Rhett Guter, an award-winning director, choreographer and actor,
will be the winter 2026 Granada Artist-in-Residence serving as
director and choreographer for The Drowsy
Chaperone, the Department of Theatre and Dance’s winter
quarter production.
The Department of Theatre and Dance at the University of
California, Davis is dedicated to integrating consent-based
practices into all classroom, studio and production environments.
The 180 Series of courses provide exciting practical instruction
and participation in all aspects of theatrical and dance
production. Whether you are exploring these courses as a
Theatre & Dance Major, Minor, or are simply an interested
non-affiliated student, you will find passionate people working
to create art and tell stories on stage. We invite you to
join us at this link.
Alumna Taśa Gleason (MFA, dramatic arts, ‘20) returns to UC Davis
as costume designer for the winter quarter Department of Theatre
and Dance production of The Drowsy Chaperone.
As a graduate student at UC Davis, Gleason designed costumes for
Flora The Red Menace and The Threepenny Opera.
The Modern Language Association of America announced that Jon D.
Rossini, professor of theatre and dance at the University of
California, Davis, received an honorable mention in the
category Latina and Latino and Chicana and Chicano Literary
and Cultural Studies for his book, Pragmatic
Liberation and the Politics of Puerto Rican Diasporic
Drama.
Alumni James Hiser and UC Davis Senior Continuing Lecturer
Michele Apriña Leavy (both MFA, dramatic art, ’94) are
headed to Ireland with the recent Eugene O’Neill Foundation
production of The Hairy Ape.
In honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month, the Department of
Theatre and Dance spotlights undergraduate student playwrights
Melanie Garcia and Simon Garcia Parra Jr., who are the
authors of To Kill a Certain Painter and No Que
No?, two one-act plays that premiere as part of
Written and Directed By.
Relative Motion – the 2026 Spring Dance Concert –
seeks dancers to perform original works by student
choreographers. The Department of Theatre and Dance will hold
auditions on Feb. 3 and 4 in the Hickey Gym. Relative
Motion will be presented in mid-May and the works will be
curated by Visiting Professor Doria E. Charlson.
Winner of Tony Awards for Best Book and Best Original
Score, The Drowsy Chaperone is a loving
send-up of the Golden Age of the Broadway musical. The
UC Davis Department of Theatre and Dance presents the hilarious
musical in the Main Theatre, Wright Hall, with opening night set
for Feb. 26 at 7 p.m.
The Department of Theatre and Dance will present The
Odyssey in Shadow, a large-scale cinematic shadow
theater experience inspired by the ancient epic The
Odyssey. The production will perform at the end of spring
quarter 2026 in the Arena Theatre, Wright Hall.
