Alumni in the News

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. 

Congratulations Robert Schenkkan (B.F.A., 1975)! His play All The Way won two Tony Awards, Best Play and Best Actor for Bryan Cranston's portrayal of Lyndon B. Johnson. 

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.

Jacqueline Hinton (B.F.A., Dance 2001) can be seen dancing in Kevin Drew of Broken Social Scene's new music video featuring Feist and Zach Galifianakis for Funny or Die. 

Eric Lenox Abrams (M.F.A., 2004) makes his Broadway debut as Bob Moses in the Tony Award nominated play "All the Way". 

Martin Zimmerman (M.F.A., 2010) has been announced as the winner of the Terrance McNally New Play Award for his play Let Me Count The Ways. The Terrence McNally New Play Award is a cash prize given annually to recognize a new play that celebrates the transformative power of art.