September 2015 College News

Alumni Accolades Seven former students ( Kelley Bentley, Kristi Kyle, Alison Hatfield, Cayla Cox, Karen Mendenhall, Willita Mahone, and Stacey Rice ) are employed on the new ABC series American Crime . The show has been nominated for 10 Emmy Awards, including one for casting. Writer/ director John Ridley singled out Stacey Rice as key to this nomination. Zuhdi Boueri and Johnique Mitchell (both BFA – Acting 2015) are new members of the MFA Acting Program at Penn State, where they received full tuition scholarships and generous graduate stipends. Stephen Brower (BFA – Musical Theatre 2015) recently performed in the 2015 summer season at the MUNY, America’s oldest and largest outdoor musical theatre. He has booked A Little Mermaid at Arkansas Repertory Theatre with Broadway choreographer Adam Cates, and was just cast in the national tour of Pippin , which will also perform in the Netherlands. James Brownlee (MA in Theatre with an emphasis in directing 2015) was hired as a full-time instructor at Weatherford College. Evan Davies (BFA – Acting 2015) worked as part of the acting company for the Kennedy Center American College Theatre’s national playwriting workshop. Shawn Fernandez (BFA – Design and Technology 2013) was hired as Project Manager for the Latin America Region at Electric Theatre Controls. Pedro Guevara (MFA – Design and Technology 2015) completed work as Deck Crew Chief at Connecticut Repertory Theatre this summer and is beginning his MFA in scenic design at the University of Connecticut. Regan Goins (BFA – Acting 2015) is in My All American ; you can see her here in the film’s trailer: http://www.ew.com/article/2015/09/02/my-all- american-trailer Zeke (Danezion) Mills (BFA – Acting 2015) has signed with D2 Management in LA (representatives of K. Todd Freeman and Lupita Nyong’o). Brandon Rosen (BFA – Design and Technology 2014) completed a year-long Allen Hughes Fellowship in Lighting Design at the Arena Stage in Washington, DC and is beginning an MFA in Lighting Design at the University of California – San Diego. Also starting the MFA program in Lighting Design at UC-San Diego is Joel Britt (BFA – Design and Technology 2014). Ian Saunders (BFA – Musical Theatre 2014) booked the national tour of Bullets Over Broadway after recently completing a run of Mary Poppins at Kansas City Starlight Theatre. Alex Zeto (BFA – Musical Theatre 2014) booked the national tour of Flashdance . Students Accolades MFA Dramatic Writing student Kevin Talley was invited to the Yale Writers Conference and the O’Neill Playwrights Conference. Events Tony-nominated composer Andrew Lippa re- joins Texas State for a week of master classes and a scholarship fundraiser. (http://www. broadwayworld.com/austin/article/Andrew-Lippa- Will-Return-to-Texas-State-University-This- October-20150901) An October 13 scholarship fundraiser of Love Letters at ZACHTheatre unites The Nanny co-stars Lauren Lane and Danny Davis. (TxStatePresents.com)