{"id":6302,"date":"2011-01-24T10:17:21","date_gmt":"2011-01-24T15:17:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=6302"},"modified":"2011-03-24T11:14:58","modified_gmt":"2011-03-24T15:14:58","slug":"emu-celebrates-the-life-and-work-of-lee-e-eshleman-names-new-studio-theater-in-his-honor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2011\/emu-celebrates-the-life-and-work-of-lee-e-eshleman-names-new-studio-theater-in-his-honor\/","title":{"rendered":"EMU Celebrates Life and Work of Lee Eshleman, Names New Studio Theater in His Honor"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>EMU celebrates the life and work of Lee E. Eshleman, 1963-2007, by naming the <a href=\"\/now\/news\/2011\/03\/emu-to-dedicate-new-university-commons-facilities\/\">new University Commons studio theater<\/a> in his honor.<\/p>\n<p>A small gallery at the theater entrance will showcase some of Lee\u2019s art work and photos of him on stage.<\/p>\n<p>Lee was the last student to graduate with a degree from EMU\u2019s art program in 1986. After graduating, he worked in the school print shop and as a graphic designer for EMU.<\/p>\n<p>Former EMU art professor Jerry Lapp, MFA, recalls discussing the \u201cknowing line\u201d concept with Lee.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA \u2018knowing line\u2019 was what Lee was good at,\u201d Jerry recalls. \u201cHe captured particulars and peculiarities in animals, humans or objects rendered, that caused one to stop and gaze, ponder, chuckle. The \u2018knowing line\u2019 Lee rendered created a two-dimensional reality which we, as viewer, could so easily imagine into our own realities, outer or inner.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_6303\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6303\" style=\"width: 320px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a rel=\"attachment wp-att-6303\" href=\"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2011\/01\/emu-celebrates-the-life-and-work-of-lee-e-eshleman-names-new-studio-theater-in-his-honor\/ted-and-lee\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-6303\" src=\"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2011\/03\/ted-and-lee.jpg\" alt=\"Ted &amp; Lee\" width=\"320\" height=\"215\" srcset=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2011\/03\/ted-and-lee.jpg 320w, https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2011\/03\/ted-and-lee-300x201.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 320px) 100vw, 320px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-6303\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lee Eshleman (l) teamed up with Ted Swartz (r), Eastern Mennonite Seminary graduate, for a 20-year partnership that resulted in the well-known Ted &amp; Lee TheaterWorks. Ted says, \u201cLee understood that great art is also embracing the simple. A simple line in drawing, a simple line in acting, a simple line in writing. Despite a great intellect, he relished in the small seemingly silly exchange, which of course communicated great meaning.&quot;<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cLee got at the invisible realities which are a part of our existence and brought them forth. Suddenly, we would be sitting as part of the audience, exposed to our self-thinking, having to admit to our silliness, smallness or, largess.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lee also began his stage career at EMU.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLee wasn\u2019t afraid to take his fear and pain on stage with him,\u201d says Barbra Graber, MFA, former EMU theater professor and department chair. \u201cBut he also wasn\u2019t afraid to let that Divine Comedian morph the pain into something else, something magnificent, poignant, deeply truthful, and so very funny.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Graber worked with Lee as a theater student, later as an EMU graphic designer (he produced all the theater posters and programs) and as an actor in Theater AKIMBO from 1991-1998. Theater AKIMBO was founded by Graber and Ted Swartz as a community-based professional theater company under the auspices of EMU\u2019s theater program.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ted &amp; Lee TheaterWorks<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In the fall of 1987, after graduating from EMU and working on campus as a designer and printer, Lee teamed up with Ted Swartz, Eastern Mennonite Seminary graduate, for a humorous sketch at a church camp. That chance teaming became the springboard for a 20-year partnership \u2013 Ted &amp; Lee TheaterWorks .<\/p>\n<p>Lee\u2019s humor, wit and passionate faith were shared with thousands through the work of Ted and Lee, while he continued his journey as an artist, sharing creative inspirational drawings with friends, the church and for the business. Lee captivated audiences with his hilarious renditions of everyone from the Archangel Gabriel to Julia Child.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s hard to say how much Lee meant to me,\u201d reflected Swartz in November 2009. &#8220;He was my comedic and theatrical soul mate as well as a great friend. We grew as artists together and Lee taught me much about humor, about word choice, about clarity of objective. But he also made me laugh more than anyone before or since. It was a great gift, not a flippant or incidental thing, the ability to make another laugh, but rather an ultimate gift. He was also not shy about tackling and wrestling to the ground his own pain and struggle giving his work depth and color.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe on- and off-stage chemistry between Ted and Lee was remarkable,\u201d remembers friend and long-time colleague Jim Bishop , EMU public information officer. \u201cEven more, their material was fresh, imaginative, often slightly askew. They pushed the envelope, but never resorted to denigrating people or employing off-color humor.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>EMU <a href=\"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2011\/03\/emu-to-dedicate-new-university-commons-facilities\/\">dedicated the new theater space<\/a>, and other major renovations to the University Commons, during a March 26, 2011 event.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>EMU celebrates the life and work of Lee E. Eshleman, 1963-2007, by naming the new University Commons studio theater in his honor. A small gallery at the theater entrance will <a href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2011\/emu-celebrates-the-life-and-work-of-lee-e-eshleman-names-new-studio-theater-in-his-honor\/\" target=\"_self\" class=\"more-link\">... read more <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">about EMU Celebrates Life and Work of Lee Eshleman, Names New Studio Theater in His Honor<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":6324,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[266],"tags":[12273,12073,10298],"feature":[],"class_list":["post-6302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","tag-lee-eshleman-studio-theater","tag-ted-lee","tag-ted-swartz"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>EMU Celebrates Life and Work of Lee Eshleman, Names New Studio Theater in His Honor - EMU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2011\/emu-celebrates-the-life-and-work-of-lee-e-eshleman-names-new-studio-theater-in-his-honor\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"EMU Celebrates Life and Work of Lee Eshleman, Names New Studio Theater in His Honor - EMU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"EMU celebrates the life and work of Lee E. 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