ALUMNI +
We don't talk about Bruno, no, no, no! But we do talk about Theater alum Jessica Darrow, who voices Luisa (second from right) in the animated Disney film Encanto. Brava!
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rt & Design Department alum Jennie C. Jones’s solo exhibit, Jennie C. Jones: Dynamics, ran February 4 through May 2 at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City. “Jennie’s career is an object lesson in being an authentic artist and operating outside the framework of the market,” gallerist Alexandra Gray told The New York Times. A huge thank-you to theater alum Ben Jeffrey (aka Pumbaa in Broadway’s The Lion King) for leading a master class onstage at Nicholas Music Center on November 22 with our vocal performance students. Kudos to Jared Borja, Michelle Molina, David Charris, and Noelle Vallario for their beautiful performances, and to Carlos Avila for piano accompaniment. “We are storytellers,” Jeffrey remarked. “The music tells the story.” Dance alum Kyle Marshall was named one of “12 Under 40” by the Rutgers University Alumni Association. The New York Times dance critic Siobhan Burke has praised Marshall for having “a choreographic voice like no one else’s.” “Continuing to present groundbreaking work in New York City and nationwide, Marshall is also inspiring as a teacher and mentor to younger artists, including students at his alma mater, ” the RUAA said. Marshall’s company, Kyle Marshall Dance, performed several shows at the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center in the fall. Music alum Eric Lindberg and his Jewish bluegrass band, Nefesh Mountain, made their debut at the legendary Grand Ole Opry in December and performed on the Mountain Stage radio show's 38th anniversary episode. Rolling Stone describes the band as a “powerhouse unit.”
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Dance alum Megan Amen has been appointed a congressional staffer with the U.S. House of Representatives, where she is involved in public relations and scheduling. Amen is pursuing a master's degree in international affairs and leadership at Arizona State University. Music alum Paul Chwe MinChul An made his LA Opera debut in On Gold Mountain, which ran May 5 to 15. Graduating BFA artist Jon Lewis has been selected as a fellow at Yale Norfolk School of Art for summer 2022. The sculptor/painter is one of approximately 25 artists entering the highly selective program. Dance alum Anna Gichan is the inaugural recipient of the two-year Arts & Social Justice Residency at Brooklyn College and BAX/ Brooklyn Arts Exchange. Art & Design alum Charles Ray has had four surveys of his work mounted around the globe this year, including at New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art and Paris’s Centre Pompidou. The New York Times describes this as “a summation moment for an artist who has thought harder than anyone about how to haul sculpture into the 21st century, and to retain the distinction of three-dimensional art in a world reshaped by flat screens.” Theater alum Jessica Darrow voices Luisa in Disney’s wildly successful animated film Encanto, with music by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Darrow figured Encanto might just be about “Latino superheroes...but once she started speaking with the creative team, she realized how much this would be an incredibly poignant
