Get to know current HCE treasurer, Christina Listro, before she graduates this May!
Major: Individualized major in Performing Arts and Liberal Studies, in conjunction with the 4+1 Masters Program in Elementary Education
Graduating Year: 2017 (but she’ll be making a return!)
Hometown: Medford, MA
Favorite color: Purple
Favorite Boston location: North End– she highly recommends Galleria Umberto
Favorite pasta dish: Her dad’s fettuccine alfredo, typically made for New Years
Favorite Disney movie: Cinderella (She directed a production of The Ash Girl last semester)
HCE: You like theatre, but first, what’s your role on the HCE team?
Christina: So, I have been treasurer of Her Campus [Emmanuel] since its founding in 2015, working within finances, event planning, and helping to make sure that we have money to make events happen.
HCE: Nice! How has your experience at Emmanuel changed since the chapter was founded?
CL: I feel like I got to interact with so many groups that I normally wouldn’t be able to; because a lot of the time what happens is that you get into a major, and you spend all of your time with the people who are in that major. It becomes your life, it becomes your group. It’s not that it’s cliquey or anything, just that out of convenience these are the people you’re going to spend your life with and getting your academic support from. I was able to meet so many people from so many other different majors. It really has opened me up to meeting lots of new people, through events like our Body Positivity Fashion Show, and I was able to learn about so many wonderful women on our campus who I hadn’t met yet.
HCE: What was a favorite event or moment you had as a member of HCE?
CL: Well, I always love anything where we’re able to have bonding. Bonding as a group and especially as an exec board I think we’ve become very strong and very good friends. So I love stuff like that, like when we’re able to go to events in the city or get brunch together. But, I would have to say the highlight is the Body Positivity Fashion Show. I remember when we pitched it two years ago — we weren’t really sure it was going to work or how large scale an event it could be. It ended up becoming so much more than we’d imagined, being able to get people involved and together for a great cause and just to have a great time.
HCE: That event is hugely successful! I remember walking in it my first year and having someone compliment me about it later on. It’s amazing that this organization has such a draw now.
CL: I feel like Her Campus isn’t about being all female-oriented and pink power, and that can be misconceived. Our goal is to create media and events that include women of all kinds and people who are supportive of women. It’s wonderful that we have our new advisor Mark [Flynn], who is so, so supportive and wanting of women to succeed in their professional lives. That’s what I think Her Campus really does; it gives you a foundation, a support network, to do that.
The Her Campus Team at their first birthday party celebration
HCE: Tell me something about your first production with the Performing Arts Department at Emmanuel and your last.
CL: Oh, gosh. I remember coming into my first production at Emmanuel just not thinking I was going to get cast. I came in and I saw all these wonderful people and thought, “They’re so crazy talented, I can’t even be considered a part of this group.” What was wonderful about what Charlie (Ferguson) and Kayla (Quigley) [Performing Arts Department majors of the Class of 2014] did is they created shows that had so many opportunities for so many different people. I got cast in a production of Orlando by Sarah Ruhl and was able to make many friends and so many connections. Then I guess with the final production of The Little Mermaid, I was just ready have a blast. It was really special to be able to share the show and share what the power of art and of love, as corny as it is, can do. Being able to come together with friends to make art that touches people’s lives- I will always hold onto that.
HCE: What is your favorite role that you’ve portrayed?
CL: You’re asking me to pick between my children! Acting is one of my passions within theatre. Julia Colby from All Out was a really tragic role, and I had a blast playing Julia Budder in It’s Only A Play. The sister relationships I developed in Dancing at Lughnasa are ones that I’ll absolutely cherish for the rest of my life. But I feel like when I was able to step into a directing role here, it felt like home. It felt like I was able to create the vision and the message I wanted to tell, while uniting so many people and getting them involved in theatre and [showing them] how art can change lives. Art should be collaborative, and I wouldn’t have succeeded in this department if someone hadn’t drawn me in and found some little spark of something that could grow into so much more. This department has changed my life and given me another family.
HCE: So, you recently traveled to DC with a nomination for your costume design work on last spring’s A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine. What did that mean to you, and why do you think costumes are such a significant part of performance art?
CL: It was a really great validation. I see my work with costumes as an extension of my work with characters, because it’s a physical format that explains what may be going on in a character’s inner life or the emotions. Especially coming from a school with such a small program and smaller facilities, being able to say I have the talent, skill, and value to go forward and work with these wonderful people was a really special moment that still shocks me, and when I went to DC, to have even been considered! I also just get a lot of joy from crafting something outer that represents what’s going on in the inner.
The cast of A Day in Hollywood/ A Night in the Ukraine in Christina’s award winning costumes
HCE: What’s next for Christina Listro?
CL: Short term, I will be continuing my studies at Emmanuel next year with a Master’s Program in Elementary Education, which I’m really excited about. I feel so lucky to be able to combine both of my passions into my studies and eventual career because I see a lot of value in theatre education as well as using some theatrical techniques in all education. It appeals to a different kind of learner and really helps them engage the material. Teaching shouldn’t be a passive thing that is done to you but an active thing done with you that students have a role in. So hopefully afterwards I’ll be teaching in the area and continuing my work in theatre.
HCE: What will you miss most about Emmanuel?
CL: Here’s the waterworks. I feel like it’s the people. When you’re in an academic environment, the people you’re around everyday really become your friends and family. It’s going to be hard to let go of that, but I know with so many of these people, I will keep in touch and keep those connections. I’ll keep doing theatre and creating art with them. I’ll be excited to see where my friends go and how their aspirations are fulfilled. So, I’m saying goodbye to Emmanuel, but not really.
Expect to see Christina Listro in the classroom and on Broadway someday, always thanking her family, friends, and three of her many academic inspirations: Scott Gagnon, Jenna Lourenco, and Jason Whiting. Thank you, Christina, for your constant creativity and thoughtfulness in all you do! EC is lucky to have you.