A group of Michigan State University Department of Theatre students created a series of new audio plays, each connected to themes of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). All five “Audio Anthology” plays, along with a student-produced documentary short, are now available online at theatre.msu.edu/dei_audio.
When the Michigan State University Department of Theatre’s productions for the Fall 2020 semester were canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, a call went out to all faculty and students for ideas focused on themes of diversity, equity, and inclusion. First-year MFA Design Candidate Zech Saenz, who specializes in costume design, pitched a project addressing the pandemic through the lens of drag queens and comedy. The result is a three-episode web series, called Grads in Drag, which is now available for streaming on-demand.
In conjunction with Digital Learning Day on February 25, the Michigan State University Department of Theatre MFA Acting cohort will launch a six-season podcast, entitled “The Moment Before: An Actor’s Warm-Up Podcast,” which is the only known podcast focusing on quick and convenient ways for actors to warm-up and prepare for auditions, rehearsals, and performances with each season consisting of…
The freshmen class of Michigan State University’s Department of Theatre have created a mockumentary-style web series satire about the experience of starting college during the COVID-19 pandemic. Freshman Showcase: Pandemic’d! will premiere its first two episodes with a Facebook Live Viewing Party on Friday, February 12, at 8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.
G. “Max” Maxin IV (MFA Design ’12) was scheduled to return to Michigan State University as a guest scenic designer for the Department of Theatre’s production of 9 to 5: The Musical that was slated to open in February 2021, but when the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered theatres and most of the department’s productions, the Dolly Parton musical based on the…
Jake Gerard Price, junior Arts and Humanities major, received a CREATE! Micro-Grant to create a dance film that addresses the societal impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The CREATE! Micro-Grant program selected 12 student projects, including Price’s, to each receive $500 to respond critically and imaginatively to events occurring during the pandemic. The winning projects are now displayed in a virtual…
Marshall Ross, a senior BFA Acting major, received CREATE! Micro-grant funding to support his SOLO* project, a short-film that follows the experience of a young man living on his own during the Michigan stay-at-home order in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Written, directed, filmed, and acted entirely by Ross on his smartphone, the film explores the impact prolonged…
Michigan State University’s Department of Theatre has produced a new sensory-friendly musical for children who are neurodiverse and will begin offering free virtual performances this month. Written by students and faculty at Michigan State University, Soda Pop Shop! is an interactive musical that invites audience members to relate to the experiences of the characters in the show and help them cope with their feelings as…
Department of Theatre Assistant Professor of Musical Theatre Brad Willcuts and East Lansing High School (ELHS) Visual Arts Instructor Jacqueline Carroll have brought their students together in a unique collaboration to bring words and movement to life.
MSU Dance Students Perform Interpretations of written works by East Lansing High School students Department of Theatre Assistant Professor of Musical Theatre Brad Willcuts and East Lansing High School (ELHS) Visual Arts Instructor Jacqueline Carroll have brought their students together in a unique collaboration to bring words and movement to life. "So infrequently do high school writing assignments leave the…