April & May 2020 College News

ó 4 Zach Teatre's Tortoise and Hare, a production in which Anne McMeeking was nominated for Best Set Design 5 Lynzy Lab, who is featured in Forbes Magazine , during a class where students are encouraged to fail forward Photo: James Jin 6 “A Message from Nurse Trenna," a video produced by Will Fitzpatrick for the Alkek Elementary School in Bandera 16 | April & May | College News Voice and Speech Trainers Association (VASTA) annual conference, to be held this year in Sydney, Australia. (Te production has been cancelled due to COVID-19.) Nick Lawson’s Shakespeare Ensemble course will be presenting a virtual showcase of scenes from Henry IV as well as Shakespeare monologues . Ana Martinez was accepted as a Diversity Scholar at the National Center for Institutional Diversity, University of Michigan. Ana’s book Performance in the Z calo has been published by the University of Michigan Press; it can be pre-ordered via Amazon. Anne McMeeking is pleased to share that the B. Iden Payne award winning show Tortoise and Hare produced by Zach Teatre of Austin, is now available for free online streaming as part of Zach Now! Tis brand new online initiative from Zach Teatre is intended to provide our community and schools with free excellent theatre experiences during these unprecedented times. McMeeking's scenic design work for the production was nominated for Best Set Design by the B Iden Payne awards council. Watch the full show here. [4] Toby Minor did a reading of a new work for Austin Playhouse and a reading of Midsummer Nights Dream with Austin Shakespeare Teatre. He will be doing a Q&A of Te Rover with Hidden RoomTeatre for its ten year anniversary this Saturday. In early March, before quarantine, Nadine Mozon traveled to Sydney, Australia, where she was the featured guest artist writer and one of the actors in “Ms. Middle” [working title] her new work-in-process. Mozon was joined by 3 dynamic Australia-based actresses in a collaborative workshop exploration of “Ms. Middle.” Her international guest artist adventures in Sydney also included facilitating a workshop for a Writing for Performance class at the University of Notre Dame, as well as a masterclass focusing on tips towards ease in public speaking. Playwright, television screenwriter, producer Diana Son was the guest speaker for Nadine Mozon’s Intermediate Acting class on April, 21. One of her plays, Stop Kiss , is among the plays/ scenes on which students have been working. Chuck Ney’s 2012 production of Measure for Measure is being streamed by the Texas Shakespeare Festival and is available the watch here. Phillip Owen was the Associate Sound Designer on Camp David , a production by Austin-based playwright Lawrence Wright and directed by Oskar Eustis, at the Alley Teatre in Houston in mid February. Jerry Ruiz (Assistant Professor, Head of Directing) held a developmental reading via Zoom of his adaptation of Hedda Gabler, entitled Hedda , on March 27th. Lynzy Lab Stewart was interviewed by Forbes Magazine on “Te Extreme Power of Imperfection” the article can be found here. [ 5 ] Caitlin Turnage’s play Straight, Fragile, White had a virtual reading via Zoom as part of the Weird Times podcast directed by Jess Hawthorne Fiene. STUDENT ACCOLADES B.F.A. senior Emily Absher presented her honors thesis, "What You Love is Killing You: Stopping Hustle Culture in the Performing Arts." She completed her study of burnout and workism in actor-artists under the guidance of advisor Kate Glasheen-Dentino and second reader Kaitlin Hopkins . Dylan Droz was part of a Zoom script-read for a stream for the Emilyann Teatre in Wimberly. Will Fitzpatrick produced a video titled “A Message from Nurse Trenna” for the Alkek Elementary School in Bandera, Texas. [6] Te video provides tips to stay healthy during the school closure due to the coronavirus. In just a few days after the video went live, it received nearly 1,000 views. Watch the video here. Austin Kelly a junior Musical Teatre major has started a podcast called Ubernatural which is now streaming on Apple podcasts and Spotify. Musical Teatre Junior Lily Kren used her love of dance to express the idea of fnding joy in these times. She shared her piece in her Communication Studies course Rehumanizing Communication for an assignment titled “Spread Joy not CoronaVirus.” Based on her work the University Star interviewed her on how to use the arts and social media to spread joy. Te D2 Festival, a culmination of the work of the students in Directing II, took place online via Zoom readings on May 2 and 3, featuring the work of the following Teatre and Dance Department undergraduates: directors Grace Lassetter , Sidney Murray , Jax Noah , William Fitzpatrick , Hana Curry , Faith Fojt , Julia Buzsac , Moira Fuller , John Hoeft , Kourtney Norwood , Maddie Lyon ; and playwrights Peter Ongolo , Payton Russell , Kelly Ducat , Aubrey Clyburn , Austin Kelly , Olivia Baker , Jordan Jones , Lydia Landrum , Mia Azuaje , William-Rose Hines and alumnus Charisa Teinert . Plays were selected by the undergraduate new play theater troupe Jane Doe Teatre Company, led by Magen Huntley , Lyndsay Vanstory , Sydney Quanz and Cassidy Hendrickson . Giovan Lugo was part of a drag queen performance and Q&A for high school students. Giovan fnished his student teaching on May 5. Bailey Nance was the sound designer and George Sanchez the mix engineer on Guy & Dolls , but unfortunately their work was also unrealized as the musical was cancelled due to COVID-19. Allison Price (M.F.A. Directing, 2020) received the outstanding graduate student award for the College of Fine Arts and Communication. Highlights of her graduate career include: winning the Region 6 Kennedy Center/American College Teatre Festival Student Directing Initiative; subsequently winning the national SDI directing award at the Kennedy Center; receiving an SDC Fellowship; and interning with Opera Orvieto in Italy last summer. Sydney Quanz (B.F.A. Teater, 2020) directed a Zoom reading of Life Sucks by Aaron Posner on March 29th. Te reading was organized by An Empty Room Project (co-producers: Quanz and Julieanna Stolley), with a cast consisting of Teater and Dance professors Neil Patrick Stewart and Jerry Ruiz , M.F.A. directing student Ryan Scarlata , alumnus Riley Wesson , and undergraduate theatre majors Aubrey College of Fine Arts and Communication | 17