Susan Rotkovitz earned her MFA in Theatre at Towson University, specializing in Dramaturgy. She also holds a Masters Equivalency in Humanities and a teaching certificate with advanced tenure from the State of Maryland. Susan received her first BA in English and Foreign Languages from the University of Maryland, College Park; a second BA in Theatre from Towson State University; and a teaching certificate in Hebrew and Judaic Studies from the Baltimore Hebrew College.
Susan teaches Script Analysis, Acting, and co-taught Towson Theatre Infusion (a high school outreach program that trains college students to be professional Teaching Artists), and served as an advisor in Towson’s First Year Advisory Experience program from its inception through 2022. In 1999, she also led the task force that created, and continues to serve as the Director of the Arts Integration Institute at Towson University, a graduate program whose mission is to train Maryland educators how to infuse the arts into their curriculum. In addition, she was instrumental in helping to form the Baltimore Theatre Alliance, and served as its secretary for seven years. She has also served on the board of directors for Young Audiences of Maryland, as well as on its advisory committee for the Teaching Artist Initiative (TAI); she continues to serve on several task forces for the Fine Arts in Education throughout Maryland, and also participates nationally through AEP – the Arts Education Partnership’s Higher Education Task Force on the Arts. Along with several members of that working group, Susan co-authored the book, Preparing Educators for Arts Integration: Placing Creativity at the Center of Learning.
Before Susan came to Towson, she had a variety of careers. She has been a high school teacher and administrator in both public and private schools, professional dancer, choreographer, singer, director, producer, dramaturg, actor, and fund-raiser. In 1980 Susan founded the Beth Tfiloh Players, a community theatre company in Baltimore. She produced and directed a number of musicals, including The King and I, The Apple Tree, Carnival, Carousel, You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown, and The Little Shop of Horrors.
Susan enjoys continuing her education. She has taken master classes in ballet with Sylvester Campbell and Peggy Lynne and modern dance with Dorothy Madden; mime and movement with Mark Jaster, Dodi DiSanto, Tim Carrier, Mark McKenna (Touchstone Theatre, PA), Maravene Loeschke, and Daniel Stein; workshops in stage combat with Lewis Shaw; voice and Shakespeare with Dennis Krausnick and Shakespeare and Company; and singing with Charlotte Anderson.
Susan is an active performer, dramaturg, and director. She has been seen locally on Towson’s Mainstage in The Beaux’ Stratagem, with The Maryland Arts Festival in The Cemetery Club, for which she also served as dramaturg. She has performed with a number of theatre companies, including Spotlighters, The Women’s Project at the Baltimore Theatre Project, the Gordon Center, and at Touchstone Theatre (PA).
Her original solo work, Transitions, was featured in the first Women’s Project at The Theatre Project, where she also originated the role of Connie in the premiere of Maravene Loeschke’s play “5”. As a dramaturg, Susan has worked with Funkopolis, AXIS Theatre, the Maryland Arts Festival (Rags; Ragtime; The Cemetery Club; Hair), Maryland Ensemble Theatre, and with a number of directors at Towson University. She helped to create a new work, GO! with Nancy Romita’s dance troupe, The Moving Company. In 1998, as assistant director and dramaturg, Susan accompanied TU’s presentation of The Building of the Ark and The Flood to Toronto for participation in The York Cycle. Susan also continues to work professionally on stage, in films, radio play, and in commercials. When not performing, she coaches acting.
Susan is married to Ivan, a pharmacist and computer wizard. She is very proud of their children. Miri began her theatre training at Towson before transferring to Brandeis University, where she met her husband, clinical psychologist and actor, Dan Wagner, and they have both been acting professionally since their graduations in 1995 and 1996. Miri has also completed two graduate degrees (Food Studies and Nutrition) at NYU. She formerly worked as RD at Brooklyn Methodist Hospital, has written for The James Beard Magazine, and online at About.com, The Spruce, and Yummly. Miri’s cookbook, Bubbe and Me in the Kitchen, was published several years ago by Sonoma Press. Miri and Dan currently live in Baltimore with their two children and they continue to pursue their professional acting careers. Shani spent several summers in Israel, teaching English at a summer camp and touring before completing her college career at Emerson College in Boston, where she majored in Film and Radio Production. Shani now resides in Los Angeles. She worked for ten years at her alma mater, American Film Institute, where she completed her Masters as a Producing Fellow. Shani is now Client Finance Associate Director at TBWA\Media Arts Lab.
Susan credits her family with bringing her back to the things she loves: theatre, performing, and university life.