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MSU Faculty Member Publishes Book on Creating Theatre With Neurodiverse Audiences in Mind

June 30, 2025

For nearly a decade, Dionne O'Dell has led the Sense-Ability Ensemble at Michigan State University, which develops multisensory theatrical works for audiences often excluded from traditional performance spaces. Dionne O'Dell O’Dell is an Academic Specialist in MSU’s Department of Theatre who specializes in teaching children’s theatre and writing and directing plays for youth and community, and Routledge has now published…

A smiling individual with glasses and a navy jacket holds up a binder labeled 'The Book of Mormon Script & Score, North American Tour.' The background shows a city skyline over water at sunset.

Alumni / Arts MSU / News / Performance / Production / Theatre / Visual Arts, Arts Administration, and Performing Arts

Theatre Alum Returns to Campus as Part of ‘The Book of Mormon’ North American Tour

June 17, 2025

As a high school student, Kevin T. Mazur sat in the audience at Detroit's Fisher Theatre watching the Broadway tour of “The Book of Mormon” and dreamt of a life on stage, a future in New York, and the possibility of one day joining a company like the one performing that day. Nearly a decade later, he has accomplished all that.

Grant / News / Student

Proposals Now Being Accepted for 2024 CREATE! Microgrant Program

May 20, 2024

The Dean’s Arts Advisory Council in the College of Arts & Letters is now accepting proposals for the 2024 CREATE! Microgrant program, in which seven winning proposals will be awarded $500 microgrants to create artworks that respond critically and imaginatively to the challenges of our contemporary moment. Open to all Michigan State University undergraduate students who will remain enrolled at…

Alumni / Arts MSU / Featured Alumni / News / Theatre / U.S. Impact / Visual Arts, Arts Administration, and Performing Arts

Theatre Alum Continues to Create Sensory-Friendly Productions as Artist-in-Residence in Georgia

March 13, 2024

Since early childhood, Evan Hill Phillips has always enjoyed the spotlight as he craved an outlet to create, entertain, and perform. At Michigan State University, the BFA in Theatre graduate discovered a whole new and innovative theatrical approach, one that is designed for audiences that are neurodiverse.With an older brother who is neurodiverse and a first-hand knowledge of the industry’s…

Arts MSU / Diversity, Equity and Inclusion / Event / News / Theatre

Chasten Buttigieg to Discuss Theatre, LGBTQ+ Rights and Representation at March 16 Event

March 7, 2024

New York Times bestselling author, teacher, arts enthusiast, and LGBTQ+ rights advocate Chasten Buttigieg, who also has a theatre background that includes working with kids with autism, will share, in a moderated conversation, his experiences with theatre at an event associated with What if Wilhelmina, the latest musical production of the Michigan State University Department of Theatre’s Sense-Ability Ensemble, which…

Arts MSU / Diversity, Equity and Inclusion / Lansing-East Lansing Impact / News / Performance / Production / Student / Student / Theatre / Visual Arts, Arts Administration, and Performing Arts

MSU Theatre Presents ‘What if Wilhelmina,’ a Sensory-Friendly, Interactive Musical

February 20, 2024

The public is invited to come experience What If Wilhelmina, the latest production of the Michigan State University Department of Theatre’s Sense-Ability Ensemble, which creates multi-sensory, interactive theatrical performances specifically designed for audiences that are neurodiverse. Nine performances of this production are scheduled March 8-17 at the Arena Theatre in the MSU Auditorium Building.

Faculty / News / Programs

Dionne O’Dell Named Interim Director of Arts, Cultural Management, and Museum Studies Program

June 2, 2022

Dionne O’Dell, Academic Specialist in the Department of Theatre at Michigan State University, will lead MSU’s Arts, Cultural Management, and Museum Studies (ACM&MS) program as Interim Director, effective Aug. 16, 2022. Kiersten F. Latham, the current Program Director, has accepted a position as President and CEO of Sauder Village in Ohio. “I am honored to serve as Interim Director for the Arts, Cultural Management,…

Award / Faculty / News

Faculty Receive Outreach and Engagement Awards

February 21, 2020

The annual MSU Outreach and Engagement Awards honor faculty, students, and partners working together to produce diverse benefits for others in their communities. Among this year’s recipients are Kyle Powys Whyte, Timnick Chair in the Humanities in the Department of Philosophy, who received the Distinguished Partnership Award for Community-Engaged Research, and Dionne O’Dell, Academic Specialist in the Department of Theatre, who received the…

A man in a white shirt is kneeling and talking to a child that's sitting in a chair. Behind him, a man also wearing a white shirt is bending over to talk to a child sitting down.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion / News / Research

MSU Researches a Neurodiverse Approach to Theatre Education

July 23, 2019

One of the first of its kind in the world, Michigan State University's Department of Theatre has produced a play that is written specifically for an audience that is neurodiverse, which are variations in the human brain that are commonly characterized as autistic, dyslexia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Tourette syndrome, and others. The piece is called FARM! A Musical Experience. Although it…

Photo of four people standing smiling standing in front of a window with the left person wearing a medal and the two middle people holding awards

Alumni / Award / Featured Alumni / News

2019 Alumni Board Awards Presented

April 1, 2019

College of Arts & Letters faculty and students were recognized for their outstanding achievements in leadership, teaching, innovation, and community engagement at the College of Arts & Letters Alumni Board Awards ceremony on March 30 at the Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center. Hosted by the College of Arts & Letters Alumni Board, three different awards were presented at the event,…