People

The Department of Theatre is a diverse community of creative faculty, students, and alumni. Get to know us!

Our accomplished FACULTY include

Carlos AlexisCruz giving a note to students in Storrs Salon
  • An award-winning professional director whose recent work has been staged at some the nation’s top theatre companies
  • An internationally regarded Shakespeare scholar and author of forthcoming Arden Shakespeare edition of Julius Caesar
  • Specialists in circus arts, aerial silks, Black acting techniques, devised theatre, activist theatre, and playwriting
  • Author of a new, cutting-edge theatre history textbook published by Palgrave Macmillan
  • Scenic, costume, and lighting designers working in professional theatres in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Austin, Philadelphia, San Antonio, and Charlotte
  • A scholar-artist and journal editor leading the rising field of Theatre for Young Audiences

Among our ALUMNI are

Theatre alum standing in front of Robinson Hall
  • Obie-Award winning playwright Caridad Svich—winner of the 2018 Ellen Steward Award for Career Achievement in Professional Theatre by the Association for Theatre in Higher Education.
  • Emmy-award winning costume designer and Hollywood costume supervisor Amy Andrews Harrell
  • Emmy-award winning casting professional Craig Fincannon—founder of Fincannon & Associates, Inc.
  • Playwright Stacey Rose, who has won multiple prestigious fellowships, worked with Spike Lee, and has recently founded the Queen City New Play Initiative
  • Television, film, and stage actor Don Castro, whose international career includes extensive experience in industrials, commercials, voice-overs, and commercial print.
  • Many accomplished theatre educators, including Shellie Kingaby-Hyser, Cabarrus County Public Schools, a certified Diamond Coach with the National Speech and Debate Association.
  • Hollywood textile artist Jack Taggart, whose feature fillms include Top Gun: Maverick, Guardians of the Galaxy (2 and 3), Dunkirk, the Avatar franchise, Black Panther, The Dark Knight Rises, and Django Unchained.

Are you a theatre alum? We’d love to add you to our alumni spotlight profiles! Let us know what you’ve been up to by filling out this form!

Recently, our STUDENTS have

Group of students performing at the Renaissance Festival
  • Made it to the Finals in the Kennedy Center American Theatre College Festival Region IV Irene Ryan acting competition
  • Performed lead roles for Charlotte professional theatre companies
  • Attended summer programs at Lincoln Center and the Barrows Group in New York City and the Hawaii Performing Arts Festival
  • Received graduate scholarships for study in Ph.D., MFA, and MA theatre programs
  • Worked as performers in commercials, industrials, and workplace training videos
  • Stage managed, teched, and designed costumes for Charlotte theatre companies
  • Assistant directed productions at several professional theatre companies in Chicago
  • Presented papers and posters on theatre topics as UNC Charlotte Research Scholars
  • Performed annually at the Carolina Renaissance Festival
  • Performed with the Charlotte Symphony