October 2015 College News

Faculty Accolades Glenda Barnes earned two nominations for the B. Iden Payne award for best costume design for her work on Heathers the Musical and Rocky Horror Show with Doctuh Mistuh Productions. Steve Grair worked as Production Manager on Opera San Antonio’s production of Madama Butterfly at the Tobin Center in San Antonio. Night Fox Entertainment (with Samuel L. Jackson as Executive Producer) will produce a movie version of Eugene Lee’s Pulitzer-nominated play “East Texas Hot Links.” When the play was released the NY Times wrote of it: “Imagine a collaboration between August Wilson and Sam Peckinpah, and you’ll have a good idea of ‘East Texas Hot Links’.” Mr. Lee will direct. Monica Pasut was nominated for a B. Iden Payne award for best costume design for her work on The Strange Case of Edward Hyde and Dr. Jekyll with Trouble Puppet Theatre. Jim Price and Kaitlin Hopkins performed in a reunion concert of the original cast of BARE- a pop opera at 54 Below in New York City. Bryan Poyser is directing a pilot for Comedy Central. Broadway World published an excellent review of an Austin production of Pontiac Firebird Variations , directed by faculty member, Jeremy Torres , calling it “a terrific evening of theatre that richly deserves to be seen by a wide audience.” Student Accolades Senior lighting design student Justin Beets worked as Assistant Lighting Designer to Alan Burrett on Opera San Antonio’s production of Madama Butterfly at the Tobin Center in San Antonio. THEATRE Students Jackson Pounds , Zane Liston , Emily Reas , Gunner Bradley , Maddie Ballard , and Kailey Hyman , performed in the annual historic San Marcos Cemetery Tour on October 17. The tours are sponsored by the Heritage Association of San Marcos and the Friends of San Marcos Cemetery. Alumni Accolades Johnathon Boyd recently became an adjunct faculty member at Northwest Vista College in San Antonio where he teaches Introduction to Theatre. Oscar Cabrera , a playwright currently working in New York City, was featured at this year’s Black and Latino Playwrights Festival. His play Through Andrew’s Eyes spent a week in workshop before receiving a staged reading. Oscar commented on the impact of the conference: “There is a dialogue that has to happen in the country on what American Theater is. And the only way to have that discussion is by producing work. For the past 15 years, BLPC has been in the foreground, helping that conversation.” Taylor Edwards shot a pilot for FOX starring Jim Belushi. Sean McGibbon is a featured singer and choreographer in the American Showstoppers’ tour of An Evening of Johnny Mercer . J.J. Phillips (Gonzalez) was recently featured in the hit film Furious 7 (which was released on disc on September 15), and also appeared on an episode of ABC’s Nashville on September 30. Nick Swanson (BFA Design and Technology 2012) was hired as Lead Electrician at ZACH Theatre in Austin. Bobby Moreno (2005 BFA Alum and 2014 Drama Desk nominee) will perform at the New York Theatre Workshop in Lazarus , a new musical by Tony Award-winning playwright Enda Walsh ( Once ) with music composed by David Bowie. Starring Michael C. Hall, the musical is set in the East Village and is “a hallucinatory sequel” to Walter Tevis’ 1963 novel, The Man Who Fell to Earth . The production, which runs from November 18 to January 17, is the fastest-selling production in NYTW’s history. http://www.playbill.com/news/ article/broadway-producer-backing-david-bowies- lazarus-musical-368204. Rubin Gonzalez, Lou Moreno, Oscar Cabrera, and Eugene Lee at the 2015 Texas State Black and Latin Playwrights Conference. Bobby Moreno and Roberta Colindrez at the 2014 Drama Desk Awards Jordan Puhale and Nick Ortiz in the Texas State production of Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge Rubin Gonzalez, Lou Moreno, Oscar Cabrera, and Eugene Lee at the 2015 Texas State Black and Latin Playwrights Conference.