Dear Theatre + Dance Community,

Join Us For Our Fall Season!

UCSD's Theatre + Dance Department invites you to enjoy our upcoming performances at The Joan and Irwin Jacobs Theatre District!

Theatre Productions

A Streetcar Named Desire

November 13-21

Theodore and Adele Shank Theatre

Written by Tennessee Williams

Directed by Ian Anthony Coleman (MFA 2)

Tennessee Williams's A Streetcar Named Desire follows Blanche DuBois, a woman of fading grandeur, as she collides with the volatile world of her sister Stella and brother-in-law Stanley Kowalski in 1940s New Orleans. Their collision builds toward an inevitable, devastating tragedy. This production reimagines the play with a diverse ensemble cast, transforming Williams's story of a fading white Southern aristocracy into a sharper exploration of class mobility, cultural assimilation, and the pressure many communities of color have faced to conform to white-coded standards of class and culture in a rapidly changing America.

Learn More & Purchase Tickets

Evanston Salt Costs Climbing

November 20 - December 5

Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre

Written by Will Arbery

Directed by Shyama Nithiananda (MFA 3)

Evanston Salt Costs Climbing is a (sort of) comedy about two salt truck drivers, their administrator, her daughter, and a mysterious Lady in a Purple Hat who portends certain doom... If you've ever wondered how to survive the apocalypse or (similarly) how to tell your friends you love them, this play is for you.

Learn more & Purchase Tickets

Roger Revelle:

Cathedral Builder

November 6

Arthur Wagner Theatre

Written by Matthew Henersen

Directed by Professor Aysan Celik

Join us for a night of fun as we delve into the one-act play of Roger Revelle. Written by Matthew Henerson, it tells the story of Roger Revelle, founder of UC San Diego and Revelle College, and the journey to get our institution founded. We will have two showing times and a mixer in between the two showings. Join us for either the 5 pm or 7 pm showing, with a 6 pm social mixer with light refreshments in between.

Fall Wagner Labs

Fall Quarter

Arthur Wagner Theatre

Student Led Productions

More Info To Come

Dance Productions

Not Lost... Just Traveling

December 10-12

Wagner Dance Building, Studio 3

Artistic Direction and Supervising Choreography by Kara Mack

Not Lost… Just Traveling is a thought-provoking dance production featuring choreography from UCSD Performance Lab students, that challenges society's obsession with having everything figured out. In a world that often equates certainty with success, direction with purpose, and control with stability, this work questions the very definition of what it means to be lost.

At the heart of the production is a simple yet profound idea: The journey is not the interruption of life. The journey is life itself.

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Light! Story!

Dance on Film!

December 1

Price Center Ballroom East

Directed by Marcos Duran

Featuring Student Choreographers

A TDTR 120 course digital film production of student works spanning fiction and non-fiction dance stories.

Learn more

Fall Events

Write Your Way In: Triton Alumni Talk Writing for Theatre and TV

November 7 | 2-3:30PM

The Suraj Israni Center for Cinematic Arts

Featuring Theatre + Dance Chair Lisa Portes, Professor Naomi Iizuka, with alum writers Vivian Barnes and Alison Tatlock

Four Writers. 4 Paths. No single way in. You've watched the shows. Now meet the people that write them!

Film Screening for Let The City Speak

November 17 | 6-8PM

The Suraj Israni Center for Cinematic Arts

Join us for a very special film screening of the documentary Let the City Speak - The Sonic Journey of Quetzal, which follows the story of the celebrated East LA Chicano Rock band Quetzal.

Q&A to follow with Emmy-award winning filmmaker Akira Boch and Grammy-Award winning artist Quetzal Flores.

Free and open to the public.

Connection Jam

Every Wednesday

6:30-8PM

T+D professor Ana María Álvarez and a roster of amazing artists from on and off campus lead a weekly gathering space for connection, radical joy and community!

No experience necessary, this is an open and non judgemental space. Come ready to move, sweat, laugh and practice joy as if it were a muscle. You will leave feeling more grounded, connected and joyful!

Learn more

All Area Dance Sharing

November 18

Epstein Family Amphitheater | 4-6:30PM

Join us for a powerful evening of dance, sharing, and community!

Our TDMV movement classes will come together to share what they have been learning, creating, and working on. Come meet the professors and students, celebrate their journeys, and experience the power of movement.

The evening will close with a Hip-Hop Connection Jam on stage, led by Dr. grace shinhae jun and Joseph “Dyno” Corrales from 6:30-8PM.

Come move, connect, celebrate, and be part of the UCSD dance community!

Learn more

Department News

Join Faculty, Students, and Alumni for the LITVAK Fall 2026 Concert

November 21-22

Torrey Pines High School Performing Arts Center

The program features three works by T+D faculty member and LITVAKdance Artistic Director Sadie Weinberg, alongside guest performances and choreography by T+D’s Daunté Nabi Fyall. The concert also features T+D alumni Cece Carton, Davan Murphy, and Cecily Holocombe!

Additional performances and choreography by Lemoe Mata’itusi and Tijuana-based company Lux Boreal, featuring youth dancers from A Step Beyond.

T+D Faculty and Alums on Broadway!

Professor Robert Brill, scenic designer for The Heart, took a break to visit Theatre + Dance colleagues and alumni just down the street, where they are bringing Here There Are Blueberries to life!

From left to right:

The Heart Scenic Designer Robert Brill (T+D faculty/alum '88) stands next to Here There Are Blueberries: Associate Sound Designer Salvador Zamora (MFA '23), Sound Designer Bobby McElver (T+D faculty), Production Stage Manager Erin Gioia Albrecht (MFA '09), and Stage Manager Jacob Russell (MFA '20)

Also working on Here There Are Blueberries but not pictured: Studio Assistant Eleanor Williams (MFA '25).

Here There Are Blueberries opens Nov. 9 at the Barrymore Theatre on Broadway.The Heart opened Off-Broadway on Oct. 29 at the Laura Pels Theatre and runs through Dec. 13.

Distinguished Professor Naomi Iizuka Receives Hermitage Major Theatre Award

Naomi Iizuka (Distinguished Professor of Playwriting and MFA Playwriting alum '92) and Lisa Portes (Department Chair and MFA Directing Alum '92) launched Professor Iizuka's newest play Casa de Mañana in workshop at Goodman Theatre in Chicago produced by the Hermitage Artists Center. Iizuka was awarded the Hermitage Major Theatre Award last year and the commission fueled this project.

T+D Faculty Member and Alumnus Robert Brill Sets the Scene for The Heart

Theatre & Dance alumnus and faculty member Robert Brill opened The Heart Off-Broadway on October 29 to critical acclaim. Produced by Roundabout Theatre Company and directed by Roundabout Artistic Director and former La Jolla Playhouse Artistic Director Christopher Ashley, the production was named a New York Times Critic’s Pick, hailed as “Wondrous . . . something of a miracle.”

The new musical, which premiered last season at La Jolla Playhouse, features a book by Kait Kerrigan, music by Anne and Ian Eisendrath, and choreography by Mandy Moore. Fellow Theatre & Dance alum Elizabeth Barrett (’22) also contributed to the production as Associate to Video Designer Lucy Mackinnon.

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Professor Ana María Álvarez Choreographs The Potluck Off-Broadway

Professor Ana María Álvarez choreographed The Potluck, presented by SoHo Rep and INTAR, which received an extended run in New York City, reflecting the production’s continued momentum and reception.

Álvarez also serves as Artistic Director of Contra-Tiempo, which premiered The Roots of Loving Us this October at the Epstein Family Amphitheater. The production was presented in collaboration with Dr. grace shinhae jun and Holly Johnston, bringing together artists in a shared exploration of movement, community, and connection.

T+D Faculty Bobby McElver Brings New Production to Life

T+D faculty member Bobby McElver served as sound designer for A Black-billed Cuckoo, helping bring the production to life at La Jolla Playhouse this fall.

Professor Bernard Brown Named 2026 Western Arts Alliance Intersections Fellow

At the annual Western Arts Alliance Conference, Professor Bernard Brown was named a 2026 Western Arts Alliance Intersections Fellow.

As part of the conference, Brown addressed a ballroom filled with students at the Oakland School of the Arts, whose notable alumni include Zendaya. He spoke about career pathways, sharing insights and perspectives to help inspire the next generation of artists and creative professionals.

Additionally, Brown’s work, Sissies: Something Perfect Between Ourselves, garnered media attention in multiple news outlets ahead of its presentation over Juneteenth weekend.

Hell's Kitchen to Seoul and Beyond

Alicia Keys’ Grammy Award-winning musical Hell's Kitchen made its international debut in Seoul this summer, where it continues performances through November 8. Featuring the work of Theatre & Dance alumni Director Michael Greif and Scenic Designer Robert Brill, the acclaimed musical continues its North American tour through fall 2027, with additional international productions planned for Germany and Australia.

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Dr. grace shinhae jun Celebrates 2nd Annual Asian American Dance Festival

The Asian American Dance Festival (AADF), co-founded by Theatre + Dance's Dr. grace shinhae jun, celebrated its second annual festival, continuing its commitment to showcasing and uplifting Asian American artists and dance practices.

As part of the festival, jun premiered her new work-in-progress, 강강 ganggangcypher, offering audiences an early look at an evolving work that brings her artistic vision to life.

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Dr. Jade Power-Sotomayor Publishes New Book, Habla! Speaking Bodies and Dancing Our América

Habla! explores how the dancing body speaks—how, through movement, sound, and rhythm, Latinx American communities enact forms of knowing and being that “talk back” to colonial modernity. Centering the traditions of Puerto Rican bomba, Mexican son jarocho, and the global phenomenon of perreo, Jade Power-Sotomayor reveals how these practices transform the body into a site of worldbuilding, social critique, and survival.

Theatre + Dance Students and Alumni Featured In Dear Evan Hansen

Cygnet Theatre’s production of Dear Evan Hansen was extended due to popular demand, featuring an impressive lineup of T+D alumni and students both onstage and behind the scenes.

The production showcased the talents of: Stage Manager Laura Zingle (MFA‘13), Scenic Designer Nicholas Ponting (MFA ‘21), Costume Designer Grace Wong (BA ‘23), Production Assistant Karina Ortega (MFA ‘24), with actors Aiden Meyndert (BA ‘25) as Evan Hansen, Nio Russell (BA ‘25) as Zoe Murphy, and Tyler Martinez (BA ‘28) as Connor Murphy.

T+D's Joseph "Dyno" Corrales Wins Footworkerz Battle at Red Bull BC One

Joseph “Dyno” Corrales (Bboy Dyno, CypherSt8) competed in the Red Bull BC One Battle to the North USA Final in San Diego, winning the Footworkerz Battle.

MFA Students Selected for International SPACEOUT Ambisonics Festival 2026

The work of Scarlett Shi (MFA Sound Design ’27) and Spencer Duff (MFA Lighting Design ’27), A Thousand Clocks, was selected from 109 applications for presentation in the Live Performance Track of the 3rd International SPACEOUT Ambisonics Festival 2026, held October 22–23 in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

A Thousand Clocks is an innovative WebXR and spatial-audio experience that brings together embodied virtual reality, interactive spatial sound, and a multichannel loudspeaker system. The selection recognizes the students’ creative exploration of immersive technologies and the intersection of sound, lighting, and live performance.

T+D's Daunté Fyall's Opens for David Byrne

Dauntè Fyall recently perfromed with StrollGroove as an opening act for David Byrne's Who is the Sky.

Alumni News

MFA Alum’s King of Yees Earns Glowing Review from The New York Times

Lauren Yee (MFA Playwriting ’12) has earned high praise from The New York Times for her play King of the Yees, which was named a NYT Critic’s Pick! Calling the play a “delightfully wild ride,” the review praised its insightful and humorous exploration of identity and belonging, noting, “Few contemporary plays have expressed so concisely and so amusingly the paradoxes involved in being a hyphenated American — and those paradoxes’ artistic representation.”

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MFA Alum Stars in Hulu's Furious

Acclaimed stage, film, and television actress Quincy Tyler Bernstine (MFA ’99) stars as Nora Washington opposite Emmy Rossum in Furious. Created by Elizabeth Meriwether, this crime thriller’s first season is streaming now on Hulu, with Season 2 coming soon!

MFA Alum's School Pictures Earns Rave Review from The New York Times

MFA Playwriting '24 Milo Cramer's solo musical School Pictures has received high praise from The New York Times. Critic Helen Shaw lauded the “excellent,” production as “candid, funny, musical and furious.”

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T+D Alumna Receives Fifth Emmy Nomination

Theatre + Dance alumna Alison Tatlock (MFA ’95) has earned the fifth Emmy nomination of her career. Tatlock received a 2026 Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Drama Series as an executive producer of Pluribus.

Notably, several other T+D alumni serve as writers on Emmy-nominated television series. Keiko Green (MFA ’22) is a writer on Margo's Got Money Troubles, Dave Harris (MFA ’20) writes for Widow's Bay, and Anna Ouyang Moench (MFA ’18) is a writer on Beef —all of which earned 2026 Emmy nominations.

MFA Alumna Featured in American Theatre Magazine

Phanésia Pharel (MFA Playwriting ’24) has been named one of American Theatre Magazine’s "People to Watch." The feature spotlights Pharel’s play, Dead Girl’s Quinceañera, which first premiered at the Wagner New Play Festival in 2024. This past August, the play was presented at Barrington Stage Company in co-production with Goodman Theatre and Hartford Stage.

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MFA Alum Named 2026 Barrymore Award Nominee

Lindsay Stevens (MFA Lighting ‘21) was recently named a 2026 Barrymore Award Nominee for Outstanding Lighting Design in their work on Walden at InterAct Theatre Company.

MFA Alum Takes Kinky Boots on an International Tour

Lauren Guiso (BA ’23) will serve as production stage manager for the upcoming international tour of Kinky Boots, which is set to travel throughout China and the US beginning this fall.

Former T+D Faculty Member and MFA Alumna Wins 2026 LA Area Emmy Award

Jennifer Chang (MFA Acting '06 and former T+D faculty) won the 2026 Los Angeles Area Emmy Award for Live Special Events – Programming!

Jennifer Chang (right), now a professor in the UCLA Department of Theater, was honored for her work as a writer on the 66th Annual L.A. County Holiday Celebration, broadcast on PBS SoCal.

MFA Alum Helps To Bring Cats Jellicle Ball To Life

Alex Luong (BA '20) recently brought his talents to the New York City stage as stage manager for Cats: The Jellicle Ball, helping bring this exciting theatrical production to life.

Alumnus Brings New Stories to Life on Stage and Screen

Michael Bakkensen (MFA Acting ’00) has been keeping busy with an exciting mix of theatre and film projects. He recently performed in Ava: The Secret Conversations, written by and starring Elizabeth McGovern, with productions at City Center in New York City, the Studebaker Theater in Chicago, and the CAA in Toronto. He then took the stage in Israel Horovitz’s Sins of the Mother at NJ Rep.

Bakkensen also celebrated a major milestone with his first leading feature film role in The Ruse, now streaming on Amazon Prime).

Very Light Blue Featured MFA Alums In NYC

Very Light Blue brought the work of UCSD Theatre + Dance alumni to the stage!

Directed by MFA alum Emily Moler, with set design by MFA alum Raphael Mishler, this exciting production opened this fall at The Tank in NYC.

MFA Alumnus Tackles Both TV and The Stage

Matthew Henerson (MFA Acting ‘95) continues to make his mark on both television and the stage. He stars as NCIS Special Agent Carl Loughlin in three seasons of NCIS: ORIGINS.

Henerson recently appeared as Polonius and the Gravedigger in Hamlet at Kingsmen Shakespeare and has also recently completed a run this fall as the Doctor in The Visit at Pasadena Playhouse.

MFA Acting Alumnus Makes Tony Awards History

Tony winner Danny Burstein (MFA Acting '90) makes history with his 9th Tony Award nomination. Burstein's latest nomination for Marjorie Prime makes him the most Tony-nominated male actor ever!

Danny Burstein won a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for Moulin Rouge! The Musical in 2020.