some of Hillow’s favorite shows of all time would have to be Chicago, Fiddler on the Roof, and without a doubt Cabaret; just to name a few. Hillow loves all of these shows, mainly because they all give off such a raw sense of emotion and they are able to reach audiences on a multitude of levels. Although these are all musicals Hillow loves and has loved to work with, there is one show he has always wanted to do, Pacific Overtures, which is another Sondheim masterpiece. Described as a “kabuki musical,” this show is one that Hillow would love to work with, simply for the music, the set design and because it is Sondheim “at his best.”

Professor George Hillow has been teaching and inspiring students and faculty in the state of Virginia for twenty-five years. He has enjoyed every moment and is so glad to have had every opportunity in directing and especially scene design that he has had throughout his career. Professor Hillow has such a passion for theatre, which allows his teaching of theatre to thrive so much more in the classroom and on the stage. At the end of the day, according to Hillow, everyone should just follow their hearts, and then their heads will figure out what to do next. Then of course there is George Hillow’s “secret of life.” The secret to life is “getting the world to pay you for something you love doing,” which is something that Hillow discovered once he started teaching twenty-five years ago.

Come and see this year’s spring musical Chicago, Feb. 22-24 and Feb. 27- March 1, in honor of Professor George Hillow.