The Theater and Dance Department is enormously proud of our alumni. They are professional actors, choreographers, dancers, designers, directors, playwrights, producers, scholars, screenwriters, and arts teachers leading distinguished careers in major cities of the United States and around the world.
It is especially rewarding for us that Theater and Dance students have easy access to alumni’s work at major performance venues in the Twin Cities. In turn, our alumni enjoy meeting current students, and are generous with their time and their own networking capabilities. They stay connected to Macalester and often return as guest artists to our campus.
THDA in the World
Theater Mu and Jungle Theater’s Cambodian Rock Band ran June 8th through July 31st in 2022. Directed by Lily Tung Crystal, Macalester Assistant Professor Mina Kinukawa is the scenic and production designer for this production. Jessica Chen ’25 is the assistant scenic designer for Cambodian Rock Band, and THDA majors Lucas Martin ’24 and Skye Reddy ’22 are interns. The Star Tribune recently covered Cambodian Rock Band, read more about the show here.-
Macalester Theater and Dance had a “night out” at Theater MU’s Today is My Birthday on Thursday, February 11, 2022.Directed by Lily Tung Crystal, Macalester Assistant Professor Mina Kinukawa is this production’s set designer. Three THDA majors are interns in Today is My Birthday: Alice Endo ’22, Jessica Yates ’22, and Sandy Zhao ’22. 
Congratulations to Theater Minor Maria Arreola ’21 on her play, Floating Girls, moving forward as a National Semifinalist for the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival. The production will be directed by Cláudia Tatinge Nascimento, and feature students Rafael Viana Furer, Nora Montañez Patterson, Gretta Marston-Lari, Roon Mahboub, Kalala Kiwanuka-Woernle, Isabel Conde, and Seth Patterson.
Gretta Marston-Lari ’21 is a Miranda Fellow. The Miranda Fellowship is a distinct 2 year fellowship from Lin-Manuel Miranda and the Miranda Family for emerging artists of color who have exhibited exceptional passion, drive, and unique points of view in various artistic mediums and are actively working to expand their professional development.
Miranda Rose Hall is one of 20 recipients of the 2020 Steinberg Playwright Award, given by the Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust to celebrate and support early-to-mid-career playwrights.
Elliot Wareham ’21 and Gretta Marston-Lari ’21 were accepted to be part of a National Science Fund research project with two visiting professors in the Environmental Studies department at Mac, titled “Power in Puerto Rico: Sociotechnical Imaginaries, Infrastructure Publics, and Electricity.”
THDA MSFEO professor Harry Waters Jr. is the co-director of 2020’s BareBones Halloween art installation, taking the place of the annual puppet show. This installation held space for death, loss, grief, ancestors and remembering centered on the changes on Lake Street.
Congratulations to THDA Minor Mai Moua Thao ’22 on being accepted to the JGS Imagining America Fellowship! Mai was selected to be one of eight students across the US that will be working to develop each other’s digital-media art within this program.
Outside Voices, weekly at Powderhorn Park | July 10, 2020 Theater artist and THDA professor Harry Waters Jr. created Outside Voices, a ritual of release during COVID and George Floyd crucibles
Variety | Danai Gurira Inks Overall Deal with ABC Studios | February 20, 2020 Under the two-year deal, actress and playwright Danai Gurira ’01 will develop, write, and produce for the studio across all platforms!
After the Long Silence: Cláudia Tatinge Nascimento’s published book | February 2020 After the Long Silence: The Theater of Brazil’s Post-Dictatorship Generation is Cláudia Tatinge Nascimento’s newest book, published by Routledge for their Advances in Theatre & Performance Studies.
A Day in the Life of Ruby | October 2019 | Ruby Rich ’23 takes us through a typical day in her life, including Rocky Horror rehearsal.
Sarah Bellamy on TPT’s Minnesota Original | July 2019 | THDA Visiting Assistant Professor and Penumbra Theatre Artistic Director Sarah Bellamy shares her journey into leadership and her hopes that future generations will no longer have to “argue for theaters of color.”
Danai Gurira on Avengers & Walking Dead Spoilers | Jimmy Kimmel Live | April 10, 2019 | Macalester alum Danai Gurira ’01 appears on Jimmy Kimmel show to talk about her upcoming cinematic projects, Avengers and Walking Dead.-
Global Citizenship Awards 2019 | Macalester News | April 10, 2019 |
Dance minor Nteranya Sanginga ’19 was presented with Global Citizenship Student Awards in 2019. 
Signe Harriday Directs HIDDEN HEROES: The Black Women of NASA | Broadway World | April 8, 2019 | The World Premiere of HIDDEN HEROES has two Macalester connections. It’s based on the book “Hidden Human Computers: The Black Women of NASA,” co-written by American Studies prof. Duchess Harris. The play is written by Shá Cage, who graduated from Macalester in 1995.
Gay African-American Acting Legend Harry Waters Jr.’s Courageous Staging of MN Jewish Theatre’s “Actually” Exposes Formalized Privacy Intrusion | Lavender Magazine | February 22, 2019 | Minnesota Jewish Theatre Company certainly picked the right man to direct with (Theater and Dance Prof. MSFEO) Harry Waters Jr.