September 2020 College News

16 | September | College News Bryan Poyser's episode of the HBO series ROOM 104 entitled "Foam Party" Lynzy Lab Stewart featured in Forbes Magazine's article on “The Extreme Power of Imperfection” (Photo by James Jin) Caitlin Turnage's play What We Scream Underwater When No One Can Hear Us 4 5 6 and one of the actors in ms middle her new work-in- progress. Nadine had the opportunity to participate in the first digital edition of Harlem 9’s 48 hours in Harlem Festival featuring alumni actress Ashley Hildreth . Bryan Poyser wrote an episode of the Duplass Brothers HBO series ROOM 104 entitled "Foam Party," which aired nationally on September 4th. [4] Over the summer Bryan also directed a music video for the Austin-based Americana soul group The Watters. The video will be released in October in support of their new album. Crew members for the shoot video included Bryan's former students Taylor Wright and Ryan Flores . Jerry Ruiz had a zoom reading of Hedda his adaptation of Hedda Gabler. Lynzy Lab Stewart was interviewed by Forbes Magazine on “The Extreme Power of Imperfection. ” [ 5 ] Caitlin Turnage was named a semi-finalist for the Campfire Theatre Festival in Boise, Idaho for her play What We Scream Underwater When No One Can Hear Us . [6] STUDENT ACCOLADES During the summer Yasha Estrella Alaniz (B.F.A. Performance and Production '23) was involved in Jerry Ruiz’s audio production of Electricidad by Luis Alfaro where she played “La Connie.” Over this past summer, the Real People Production Company have premiered a variety of content. Along with the release of a Web Series, known as Dad Bod Squad , the RPPC has also released a play reading of the one-act play, An Act of Apostasy written by the founder of RPPC, Jon Costa. The company consists of Texas State Theatre students including Sarah Brookshire , Brandon Castillo , Will Culmer , Lauren Green , Marleah Huffman , Mallory Keeler , Josh Kok , Zach Masso , Raul “Matt” Ramirez , Brenda Salas , and Lisette Sandoval-Perez . Jess Hawthorne Fiene worked on a couple virtual theater projects this summer. Soon after Terrence McNally's passing, she directed a virtual reading of his last play Mothers and Sons with Beverly Arts Center in Beverly, IL. More specifically in response to the quarantine and major shut down in her old stomping ground, Chicago, Jess also started a virtual play reading series titled, Weird Times . In addition to hosting playwrights and artists from around the country, two local playwrights were featured on the reading including Texas State's very own Caitlin Turnage as well as Associate Professor of Playwrighting at UT of Austin, Patrick Shaw . Maura Gill , Preston Perez , Alex Aponte , and Paul Armani performed in Music Theatre Wichita’s virtual 2020 Star Night in July. Ali Rose Gutierrez (B.F.A. Performance and Production) was featured in a reading of Delivery by Jelisa Jay Robinson presented by QueensTheatre in NYC. B.F.A. Performance and Production senior Magen Huntley's spoken-word piece was featured on New York City's Yonder Window Theatre Company's Facebook Page as a part of their Creative Crusade Project. Mallory Keeler organized, directed and produced a Black Lives Matter fundraiser and cabaret. It supported the Center for The Healing of Racism which is a non - profit charity based in Houston. Lily Kren (Musical Theatre '21) is performing as Cher and Marilyn Monroe at the Broadway Palm in Fort Myers, Florida as part of Prather Productions. Ellena Martinez , a junior Theatre major with a concentration in Film Production, joined the Summer Stock Austin company this summer to participate in their brand new 2020 season Cyber Stock. Cyber Stock consisted of an original opening and closing number as well as seven original short films that were written, filmed, and edited by company members. Ellena was the creative director for the short film Secret Forest . In addition to directing, she also helped write and edit this short film. Over the summer MacKenzie Mulligan (M.F.A. Lighting Design) worked with recent graduate Carlos Nine (M.F.A. Lighting Design) to design the lighting for Brandon McWilliam's Texas Monthly photoshoot. M.F.A. Lighting Design students Andrew McDaniels and MacKenzie Mulligan submitted their virtual lighting design to High End Systems’s Hog Factor competition in June and were selected as one of three national finalists. The competition will have its final presentation on October 8. Brandon R. McWilliams , Associate Professor of Costume Design was featured in a spread of the September Issue of Texas Monthly , the national magazine of Texas. Brandon, a director of the costume design program and two time recipient of the Elizabeth Schrader Kimberly Award in Costume Design, said every production, from local theatre to Broadway, starts with study. Sometimes that might be researching a specific historic period or classical play, but McWilliams says his most useful research time is spent studying the other artists in each production: directors, writers, designers, and especially, actors. Unlike creating fashion apparel, McWilliams says, the works of costume designers must complement everything else that happens on the stage, and he approaches each piece as a collaboration with the actor. TEXAS MONTHLY FEATURE College of Fine Arts and Communication | 17