This summer, our students and faculty haven’t let the heat stop them from creating outstanding artwork and scholarship. We’re highlighting some of the incredible ways our UT Theatre and Dance artists are expanding their creative skills beyond the walls of Winship this summer.
Students
Nelson Nwachukwu (B.A. in Theatre and Dance) has been selected as an acting intern for Illinois Shakespeare Festival’s 2022 season. During the summer months, he’ll be portraying the roles of “Conrade” in Much Ado About Nothing, “Soldier/Messenger” in King Lear and “Benedick” in the TYA adaptation Much Ado About Quite a Lot. He’ll also share the stage with Quetta Carpenter (Assistant Professor and Head of Acting), a regular company member at Illinois Shakes. Carpenter will portray “Leonata” in Much Ado About Nothing and “Fool” in King Lear.
Jackson Froelich (B.F.A. in Acting) and Evan Carlson (B.F.A. in Dance) are among the cast for Zilker Theatre Production’s performances of Disney’s Newsies The Musical. Froelich will perform as “Mush,” while Carlson will portray “Albert” and serve as a dance captain. The production also features lighting designer Rachel Atkinson (M.F.A. 2013) and production stage manager Aly Redland (B.A. 2020).
Macy Butler (B.F.A. in Acting) completes the two-person cast of Hyde Park Theatre’s Running Bear. Under the direction of Rosalind Faires (B.A. 2015), Butler will perform in the role of “Emily” in the world premiere production of Raul Garza’s play, on stage until July 16, 2022.
UT Theatre and Dance collaborators in the Drama and Theatre for Youth and Communities area and beyond contributed to a workshop and reading of Spells of the Sea, written by alumni Guinevere Govea (B.A. in Theatre and Dance and Bachelor of Journalism, 2021) and Anna Pickett (B.S. in Youth and Community Studies, 2021). Theatre and Dance collaborators included current students Renita James, Xinyue Zhang and Claire Derriennic, faculty Megan Alrutz, Michelle Habeck and Adriana Serrano and alumna Giana Blazquez Bultman. Click HERE to read more about the new musical’s development at Pegasus PlayLab in Orlando, Florida and the team of artists who made it possible.
Jeffrey Gan (Ph.D. in Performance as Public Practice) is serving as dramaturg for Tiger Hands, a dance project commissioned as part of The Shed’s Open Call 2022 program. The performance piece, in which choreographer Benjamin Akio Kimitch blends his backgrounds in Peking opera, Chinese dance and Western concert dance to challenge stereotypes and explore self-expression, will premiere at The Shed on August 4-6, 2022.
Earlier this summer, Yunina Barbour-Payne (Ph.D. in Performance as Public Practice) performed in the world premiere of A War of the Worlds, directed by Marcus McQuirter (Ph.D. 2012) at Penfold Theatre. Jarrett King’s adaptation of works by H.G. Wells and Orson Welles also included costume design by Desireé Humphries (staff) and Marc Pouhé (attended) in the role of “Orson Welles.”
Faculty
Faculty member Corey Allen (Assistant Professor, Acting) is directing Great River Shakespeare Festival’s production of The African Company Presents Richard III, on stage until July 30, 2022. His collaborators include assistant director Braxton Rae (current M.F.A. candidate), costume designer Harri Horsley (M.F.A. 2022) and actress Ashley Bowen (B.A. 2021).
As dean of the American Dance Festival, Leah Cox (Associate Professor, Dance) is currently leading their 2022 summer dance intensive programs. Located at Duke University, this year’s programs mark a return to in-person learning for the annual festival.
Michael Ávila (Assistant Professor of Instruction, UTeach Theatre) will co-direct Summer Stock Austin’s production of In The Heights with alumna and Impact Arts co-founder Ginger Morris (B.F.A. 2000). Multiple students and alumni are featured in Summer Stock Austin’s three summer 2022 productions, serving as creatives, actors, choreographers and administrators. Collaborators include current students Rylee Vines, Trinity Gordon, Valeria Najera-Zavala, Sydnie Brown, Ezra Rose, Clarissa Garcia and Rachel Ernat, as well as alumni Khali Sykes, David Hernandez, Jayla Ball, Libby Jantz, Rachel Atkinson, Rachael Gomez, Stephanie Busing, Charlotte Griffin and J. Quinton Johnson (attended).
Karen Maness (Lecturer, UT Live Design and Production) has contributed to two museum exhibits that are currently open to the public. She has artwork featured in the McNay Art Museum’s current exhibition The Great Stage of Texas, alongside alumni Michelle Nay (M.F.A. 1989) and Stephanie Busing (M.F.A. 2014). She also served as co-curator for Art of the Hollywood Backdrop, an exhibition presented by Boca Raton Museum of Art featuring preserved backdrops from classic Hollywood films, on display now until January 22, 2023.
Megan Alrutz (Interim-Chair) serves as a producer for Mo Willem’s animated children’s special Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed: The Underground Rock Experience, which is set for release on HBO Max on June 30, 2022. Click HERE to view a trailer for the best-selling children’s book turned theatrical rock production, steaming this summer only on Cartoonito.
Raquel Barreto (Associate Professor, UT Live Design and Production) served as costume designer for A Wicked Soul at Cherry Hill, which is currently in its world premiere run at Geffen Playhouse.
Roxanne Shroeder-Arce (Associate Professor and Associate Dean of UTeach Fine Arts) and Jenn Hartmann Luck (M.F.A. 2011) recently workshopped their new TYA musical Keys as part of New York University’s New Plays for Young Audiences series. After a week of development, the musical was presented to the public in the form of a staged reading.
KJ Sanchez (Associate Professor and Head of Playwriting/Directing) has had a busy summer full of creative ventures. The long-awaited premiere of Karen Zacarías’ Romeo y Juliet, directed by Sanchez, opened at California Shakespeare Festival on May 25. Then, in mid-June, Sanchez developed her new script Walden at the 2022 Colorado New Play Festival. She also recently closed a staged reading of Marisela Treviño Orta’s The River Bride, which she directed at Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival.
Throughout the summer months, Dr. Lisa B. Thompson (Professor, Performance as Public Practice) has continued recording and releasing new episodes of Black Austin Matters, a podcast she co-hosts with College of Education faculty member Dr. Richard Reddick for KUT. She was also selected as a Presidential Visiting Scholar for The New School’s 2022/2023 academic year.
Katie Dawson (Associate Professor and Co-head of Drama and Theatre for Youth and Communities / UTeach Theatre) contributed a chapter to The Routledge Companion to Drama in Education, which was published earlier this summer. She and Stephanie W. Cawthon co-wrote the chapter entitled “Accessible for all: Drama-based pedagogy in an inclusive primary school.”
Theatre artist and writer Kirk Lynn (Associate Professor, Playwriting) is currently finishing notes for his next novel THE VOW and writing a book about play based on his signature course. Additionally, What Happens Later, a screenplay he co-wrote with former faculty member Steven Dietz and Meg Ryan, is set to begin filming later this summer.
Are you a current student or faculty member with an exciting summer project in the works? Click HERE to send us your projects, and we might just feature them in our Summer Updates, Part Two.
