Melissa Casillas(BFA Dance) attended the Ailey School's five-week professional division summer intensive training in ballet, pointe, Graham and Horton. She also took theatre jazz classes at Steps on Broadway in New York City and attended classes at Millenium Dance Complex in Los Angeles. 

Monijesu Ebube(Interdisciplinary Fine Arts PhD) attended the African Literature Association Conference at the the University of Louisville and presented 2 papers: “Virtual Presence Versus Physical Distance: The Use of Social Media to Maintain Diasporic Affiliation" and "How Social Media can keep African Women Writers in Diaspora informed and in Solidarity with their Peers Back Home." She also was the Drama Instructor to stroke and aphasia patients for the Stroke and Aphasia Recovery Program (STAR), organized by the School of Health Professions, Department of Speech and Pathology, in collaboration with J.T & Margaret Talkington College of Visual and Performing Arts. Together they built a scenario from their personal stories, told verbally and in drawings, that culminated in a final production.

Khushee Hegde(BA Dance) provided private dance classes  at The Dance Gallery and took a jazz funk masterclass from So You Think You Can Dance (SYTYCD) Season 18 Runner-up Dakayla Wilson.

Will Loconto(BFA Design/Technology) spent the summer as a stagehand and the Assistant Head Electrician at the Aspen Music Festival & School (Aspen, CO). This year, the 75th anniversary season, they mounted hundreds of unique theatre, orchestra, and opera events. His responsibilities included setting and striking plots for performances, programming and running shows, and managing crew during lighting load in/out.

Samara Shavrick(BFA Musical Theatre Alumna '24) will board the Disney Magic as an Entertainment Host from September 27th through January 6th. Performing at sea has been her dream since coming to Tech and she is excited to explore the ports in the Bahamas, Puerto Rico, Barbados, St. Kitts, St. Thomas, among other.

Ben Smith(MFA Performance and Pedagogy) took part in devising a new play led by his wife Abby Wolff, titled What If?: a re:INVENT Story. This play was focused on displaying onstage action and comic book storytelling tropes, as well as implementing voiceover with live performance. Ben served as the Sound Designer and performed in the play as the character Andrew. Jumping off the stage and into the world of film, he acted in the new web series, Mortal Hunters as Oz. They filmed the first season throughout the entire summer and the project is now currently in post-production.

Shane Strawbridge (Interdisciplinary Fine Arts PhD) was awarded the Linda Wolfe Leadership Award from the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools, given annually to the Fine Arts Director of the Year for the state. In addition, his theatre program at All Saints Episcopal School was named a Campus of Distinction by the Texas Educational Theatre Association for the second consecutive year.

Jet Terry(MFA Performance and Pedagogy) participated in WildWind Performance Lab at Texas Tech and performed in all three of the works that were presented. In addition, Jet acted as the assistant director and choreographer for Moonlight Musical’s production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat. He has also spent time networking with theatre companies in the Southwest United States in preparation for his graduation in May!

Sophia Valadez(BFA Acting) started the summer with a production of Newsies at Granbury Theatre Company where she performed the role of JoJo the Newsboy and a Bowery Beauty! Sophia then participated in a dance intensive at Bruce Lea Dance Factory in Fort Worth.

Lily E. Vetter(Interdisciplinary Fine Arts PhD) returned to  the New London Barn Playhouse (nlbarn.org) as Production Manager. where she worked on a symphony collaboration for South Pacific followed by Little Shop of Horrors, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Driving Miss Daisy, Jersey Boys, Rent, Clue, and a developmental production.  

Collin Vorbeck (Interdisciplinary Fine Arts PhD alum) was named Interim Chair of the Theatre Division for the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) Conservatory.

Several TTU students were involved in TEXAS Outdoor Musical in Palo Duro Canyon with professor Kyla Olson who was the choreographer. Pictured in the photo: 

(Front Row L to R): Emma Leighton (MFA Performance & Pedagogy), Allison Meredith (BFA Musical Theatre), Alexa Teleki (BFA Musical Theatre alumna), Naomi Taylor (BFA Musical Theatre)

(Back Row L to R): Mary Lantz (BFA Musical Theatre alumna), Kyla Olson (choreographer), Claire Newey (BFA Dance alumna), Savannah Rhodes (BFA Musical Theatre alumna)