Alumni in the News

Emmy Award-winning Casting Director Holly Powell has written the best selling book, The Audition Bible: Secrets Every Actor Needs To Know.

The Director's Vision (Second Edition) by Louis E. Catron and Scott Shattuck (M.F.A. Drama, 1988) was published by Waveland Press, Inc. in May 2015.

Luke Leonard's (M.F.A. 2010) upcoming directing projects include the Houston premiere of Bum Phillips: All-American Opera Sept. 24, 2015 at The Stafford Centre; the Australian premiere of The Difficulty of Crossing a Field in October 2015 at the Nagambie Lakes Opera Festival; and the world premiere of Welcome to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, a musical play written and directed by Luke with music by Peter Stopschinski and co-lyrics by Katie Pearl, Oct 7-25, 2015 at 59E59 Theaters in New York.

Jelisa Jay Robinson's (Theatre and Dance 2014) play The Stories of Us premieres May 16 at the fifth annual Austin Latino New Play Festival. The Stories of Us is a collection of stories examining the intercultural conflict between African Americans and Latinos. Visit Teatro Vivo ATX for more information.

Pulitzer Prize-finalist Lisa D'Amour (MA Theatre, 1996) was featured in Vanity Fair for her Broadway debut with Airline Highway, a new play that centers around a community of misfits in D'Amour's hometown of New Orleans. The feature was written and illustrated by D'Amour's former classmate Michael Arthur (PhD Theatre, 1999). Airline Highway premieres at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre on April 23. 

Lisa D'Amour's (MA Theatre, 1996) play Airline Highway and Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig's (MA Play Writing, 2009) play The World of Extreme Happiness were finalists for the 2015 Susan Blackburn Prize, an international award for women playwrights given annually to recognize those who have written works of outstanding quality. 

Jason Kendall (MA Acting, 1996) joined Al Roker and Stephanie Abrams this past month on the morning TV show "Wake Up With Al" on the Weather Channel. This series served as the only live astronomy program on national television. Check out videos of Kendall chatting about the stars here!

Stephen Blackburn's (M.A. Play Writing,1997) one-man drama "Douglass" comprised the first of three short plays interwoven by director Julianne Just in the Onion Creek Productions presentation Lincoln Adjacent at the Lounge Theatre in Hollywood.

Dan Duling (Ph.D. Playwriting and Criticism, 1977) just closed "The Art
Detective," at the 2014 Pageant of the Masters in Laguna Beach, CA. This was Duling's 34th year as scriptwriter for this world-renowned theatrical celebration of art in tableaux vivants. Blending live narration, an orchestra playing original music composed for each "living picture," and state-of-the-art stage illusions, the Pageant of the Masters is an 81-year-old theatrical phenomenon. 

Scenic Design graduate Kevin Adams (B.F.A., 1984) won his Fourth Tony Award for lighting Hedwig and the Angry Itch starring Neil Patrick Harris.