What was your major(s)? “Double majored in English/Theatre and Dance.”
Did you do any research/projects in your time as a Theatre major? “I wrote a one-act play for the Dead Arts Society student theatre club with Professor Rossini advising. I was assistant director ’Do Not Obey’ for Margaret Laurena Kemp and Lisa Quoresimo. I performed in 6 department shows, including ‘Mr. Burns: A Post Electric Play’ and ‘Romeo and Juliet.’”
Did you have any internships or other jobs during college? “I had an internship through the English department as they developed ‘Play the Knave,’ an interactive Shakespeare-performance game.”
Did you travel while you were a student or after you graduated? “I studied abroad in London for two weeks over winter break.”
Have you had any internships/apprenticeships/other jobs after graduating? “Since leaving UC Davis, I worked as an apprentice at Capital Stage in Sacramento for a year. I now work for a solar panel company and at Big Idea Theatre in Sacramento.”
“In my last quarter at UC Davis, I was cast at Davis Shakespeare Ensemble for their summer repertory. I have worked consistently with them, and this will be my third season when I return in the fall. During the run of those, my first season I was accepted into the Capital Stage Apprenticeship Program and started that at the end of August 2016.”
Where is your hometown, and where are you located now? “I grew up in Santa Cruz, CA and now live in Sacramento.”
Advice? “Work hard, play fair, and try to keep a sense of humor about yourself. It’s a tough business but if you want it, you’ll make it happen somehow.”
Theatre & Dance students who graduated with an MFA or PhD have gone on to many interesting jobs. Here we list recent news items that have come to our attention. See individual posts for details about their current work and accomplishments.
Two-time Academy Award winner Quentin Tarantino gave the keynote speech at the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television’s 14th Annual Design Showcase West (DSW) on Saturday, June 4, and in attendance were Mari Carson and Sojin Han, Master of Fine Arts design students in UC Davis Department of Theatre and Dance. The showcase, created by UCLA TFT, is the only entertainment design showcase on the West Coast featuring the work of students grad
Emelie Mahdavian, a UC Davis PhD candidate in Performance Studies, will have her film ”After the Curtain” premiere at the the Dance on Camera Film Festival at the Walter Reade Theater on Tuesday, February 16.
The film is to be screened at the upcoming San Luis Obispo Film Festival on March 17 and 19. For more information, visit SLO Film Fest 22.
UC Davis alumna Natasha Halevi is an actress in a series called “Lunch Break Feminist Club,” that was recently accepted into the Hollywood & Vine Film Festival. The series will show on December 11th in Hollywood, California.
Please click here for more details.
Four UC Davis Theatre & Dance MFA alumni were just nominated for ‘Outstanding Production of a Play’ by Theatre Bay Area! Their production of “Gruesome Playground Injuries” included the following alums:
Cast: Maria Candelaria (Class of 2013) and Bobby August Jr. (Class of 2013)
Director: Iu-Hui Chua (Class of 2013)
Scenic and Costume Design: Maggie S. Chan (Class of 2012)
Alumna Claire Bennett (MFA 2006) has been nominated for a 2014 Emmy Award for her work as Production Designer on “Modern Family” (ABC). Go to the Television Academy website to see all Emmy nominees in this category.
What are you doing these days? We want to hear about your life since you graduated. Are you working, attending grad school, or performing somewhere? Please fill out this form to tell us about your work, accomplishments, awards or future plans.
