September - October 2015 FACULTY ACCOMPLISHMENTS EMILY GILL EMILY GILL designed costumes for two professional productions in Bimingham: Hedwig and the Angry Inch with the Dane Peterson Theatre Series and Peter and the Starcatcher for City Equity Theatre.
MARCUS LANE MARCUS LANE directed Hedwig and the Angry Inch for the Dane Peterson Theatre Series in Birmingham.
ALUMNI NEWS STEVEN HOUSE designed sets at a summer theatre in Iowa and continues to teach as a visiting Instructor at Northern Arizona University. RACHEL REHOME DOZIER-EZELL continues to work as a freelance costume designer in NYC and as resident designer for the New School Theatre Program. She also designed costumes for PEDRO PAN, an original musical written by UM alumni that was presented in the recent NYC International Fringe Festival. REBECCA APARICIO and STEPHEN ELKINS wrote the book, lyrics and music for the musical PEDRO PAN, which was presented for several performances throughout the prestigious NYC International Fringe Festiva. Aparicio also directed the show and various other UM alumni worked on it in production capacities. LYNSEY BUCKELEW and MEGAN STEIN appeared in the film SHITBIRD directed by UM alumni BO MAGUIRE, presented at the recent Birmingham Sidewalk Film Festival. Theatre alumni Stephen Elkins also composed music for the film. MARY KATE MCLAURINE continues to perform as a touring actor with Missoula Children’s Theater. TRENT LOGGINS is working as an actor and in arts administration at Seaside Music Theatre. LINDSEY BRISTOL completed a tour with the Jim Henderson company and performed in several musicals in a professional summer theatre in Colorado and recently returned to NYC, where she resides.
Dean Peters presents David Callaghan with the keys to the department’s first truck
MICHAEL WALKER MICHEAL WALKER is the most recent addition to the faculty of the UM Theatre Department. He obtained his BFA in Theatre from the University of Alabama and his MFA in Acting from Rutgers University.
KEL LAEGER KEL LAEGER designed sets and lights and KYLE MOORE designed sound for a new play about Tallulah Bankhead that was part of a city wide festival in Jasper, AL.
DR. DAVID CALLAGHAN DR. DAVID CALLAGHAN did pre-production work for his project directing Next To Normal for the Red Mountain Theatre Company in Birmingham in February, 2016. He also chaired and participated in two panels at the Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE) conference in Toronto; and continued work as a member of the Editorial Board on a new peer reviewed section of the magazine published by the Society of Directors and Choreographers (SDC) in NYC. David chaired and presented papers on two panels in Montreal, July 2015, at the Association for Theatre in Higher Education conference.
HANNAH JEAN FERRIS completed her season as an Equity Stage Manager at Alabama Shakespeare Festival and recently too a new position at Playmakers Rep Theatre in NC. EJ WILSON continues to work on the Beatles LOVE! show with Cirque du’ Soleil in Las Vegas. JASON STYRES continues to work on many projects as a NYC Casting Director with Jay Binder Casting, including the upcoming Broadway revival of DAMES AT SEA. Recent UM Theatre graduates BARRINGTON MCQUEEN, KATIE RAULERSON, JALEN BROWN and HUNTER BROWN are acting and touring with Birmingham Children’s Theatre for the 2015-2106 season. JULIAN ROBINSON and JEFF SPEETJENS continue to direct and produce various film projects in Los Angeles, and Speetjens recently directed a commercial for Microsoft (he also performs as a puppeteer for the “Bootsy Bellows” nightclub in Beverly Hills). CAMERON WATSON recently directed a critically acclaimed production of William Inge’s PICNIC for the Antaeus Theatre Company in Los Angeles. LEAH LUKER continues to direct and coordinate production for Birmingham Children’s Theatre. BLAIR DYSON and ERIC BROWNE continue to teach the next generation of theatre students at Prattville and Baker High Schools, and Browne is active as a director of several recent acclaimed productions in Mobile. JARED WRIGHT, a junior Musical Theatre major, performed the role of Robinson the Butler in the professional production of MARY POPPINS for Red Mountain Theatre company this past summer, performing along side UM theatre alumni NICK CRAWFORD, AMY JOHNSON and BARRINGTON MCQUEEN.