Our first Alumni Spotlight: Kaitlyn Walker

Name:  Kaitlyn Walker          

Graduation year:  2010

Degree earned (major/minor):  BA Acting/Directing; Minor-Art with a focus in Photography

Current city:  Houston, TX

Current job:  I am currently the Marketing and Development Assistant, Administrative Assistant, Community Service Coordinator and…well it’s pretty much safe to say I do a little of everything at Main Street Theater in Houston, TX.

Scenes from Wednesday Improv

Playing "What are you doing?"

"Superheroes" 

Improvisation

Improvisation is the practice of acting, singing, talking and reacting, of making and creating, in the moment and in response to the stimulus of one's immediate environment and inner feelings.

In the McMurry Theatre Program, improvisation is one of the first things you learn as a freshman in Acting I class. It's a basic trait all actors should learn and perfect. And to most people, it's just good plain fun.


That is why a number of our student come together every Wednesday night, rehearsals permitting, to perfect and exercise our improv abilities.


Borrowing inspiration from the popular TV show "Whose Line is it Anyway?" and various games we already know, we spend and hour or two every week acting like lions, climbing trees that don't exist, being oddly-named super heroes and reacting to, often outrageous, situations we aren't prepared for. 


Check around campus in a few weeks and you might be lucky enough to catch one our improv hours.

Classes Offered

All three full time faculty are theatre generalists and share production responsibilities.  

Dr. Philip Craik has degrees in both Theatre and Music, with experience in Directing, Acting, Theatre Literature and Criticism, Scene Design, Vocal Production, and Musical Direction.  He teaches our Musical Theatre courses, Digital Video Capture and Editing, Voice and Diction, Theatre History, and Introduction to Theatre. 

Mr. David Ainsworth, with training in Acting, Directing, Stage Combat, Costumes, and Theatre Education, teaches Acting, Costume History, Design and Construction, Creative Dramatics, Theatre Education, Stage Combat and Make-up. 

Mr. Charlie Hukill, with training in Design, Technical Theatre, Playwriting, Acting , and Directing, teaches Set and Light Design, Stagecraft, and Playwriting, as well as Directing, and Survey of Fine Arts. 

Ms. Teri Wilkerson is an Adjunct Professor and teaches dance, specifically tap and modern.  She is also the resident Choreographer for our musical productions. 


McMurry also has a wonderful Musci Department that works with Musical Theatre Majors in various classes.

All you could want to know about: Box Office

Staff
Faculty Supervisor: Dr. Philip Craik
Head of Box Office: Marcy Doty
Box Office Staff: Jack Piland, Kathryn Ballinger, Miranda Priddy, Angela Rudd

Contact Information
Phone Number: (325) 793-3889
Mailing Address: McM Station Box #68 Abilene, Texas 79697
We are located in the Amy Graves Ryan Fine Arts building on the corner of Hunt and Sayles Boulevard

Hours
We open box office two weeks before a show opens. Hours are 2-6pm Monday through Friday (and Saturday show days) and additionally 6:30-8:00pm on performance nights.

Policies on Reservations
We no longer accept over-the-phone reservations due to over-booking last season. Tickets must be paid for at the time reservations are made.You have three options:

• Come into our box office booth and make your purchase during our open hours
• Go online to www.mcm.edu and purchase tickets through TicketBiscuit.
• Or mail in a check to us and when we have received your check you may call and pick out your seats.

Note: Dinner reservations for our dinner theatre shows must be made 24 hours in advance or your dinner reservation will be cancelled.

Our prices have changed!
Show-only regular production------ $10.00
Show-only musical production----- $15.00
Student-directed production------- $5.00
Student-directed one acts----------free admission
Dinner + regular production--------$23.00
Dinner + musical production------- $28.00

Patronage Program
In order to keep ticket prices affordable we rely on the financial assistance of a number of theatre patrons. Their help supplements our box office income to make our Summer Season possible. If you wish to become a patron please call or write the McMurry Theatre Box Office. We honor our patrons in our summer theatre programs. Contributions are in the following categories:

• Season Patrons: $25-$49 each year
• Supporting Patrons: $50-$99 each year
• Sustaining Patrons: $100-$199 each year
• Angels: $200 or more each year

Technology
We have now joined the information age and offer online ticketing. You may select your seats and purchase tickets through TicketBiscuit. If you have any questions or problems with online ticket ordering, call the McMurry Box Office and speak with a member of our staff or leave a message and we will be sure to get back to you.

Paramount Theatre Holding Children's Auditions

Paramount Productions is holding auditions for their performance of Jungle Book KIDS, directed by McMurry Theatre Alum Taylor Compton

October 2, 2-4pm 

and 

October 3, 3-4pm. 

Children ages 8-14 are welcome!

Click here for more information!

Our HOMECOMING SHOW!

In a little over two weeks McMurry will be entering into the crazy and fun-filled time known as Homecoming! This year our annual Homecoming show will be:

The 1940's Radio Hour
a play with music by Walton Jones
directed by Philip Craik
musical direction by Mark Wilcox

October 6 & 8 at 7:30pm
**October 7 at 7:00 pm
October 13-15 at 7:30pm

The 1940s Radio Hour is a Play with Music by Walton Jones. Full of 1940s music, dancing and old-time sound effects the play portrays the final holiday broadcast of the Mutual Manhattan Variety Cavalcade on the New York radio station WOV in December 1942. The spirit of that bygone era when the world was at war and pop music meant "Strike Up the Band" and "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" (both are in this show) is accurately captured as the harassed producer copes with a drunk lead singer, the delivery boy who wants a chance in front of the mike, the second banana who dreams of singing a ballad, and the trumpet playing sound effects man who chooses a fighter plane over Glenn Miller. The production will feature a live onstage jazz band under the direction of Dr. Mark Wilcox.

For ticket information you can call (325) 793-3889, come into our box office in the lobby of the Amy Graves Ryan Fine Arts Center (we accept cash, check and credit card) or go online here and order tickets directly.
*Note: The 1940's Radio Hour will be performed in the Ryan Little Theatre this year.
For more information about the rest of McMurry's Homecoming events click here.

We are no longer able to take over-the-phone reservations. Sorry for any inconvenience.
The McMurry Box Office is open from 2-6pm Monday-Friday and additionally 6:30-8pm on performance nights.

Are you looking forward to this show? Tell us about it in the comments!

More Quick Notes

Just wanted to share a more in-depth peek at some exciting things we will be posting about. We are trying to get in the habit of posting regularly, but we are still getting everything together, so bare with us!

Soon we will be taking a look at:

About half of us have recently gotten together to form a improvisation group. While we are still practicing and perfecting, we hope to be able to give some informal performances for our McMurry Community. Jack Piland, a Junior Theatre Major will tell us more about this idea he came up with and his plans for it's future.

In addition to student spotlights, we will also be getting in touch with some of our recent (and not so recent) alumni, to share their success stories, and let them give a little, very honest, peek at life post-grad.

In just a few short weeks we will be performing our third, and biggest, show of the season, our homecoming show! Expect a post on all the information you could want about the show (including info on where to purchase tickets-- you know you want to see this!) and just some of the new and old traditions of McMurry Homecoming (which is kind of a big deal-- at least to us).

McMurry has a long standing tradition of turning out wonderful playwrights, and we plan to speak to a couple of our TETA (Texas Educational Theatre Association) Playwrighting Festival winners. We will share information about how any aspiring writers out there can enter their own plays into the festival, and detail how our Playwrighting class has helped writers at McMurry (not just in the our department).

Again, thanks for sticking with us in this time of development. We plan on being fully functional and working like a well oiled machine in no time!

Check this show out!

Everyone should check out the current Abilene Community Theatre show:

THE GUYS

by Anne Nelson

Performance Dates: September 8-10, 15-17 & 23-24

Synopsis:
Less than two weeks after the September 11th attacks, New Yorkers are still in shock. One of them, an editor named Joan, receives an unexpected phone call on behalf of Nick, a fire captain who has lost most of his men in the attack. He's looking for a writer to help him with the eulogies he must present at their memorial services. Nick and Joan spend a long afternoon together, recalling the fallen men through recounting their virtues and their foibles, and fashioning the stories into memorials of words. In the process, Nick and Joan discover the possibilities of friendship in each other and their shared love for the unconquerable spirit of the city. As they make their way through the emotional landscape of grief, they draw on humor, tango, the appreciation of craft in all its forms—and the enduring bonds of common humanity. THE GUYS is based on a true story.

(ACT's current Executive Director, Shane Hill, is a McMurry Theatre Alum!)
Click here for ticket infor and to purchase!

T-shirts!

For the first time in a very long time, our department is ordering t-shirts, and we are all very excited. Pardon the iPhone picture, but I just wanted to share the awesome shirt we will all be wearing quite soon.

We are also taking orders, so I any alumni/students/fans happen upon this blog before September 25th, email Angela at rudd[dot]angela[at]students[dot]mcm[dot]edu and she will get you set up!

Welcome!

Welcome to the newly created McMurry Theatre Department blog! Soon we will be up and running with information about our current season, student spotlights, general, world-wide theatre news and helpful info about our theatre and applying for admission to McMurry University (home of the Warhawks).

Check back soon for information!