Theatre Arts Alumni
Alumni Update 2017 newsletter
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Caitlin Bruggeman Causey
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Jenny Crawford
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Nylsa Dunbar
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Timothy Ellis
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Sam Gambino
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Ali Grieb
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D.J. Grooms
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Laura Hennesy
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Julia Jones
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Scottie Knollin
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Ryan McWhorter
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Whittney Millsap
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Anna Carroll Sims
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Joseph Thomas
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Katie Betts ('96)
Kaie got married Sept. 19, 2009, and was also in the World premier of Strange
Gods, with Ottawa, Canada's Goya Theatre playing the lead role of Laura in May
of 2010.
Susanna Liveakos Brent ('99)
Susanna, her husband, Lester, and daughter, Zelda, recently moved to Meredith,
New Hampshire, where Susanna serves as the managing director of the Winnepesaukee
Playhouse just named the "Theatre on the Rise" in the 2013 NH Magazine.
Sarah Conner-Brown ('03)
Sarah of San Jose, CA, is an executive assistant at the Arabian Shakespeare Festival
in San Francisco. She and her husband, Will, worked on the American premiere of
the Kuwaiti play, A Message, the first domestic production for ASF. The festival
performs internationally to encourage cultural awareness and tolerance through
the timeless themes found in Shakespeare's work.
Caitlin Bruggeman Causey ('07)
recently relocated to the Rocky Mountains of Colorado with her husband Hunter,
a water resources engineer. She has been busy enjoying the outdoors, volunteering
in her new community, and doing advertising and social media for Colorado Animal
Rescue in Glenwood Springs. Previously, Caitlin worked as an intern at Actor's
Express in Atlanta, where she had the opportunity to assistant direct The Last
Five Years and understudy the one-woman show When Something Wonderful Ends in the
theater's 20th anniversary season. She also appeared in Large Animal Games, an
intern showcase production written by Atlanta playwright, Steve Yockey.
Savannah Cobb
was the costume designer for IMPACT, the children’s theatre company, at Jean’s
Playhouse in Lincoln, New Hampshire. She looks forward to designing costumes for
The Rimers of Eldritch
and
Crimes of the
Heart
this year.
Jenny Crawford ('11)
Jenny received dual BA degrees in Music and Theatre Performance. She recently
moved back to her hometown of Canton, OH with her husband, Nick Nelson, (also a
LaGrange alum) after living in Nashville for 2 years. Jenny is currently signed
with Pro Model and Talent Management and just filmed a commercial for Cleveland
Metro Health. While living in Tennessee, she appeared in two episodes of ABC's
hit show "Nashville". Her next endeavor will be filming for the Lifetime movie
"With This Ring". Some of her favorite roles include Elle Woods in "Legally Blonde",
Amneris in "Aida", Alice Stiles in "Our House", and Solange in "The Maids".
Nylsa Dunbar ('00)
Is currently working with the Ankle and Foot Centers of Georgia as their Marketing
Representative, providing marketing measures for all 21 locations of the practice.
She works every school term with Southside Church in Peachtree City, where she
plays "Sam" a Clubhouse Kid in their monthly production of KidStuff a super fun
and energetic ministry program geared towards teaching the kids important life
lessons. She is also soon to be married to Toby Smallwood, Class of 97' this fall.
Mary Duttweiler ('11)
served as the properties master at the Papermill Summer Theatre, (2013).
Timothy Ellis
University of Central Florida, MFA; LaGrange College, BA
As an actor, Timothy has appeared on Broadway (Annie Get Your Gun), National Tours
(Show Boat, Best Little Whorehouse in Texas), a European tour (Evita), the stages
of regional theaters across the nation (including Goodspeed Opera House, Tennessee
Repertory Theatre, Cleveland Playhouse, Seaside Music Theatre, Flat Rock Playhouse
and Arvada Center for the Performing, Orlando Shakespeare Theatre and Orlando Repertory
Theatre), and as a singer aboard cruise ships.
As director or choreographer, his work has been seen in productions of Beehive,
Peter Pan, Cinderella, West Side Story, Rocky Horror Show, Debbie Does Dallas,
The Magical Adventures of Merlin, How I Became a Pirate, Pulp! and Oklahoma. He
has also served as fight choreographer for The Magical Adventures of Merlin and
fight captain for Les Miserables. Tim also directed and choreographed for IBEX
Puppetry in Orlando, FL.
After earning an MFA in Musical Theatre from the University of Central Florida,
he served as an Adjunct then Visiting Assistant Professor at UCF. There, he taught
acting, voice and dance; assisted with the Dance Minor program; choreographed for
musicals and dance concerts; and was nominated for Extraordinary Professor by Campus
Advisory Board.
Timothy is a proud member of Actors' Equity Association and SAG-AFTRA.
He appeared on LaGrange College stages in the late '80's in productions of Once
Upon a Mattress, Scapino, Robber Bridegroom, Twelfth Night, The Browning Version,
Agamemnon, Cinderella and The Odd Couple.
Beckett Finn (formerly known as Brandon Johnson) ('03)
Beckett recently received his MFA in technical production from The University
of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Upon completion, Beckett returned to Barrington
Stage Company for his second season, as the technical director. In the fall, Beckett
will be headed to the west coast to be the full time technical director for Saint
Mary’s College of California.
Sam Gambino ('10)
Sam is a 4 year resident of Brooklyn, NY. Since leaving LaGrange she has graduated
from New York University with a Masters in Educational Theatre and was the founding
Performing Arts teacher for Harlem Prep Elementary in East Harlem, NY. She is starting
a new path in education by taking on the role of 1st grade teacher and 2nd time
graduate student! She currently works for Leadership Prep in Brownsville, NY and
will be starting her 2nd Masters degree in Early Childhood Education in the Fall
at Relay Graduate School of Education.
Ali Grieb ('09)
Ali has become a regular performer in the New York City Cabaret scene. Having
been named an Artist in Residence at the iconic Joe's Pub in The Public Theater,
she has been busy creating and performing her one woman show,
Judge
Not
for several venues including Joe's Pub, 54 Below, and The Duplex. She was recently
inducted into MAC (The Manhattan Association of Cabarets and Clubs) where she was
named one of the Best New Artists in 2015! She and her band,
The Heroes of
Happy Hour,
can been seen throughout the city performing original songs and big band twists
on the classics.
D.J. Grooms ('13)
D.J. has performed in two shows with the Springer Opera House (
Mary Poppins
and
The Producers). This past summer he was in Kentucky performing with Jenny Wiley
Theatre (
Shrek
and
Little Shop of
Horrors
). He is an adjunct professor at LC this fall teaching tap in the Musical Theatre
major and he is the director/choreographer of the fall musical
Chicago,
opening Homecoming weekend.
Laura Hennesy ('12)
Laura is a past company member of the CAP 21 musical theatre summer intensive
training.
Julia Jones ('09)
Julia is working professionally as an actor at Village Theatre in Atlanta, GA,
where she performs with names such as Chalk Outline and TableSauce. Performance
venues include the LSPA, Horizon Theatre, and Tallapoosa Theatre Festival. In 2014,
Julia filmed as the lead female in King of Prussia’s music video, “I’ll Dance with
You” - featuring Mike Mills from R.E.M.
Scottie Knollin ('07)
Scottie teaches English, Spanish and Drama at an Atlanta-area private school.
He is also a working filmmaker/actor. In the past year he has worked in front of
and behind the scenes on projects such as The Walking Dead, Due Date, Life As We
Know It, The Big Year, The Vampire Diaries, as well as his directorial debut with
the short film The Right Point of View. He runs the entertainment website, AllTheHitsSoFar.com
and produces and original YouTube series.
Valerie Longshore-Sargent
Valerie Longshore-Sargent has been teaching theatre at Harris County High
School for the past nine years and was named Teacher of the Year for the 2013-14
school year. At HCHS, she has directed numerous shows including most recently
Curtains
and
Moon Over Buffalo
. Under her direction, students have earned the highest honors at the GHSA One
Act Competition, Georgia Thespian Conference and International Thespian Festival.
She is pleased that so many of her students have gone on to pursue careers in theatre
and film (including LC). Although work keeps her busy, she still lives in
LaGrange and maintains an active relationship with the theater community there.
She has been involved in many area theater productions, including director of Lafayette
Theatre Company's
The Drowsy Chaperone.
She also serves on the Lafayette Society for Performing Arts theater advisory
committee and is finishing her thesis for her master's degree in theatre education
at Columbus State University.
Ryan McWhorter ('00)
Ryan was recently appointed Artistic Director and Facility Manager of the Lafayette
Society of Performing Arts.
Joanna Meyer ('13)
Joanna is currently student teaching while pursuing a Masters of Arts in Teaching
English at UGA. She is set to graduate in May with dual certification to teach
both high school Theater and English. She is also picking up her Gifted and Talented
certificate to further specialize her degree. She is currently living in Suwanee,
GA, and has acted in such productions as
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
and
The Crucible.
Whittney Millsap ('07)
Whitney lives and works in Atlanta, GA. She is a member of Dad's Garage Improv
company and is a member of Automatic Improv.
Bobbi Leigh Mullins (Stansky)
Bobbi is teaching first grade in Ellijay, Ga., and is the wife of a minister.
She has two children and two step-children.
Stacia Myers
Stacia worked at the Hangar Theatre in Ithaca, NY this past summer as an electrics
intern. The Hangar season included
Spring Awakening, The Hounds of the
Baskervilles
and two children’s theatre productions:
The Emperor’s
New Clothes
and
Bye Bye Birdie.
Mr. Tracy Nunnally
Tracy has worked in professional theatre since the late 1980's. He is the owner
and president of Hall Associates Flying Effects, the president of the North American
Association of Flying Effects Directors (N.A.A.F.E.D.), and an active member of
the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (I.A.T.S.E.) and the United
States Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT). Mr. Nunnally specializes in all
aspects of rigging, motion control, pyrotechnics, special effects, and scenery
construction, and has designed and executed an extremely diverse range of systems
and effects for clients all over the world. Through his company, Mr. Nunnally provides
flying effects for over 200 productions per year, including numerous productions
of Peter Pan, Beauty and the Beast, The Wizard of Oz, Angles in America, Seussical
the Musical, and A Christmas Carol. Specific credits include the Broadway production
of Curtains, the original Asian tour of Peter Pan, the Broadway Asia production
of SpongeBob SquarePants, and original native-language productions of Peter Pan
in Mexico City, Mexico, and Oslo, Norway. Mr. Nunnally is also a tenured professor
and the Technical Director of the Northern Illinois University School of Theatre
and Dance, in DeKalb, Illinois. He uses the resources of his company to expose
his students to professional environments, and uses the educational setting to
further the development of innovative and unique special effects. Please visit
http://www.niu.edu/theatre/ for more information about this unique theatre technology
program.
Chris Rumery ('00)
Chris moved to New York to get her MFA in costume design at Tisch NYU. She now
lives in Brooklyn freelancing. This spring Chris spent 4 months in Taiwan designing
for parades and just opened a show called Bedbugs!!! the musical.
Madeline Sain ('15)
Madeline spent the summer in New York City attending the Stella Adler Academy.
Anna Carroll Sims ('11)
Ann spent a summer studying at the Stella Adler Academy.
Joseph Barry Strickland ('12)
Joseph is an Equity Actor. This year he performed in
Mack and Mabel
with Theatre Zone in Naples Florida and also reprised his role as Frankie Cavalier
in the musical
Pageant.
In the last year he gained his first two on camera credits. He was a supporting
role in a film titled
Rocky Mountain
Fast Guy
and did a 1 day shoot for TriForce Pictures. Joseph also worked for the Asolo
Repertory theatre this year as their season House Manager. During that time he
spent a lot of time continuing his training in ballet, voice, acting, and tap.
This was all in preparation for his move to New York City in August where he will
be auditioning more actively and living with fellow alumnus Joseph Thomas (‘12)
who has been attending The Actor’s Studio at Pace University.
David Austin Taylor ('15)
worked for Jean’s Playhouse in Lincoln New Hampshire and also toured the state
for 8 weeks performing in children's theatre productions. Since his return he has
been active in a number of short films.
Joseph Thomas ('12)
Joseph received his MFA in Acting from The Actor’s Studio at Pace University in
New York. He is living & working in New York City.
Eria Vali ('99)
is the Director of the Gilmer High School Theatre Depart in Ellijay, GA. She is
currently in production for A Midsummer Night's Dream which they will also be performing
for the One Act Play festival at GTC as well as for Region One Act Play Competition.
Tom Waddington
Tom is a field service engineer for Television Production Service in Atlanta.
The company's primary focus is design, integration and installation of large production
lighting systems for television studios including Fox Sports, Telemundo, and WUPN.
Tom most recently worked on a relight of the Atlanta Falcons Sunday morning set.
Katie Westbrook ('06)
Katie is the Choral Director at LaGrange High School.
Chris Wiley ('06)
Chris is a company member of Atlantis Playmakers based out of Billerica, MA. He
is currently performing in a stage combat show called FIGHT VI: Return of the Jed-Pie,
going to the New England Fringe Festival. He is also a part-time swordsmanship
instructor at "GuardUp" working with weapons from foam swords to foils. He is also
a background actor in Boston area movies. He was an extra in Indiana Jones and
the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull but claims, "Not my most glamorous moment but
a lot of fun nonetheless."