“I want to teach my students to say ‘yes.’ Life will give you opportunities, and we need to be open to that. If you say ‘no,’ this is your path that you decided on from the start then you might miss the opportunities. If you say ‘yes,’ there might be a very surprising and rewarding life for you in a profession that gives you great joy as an artist.”

Hugh Hysell (’88 BFA Theatre) knows all about saying “yes.” A two-time Tony-award-winning Broadway producer, Hysell has held several theatre roles, including actor (stage and television), director, marketer, event planner, and during the pandemic, heading up Broadway’s COVID-19 safety team.  

Now he’s teaching School of Theatre students how to prepare for a variety of careers through a course that he created called “The Business of Show.”  

The class takes students through developing a resume, researching different areas of the industry, creating a professional profile and database, developing an elevator pitch, and doing mock job interviews. One of the assignments is to create a budget:  

“You move to a city, and you throw spaghetti against a wall to see what sticks because you really don’t know what it’s like to live there. I ask students to research one of the hubs of entertainment and to learn everything they can. Where do actors live? How much is rent? Where do I find audition notices? How long is the commute from home? All the things you must know to be financially healthy.”  

A second research project focuses on jobs that are not performance related and maybe not even theatre jobs at all but are “theatre adjacent.” For that assignment, Hugh draws on an impressive roster of guest speakers from a network of School of Theatre alumni:   (more…)

What happens when the dreams you cultivate come into conflict with the real responsibility of life? Many people find their greatest talent cast aside in the face of life’s daily pressures and discover there’s rarely an easy answer forward. —Tagline for the film 8 AM 

It’s a question that’s all too real for artists—one that Michael Tourek (’16 MFA and ’12 BFA Theatre) tackles in the short film 8 AM, which he is developing with fellow UNCG alumnus Thomas Mendolia (’12 BFA Theatre): 

“This script has been on my desk for a long time. It’s my white whale that I’ve been chasing. I finally decided it was time to stop being afraid of going forward with it.”

Tourek says the story is about his oldest childhood friend, a poet, actor, painter, and photographer: 

“He does all these artistic things, but there are forks in the road, obstacles that come into his life and steer him further and further away from his art. His love for his family and the choices he makes for them are never in question, but he does wonder what his life would be if he’d made different decisions. Then, by living in the fantasy of what could’ve been, he sees the poetry in everyday life, which winds up bringing him back to his art.” 

Like the main character in 8 AM, Tourek has been faced with obstacles and decisions about where his art would take him: 

“When I got to New York, I struggled. I was in and out of the City for ten years. It’s been a challenge to stay on the path—to figure out how to balance and to navigate those choices in life. That’s what’s at the root of this movie. I don’t have the answers, but I do have a very supportive wife and family. There’s never been a time when I didn’t have people in my corner. I’ve been fortunate to do one or two gigs a year, and some of those gigs have had some traction and recognition. I’ve had some awesome opportunities.” 

Tourek is modest about his career, but he has worked consistently in film, theatre, and television and has a long and impressive list of credits. Some of those “gigs” he refers to include recurring roles on the shows Ozark (Netflix) and The Walking Dead (AMC). He also teaches acting in UNCG’s School of Theatre.  (more…)

Twenty years ago, Chrissy Fiorilli-Ellington, Jenny Greer, and Samson Baker were featured on the cover of the UNC Greensboro Alumni Magazine, smiling and striding across a New York City street, full of hopes and dreams for what might become their role in the world of theatre. 

It was the spring of 2003, and Baker, Fiorilli-Ellington, and Greer had just received their BFAs in Theatre. They, along with 12 other graduates, were in the Big Apple for the Theatre Industry Showcase, a chance for students to perform for agents, directors, producers and casting agents in hopes of getting their foot in the door of a highly competitive career. 

We checked in with the trio, now two decades later, to find that not only have they successfully made a life in the arts, but they have also remained close friends, strengthening a bond that began at the UNCG School of Theatre. 

Baker runs a private, early childhood program in New York City as the Director of Education and Professional Learning.

Fiorilli-Ellington is a casting director in Los Angeles, auditioning actors for films, television shows, streamed series, and commercials. 

Greer is an actor, dialect coach, and college professor based in Los Angeles and finishing up a program in London to become a certified teacher of Knight-Thompson speech work.  

Here’s how they got there, and some of their memories and advice. 

What are your memories of that trip to New York in 2003?  

Baker: “I remember it being really hot and having the new experience of water from window A/C units dripping on me, but I was still absolutely obsessed with the energy of the city. I remember being a bundle of nerves and feeling like my entire life hung on what happened during that showcase. I remember feeling so close to the people in my UNCG Theatre crew and laughing a lot. I so deeply admired the actors in the class before me, and Chrissy, Jenny, and the others in my BFA class, we were like siblings. I remember us all taking this trip very seriously and rooting for each other in the best way.” 

Fiorilli-Ellington: “Gosh, it feels like both yesterday and a million years ago. Samson, Jenny, and I shared a small hotel room and spent every minute of that trip together. I was so full of energy and optimism—the kind that only a 22-year-old could have. It was so much fun seeing and spending time with the alums who were already living up there—honestly, that was the best part.” 

Greer: “I remember eating pizza while walking down the sidewalk before the showcase and having some meetings afterward with casting directors. Even though it wasn’t my first visit to NYC, it was the first time I was really on my own. I remember people-watching and loving the feeling of there being so many people you can’t help but just blend in. It was kind of a relief to me in a weird way. And I knew I wanted to live there.” 

What was your path after graduation? 

 Baker: “I moved to NYC with Chrissy! We packed up a U-haul and drove overnight from Greensboro to Roosevelt Island where we forged our parents’ signatures as guarantors to get an apartment. I tried auditioning a little, but the main event became making a living, which was much harder than I anticipated. I worked at BB King Blues Club and Grill in Times Square along with a lot of UNCG Theatre alum who connected me with that job. During that time, I found more easy and meaningful opportunities to perform in the downtown contemporary dance scene. I danced for some small companies and basically stopped trying to act. I also started working at a private school camp and after-school program as a way to make extra money. I ended up becoming really into working with children. I began teaching, went to graduate school to get my M.S. in Early Childhood Education, and have been working in education ever since.” 

 Fiorilli-Ellington: “Almost immediately after showcase I quit the job I had lined up doing touring theatre in elementary schools, and instead stayed in Greensboro, waiting tables to save money to move to New York. Once there, I worked as a nanny, then in beer and liquor sales in downtown Manhattan  for a couple of years until getting laid off. I was so frustrated and sad, and knew I needed a change. My mom encouraged me to collect unemployment, take a break, and really figure out what it was I wanted to do. A friend and fellow alum Stephanie Yankwitt (BA ’01) was working for Bernard Telsey, one of the biggest casting offices in New York, and she asked if I had ever considered working in casting because Bernie’s office was hiring interns. It was like I heard bells ringing! I quickly said yes, started working there, and never looked back.” 

 Greer: “I did some theatre in NC. Then I worked to save money and moved to NYC as fast as I could. It was really hard at first but got better.  I eventually started doing more theater. I moved to California for grad school at CalArts in 2008.” 

 How did UNCG Theatre prepare you for what you are doing now? 

 Baker: Doing theatre at UNCG was all about community for me. It provided a space where I felt like I belonged and where I learned about myself and others in a way that made me a better, stronger person. All of the tools I learned in that program actually completely translate to what I do now, because that is the kind of learning community I am helping to build. It may sound silly, but I am “talking and listening” every day, I’m constantly dialing up N-E-C-K (a listening technique) and practicing mindfulness thanks to Marsha Paludan, and I facilitate the same type of collaboration and teamwork with my staff as we did when putting on shows together at UNCG. When you’ve learned how to listen, nurture relationships, and be empathetic to people’s stories and motivations, that really is the key to doing any type of work well.  

 Fiorilli-Ellington: “The acting classes at UNCG gave me the tools I need to help give direction to actors every single day. We learned so many approaches and techniques that I’m able to look on a resume and see where someone trained, and then speak to them using lingo I know they will understand. I also still get to act whenever I read with actors during their audition or callback. Honestly, I think they enjoy our reading together because it elevates their performance. Plus, for me…it scratches that itch juuuust enough, ha-ha.” 

 Greer: “I think we had some great teachers and acting and technique training. I also think we created some really strong relationships. I am learning more and more how essential community is.” 

 When do you first remember falling in love with theatre and what inspires you most today? 

Baker: “I fell in love with performing when I was in preschool. I was Captain Hook in a production of Peter Pan, and I remember a silly scene where I got chased by the crocodile—everyone laughed, and after that I was hooked. I think I fell in love with theatre for real when I saw Showboat on Broadway as part of a high school trip. It moved me in all the right ways (and it was also my first trip to NYC.) I was enamored by the actor who played Julie, and that character (who is mixed race and passing as white) made me feel seen in a way I had never experienced before watching a play. Art, music and theatre still inspire me a great deal! I love to see shows and talk to creators. It’s one of the best things about living in NYC.” 

 Fiorilli-Ellington: “I remember being a little kid doing plays for my stuffed animals on the stage my grandfather built in our attic. High school was when I really got into acting in a meaningful way and started taking classes and doing community and professional theatre in addition to school plays. Every day I am inspired knowing I have the opportunity to hire someone to act, to help make their dreams come true. Having a hand in crafting stories that entertain people around the world is a great feeling. It’s also worth noting I absolutely could not do what I do without the love and support of my husband and kids—they are truly my biggest inspiration.” 

 Greer: “Honestly, it was most likely seeing CATS as a kid (LOL). At a very young age, I wanted to be Grizabella so bad—an old torch singing diva. Today, I’m inspired by a lot. I love unexpected storytelling and unlikely protagonists. I see less theatre now, but I’d like to see more. I’m in a community of people making really interesting performance work more on the experimental side of things, and I am inspired by them. I am very much into cinema. Sometimes I have to remind myself to stop streaming tv shows and seek out a good film. Over the pandemic my husband and I dug into a lot of older movies and that was good for our souls. Also, LA is pretty inspiring.” 

 We always ask alumni what their advice might be for current students, so looking back, what would you tell your 2003 self? 

 Baker: “Love yourself, you are good enough…you are your best thing. I’m still working on that today, but I sure wish I had believed that back then.” 

 Fiorilli-Ellington: “You’ve got this, kid.” 

 Greer: “Don’t sweat being different. Don’t sweat rejection or negative feedback. It’s ephemeral. Don’t worry about doing things “the right way” or about what other people think. Don’t get too distracted. Find your own inspiration.”  

Learn more about UNCG Theatre here.

Story by Terri W Relos 

Photo credit for images from the UNCG Alumni Magazine: Chris English 

Current photos provided by Samson Baker, Chrissy Fiorilli-Ellington, and Jenny Greer 

Joan Titus (Professor of Musicology, cross-appointed in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies) has been named a Fellow of the National Humanities Center for academic year 2023-2024 for work on her third book project Dmitry Shostakovich and Music for Thaw-Era Cinema.

Titus is one of 34 scholars chosen from 541 applications this year, and the recipients are from universities and colleges in states as well as Canada, Nigeria, Singapore, South Africa, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom. Their work represents humanistic scholarship in African American studies; anthropology; archaeology; Asian American studies; East Asian studies; ethnomusicology; gender and sexuality studies; history; history of art and architecture; information studies; languages and literature; media studies; medieval studies; music history and musicology; philosophy; psychology; religious studies; and Slavic studies.

Titus says she is honored to have received the fellowship, which will allow her to work full-time on her writing project at the National Humanities Center in Research Triangle Park. In addition to the fellowship, Titus has received a UNCG Faculty Grant, an award from the Dean’s Research Initiative Fund, and a Kohler Award in 2023. (more…)

For Bethany Uhler Thompson (’20 DMA and ’17 MM Cello Performance) music is a connector and an instrument for change, both of which are needed in her music classes at Les Peters Academy and Hillsborough Girls Academy in Tampa, Florida.

“When the girls come into class, they’re very unsure of their abilities, and a lot of them will tell me that they’ve had people in their past say they can’t succeed. They’ve been told they’re a failure and that they can’t do good things in life. And that’s their mindset as they approach these instruments.”

Les Peters and Hillsborough Girls Academies aren’t elite girls’ schools—they are facilities in the Florida Juvenile Justice system and Thompson directs the strings program there for girls ages 14-18 who are incarcerated by court order.

She doesn’t just direct the program, she founded it.

The seed was planted when, as a teenager, Thompson played her cello at a detention center as part of an outreach program. It was her first exposure to being inside a locked facility.

“What grew from that was a desire to use music to connect with people in difficult seasons of life. When I was at the UNCG School of Music, I was still trying to figure out how I could use music to impact people in vulnerable situations. I learned about a violin and cello program in an Alaska women’s prison, and I thought I could do that with young people.” (more…)