Jackie Apodaca
Professor: Performance – Acting, Theatre Chair
MFA, Acting, National Theatre Conservatory; BFA, Theatre, UC Santa Barbara
Jackie is an accomplished actor, director, and producer and has worked with companies such as the Roundabout, Denver Center Theatre Company, National Geographic, Modern Media (Head of Production), Venice Theatre Works (Associate Artistic Director), and Shakespeare Santa Barbara (Producing Director). She is the author of , published by Routledge, and spent more than a decade at Backstage Newspaper, where she was a Contributing Editor. Jackie is the Artistic Director of and a proud member of AEA and SAG-AFTRA.
Office:聽THTR 217
Phone: 541.552.7020
E-Mail: apodacaj@sou.edu
Thomas Fagerholm
Assistant Professor – Technical Theatre and Fabrication
MFA Theater: Technical Direction, from Minnesota State University, Mankato 2012
Areas of research interest for Tom include entertainment automation, robotics, Arduino, and CNC and Laser cutting for theater. Currently Tom is teaching workshops and collaborating with universities and theaters in South Africa. Past research projects included a collaboration with the University of Virginia and University of Arizona on an autonomous stage robot. He has also worked on numerous show related Arduino projects, several of which have been presented at the USITT Tech Expo.
Tom’s professional credits include: The Colorado Shakespeare Festival as Technical Director, Interim Associate Technical Director for The Guthrie Theater, The Utah Shakespeare Festival as Technical Director of the Randall Stage from 2018-2020, the Glimmerglass Festival 2017 summer season as Assistant Technical Director of Scenery Operations, Centenary Stage Company’s Off-Broadway production of The English Bride among numerous other equity productions.
In the fall of 2022 Tom worked as a road carpenter for Atomic Design and WWE’s Crown Jewel event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Additionally he has worked on several independent films and interned with Cirque du Soleil on the show 鈥淜谩.鈥 While working at K谩 he was offered a special opportunity to work as a rigger on Battle at Comic Con, a special event in San Diego in which the battle sequence from K谩 was presented on the side of Petco Park stadium.
Office:聽THTR 125
E-Mail: fagerholmt@sou.edu
Andrew Kenneth Gay
Dean, School of Arts & Communication
Executive Director, The Oregon Center for the Arts
MFA, Entrepreneurial Digital Cinema, University of Central Florida, 2010; BFA, Film Production, University of Central Florida, 2006; BA, English & Philosophy/Religion, Flagler College, 2003
Andrew Kenneth Gay (he/him) leads the School of Arts & Communication and the Oregon Center for the Arts as director and is a tenured professor of Digital Cinema, where he teaches storytelling, career development, and film production management. He received SOU鈥檚 Distinguished Teaching Award in 2021 and the University Film & Video Association鈥檚 National Award for Teaching Excellence in 2022. Before becoming a full-time educator, Andrew worked as a freelance production coordinator, production manager, and assistant director in commercials, reality television, and independent film, and for such companies as Red Bull, Discovery, and Disney. He has written, directed, and produced for both fiction and documentary media and has served as board president of Film Southern Oregon, on the board of the Oregon Media Production Association, as a programmer for the Ashland Independent Film Festival, and serves on the Teaching Committee for EDIT Media (Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in Teaching Media) and on the board of the University Film & Video聽Association.
Office: Britt 140
Phone: 541.552.6669
E-Mail: Andrew.Gay@sou.edu
Laurie Kurutz
Professor 鈥 Costume Technology
MFA, Production Design & Technology, School of Theatre, Ohio University (Athens); BFA, Theatre Arts, Southern Oregon College
Laurie is an accomplished costume maker and tailor, specializing in period costumes and menswear at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Seattle Opera, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, and many other Tony Award-winning theatres. In addition to publishing in national educational journals, she regularly presents at national theatre and educational conferences. Her scholarship includes costume technology, burlesque costume and practice.
Office:聽THTR 163
Phone: 541.552.6366
E-Mail: kurutzl@sou.edu
Valerie Madden
Assistant Professor 鈥 Performance, Voice and Speech
MFA, Emerson College; D.L.T.
Valerie holds an M.F.A in Theatre Education from Emerson College, is a Designated Linklater Voice Teacher (D.L.T.), an actor (Proud member of SAG/AFTRA and AEA), and a theatre educator. Valerie was designated by Kristin Linklater in 2019 at the Kristin Linklater Voice Center in Orkney Scotland. She most recently taught the Linklater Voice Method at Emerson College and at the Kristin Linklater Voice Center in Orkney Scotland. Previously Valerie taught at The Boston Conservatory at Berklee, and Shakespeare & Company in Lenox MA. Valerie worked as a facilitator for Anna Deavere Smith’s “Notes from the Field: Doing Time in Education” at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge MA, engaging with audience members in conversations about the school-to-prison pipeline. Her research interests center on how .
Office:聽THTR 124
E-Mail: maddenv@sou.edu
David McCandless
Professor – Shakespeare Studies
PhD, Scholar/Director Program, Stanford University
David joined the faculty in Fall 2010.聽He earned his doctorate in the scholar-director program at Stanford University.聽David is the author of Gender and Performance in Shakespeare鈥檚 Problem Comedies, as well as several articles on Shakespeare and performance, and a play, Invisible Threads.聽He is currently working on a book for Arden Press entitled “Shakespeare and Performance Theory.” He previously taught and directed plays at Carleton College and the University of California, Berkeley.
Office:聽THTR 218
Phone: 541.552.8041
E-Mail: mccandled@sou.edu
Brendan McMahon
Associate Professor: Performance – Movement
BFA, University of Michigan (Ann Arbor); MFA, 脡cole Lassad (Brussels, Belgium)
Brendan is a professional performer and director in theater and film. He has performed nationally and internationally; in New York City at The Lincoln Center, The Public Theater, and Brooklyn Academy of Music; The Shakespeare Theatre, and Kennedy Center in Washington DC, and many others. He has taught at SUNY Purchase College, Long Island University, The Neighborhood Playhouse, and New York Film Academy.
Office:聽THTR 219
Phone: 541.552.6346
E-Mail: mcmahonb@sou.edu
Sean O鈥橲kea
Professor 鈥 Scenic Design
MFA, Scenic Design, University of Portland; Masters, Historic Preservation, Ball State University; BA, Theatre, University of Portland
Sean is the author of 鈥淧ainting for Performance鈥 Focal Press; he is a frequent contributor to Dramatics and Teaching Theatre magazine. He is also a Freelance Designer with 3rd Rail Rep and Broadway Rose Musical Theatre Company.
Office:聽THTR 215
Phone: 541.552.6688
E-Mail: oskeas@sou.edu
Deborah Rosenberg
MoTS Program Coordinator; Graduate Program Costume Design
BA, Anthropology, Trent University; MFA, Costume Design, North Carolina School of the Arts
Deborah Rosenberg came to SOU from New York where she worked as faculty costume designer and costume shop supervisor at Ithaca College and SUNY: Brockport, as well as guest draper at Cornell University and resident designer at Niagara University. Professional design credits include Alley Theatre, Player鈥檚 Theatre Columbus, Berkshire Theatre Festival, Shakespeare and Co., and theatres internationally. At SOU, Deborah teaches costume design, construction, and stage makeup. She holds a B.A. in anthropology from Trent University in Ontario and an M.F.A. in costume design from North Carolina School of the Arts.
Office:聽THTR 158
Phone: 541.552.6690
E-Mail: rosenbergd@sou.edu
Staff
Malekai Ren Pola
Office Specialist for Theatre and Visiting Groups
MA, Arts Management, University of Oklahoma; Postbaccalaureate, Music, 麻豆传媒女神; BA in Psychology, Spanish Minor, Music Industry Studies Certificate, 麻豆传媒女神 (2024)
Malekai Ren Pola (they/them) hails from the East Bay Area where they moved to Ashland, Oregon to attend 麻豆传媒女神 as an undergraduate student. As a dual-scholar for the POINT Foundation and National Society of Leadership and Success, they pride themselves in their academic vigor and passion for the arts, participating in both SOU Chamber Choir and MUSIX during their time as an undergraduate.
Previous professional credits include: Graduate Assistant for the Dean for the School of Science and Business at 麻豆传媒女神, Production Assistant and Stage Manager for Britt Music and Arts Festival and Social Media Intern for Ashland Chamber Music Workshop. Malekai holds a B.A. in Psychology with a minor in Spanish and an academic certificate in Music Industry Studies from 麻豆传媒女神. Malekai is pursuing an M.A. in Arts Management at the University of Oklahoma while continuing postbaccalaureate studies in Music part-time at SOU.
Office:聽THTR 130/131
Phone: 541.552.6346
E-Mail: polal@sou.edu
Contact the Theatre Program
SOU Theatre Program
1250 Siskiyou Blvd.
Ashland, OR 97520
541.552.6346
鈥 Questions About Theatre? 鈥