URTA | Blog

02January

Interview with Lighting and Set Designer Justin Townsend

Justin Townsend is an international lighting and set designer for performance. He has been nominated for the 2016 Tony Awards and Drama Desk Awards for Broadway productions “The Humans” and “American Psycho”. He holds a MFA from URTA member university, CalArts. Mr. Townsend is an Assistant Professor of Theatre at Brooklyn College. He spoke recently
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16December

Picture Yourself @ URTA

As 2016 comes to a close we look back on all of the advice that current graduate school students at URTA member schools passed along. To read all our Picture Yourself@ MFA profiles in full, go here. What drew you to your school when you were looking? “…its illustrious founders, faculty and alumni.” –Aaron Arroyo,
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13December

Picture Yourself @ University of Texas at Austin

Featuring: Caitlin Graham (MFA Costume Design Student) How and when did you become interested in costume design? I’ve been coordinating costumes since I was eight years old in children’s theatre. I realized my desire to pursue costume design as a career when I was working for my mentor–Broadway scenic and costume designer, Tony Walton, in
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12December

Continuing Ed at The URTAs in Chicago!

We’ve got a wealth of great workshops, panels, and seminars for you at The URTAs in Chicago. If you’ll be attending the Auditions & Interviews, make sure you check out some of these great events to get the most out of your trip. Tickets are $15 in advance if you’re a registered URTA candidate. (Tickets
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11December

URTA Presents “A Career in the Arts” with Actors’ Equity

Join us on Monday, January 23rd at 2:00pm at the Crown Plaza in Times Square for “A Career in Theatre: The Role of Actors’ Equity” Tom Miller of the Actors’ Equity Association (AEA) leads a discussion about the union’s work protecting and securing the rights of actors and stage managers. This workshop explains how and
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09December

Getting Out of the Starving Artist Trap

We have a ton of great Continuing Education events lined up during the URTA Auditions & Interviews January and February in New York, Chicago, and San Francisco. You don’t want to miss “Getting Out of the Starving Artist Trap” on Saturday, January 21st at the Crown Plaza in Times Square. Financial expert Ari Teplitz offers
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08December

Picture Yourself @ Florida State University

Featuring: Amanda Hiatt (Theatre Management MFA Student) Where is your favorite lunch spot on or near campus? The place to eat is near campus called Spear It. Great fried mac-n-cheese! Why did you choose FSU’s theater management program? I chose the management program because it is structured around three years of intense management work. During
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06December

Picture Yourself @ Purdue University

Featuring: Michelle Ohumukini (Audio Technology MFA Student) Why did you choose Purdue’s MFA program? Through URTA, I was able to attend events exposing me to many top-rate grad programs. I narrowed down my choices to Purdue because of a combination of factors: venue, where the Hall of Music has industry-competitive technology and design, mentorship, looking
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05December

URTA Alum and Tony Winning Sound Designer, Leon Rothenberg

URTA’s Rachel Friedman recently chatted with California Institute of the Arts alum, Leon Rothenberg about how his training shaped his career, and about his current show “Rancho Viejo”, now playing at Playwrights Horizons. I would love to start with the beginning of your career. You received your Bachelor of Music from Oberlin and then went
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02December

Picture Yourself @ Southern Methodist University

Featuring: Kolby Clarke (MFA Lighting Design Graduate Student) What are your favorite food options on campus? One or two times a week during the warm months campus is visited by various food trucks. It’s always nice to get outside for a moment, grab a taco, and remember why I like the air conditioning so much.
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