The Through Line: Spring 2017

Calling all UTS Alumni!

I am so proud to announce that this season is the Undergraduate Theater Society’s 20^th Anniversary, and in honor of this momentous year, we will be throwing an Alumni Fundraiser Gala on Saturday May 6^th. This evening is to honor the important contributions all of our members, past and present, have made to UTS, dance and revel in the nostalgia of our memories, and announce our 2017-2018 season. We invite all alumni to come celebrate 20 incredible years of UTS history with us!

For me, this night is extremely exciting because our current students, including myself, will get a chance to meet our alumni, the drama geeks who walked the halls before us. UTS is an ever-changing entity comprised of students who did one show or workshop, to those who spent more time in the Cabaret Theater than they did in their college dorm room. Whether you are part of the former or the latter (or somewhere in between) we would love for you to join us on May 6^th. UTS is special because of the number of people who have come through our doors, and contributed to our community in so many different ways. We began when there was an urgent need to give undergraduates in the School of Drama a place to practice their craft, create art, and perform. Though this still rings true today, the beauty of UTS is that it is malleable and ever-changing. With a new board every year, we have the special challenge of making sure both our current...

Before graduating with her BA from the School of Drama back in 2012, Shaudi took full advantage of her time at UW. Along with acting in several UTS production, Shaudi was the creator of Feast Your Ears, a curated night of musical performances that benefited Northwest Harvest, and directed Working, The Musical in her senior year. Since graduating she has performed with companies like Washington Ensemble Theatre and Book-It Repertory Theatre among others, and is also a founding member of The Horse in Motion. Through her projects with The Horse in Motion, she has learned the delicate balance between being an actor and a producer at the same time. 

How did you get involved with The Horse in Motion? 

SV: About a year or so after I graduated from UW, one of my former classmates, Mary Hubert, got in touch saying there was a cool script that a few people we went to school with were thinking of producing, and did I want to come be a part of a reading at her apartment? The script was Martin Crimp’s Attempts on her Life which turned out to be our first show. Our little team basically ended up founding the company while simultaneously producing the show (the type of multi-tasking most self-producers are pretty familiar with). We found that the community was interested in our work and in nontraditional theatre, so when...

Ron Heneghan (PATP ‘93) is currently performing in Chesapeake Shakespeare Company’s production of The Taming of the Shrew, running through April 9th.  

Valeka J. Holt  (PATP ’12) will be making her Arena Stage Debut as Ruth in their upcoming production of A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry. The production runs April 25th-May 7th.

Eloisa Cardona (BA '84) premiered her short film Locked at the Northwest Film Forum in mid-March. The film centers around a former marathon runner who struggles to free herself from fear after surviving a terror attack. You can learn more about Locked here. 

The Horse in Motion opens Wellesley Girl by Brendan Pelsue at 18th & Union on April 13th. The production is directed by Bobbin Ramsey (BA ‘12, staff) and features the acting talents of Sunam Ellis (PATP ’15), Joey Shaw (BA ‘12), Shaudi Vahdat (BA ’12), Nic Morden (BA ‘12), and Ben Phillips (BA ’13), as well...