October 2023 College News

THEATRE Acting, Musical Theatre, Per formance and Production, Teacher Certif ication in Theatre, Technical Production, & Theatre FACULTY ACCOLADES Betty Buckley ’s documentary The Stars and Night will have its world premier on October 28th with Austin Film Festival. The documentary will have a second showing November 3rd. [1] Yong Suk Yoo wrote and directed the interdisciplinary dance performance 'Nolpan: Khoj' in October. It was invited and performed at the 47th Annual Navaratri Festival at the Center for the Arts at Wesleyan University in CT. STUDENT ACCOLADES Janelle Austin was recently elected to be on the board for Austin Women in Film & TV. Nathan Bachtell (P&P ‘27) played roles in Something Rotten! and The Comedy of Errors at the Texas Shakespeare Festival. Lars Carroll (Film Class of 27') directed short film Sundays Best in May of 2023 in Austin. Emma Hansen was the lighting designer over the summer for the Beck Center for the Arts' production of Once on this Island in Lakewood, OH; Sting & Honey Company's production of Snow White in Salt Lake City, UT; and SCERA Shell's production of Singin' in the Rain in Orem, UT. (Photography by Steve Wagner, Todd Collins, and Derick Wolsleger). [2] ALUMNI ACCOLADES Paul Amrani (’22) performed in 54 Sings Galavant at 54 Below. Marianna Bray provides the voice for Lady Knight Betty Buckley's documentary The Stars and Night will premiere at the Austin Film Festival Emma Hansen was the lighting designer for Singin' in the Rain Tim Chrisman designed and executed the 2023 Cleveland Cavaliers United Season Tip Off event 16 | October 2023 | College News 1 2 3 Francette in the English dub of I Shall Survive Using Potions! , an anime series now airing on Crunchyroll and Disney +. Tim Chrisman (Technical Production 2019) is a production manager at Hughie’s Events Production Services. He recently designed and executed the 2023 Cavs United Season Tip Off event in Cleveland's Keybank State Theater at Playhouse Square. The event celebrated the upcoming Cavaliers season, showcased the new city edition uniform, and new initiatives for the city of Cleveland, uniting the city and its beloved sports team. [3] Nick Dondero (’22) performed in Tennessee William’s piece The Eye That Saw Death at the Provincetown Tennessee Williams Festival. Juliana Lamia (’21) opened the regional premiere of Tootsie at the Ogunquit Playhouse. Emiliano Morales (’23) opened The Little Mermaid at Franklin Performing Arts Company. Preston Perez (’22) debuted as Hans in the national tour of Frozen . DEPARTMENT ACCOLOADES Texas State’s theatre department presented She Kills Monsters by Qui Nguyen in September. The production included Bobcats: Hatlyn Barricklow , Karina Bozanich , Elisa P. Sanchez , Meagan Majors , Sammy Arungwa , Frida Cantu , Llailan Bennett , Amaryllis Martinez , Delan Crawford , Shelby Breda , Oscar Hough , Katelyn Segarra , Kaitlyn Hartnnagel , Alyssa Gonzalez , Reagan Piasecki , MJ Kelly , Paige Blackwell , Chase Marrs , and Adelyn Biondi . The production was directed by faculty member Jerry Ruiz. College of Fine Arts and Communication | 17 Jerry Ruiz is a director who focuses largely on new and contemporary works. He has directed plays by Tanya Saracho, Branden Jacobs- Jenkins, Quiara Alegría Hudes, Kristoffer Diaz, Karen Zacarías, Katie Bender and Caroline V. McGraw. His directing credits include world premieres at Denver Center for the Performing Arts Theatre Company, Second Stage Theater and Rattlestick Theatre, as well as Off-Broadway and regional productions at the Old Globe, Primary Stages, Hartford TheaterWorks, PlayMakers Repertory Company, Zach Theatre, Profile Theatre, Stages Houston, Mint Theater Company, Clubbed Thumb, NYC SummerStage, Chalk Rep and Repertorio Español. He has developed work at Alley Theatre, Playwrights Horizons, Soho Rep, The Public Theater, Atlantic Theater Company, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and the Playwrights Realm. He was a visiting professor at UT-Austin in 2014, directing a production of In the Heights​ . In 2016, he joined PlayMakers Repertory Company as associate artistic director. In 2018, he accepted a tenure- track assistant professor appointment at Texas State University, where he is currently the head of MFA Directing. Below are photos from She Kills Monsters which he directed here this fall. #DIRECTORS CUT