Theatre grads from UCF's early days hold reunion
June 23, 2016 On June 10, dozens of actors, directors, costume designers and other denizens of the theater descended onto a small party venue in Winter Springs to reunite with one another. Despite the vivid experiences they shared long ago, many of them hadn’t seen each other in more than 40 years. The...
UCF student film 'Tucker' challenges digital filmmaking
June 23, 2016 oshua Evangelista, a UCF Film BFA student working under the nom de plume “J. Ellis Evans,” has successfully crafted a short film that uses this gimmick to challenge what we would typically expect from digital filmmaking. Tucker is a film that takes place entirely from the perspective of a young...
UCF alumnus cast on Broadway, again
June 21, 2016 Quentin Earl Darrington, a recent graduate of UCF’s master’s program in acting, will hit the New York City stage next month for his second Broadway show. Darrington, 37, will play Old Deuteronomy in the revival production of Cats and has the opportunity to work alongside Tony Award-winning director Trevor Nunn....
Fringe Festival keeps Orlando theater weird
June 21, 2016 Veterans of The Orlando Fringe Festival describe it as a celebration of art in all its forms. The festival, now in its 25th year, has something of a raunchy reputation — at Fringe, anything goes, whether that’s musical revues featuring all-nude casts, R-rated comedy performances or drag queen battle royales....
UCF's Voicebox Reaches International A Cappella Finals
June 21, 2016 Voicebox a cappella group from UCF has sung its way to the finals of this weekend’s International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella in New York. The 13-member group, which formed in the fall of 2014, beat out another UCF group – Gemini Boulevard – in the southern regionals to advance....
DWR 2015-16 Award Winners
June 17, 2016 Congratulations to the Department of Writing and Rhetoric’s faculty who received 2015-2016 TIP and SoTL awards. Kathleen Bell and Nate Holic received the Teaching Incentive Award (TIP), which rewards sustained high levels of teaching effectiveness. Mark Hall, Mary Tripp, and Pavel Zemliansky received the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Award...
Tremon Kizer Will Oversee UCF Athletic Bands
June 16, 2016 As the University of Central Florida’s new Associate Director of Bands and Director of Athletic Bands, Tremon Kizer will oversee all aspects of the athletic band program and teach courses in music education. Kizer is well-versed in university band programs. Previously, he oversaw the University of Dayton Marching Band, as...
Resources from the UCF Faculty Center
June 14, 2016 After this weekend’s tragic shooting, our campus is in mourning. As faculty, our focus is on caring for our students and colleagues, and providing them the support and assistance they need during this terrible time and into the future. We have received several calls and questions about resources available, and...
Dear Daughter (on the Orlando tragedy)
June 13, 2016 “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.” –Mister Rogers Dear Daughter, Today, your mama’s birthplace, the city you know as your second home, from where...
Stanford Rape Outrage (and we should be outraged)
June 13, 2016 I was planning to post a commentary on the Stanford rapist yesterday, but the Orlando tragedy detracted my heart a touch (being an Orlando native and friend/ally of the GLBTQ* community and so many individuals who identity as such). However, this is still just as pressing so I do not...
Welcome SPA Faculty Member: Shawn Boyle
June 13, 2016 The UCF School of Performing Arts is pleased to introduce assistant professor Shawn Boyle. Boyle will be part of the Theatre faculty, teaching lighting design and working on Theatre UCF’s productions starting in August. He’s excited to become part of the community at the University of Central Florida, which was...
UCF's The World Goes 'Round is a Song-and-Dance Extravaganza
June 09, 2016 The UCF School of Performing Arts opens The World Goes ‘Round, a musical revue of songs by songwriting team John Kander and Fred Ebb. The production runs June 23 through July 2 on the Theatre UCF Main Stage. Conceived by Scott Ellis, Susan Stroman and David Thompson, Kander and Ebb’s...
UCF Emmy-Winning Documentary to be Shown on 100 PBS Stations, Campus
June 06, 2016 An Emmy-winning documentary film created by UCF honors students began airing this week on more than 100 PBS television stations nationwide, telling the story of a Florida Legislature panel that tried to remove homosexual students and employees from state universities decades ago. The film will be shown during the next...
Music Professor Rupert Honored by UCF Board of Trustees
June 02, 2016 Music Professor Jeffrey Rupert has been honored as a “foremost scholar” by the UCF Board of Trustees and has been granted one of eight “Trustee Chair” awards. Designed to both retain and attract exceptional faculty, the five-year Trustee Chair appointments offer an annual stipend of $50,000. In order to be...
Almost, Maine is a welcomed respite from the Florida heat
May 25, 2016 Orlando, Fla. (May 25, 2016) – Theatre UCF opens John Cariani’s play Almost, Maine on Thursday, June 2. The play is a series of vignettes about love in a northern town and runs through June 11 in UCF’s Black Box theater. Almost, Maine tells nine stories of love in a...
University's Early Theatre Troupes to Stage Reunion
May 25, 2016 In the early days of UCF – when it was known as Florida Technological University with the overriding mission to provide personnel for the U.S. space program – there also was a small group of dedicated theatre students, faculty and staff on campus. In that space-dominated era, that handful of...
Oxford American features photos by M. Laine Wyatt
May 25, 2016 M. Laine Wyatt is featured in the Oxford American‘s weekly column “Eyes on the South.” “Eyes on the South” showcases weekly selections of work from Southern artists or artists whose work concerns the South. Wyatt is an associate professor of photography at the University of Central Florida. She has shown...
2016 Hopes Scholarship Winners Announced
May 25, 2016 The UCF School of Visual Arts & Design proudly announces two winners of the 2016 J.R. Hopes Art Scholarship. This year’s recipients are Kirkland Macy and Robert Shirley. Kirkland Macy is a sophomore specializing in drawing and experimental animation. With a strong interest in designing and modelling characters and creatures,...
Day Five–Anna Eskamani Week of Action
May 20, 2016 “Find What You Love and Just Do It”: Anna V. Eskamani Interview by Morgan Toscano and Leandra Preston-Sidler Anna Eskamani’s first involvement in activism occurred when she was in fifth grade and tried to petition moving one of her friends to another classroom. Since then, the experience of organizing and...
UCF Names New Dean of the College of Arts & Humanities
May 20, 2016 After an extensive national search that began in October, the University of Central Florida has selected Jeffrey Moore, director of UCF’s School of Performing Arts, as its new dean of the College of Arts & Humanities. He will start his new role Aug. 8. Moore joined UCF in 1994 as...