Current Students

Abra Chusid

A proud graduate of Northwestern University, Abra is thrilled to join the UT Drama and Theatre for Youth family, where she is continually amazed by her peers and faculty mentors. Over the past few years, Abra has studied in and around Southeast Asia, and she looks forward to returning there soon, continuing to stimulate dialogue between Southeast Asian and American drama and theatre practitioners. In 2007, she received a Fulbright Fellowship to study and teach in Singapore with the Singapore Drama Educators Association. In 2009, she received an Ann Shaw Fellowship from TYA/USA to apprentice at the Sovanna Phum Art Association in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, where she learned about traditional shadow puppetry. In Chicago, Abra has worked with Adventure Stage Chicago, Northlight Theatre, Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School, The Chicago Humanities Festival, and Northwestern Uniersity. Abra is an active member of AATE and TYA/USA, and thanks everyone who supports arts education!

Sarah Coleman

Sarah comes to UT from Washington, DC where she was working at Cultural Development Corporation (CuDC), a nonprofit organization that makes space for art. There, Sarah mentored and co-produced the work of emerging theatre and dance companies, coordinated peer-learning roundtables for arts administrators and consulted with small to mid-sized arts organizations on facilities planning and capacity building. In 2007, she helped revive the Source Festival and served as an Associate Producer through the 2009. Before her time at CuDC, Sarah worked in Arena Stage's education and stage management departments. She was a teaching artist in the DC Public Schools and a stage manager for Bosma Dance, Catalyst Theatre Company and Discovery Theatre.

Sarah's interest in the DTY program stems from her early involvement in professional theatre - she began stage managing at thirteen for Mad Horse Children's Theatre in her hometown of Portland, Maine. Sarah has a B.A. in history from Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine.

Michelle Dahlenburg

Brian Fahey

Brian C. Fahey came to UT from Boston, MA, where he was the Artistic Director of Gurnet Theatre Project, a Boston based theatre company he co–founded. For GTP he has directed The Illusion, Miss Julie (MA Cultural Council Gold Star Nomination), This Is Our Youth (IRNE - Independent Reviewers of New England Award Nomination, Best Play), and the Boston premieres of Bert V. Royal's Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead and Adam Rapp's Essential Self–Defense. Brian recently completed an observership at the Seattle Children–s Theatre, working with David Saar on his production of Tomás and the Library Lady, and was an Intern Dramaturg at the 2009 Bonderman Symposium at the Indiana Repertory Theatre working on the team for Laura Schelldhardt's play Air Guitar Nation. At UT Brian teaches Introduction to Improv, and serves as a Drama Specialist for Drama for Schools in Victoria, TX and most recently for the 2008 residency in Galena, Alaska. Brian appeared as Memory Mender in UT's production of Still Life with Iris, and General Yepanchin in The Idiot. Upcoming directing projects include Wendy Bable's play/ballet for young audiences, Funky Snowman for The University Co–op Presents the Cohen New Works Festival and Louis Sachar's There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom for the UT '09/'10 season. Brian holds a BA in Theatre from Northeastern University and has trained at the Gaiety School of Acting in Dublin, Ireland.

Ruth Fisher

Lindsay Genshaft

Lindsay Genshaft holds a BFA in Musical Theatre from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. Before enrolling in graduate school, Lindsay worked as a musical theatre actor for over ten years, performing in New York City, on national tours and in regional theatres across the country. She has also worked as a teaching artist and director in Alaska, Ohio and New York. Lindsay has been a member of the Actors Equity Association since 2002. In her first semester at UT, Lindsay (with classmate, Jennifer Hartmann) created a new children's musical called Footprints: A Musical Eco–Tale which was selected for The University Co–Op Presents the Cohen New Works Festival 2009 Lindsay is thrilled to be pursuing an M.F.A. in Drama and Theatre For Youth at the University of Texas.

Download Lindsay's resume (pdf – download adobe reader.)

Jennifer Hartmann

Jenn Hartmann graduated from Arizona State University with a B.A. in Theatre. She worked with the Herberger Theater Center, Phoenix Theatre, Arizona Jewish Theatre Company, and the Gilbert Unified School District teaching and directing youth programs before moving to New York. In addition to writing and performing in NYC, she was teaching at BizKids NY, a professional acting school for young people. She was also commissioned to write and perform at the Children's Museum of Manhattan. In 2005, Jenn took a full time position with Center Theatre Group's education department: Performing for Los Angeles Youth (P.L.A.Y.). While in Los Angeles she was adjunct faculty at Azusa Pacific University, coaching the Speech and Debate team. Jenn is also a singer/songwriter, having self-produced two solo, original albums. She was selected to participate in the 2005 Summer Cabaret Conference at Yale University and has produced her one woman show, Not a Chorus Girl, on both coasts. During her first year at UT she co-wrote a new musical for young audiences with Lindsay Genshaft called: Footprints: A Musical Eco-Tale. Footprints had its first staged reading at the 2009 The University Co-op Presents the Cohen New Works Festival here at UT. Jenn Hartmann hopes to focus her research on solo performance and music for young audiences. She is a second year M.F.A. Candidate in Drama and Theatre for Youth.

www.jennhartmann.com

Alicia Maher

Alicia Maher is an M.F.A. candidate in Drama and Theatre for Youth. She graduated with a B.A. from Grinnell College with Honors in Art History. She spent a semester during her junior year at the National Theatre Institute at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center. Upon graduation, Alicia worked as an intern in directing/dramaturgy at Portland Stage Company, Maine and volunteered with a local high school Shakespeare Club. Most recently, Alicia comes to UT from Los Angeles where she worked for three years at The Painted Turtle, a non–profit camp for children with chronic and life–threatening illnesses and a member of the Association of Hole in the Wall Camps. Alicia served as the Performing Arts Assistant, Entertainment Coordinator, and then full–time Camp Program Associate, planning and implementing programs camp–wide. Alicia's research interests include arts in healthcare, applied drama, and child–centered practices.

Anne McNamee

Talleri McRae

Dedicated to theatre for all ages, Talleri McRae is a free-lance theatre artist. She is also an actor, a storyteller, and a teacher. In recent years, she has worked with many Chicago Theatre companies including: About Face Theatre, The Goodman Theatre, Next Theatre, AppleTree Theatre, and Special Gifts Theatre. Last year, Talleri served as a guest drama specialist for grades K-3 at Orrington Elementary School in Evanston, Illinois and she currently serves on the Executive Board of the American Alliance for Theatre and Education. A recent transplant to Austin, Texas, Talleri is thrilled to be pursuing a M.F.A. in Drama and Theatre for Youth at the University of Texas at Austin.

Christina Ulrich

Sally Vander Gheynst

Sally Vander Gheynst has been working with young people for the past ten years. Sally has a Bachelor of Science in Education from the University of Georgia in Secondary English Education and Theatre. She is a certified teacher and has taught both high school English and Theatre. Prior to coming to the University of Texas at Austin, Sally worked for California Theatre Center as Education Coordinator, directing productions, managing over thirty teaching artists and one thousand students, and designing and implementing almost twenty curricula. She has also served as Education Director for Mad River Theatre Works in West Liberty, Ohio, creating and running a Summer Theatre Academy for students. Sally has also worked as a teaching artist in a variety of school and theatre settings around the southeast and California. Sally is currently pursuing a Masters in Fine Arts in Drama and Theatre for Youth and is working with the Drama for Schools Professional Development Program at UT. Her thesis work will use drama-based instructional practice or Theatre in Education techniques to explore issues of disease awareness and prevention.