![\"Maureen\"](\"http:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/alumni\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2019\/12\/Maureen-3-300x240.jpg\")
Augsburg alumna Maureen (Conroy) Kurtz \u201980 cultivated her life\u2019s calling at Augsburg through the intersection of English and theater.<\/p>\nAugsburg alumna Maureen (Conroy) Kurtz \u201980 cultivated her life\u2019s calling at Augsburg through the intersection of English and theater.<\/p>\n
Since graduating in 1980 with her bachelor\u2019s degree studying children\u2019s theatre, Maureen has written, directed, and produced over 80 plays and movies. She also served five years on the Bloomington Art Center Board and was involved with over 50 productions at the Bloomington Art Center, the Capri Theater, the Minnesota Jewish Theatre Company, and various other locations.<\/p>\n
![\"Maureen](\"http:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/alumni\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2019\/12\/Maureen-red-carpet-200x300.jpg\")
But Maureen hasn\u2019t only worked her magic behind the scenes; she\u2019s also spent a lot of time on the stage, going by the name Rina Kurtz. A highlight of her career was in 2014 when she had the opportunity to go to Hollywood and walk on the red carpet for the premiere of Matthew 18, in which she portrayed Miss Hillshire. She also acted in Thunderbird and The Coffee Shop Wars, along with a handful of short films and many plays.<\/p>\n
A graduate of Mahtomedi High School, Maureen discovered her love of theater in her youth and worked on and off stage in her high school\u2019s theater productions. When she came to Augsburg in 1975, Maureen had the chance to work with two professors whom she credits as important mentors on her journey to what would become a full life in theater and film: English professor Toni Clark and legendary Theater professor Ailene Cole, who is recognized for her work building Augsburg\u2019s theater department into what it is today and for whom the Green Room in the Foss Center is named.<\/p>\n
Ailene Cole played a special role in Maureen\u2019s career at Augsburg by creating a new major that was not only uniquely tailored to Maureen but was also the only one of its kind in the state at that time: Children\u2019s Theater.<\/p>\n
\u201cI loved Augsburg because Ailene Cole developed a special major for me in Children\u2019s Theater,\u201d says Maureen. \u201cIt was the only school to have a Children\u2019s Theater program.\u201d When asked what made her want to pursue that degree, Maureen said, \u201cI love kids; it was my idea, and Ailene put together independent studies for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maureen was busy while at Augsburg. She enjoyed Women\u2019s Literature, joined the gymnastics team, served on the English Board for one year, and formed a liturgical dance group. Maureen also studied abroad in London, where she was able to attend 28 plays, 6 of them Shakespeare plays. Her favorite production was Equus, a drama by Peter Shaffer about a psychiatrist who attempts to treat a boy with a pathological religious fascination with horses. It won the Tony Award for best play in 1975.<\/p>\n Maureen continued her love of theatrical work on and off stage for Augsburg productions. She directed Talk to Me Like The Rain and Let Me Listen, a Tennessee Williams short play, in 1978. Maureen also acted in the plays Abia Da Capo in 1976, Two by Two in 1977, and The Crucible in 1979. And with a smile, Maureen says she even made her own costumes.<\/p>\n When asked what something people would be surprised to learn about her, Maureen said, \u201cI wrote a couple of puppetry productions.\u201d The productions were called Twink and Charlie Goes to Market. Both were put on at elementary schools. Maureen didn\u2019t plan on doing the puppet production herself, but a last-minute cancellation changed her plans. \u201cI didn\u2019t want to be the puppeteer, but the guy [who was supposed to puppeteer] chickened out! I was nervous!\u201d<\/p>\n Maureen says she is most proud of the 5 years she served on the Bloomington Art Center board, followed by 27 years acting on their stage while working on so many of their productions at the Black Box and Schneider Theaters. And she\u2019s raised two boys in between it all.<\/p>\n This past year, Maureen was diagnosed with ALS. It has greatly limited her mobility and requires her to communicate through text-to-speech computer software using Tobii, an eye-tracking device. She selects characters to form words by looking at them, then the computer speaks the words aloud.<\/p>\n \u201cI have a full life,\u201d Maureen says.<\/p>\n —\u00a0By Jayne Carlson MFA \u201816 and Amanda Symes MFA \u201815<\/p>\n By Maureen Kurtz, 2019<\/span><\/p>\n A.L.S.<\/strong> is:<\/span><\/p>\n A<\/strong>cknowledging the <\/span>L<\/strong>ord\u2019s <\/span>S<\/strong>acrifice<\/span><\/p>\n A<\/strong>lways <\/span>L<\/strong>istening to <\/span>S<\/strong>ilence<\/span><\/p>\n A<\/strong>bility to <\/span>L<\/strong>augh at <\/span>S<\/strong>elf<\/span><\/p>\n A<\/strong>ccepting <\/span>L<\/strong>ife\u2019s <\/span>S<\/strong>etbacks<\/span><\/p>\n A<\/strong>doring every <\/span>L<\/strong>ittle <\/span>S<\/strong>econd<\/span><\/p>\n A<\/strong>westruck by the <\/span>L<\/strong>ight of the <\/span>S<\/strong>tars<\/span><\/p>\n A<\/strong>dhering to the <\/span>L<\/strong>essons of the <\/span>S<\/strong>oul<\/span><\/p>\n A<\/strong>ppreciating the <\/span>L<\/strong>uxury of the <\/span>S<\/strong>un<\/span><\/p>\n A<\/strong>voiding <\/span>L<\/strong>ucifer\u2019s <\/span>S<\/strong>in<\/span><\/p>\n A<\/strong>doring the <\/span>L<\/strong>and and the <\/span>S<\/strong>ea<\/span><\/p>\n A<\/strong>wareness of <\/span>L<\/strong>ife\u2019s <\/span>S<\/strong>easons<\/span><\/p>\n A<\/strong>llowing for <\/span>L<\/strong>ove to <\/span>S<\/strong>oar<\/span><\/p>\n A<\/strong>ssuring that you are the <\/span>L<\/strong>ord\u2019s <\/span>S<\/strong>ervant<\/span><\/p>\n A<\/strong>ttaining the <\/span>L<\/strong>oyalty to the <\/span>S<\/strong>enses<\/span><\/p>\n A<\/strong>iming for <\/span>L<\/strong>oving <\/span>S<\/strong>ervice<\/span><\/p>\n A<\/strong>dmitting to the <\/span>L<\/strong>ord you have <\/span>S<\/strong>inned<\/span><\/p>\n A<\/strong>lways <\/span>L<\/strong>earning <\/span>S<\/strong>omething<\/span><\/p>\n A<\/strong>ccepting <\/span>L<\/strong>oss and <\/span>S<\/strong>poil<\/span><\/p>\n A<\/strong>nother <\/span>L<\/strong>ikely <\/span>S<\/strong>tory<\/span><\/p>\n A<\/strong>pples <\/span>L<\/strong>emons <\/span>S<\/strong>pinach<\/span><\/p>\n A<\/strong>corns <\/span>L<\/strong>akes <\/span>S<\/strong>treams<\/span><\/p>\n A<\/strong>rt <\/span>L<\/strong>eisure <\/span>S<\/strong>inging<\/span><\/p>\n A<\/strong>cceptance of <\/span>L<\/strong>oss and <\/span>S<\/strong>elf Control<\/span><\/p>\n Oh yea, and I almost forgot. <\/span>A.L.S.<\/strong> stands for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis- but that is only in VERY RARE CASES. Let me tell you <\/span>A.L.S.<\/strong> stands for so much more. Be sure to read between the lines. It goes to show:<\/span><\/p>\n You are <\/span>A<\/strong>lways <\/span>L<\/strong>earning <\/span>S<\/strong>omething.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Augsburg alumna Maureen (Conroy) Kurtz \u201980 cultivated her life\u2019s calling at Augsburg through the intersection of English and theater. Since …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":386,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spotlights"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/386"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50379"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50379\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50925,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50379\/revisions\/50925"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"1977](\"http:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/alumni\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2019\/12\/Two-by-Two-300x169.png\")
![\"2019](\"http:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/alumni\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2019\/12\/award-240x300.jpg\")
But this has not stifled her creative mind. Earlier this year, Maureen won a \u201cMost Inspirational\u201d award for her poem about ALS in a walk her sister completed in her honor in Missouri. She is also currently producing a movie, Christmas Slasher.<\/p>\n
\nWhat Does ALS Stand For?<\/span><\/h1>\n