Theatre Arts & Dance: Faculty & Staff Bios

Dance/Associate Chair, Assistant Professor

Nick Blaylock is a dance artist and MFA graduate of the Modern Dance Program in the University of Utah’s School of Dance. Nick has performed nationally for artists such as Lesley Telford, Molly Heller, and Shaun Boyle, and as a guest artist with Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company for Artistic Director, Daniel Charon. Nick’s choreographic research has been commissioned throughout the United States by studios, pre-professional companies, and universities, as well as acknowledged for excellence at numerous American College Dance Association Gala Concerts. Nick currently serves as an Assistant Professor of Dance and the Associate Chair of Southern Utah University’s Department of Theatre Arts & Dance. Nick is a collaborator with Heartland, a multi-disciplinary collective directed by Molly Heller of Salt Lake City.

Asst Prof, Dance

Alexandra Bradshaw-Yerby (MFA Dance, University of Washington) is a Canadian American dance artist and scholar. Informed by her background as a performer, writer, and yogi, her research pertains to embodied writing and experiential anatomy. Alexandra formerly danced with Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company (RWDC), touring annually throughout the United States and abroad. Prior to working with RWDC, Alexandra performed as a freelance dance artist throughout San Francisco, CA; New York City; and Israel. Alexandra has most recently taught at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington; The Royal Ballet School/Tumbuka Dance Company in Harare, Zimbabwe; the University of Wyoming, Laramie; the University of Mississippi, Hattiesburg; and the University of Georgia, Athens, among many others. Her current research regarding embodied writing practices has been presented at the 2018 National Dance Education Organization Conference in San Diego, CA as well as the 2019 Dance Studies Association Conference at Northwestern University. Alexandra’s recent choreographic projects include Chorus of One, a collaboration with Seattle-based glass artist Anna Mlasowsky and dance artist Alethea Alexander (awarded the Bellevue Art Museum Award of Excellence); 7 & 1, an evening length duo concert with guitarist Jon Yerby; and Brace, a duet created and performed with dance artist Bradley Beakes.

Asst Prof, Theatre-Light

Professional Website

Kolby Clarke holds an M.F.A in Stage Design from Southern Methodist University and a B.A. in Theatre and Speech Education from Brigham Young University - Idaho. Prior to coming to SUU, Kolby was the lighting coordinator for the Zoellner Arts Center at Lehigh University where he oversaw the diverse lighting and video projection needs of over 200 multidisciplinary events annually. He has taught various courses in lighting design and technology as an adjunct professor at both Lehigh University and Texas Woman's University.

Freelance work as a lighting designer or assistant/associate designer has included companies such as African American Repertory Theater, Big Thought - Creative Solutions, Contemporary Ballet Dallas, Dallas Theater Center, Dark Circles Contemporary Dance, Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, Undermain Theatre, and the Utah Symphony. Work as a master electrician or programmer has included companies such as Cara Mia Theatre Co., Dallas Actor’s Lab, Kitchen Dog Theater, Theatre 3 Dallas, and Voltstar Productions.

Costume Construction Instructor

Jaimee Markham, adjunct professor graduated from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, majoring in the history of costumes and product development.

Assistant Professor of Theatre Arts, Musical Theatre

Dr. Lisa Quoresimo’s work as a performer, director, playwright and composer, has been seen recently at northern California theatres such as Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Shotgun Players, SFBATCO, and the Davis Shakespeare Festival. She has performed Off-off Broadway, at Carnegie Hall, across the country and internationally. Favorite roles include Masha in Vanya, Sonia, Masha and Spike, and Dolly Levi in Hello Dolly. Her recent writing credits include her musical Between Dirt and Sky, and the music for One Googol and One, both produced at the Brava Theater Center in San Francisco.

Dr. Quoresimo’s vocal students have been seen on Broadway, national tours, and the Vienna Boys Choir. She is a co-founder and director of the Ground and Field Theatre Festival, which creates and develops new plays and musicals in Davis, California. She previously directed and created new works at The Marsh Theatre in San Francisco, and as the artistic director of the Kairos Theatre in NYC.

Her scholarly work has been published in Theatre Topics, Analog Game Studies, and the forthcoming Hamilton, History and Hip-Hop: Essays on an American Musical. Dr. Quoresimo is currently working on a book about a method she has developed, using bodily practices, to teach gender fluidity in the speaking and singing voice. She has presented on this method at Performance Studies International and the Voice and Speech Teachers Association.

She holds a Ph.D. in Performance Studies from UC Davis and a Master’s degree from Carnegie Mellon University. She previously taught at the Manhattan School of Music and at New York University.

Associate Professor of Theatre Arts

Peter Sham is associate professor of theatre at Southern Utah University. He is recognized nationally and internationally for his work as bookwriter/lyricist for Lend Me A Tenor: The Musical, which celebrated a successful run at the Gielgud Theatre on London’s West End and is currently enjoying first class productions throughout the UK, Germany, and select theatres across the America. A veteran regional and off-Broadway actor and director for over 35 years, he was a principal member of the Tony Award-winning Utah Shakespeare Festival for 12 seasons, and has performed at such places as SimonFest Theatre Company (for which he serves as artistic director), Asolo Theatre Company, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Studio Arena Theatre, Eastside Playhouse, Perry Street Theatre and Artpark. Peter has directed over 85 productions in Utah and throughout the Eastern United States. He holds an MFA in Acting from the University of Delaware’s Professional Theatre Training Program. He is a recipient of the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival’s Excellence in Education Award, the only professor from CPVA to ever receive SUU’s Scholar of the Year Award, a Thunderbird Award winner for Professor of the Year, and the recipient of SUU’s highest award, The Board of Trustees Award for Excellence.

Assistant Professor, Dance

Professional Website

Danielle Lydia Sheather, Canadian-born dancer/choreographer/artist/educator has trained with the Paul Taylor Winter Intensive, Limón Spring Studies Program, Horton Pedagogy Workshop, Off Jazz Stage d’été, and at One Body One Career Countertechnique Intensive.

Professional credits include: Stiletto Entertainment/Holland America Cruise Lines, Artpark, Sesame Street Live, Busch Garden Europe, Dance Jam, The International Dance Festival, Truthdance, BalaSole Dance Company, New York Fashion Week, National Commercials for Bush Gardens Europe and specs for Bacardi, Chain Reaction, and Diamante Pictures.

Danielle’s choreography has been presented at Baryshnikov Arts Center, Gelsey Kirkland Arts Center, Dixon Place, and Le Regard du Cygne (France). Her research investigates neuromuscular/psychosomatic connections in order to develop authentic movement patterns, sound anatomical alignment, and injury prevention.

Danielle has taught for East Carolina University and the University at Buffalo. She received her MFA from The University of Arizona as a University Fellow and was awarded the College of Fine Arts Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant. She is an ABT® Certified Teacher in Primary through Level 5 of the ABT® National Training Curriculum and has completed the Progressing Ballet Technique Certification Workshop. She is a certified Yoga Instructor (ERYT-500hr) and received a BFA in Dance and BA in Psychology from the University at Buffalo.

Asst Prof, Dance

Professional Website

Casey Lee Thorne received her BFA in Dance and a minor in Biology from Alonzo King LINES Ballet/Dominican University of CA as part of the inaugural class, and received her MFA in Dance Studies from Mills College in Oakland, CA. Casey founded Inside Out Contemporary Ballet in 2012, a professional dance company located in San Francisco, and was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to Israel 2014-2015. She has danced professionally with American Repertory Ballet in Princeton NJ, Oakland Ballet, Ars Minerva Opera, and James Graham Dance Theatre. Casey is a certified GYROTONIC® and GYROKINESIS® instructor with over ten years of teaching experience. Her research interests and special projects include 'Project Pulse: A Dance Research Experience,' which considers new ways that Traditional Chinese Medicine pulse taking can be taught through dance, and the 'If I Were You' project, a long-term international outreach project that seeks to bridge community engagement and the creation of new choreographic works. Casey is thrilled to be a new Assistant Professor of Dance at Southern Utah University beginning Fall 2019.

Assistant Professor of Theatre Arts, Scenic Design

Brian is an Assistant Professor for scenery in the Department of Theatre Arts and Dance at Southern Utah University. He holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in painting from the Department of Art within the College of Fine Arts at the University of South Dakota. For 28 years Brian worked as a freelance Scenic Artist, Scenic Designer, and Technical Director for various theatres and production companies in Iowa, South Dakota, Nebraska and Colorado.

Brian came to Southern Utah University in the fall of 2009 as a member of the Theatre Arts and Dance Department, five years on our staff as the Scene Shop Supervisor and adjunct faculty for Art and Theatre, then joining our faculty the Fall Semester of 2014. He has designed and painted the scenery for several of our productions, utilizing and training our students in the process. Outside of the classroom he engages the students in the scene shop working with them on various aspects of our productions from construction to props and scenic art.

Assistant Professor of Theatre- Theatre History

Dr. Scott C. Knowles is an assistant professor in the Department of Theatre Arts and Dance at Southern Utah University (SUU). He received an MA from Florida State University and a PhD from the University of Kansas. His dissertation, “Dystopian Performatives: Negative Affect/Emotion in the Work of Sarah Kane” focused on the performative impact of violent scenes from Kane’s work on the affect/emotion of an audience. He has presented this work along with research focused on race, gender, directing, and dramaturgy at conferences such as the American Society for Theatre Research, The Mid-America Theatre Conference, Theatre Symposium, and the Association for Theatre in Higher Education. He has published work with both Theatre Journal and in A Critical Companion to Lynn Nottage. His directing work focuses primarily on theatre for social change, working to involve audiences, company, and community in issues beyond the walls of the theatre through a variety of outreach approaches. In 2017, Scott was awarded SUU’s Distinguished Faculty for Inclusion and Diversity Award based on his work with The Laramie Project.

Assistant Professor of Theater

John “Jeb” Branin began his career in higher education as a theatre instructor, director, and costume designer. In the mid-90s he spent two years teaching in the ETTI (English through the Internet) program as domestic co-instructor with Dr. Elaine Hoter from Talpiot Teachers College in Tel-Aviv, Israel; the first ever online course of its kind. He also taught college theatre in the Utah State Prison system. He designed, and currently serves as the director of, SUU’s Theatre in London program taking students and community members to London each year to study theatre.

In addition to the theatre, he has dedicated his career to working with students in transition through academic advising, orientation, and experiential education. To that end he served for many years as Associate Dean of the School of Integrative and Engaged Learning and Executive Director of the Experiential Learning Leadership Institute. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Theatre focusing on general education theatre courses.

As a keynote speaker and workshop presenter, he has been featured at conferences across the U.S. Most recently in Texas, Florida, Missouri, Utah, and Georgia.

Lecturer, Lecturer Costume Design and Technology

Mariya Radeva-Nedyalkova is a professional costume designer and technologist, who has been working in regional and national venues for drama, musical theatre, children’s theatre, and opera. Some of her favorite credits include: The Beauty Queen of Lenane and When The Rain Stops Falling with APF Theatre; the American premiere of Passage and Compleat Female Stage Beauty with College of Southern Nevada; Seussical and Mr. Popper’s Penguins with The Rainbow Company; Don Giovanni and Albert Herring with Opera in the Ozarks; A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and Equus with Nevada Conservatory Theatre; The Diary of Anne Frank with Jewish Repertory Theatre; A Midsummer Night's Dream with Illinois Wesleyan University.

For four years, Mariya was a resident designer, technologist, and instructor at the nationally recognized Rainbow Company Youth Theatre. Since 2014, she has served as a resident costume designer at the award-winning A Public Fit Theatre Company in Las Vegas, Nevada. For her designs, Mariya was a nominee for Costume Society of America’s Award of Excellence in Costume Design/Technology, a four-time nominee for the Las Vegas Valley Theatre Awards and won Best Costume Design for The Elephant Man in 2019. Mariya has training in Fashion Design and Technology from the French Institute of Marketing Marcom in Bulgaria and holds MFA in Costume Design and Technology from the University of Nevada Las Vegas.

Music Dir/Accompanist/Arranger

Learn more about Mitchell Brownell by viewing his Professional Resume.

Assistant Professor of Theatre

Russ Benton has been an actor at theatres all across the country. Such theatres include Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, The Asolo Repertory Theatre, The Profile Theatre, and others. He has worked extensively with the Tony Award winning Utah Shakespeare Festival, most recently in productions of The Foreigner, Big River, Book of Will, and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Mr. Benton has previously taught acting for over 10 years at the College of Southern Nevada, as well as previously at Southern Utah University in 1999. He holds his Masters of Fine Arts degree in Acting from Florida State University/The Asolo Conservatory. Mr. Benton is a proud Alumnus of Southern Utah University where he completed his undergraduate degree. He has continued to work as a professional actor throughout his career as an educator.

Technical Theatre/Dept. Chair, Assoc. Prof. of Theatre Arts

Brian Swanson is the Chair for the Department of Theatre Arts at Dance at Southern Utah University. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Performing Arts from Iowa State University and earned his Masters of Fine Arts in Technical Design and Production from the Yale School of Drama. Brian’s work as a production manager and technical director includes work for various theatre and opera companies including the Utah Shakespeare Festival, Yale Repertory Theatre, the Aspen Music Festival and School’s Opera Theatre Center, as well as Iowa State University Theatre. Freelance work has included event rigging for tours and concerts at the Iowa State Center as well as work for the Wisconsin Shakespeare Festival, Des Moines Metro Opera, Theatre Aspen, Cedar Rapids Opera, StageWest, Des Moines Playhouse and the Iowa Chamber Dancers. Brian is an active member of USITT and has worked on over 200 productions during this career. He was the recipient of the 2014-15 Outstanding Educator award for Southern Utah University and received the Edward C. Cole Memorial Award at the Yale School of Drama.

Costume Shop Manager

From Lincoln, Nebraska, Shelby Luke graduated with a BA in Theatre Arts from Brigham Young University (2011) and an MFA in Costume Design and Technology from Penn State University (2016). Emphasizing in menswear, Shelby apprenticed at Artur and Tailors in New York. Most recently serving as a draper/tailor at the Utah Shakespeare Festival, Shelby has worked for USF since 2011. Highlighted design credits include Coriolanus, Fun Home, Private Lives, and Assassins at Southern Utah University as well as Titanic: The Musical, Dogfight, and Peter Pan at previous universities. Shelby has tailored for Penn State, the Utah Shakespeare Festival, and been assistant tailor for other regional theatre projects. Shelby has been the Costume Shop Manager at SUU since Fall 2016. Awards include the National Partners American Theatre Design Excellence Awarded at KCACTF in 2012 and KCACTF Region VIII Costume Design National Finalist 2012.

Professor of Theatre Arts

Professor Richard Bugg received his MFA in Acting from the National Theatre Conservatory in 1988, and his BA in Theatre from BYU in 1985. He has served as the Chair of the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival, Pacific Southwest Region. He is also the Founder & Executive Director of SimonFest - a professional summer theatre. Richard is an actor on both the stage and screen. Some of his stage credits include the Denver Center Theatre, the Utah Shakespeare Festival, and the Neil Simon Festival. Some of his screen credits include Double Jeopardy, The President's Child, and Joseph Smith-Prophet of the Restoration. Some of his television credits include Walker-Texas Ranger, Touched By An Angel, and Promised Land. He began teaching at SUU in the fall of 1990. Richard teaches all levels of acting, voice and speech for the actor, as well as Introduction to Film.

Assoc Professor, Theater/Theater Education and Studies

Ms. Sanders holds an M.F.A. in Costume Design and Technology from Brigham Young University, a BFA in Theatre Technology & Design from the University of Utah, and a BFA in Theatre Education from Utah State University. Prior to coming to SUU, Wendy was Assistant Professor of Costume Design at the University of Louisiana in Monroe and Costume Shop Manager at Louisiana State University. Formerly, Wendy was a high school theatre teacher in Salt Lake City, Utah, serving as director, technical advisor, and Performing Arts Department Production Manager. While teaching, she developed an education engagement program, bringing theatre for young audiences and workshops into the elementary and middle schools to explore timely issues. Additionally, she was the costume designer for SUU for 10 years, designing costumes for over 30 productions and was the curator for SUMA’s exhibit, A Legacy of Love: The Thread that Binds Us. Ms. Sanders also freelanced as a designer and makeup artist in Boston and was the resident makeup artist for the American Repertory Theatre, as well as a guest makeup artist for Boston Ballet and Boston Lyric Opera.

Education and Shakespeare Studies Director

Michael Bahr is the Education Director for the Utah Shakespeare Festival. He has been in this position for the last 20 years. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Theatre, Acting/Directing emphasis from Southern Utah University, certified in secondary subjects of theatre and history and a Masters degree in Education. He has taught in the public schools in California and Utah. During this time he developed numerous educational theatre programs for grade schools, junior highs and high schools. He has received many awards for his work with children, including a two year nomination for the Huntsman Award, outstanding teacher of the year (Kern County, CA and Box Elder School District, UT) and others, including Outstanding Contribution to the Arts (Iron County, UT,) and Utah Theatre Association Outstanding Contribution to Theatre.

Michael has served on many education and art boards, served as Secretary of the Shakespeare Theatre Association, SUU Beverly Taylor Sorenson Center for Innovative Education, the Utah State Office of Education Theatre Advisory Board, and has been a founding board member on two theatre companies, the Old Barn Community Theatre and the Cedar City Theatre Company. He has directed 100+ school, community, university and professional productions.

Michael is an adjunct faculty member of Southern Utah University, teaching courses in Theatre Methods for Elementary and Secondary Teachers. He directs numerous theatre education programs including: the Wooden O Symposium, an academic conference that hosts scholars from diverse disciplines for an annual conference each year where research concerning Shakespeare and the Early Modern period is shared, a journal is published of the proceedings; Shakespeare in the Schools Tour, a fully produced Shakespeare play tours and performs for 20,000 students from 150 schools annually serving 60 communities throughout Utah, Nevada, Arizona, and Colorado; and the Shakespeare Competition, a festival which cultivates the skills of student performance through scenes, dances and music, 3,500 students from 120 schools attend this event annually; the Playmakers program, a youth performance ensemble which performs a fully produce musical for area elementary schools. Michael is recognized as a passionate advocate for theatre education and testified in 2009 before the Committee on Education and Labor of the United States House of Representatives.

Theatre Movement & Dance

Kirsten Sham currently serves as adjunct professor of theatre movement & dance in SUU’s Department of Theatre Arts & Dance. Her recent choreography includes SUU productions of Chicago: The Musical, Bat Boy and Toyland. Kirsten served as director/choreographer/creator for the Tony Award winning Utah Shakespeare Festival’s Greenshow, as well as the Festival’s mainstage choreographer for over 8 seasons, staging dances for over eighteen productions including choreography for Forever Plaid. Most recently she was movement consultant for USF’s production of Amadeus. Before moving to Cedar City, Kirsten served as director of The Academy at EPAC, a professional training program for dance, music, and acting at the Eichelberger Performing Arts Center in Hanover, PA, where she was also resident actress/choreographer. Before that she served as resident actress, choreographer, and principal dancer for Hunterdon Hills Dinner-Playhouse in Clinton, NJ, the largest and most successful theatre of it’s kind in the northeastern United States. At HHP, Kirsten appeared in over 50 plays and musicals, choreographing musical numbers for nearly half of them. Her career as a dance instructor and choreographer spans over thirty years and includes teaching assignments at Broadway Dance Center, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and Steps in New York City; The Eleanor Connell School of Dance in Annandale, NJ; as well as teaching and assisting on various workshops throughout Paris and Morocco. Kirsten has taught a variety of movement techniques on the East Coast and in Utah, including Ashtanga yoga, Pilates, aerobic kick boxing, Movement I & II, unarmed combat, Dance for Musical Theatre, and she is the creator and developer of her own intensive stretch technique. An Interlochen National Music Academy dance scholarship winner at a young age, Kirsten attended Walnut Hill School of the Performing Arts and studied ballet, tap, hip-hop and jazz extensively in New York, NY as the protégé of Cecelia Marta and with such renowned master teachers as Frank Hatchett and Peff Modelski.

Lead Student Success Advisor

Stephen Wagner received his BA in Theatre Arts/Directing from California State University, Fullerton and an MFA in Arts Administration from Southern Utah University. He performed with Walt Disney Entertainment and Jim Henson Productions as a puppeteer for over a decade, and was a repertory member of the Rude Guerrilla Theatre Company in Orange County, CA. Additional directing credits include work performed at the Blank Theatre in Hollywood, CA, The Arthur Seelen Theatre in New York, and the Kennedy Center in Washington DC. He currently serves as the President/Artistic Director of the Cedar Valley Community Theatre in Cedar City, UT.

Scene Shop Supervisor - Assistant Technical Director

Kyle graduated from SUU in 2011 with his BS in Theatre Arts and a Minor in CAD/CAM Design. Kyle was first hired in 2014 as the Electrics & Sound Supervisor before transitioning over to the Scenic Shop Supervisor position later that same year. During the summer, Kyle has worked for the Utah Shakespeare Festival in several positions including; Electrician, Master Electrician, Carpenter, and most recently Materials Coordinator for the Scenery Department.

APM/Sound & Light Supervisor

Lauren Hawley received her BFA in Theatre Design and Technology with an emphasis in lighting design and electrics from the University of Central Florida (Orlando, FL). She has experience in various theatrical styles and venues including dinner theatre, the Orlando Fringe Festival, opera, and educational theatre. Lauren worked as a stage electrician for the Des Moines Metro Opera for their summer 2019 season, and her lighting design for a prior production of She Kills Monsters won the critic’s choice award for best local lighting design of 2018 from The Orlando Sentinel.

Hair and Makeup

Kaitlin Mills is a woman of many hats. After graduating from SUU in 2012 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Classical Acting, she went on to use her degree to start her own theatre company called Women of Will, where she currently serves on the board and as the artistic director. In addition to adjunct teaching at Southern Utah University, she has worked numerous seasons in the acting company at the Utah Shakespeare Festival. Kaitlin currently spends her days teaching, running her theatre company and being a freelance artist and graphic designer. She is currently a candidate for her MA in Arts Administration from SUU.