THEATRE MISSION STATEMENT
The goal of the Department of Theatre is to nurture a student's
aesthetic sensitivities toward all aspects of the art of theatre,
either for personal enrichment or in preparation for a career
in this field. The Department of Theatre is committed to a
broad-based training program that provides each student with
thorough academic preparation and production experience. Students
are expected to maintain an appropriate balance between classroom
and experiential learning.
The Department of Theatre is also committed to enhancing
the cultural life of the McLennan campus, Waco and surrounding
communities by providing exposure to a varied program of theatre
offerings.
Fine Arts 105, Studio F
254.299.8191
Kathleen Cochran (costume/makeup design) joined the McLennan Theatre Department in 1997. She holds a BA in Theatre from Texas A&M University and MFA in Costume Design from California State University-Long Beach. Her professional credits include such diverse California venues as Universal Studios (Friends, Water World Stunt Show), McCoy/Rigby Entertainment (Kathy Rigby's The Wizard of Oz), West Coast Ensemble (Blithe Spirit), Renaissance Entertainment (Batman Stunt Show and Sea World's Sea Lion and Otter Shows), The Colony (King of Hearts), East/West Players (Sweeney Todd), and Long Beach Playhouse (Angry Housewives). Before leaving Texas for California, Professor Cochran was resident costume designer for El Paso's first Magnet School for Theatre. She is a member of United States Institute for Theatre Technology, Texas Educational Theatre Association and is a certified UIL critic-judge. Her designs continue to win certificates of excellence in Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival competitions, including An Ideal Husband (1998), Royal Hunt of the Sun (2001), and Quake (2002). In addition to designing costumes for McLennan theatre and opera productions, Mrs. Cochran teaches Introduction to Costuming and Stage Make-up. In 2005 she was included in the 8th edition of Who's Who among American College Teachers. In her free time she is also the proud mother of a rambunctious four-year old boy named Sylvan Sol.
kcochran@mclennan.edu
Fine Arts 105, Studio D
254.299.8118
Jerry MacLauchlin (director/choreographer/dance and movement) has been a professional dancer/choreographer for over 30 years, having trained and worked in New York City on Broadway, Off-Broadway, in television and in films. His associations with Theatre Guild Productions, Playwright's Horizon, and the New Dramatist have allowed him to work with major stars of the Broadway stage. He has worked at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, and with summer stock, opera companies and national touring companies, including A Chorus Line, Fiddler on the Roof and the revival of The Unsinkable Molly Brown with Barbara Eden. He was also resident choreographer for Lyric Opera in Dallas, Westport Country Playhouse in Connecticut, and Dallas Light Opera Allegro--a Performance Art Theatre Ensemble in Dallas. Professor MacLauchlin graduated from Baylor University with a BA and MA in Theatre and has also studied dance under Martha Graham. He is a member of Actor's Equity, Screen Actor's Guild, TMEA, TETA and is a certified UIL critic-judge. He directs plays and musicals and serves as choreographer for McLennan Theatre. In addition to teaching Ballet, Theatre Dance, and Stage Movement at McLennan, he has taught Stage Movement at Baylor and currently provides choreography for the musical performance group ShowTime!, with which he has made several European tours and will tour again in 2006. He was named Educator of the Year by the Texas Educational Theatre Association in 1998. Mr. MacLauchlin is involved in freelance choreographic gigs across the Southwest and founded Waco Musical Theatre, Inc. He created an original dance concept production entitled STEPS for Waco Musical Theatre, Inc., for which he continues to serve as co-artistic director and choreographer. He served as the director/choreographer of the Texas Follies and debuted his original choreographic work STAGES at Waco Civic Theatre. Professor MacLauchlin was selected for Who's Who among America's College Teachers for 2000-01 and received a KC/ACTF commendation for his choreographic work in McLennan Theatre's Quake. He has served as theatre consultant for an entertainment complex in Texas and choreographed the musical Company in June 2004 and Cabaret in July 2005 for the Water Tower Theatre in Dallas.
jmaclauchlin@mclennan.edu
Fine Arts 105, Studio E
254.299.8177
Jim Rambo (stage director/acting) has taught for 33 years and since 1973 has directed approximately 86 major productions. Professor Rambo is the recipient of seven directorial awards from the American College Theatre Festival, including a commendation from the national KC/ACTF committee in the 2002-03 competition. He was named Educator of the Year by the Texas Educational Theatre Association in 1985. He is the past chair of the TETA Adjudicators Association and has been a UIL critic-judge since 1977. During this time Professor Rambo has judged over 160 contests and festivals across the state at every level and conference, including the state one-act play contest five times. He has presented numerous acting and directing workshops and convention programs throughout the Southwest. In 1979, he was named an Outstanding Young Man in America and was selected for Who's Who among American College Teachers for 2000-01 and 2003-04. Mr. Rambo holds a BA from Abilene Christian University and MA from Texas Tech University. He has completed additional studies at the University of Illinois Directing Colloquium for the Theatre Today and the University of Connecticut under theatre faculty from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts. He is a past nominee for the Minnie Stevens Piper Professor Award in 1992 (at Western Texas College) and 1999. He is the recipient of the 1994 Texas Educational Theatre Association Founder's Award, one of that organization's most prestigious honors. Mr. Rambo is Past President of TETA and is a member of the Association for Theatre in Higher Education. He was McLennan's 1999 nominee for Professor of the Year through the Carnegie Foundation and served as Faculty Council President for 2000-01. In addition to directing for McLennan Theatre, he teaches Acting and Theatre Appreciation. He has also directed The Fantasticks, South Pacific, West Side Story, Ain't Misbehavin' and Big River for Waco Musical Theatre, Inc., for which he serves as co-artistic director. He also has served as theatre consultant for an entertainment complex in Texas.
jrambo@mclennan.edu
Fine Arts 105, Studio B
254.288.8101
Cynthia M. SoRelle (dramaturg/theatre history/voice for the actor) currently serves as Theatre
Department Coordinator. Dr. SoRelle has taught at McLennan for the past 25 years and has served as Faculty
President. She holds a BA magna cum laude in Theatre from the University of Houston, MA in Theatre
from Kent State University, and PhD in Theatre History and Criticism from the University of Texas at Austin,
where she completed a dissertation under the direction of Distinguished Academy Professor Oscar G. Brockett.
While at UT, Dr. SoRelle was the first graduate fellow in theatre to be selected as an all-University Fellow.
She has written for the playwrights' volume of the Dictionary of Literary Biography and is a frequent
presenter at regional and national theatre conferences. Dr. SoRelle has served on the TETA Adjudicators
Organization Standards and Administrative Committees, and as a certified UIL critic-judge has adjudicated
numerous festivals and play contests at every level, including UIL state. She was TETA Theatrefest '97
All-Conference Chair and served two terms on the TETA Board of Directors as Secretary. She is the recipient
of the 2000 Texas Educational Theatre Association Founder's Award, one of that organization's most prestigious
honors. Dr. SoRelle is also a recipient of the University of Texas NISOD Teaching Excellence Award (1997),
and has been both a Piper Professor Award nominee and a national Association of Community College Trustees
Award nominee while at McLennan. In 2000-01, she was a nominee for the National Chair Academy's Leadership
Award and was selected for Who's Who Among American College Teachers for the 2002-03, 2003-04, 2004-05
and 2005-06 academic years. She served for eight years on the Board of Directors for The Art Center of Waco
and as Dramaturg for the Lyric Opera of Waco, a professional opera company. She is a member of the
Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE), where she served as Dramaturgy Conference Planner
(1998-2000), Dramaturgy Focus Group Representative (2000-2002), Dramaturgy Nominations Chair (2003-2005),
and is currently Chair of the national Dramaturgy Debut Competition for emerging dramaturgs. Dr. SoRelle has
been selected three times to serve as dramaturg for the ATHE New Play Development Workshop. She is active in
Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas (LMDA), for which she served as a national conference planner
in 2005 and is currently serving a 3-year term on the LMDA Board of Directors. In 2002, Dr. SoRelle served as
one of three national adjudicators for the PlayLabs new script competition at the Playwright's Center in
Minneapolis. She was the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Region VI Coordinator for the
dramaturgy competition for 2004-2006. In 2006 she served as a visiting professor for the Baylor University
in Oxford, England summer program. She adapts scripts for McLennan Theatre and maintains the web site.
Her adaptation of Medea was performed at a theatre festival in London during the summer of 2007 by
Fusion Arts, a theatre company located in Grimsby, England.
csorelle@mclennan.edu
Fine Arts 108
254.299.8173
Kelly Parker has been involved in the performing arts for the last 15 years.
After completing the theatre program at McLennan, he earned his BFA in Performance from
Baylor University and his MFA in Acting/Directing from Texas Tech University. Mr. Parker
has acted and directed professionally in numerous productions throughout Texas and in New York.
He played leading roles in the East Coast premiere of The Phantom of the Ole' Country Opera and
regional productions of Show Boat, The Pajama Game, and The Unsinkable Molly Brown.
He has performed many Shakespearean roles both professionally and academically, including Edgar in
King Lear, Jacques in As You Like It, Cassio in Othello, Dromio in A Comedy of
Errors, and Banquo in Macbeth.
In addition to work in scenic and costume design, he served as high school theatre director for Elgin
High School and has directed at Angel Fire Mountain Theatre in New Mexico. He was awarded the Kennedy
Center American College Theatre Festival Regional Award for Best Fight Choreography while at Texas Tech
University (2005) and his original composition "Cacophony" was featured at the American College Dance
Festival in 2006.
kparker@mclennan.edu
Performing Arts Center 120
254.299.8250
Gerald Len "Frog" Howard (Theatre Technician) saw his first professional
live show at age 12, The Red River Lyric Summer Theatre. Two weeks later
he had a job sweeping the stage before the shows; three weeks later, the Prop
Man quit and young Frog was hooked. Mr. Howard joined the International Stage
Hands Union (I.A.T.S.E. Local #378 Mixed) in 1977. Subsequently he became affiliated
with I.A.S.T.E. Local #545 Miami Stage Hands and is a Charter Member of I.A.T.S.E.
Local 477 Studio Mechanics, Florida.
He joined I.A.T.S.E. Local #331 Mixed, Central Texas in 1998. He received a Bachelor
of Arts in Drama with a minor in Radio and Television Production from Midwestern
State University in Wichita Falls. In 1977 he received an American College Theatre
Award of Excellence. Mr. Howard toured extensively for three years while working
for Electric Concert Lighting, American Family Productions, Buffman Productions,
and others. He served as Instructor of Stagecraft, Miami Dade Community College
(1982-1983) and served as Stage Manager/Head Electrician/Steward for the Gusman
Cultural Center. His professional work also includes Production Electrician for
the Greater Miami Opera and work in film, concerts, dance, industrials, television,
Broadway touring shows, opera, and installations in South Florida, the Caribbean,
and Central America.
ghoward@mclennan.edu
Performing Arts Center 104
254.299.8283
Marisa Sliva is Visual & Performing Arts secretary.
Her office is located in the Performing Arts Center. Among
her many responsibilities, Ms. Sliva maintains theatre student
degree plan files and assists students in registering for
classes.
msliva@mclennan.edu
|
