Curious about Regent Students’ Summer Work?

Ever wonder what Regent’s Theatre students do during their summers? Take a look at what our current MFA and MA students did during Summer 2008!

Brandy Caldwell spent her summer in Stockbridge, Massachusetts with the prestigious Berkshire Theatre Festival. She played the lead role of Hera in Hercules and understudied the role of Alice More in A Man for All Seasons. Brandy was invited to return in December to play The Ghost of Christmas Past in A Christmas Carol.

Chris Graham joined the professional company of The University of Findlay’s SummerStock where he performed in Hank Williams: Lost Highway and A Year with Frog and Toad.

Ashley Larsen served as a stage manager and acting instructor at Regent’s summer theatre camps where Anna Koehler taught improvisation and Chad Rasor taught stage combat.

Kevin Stidham spent his summer in Williamsburg with the Virginia Shakespeare Festival where he played Lucentio in The Taming of the Shrew and Cassio in Othello.

Derek Martin played the title role in The Music Man and choreographed Carousel for the Round Barn Theater in northern Indiana.

Robert Arbaugh and Ryan Clemens performed Prisoners with the Uncovered Theatre Company, touring to churches in northern Michigan and throughout Hampton Roads.

Alaska Reece-Vance, Katie Fridsma, and Chad Rasor organized and taught a summer theatre camp in Tennessee’s Tri-Cities area with The Drifting Theatre Company. They also performed in an original 4-person adaptation of Shakespeare’s The Tempest at sites throughout Tennessee and Georgia.

Katie Cheely performed a new adaptation of her original show, Amidst Darkness, at the Peter Jones Gallery in Chicago.

Kaja Dunn traveled throughout Taiwan with fellow MFA student Shinn-Rong Chung and his Christian theatre company, Ya Tong. Together they taught a range of acting workshops to over 200 theatre artists.

Matthew Winning played Riff in the Park Playhouse production of West Side Story in
Albany, NY.

Jayson Akridge played the lead in Regent’s summer film, Mindtrap. He also taught a Shakespearean acting course at a theatre camp in Booneville, Missouri.

Katie Fridsma, Ryan Clemens, and Robert Arbaugh performed in Under His Wings, an original musical based on the story of Boaz and Ruth, at the Rocky Hock Playhouse in Edenton, NC.

Sean Cowan founded the Portland Improv Group and played leading roles in the Last Rites Productions of Dinner and Destiny and Cocktails.

Kelly Levander spent her summer doing film and voice-over projects and working on the Colonial Williamsburg production, An Idea of America.

Sharon Eyster returned to Prince Edward Island to perform in the world premiere musical The Nine Lives of L.M. Montgomery based on the life of author Lucy Maud Montgomery and composed by Emmy-nominated composer Leo Marchildon. She recorded the original cast album set for release this fall.

Desiray Boyd, in addition to teaching at Regent’s summer camp, taught theatre in the Upward Bound program in Hampton.