Anissa Felix ’13 ☛ Student Actor

Anissa Felix ’13 remembers the first show she saw on Broadway: Fosse, a three-act musical revue featuring the choreography of musical theatre legend Bob Fosse. She was not yet 10 years old. She left the theatre determined that she would spend the rest of her life singing and dancing. “I had always been a performer,” said Felix, who started taking singing and dancing lessons at age 5. Experiencing the revue “solidified it.” At 21, she figures she has seen at least 30 shows since then. It is nearly impossible for her to pick a favorite, although In the Heights, Once the Musical, and The Book of Mormon all rank near the top. Felix’s parents moved from Brooklyn, N.Y., to Virginia in the 1980s before their daughter was born. They returned to New York often, with their children in tow. When her dad thought Felix was old enough, he showed her how to navigate the city. Felix fell in love with it. She plans to go back as soon as she collects her theatre degree in May. “As in: We … [Read more...]

LA Trio ’03 & ’04 ☛ Working Actors

The three best friends wanted the chance to act – even if it meant taking day jobs to pay the rent. Where better to find work, they figured, than Los Angeles? Barbara Howlin ’03 led the way. She’d planned to go to New York, until she fell in love with LA during a visit there. Becca Murray ’04 and Liz Beebe ’04 joined her a year later, eager for a built-in support system so far from home. Since then, the friends have been doing what they love in the actors’ Mecca. Howlin works at Anthony Meindl’s Actors Workshop. Murray works for one of the most-listened-to public radio stations in the country. Beebe works in advertising and television production. All are jobs that allow the women the flexibility to pursue their passions. Beebe’s job helped give her “a foot in the entertainment industry.” Since arriving in LA, she has performed in commercials – including one for dating website Match. com − short films, and webisodes. She’s worked in theatre and is part of Satin Dollz Pin Up … [Read more...]

Vanessa Elese ’01 ☛ Makeup Artist

Vanessa Elese ’01 knew she wanted five things from her career when she set out for an internship with TV’s All My Children after college: Creativity and profitability. The chance to give back. To love her work. And to have fun while doing it. As a freelance makeup artist in New York, “all those things added up for me,” said Elese, who in college used the last name Muhlenfeld. If recognition had been on her list, she would have scored that, too. She won a Daytime Emmy in 2010 for Outstanding Achievement in Makeup in a drama series for her work on All My Children. Elese grew up in Arizona. She wanted an East Coast experience after high school, and came to Mary Washington. “I loved the sense of community that was there,” she said. She also got the support and encouragement to do whatever she set her mind to. That included executive directing and starring in a soap opera pilot for her senior thesis. Elese assembled a cast and crew and traveled to New York for filming over a … [Read more...]

Brandon Prendergast ’95 ☛ Stage Manager

Brandon Prendergast ’95 always figured he’d end up back in New York after graduating from UMW. He grew up in the Empire state and chose Mary Washington in part for its proximity to his family, which had relocated to Maryland. Prendergast did return to New York after earning his theatre degree – but only for a little while. He was offered a job as an assistant stage manager for a production of The Green Bird, directed by Julie Taymor. Taymor went on to win two Tony Awards, including best director, for The Lion King. Prendergast was a stage manager with notable choreographers Susan Marshall and Twyla Tharp, and with composer Philip Glass. In rapid succession, “I was working on some really great pieces with very talented directors. I had a really great New York career going for myself as a stage manager.” But Prendergast was always looking for the next project – and working temp jobs to make ends meet. “I wanted a little more stability.” He moved to Washington, D.C., where … [Read more...]

Robert Kerns ’81 ☛ Entertainment Producer

Robert Kerns ’81 boarded a cruise ship in Dubai earlier this year. From that vibrant city nestled along the Persian Gulf, he traveled to Malaysia and Singapore. He explored India before returning to his home in South Carolina. An entertainment producer for Royal Caribbean International, Kerns has visited much of the world: Italy and Spain, Turkey and Greece, the island of Malta in the Mediterranean. He has traveled the Caribbean extensively. Sometimes, all his travels still seem unlikely when he looks back at where he started. Kerns grew up in Front Royal, Va., a small town in the Blue Ridge mountains, 70 miles northwest of Fredericksburg. He chose Mary Washington because it was relatively small. “It really kind of gave us the opportunity to grow up in a safe environment,” he said. He planned to major in education, but he quickly made friends with the students working in Klein Theatre. “I had a desire to be really involved in that group. By the beginning of my freshman year, I … [Read more...]

Martha Smith ’99 ☛ Set Costumer

Martha Smith ’99 landed her first job out of college by cold-calling costume shops. Could she make body padding, one proprietor asked, but use birdseed for the filling? Smith said she could, and the New York shop welcomed her aboard the next day. She stayed for the season. Over the years, Smith has made a fat suit for ABC’s 20/20. She has worked on costumes for Radio City Music Hall, the TV soap opera Guiding Light, and Broadway’s Kiss Me Kate. A year after Smith graduated from Mary Washington, Guiding Light hired her full time. She spent three years there before starting graduate school, which allowed her to work in costumes on Broadway at night. “It’s all about people and hard work. Mary Washington – and the theatre department in particular – never let up on these things. In this business, it’s all about reputation,” Smith said. At UMW, “it didn’t matter if we were college students, or if we were established in the department. We were expected to take things on in a … [Read more...]

Beyond Character

UMW Theatre plays best supporting role

Cinderella had just learned life is not a fairy tale. Her happily-ever-after marriage wasn·t. A vengeful giant, still on the loose, had killed the Baker’s wife. And the grief-stricken Baker had entrusted his baby to Cinderella. Much to her relief, the Baker returned. He reached for his child, cradled in the arms of the princess. Suddenly, with a few words from nearby, the scene from Into the Woods stopped. On this October Friday night, the UMW Department of Theatre & Dance production rehearsed in a makeshift space in a storefront in Fredericksburg’s Eagle Village shopping center. Director Gregg Stull ’82, professor and department chair, kept a keen eye on the action. Their Nov. 1 premiere of the popular Sondheim musical was less than a month away. “Wait, wait, wait,” Stull called. He walked into a large rectangle outlined with tape on the floor. It marked the dimensions of the Klein Theatre stage, where Talking With, the first show of the 2012-2013 season, had just … [Read more...]