Mr. Cardinal was previously the artistic director of the Connecticut Repertory Theater and the chair of the Department of Dramatic Arts at the University of Connecticut. Prior to that he was Associate Dean of Performance Arts at Adelphi University and the chair of theater at the University of Miami. Mr. Cardinal is a graduate of playwriting from the Yale School of Drama where he was honored with the ASCAP-Cole Porter award for best collected work.

The new Chairman of the University of Michigan Musical Theater Department will speak about the path that brought him to Michigan, as well as the journey a high school student takes to be accepted into the Department, which is regarded as one of the top Musical Theater training programs in the world. Only 22-24 freshmen are admitted from about 1000 applicants annually. More than 700 artists have graduated from the program over its 32-year history.

This is the sixth in OLLI’S distinguished lecture series for 2017-18. A variety of topics will be covered. There is one lecture each month, for a total of ten. The next lecture will be on March 13, 2018. The subject is: You Are the ”Public” in Public Radio.