Theatre News

Julia Schade

Music Director of Six the Musical on Broadway

Ms. Schade did a workshop for our students in March, 2021.

Julia plays Joan, the lady-in-waiting keyboard player and is the music director of Six the Musical on Broadway. She has been with the show since its premiere in Chicago - playing the entire opening tour except for Edmonton. Previous credits include Peter Pan and Madagascar at Chicago Shakespeare, Fantastic Mr. Fox at Emerald City Theatre, Oliver and The Who's Tommy at New American Theatre. You can read more about her here.

Allen Hooper

Casting Director

Mr. Hooper held a casting workshop for Concordia students in October, 2020.

Allen has worked in casting on the television shows including Modern Family, Superior Donuts, Up All Night, Eli Stone, Ugly Betty, According to Jim, and Jake in Progress. He has also done casting for multiple television movies and independent films as well as working as a producer and actor.

Bonnie Gillespie

Casting Director

Bonnie spoke to our students in January 2020 about how actors can market themselves in the film industry.

Bonnie is the author of Self Management for Actors and she has been a casting director in Hollywood for more than 20 years. She has been featured on Good Morning America, BBC Breakfast, Sunrise Australia, E! Online, Yahoo Movies! and has been featured in articles from The Washington Post, The Wallstreet Journal, and LA Times. She regularly contributes to Backstage and to her podcast The Work which can be found on ITunes.

She has worked on the casting of the TV Show Artificial, Paradise Hotel, Bite Me and Mr. Personality. She cast the indie films Beauty in the Broken, Another Harvest Moon (which featured Ernest Brognine, Anne Meara, Cybil Shepherd and Richard Schiff), Broken Windows, and A New Tomorrow. She has also produced work including The Mikado Project and U.Z.L.A.

Alex Daniels

Stuntman

Alex gave a workshop on stage violence and stunts to Concordia University Irvine students in January, 2020.

Alex is the owner of The Frog Prince Productions, a stunt action company.  He stunt doubled for David Hasselhoff for many years.  He designed and directed the Batman Stunt Show for Six Flags, is President of the Stuntman’s Association of Motion Pictures, and a member of the Director’s Guild of America.

He has 246 Stunt credits on his resume.  Film and television work include stunts on:  Star Trek:  Discovery, 9-1-1, SEAL Team, Hawaii Five-O, NCIS: New Orleans, NCIS: Los Angeles, Jane the Virgin, Agents of Shield, The Mentalist, Mike & Molly, August:  Osage County, The Young and The Restless, Hart of Dixie, The Dictator, Zeke and Luther, Prison Break, Bucket List, Evan Almighty, Lost, Two and a Half Men, Holes, Pearl Harbor, Rush Hour 2, and Baywatch.  See his IMDB page here:  https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0199830/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1

Curt Tofteland

Founder and Producing Artistic Director of Shakespeare Behind Bars

On campus in March 2015, Curt gave a short talk after a screening of the film Shakespeare Behind Bars and gave a workshop on Shakespearean acting.

Curt Tofteland founded the acclaimed Shakespeare Behind Bars (SBB) program. He facilitated the program at the Luther Luckett Correctional Complex in Kentucky for 13 years producing and directing 14 Shakespearean productions. During a 2003 SBB production, Philomath Films chronicled the process in a documentary that premiered at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival and multiple festivals winning 11 film awards (see info about it here: www.shakespearebehindbars.org/documentary/). Curt is also Executive Producer of Prospero’s Prison, a film by award-winning filmmaker Tom Magill, founder of Educational Shakespeare Company.

Curt has delivered 4 TEDx Talks - TEDx Berkeley, TEDx Macatawa (Holland, MI), TEDx East (New York City) and TEDx Muskegon (Muskegon, MI).

From 1989 to 2008, Curt was the Producing Artistic Director of Kentucky Shakespeare Festival. As a professional director and an Equity actor, he has 200+ professional productions to his credit.

He is the recipient of a number of prestigious honors, fellowships, and awards including two Fulbright fellowships and a fellowship from the Petra Foundation, a Doctor of Humanities from Oakland University, Doctor of Humane Letters from Bellarmine University, the Sidney Berger Award from the Shakespeare Theatre Association, the Fleur-de-lis Award from the Louisville Forum, the Mildred A. Dougherty Award from the Greater Louisville English Council, and a Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Minnesota.

Christopher Scott Murillo

Scenic and Costume Designer, Set Decorator

Christopher designed the scenery and costumes for Concordia’s production of The 39 Steps in March of 2015.

Christopher is a professional scenic designer, costume designer, set decorator, and educator.

As a set decorator he has created multiple faux interiors for multiple reunion shows of The Real Housewives of Orange County, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Vanderpump Rules, the set of Pawnography and the YouTube Pro Series and YouTube Fusion.

He is a recipient of the Chataqua Fellowship in Design, and is a multiple nominee for both Ovation and Garland awards.  His scenic designs include Spring Awakening at Deaf Theatre West; Hair, The Who’s Tommy, Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol, Lysistrata Jones, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, Dogfight, Evita, and Merrily We Roll Along for the Chance Theater; Having Our Say: The Delaney Sisters’ First 100 Years, Oklahoma!, and Big River for New Village Arts Theater; Forever Plaid, Doubt, A Walk in the Woods, and Heir Apparent for International City Theatre among others. He has also served as assistant designer for productions of Spamalot and A Chorus Line at the Hollywood Bowl, Glengarry Glen Ross for La Jolla Playhouse, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing at South Coast Repertory, Love’s Labours Lost, and The Three Sisters at the Chataqua Theatre Festival.

His costume designs include A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Theatricum Botanicum, Spring Awakening for Deaf Theatre West, and A Bright New Boise, UP!, and The Seagull at the Chance Theater.

He has taught at Los Angeles City College, UC San Diego, Riverside City College, and California State – Los Angeles. He is now a full-time faculty member at Loyola Marymount.

You can see Christopher on the show Form Décor Design Challenge here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ERODJSsBLY and you can get a sense of his work on his website: http://www.christopherscottmurillo.com.

Deanna Jent

Playwright and Educator

On campus in October, 2013 – Deanna gave an acting workshop, held a Q & A, and gave a presentation “Living Out a Christian Vocation as a Playwright”.  Concordia University Irvine produced her adaptation of the C.S. Lewis book Till We Have Faces in March 2012, and her original play Falling in November 2013.

Deanna holds a Ph.D. in Theatre from Northwestern University and is a Professor of Theatre at Fontbonne University since 1995. She has been nominated five times for the Kevin Kline “Best Director” award and won the Kline Award (in St. Louis) for Best Production of 2007 for Standing on My Knees. In addition, three productions she directed have won the Kline award for “Best Ensemble”.  Deanna has directed at professional theatres throughout St. Louis:   New Jewish Theatre, Shakespeare Festival St. Louis Touring Company, The Orange Girls, ACT Inc., Stray Dog Theatre.

She is a playwright and former editor of Christianity and Theatre magazine. Deanna founded Mustard Seed Theatre in St. Louis, Missouri in the fall of 2007. As a playwright she wrote Falling (produced Off-Broadway) which garnered three Drama Desk nominations and was published by Dramatists Play Service (read about Falling here); She has also made adaptations of Pride and Prejudice, Imaginary Jesus, and C.S. Lewis’ Till We Have Faces.

Steve Giltner

Lighting Designer

Steve has designed lights for Concordia University Irvine on many productions including Songs for a New World, Still Life With Iris, and Ten Days in a Madhouse. In November 2014 he gave a talk about his work to our students.

Steve is the president an lead designer for Streetlite LLC., and has designed lighting for multiple live events, television and theatre productions. A short list of his work includes:

• Live Events – The Grammy Music Preservation Benefit Concert, Hit Record Fall Formal, and concert lighting for Yoko Ono and the Plastic One Band.
• Television – IGN Live Conference Special at E3, IGN Live Conference at Comic Con
• Theatre – Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson at the Chance Theater, Chicago, Art, and Over the River and Through the Woods for Torrance Theatre Company, Sweet Charity, The King and I, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, The Full Monty, Sweeny Todd, and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas for Candlelight Pavilion Dinner Theatre.

Carin Jacobs

Costume Designer

Carin has designed costumes for Looseleaf Theatre Company productions of Twelfth Night, As You Like It, The Comedy of Errors, The Merchant of Venice, Romeo and Juliet, Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Complete Works of Wm. Shakespeare (abridged) [revised] as well as the Concordia University Irvine production of The Brothers Menaechmus.

Carin Jacobs has been designing costumes around the OC/LA area for 18 years. Her work can be seen in many genres including theatre, film, live stage shows and professional cheerleading.

Projects include; Arizona Cardinals Cheerleading uniforms (seen at the 2009 Superbowl), Operation Spy Girl stunt show for Six Flags Chicago, and the feature film Saving Lincoln. A highlight of her career was having the opportunity to work with Julie Taymor and the creative costume design team on “The Lion King in Los Angeles.

In addition to her freelance design work, Carin also teaches costume history and design at The Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, and California State University, Dominguez Hills.  She holds a B.A. in Art History from UCLA and an M.F.A. in Theatre from Cal State Long Beach.  Visit her website at www.CarinJacobsCostumeDesign.com