People - Alumni

Alumni from the University of Washington School of Drama are advancing the artistic conversation through their innovative and diverse work both regionally and across the globe. Our graduates, many who have gone on to become highly successful, represent the best of what the School of Drama has to offer. Whether they went on to become television stars, acclaimed film producers, exceptional costume designers, artistic directors, or theatrical entrepreneurs, the UW School of Drama was the foundation for their growth as artists.

Barzin Akhavan

MFA, Acting, Class of 2007
Samer Al-Saber

Assistant Professor, Stanford University, PhD, Theater History and Criticism, Class of 2013
John Aylward

BFA, Drama (PATP) , Class of 1971
Tim Bond

Artistic Director, TheatreWorks, Silicon Valley, MFA, Directing, Class of 1983
Linsey Bostwick

Director of Artistic Planning, The Arts Center at NYUAD, BA, Drama, Class of 2000
Christopher Brown

Production Designer, MFA Scenic Design, Class of 1999
Melanie Burgess

Costume Designer, MFA, Costume Design, Class of 2002
Ken Cerniglia

Broadway Dramaturg, Scholar & Writer, PhD, Theater History and Criticism, Class of 2001
Christina Chang

MFA, Acting, Class of 1996
Desdemona Chiang

Stage Director, Seattle Rep, ACT, South Coast Rep, Guthrie Theater, MFA, Directing, Class of 2009
Mairi Chisholm

Costume Designer and Commercial Stylist, MFA, Costume Design, Class of 2007
Josh Costello

Director, 59E59, Aurora Theatre Company, San Francisco Playhouse, MFA, Directing, Class of 2003
Tré Cotten

Part-time Lecturer, Screen Acting, Hollywood Dialect Coach, Director, Actor, MFA, Acting, Class of 2017
Linda Emond

MFA, Acting (PATP), Class of 1986
Trish Harnetiaux

Playwright, Filmmaker and Podcast Creator, BA, Drama, Class of 1998
Bria Henderson

MFA, Acting, Class of 2018
Gregg Henry

BFA, Drama (PATP), Class of 1975
Marya Sea Kaminiski

Artistic Director, Pittsburgh Public Theater, MFA, Acting, Class of 2004
Richard Karn

BFA, Drama (PATP), Class of 1979
Carl Kennedy

MFA, Acting, Class of 2010
Mariana Klaveno

BA, Drama, Class of 2009
Lenne Klingaman

MFA, Acting, Class of 2007
Anna Lamadrid

Playwright and Performer, MFA, Acting, Class of 2015
Andrew Layton

Set Designer and member of the Art Directors Guild, Local 800, MFA, Set Design, Class of 2005
Allison Leach

Emmy Award-winning Costume Designer, BA, Drama, Class of 2000
Andrew Lieberman

Set Designer, MFA, Scenic Design, Class of 1998
Ada Limón

Author, Guggenheim Fellow (2020), 24th U.S. Poet Laureate (2022), BA, Drama, Class of 1998
Kyle MacLachlan

BFA, Acting (PATP), Class of 1982
Andrew Mannion

Scene Designer/Lecturer, Union College, MFA, Scenic Design, Class of 2012
Amy Rose Marsh

Vice President, Acquisitions and Artistic Development, Concord Theatricals, BA, Drama, Class of 2005
Theresa May

Professor of Theatre Arts, University of Oregon, Artistic Director, EMOS Festival, PhD, Class of 2000
Joel McHale

Actor, Comedian, Producer, Television Host, MFA, Acting, Class of 2000
Bridget McKevitt

Actor, MFA. Acting, Class of 2018
Thorn Michaels

Gregory Award-winning Lighting Designer, MFA, Lighting Design, Class of 2016
Rene Millan

Actor, Director, Educator, MFA, Acting, Class of 1999
Leyla Modrizadeh

Lecturer in Acting and Public Speaking, UC, Berkeley, MFA, Acting, Class of 1994
Michael Navarra

Actor, Director, Producer, Educator, MFA, Acting, Class of 2002
Joe Ngo

Actor, Writer, Performer, MFA, Acting, Class of 2015
Malika Oyetimein

Director and Playwright, Directors Lab at Lincoln Center, MFA, Directing, Class of 2017
Detra Payne

Lecturer, Northwestern University, School of Communication, BA, Drama, Class of 1990
Pamela Reed

BFA, Drama (PATP), Class of 1975
Tlaloc Rivas

Director, Writer, Producer, Cofounder of Latinx Theatre Commons, MFA Directing, Class of 1999
Peggy Shannon

Dean, College of Professional Studies and Fine Arts at SDSU, MFA, Directing, Class of 1986
Lynn Shelton

Director, Filmmaker, BA. Drama, Class of 1987
Ron Simons

Tony Award-winning Producer, MFA, Acting, Class of 2001
Jean Smart

BFA, Drama (PATP), Class of 1974
Harris Smith

Dean, University of New Mexico, College of Fine Arts, MFA, Acting, Class of 1991
Lois Smith

BA, Drama, Class of 1951
Leslie Swackhamer

Stage Director, Producer, Executive Director of the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, MFA, Directing, Class of 1990
Alexandra Tavares

MFA, Acting, Class of 2005
Christian Telesmar

Actor, Entrepreneur, Educator, MFA, Acting, Class of 2014
Scott Venters

Chair of Performing Arts, Dallas College, PhD, Theatre History, Theory, and Criticism, Class of 2021
Amy Kim Waschke

Actor, BA, Drama, Class of 1997 and MFA, Acting, Class of 2004
Dawn Wells

BA, Drama, Class of 1960
Jennifer Zeyl

Scenic and Costume Designer, MFA, Scenic Design, Class of 2003

Alumni Websites

BA in Drama
Name	Job Title	Class Year
Arsenault, Holly	Playwright	2001
Buron, Ingrid Sanai	Professional Actor	1995
Harnetiaux, Trish	Playwright, Filmmaker and Podcast Creator	1998
Limón, Ada	Author, Guggenheim Fellow (2020), 24th U.S. Poet Laureate (2022)	1998
Place, Michael	Founding Artistic Curator, One Coast Collaboration	2004
Ramsey, Bobbin	Theatre and Film Director	2013
Shanthi, Hope	Professional Actor	2012
Smith, Devon	Co-founder, Measure Creative	2006

MFA in Acting (Professional Actor Training Program)
Name	Job Title	Class Year
Fort, Claire	Professional Actor	2016
Franks, Alyssa	Professional Actor	2020
Frear, Amy	Actor and Filmmaker	2011
Gilliespie, Brian	Director and Educator	2006
Glaser, Tamsen	Professional Actor	2018
Hahn, Gretchen	Professional Actor Training Program	2022
Henke, Saffron	Assistant Professor of Theatre, Colorado State University	2001
Holman, Asialani	Professional Actor	2021
Hutchison, Christopher	Actor, Director, Member of the Resident Acting Company at The Alley Theatre	1999
Kaminiski, Marya Sea	Artistic Director, Pittsburgh Public Theater	2004
Kruse, Phil	Partner, Artistic Director, Bandit Filmworks	2012
Lamadrid, Anna	Playwright and Performer	2015
Ludwigsen, Jennefer	Professional Actor	2009
McHale, Joel	Actor, Comedian, Producer, Television Host	2000
McKevitt, Bridget	Actor	2018
McLeod, Katharine	Professional Actor	2008
Millan, Rene	Actor, Director, Educator	1999
Miller, Semaj	Actor, Director, Artist	2020
Mitchell, Antonio	Professional Actor Training Program	2022
Modrizadeh, Leyla	Lecturer in Acting and Public Speaking, UC, Berkeley	1994
Navarra, Michael	Actor, Director, Producer, Educator	2002
Ngo, Joe	Actor, Writer, Performer	2015
Pavela, Tatiana	Actor and Theatre Artist	2017
Raney, Colleen	Traditional Irish Singer	2001
Shue, Jonathan	Actor and Education Director for Dusty Strings Music Store & School	2014
Simons, Ron	Tony Award-winning Producer	2001
Sweeney, Joellen	Professional Actor Training Program	2022
Telesmar, Christian	Actor, Entrepreneur, Educator	2014
Thorne, Jessica	Director of Customer Success, Funnel Gorgeous	2020
Vetter, Erika	Actor and Educator	2021
Virden, Zach	Actor and Production Assistant, Blindlight	2016
von Fliss, Montana	Public Speaking Trainer and Actor	2008
Waschke, Amy Kim	Actor	2004
Young, Jack	Head of Professional Actor Training Program, University of Houston	1986

MFA in Design
Name	Job Title	Class Year
Apatoff, Rachel	Costume Designer	2012
Arnold, Paul	Lighting Designer	2014
Bartek, Ann	Scenic Designer and Assistant Art Director	2004
Bernard, John	Lighting and Projection Designer	2015
Brown, Amiya	Lighting and Scenic Designer, Visual Artist, Educator (Seattle U)	2010
Brown, Christopher	Production Designer	1999
Buckstaff, Meleta	Costume Designer and Artist	2017
Burgess, Melanie	Costume Designer	2002
Chisholm, Mairi	Costume Designer and Commercial Stylist	2007
Cumings, Marnie	Lighting Designer	2012
Fischer, Kenrick	Lighting Designer	2017
Hogue, Emily Woods	Costume Designer	2018
Huang, Chun Yen	Lighting Designer	2020
Layton, Andrew	Set Designer and member of the Art Directors Guild, Local 800	2005
Lee, Kuan Ying	Costume Designer	2021
Legate, Joshua	Lighting, Projection and Scenic Designer	2021
Lieberman, Andrew	Set Designer	1998
Lim, Czerton	Associate Professor of Theatre, Scenic Design at SUNY Fredonia	2006
Mannion, Andrew	Scene Designer/Lecturer, Union College	2012
Marcos, Lex	Scenic designer and Visual storyteller	2017
Michaels, Thorn	Gregory Award-winning Lighting Designer	2016
Minahan, Michael	Studio and Scenic Painter/Designer	2011
Moreno Caycho, Jessica	Costume Designer	2021
Ogasawara, Maya	Costume and Scenic Designer	2015
Parker, Amber	Lighting Designer	2018
Petrovich, Michaela	Associate Professor of Theatre, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts	2014
Riel, Brandon	MFA in Scenic Design	2023
Roberts, Jared	Scenic Designer and Technical Director	2015
Sanchez, Martin	Costume Designer, Theater Educator, Director	2021
Shao, Chih-Hung	Lighting Designer	2021
Short, Melinda	Lighting Designer	2007
Sipila, Jennifer	Scenic Designer and Software Engineer	2014
Smucker, Matthew	Professor of Scenic Design, Cornish College of the Arts	2002
TenEyck, Steve	Lighting and Scenic Designer, Lighting Design Professor at Ithaca College, New York	2001
Webb, Matthew	Lighting Designer and Visual Artist	2018
Weinzatl, Pamela	Costume Designer	2018
Winterle, Alex	Scenic Designer	2018
Zeyl, Jennifer	Scenic and Costume Designer	2003
Zibello, Deanna	Scenic Designer and Receiver of the Gregory Award for Outstanding Set Design	2009

MFA in Directing (Professional Director Training Program)
Name	Job Title	Class Year
Chiang, Desdemona	Stage Director, Seattle Rep, ACT, South Coast Rep, Guthrie Theater	2009
Coopman, Andrew	Director, Choreographer, Teaching Artist	2021
Costello, Josh	Director, 59E59, Aurora Theatre Company, San Francisco Playhouse	2003
Domski, Jude	Director and Professional Photographer	2000
Haefner, Cody Holliday	Director, Teaching Artist, Devised Theatre-Maker	2019
Oyetimein, Malika	Director and Playwright, Directors Lab at Lincoln Center	2017
Polzin, Tina	Director	2015
Post Wallace, Kristie	Director, Filmmaker, Writer, Teaching Artist	2021
Rivas, Tlaloc	Director, Writer, Producer, Cofounder of Latinx Theatre Commons	1999
Rountree, Amanda	MFA in Directing	2023
Shannon, Peggy	Dean, College of Professional Studies and Fine Arts at SDSU	1986
Swackhamer, Leslie	Stage Director, Producer, Executive Director of the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize	1990

PhD Program
Name	Job Title	Class Year
Al-Saber, Samer	Assistant Professor, Stanford University	2013
Anderson, Lisa	Associate Professor, Arizona State University	1995
Barnett, Dennis	Associate Professor of Theatre Arts, Coe College	1998
Browne, Jyana	Assistant Professor, University of Maryland	2017
Canning, Charlotte	Professor of Theatre and Dance, University of Texas at Austin, Received Regent's Outstanding Teaching Award	1991
Cerniglia, Ken	Broadway Dramaturg, Scholar & Writer	2001
Cheek O'Donnell, Sydney	Associate Professor of Theatre, Associate Dean, University of Utah	2004
Chemers, Michael	Professor of Play and Design, UC Santa Cruz, Chair, Department of Performance	2001
Cima, Gibson	Assistant Professor of Theatre History, Head of Theatre Studies, Northern Illinois University	2012
Coen, Elizabeth	Assistant Professor and Head of the M.A. in Theatre Studies, University of Houston	2016
Cross, Lezlie	Assistant Professor of Performing and Fine Arts, University of Portland	2013
Donkin, Ellen	Professor Emerita of Theatre, Hampshire College, Chairs the Barnard Hewitt Award	1982
Douthit, Lue	Director of Literary Dev. & Dramaturgy, Oregon Shakespeare Festival	1995
Finque, Susan	Teaching Artist	2017
Goodson, Christopher	Instructor, Seattle Academy	2017
Granshaw, Michelle	Associate Professor, University of Pittsburgh	2012
Higgins, Jeanmarie	Head, Theatre Studies, Associate Professor, Penn State School of Theatre	2011
Holland, Dorothy	Associate Professor of Theatre and WGSS, University of Richmond	1999
Jackson-Schebetta, Lisa	Associate Professor, Skidmore College, Chair, Theatre Department	2010
Johnson, Katie	Professor, Miami University	1996
Jones Cavanaugh, Jennifer	Associate Dean of Arts and Sciences, Rollins College, Received Arthur Vining Davis Award	1995
Kammer, Mimi	Associate Professor of Theatre, Simpson College	2011
Karlidag, Bahar	Assistant Professor, Yeditepe University	2017
Lunderman, Shelby	Assistant Professor of Theatre, Seattle Pacific University	2020
Lutterbie, John	Professor of Theatre Arts, Chair, Theatre Arts, Stony Brook University, Co-Director of the Center for Embodied Cognition	1983
Marsh Krauter, Sarah	Company Dramaturg, Founding Core Member, Bike City Theatre Company	2017
May, Theresa	Professor of Theatre Arts, University of Oregon, Artistic Director, EMOS Festival	2000
Monson, Duygu	Professor, Shoreline Community College	2021
Polster, Joshua	Associate Professor of Theatre, Emerson College	2006
Read, Alan	Professor of Theatre, King's College London	1989
Reilly, Kara	Senior Lecturer of Drama, University of Exeter, UK	2006
Russell, Susan	Associate Professor of Theatre, Gettysburg College	1993
Sieg, Katrin	Professor and Director, Georgetown University	1991
Smith, Terry Donovan	Department Chair, Professor of Theatre, California State University, San Bernardino	1996
Sullivan, Esther Beth	Professor Emerita, Alaska Pacific University	1989
Underiner, Tamara	Associate Dean, Arizona State University	1997
Warner, Vessela	Associate Professor, University of Alabama at Birmingham	2002
Wilcox, Dean	Professor, University of North Carolina School of the Arts	1994

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People - Alumni

Alumni Websites