Last April the School of Communication assembled a star-studded cast for A Starry Night. The evening performance brought together some of Northwestern’s most famous entertainment alumni, including Ana Gasteyer ’89, Heather Headley ’97, Brian d’Arcy James ’90, Richard Kind ’78, Harry Lennix ’86, Tony Roberts ’61 and, of course, Stephen Colbert ’86, ’11 H, who hosted the night of merriment. The show was part of CommFest, a weekend of reunions, master classes, workshops, exhibits and demonstrations. The festival weekend helped support new graduate programs, including a master of fine arts program in acting, and a downtown Chicago performing and media arts center.
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On her final day at WBZ-TV in Boston in July 1965, reporter Joanne Desmond ’58 heard that the old news reels were going to be destroyed, so she asked her news director if she could take a roll of film from her reporting on the Boston Strangler. Her news director obliged, and that film clip was restored and featured in Hulu’s 2023 film Boston Strangler, which stars Keira Knightley as Desmond’s real-life news counterpart Loretta McLaughlin.
Northwestern alum Kevin Sites reported on conflict zones for decades. Now his debut novel, "The Ocean Above Me," follows an emotionally scarred war correspondent’s thrilling battle for survival.
In 1973, two Northwestern students assembled the cast and crew of Northwestern’s first-ever Mee-Ow Show, originally conceptualized as a new outlet for creatives who felt limited by existing campus performance options. Half a century later, the show — and its ever-growing repertoire of successful alumni, from Julia Louis-Dreyfus ’82, ’07 H to Seth Meyers ’96, ’16 H — is celebrating its 50th anniversary with a spring 2024 reunion.
Reader Responses
Shout out to Tony “Dave” Roberts. So proud of your representation of NU theater to the world!
—Helen “Jan” Templeton Jagerman ’63 Mishawaka, Ind., via Northwestern Magazine
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