University of Texas Ph.D. Student Dotun Ayobade Receives Award for Paper on Stand-up Comedy in Nigeria

From the Department of Theatre and Dance, University of Texas:

A round of applause for Performance as Public Practice PhD student Dotun Ayobade, who was awarded the Ken Lohrentz Graduate Paper Award from the Mid-Atlantic Association of African Studies (MAAAS)!

Dotun presented his paper, Playing a Race Where There is No Race: Standup Comedy and Performing Race in Post-Colonial Nigeria, at the MAAAS conference in September. Congratulations, Dotun, on your well-deserved recognition!

Winners of 2012-2013 B . Iden Payne Awards for Theatre Arts, Austin

Winners announced during the ceremony at the State Theatre, Austin, on November 5, 2013:

B. Iden Payne Awards

2012 – 2013 Season

THEATER FOR YOUTH

Outstanding Production

Playground Superhero Pollyanna Theatre Company

Outstanding Direction

Judy Matetzschk-Campbell Playground Superhero


Outstanding Performer
Toby Minor (Kobyn) Playground Superhero

MUSIC THEATER
Outstanding Production

Avenue Q Austin Theatre Project

Outstanding Direction

Rudy Ramirez (write-in)

Outstanding Lead Actor

Andrew Foote (Tateh) Ragtime: The Musical


Outstanding Lead Actress

Michelle Haché (Princess Ida) Princess Ida

Outstanding Featured Actor

Nathan Jerkins (Lexy Mill) A Minister’s Wife


Outstanding Featured Actress

Libby Dees-Detling (Mae) Reefer Madness: The Musical

COMEDY
Outstanding Production

Qualities of Starlight VORTEX Repertory Company


Outstanding Direction

Rudy Ramirez Qualities of Starlight


Outstanding Lead Actor

Toby Minor (Theodore Turner) Qualities of Starlight

Outstanding Lead Actress

Liz Fisher (Kelly) The Pain and the Itch


Outstanding Featured Actor


J. Ben Wolfe (Mr. Hadid) The Pain and the Itch

Outstanding Featured Actress

Chris Humphrey (Mrs. Steve Powers, announcer) Brides of the Moon

DRAMA

Outstanding Production

Slowgirl,  Hyde Park Theatre


Outstanding Direction

Rachel Wiese The Man Who Planted Trees

Outstanding Lead Actor

Jason Newman (Doug) Gruesome Playground Injuries [Capital T]

Outstanding Lead Actress

Molly Karrasch (Becky) Slowgirl


Outstanding Featured Actor

Ryan Hamilton (Jesse Bandel, Teddy Ray Harrington) Just Outside Redemption


Outstanding Featured Actress

Beth Broderick (Harlene Corf) Just Outside Redemption

GENERAL CATEGORIES

Outstanding Set Design

Ann Marie Gordon      Qualities of Starlight


Outstanding Lighting Design

Jason Amato     Water


Outstanding Sound Design

Robert Fisher    Slowgirl

Outstanding Costume Design

Carl Booker      Little Shop of Horrors


Outstanding Music Direction


John Vander Gheynst    Little Shop of Horrors

Outstanding Dance Choreography

Toni Bravo    Earth


Outstanding Fight Choreography

Toby Minor    Coriolanus


Outstanding Original Script

Gabriel Jason Dean     Qualities of Starlight


Outstanding Original Score
Chelsea Manasseri, Rudy Ramirez, Melissa Vogt-Patterson, Michelle Alexander,

Hayley Armstrong, Jennifer Coy and Kyle Zamcheck   in  Sing Muse


Outstanding Media Design

Lowell Bartholomee Vodka, Fucking and Television


Outstanding Cast Performance

Sing Muse VORTEX Repertory Company


Outstanding Ensemble Performance

Jennifer Underwood and Dennis Bailey (parents) Qualities of Starlight


Outstanding Young Performer

a tie:

John Austin (Zeus as youth, Hades, Ganymede) Zeus in Therapy

Vincent Hooper (Youth) Passing Strange


Outstanding Puppetry

The Cruel Circus Trouble Puppet Theater Company


Special Certificates

Community outreach and accessibility in The Edge of Peace UT Department of Theatre and Dance

Being the Piano Man in 33 Variations Anton Nel

Props in Qualities of Starlight Helen Parish

Community involvement for Crab the Dog cross-promotion

in Two Gentlemen of Verona Something for Nothing Theater

Rudy Kloptic Award for Outstanding Work in Improvisational Theater

(nominated by the artistic directors of Austin’s improvisational theaters)

The Suitcase (The Institution Theater)

Austin High School Theatre Teacher Billy Dragoo Honored by Texas Educational Theatre Association

Austin High School Red Dragon Players

Billy Dragoo, Theatre Arts Director and Head of the Fine Arts Department at Austin High School, has been named Theatre Educator of the Year by the Texas Educational Theatre Association. He will be honored at the TETA annual conference in January.

University of Texas Regents Recognize Asst. Professor of Theatre for Schools Katie Dawson

From the College of Fine Arts, University of Texas at Austin:

Katie Dawson (photo via University of Texas)

Drama for Schools Professor Honored

The Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award is the Board of Regents’ highest honor. This year, Drama and Theatre for Youth Assistant Professor Katie Dawson was selected as a 2013 Outstanding Teaching Award recipient. She was reviewed on a range of criteria including classroom expertise, curricula quality and student learning outcomes and awarded the honor for demonstrating extraordinary classroom performance and innovation in undergraduate instruction. 

Congratulations Katie!

Austin Print Journalists Anounce 2012-2013 Critics' Table Favorites

Theatre choices by reviewers for the Austin Statesman and the Austin Chronicle for 2012-2013, from the 'Critics' Table' list published by Jeanne Claire van Ryzin in the Austin Statesman:

THEATRE
Production, Drama (tie)
 
All My Sons, Palindrome Theatre
Rose Rage, The Hidden Room Theatre

Production, Comedy   Slip River, UT/David Mark Cohen New Works Festival

Production, Musical   Legally Blonde the Musical, Summer Stock Austin

Theatrical Event   Now Now Oh Now, Rude Mechanicals

Direction   Beth Burns, Rose Rage/Invisible, Inc.

Acting in a Leading Role 
Barbara Chisholm, The Importance of Being Earnest
Brock England, Rose Rage
Noel Gaulin, Accidental Death of an Anarchist/The Bear/Vodka, Fucking, and Television
Joey Hood, "I Am the Machine Gunner"

Acting in a Supporting Role 
Joey Banks, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson
Fran Dorn, The Edge of Peace
Robert Matney, Rose Rage
Laurence Pears, Rose Rage/Invisible, Inc.
Sydney Roberts, Urinetown: The Musical

Ensemble Performance   The Poison Squad, The Duplicates

Music Direction   Allen Robertson, Xanadu/Ragtime/Goodnight Moon

Movement   Cassie Abate, Urinetown: The Musical

David Mark Cohen New Play Award (tie) 
The Edge of Peace, Suzan Zeder
The Women of Juarez, Isaac Gomez and Bianca Sulaica

Touring Show, Theatre   Watch Me Fall, Action Hero/Fusebox Festival

DESIGN

Scenic Design   Thomas Graves, Michelle Marchesseault, Leilah Stewart, et al. (?) Now Now Oh Now

Costume Design   Susan Branch Towne, The Sound of Music/Xanadu/Ragtime

Lighting Design  The Duplicates, The Poison Squad

Sound Design   Buzz Moran, All My Sons/Under Construction/spacestation 1985

Video Design   Lowell Bartholomee, Vodka, Fucking, and Television

Special Citations

John Bustin Award for Exceptional Versatility   Jill Blackwood

W.H. "Deacon" Crain Award for Outstanding Student Work
 Isaac Gomez, UT Dept. of Theatre & Dance
Will Davis, UT Dept. of Theatre & Dance
Sophia Franzella, St. Edward's University
Lindsley Howard, St. Edward's University
Hannah Fonder, St. Edward's University

Visionary Vivifier Award   Caroline Reck and Glass Half Full Theatre

More Perfect Union Award   Thomas Graves and Hannah Kenah in Alfred and Agnes

Dress for Excess Award   Pam Friday, Seven Wonders of the World (Plus One)

Click to view full list, including choices for dance and music, at the Austin Statesman's www.Austin360 'Seeing Things' blog

Playwrights' Center Awards Sarah Saltwick a Jerome Fellowship for Emerging Playwrights

The Playwrights' Center announces 2013-14 playwriting fellows and Core Writers

05/15/2013

Applications and award funds at an all time high.

The Playwrights’ Center is pleased to announce its 2013-14 roster of playwriting fellows and new Core Writers, who together will receive more than $200,000 in awards and additional development funds. This is the largest amount ever awarded by the 42-year-old Playwrights’ Center, an internationally renowned theater laboratory and artist service organization dedicated to promoting playwrights and new play development.


“With nearly all of our fellowship programs hitting their highest application numbers to date, I am emboldened by our efforts to support this current body of American playwrights, and very inspired by the slate of playwrights that were chosen for our 2013-14 season,” says Producing Artistic Director Jeremy B. Cohen. “From the launch of the newly-expanded Many Voices program, to supporting the incredible Jerome Fellows whose work is already making an impact across the U.S., to the recognition of such consistent excellence in our McKnight Fellows, we are poised to see a huge explosion of great new work across American stages. As always, we’re deeply indebted to both the Jerome and McKnight Foundations for their support of our fellowships, and to the Mellon Foundation for their ongoing visionary support of the Playwrights’ Center.”

Jerome Fellowships

For emerging national playwrights ($16,000 award)
Jake Jeppson, Basil Kreimendahl, Sarah Saltwick, Deborah Yarchun

Sarah Saltwick

Jerome Fellows spend a year-long residency in Minnesota. The Playwrights’ Center has awarded these fellowships in partnership with the Jerome Foundation since 1976, increasing the number of fellowships from three to four in 2011. The Playwrights’ Center’s 2013-14 Jerome Fellows are Jake Jeppson, whose plays include Fox Play, The Clearing and Turtle and whose work has been produced in New York, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Estonia and Latvia; Basil Kreimendahl, a 2012-13 Playwrights’ Center Core Apprentice whose play Sidewinders will have its world premiere at The Cutting Ball Theater in San Francisco next season; Sarah Saltwick, whose play She Creatures was produced by Nouveau 47 in Dallas this season and whose adaptation of The Scarlet Letter was recently featured on the University of Texas at Austin’s mainstage; and Deborah Yarchun, whose work has been produced at theaters across the United States and Canada and whose plays include The Aleph Complex, The Man in the Sukkah, Portmanteaux and FreezeFrame.

Kennedy Center Recognizes Susan Zeder for Teaching Playwriting

For the record:

 

 

 

 THE MICHAEL KANIN PLAYWRITING AWARDS

Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival
The Michael Kanin Playwriting Awards
Presented in the Kennedy Center Theater Lab, April 20, 2013


THE JOHN CAUBLE AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING SHORT PLAY
THE LIGHTHOUSE
by Michael Parsons, Boston University

THE KCACTF TEN-MINUTE PLAY AWARD
TATTOO YOU
by Lisa Kenner Grissom, Lesley University

THE ORCHARD PROJECT SCHOLARSHIP
J. Isabel Salazar, California Institute of the Arts

THE MILAN STITT AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING TEACHER OF PLAYWRITING
Suzan Zeder
University of Texas at Austin

2011-2012 B. Iden Payne Awards for Theatre, Austin

Announced at the October 29 ceremony at the Zach's Topfer Theatre and published on the B. Iden Payne website November 2:

2011-2012 B. Iden Payne Awards Recipients

November 2, 2012

The B. Iden Payne Awards Council is pleased to present the 2011-2012 B. Iden Payne Award Recipients. These artists have been recognized for their outstanding theatrical contributions to the Austin community and we congratulate them.

DRAMA

Outstanding Production of a Drama

Rose Rage, The Hidden Room

Outstanding Direction of a Drama

Beth Burns, Rose Rage

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama

Jude Hickey (K.J.), The Aliens

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama (IT'S A TIE!)

Kim Adams (Narrator), The Pavilion

Babs George (Kate Keller), All My Sons

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Drama

Joey Hood (Jasper), The Aliens

Outstanding Featured Actress in a Drama

Breanna Stogner (Tchiripacha, Edie, Eliza), The 21 Would-Be Lives of Phineas Hamm

Outstanding Production of Youth Theatre

The Commedia of Errors (VORTEX Summer Youth Theatre)

Click to go to AustinLiveTheatre.com to view complete list of 2011-2012 B. Iden Payne awards . . . .

The B. Iden Payne Awards Council is pleased to present the 2011-2012 B. Iden Payne Award Nominees. These artists have made outstanding theatrical contributions to the Austin community and we thank them.

Join us, Monday, October 29th, 2012, 7pm at the New Topfer Theatre at ZACH, as we recognize the recipients of the 38th Annual B. Iden Payne Awards. We also are pleased to welcome Guest speaker Council Member Laura Morrison as she shares with us the impact of the Theatre and the Arts in Austin and how we, as practitioners and supporters may continue to elevate the impact of both.

Become a subscriber of BIPAC today and receive both your 2011-2012 Nominations Ballot and one General Admission ticket to the ceremony.

Congratulations to the nominees and thank you to our supporters. Bravo!

DRAMA

Outstanding Production

• The Aliens (Hyde Park Theatre)
• Now Now Oh Now (Rude Mechanicals)
• The Orchid Flotilla (Glass Half Full Theatre)
• Riddley Walker (Trouble Puppet Theatre Company)
• Rose Rage (The Hidden Room)

Outstanding Direction

• Beth Burns (Rose Rage)
• Daria Davis (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde)
• Connor Hopkins and Jeanine Lisa (Riddley Walker)
• Shawn Sides (Now Now Oh Now)
• Ken Webster (The Aliens)

Outstanding Lead Actor

• Jon Cook (Evan) The Aliens
• Joseph Garlock (Dragon, Loserboy) The Dragon Play
• Jude Hickey (K.J.) The Aliens
• Jonathan Itchon (Joshua) Corpus Christi
• Sam Mercer (Carmine) Housebreaking

Outstanding Lead Actress

• Kim Adams (Narrator) The Pavilion
• Babs George (Kate Keller) All My Sons
• Caroline Reck (Woman) The Orchid Flotilla
• Erin Treadway (Cleo) The Twelfth Labor
• Nikki Zook (Karen Wright) The Children’s Hour

Outstanding Featured Actor

• Travis Dean (Jakob Engstrand) Ghosts
• Joey Hood (Jasper) The Aliens
• Sam Mercer (Soranzo) ’Tis Pity She’s a Whore
• Michael Slefinger (Giuliano) Big Love
• Rommel Sulitl (Man) The Dragon Play

Outstanding Featured Actress

• Elizabeth Bigger (Magda) Housebreaking
• Stephanie Carll (Paulina) The Winter’s Tale
• Vanessa Marie (Nurse Susie Monohan) W;t
• Martina Ohlhauser (Jacqueline de Severac) Murder on the Nile
• Breanna Stogner (Tchiripacha, Edie, Eliza) The 21 Would-Be Lives of Phineas Hamm

Click to view nominations in additional categories: Play for Youth, Music Theatre, Comedy, Technical and Special Awards

San Antonio's October 14 Theatre Awards Come with Popcorn, Deborah Martin, San Antonio Express-News

via

Globe Awards to be Served with a Side of Popcorn

by Deborah Martin, San Antonio Express-News

 

A funny thing happened on the way to last year's Alamo Theatre Arts Council Globe Awards.

When ushers got to the Charline McCombs Empire Theatre, they found boxes of popcorn ready to go, so they handed 'em out. The unexpected treat proved popular with the crowd... until it had to be taken away.

“It turned out (the popcorn boxes) were for the ‘Ethics Follies,' which was (at the Empire) the next night,” said ATAC President Tom Masinter. “So the ushers came and took them back. This year, we're providing popcorn boxes because everybody loved it.”

Popcorn is a tiny element of this year's Globes, which take place Oct. 14 at the Empire. The event recognizes theatrical achievement on stages across the city. Awards are given for acting, directing, design and overall productions.

This year, 23 productions will receive awards at the gala on October 14.

 

The evening also includes a catered buffet and performances from seven productions, including “Next to Normal,” “The Drowsy Chaperone” and “A View from the Bridge.”

Masinter noted that Proxy, the Woodlawn and the Overtime — all fairly new companies — will be receiving awards this year.

“These are theaters that weren't around six or seven years ago,” he said. “We're proud to be recognizing them for their effort, as well as the ones that have been around for a long time.”

Productions that will be recognized are:

Comedy: “The 39 Steps,” San Antonio College; “Burn This,” Proxy Theatre Company; “For the Love of an Anesthesiologist” and “Ugly People,” Overtime Theater; and “The Last Night of Ballyhoo,” Sheldon Vexler Theatre.

Drama: “A View From The Bridge,” Vex; “The Tempest” and “Jack and Jill: A Romance,” University of the Incarnate Word; “King Lear” and “The House of Bernarda Alba,” Classic Theatre; “Superior Donuts” and “Time Stands Still,” Playhouse; “I-DJ,” Overtime Theatre; “The Pillowman,” Woodlawn Theatre.

Musical: “The Secret Garden,” Harlequin Dinner Theatre; “Avenue Q” and “Next to Normal,” Woodlawn; “The Drowsy Chaperone” and “Oklahoma!,” Playhouse; “Oliver!,” Vex; “Fascinating Rhythm!,” Allegro Stage Co.; “Cabaret,” Allegro and Northwest Vista College; “DOA: A Noir Musical,” Overtime.

In addition, the Jasmina Wellinghoff Award for contributions to the city's theater community will be given to Richard Rosen, executive director of Magik Theatre. And Globe attendees will get to vote for a People's Choice Award for an overall production on the night of the ceremony.

Tickets go on sale today for $35 a pop at Ticketmaster outlets and the Majestic Theatre box office. Visit atac-sa.org for more information.

Read article at www.mysanantonio.com. . . .

Professor of Costume Design Susan Mickey Honored by University of Texas Regents

From the University of Texas Department of Theatre and Dance:

 Professor Susan Mickey Honored by UT System Board of Regents for Outstanding Teaching

Prof. Susan Mickey (image: J. Elissa Marshall)

Department of Theatre and Dance Professor Susan Mickey is among the twenty-seven UT Austin faculty members honored with the 2012 Regent’s Outstanding Teaching Award, the UT System Board of Regents’ highest teaching distinction.

The award includes $25,000, and is considered among the nation’s largest cash prizes for higher education faculty members who exhibit outstanding classroom performance and innovation in undergraduate instruction.

 

Mickey is an accomplished costume designer with over 30 years of professional experience in the field. She joined the Department of Theatre and Dance in 2004, and now serves as the senior associate chair and head of the design and technology area. Mickey brings to the classroom a working knowledge of the discipline having designed at most major regional theatres in the country. She has designed costumes for 15 seasons at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and has been an associate artist with the Virginia Stage Company. In addition, she has designed costumes for more than 50 productions over 30 years at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta working there with many of the great directors, designers and playwrights of the American Stage.

 

In 2010 she won the Joseph Jeff Award for Best Costume Design for her work on the Chicago Shakespeare production of The Madness of George III. She is the winner of the 2010 College of Fine Arts Teaching Award and the 2008 Department of Theatre and Dance Teaching Excellence Award.

 

“Winning the Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award is just the latest in a remarkable string of accomplishments by Professor Mickey,” said Chair Brant Pope. “She combines her internationally recognized design career with a deep and ongoing commitment to the teaching and mentoring of her students.”

 

Established in 2008, the Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Awards program recognizes educators who demonstrate a clear commitment to teaching and sustained ability to deliver excellence to the undergraduate learning experience. A panel of students, peer faculty members and external reviewers evaluates the award nominees’ teaching performance over three years. Faculty members are considered through a rigorous process based on a range of activities and criteria that include expertise, curricula quality, innovative course development and student learning outcomes.

 

Past Department of Theatre and Dance recipients of the Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award include Andrea Beckham, Charlotte Canning and Franchelle Dorn.

UT's Joan Lazarus Honored by Theatre Educators

UT Professor Joan Lazarus Honored with National Award

A teacher, artist, researcher and writer, Professor Joan Lazarus is dedicated to engaging young people and their teachers through work in theatre and education. This month, the American Alliance for Theatre and Education (AATE) is recognizing Lazarus’ work by awarding her the Campton Bell Lifetime Achievement Award. The prestigious accolade celebrates individuals for their significant contributions to the fields of theatre and education.

Lazarus’ extensive career has provided her the opportunity to serve as a teaching artist, professional actor, director and guest faculty for programs throughout the country.

After receiving her graduate degree from Arizona State University, Lazarus taught and developed statewide youth theatre programs, designed community theatre and drama classes, and initiated the Drama Institute for teachers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Since joining the University of Texas at Austin faculty, she has headed the Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre Studies and continues to teach improvisation, directing and courses in theatre education.

Lazarus has served as president of the American Alliance for Theatre and Education and on numerous national and regional think tanks and advisory committees. She is author of Theatre Arts Discoveries, the five-part series Theatre Arts Adventures and her new book, Signs of Change: New Directions in Theatre Education.

In addition to the Campton Bell Lifetime Achievement Award, Lazarus has been honored nationally with the Barbara Salisbury Wills Alliance Award.

Leegrid Stevens Receives Alec Baldwin Fellowship for The Dudleys, Tutto Theatre

The Dudleys is awarded Alec Baldwin Fellowship

Tutto Theatre Company is proud to announce that The Dudleys!: A Family Game by Leegrid Stevens—premiered in Austin in May 2011—is among the first four recipients of The Alec Baldwin Fellowship at the Singers Forum. 

The award will provide for a year-long process of individualized development for the show culminating in a series of staged backer’s auditions with the ultimate goal of a full Broadway or Off-Broadway production. The recipients were announced on July 18th by Singers Forum (as reported on BroadwayWorld.com).

“On 20 October 2011, the U.S. Senate proposed a nearly $20 million cut to the National Endowment for the Arts—a loss of nearly 13% of its annual funding. This came as NYC continued to witness an unprecedented loss of 25% of its Off-Off-Broadway theater spaces (since 2007). With no economically-feasible ‘safe zone’ in which to gestate burgeoning work, fewer original theater pieces are being produced, resulting in a dwindling of opportunities for the next generation of talented performers.” The Alec Baldwin Fellowship at the Singers Forum was created as a partnership to combat this steep decline. As Mr. Baldwin puts it, “The pieces chosen for the Fellowship represent the future of theatre in New York. As we are inundated with ‘TV shows as musicals’ and a steady stream of revivals, these four pieces illustrate that original, character-based storytelling will always be the paradigm of theatre.” Providing community and support for this endangered population of artists, the fellowship will be a year-long program devoted to the development of these “groundbreaking and original Theatrical Works. With the assistance of Mr. Baldwin, [Singers Forum] will provide professional mentorship, fine-pointed dramaturgy, and a rigorous, individualized workshopping process for each show.”

Leegrid Stevens and his play have strong Austin connections. “Tutto was privileged to produce the U.S. full-stage premiere of The Dudleys!: A Family Game,” said Tutto’s Artistic Director Gary Jaffe (who also directed the play). During the production, the playwright worked closely and collaboratively with the cast and crew. Jaffe continues: “Leegrid Stevens is a powerful and unique new voice in American theatre. With profound respect for character as his foundation, he builds thrilling theatrical landscapes in which to tell achingly real stories of loss, guilt and redemption.” Tutto’s premiere production of The Dudleys!: A Family Game went eight-for-eight in last year’s B. Iden Payne Awards, winning Outstanding: Production of a Comedy, Direction of a Comedy, Original Script, Dance Choreography, Cast Performance, Original Score, Sound Design, and Media Design.

Click 'Read more' for additional information about Tutto's premiere of Stevens' The Twelfth Labor, opening August 10

Lucien Douglas Honored with University of Texas Distinguished Teaching Award

 









Lucien Douglas, Department of Theatre and dance professor and senior associate chair, has been named the recipient of the 2012 College of Fine Arts Distinguished Teaching Award. The faculty and student-nominated award is the college’s highest honor for teaching excellence.

As an actor and director, Douglas has taught undergraduate and graduate students at the university since 1997. His highly popular classes include acting and directing, as well as topics courses in contemporary stage performance and acting for the camera.

A consummate ambassador for the Department of Theatre and Dance, Douglas has built vital relationships with high school educators and their students. He presents master classes and workshops for schools throughout the stage, and works closely with University Interscholastic League (UIL) and Texas Educational Theatre Association (TETA). Under his leadership, the Department of Theatre and Dance is developing new curriculum that will enhance the undergraduate actor-training program.

This year, Douglas performed alongside department students, and taught by example in The Cherry Orchard and Love’s Labour’s Lost. At the same time, Douglas continues to work professionally. In February, he performed his solo show A Dream Within a Dream: Performing the Life and Works of Edgar Allan Poe at The Arts Cottage in Smithville, Texas. He is the lead voice-over talent for “Pirates 101” and “Wizards 101”, video games produced by Kingsisle Entertainment. He is also currently working with acclaimed director Richard Linklater on a new project.