Sophia Psiakis, who is graduating with a BFA in Acting for Stage, Screen, and New Media and a minor in Musical Theatre, has been selected as the Spring 2023 College of Arts & Letters student commencement speaker. They applied for the role of commencement speaker after Professor Kirk Domer, who teaches their senior seminar class, encouraged them to do so.…
This year’s winners of the Varg-Sullivan Endowed Graduate Awards are Mona Jahani, MFA Candidate in Theatre Design, the Outstanding Achievement in the Arts recipient, and Naiyan Du, Ph.D. Candidate in Linguistics, the Outstanding Achievement in the Letters recipient. The Varg-Sullivan Endowed Graduate Awards, presented by the College of Arts & Letters at Michigan State University, were established in honor of…
Michigan State University’s Department of Theatre presents Bright Star April 19-23 in the Pasant Theatre at the Wharton Center for Performing Arts. Inspired by a true story and featuring the Tony®-nominated score by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell, Broadway’s Bright Star tells a sweeping tale of love and redemption set against the rich backdrop of the American South in the…
The 2023 MSU Humanities and Arts Research Program (HARP) large-scale development grant has been awarded to Ryan Patrick Welsh, Assistant Professor of Media Acting in MSU's Department of Theatre. The $100,000 grant will assist with the development of a feature-length film adaptation of Welsh’s 2018 stage play, Last of the Wild Buffalo. The film will be Welsh’s second full-length narrative…
MSU Theatre professors Alexis Black and Tina M. Newhauser are advocates for safety, boundaries, and better storytelling through the intimacy direction classes and workshops they teach. They also have published a book, titled "Supporting Staged Intimacy: A Practical Guide for Theatre Creatives, Managers and Crew,” in late 2022 that supports their work in this relatively new field.
Recognizing that art has the power to heal, Michigan State University’s Department of Theatre is offering free tickets to all MSU students for its production of Charlotte’s Web as one way of showing its support for our Spartan students. MSU students can get a free ticket at the door for any Charlotte’s Web performance by showing their MSU ID. The…
Michigan State University’s Department of Theatre presents Charlotte’s Web, adapted by Joseph Robinette, running Feb. 17-26 in the Fairchild Theater. This production is family friendly for all ages. Based on E.B. White’s loving story of a pig named Wilbur and a little gray spider named Charlotte, this treasured tale explores bravery, selfless love, and the true meaning of friendship. Wilbur…
Lynn Lammers’ work at Michigan State University has been nothing short of transformative. As Artistic Director of the Transforming Theatre Ensemble (TTE), she helps bring the art of theatre into a different area of campus life: diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) education. Through specialized workshops, the TTE, which is part of MSU’s Office for Institutional Diversity and Inclusion, uses theatrical…
Arts and Letters Projects, a micro-internship program funded by the College of Arts & Letters’ Excel Network, offers paid, short-term internships to College of Arts & Letters students while supporting projects from faculty, alums, and community partners across a wide range of interests. "After seeing how students were impacted during the COVID-19 pandemic by trying to gain experience, we wanted…