The Orpheum hosted the 36th annual Ostrander Awards this past Sunday, which featured several UofM honorees throughout the evening. The Ostrander Awards recognize the best in Memphis Theatre, with an array of categories dedicated to creative achievements like Best Set Design, Best Leading Actor and Best Overall Production. “We had…
Continue reading Ostrander Awards recognize UofM students, faculty, alumni
Taylor St. John bubbles with anticipation over “Shaming Jane Doe,” which opens at the University of Memphis’ Mainstage Theatre on April 4. It’s a play with a serious theme — the rise of sexual assaults on American campuses — that’s designed to make audience members contemplate their own views. “I…
Continue reading U of M’s ‘Shaming Jane Doe’ will challenge audiences’ own views
Sitting on the coastline of the Aegean Sea, the Turkish city of Izmir is renowned for its arts and cultural celebrations and Greek and Roman history. It’s also home to the Kukla Gunleri — the city’s annual International Puppet Days festival. “Every year, one of the major puppet festivals of…
Continue reading U of M associate professor leading workshop in Turkey
The Justin Braun-directed production of “Be More Chill” has ended its six-night run at the Department of Theatre & Dance’s Mainstage Theatre at the University of Memphis. The reviews tell attendees what they already knew — that the U of M students performed the Broadway musical with style and aplomb.…
Continue reading Reviews are in for ‘Be More Chill’ at the U of M
This fall, students in the Department of Theatre & Dance at the University of Memphis can for the first time pursue a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Theatre, with a concentration in Dance Science. “I’d love five” students in the inaugural class, Department Chair Holly Lau said. “I don’t…
Continue reading U of M’s new Dance Science concentration expands students’ possibilities
It’s good being Justin Braun these days. Braun, a University of Memphis Department of Theatre & Dance MFA in directing candidate, interned last summer in New York City with the Manhattan Theatre Club. He’s toured the country with a children’s theatre group. He’s been featured in the winter 2019 edition…
Continue reading 10 questions (and a few more) with musical director Justin Braun
“Be More Chill,” the Justin Braun-directed musical that opens Thursday (Feb. 7) at the University of Memphis’ Mainstage Theatre in the Department of Dance & Theatre, held its first dress rehearsal Monday night. Tickets are still available for all performances. We have pictures! — Phillip Tutor, CCFA media coordinator, potutor@memphis.edu…
Continue reading A sneak peek at ‘Be More Chill’ at the U of M’s Mainstage Theatre
It’s good being Travis Blackwell these days. It’s hasn’t been that long since Blackwell was at the University of Memphis earning his bachelor of fine arts degree in theater design and technical production with an emphasis in stage management. But since his 2015 graduation, Blackwell’s quick ascension as a professional…
Continue reading From the U of M to Puerto Rico with Miranda and ‘Hamilton’
Tickets for the upcoming performances of “Be More Chill,” a musical directed by University of Memphis theater student Justin Braun, are now on sale. The regional premier of the musical is scheduled for six dates next month at the U of M’s Department of Theatre and Dance: Feb. 7, 8…
Continue reading Tickets are now on sale for ‘Be More Chill’ at the U of M
Jerre Dye (above), who earned a bachelor of fine arts degree from the University of Memphis in 1993, is the librettist (writer of an opera’s text) for Taking Up Serpents, an hour-long opera about the daughter of a Pentecostal snake-handling preacher who is dying of a snakebite. It was performed last weekend…
Continue reading Washington opera highlights talents of U of M arts graduate
