Exciting news from the Drama Department at Austin Community College!
NEWS and UPDATES
Letter from the Chair
Welcome to the fall semester. I hope everyone had a pleasant, productive summer. Please join us to kick off the year this Wednesday at our Welcome Back Pizza Party. It’s a great opportunity to meet other drama students, drama-interested students, faculty and staff. And eat pizza. We’ll discuss what’s new in the program, auditions and shows, upcoming workshops, and answer questions about the department. Speaking of shows…

Get ready for auditions. We will be casting our second show, Aella , in the first week of September. Then we’ll open our season in the end of September and beginning of October with a student production, Playhouse Creatures , directed by Marcus Speed. Also, plan to join us in December for our end-of-the-semester Drama Student Showcase. In addition to our main stage productions, we will continue our monthly Makers and Methods Series, connecting students with local theater professionals through workshops and guest artist panels.

I also want to welcome four new faculty members to the department: Nicole Furneisen, Laura Neill, Kathryn Van Winkle, and Jonathan Young. We are happy to have you all join our family.

For those who have declared as drama majors, please plan to meet with a Drama faculty advisor as you begin to plan your path toward transfer, workforce, or graduation. We have new degree plan options, so we want everyone to find the pathway that is right for them. As always, I encourage those of you who have graduated or transferred to come back, visit, attend shows, participate in panels, and share your experience with current students. And I encourage those of you not yet declared as drama majors to come make art with us. It’s fun, fulfilling and we have a great theater community here at ACC.

Here we go…



Marcus McQuirter
Drama Department Chair
YESENIA GARCIA HERRINGTON appeared in two regional commercials this summer: H-E-B and TX Lottery, as well as two national commercials: Frito's and Lowe's.
 
Yesenia also performed in a staged reading for Raul Garza at the Rite Out Loud Festival at the Scottish Rite Theatre.


LAURA NEILL workshopped her play Winter People at the O'Neill National Playwrights Conference this summer.


JAMIE ROGERS performed as Krogstad in Different Stages' production of A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen in June and July.


KRISTEN ROGERS served as the dramaturg for Stagedoor's production of Grounded by George Brant at the Margo Jones Theatre last spring in Dallas, TX.

Kristen also directed a new one-man show, Don't Blame the Car, written by and starring Jaston Williams (of Greater Tune fame), which performed at the Classic Theatre of San Antonio in June and at the Grand 1894 Opera House in Galveston in August.


GREG ROMERO was a "featured playwright" for Hyde Park Theatre's Play Slam on July 17th. They did a staged reading of a 15 minute excerpt from his full-length play,  The Babel Project . 
 
His short play,  Bulldozers , was produced by New Manifest Theatre Company in Austin, August 1 - 4, as part of their Manifest Minifest of New Plays.
 
Greg was also a Teaching/Playwriting Artist at the Inge Center for the Arts' Playwrights Discovery Program in Independence, Kansas from July 22 - August 1.

His short play,  The Elephant and the Light in Claire's Suitcase , will be published by Northwest Playwrights Alliance and University of Idaho. In support of this publication, the play will be read at Seattle Repertory Theatre on October 28, and the University of Idaho on November 1 & 2.
 
Finally, Greg has been selected as one of 5 pilot members of the newly-formed Hyde Park Theatre Playwrights Group in Austin, Texas. The group meets bi-weekly to experiment and share work, and receives developmental support from Hyde Park Theatre from August 2019 - June 2020
 

JONATHAN YOUNG provided fight direction for the Georgetown Palace's main stage production of Disney's Newsies opening August 30th. For tickets, visit  www.georgetownpalace.com

ACC Drama Department 2019-2020 Season

Playhouse Creatures
by April De Angelis
September 26-October 6 in the HLC Acting Studio
General Seating is $8.00

Aella
by Bart Pitchford
A Participant in the Austin Veteran Arts Festival
October 24-27 & November 7-10 in the Austin Playhouse Theatre
General Seating is $8.00

Harry and the Thief
by Sigrid Gilmer
February 27-March 8 in the Austin Playhouse Theatre
General Seating is $8.00

Twelve Angry Jurors
by Reginald Rose
adapted by Sherman L. Sergel
April 16-26 in the HLC Acting Studio
General Seating is $8.00

Performance times are at 7:30pm for Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings,
and at 2:00pm for Sunday matinees.

Additional information can be found at our newly redesigned website: www.austincc.edu/drama

CALLING ALL ACC DRAMA ALUMNI!

Be sure to join the ACC Alumni Network!

The ACC Alumni Network is open to all former students who have earned an associate degree or certificate, or completed at least 20 credit hours at ACC. Our mission is to promote and support our alumni and students in their educational, social and professional endeavors, and to foster a spirit of loyalty and lifelong connections to Austin Community College.


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