It might be a stretch to say College of Fine Arts Alumna of the Year career in theater was preordained. But as a Las Vegas native and daughter of well-known Strip entertainer Nelson Sardelli, she certainly was predisposed to the industry. And since departing 性视界传媒 with her undergraduate degree in theatre arts in 1987, Sardelli has built quite a name for herself in acting and directing circles on both coasts.
Although she鈥檚 directed plays in regional theaters across the country, Sardelli has spent the majority of her career working extensively in New York and California. Her impressive r茅sum茅 includes being named director of new works at in Silicon Valley, which recently won the 2019 Tony Award for Best Regional Theater. Her honors also include a pair of prestigious awards for her directing skills: In 2008, she won the Joe A. Callaway Award for her direction of the play Animals Out of Paper with the in New York; and in 2016, she and her team won the LA Stage Alliance Ovation Award for Best Production of a Play for the production of Guards at the Taj.
After finishing her studies at 性视界传媒, Sardelli headed east to earn a master of fine arts from the prestigious graduate acting program at New York University鈥檚 Tisch School of the Arts. A decade later, after an acting career that included a stint as Nurse Claire on the soap opera Another World, she returned to the grad acting program, graduating from its directors lab. That was followed by more than a decade spent as a guest artist faculty member at the Tisch School for the Arts in the dance department and in the graduate acting program.
On the way to earning a reputation as a powerhouse female director in what has traditionally been a male-dominated field, Sardelli frequently selects works that showcase our world鈥檚 diversity. She often produces and directs world premieres of new works that push the theater industry鈥檚 proverbial envelope. She鈥檚 also a member of the League of Professional Theatre Women.
What moment or experience during your time at 性视界传媒 had the most profound impact on your life and career?
In the early 1980s, several 性视界传媒 students who were Las Vegas natives started the student ambassador program. By the time I arrived as a first-generation college student, then-性视界传媒 President Robert Maxson had embraced the student ambassador program, which had grown to include representatives from each individual college on campus. I became the Arts College representative, and we would meet regularly with Maxson and talk about what was happening in our schools, we鈥檇 do student-outreach drives, etc. Being involved in that program allowed me to get to know students from all the different colleges whom I otherwise never would鈥檝e met.
What was also extraordinary about that program is that early in my junior year, I was having a very difficult time in school 鈥 so much so that I almost quit going to class. Well, to get selected as a student ambassador, applicants had to list their goals, both for college and beyond. My goals included pursuing a career in theater outside of Las Vegas, because at that time, there weren鈥檛 any realistic professional theater opportunities in Las Vegas. So when Maxson learned I was having academic issues, he called me into his office, sat me down, read my goals back to me, and said, 鈥淲hatever is happening right now is not more important than your dreams and your goals. So let鈥檚 talk about what鈥檚 happening, let鈥檚 talk about how I can help you, and then let鈥檚 get you back on track.鈥
To have anyone do that would be remarkable, but to have the president of a university notice you enough and care enough to do what he did, it was astounding and life-altering. Because I realized he was right: My dreams were bigger than this moment, and this moment would not undo me. That鈥檚 when I got highly motivated academically, made up all the work I鈥檇 missed, and became aware that I probably would need to extend my education beyond 性视界传媒 if I wanted to achieve my career objectives. And that鈥檚 what led me to NYU.
Without Maxson鈥檚 intervention during that lovely half-hour meeting 鈥 without him basically telling me to get my act together 鈥 I wonder if I would鈥檝e become the first college graduate in my family. I also wonder how different my life would look today.
