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.
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.
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.
Alum Isaac Hirotsu Woofter (B.A., theatre and dance, ‘00) is the
director and writer of the new film Bound, which will
have its Bay area theatrical premiere May 16 – 22 (7pm) at
the Alameda Theatre
and Cineplex.
In 2024 alum Mengyuan “Mia” Qin (B.A., theatre and
dance, ‘20) has served as a production assistant on the Broadway
musical Maybe
Happy Ending which has been nominated for
ten 2025 Tony Award nominations including Best
Musical.
Alumna Olivia Caserta (B.A., theatre and dance, ‘22) and
undergraduate student Megan Abbanat are co-directing the Winters
Shakespeare Workshop production of the Bard’s
romantic comedy Twelfth Night which performs
July 21 and 22 at the Winters City Park playground stage.
The production features music direction by Nicholas Carvajal,
librarian for the UC Davis Department of Music.
Professor Margaret Laurena Kemp, theatre and dance department
chair, is pleased to announce the Granada Artists-in-Residence
for 2024 which includes an internationally acclaimed
alumnus.
Alumnus Jeffrey Carlson (B.A., dramatic arts, ‘97), who
achieved acclaim for his portrayal of one of the first
transgender characters on daytime television in the
series All My Children, died on July 6. His career
spanned Broadway, regional theatre, television and
film.
Alumna Mengyuan “Mia” Qin (B.A., theatre and dance, ‘20) has
recently served as a production assistant on the new Broadway
musical Shucked. In
addition, Qin received her MFA in stage management from Columbia
University’s School of the Arts in 2023.
From a classic Shakespearean comedy to a dynamic hip-hop
workshop, the UC Davis Department of Theatre and Dance 2023-2024
season aspires to have worldwide effect.
Alumna Aliya Hunter
(B.A., gender studies, sexuality and women’s studies, ‘21) will
be doing her solo work Undefeated as part of New York’s
PrideFest
2023. The work will be performed at The Tank on June 23 at 7
p.m.
Professor Margaret Laurena Kemp, theatre and dance chair, is
pleased to announce that UC Davis alum Dahlak Brathwaite
(B.A. English and theatre and dance, ‘08), a spoken-word
poet, musician, actor, playwright and writer, returns to campus
for a Hip-Hop residency in winter quarter 2024.
Poetry by doctoral student Diego Martínez-Campos (M.F.A, dramatic
arts, ‘20) has been selected to be part of Catalyst New
Music, an innovative music collaboration, along with the work of
14 other artists across the U.S.A.
Olivia Caserta (B.A., theatre and dance, ‘22) is appearing as a
contestant in Hulu’s new baking competition series, Best
in Dough. Caserta is featured in episode 4 “College
Kids.”
Ranked: The Musical, which was developed in part at UC
Davis through Catalyst Theatre/Ground and Field Theatre Festival,
is the subject of a documentary film My So-Called High School
Rank, produced by HBO. The film was recently presented at
DOC5 Film Fest in Menlo Park, CA, and is making the rounds at
numerous festivals this fall including the
Woodstock Film Festival.
Noah VanderVeer-Harris was a member of the 2019 GFTF ensemble
while also serving as the publicity intern for the Department of
Theatre and Dance during the same period. He appeared in the
festival’s production of the new musical Fat Kid Rules the
World. Noah shares his insight into why you should be a
member of GFTF which has been re-branded as Catalyst: A Think
Tank Theatre.
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.
