April & May 2024 College News

Joann Gilliam opened Gun & Powder THEATRE Acting, Musical Theatre, Per formance and Production, Teacher Certif ication in Theatre, Technical Production, & Theatre FACULTY ACCOLADES Betty Buckley was highlighted in a member feature for Women In Film Dallas and is a founder of the organization. Yesenia Garcia Herrington , presented a workshop called "Building Your Brand" at the Kennedy Center American College and Theatre Festival in Pittsburg, PA (Region 2) and Abilene, TX (Region 6). She also hosted a Q&A Session with Dannie McCallum star of Marvel Studio's Echo . [1] Ana Martínez was awarded a Wilson Latin American Research Grant in support of her second book project. She also received a University Lecture Series Grant to bring Alicia Laguna and Jorge A. Vargas, directors of the renowned Mexican experimental theatre company, Teatro Línea de Sombra, to present their lecture and workshop, "Bodies, Objects, and Memory on Stage: Teatro Línea de Sombra on the Migrant Trail." Richard Robichaux ’s film that he performed in, The Long Game , was screened at the White House in April—the film also met a nationwide release in the same month. DEPARTMENT ACCOLADES President Kelly Damphousse made a special apperance to watch our students peform in the departments production of Urinetown. [2] STUDENT ACCOLADES The Jeremy Torres Lab Theatre hosted the 9th James W Price Ten Minute play festival. Seven student written plays were selected out of a pool of about 70 for a staged Yesenia Garcia Herrington hosted a Q&A Session with Dannie McCallum President Damphousse supported our Musical Theatre students in their production of Urinetown 1 2 3 reading in April. The selected playwrights included: Kameron Button , Jordan Spena , Mia Kaplan , Molly Hunt , Colin Ezzo , Eddie Morin Jr , and Jillian Maxwell . Janelle Lee Austin , Sohila Abdellatif and Shamora Louis won Best Texas Short Film at The Comedy Film Festival on April 7. “Life Coach” was their final project for Film Production Practices in the Fall of ‘23. Kevin Lopez was Director of Photgraphy. Bran-Ivan Castillo was invited by Ana Martinez to present a staged reading of their full-length play Vaquero: A Tragedy at the 2024 Texas Association of Chicanos in Higher Education (TACHE) conference held in San Antonio. Castillo was joined by Elisa Pedraza Sanchez , Montserrat Luna , Ali Gutierrez , and Daniela Recabarren Mendoza . Jordan Faniel' s (BFA 2023) short film Imposter screened at the ATX Short Film Showcase in Austin in February of 2024. Cameron Thomas and Eric Shawn opened The Prom at the Zach Theatre in Austin. ALUMNI ACCOLADES Stephen Brower performed in the Broadway production of Lempicka. Isaac Garza 's award-winning short film The Son Who Can't Play Trumpet was selected for the Academy Award-qualifying Cleveland International Film Festival in April 2024. Joann Gilliam opened Gun & Powder at the Paper Mill Playhouse in April. [3] Dannie McCallum stars as Tuklo in Marvel Studio's Echo . McCallum traveled to San Marcos to participate in a Q&A session with performance and production students, staff, and faculty in the Performing Arts Center Recital Hall. Ana Yi Puig was cast as Ali Baker in FBI: International . Cayla Primous embarked on the Disney Wonder as a cast member. TJ Young was commissioned by Stage Partners for a new one act play in conjunction with the Educational Theatre Association. Dannie McCallum, 29, a 2016 graduate of Texas State University, is from Edinburg. She has taken on one of the ancestral roles in Marvel's five-episode miniseries called Echo , a spinoff of Hawkeye that follows the life of Maya Lopez, who transforms into a superhero known as Echo. McCallum plays Tuklo, one of Maya's indigenous ancestors. McCallum's character is supposed to be a protector of life and has all sorts of powers, which include command of knives and rifles — traits passed on to Maya. Tuklo makes appearances in four of the five episodes of the miniseries, which can be seen on Disney+. McCallum earned a bachelor's degree in theater performance and production. She told ValleyCentral in January that her Hollywood arrival wasn't real until she walked the red carpet at the premiere with her parents and was being photographed and asked to sign autographs. #ALUMNI SPOTL IGHT Dannie McCallum stars as Tuklo in Marvel Studio's ECHO 20 | April & May 2024 | College News College of Fine Arts and Communication | 21