Alumni News

The Theatre Arts Alumni Page is updated every fall. At that time we remove all previous entries and begin again. We encourage all alumni to send new information - professional and personal - to the department so we can let everyone know what you're doing. You may use the link at the bottom of the page.

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2000-present

Josh Adler, MFA 2006:
Adler is currently producing and developing a zany new series for Adult Swim programming on Cartoon Network called "Wunderkrafthaus". It stars three German artistes trying to make their mark on the trendy New York art scene. He also teaches Acting for the Camera at the John Robert Powers school on Long Island, and is the Arts Director for the Interdependence Project (theIDProject.com).

Andrew Barrett, MFA 2001:
His musical, "The Confessions of Julian Po", which was first presented when Andrew was a student in the Playwrights Workshop, was produced in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this summer. It received rave notices and was nominated for a Musical Theatre Matters Award for Best Book of a Musical.

Jane Beachy, BA 2001:
Beachy is the Marketing Director at About Face Theatre in Chicago and working on a variety of creative endeavors in that capacity and outside of it.

Cara Brostrom, BA 2004:
Brostrom is pursuing a Master of Arts in Performance Practice at Aberystwyth University in Wales, United Kingdom, to be completed in July 2010.

Mike Cassady, BA 2002:
Cassady, Neil Campbell (BA 2001), Paul Rust (BA 2004), and Chris Stang are at it again. Their newest sketch play "Fireball Delux: DadQuest" plays at the UCB Theatre in Hollywood in December. "Dubuque, Iowa. 1982. When the sons of four midwestern dads are kidnapped by an evil wizard, the dads must journey across the perilous, mystical land of Belzaria to rescue them. A magical adventure from Fireball Deluxe."

Jennifer Faucett, MFA 2008:
Fawcett's new play, "Twenty Moments in the Space Between", won the National Science Playwriting Award, sponsored by the Kennedy Center/American College Theater Festival. This award, sponsored by Alan Lightman in association with the Kennedy Center, is intended to encourage new, full-length plays involving science and scientists, recognizing that science is a part of culture.

Rachel Brogan Flannery, BA 2000:
Flanery is an actress and playwright in the Twin Cities. She has appeared in "Tony 'n Tina's Wedding, "Flannagan's Wake", "HMS Pinafore", "Ruddigore" and "Minnesota It's Not Just for Lutherans Anymore" (local/touring cast, original cast recording) along with multiple new works. She received her MFA in Playwriting from UCLA in 2006. Her plays have been produced in Aspen, Los Angeles, Minneapolis and New York. She is a co-founder/executive producer of Table Salt Productions (tablesaltproductions.com); the inaugural season kicks off this October with her full length play "Burned".

Peter Gil-Sheridan, MFA 2004:
Gil-Sheridan has moved to Minneapolis on a Jerome Fellowship. His play "Topsy Turvy Mouse" will be produced at Borderlands Theater in Arizona in 2008.

Megan Gogerty, MFA 2000:
Gogerty's musical "Love Jerry" has been selected for production in the New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) as part of their Next Link Project. That means this September, New Yorkers will be able to see a full-fledged production as "Love Jerry" makes its New York premiere in midtown Manhattan. Also in the fall, Gogerty will be debuting her first full-length solo show in ten years, "Megan Gogerty Loves You Very Much" at Riverside Theatre in Iowa City. She will also be part of WordBRIDGE Play Development Lab at Clemson University to work on her comedy PANDAS. This year, WordBRIDGE teamed up with New York's Boomerang Theatre to bring in one WordBRIDGE alum to develop a script. Enter Megan! Finally, Gogerty is recording final songs for her awesome tribute album to Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It's called, appropriately, "I Miss Buffy", and she'll be flooding the market with it this summer. It features hits as, "Lipstick Wiccans" and "Kinda Wish D'Hoffryn Was My Boyfriend".

Kirsten Greenidge, MFA 2001:
Greenidge just had a little girl named Katia this summer. She was selected to be a member of New Dramatists last year and she recently finished a commission for the Kennedy Center.

Sarah Hammond, MFA 2005:
Hammond's play, "Green Girl", was one of eight plays selected from over 1,000 submissions to be produced by the Summer Play Festival at the New York Public Theatre. In "Green Girl", a magic gift entwines the fates of two sets of sisters living over a hundred years apart. Each girl must endure the trials of growing up, but only one can master the gift inherited from her ancestors. In this provocative, mystical drama, sisterhood is tested and time stands still.

Kristin Horton, MFA 2003:
Horton has accepted a full-time visiting faculty position at New York University of 07-08. She will teach courses in directing, advanced acting (Shakespeare) and serve as the Artistic Director of the Gallatin Arts Festival. She is also an Artistic Fellow with The Lark Play Development Center and will continue to develop new work around the country.

Stephanie Braun Jacobson, MFA 2003:
Jacobson started as a full time teaching artist and actor at the Rose Theatre (formally Emmy Gifford Children's Theatre) in Omaha, NE. She teaches acting, creative dramatics, movement, and puppetry to students ages 5-18 years old. She also designs puppets, puppet coaches, and acts on the main stage and for touring productions. Jacobson is also a part of the Diavolo Project: Nebraska, which is a group of movement and dance teaches that worked with the LA based Diavolo Dance Company to learn their technique and performance style. The Diavolo Project: Nebraska, travels around cities and rural Nebraska teaching the Diavolo technique to a wide array of groups, such as elementary students, young dancers, juvenile detainment facilities, and college students. Jacobson will start a year round class this winter with a women's support group, focusing on teamwork, trust, and risk taking. This October she gave birth to her son, Finn.

Jenny Nutting Kelchen, MFA 2004:
Kelchen has designed costumes for over 25 productions since receiving her MFA in 2004 and has been the Resident Costume Designer and Costume Shop Supervisor for Cornell College's Department of Theatre since 2005. Her most recent designs are for "The Book of Liz" for the University of Iowa and "The Diary of Anne Frank" for Cornell College and Riverside Theatre. Kelchen and her husband, Craig, are expecting their first child in November.

Rachael King, MFA 2005:
King is now living in Canada where she has her Canadian Equity card and is stage managing regularly. Her current job is working as the Stage Manager of "Dads! The Musical" at the Schoolhouse Theatre in St. Jacobs (Drayton Entertainment). Her biggest challenge to date with this production has been wrapping her head around pushing the sound, light, and phone ringer buttons all while trying to watch the show and be able to give useful performance and choreography notes to the actors. king spent from February through October finishing her apprenticeship with a 2nd season at the Shaw Festival where, among other things, she "went on" as the understudy for the ASMs of the big musical, Mack and Mabel (side note - this show was directed by Molly Smith, artistic director at Arena Stage), and stage managing a speaker series which included Salman Rushdie, Mary Walsh and Ken Wiwa. In January, she'll be stage managing again, this time for a TYA company that usually tours - but this production will be at a theatre in Toronto for 5 weeks.

Sean Lewis, MFA 2007:
Lewis's new solo piece, "Killadelphia", was presented at the Gerald W. Lynch Theatre in April and May, 2009. The play was commissioned by the Mural Arts Project of Philadelphia and InterAct Theatre. In the summer of 2008, the city of Philadelphia was in the midst of a murder epidemic on par with those of some third world countries. In "Killadelphia", Lewis takes an unflinching look at the causes of the increased crime rate and the effect on the community. Using hip hop and documentary theatre techniques, he interweaves the story of murdered teaching fellow Beau Zabel with interviews from inmates at Graterford Prison, who are serving life sentences and are employed to beautify the city with more than 3,000 murals.

Nicholas Mitsis, BA 2006:
Mitsis is currently in his third year as Company Manager of the National Broadway Tour of Cirque Dreams Jungle Fantasy. Recent credits include: Assistant Director of Cirque Dreams Illumination 2007, Director of the Sound of Music 2008 at William & Mary University, Company Manager and Stage Manager of Cirque Dreams Pandemonia 2008, Production Manager of Cirque Dreams Holidaze 2008.

William Nedved, BA 2001:
Nedved just completed an MFA in Film and Television Writing from USC Film School. Nedved works in the writing department on the ABC show "Ugly Betty". He is still very involved with The Gift Theatre of Chicago, which he co-founded with Michael Thornton (BA 1999).

Scott Pardue, MFA 2007:
Pardue's play, "The American Black Box", received its New York premier and was picked for the American Theatre of Actors (ATA) in the winter of 2009. The play was originally written in Sydne Mahone's Playwriting class. "The American Black Box" opens at Midtown International Theatre Festival in July 2009.

Sarah Sander, MFA 2008:
Sander will spend a season as the Resident Playwright at Florida Studio Theatre (Sarasota, FL), as part of the National New Play Network Emerging Playwrights Residency Program.

Victoria Stewart, MFA 2002 and Jeremy Wilhelm, MFA 2003:
"800 Words: The Transmigrations of Philip K. Dick" was presented by the Workhaus Collective at the Playwrights' Center in Minneapolis in Spring 2009. Written by Stewart and directed by Wilhelm, 800 WORDS is based on the life of ground-breaking science fiction author, Philip K. Dick. This production was originally presented at Iowa's New Play Festival.

Matthew Walter, MFA 2004:
After working at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Oregon for over a year, he returned to Chicago. His first set design there is called "The Brother", produced by Theatre Building Chicago, opening August 2007.

Mary Weber, BA 2006:
Weber is the recipient of the 2009 Young Designers & Technicians Award at this year's USITT Conference. The selection committee commented on Weber's "depth in the skills for technical director" and were "impressed with the depth and care which she takes toward the process."

Jeff Worden, BA 2006:
Worden recently performed in Hotel Savant's production of "The Archery Contest" at Performance Space 122 in New York.

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1990-1999

Keith Josef Adkins, MFA 1995:
Adkins has been very busy recently. His play "Safe House", a commission from the Alliance Theatre in honor of August Wilson, won a spot at new Professional Theatre's 2009 Writers Festival. "Safe House"was also part of the Goodman Theater's New Plays Festival in the Fall of 2008 and was in residence at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta a week later. Adkins was nominated for a Kesselring Fellowship in playwriting. He recently completed two full-length screenplays, "The Disappearing" and "The Turnpike". "The Disappearing" is tentatively scheduled for production in late 2009. The Public Theater also commissioned him to write a new play, thanks to a New York State Council on the Arts grant; "The Dangerous" tells the story of an aging minister who awaits the end of the world.

Ryan Bolletino, BA 1998:
Bolletino is appearing on stage in one of the hottest productions in Chicago, "The Sparrow". The first original production to be included in the Broadway in Chicago series, it is playing at the Apollo Theatre. Ryan got his degree from the University in 1998, and in 2000, he became a member of The Hypocrites Theatre Company in Chicago. He has appeared regularly in their award-winning season productions. "The Sparrow" tells the story of Emily Book, the sole survivor of an accident that took the lives of her classmates 10 years earlier. When she returns to her small town high school, she - and the townspeople - struggle to emerge from grief and guilt.

David Busch, BA 1994:
Busch is one of the producers of the upcoming animated series "Black Panther", based on the Marvel Comics characters. He is also a voice actor in the show, playing the role of Everett Ross. The series was produced by Titmouse Inc, and is expected to premiere on BET in February 2010.

David Coffman, MFA 1994:
Coffman was Clinical Assistant Professor of Stage Management and Production Manager for Arizona State University's School of Theatre and Film from January 2005 through May 2008. He was a project Manager for AV Concepts, producing corporate events from May 2008 until September 2009. Coffman has recently moved back to San Francisco, working as the Production Manager for Teatro Zinzanni (zinzanni.org).

Eric Scott Curtis, BA 1999:
Curtis recently started an acting school for children called Acting Matters in Lombard, IL (actingmatters.com). Curtis has been married for four years to a musical theater graduate from Columbia College in Chicago. The couple met in a play called "Perpetua"; she was stage managing the show Curtis was acting in. "Perpetua" was written and directed by Iowa Alumni Clint Corley. Curtis has worked in many Chicago venues including Second City, Bailiwick, Steep Theatre, BackStage, and The Side Project.

Tanna Frederick, BA 1999:
Frederick, who starred in the film "Hollywood Dreams", will receive the Maverick Award at the Celebration of Greatness Ceremony, sponsored by the Los Angeles Women's Theatre Festival, March 2009.

Dana Green, BA 1997:
Green just finished a run of playing Roxanne in "Cyrano de Bergerac" and Viola in "Twelfth Night" at The Old Globe in San Diego, CA.

Inger Hatlen, BA 1996:
Hatlen was recently named the Managing Director for New Paradise Laboratories (NPL), a 13-year-old ensemble experimentalist theatre company based in Philadelphia (www.newparadiselaboratories.org). The Obie-award winning company recently premiered "Fatebook: Avoiding Catastrophe One Party at a Time" - a play blurring the boundaries of live and internet performance - at the Philadelphia Live Arts Festival (www.fatebooktheshow.com). The company is currently devising a new work in collaboration with The Riot Group about separatist cults, the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln, and the first black president. The piece is being developed in residence at the Princeton University Atelier and will have its world premiere in Philadelphia before touring internationally in 2010-11. In addition, NPL is creating a new work in residence at University of the Arts entitled "Mort", the third part in a trilogy about American parties. The first pieces, "Prom and Batch: An American Bachelor/ette Party Spectacle" were commissioned by Childrens Theatre Company and the Humana Festival, respectively. Hatlen is married to Joseph Daniels and the proud mama to Solveig and Greta.

Keith Huff, MFA 1994:
Huff's play, "A Steady Rain" , will open on Broadway this fall starring Daniel Craig and Hugh Jackman. "A Steady Rain" is about two Chicago cops whose lifelong friendship is put to the test when they become involved in a domestic dispute in a poor neighborhood. Huff has been the recipient of a Jeff Award, a Drama-Logue Award, the Cunningham Prize, the John Gassner Award, the Berrilla Kerr Award, and three Illinois Arts Council Playwriting Fellowships.

Jennifer Johnson, BA 1993:
Johnson, now Jenny Kern, lives in Los Angeles. She was a recurring character (Allison Hale) on Fox's "Prison Break", and was in "The Lake House" with Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves. Recently she co-starred in The Road Theatre's production of fellow University of Iowa alum Keith Huff's play "The Bird and Mr. Bank", which extended for four months. She has published a poem in this fall's issue of The Iowa Review, that was also published in the Iowa City Press-Citizen. She continues to write, publish, audition and wait tables.

Sean Judge, BA 1994:
Judge is really "living the dream" in Houston, TX! After having moved there for no other than love, he was happy to discover that Houston has one of the most vibrant arts and entertainment scenes he's ever encountered! Since moving in 2004, Judge has acted with and become Managing Director of Nova Arts Project. Nova won the first ever Houston Press "MasterMind Award" in 2008. Recently Judge performed in the regional premiere of Will Eno's one-man show "Thom Pain (based on nothing) to rave reviews. Following that up with portraysl as Cat Stevens, Mr. Darcy, and Melatonin, all in one show. Most recently, Judge has had the honor to perform as Esteban Trueba in the English-language premiere of Isabel Allende's "House of the Spirits" written by Caridad Svich. Coming up next, Judge has already been tapped to play in Pinter's "The Caretaker" in November, and Stoppard's "Arcadia".

Lichen June, BA 1996:
Last year was very busy for June. First she produced a charity live reading of Howard Zinn's "Voices of a Peoples History of the United States" in Portland, Oregon, featuring Viggo Mortensen and Eddie Vedder. Second, she began teaching Communications and Ethics, and Second Level Massage courses at Oregon School of Massage. And third, she adopted two school age children who write and stage plays and puppet shows, the most recent being "Snow White The Stuck Up Princess and The Seven Noses". This year June is working as co-editor for the new online journal, "Cascadia Connections". June maintains a website for news and updates on her adventures as a stuntwoman and her writing and directing at www.lichenjune.com.

Cheryl Kaplan, MFA 1998:
Kaplan is directing "The Busy World is Hushed" by Keith Bunin at the Main Street Theater in Houston. The play is a drama about conflicts of family and faith. Kaplan is Director of Theater Outreach and Education for the Institute for the Medical Humanities at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Houston.

Ellen Malaver, MFA 1994:
Malaver's play, "Not Waving" will be presented at the Williamstown Theatre Festival this August.

David Maslow, MFA 1997:
Maslow is now the Producing Artistic Director of OpenStage Theatre in Pittsburg. During his first season, he managed to increase ticket sales by 20% and raise revenues by 50%. He is leading the theatre into a new season that includes Suzan-Lori Park's "The America Play", Paula Vogel's "The Minneola Twins" and John Guare's "Lydie Breeze", in the two play reworking of it he did for Lincoln Center - their theatre's first attempt at working in rep. He selected plays that examine what it means to be an American - to be living in today's world, but free of the didactic issues of today's overt politics. Under his leadership, OpenStage is moving to being the salon - that place where the play serves as a launching point for discussion.

Aaron Oster, BA 1995:
Oster is currently directing "Salvation Road" at the Walnut Street Theatre Independence Studio on 3 in Philadelphia and the "Drexel Summer Showcase", five short pieces written by Drexel University students. Oster is also doing sound design for "The Brothers Flannigan" and "Hermitage" at the Philly Fringe, and for Luna Theatre's upcoming production of "Slasher". Oster is currently teaching for the Philadelphia Arts in Education Partnership and at the Musical Theater Performance Workshop at the Yewon Korean Presbyterian Church in Horsham, Pennsylvania.

Jennifer Shepard, BA 1994:
Since 2006, Shepard co-owned and performed at ImprovAcadia (improvacadia.com) with husband, Larrance Fingerhut. The seasonal theater (open Memorial Day weekend through Columbus Day) is located in Bar Harbor, ME. In the winter, Shepard works for The Second City on Norwegian Cruise Lines. This year, Shepard and her husband will work on the Pride of America, a cruise ship registered in the United States that cruises in Hawaii. In November, Shepard will undergo basic life saving and fire fighting training to become a Merchant Marine.

Levy Lee Simon, MFA 1999:
Simon's play, "Sam Train", was presented at the new Algonquin Theatre in New York City, February 13 - March 8, 2008. It was directed by Mary Beth Easley with music by Mark Bruckner. "Sam Train" is comprised of seven poignant, soul-stirring stories of the African American experience of the 20th Century.

Peter Ullian, MFA 1993:
Ullian has just received a $30,000 grant from the NEA towards a full production in October of his new musical theatre piece, "Signs of Life: A Tale of Terezin". It will receive a staged reading at the Amas Musical Theatre in April. In the play, the Jewish people inhabiting the Czech ghetto, Terezin, are among the intellectual and artistic elite of Europe. Hitler's "City for the Jews" is a propaganda scheme created to fool an unsuspecting world. "Signs of Life" is a touching story of the courageous artists whose bravery, love, and defiance reveal the moral truth that lies in the power of art.

Amy Wheeler, MFA 1999:
Wheeler is now Executive Director of Hedgebrook, a retreat and residency for women writers. Located on Whidbey Island, 45 minutes north of Seattle, Hedgebrook offers writers like Gloria Steinem and Eve Hensler a place to focus on their work. As Executive Director, Amy also co-produces the Women Playwrights Festival with Seattle Rep. She is still writing plays and had four in a row produced in 2004-2005.

Adam Whisner, BA 1993:
Whisner returned to the Twin Cities theatre scene in 2009, after a six-year hiatus spent dabbling with motorcycle racing and playing with his band, Blacktop Badge (hear them at iTunes, Napster, or CDbaby). Recent stage acting credits include The Flickering Wall at The Illusion Theater, playwright/director Alan Berks' work-in-progress Ringtone at Rogue Buddha Gallery, and a three month run as Starbuck in The Commonweal Theatre's production of The Rainmaker. In January, 2010, Adam will play Harry Baldwin in the regional premiere of Panache with the Theatre in the Round Players. Whisner lives in Minneapolis with his wife Amanda and "best dog in the world" Sammy.

Christine Young, MFA 1999:
Young recently gave birth to her second child, a beautiful girl named Violet. Young has also accepted a tenure track position at San Francisco State University in the Department of Performing Arts and Social Justice.

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1980-1989

Jeff Goode, BA 1988:
Goode's new play "Love Loves a Pornographer" is the winner of five Garland Awards. The production was nominated in every category for which it was eligible. The Garland Awards recognize excellence in theatre productions throughout Southern California.

Michael Hacker, MFA 1985 and C. Michael Cook, BA 1986:
"Unspeakable Horror: From the Shadows of the Closet", which includes Hacker's story "Vourdalak" and C. Michael Cook's story "The Boys of Bald Cave" has won the 2008 Bram Stoker Award for "Superior Achievement in Anthology".

Ruth Margraff, MFA 1989:
Margraff's writings have been presented worldwide. She has been awarded four Rockefeller Foundation commissions, a McKnight National Commission/Residency, a McKnight Advancement Grant and Jerome Fellowship with the Playwrights' Center, an NEA/TCG National Playwriting Residency, a Fulbright New Opera Award to Greece, several grants from TCG/ITI, Arts International, Trust for Mutal Understanding of New York, two NYSCA awards, and a CultureConnect envoy to Calcutta. Margraff is an alumnae of New Dramatists and HERE's Harp artist residency, member of League of Professional Theater Women, co-leader of a Theatre Without Borders initiative with Brandeis University's Slifka Coexistence International and a new member of Chicago Dramatists. Margraff is represented by Susan Schulman and Innova Records and has taught at the Yale School of Drama, Brown University, University of Texas/Michener Center, University of Iowa etc. and she is currently Associate Professor of writing at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. www.RuthMargraff.com

Todd McNerney, MFA 1988:
McNerney is an Associate Professor and the Department Chair of the Theatre Department at the College of Charleston, Charleston, SC. He is co-founder of the Shakespeare Project, a summer Shakespeare festival at the College, is an active producer/presenter in the Piccolo Spoleto Festival, and continues to act and direct locally and regionally. Happily married and the father of two boys, he no longer juggles balls or clubs, but rather kid's sports and academic committee meetings - only one of which is as fun as regular juggling.

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1970-1979

No current news.

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1960-1969

No current news.

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1950-1959

No current news.

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Last updated 19-oct-09