Drama News

Letter From a Senior

I never knew my favorite college experiences would be rooted in performance By Lauren Knight As someone who joined the Department of Drama during their third year at UCI, my biggest fear was feeling like an outsider amongst a tight-knit group of drama majors who all knew and bonded with each...

UCI Claire Trevor School of the Arts Coup de Comedy Festival Goes Global

Comedy Festival and Global Improvisation Initiative Symposium “Transform” on June 3-6, 2021 IRVINE, Calif. (May 12, 2021) - The Claire Trevor School of the Arts (CTSA) at the University of California, Irvine, virtually hosts the 7th annual Coup de Comedy Festival returning after last...

Renaissance Man

Graduate student Jesús López Vargas reflects a new generation behind the scenes in theatre By Christine Byrd Director, stage manager, producer, poet, photographer, videographer, designer, and an advocate for underrepresented voices: Jesús López Vargas wears many hats. As an M.F.A. candidate...

'How I Met Your Murderer': Meet Rachele Schank (UCI Drama, 2009) from Lifetime's psychological thriller

Starring in the lead role of the film is actress Rachele Schank. Schank attended London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and has a B.A. in Drama from UC Irvine's Claire Trevor School of the Arts. Read the MEAWW.com article by Aurelia Fernandes.

2021 Dean's Scholarship Awardees

Congratulations to the 2021 Dean’s Scholarship awardees! A very special thank you to the Giving Day donors who made these scholarship funds possible. As the leading campus in the nation providing access to all qualified students, no matter what their background, our students rely...

Rising Spirits for Latinx Students

Creative Connections creates a platform for Santa Ana High School students to tell their stories By Jezebel Ramirez-Robles   The collaborative project, “Rising Spirits: First Draft,” brings together UCI Claire Trevor School of the Arts Creative Connections program with student-run...

Animals in My Classroom

By Marcy Froehlich, associate professor of costume design in the Department of Drama The little yellow bird was hopping across her head, which made my student’s presentation even more cheerful. The subject was hats, so was the bird itself becoming a moving, breathing hat, or perhaps instead...

CTSA Expands Comms to Facilitate Remote Productions & New Learning Opportunities

UC Irvine’s Claire Trevor School of the Arts Expands Comms to Facilitate Remote Productions & New Learning Opportunities

On Stage To On-Camera: How Two Drama Students Landed a Spot in “The Prom” Movie

By Lauren Knight On December 11, Netflix released the Ryan Murphy film adaptation of “The Prom,” which included UCI second-year drama students Jessica Spruiell and Hailey Mogul as extras on the production.  Filming just before the pandemic halted TV and film production in Hollywood, both...

Faculty Books: Jay Pather, Performance and Spatial Politics in South Africa

Jay Pather, Performance and Spatial Politics in South Africa By Ketu H. Katrak, professor  in the Department of Drama Jay Pather, Performance and Spatial Politics in South Africa offers the first full-length monograph on the award-winning choreographer, theater director, curator, and...

UCI Drama Presents "Detroit ’67"

Dominique Morisseau’s play focuses on family ties during the historic Detroit race riots Irvine, Calif., January 27, 2021 – UC Irvine’s Claire Trevor School of the Arts Department of Drama presents Detroit ’67, a story focused on relationships during the historic 1967 race riots...

Four CTSA faculty members chosen for the UCI Beall Applied Innovation Fellowship Program

UCI Beall Applied Innovation announced this week the second cohort to their Faculty Innovation Fellowship Program. The program draws from all schools and fields on UC Irvine’s campus to promote cross-collaboration and stimulate campus connections using Applied Innovation’s resources. Faculty...

Avery Evans chosen for The Cody Renard Richard Scholarship Program

The Broadway Advocacy Coalition (BAC) and veteran Broadway stage manager Cody Renard Richard (Variety’s 2020 Broadway Players to Watch, Hamilton, Freestyle Love Supreme) announced the 15 recipients of The Cody Renard Richard Scholarship Program, dedicated to honoring, uplifting, and supporting the...

UCI’s “She Kills Monsters” Delights with Dungeons and (Digital) Dragons

The New University reviews UCI Drama’s Fall 2020 production of “She Kills Monsters: Virtual Realms.” Directed by Beth Lopes, this production follows the “Young Adventurers Edition” of the play — an aged-down, less explicit version of the original work by

Arielle Sidney's Upcycled Designs Go Viral on TikTok

Excerpt from Vouge Magazine January 17, 2021 By Christian Allaire One of the most interesting parts of the upcycling movement is seeing how brands can turn even the most unlikeliest of textiles into modern ready-to-wear—and Arielle Sidney, a college student in California, is a prime example of...

Taylor Fagins, B.A. '17, Wins 1st Place in the American Songwriters Contest

Excerpt from American Songwriter by Jacob Uitti "Fagins grew up in southern California and attended the University of California at Irvine, studying drama and musical theater. He moved to New York City for its plethora of stories, diversity and myriad faces, and he now works with two different...

Zachary Price Combines Scholarship and Drama

By Richard Chang Professor Zachary Price is fascinated with various modes of performance, from the proscenium stage to the street corner. He’s a new faculty member at UC Irvine, teaching in the Department of Drama. He started his position as assistant professor of doctoral studies in July...

Behind-the-Scenes of SHE KILLS MONSTERS: VIRTUAL REALMS with Tolu Ekisola

By Lauren Knight Instead of prepping in the wings of a theater before the curtain rises, Tolu Ekisola adjusts her light sources and fixes the laptop that rests on two cardboard boxes in her home office in Minnesota. With her props laid out on the desk in front of her and a large green screen...