Born: 28 January 1893, United States
Died: 31 December 1981
Country most active: United States
Also known as: NA
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Alvina Krause (b. Jan. 28, 1893, New Lisbon, Wisc. – d. Dec. 31, 1981, Bloomsburg, Pa.) was an American drama teacher and theater director. She entered the Cumnock School of Oratory (later the Northwestern University School of Speech) in 1914. After teaching elocution and girls’ athletics in high schools in Colorado and Missouri, Krause returned to Northwestern for her bachelor’s degree in speech (1928). She gained her master’s degree from Northwestern in 1933, while teaching there. During her 34 years at NU, Krause attained the position of associate professor, and designed a comprehensive four-year training program in acting. Her students included Patricia Neal, William Daniels, Walter Kerr, Marshall Mason, Richard Benjamin, Paula Prentiss, James Olson, Robert Reed, Gerald Freedman, Laird Williamson, Agnes Nixon, Inga Swenson, Tony Roberts, Ronald Holgate, Corrine Jacker, Charlton Heston, George Furth, Penny Fuller, Lawrence Pressman, Garry Marshall, Frank Galati, and many others. Krause also began directing at NU in 1938 with O’Neill’s “Anna Christie.” In 1945 Krause and her longtime companion Lucy McCammon leased the Playhouse in Eaglesmere, a popular summer resort town north of Bloomsburg, PA. During the next 20 summers, she directed, or supervised student direction of, 180 plays, including works by Shakespeare, Shaw, Moliere, Chekhov, Ibsen, Pirandello and contemporary plays and musicals. The cast, designers, and technicians were students from Northwestern. Krause acted in two of the Playhouse productions: as Miss Moffat in The Corn is Green, and as the Dowager Empress in Anastasia. She taught master classes around the country (University of South Dakota, Gallaudet University, Los Angeles State College, and University of Texas) and directed “The Three Sisters” and “Becket” at the Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts in California.