Help us celebrate the exciting work being done by Department of Theatre Arts alumni!
Stephen Ptacek (2006 BA) is the Audio Head for Broadway in Chicago's Broadway Playhouse Theatre, which is an apprentice house meaning in addition to executing the shows they are also training apprentice stagehands so they can be well rounded professionals ready to contribute to any live event they get called to work on. He has also previously held similar roles at the Goodman Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare, and at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills CA. Ptacek is also the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) Local 2 Steward and has been in IATSE for about a decade. He has enjoyed a healthy sound design career since 2006 but has slowed down a bit to focus more time at home with his family.
Amy Rodriguez (2021 BA)returned to the University of Iowa for the national tour of Broadway’s Hairspray. Rodriguez is touring as Tracy Turnblad’s standby and had the opportunity to play the musical’s lead character when the tour came to Hancher auditorium in February. READ MORE
Amy Rodriguez (center) as Tracy Turnblad in the touring production of Hairspray
Sarayu Blue (1997 BA) performs alongside Nicole Kidman in the Prime Video limited series Expats, where she plays socialite Hilary Starr. Recently, The New York Times published a conversation with Blue about her career as well as why dinner with friends, her mom’s dosas, and daydreaming are necessities. Read More.
Molly Brown (2015 BA) will be the lead in the new film Bloody Axe Wound produced by AMC, and she has a supporting role in the independent film Mooch, and she will be seen in ‘24 in her reoccurring role in Evil on CBS. Brown (pictured) also comes back to Iowa often as a guest artist to talk with our current Theatre students.
Rob Merritt (1997 BA) wrote the viral musical parody "B-ball Wizard" celebrating Iowa legend Caitlin Clark. Merritt was a double major in Theatre Arts and Journalism & Mass Communications. Now an award-winning writer, editor, and videographer, Rob has used his degree from Iowa to great success in his field. Read More.
David Adjmi’s (2001 MFA, Playwriting) new play, Stereophonic, opened at Broadway’s Golden Theatre on April 19. The play, which includes songs by Will Butler, follows a fictional 1970s rock band on the cusp of superstardom as they struggle through recording their new album. The play, directed by Daniel Aukin, completed an Off-Broadway run at Playwrights Horizons on Dec. 17, following a three-week extension. Read More.
Image from Adjmi's Stereophonic
Diana Grisanti (2006 BA) has released her audio-play, Vanessa in Bed, on Audible. The play, commissioned through the Audible Emerging Playwrights Fund, features Karla Souza (La Caída/Dive, How to Get Away with Murder, and Home Economics) and OBIE winner Zoë Winters (Heroes of the Fourth Turning and Succession). Click Here to listen to Vanessa in Bed.
Scott Whited (1977 BA) is keeping his hand in with local arts in Pueblo, CO. After 10 years reviewing performing arts for the Pueblo Chieftain newspaper, he has produced/co-produced a number of plays over the last several years, including Stoppard's The Real Thing, God of Carnage, 12 Angry Jurors, and last fall's Avenue Q at the Sangre de Cristo Arts Center. He also founded and was a longtime Board member of the Pueblo Arts Alliance, a local Arts advocacy 501(c)3.
Karl Alphonso (2008 MFA) currently serves as the Production Stage Manager for The Guthrie Theater. Before moving to Minneapolis, he spent 14 years at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival from 2008-2021 as SM and ASM. Credits include over 25 shows ranging from new works to Shakespeare including Mother Road, The Book of Will, Manahatta, UniSon, Vietgone, The Happiest Song Plays Last, Shakespeare in Love, Fingersmith, The Liquid Plain, Party People, The Pirates of Penzance, American Night, The White Snake. Originally from Mumbai, India, Karl was also a part of Q Theatre Productions, a theatre and arts management company from 2001-2005. Karl is a proud member of Actors' Equity Association.
