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Dreams
come true... Radio-TV-film associate professor Richard Allen has been following his dreams throughout his life. He followed them to Hollywood as a writer, then to Texas as a teacher and someday he may follow them to Broadway. Growing up in Long Island, NY, Allen said he was a fan of two things—the New York Mets and Broadway musicals.
“When I was 6, my grandmother took me to my first Broadway musical, which was a musical about Superman,” he said. “When I was 7, I went to see “Hello, Dolly” with Ginger Rogers on Broadway, and really I was hooked. I just loved musicals.” Allen, who has seen about 300 Broadway shows, said he has always wanted to write a musical. Allen said he recently had the opportunity to pursue this dream, which he had almost given up on. Allen received a TCU grant to write a musical, which he directed and produced for a campus workshop this semester. After receiving the TCU grant, Allen turned the 1945 film noir classic “Mildred Pierce” into a musical, “Mildred.” Performances are this week and next week at Stage West. “It’s like a dream come true for me—like managing the Mets. I’m doing something I never thought I’d be able to do,” he said. Teaching is another dream that Allen often thought about prior to becoming a professor, he said. After eight years of writing soap operas in Hollywood, he decided to give it a try, obtaining a teaching position at TCU. “Teaching was a dream come true for me,” he said. “When I came here, really, I was so ready to teach. I read the textbook cover to cover, a 500 or 600-page textbook.” Allen brought with him to TCU years of experience as a soap opera writer in California. After receiving his undergraduate degree in film and TV from New York University and his master’s degree in play-writing from Indiana University, Allen moved to California with his wife Sheri to “break into the business.” While his wife pursued an acting career, Allen pursued one in writing, scoring a job at “Days of Our Lives” after one year in California. Allen said the experience of starting out in Hollywood was a struggle. He felt unprepared and unsure in the beginning. “You learn a specific job for a specific situation without any context … I’d get a job and have no idea what to do. I’d have to learn it on the job,” he said. Allen said one of his main goals as a teacher is to prepare his students for what they will one day face in the workforce. “I wanted to be able to help people prepare themselves for the realities of what they would face when they went out there, regardless of how talented they were because, really, it doesn’t take all that much talent in the entertainment industry. It takes much more perseverance, determination, and intelligence,” Allen said. “What I want to do is help students know they have the answers within themselves.” Charles LaMendola, instructor in radio-TV-film, said Allen teaches professionalism in his courses based on his insider understanding of Hollywood. “(Allen) brings a sense of having been involved in the Hollywood culture for a long time … He sets up classes to emulate how it is in Hollywood, which I think the students appreciate,” LaMendola said. Allen said one way he tries to prepare students is to give them the feedback that he missed when he was starting out. “I never got positive feedback when I went into the industry. I only heard what I was doing wrong,” he said. “I let my students know, if I were their boss, what I’d be thinking … and we’ll talk about it.” As a soap opera writer, Allen won a Soap Opera Award, a Media Access Award and a Daytime Emmy. However, Allen said he is most proud of his Wassenich Award for Mentoring in the TCU Community that he received in 2001. The Wassenich Award is presented yearly at Fall Convocation to one faculty or staff member who has significantly contributed to the mentoring of students. “That was a really great thing for me, because I felt that that’s an acknowledgment of what’s most important to me—teaching,” Allen said. Rebecca Wren, a senior radio-TV-film major, said Allen is very involved as a professor. “He goes out of his way to help people and he sees his students as people,” she said. “He keeps in touch with students after they’ve graduated and helps them find jobs and make contacts." Roger Cooper, chairman of the radio-TV-film department and close friend of Allen, said Allen has a genuine concern for students. “(Allen) takes a personal interest in the students. That’s one of the reasons our students are doing so well after graduation,” Cooper said. “His heart is really into what he does. He brings a lot of passion to the job. Students feed off that. That’s a tremendous benefit to them.” Allen has three children (Jeremy, 14, Emily, 11 and Rebekah, 9) who he said are excited about “Mildred” and were involved in the process of creating the musical. “Jeremy practically wrote it with me,” he said. “When I’d finish writing the lyrics to (a song), and got home we’d go over the lyrics together, and he’d suggest changes. He really is a partner in it.” Allen said he encourages his children to explore their creativity and pursue what they love, a lesson that he also teaches his students. “If they pursue their dreams, the rest will follow,” he said. Bethany
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