Students help set the stage at Wisconsin Union Theater

It’s one of those splendid bounty-of-the-earth, On-Golden-Pond fall evenings, and Ralph Russo is taking his ease — loosely defined — on the Terrace of the Memorial Union. The occasion is the first annual World Music Festival, and Russo is elated at the way things are going.

“There must be 2,000 people here! And they’ve all fallen in love with Kepa Junkera — they’ve sold at least 200 CDs just this evening,” he says of the Basque accordionist.

“Most of the people in the audience are hearing him and this style of music for the first time, and now they’re big fans. Experiences for a lifetime — that’s the Union,” Russo enthuses.

As cultural arts director of the Wisconsin Union for about a year now, Russo oversees all cultural, artistic and entertainment programming at the union, including the Wisconsin Union Theater.

No, that’s not quite right. Russo and other program staff work in concert with students to set this agenda.

“The staff provide continuity and expertise,” he says. More than 100 UW–Madison students of all years, levels of experience and majors run all facets of this show.

Russo’s — and the students’ — jobs are not for the faint of heart. “We have two theaters, four art galleries and 1,300 pieces of art in our permanent collection,” Russo says, describing the facilities. “In the theater alone, there’s something going on about 300 nights a year.”

Indeed, the union sponsors 10 student-run directorates and the Hoofers clubs. Their purview ranges from activities including community service to the Distinguished Lecture Series.

Russo began his career at the union advising these groups some 20 years ago. “I stayed because I could see there was simply no place like the union,” he says.

And now, as the cultural anchor for the institution, he aspires to ratcheting up the student-participation volume.

“For the past several years, we’ve had five or six students working on the Union Theater Committee. This year we have 20,” he says. That number no doubt will continue to grow. The demand for opportunities for students to participate in a meaningful way, for both their own psyches and their resumes, has been increasing exponentially, Russo says.

“There’s such a demand by students to get involved with live theater,” he says.

Jenna Riedi, for example, will second that loudly. A junior majoring in history and religious studies, she directs the Union Theater Committee, where she’s learning the nuts and bolts of theater administration.

“I’m augmenting my leadership skills and creating relationships that will last a very long time,” she says. “And this position is improving my organizational ability vastly.”

“Our students get solid experience planning a season, coordinating [contract] riders, managing the box office, developing a marketing plan — and be able to see it come to pass in the real world,” Russo says.

Russo entered the real world from his hometown of Rockford, Ill. After receiving a degree in education at UW-Stevens Point, he signed on to advise the union’s music and film committees.

He also broke off some time to “develop” his own special interest: photography.

“I originally thought I’d become the next Ansel Adams, but that didn’t happen,” he says. Instead, he helped establish the Center for Photography in Madison 10 years ago.

“I don’t have as much time for it anymore, but I’m pleased to say it’s become a thriving nonprofit arts organization. I also enjoy teaching photography at the [UW Extension] Rhinelander School of the Arts in the summer,” he says.

In fact, Riedi’s mother took one of Russo’s classes, and thus introduced her daughter to the union’s student committees.

However, his first love remains the Memorial Union. “My job is a work in progress,” he says, “but the students always will be the top priority. I consider it my mission to help empower them.”

Megan Fork says she certainly has felt that very thing as world stage coordinator on the Union Theater Committee. A sophomore majoring in costume design and molecular biology, Fork says that her committee work lets her indulge her passion for music and, at the same time, contribute her abilities in the service of something much larger than herself.

“When I sit in the theater to watch a concert I’ve work on, I feel like I’ve accomplished something great,” she says. “After all, the audience wouldn’t be able to see and enjoy the show without my hand being in it.”