Faculty & Staff

Cassie Abate is a Co-Head of the Musical Theatre Program. Cassie originally hails from Sarasota, FL and has spent the last 15 years working as a performer, director and choreographer in New York and throughout the country. Cassie received a BFA in Musical Theatre from The University of Miami and an...

BFA in Production and BFA in Design, Texas Christian University, 2008
MFA in Stage Management, University of Iowa, 2014

Leigh'Ann is the Stage Management Lecturer at Texas State University. She currently works as a stage manager with Ballet Austin and ZACH Theatre. Previously, she has had a...

Ana Baer Carrillo is a Mexican-American video-choreographer living in the US since 2000. The international scope of her presentations, the diversity of the forms in which she works, and her frequent practice of collaboration are evidence of her twenty-first century, transitional, interdisciplinary contributions...

Born in NYC, raised and educated in Colorado and then back to NYC for a career on Broadway. Passed through Los Angeles for a few years in the Television industry then to Austin, Texas where I direct and stage manage new plays and perform in Shakespeare and Sondheim musicals. I teach Voice and Diction...

Kaysie Seitz Brown is an educator, choreographer, and dancer based in Austin, TX and an Associate Professor in the Department of Theatre & Dance at Texas State University. She holds an MFA in Dance from Case Western University in Cleveland, OH and a Bachelor in Exercise and Sports Science from Texas...

Emmy, Peabody and Gracie award-winning producer and writer Elizabeth (Betty) Buckley is a native Texan with over 25 years of experience in film, television, new media and animation.

She has BFA in Broadcast-Film Arts from SMU, and studied in the Dramatic Writing Graduate Program at Texas State...

Trad A Burns, Lighting Designer

Trad has been designing scenery and lighting professionally since 1989 for theatre, dance, and amusement parks. Recent credits include the world premiere of Carmen, choreographed by Kenneth Tindal; Thrive, Choreographed by Ma Cong; What’s...

MFA 2000 The University of Texas at Austin,
Major: Writing (James A. Michener Fellow) Minor: History
Thesis: Feature screenplay - HOLLOW MACK
B.S 1982 The University of Texas at Austin. Major: Radio-TV-Film

Dr. Byrne has a PhD in Theatre Studies from the City Univeristy of New York, Graduate Center, a MA in Theatre from Northwestern University, and BAs in Theatre and English from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Jacqui Calloway graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Dartmouth College and has studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts, Anthony Meindl’s Actor Workshop, and the Relativity School. She is a SAG-AFTRA member and spent time working in Los Angeles, where she appeared on Rosewood (FOX), The Inspectors...

Julio is the Head of Musical Theatre Dance. Native Spanish and fluent English speaker. He recieved his BFA in dance from The Ailey School/Fordham University and MFA in musical theatre from San Diego State University. He has spent the past 20 years as a performer, producer, director, choreographer and...

As a theatre artist, educator, and facilitator, Michelle Dahlenburg works at the intersection of art and community, civic, and social change. Michelle is the former Artistic Director of Conspire Theatre, where she created and facilitated theatre and creative writing programs for women during incarceration...

Tom is a Co-head of Musical Theatre: Head of Production and New Works. They hold a Masters in Directing from Texas State University. At TXST, Tom has directed Spring Awakening, Guys & Dolls, Cabaret, Hair, Speech and Debate, the New Musical workshop of Dylan Spencer’s Cat Obedience School, and many other...

Cheri Prough DeVol is an American scenic and lighting designer who employs theatrical forms to synthesize her passion for music, storytelling, truth, and beauty. Inspired by both physical and metaphorical action in the source material, she creates sculptural forms that evoke emotion and provoke...

Lesley Fairman is a Production Manager and Technical Director currently serving as the Director of Production for the Department of Theatre and Dance at Texas State University. Originally from Los Angeles, she has worked across many disciplines of theatre, events, and themed entertainment as a Production...

Roxanne Gage has celebrated many years of experience as a dance artist, choreographer, educator, and dance adjudicator. She holds a BA in Dance from the University of Texas at Austin and an Associate of Fine Arts from Kilgore College. She is a former Kilgore College Rangerette Lieutenant and Swingster...

Kevin Gates holds an MA in Theatre from Texas State and a JD from the University of Houston Law Center.

Ms. George is a professional actress and has been a member of SAG/AFTRA and AEA for 35 years. She hails from Albuquerque, NM and began her acting career after graduating Magna Cum Laude from The University of Utah in Theatre with a Performance emphasis. After working and teaching for many years, she...

Monica Pasut is a costume designer and technician with over 25 years of professional experience in live theatre and dance. She began her career as a wardrobe attendant, costumer assistant and craft artist for the creative costuming department of Walt Disney World, Florida. From there, she was a dresser...

Kenya Gillespie is a Japanese American filmmaker and composer based in Austin, Texas. His narrative short film JEREMIAH received its international premiere at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival (Cinéfondation) where it was nominated for the short film Queer Palm. It won Best Score at the Brooklyn Horror Film...

Kate Glasheen is an actor, voiceover artist, dialect coach, and voice & speech specialist. She teaches vocal health and production, verse and scansion, text analysis, the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), Voiceover, and Dialects. Professionally, she has coached at major regional theaters including...

Brandon Gonzalez holds a BFA in Sculpture and an MFA in Interdisciplinary Dramatic Arts where he worked between the fields of visual arts, choreography, and performance. His investigations of the body as a resource for artistic practice led him to develop works across a variety of artistic mediums. Currently,...

As a soloist, choreographer and master teacher, Ms. Gray has toured extensively across the U.S. and abroad as a tap dance artist and in 1989 co-founded Tapestry Dance Company in Austin, TX with Deirdre Strand. She currently serves as Producing Artistic Director as well as the Artistic Director of The...

MFA Film & Media Production, University of Texas at Austin, 2016
Bachelor of Arts in Communication, University of Alabama, 2013

Shelby Hadden is a writer, crowdfunding manager, producer, and documentary filmmaker. Her films have screened at festivals around the world, including Annecy International...

As Artistic Director of Shay Ishii Dance Company and Dancestry, Shay Hartung seeks to immerse her audience in a kinesthetic and aesthetic experience of sensation, light and sound. Her extensive background in the work of Erick Hawkins has instilled a deep appreciation for artistic heritage and inspired...

Yesenia Garcia Herrington is an actress, educator, and entrepreneur. A Rio Grande Valley native, she is a graduate of Southwestern University and The University of Texas at Austin MFA Acting Program. Her film and television credits include the award-winning documentary Horton Foote: The Road to Home,...

Taniel Kilajian is an Armenian-American independent filmmaker that experiments in both fiction and documentary mediums. His films have screened and won awards at festivals both domestic and international, including SXSW, Soho International Film Festival, Rhode Island International Film Festival, and...

Lauren Lane Head of Acting
In her ten years in Los Angeles, Lauren Lane starred in three award winning television series; The Nanny, L.A. Law and Hunter. Winning the LA Critics award, Austin Critics Circle award and multiple B Iden Payne awards represent the critical acclaim of her extensive and continuing...

Ben Langenkamp is a Texas native who has produced a broad range of media for film, television and interactive formats and platforms. His professional background in illustration, storyboarding, animation (classical, stop motion and CGI), background and concept painting, environment and level art...

Huay-Bing Law is a director and cinematographer whose films have earned an HBO APA Visionary Award, Princess Grace Award, and played in festivals worldwide. His latest directorial film, JUNE, about a Chinese immigrant’s experience in the segregated South, premiered on HBO. His work as a cinematographer...

Professor Maines has been the Chair of the Department of Theatre and Dance since 2020. She specializes in theatrical lighting design and is the recipient of the National Partners in American Theatre Mentor Award from the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival as well as Presidential Distinction...

Dr. Ana Martínez holds a doctoral degree in Theatre Studies from the City University of New York, an MA in Scenography from Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in London, and an Architecture degree from Universidad Anahuac in Mexico.

As a scholar, she integrates a knowledge of...

Johnny McAllister is an award-winning writer, director and producer from Donegal, Ireland via the Middle East and elsewhere. He has written on over a dozen film and TV projects for the likes of Warner Brothers and Starz and have played at festivals such as Cannes, Sundance and SXSW. Johnny co-wrote and...

Amanda McCorkle is an award-winning choreographer, performer and teacher from Austin, Texas. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Dance from Texas State University, and a Master of Fine Arts degree in Dance from Texas Woman’s University.

Amanda has performed the works of talented choreographers...

Tobie Minor is a seasoned professional in the world of theatre arts, specializing in both acting and stage combat. With a BA in Theatre Arts from New Mexico State University and 23 years of experience as an Advanced Actor Combatant with the Society of American Fight Directors, Tobie currently serves...

Michelle Nance, Professor and Director of Dance at Texas State University, has enjoyed many years of devising dance works collaboratively with colleagues and students; as well as performing in the U.S. and abroad. Michelle has studied and taught the technique of Erick Hawkins extensively, and served...

Michelle Ney has designed scenery and costumes for numerous theatre and opera companies, including ZACH Theatre, The Colony Theatre and The Theatre at Boston Court (Los Angeles), Illinois Shakespeare Festival, Texas Shakespeare Festival, Idaho Repertory Theatre, Austin Shakespeare, and Austin Lyric Opera....

Andy Park is an educator, artistic director, stage director, and puppeteer. Andy is the Head of Directing at Texas State University and Associate Professor of Theatre. Prior to coming to Texas State, he was a faculty member at the University of Southern Mississippi (2023-2024), University of Nebraska-Lincoln...

Jonathan "JayWAN" Pattiwael is an Indonesian American dancer, teacher, and choreographer from the Hip-Hop global civilization who creates performance as resistance by remixing their artistic practices in breaking, hip-hop, house, interactive theatre, experimental and contemporary forms to tell human...

Jackson is an Artist | Educator who currently coordinates the voice line for Texas State University’s BFA Musical Theater program. Since attending Texas State for Musical Theater Jackson received his certification and master certification in One Voice and has taught privately for 10 years. He’s helped...

Bachelor of Science, University of Texas-Austin, Radio-TV-Film, 1996

Aimee Radics (she/her) is a music director, conductor, pianist and educator currently serving as Head of Music Direction for the BFA Musical Theatre Program at Texas State University. She teaches Singing for the Actor, a musical theatre performance course, and teaches collaboratively as in-class...

MFA --RUTGERS UNIVERSITY
BFA --STEPHEN F. AUSTIN STATE UNIVERSITY

Richard recently played George Pappas on David E. Kelley's BIG SHOT with John Stamos and Yvette Nicole Brown on Disney+. Later this year you can see him in the feature film THE LONG GAME which won the audience award at SXSW as...

Melissa started in theatre at a young age in school and community theatre, and she began to pursue it seriously in undergraduate school at Troy University. After taking some time to pursue work in film and television, Melissa attended Texas State University and earned a Master of Arts Degree in Theatre...

Syd has penned various stage productions in both Chicago, Texas and Los Angeles. He also wrote and performed his one man show Brother’s Tellin’ which opened for Lily Tomlin’s show, The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe in Los Angeles. Syd was then selected for the Mark...

Colin is the Assistant Professor of Technical Production and Head of the BFA Technical Production Concentration at Texas State University where he serves as the department Technical Director. Originally from Indianapolis, he holds a Bachelor of Science in Recording Arts from Indiana University’s Jacobs...

Jack Smith is a costume designer for Theater, Musical Theater and Dance as well as a teacher and costume historian. His career has spanned from educational theater to regional theaters around the United States. As a costume designer he loves discovering the intimate details of a character and collaborating...

Neil Patrick Stewart is a proud member of the acting faculty at Texas State, as well as an actor, writer, and decorated director. He holds an M.F.A. in acting from the world-renowned American Repertory Theatre/Moscow Art Theatre Institute for Advanced Theatre Training (A.R.T.) at Harvard University,...

Caitlin Turnage holds a B.F.A in Playwriting and Dramaturgy from the University of Houston and an M.F.A. in Theatre from Texas State University. She's a co-founder of Ignition Theatre Productions a student run group operating out of the University of Houston. Her play "It's a fine day for a picnic" was...