Texas State's very own Musical Theatre students are taking this summer by storm. Under the leadership of Broadway, film, and television actress Kaitlin Hopkins and an exclusive faculty of industry professionals, the program has rocked the theatre world for just a few years.
Check out what the students are up to this summer.
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK
Anna Uzele (Deena) in center, Lyric Theater of Oklahoma
Anna Uzele, rising junior, is performing in Lyric Theater's 2016 summer season starring as Deena in Dreamgirls, and also appearing in The Drowsy Chaperone as Trix and The Wizard of Oz. Check out Anna in the Dreamgirls promo, here.
STORRS, CT
How To Succeed..., CRT
Connecticut Repertory Theatre's fabulous 2016 Nutmeg Summer Series hit it off with How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying, starring Fred Grandy (The Love Boat & The Mindy Project) and Riley Costello (13!, Everyday Rapture, Bye Bye Birdie). The production featured rising seniors Adria Swan (Smitty), Ty Taylor, and Elizabeth Brady, as well as rising sophomore Jacob Burns and graduate Sydney Roberts Goodwin.
Raegan Roberts (Molly) with co-star Nate Whipple, Peter and the Starcatcher, CRT
CRT's second production, Peter and the Starcatcher, just completed its run with rave reviews, starring and choreographed by rising junior Raegan Roberts (Molly Aster). The show featured Tony Award-nominee Forrest McClendon as Slank/King Prawn.
West Side Story, CRT
Closing out the season is West Side Story directed and choreographed by Head of Musical Theatre Dance at Texas State, Cassie Abate, and associate choreographed by rising senior, Ty Taylor. Current students Julia Estrada (Maria), Adria Swan (Anybody's), Tori Gresham, Ty Taylor (Snowboy), Jacob Burns (A-Rab), and graduate Gabriel Bernal also star in the production. The show is lead by Broadway veteran, Yurel Echnzarreta (Aladdin, Matilda, La Cage Aux Folles, West Side Story).
NEW YORK CITY
Rising senior Maggie Bera is currently working in NYC as a casting intern for Michael Cassara Casting, a leading New York casting office for theatre and film. Rising juniors Emma Hearn and Liliana Wilcockson will appear in the New York Musical Festival, starring in Nickel Mines (based on the true story of the 2006 Lancaster, PA, Amish schoolhouse shooting).
WOODSTOCK, NY
Grayson Yockey, rising senior, is performing all summer at Woodstock Playhouse in upstate New York as the Beast in Beauty & the Beast, Guys and Dolls, Pippin, and Cherry's Patch.
LOS ANGELES
Blair Baldwin, rising junior, spends the day producing massive dance events with Break The Floor Productions. In the evenings, she attends open mic nights all over LA to work anything from original music to stand up routines.
LANCASTER, PA
Rising senior Michaela Boissonneault is spending her summer performing in The Fulton's 2016 summer season, starring in Footloose as Wendy Jo (u/s Ariel Moore) and Shrek The Musical as Princess Fiona.
LONDON
#TXSTabroad
Across the pond at the world renowned Royal Shakespeare Company, recent graduate Johnny Brantley III, rising juniors Liliana Wilcockson, Emma Hearn, and Junior Gomez, and rising seniors Michael Burrell and Jo Hogan go to London to study Shakespeare. The students studied at The Globe Theatre in London and Shakespeare's Birthplace Trust in Stratford.
OXFORD
Emma Lederman, rising sophomore, was accepted and will be partaking in the British American Drama Academy's Midsummer Program. She will spend an entire month in Oxford studying Shakespeare!
ATLANTA, GA
West Side Story, Atlantic Lyric Theatre
Rising sophomore Nick Eibler (Baby John) and incoming freshman Beau Harmon (Chino) just completed their run of West Side Story at the Atlantic Lyric Theatre. Nick and Beau will go on to appear in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
Logan Floyd (Cinderella ) in Into The Woods, The Performer's Warehouse
Logan Floyd just completed her run of Into The Woods as Cinderella. The production took place at The Performer's Warehouse in Atlanta under the direction of Broadway veteran and casting director Dave Clemmons.
WILLIAMSTOWN, MA
Grayson Samuels, rising sophomore, is working this summer as an acting apprentice at the Williamstown Theatre Festival. The festival is a resident summer theater on the campus of Williams College and winner of a 2002 Tony Award.
ASPEN, CO
The apprentices take a stroll through scenic Aspen, Colorado
Rising sophomores Cristina Oeschger (Sophie) and Juliette Redden, as well as rising seniors Ryne Nardecchia (Eddie/Sky u/s) and Spencer Hansen are appearing in Mamma Mia! at Theatre Aspen. Juliette (Kelli) and Ryne (Bobby) will also star in Theatre Aspen's children's show Dear Edwina, Cristina will cover the title role, while Spencer, a multifaceted artist and genius, is working as musical director.
PHILADELPHIA, PA
Rising junior Emma Hearn will be interning at Broadway Dreams Foundation, an organization providing young adults of all socioeconomic backgrounds with performance training, life skills building, and mentorship opportunities from the entertainment industry’s most distinguished talents.
AUSTIN, TX
Only a hop and a skip away from Texas State, rising senior Elizabeth Brady and rising sophomore CK Anderson step in time in Mary Poppins at ZACH Theatre in Austin.
Daniel Miller, rising sophomore, was a winner of the Sarah & Ernest Butler Texas Young Composers Competition. His composition, Going Home, was played by the Austin Symphony Orchestra June 18 at the Long Center for the Performing Arts.
SAN MARCOS, TX
Jorrel Javier, YouTube "A Letter to an Almost Lover"
Going back to his roots, rising junior Jorrel Javier is in the works of starting a Slam Poetry Club with Texas State. He also recently created his own YouTube channel. Click here for some of his work!
GARLAND, TX
Chris Clark, rising sophomore, completed his run portraying Fyedka in Fiddler on the Roof at Garland Summer Musicals.
KERRVILE, TX
Our own Chelsi Jump, rising senior, is an activity leader at the Texas Lions Camp for children, teaching and sharing her love of music all summer to kids with disabilities. The kids have a wide range of special needs from physical as well as mental handicaps, to burn victims and children with diabetes.
NEW MEXICO
Grayson Yockey and Golden Globe/Tony nominee, Lou Diamond Phillips on set of Longmire
Grayson Yockey also spent the first few days of summer on the set of the American crime drama television series, Longmire, in New Mexico.
DETRIOT, MI
Rising sophomores Anna Rose Daugherty and Grace Muawad attended the Complexions Contemporary Ballet Company's two week summer dance intensive.
