Performing Arts

1985

Orchestral violinist with Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, Charleston Symphony Orchestra, Savannah Symphony Orchestra, Spoleto Music Festival Orchestra, Brevard Summer Music Festival, Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra and Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra; chamber musician member of Magnolia String Quartet, Steamboat Springs Chamber Players and Aspen Music Festival; studio musician, Sweet Bay Studios; freelance violinist; private violin studio instructor; string clinician; composer and arranger; chair of liberal arts department, SCAD; program author and coordinator of music composition minor and vocal performance minor, SCAD; concert producer, SCAD

Twenty-five years at SCAD

Violinist with the Boston Symphony Hawthorne String Quartet; Sigma Alpha Iota Award for Excellence in Teaching; Performances as violinist with artists including Itzak Perlman, Joshua Bell, Eugenia Zuckerman, Ruth Laredo, JoAnn Falletta, Ray Charles, Dave Brubeck, Rachael Barton Pine, Midori, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg and Yo Yo Ma

American Composers Forum, The International Alliance of Women in Music, Sigma Alpha Iota, Georgia Music Educators Association, National String Teachers Association

Lectures

• Sabbatical research trips and public lectures: "Music of the Roma People-Budapest, Music of Spain-Andalusia" and "Mozart and his Musical Travels-Salzburg, Vienna and Prague"; pre-concert lecturer, "Words on Music Series," Savannah Symphony

Presentations

• Producer of SCAD concerts including the SCAD Chamber Music Series: "Music to Paint By," A Night of Electric String Quartet," "Stark Raven at SCAD," "Renaissance Fair," "L'Histoire du Soldat" and numerous student performance venues

"As a student, I was very fortunate to have excellent teachers in my life including my parents. I owe a great debt to all those who came before me that took the job of teaching as an honor and a way of life. As a teacher, I feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to share what I have learned with my students and am also aware of how much I learn from them every day. The subject matter I teach is music but the real lessons are often between the notes."

• MUSC 101 Music Appreciation
• MUSC 130 Survey of World Music
• MUSC 140 Music Theory
• MUSC 240 Music Composition
• MUSC 271 Survey of Western Music I: Chant to Mozart
• MUSC 272 Survey of Western Music II: Beethoven to the 21st Century
• MUST 103 Introduction to String Playing
• MUST 220 Sight Singing
• MUST 340 Arranging and Transcriptions
• MUST 333 Instrumental Ensemble

"I am attracted to music that is passionate and expresses the fragility and wonder of the human experience. I love the power of music and how it transforms a film, brings an audience to its feet and captures an emotion that could not be expressed in words alone. To have a professional life that is filled with creating musical experiences with colleagues and students in a very collaborative artistic environment is an honor and an inspiration."

2007

More than 175 productions in theaters across the United States; International Theatre Festival, Toga-Mura, ACM Theatre, Mito City, Mitsui International Performing Arts Festival, Japan; children's film in Georgia, (former U.S.S.R.); adjunct assistant professor, Cornish College of the Arts, Seattle, Washington; master class, Northwest Actors Studio, Seattle, Washington; owner/teacher, Imaginary Forces Work; production director, ACT, Seattle, Washington; production director, Washington State Cultural Enrichment Program

Fox Foundation Fellowship; numerous American and/or West Coast premieres of American plays by contemporary playwrights; scripts written expressly for me, or dedicated in my name; top 15 percent workweeks for professional (union) actors nationally

Fox Fellow; Footlight Seattle Critics Award; ArtsFund Seattle Special Recognition; Garland Award; USA Today Top 10 National Performances; Arizona Critics Award; Dewar's Profiles National Performance Arts Award; Bay Area Critics Award; Dramalogue Award

Actors' Equity Association, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, Screen Actors Guild, Southeastern Theatre Conference

"By properly funneling imaginative vigor, it is possible to create a more powerful presence and state of concentration onstage. Once freed from the constraints of self-limitations, a stage actor can truly take us anywhere and on any journey because imaginary forces work. As an actor I seek to unfetter this fancy because a talented performer is limited solely by his or her imagination. As an instructor, I endeavor to show my students how to accomplish the same: to stretch, pull and test limits. This is and remains my primary charge. Nowhere is it more appropriate for young actors to be so rigorously challenged than within the halls of a college of art and design. The vagaries of the 'outside' will all come soon enough. The best way to prepare student actors for that future reality is by recognizing, developing and liberating the unique artist dwelling inside. Beyond releasing their imaginations and developing their singular talents, I also want to help create within my students the beginnings of a true, mindful, future professional. Respect for acting has as much to do with pragmatic business matters as it does with philosophy, artistry and the depths of the soul."

• DWRI 775 Dramaturgy
• MPRA 226 Stagecraft Vocabularies of Live Performance
• MPRA 230 Professional Studies in Media Relations
• MPRA 300 Theory and Acting for the Classics
• MPRA 340 Scene Study
• MPRA 375 Directing
• MPRA 400 Audition Techniques and Materials
• MPRA 495 Performing Arts Senior Project
• MPRA 707 Principles of Performance
• MPRA 717 Verse and Classical Text: Studies and Application
• MPRA 728 Script Analysis
• MPRA 753 Actor/Director Laboratory
• MPRA 770 Media and Promotion: Practical Studies

"After more than 35 years in the field I firmly believe that, in addition to one's intrinsic talents, an actor's creative expression is limited only by his/her own mind and ability to imagine, to pretend, and to 'make believe.' I do not teach with any social agenda or political bent. I have always believed the sciences define what life is while the arts attempt to explain it. My personal journey as an artist in the theater has been and continues to be just that: to explore, to illuminate, to reflect the passions and to respect the ideas of the playwright and the character. As an instructor it is my goal to accomplish the same with my students and in doing so to discover how much they, in turn, will enlighten me."

• laurenceballard.com
• imaginaryforceswork.com

2011

2006

Dance program director, DeSales University; associate professor, University of Wyoming; assistant professor, University of Nevada, Reno; assistant professor, Kent State University; lecturer, University of North Carolina at Charlotte; lecturer, University of California, Santa Barbara

Brosseau Danceworks, Charlotte, North Carolina

North Carolina Choreographer Fellowship

"The personal and artistic discoveries students make during the training process would be the most fulfilling aspect of teaching for me."

• DANC 205 Dance History
• DANC 212 Introduction to Modern Dance
• DANC 213 Introduction to Ballet
• DANC 290 Dance Composition
• DANC 312 Intermediate Modern Dance
• DANC 313 Intermediate Ballet

"You think the way you dance, you dance the way you think!"

vbrosseau.com

2010

Acting teacher, Cleveland Play House; acting teacher, Savannah Studios; stage acting roles in "Ham and Egg" and "Book of the Dead" at the Cleveland Play House; originated role of Babydoll for Rattlestick Theatre's New York City production of "Reinventing Daddy"; film and television roles in "Savannah," a feature film directed by Annette Haywood Carter; principal character in "Army Wives"; lead in "She Was A Nice Girl" and "Beauty Knows No Pain"

Wrote, directed and performed a two-person show, which New York Times critic Ben Brantley referred to as "an imaginative performance team"

Kennedy Center Award Nominee, Voted Cleveland's Best Actress by Scene Magazine

Actors' Equity Association, Screen Actors Guild, American Federation for Television Actors

"Having studied the Meisner technique with William Esper, I gained a huge respect for the art of teaching. I have witnessed actors make amazing transformations, and it gives me a great pleasure be a part of this. I strongly believe that an actor should never stop studying her craft."

• MPRA 103 Introduction to Performance
• MPRA 160 Fundamentals of Character and Stagecraft

"In acting, it is my intention to portray characters with a degree of uniqueness and honesty while serving the story that the playwright has written. As the daughter of a visual artist, I have an innate relationship to the world of creating. I draw from the extraordinary behavior of ordinary people when creating characters both in writing and acting."

2007

Voice and speech instructor, Harvard University; teaching fellow, American School, Moscow Art Theatre School; adjunct professor, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs; teaching fellow, Harvard University; teaching assistant, Harvard Extension School; production vocal coach, Savannah College of Art and Design, Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, THEATREWORKS, American Repertory Theatre, Moscow Art Theatre American Studio, Institute for Advanced Theatre Training and Harvard/Radcliffe Dramatic Club

Chair, Voice and Speech Committee, Southeastern Theatre Conference; founding member, Blue Coat Repertory Theatre, New York City

Certificate of Distinction in Teaching, Bok Learning Center, Harvard University; Joseph R. Levenson Teaching Prize nomination, Harvard University; Off-Off Broadway Review Critics Choice Award

Southeastern Theatre Conference, Voice and Speech Teachers Association, Voice Foundation, Alpha Psi Omega, American Massage Therapy Association

• Southeastern Theatre Conference, Atlanta, Georgia, presentation: "Fitzmaurice Voicework: What's Tremoring?" 2011
• Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey Apprentice Co. and Next Stage Ensemble, master teacher, Voice and Speech: Master Class Series, 2010
• SETC, Lexington, Kentucky, presentation: "Warm-up and Warm-down for the Vocal Athlete," 2010
• Voice and Speech Trainers Association (VASTA), New York, New York, presentation: "When Deep Release is Needed: Massage Techniques for Vocal Tensions," 2009
• SETC, Birmingham, Alabama, presentations: "Opening the 'Five Flood Gates' for Optimal Vibration"; "Shakespeare and Breath"; "The Collaborative Process: The Director and Vocal Coach," 2009
• SETC, Chattanooga, Tennessee, presentation: "A Non-Regional American Dialect?" 2008
• Freshman Arts Program, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, presentation: "Voice, Speech and Text in Action," 2007

"I strongly believe in the value of process over product in a training environment. I feel that it is far more important in the educational setting to encourage exploration of an opportunity in which it is possible to fail and to reinforce the value of failing brilliantly, than to allow the student to rely on old habits and already-learned tricks. I encourage my students to push the edge of the envelope or possibility, to be changed from the mindset of 'I can't do that' to 'What happens if I try that?' I also believe in a holistic approach to actor training: the best teaching happens when lines of communication are open between voice, speech, movement and acting faculty. Only in this way will the student learn to include the whole self in the entire act of creation."

• MPRA 210 Voice for Performance I
• MPRA 211 Voice for Performance II
• MPRA 404 Voice-over and Dialects
• MPRA 714 Voice Production: Live and Recorded Media

"My goal for actor vocal training is to find a way for the actor's body, breath and voice to be wholly responsive to action. To do this, I seek to bring the student from casual attention to kinesthetic awareness, engaging the student to be fully participatory in his or her own expansion and expressiveness. My philosophy of vocal training stems from the triumvirate of voice, speech and text in action based on, but not limited to, Dudley Knight's Detail Model and Fitzmaurice Voicework as adapted and developed by master teacher Nancy Houfek."

2008

Class instructor, Winter Wonderland Workshop/Society of American Fight Directors, Elgin, Illinois; assistant to fight master, National Stage Combat Workshop/Society of American Fight Directors, Winston-Salem, North Carolina; training workshop teacher, North Carolina School of the Arts, Winston-Salem; professional conservatory faculty, South Coast Repertory, Costa Mesa, California; adult conservatory faculty, South Coast Repertory, Costa Mesa, California; adjunct professor, Citrus College, Glendora, California; substitute teacher, University of California, Santa Cruz, California; adjunct movement professor, Southern Oregon University, Ashland, Oregon; adjunct professor, Huntingdon College, Montgomery, Alabama; assistant to fight director, University Of Alabama, Montgomery, Alabama; guest lecturer, Santa Rosa Junior College, Santa Rosa, California

Becoming a certified instructor of theatrical combat; gaining employment as a theater arts teacher; holding position of resident fight director for The Chance Theater

Man of the Year in Theater, Fight Directing; recognized advanced actor/combatant by S.A.F.D.; recipient, Peter and Masha Plotkin Memorial Foundation Honor for Artistic Excellence; recipient, Theater Arts Department Scholarship, Southern Oregon University; recipient, Schneider Merit Award, Southern Oregon University

Actors' Equity Association, Society of American Fight Directors, Association of Theatre Movement Educators, Company Fight Director Emeritus for The Chance Theatre Company, University of Alabama Alumni Association, Southern Oregon University Alumni Association, Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, Founding Member of Association of Combatant Theatre Students (A.C.T.S.)

"My parents are educators, and I have always wanted to follow in their footsteps. I believe that it was their guidance and trust in me that gave me the courage to instruct."

• MPRA 103 Introduction to Performance
• MPRA 106 Movement for Performance I
• MPRA 206 Movement for Performance II
• MPRA 310 Stage Combat I
• MPRA 415 Stage Combat II
• MPRA 705 Movement Studies for Performance
• MPRA 758 Graduate Stage Combat
• PROD 150 Introduction to Makeup Design

"I seek the truth. I practice the art of performance to elicit the honesty of the human condition. I try to convey a sense of simplification to the students, to encourage ease of acting. I search for the strongest, most playable choice so that the audience can clearly understand the story presented. Keep it simple. Less is more."

2007

Artistic director, Seattle Repertory Theater, Berkeley Repertory Theater; resident director, Milwaukee Repertory Theater; co-artistic director, Theatre X; acting company member, Kraken, Camera Obscura; director at The Public Theater, Manhattan Theater Club, Playwrights Horizons, The Mark Taper Forum, La Jolla Playhouse, Intiman Theater, Arena Stage, Huntington Theater, Seattle Opera, San Diego Opera and Opera Colorado; master class instructor, University of Washington

Accepted Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theater as artistic director of Berkeley Repertory Theater; Paine Knickerbocker Award from the Bay Area Theatre Critics' Circle for Lifetime Achievement Award for "artistic integrity and distinguished leadership of Berkeley Repertory Theater"

Bay Area Theater Critics' Circle Awards for Best Direction for "Heartbreak House," "The Tooth of the Crime" and "You, Nero"; Hollywood Dramalogue Awards for "The Ballad of Yachiyo" and "Lady from the Sea"; Elliot Norton Award; USA Today 10 Best List; Obie Award for Production Design for "A Fierce Longing"

SCAD press release:

• "SCAD performing arts' production of 'Fahrenheit 451' opens to acclaim at the Round House Theatre"

Union for Stage Directors and Choreographers, National Endowment for the Arts, Theater Communications Group, and California Council of the Arts

"After more than 30 years of an active career in the American theater, including leadership positions at major theaters, I thought it was time to both re-charge my own intellectual/artistic batteries and pass on some of the knowledge I have gained from years in the profession to the next generation of young theater artists. I have found teaching to be the most rewarding work I have done yet, in a lifetime filled with exciting work. I have learned as much from teaching as my students have learned from me. Since I never went to graduate school, the opportunity to teach has been the best kind of education possible! My students are a continual inspiration to me, and I have experienced some of the most intense pleasure possible as I watch young artists grow and mature in their time at SCAD."

• MPRA 160 Fundamentals of Character and Stagecraft
• MPRA 240 French Classical Theater
• MPRA 250 Women in Dramatic Arts
• MPRA 300 Theory and Acting for the Classics
• MPRA 340 Scene Study
• MPRA 375 Directing
• MPRA 400 Audition Techniques and Materials
• MPRA 421 Advanced Acting for the Classics
• MPRA 495 Performing Arts Senior Project
• MPRA 717 Verse and Classical Text: Studies and Application
• MPRA 753 Actor/Director Laboratory

"When I was a young girl, my family spent summers in Chautauqua, New York, which was the home of The Cleveland Playhouse and the Eastman School of Music. My mother would take me to concerts and plays in Norton Hall, a 1920s Art Deco theater, where there was a saying above the proscenium, 'All Passes, Art Alone Endures.' That saying burned its way into my young consciousness and has stayed with me ever since. I believe this to be entirely true, and have dedicated my life to the process of creating memorable art - art that changes the way people think and feel. I don't want to just create art that makes people feel good, or entertains them for a couple of hours. I want to create art that changes lives. I've had the great privilege of working with artists in my lifetime whom I believe have changed lives - people like August Wilson, Tony Kushner, Nilo Cruz, Anna Deveare Smith and others. Although it is sometimes difficult to create art that pushes boundaries and changes people and organizations, that's what I feel compelled to do. I strive for excellence in my own work, and encourage students to find excellence in their work. I feel immensely blessed that I have been able to spend a lifetime pursuing my craft."

2009

Director of primetime casting, CBS New York; professor, Tepper Semester, Syracuse University; directed CBS Primetime Casting internship

Director of primetime casting for CBS New York on Emmy-nominated and award-winning pilots such as: CSI, CSI New York, CSI Miami, The Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, Two and A Half Men, Old Christine, Judging Amy, Numbers, Without a Trace, NCIS, Everybody Loves Raymond and numerous others

Toronto Film Festival Entry, "30 Days," casting director; Toronto Film Festival Entry, "Developing," casting director

• "The Art of Auditioning," Rob Decina, 2009
• Self magazine, 2003

"I come from a long line of professors and teachers. After a decade working at CBS, I wanted the opportunity to take all that I had learned from the casting standpoint and give it to students who were studying to become actors. I love being able to give them exactly what agents and casting directors look for when auditioning actors for film and television. I am so thrilled to be able to prepare students to leave the academic world and enter the professional world in big city markets such as New York and Los Angeles."

• MPRA 314 Acting for the Camera I
• MPRA 322 Casting for Film and Television
• MPRA 400 Audition Techniques and Materials
• MPRA 416 Auditioning for Film and Television

2007

Part-time assistant professor, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, Georgia; instructor of voice, Trinity University, Washington, D.C.; instructor of voice and doctoral teaching fellow, Conservatory of Shenandoah University, Winchester, Virginia; voice instructor, performing arts camp at Shenandoah University, Winchester, Virginia; cantor, Temple Mickve Israel, Savannah, Georgia

"My most significant accomplishments come in the success of my students. My most significant personal accomplishment is having my dissertation housed in the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., as well as the Prague Holocaust Museum."

Doctoral Fellowship, Conservatory of Shenandoah University; Carol A. Carter Scholarship, Georgia Southern University; Directors Award, Armstrong State College; Theodore Presser Scholarship, Armstrong State College

National Association of Teachers of Singing

Articles

• Ricks, D. Samuel Barber: American classical composer. In A.W. Cramer (Ed.), "Musicians and composers of the 20th century." Pasadena, California: Salem Press (2009): 67-68
• Ricks, D. Ennio Morricone: Italian classical and film-score composer. In A.W. Cramer (Ed.), "Musicians and composers of the 20th century." Pasadena, California: Salem Press (2009): 989-990

Presentation

• Vocal master class, March 31, 2008 for students at Savannah State University

Guest lecturer

• "Research in Music Education; Keys to Successful Research"; searching electronic databases, using interlibrary loan, and mastering APA citation. January 2006
• Women and Creativity Conference. West Virginia University, Presentation: "Hildegard von Bingen: The Origins of Feminine Creativity," 2004

Performances

• "Semester of Schumann: 'Frauenliebe und Leben'"; "Mercer Magic: Celebrating 100 Years of Johnny Mercer"; "A Night of Opera: arias, duets and ensembles"; Concert of all English songs; concert of the "26 Italian" songbook.

"Teaching is at its best when students are actively engaged in making their discipline part of their daily lives. I have been encouraged by a handful of teachers to pass this ideal along to my students. Teaching in the arts means teaching students to hone their crafts so they can enjoy and share their gifts for their entire lives. Long after I am a non-performing artist, I aspire to continue to teach those who are willing to make music a part of their lives."

• MUSC 101 Music Appreciation
• MUSC 140 Music Theory

"As an artist, specifically a singer, I take seriously my responsibility to convey the wishes of the composer to the best of my ability. My favorite thing about singing is taking a text and making it come to life for someone else. In the fleeting instances of live performance, I hope always to create a lifelong memory for myself as well as my audience."

2011

2010

Directing assistant, "The Lion King," Broadway; regular mainstage performer of improv and sketch comedy at Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre and Gotham City Improv; guest performer at improv venues from coast to coast; director of "Beauty Queen of Leenane," "Lend Me A Tenor," "The Crucible" and more; adjunct professor at Fordham University, Brooklyn College and Manhattanville College; educator/guest artist at New York University, Beloit College, Broadway Classroom and Educational Resource Systems; writer, adaptation of Aristophanes' "Lysistrata" for Manhattanville College

Gotham City Improv executive and artistic director

First prize, 6th Annual Big Apple Improv Festival; runner-up, Audience Favorite, New York International Fringe Festival; selected to perform at inaugural Del Close Improv Festival; awarded teaching fellowship at Brooklyn College

SCAD press release:

• "SCAD performing arts opens its 2011-12 season with 'IMPROV!'"

Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, Association for Theatre in Higher Education, Theater Communications Group

Roberta S. Matthews Center for Teaching, Brooklyn College, City University of New York, 2010 pedagogy seminar: "The Role of Leadership in the Classroom: Creating an Ensemble and a Collaborative Learning Experience," co-author and co-presenter (with Rose Burnett Bonczek, Associate Professor of Theater, Brooklyn College)

"Seeing a student's face light up when they make a discovery or achieve a new level of success gives me a deep, personal sense of fulfillment. I share their exuberance, which fuels my passion to help them always be better today than they were yesterday."

• MPRA 103 Introduction to Performance
• MPRA 160 Fundamentals of Character and Stagecraft
• MPRA 261 Improvisation
• MPRA 366 Advanced Character Development
• MPRA 410 Issues of Contemporary Acting Genres
• MPRA 465 Advanced Improvisation
• MPRA 765 Improvisation Techniques

"To me, the most exciting art comes from creative risk-taking. To do that, we must recognize and embrace the truth that failure is an essential part of any creative process. In addition to everything else we do, we have to keep jumping off the cliff, for that is the only way to fly."

2007

Series regular, "The Gregory Hines Show"; contract player, "As the World Turns"; guest star on more than 50 television shows; recurring role on five primetime television series; actor in more than 30 commercials; acting coach in Los Angeles; lead role actor, Illinois Shakespeare Festival

Series regular on "The Gregory Hines Show"; Gavin Kruger on "As the World Turns"; recurring role on the "George Lopez Show"

Grand Champion of "Star Search"; Irene Ryan National Winner, 1980

Screen Actors Guild, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, Actors' Equity Association

Presentations

• Acting for the Camera workshops at Georgia Thespian Conference, 2011 Michigan Thespian Conference, 2009
• Booker T. Washington High School, Savannah Arts Academy, 2009

"My father was a professor of theater at the University of Illinois, so teaching has always felt like home for me. I would run into former students of his in the professional world and they all remarked how his teaching helped them in their careers. This made quite an impact on me. He meant so much to these young actors and much of their success was due to his inspiration and guidance. When acting for television started to lose some of its glamour, I took a chance and tried teaching. I loved it. I was coming home."

• MPRA 103 Introduction to Performance
• MPRA 160 Fundamentals of Character and Stagecraft
• MPRA 314 Acting for the Camera I
• MPRA 340 Scene Study
• MPRA 414 Acting for the Camera II
• MPRA 775 Graduate Camera Acting

"Part of what makes us human is our ability to tell stories. The actor, I think, is the most important part of that storytelling. He is revered for it. The art of acting is magical. The audience sees a 'person' who is different from the actor. It's arresting. It's astounding. And the better the actor, the better the story. A well-acted story can, at the very least, give a moment of joy to a weary factory worker whose wife just left. At the most, it can change the way we think and act. My love of acting is equal to my love of life. We create a life on stage, on camera, wherever there's an audience. My job then gives me profound pleasure and satisfaction because I have the honor of inspiring and guiding some of the next generation of storytellers."

2007

Artistic director, The Naples Theatre, Naples, Florida, 1999-2007; artistic director, The Firehouse Center for the Arts, Boston, Massachusetts; artistic director, The Lincoln Playhouse, Lincoln, Nebraska; artistic director, The Topeka Civic Theatre, Topeka, Kansas; resident stage director, Cincinnati Opera, Cincinnati, Ohio; resident stage director, Chautauqua Opera, New York; resident stage director, Buxton Festival, England; freelance artist, Academy Theatre, Atlanta, Georgia; freelance artist, Chicago Opera Theater, Chicago, Illinois; freelance artist, The Blowing Rock Playhouse, Blowing Rock, North Carolina; freelance artist, Chautauqua Conservatory, New York; freelance artist, Frankfurt Hauptbuhne, Frankfurt, Germany; freelance artist, Maggio Musicale, Florence, Italy; professor, University of New Hampshire; professor, University of Nebraska; professor, The University of Cincinnati; directing intern/assistant to Douglas Hughes, Seattle Repertory Theatre; artistic director, Cincinnati Festival of New Plays, Cincinnati, Ohio; producer, Russia, Live!, theater exchange program with the Teatr Na Liteynom in St. Petersburg, Russia

Subject of PBS Documentary on Russia/USA theater collaborations

Society of Directors and Choreographers, Southeastern Theatre Conference, Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival

"Introduction to Directing," Focus Publishing

"Desire to inspire students to define the future of the performing artist in a 21st century context."

• MUST 240 Vocal Performance Rep
• MUST 340 Musical Theatre Scene Study
• MPRA 204 Survey of Theatre and Drama II
• MPRA 340 Scene Study
• MPRA 375 Directing
• MPRA 400 Audition Techniques and Materials
• MPRA 702 Acting: Realism
• MPRA 706 Acting, non-realism
• MPRA 780 Special Topics in Performing Arts

"Reinvention keeps the arts alive."

michaelwainstein.com

2010

Adjunct assistant professor, theater department at Marymount Manhattan College; visiting lecturer, college seminar program at Yale University

Productions of plays at theaters across the country, including off-Broadway

Francesca Primus Citation 2010 from the American Theatre Critics Association; publication in "New Playwrights: Best Plays of 2007"; recipient, Audrey Wood Scholarship, Yale School of Drama; play commissions from MCC theater, Yale Repertory Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse and Actors Theatre of Louisville

Playwrights' Coalition, MCC theater; Affiliated Playwright, New Georges theater company; Phi Beta Kappa

Plays

• "Bleeding Kansas," Samuel French, 2011
• "Know Dog," Playscripts, 2010
• "Miss Electricity," Playscripts, 2010
• "Dramatics Magazine," 2008
• "New Playwrights: The Best Plays of 2007," Smith & Kraus, 2008
• "Victoria Martin: Math Team Queen," Samuel French, 2008
• "Humana Festival 2007: Complete Plays," 2008
• "New Monologues: for Women by Women II," 2005
• "Know Dog," Salvage Vanguard Press, 2004
• "International Women's Playwriting Anthology," 2003.

"Teaching is an integral part of my own creative life as a playwright. Being around enthusiastic, gutsy young writers feeds me artistically, and my time in the classroom allows me to investigate more closely my own writing process and ideas about the dramatic production, theatrical history and the literature of plays."

• MPRA 201 Survey of Theater and Drama I
• MPRA 204 Survey of Theater and Drama II
• MPRA 215 Playwriting
• MPRA 315 Advanced Playwriting
• DWRI 708 Forms in Playwriting

" 'Writing is acting is directing is living your life,' writes John Patrick Shanley in his introduction to his play 'Danny and the Deep Blue Sea.' This is a statement that has stuck with me since I read it about five years ago. I feel an active link between my work as a playwright, the kind of theater I want to create and the approach I take interacting with the world. I value artistic risk and personal honesty and a connection to the thoughts and emotions that fuel the conversations of my life."

2005

Wallace has musical directed off-Broadway productions at The Actor's Playhouse, Seaside Music Theatre in Daytona, The York Theatre and others. He has also musical directed at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., Caldwell Theatre Company in Boca Raton, Florida, The Flat Rock Playhouse at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas, Nevada, and has conducted for the Virginia Ballet, among many other achievements.

Serving as the musical director of the premiere of The Million Dollar Quartet, now playing on Broadway

Five-time nominee and two-time Carbonell Award winner for Best Musical Direction

Member, Actor's Equity, American Federation of Musicians

"Puttin' on the Ritz," the music of Irving Berlin, licensed through Rodgers and Hammerstein Music Library

"Sharing passion for music with students."