Jackie Apodaca
Professor: Performance – Acting, Theatre Chair
MFA, Acting, National Theatre Conservatory; BFA, Theatre, UC Santa Barbara
Jackie is an accomplished actor, director, and producer and has worked with companies such as the Roundabout, Denver Center Theatre Company, National Geographic, Modern Media (Head of Production), Venice Theatre Works (Associate Artistic Director), and Shakespeare Santa Barbara (Producing Director). She is the author of Answers from the Working Actor, published by Routledge, and spent more than a decade at Backstage Newspaper, where she was a Contributing Editor. Jackie is the Artistic Director of Ashland New Plays Festival and a proud member of AEA and SAG-AFTRA.
Office: THTR 217
E-Mail: apodacaj@sou.edu
Ulises Alcala
Assistant Professor – Costume Design & Construction
MFA, Costume Design – University of Massachusetts, Amherst; BA in Theatre Arts – University of California Polytechnic, Ponoma
Ulises Alcala is a professional costume designer and theatre educator, most recently teaching costume design and construction in the East Bay. He has designed costumes for various theatre and opera companies, among them The American Conservatory Theatre, Santa Cruz Shakespeare, The Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Opera San Jose, West Edge Opera, San Francisco Opera’s Merola Program, and Opera Theatre St. Louis. In 2022, he received the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award for Costume Design for The Winter’s Tale at California Shakespeare Theatre. Prior to his work in academia, he was a draper at the San Francisco Opera for seven seasons. He is a proud member of United Scenic Artists, Local 829.
Office: THTR 163
E-Mail: alcalau@sou.edu
Thomas Fagerholm
Assistant Professor of Theatre – Fabrication and Technical Direction
MFA Theater: Technical Direction, from Minnesota State University, Mankato 2012
Tom’s teaching and research focuses on technical direction, entertainment automation, Arduino applications, structural design for the stage, mechanical design, technical drawing for entertainment, and CNC fabrication. His professional credits include The Guthrie Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre, Entertainment Project Services, The Barter Theatre, Colorado Shakespeare Festival, Utah Shakespeare Festival, Cirque du Soleil, and the Glimmerglass Festival. Tom is also an active member of the United States Institute for Theatre Technology.
Office: THTR 124
E-Mail: fagerholmt@sou.edu
Robert Gretta
Assistant Professor: Performance – Acting, Musical Theatre, Stage Management
MFA in Directing – Florida State University; BA in Theatre- Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Robert Gretta is a professional theatre actor and director with over 30 years of experience. His credits range from modern works to Shakespeare, Sondheim to Menotti. As a director, he enjoys reimagining classic plays and musicals for contemporary audiences while still honoring the integrity of the original work. He is a proud member of the Actors’ Equity Association (AEA), Musical Theatre Educators’ Alliance (MTEA) and the Stage Directors & Choreographers Society (SDC).
Office: THTR 158
E-Mail: grettar@sou.edu
Valerie Joan
Assistant Professor: Performance – Voice & Speech
MFA, Emerson College; D.L.T.
Valerie holds an M.F.A in Theatre Education from Emerson College, is a Designated Linklater Voice Teacher (D.L.T.), an actor (Proud member of SAG/AFTRA and AEA), and a theatre educator. Valerie was designated by Kristin Linklater in 2019 at the Kristin Linklater Voice Center in Orkney Scotland. She most recently taught the Linklater Voice Method at Emerson College and at the Kristin Linklater Voice Center in Orkney Scotland. Previously Valerie taught at The Boston Conservatory at Berklee, and Shakespeare & Company in Lenox MA. Valerie worked as a facilitator for Anna Deavere Smith’s “Notes from the Field: Doing Time in Education” at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge MA, engaging with audience members in conversations about the school-to-prison pipeline. Her research interests center on how teachers’ voices affect student learning in the K-12 setting.
Office: THTR 125
E-Mail: joanv@sou.edu
David McCandless
Professor – Directing, Theatre History, Shakespeare Studies
PhD, Scholar/Director Program, Stanford University
David joined the faculty in Fall 2010. He earned his doctorate in the scholar-director program at Stanford University. David is the author of Gender and Performance in Shakespeare’s Problem Comedies, as well as several articles on Shakespeare and performance, and a play, Invisible Threads. He is currently working on a book for Arden Press entitled “Shakespeare and Performance Theory.” He previously taught and directed plays at Carleton College and the University of California, Berkeley.
Office: THTR 218
E-Mail: mccandled@sou.edu
Sean O’Skea
Professor – Scenic Design
MFA, Scenic Design, University of Portland; Masters, Historic Preservation, Ball State University; BA, Theatre, University of Portland
Sean is the author of “Painting for Performance” Focal Press; he is a frequent contributor to Dramatics and Teaching Theatre magazine. He is also a Freelance Designer with 3rd Rail Rep and Broadway Rose Musical Theatre Company.
Office: THTR 219
E-Mail: oskeas@sou.edu
Deborah Rosenberg
MoTS Program Coordinator, Graduate Costume Design
BA, Anthropology, Trent University; MFA, Costume Design, North Carolina School of the Arts
Deborah Rosenberg came to SOU from New York where she worked as faculty costume designer and costume shop supervisor at Ithaca College and SUNY: Brockport, as well as guest draper at Cornell University and resident designer at Niagara University. Professional design credits include Alley Theatre, Player’s Theatre Columbus, Berkshire Theatre Festival, Shakespeare and Co., and theatres internationally. At SOU, Deborah teaches costume design, construction, and stage makeup. She holds a B.A. in anthropology from Trent University in Ontario and an M.F.A. in costume design from North Carolina School of the Arts.
Office: THTR 158
E-Mail: rosenbergd@sou.edu
Caisa Sanburg
Assistant Professor– Lighting and Sound Design & Technology
MFA in Theatre, Lighting Design – Illinois State University; BS in Mathematics – Mesa State College
Caisa Sanburg (they/them) earned their MFA in Lighting Design, with a secondary emphasis in Sound Design from Illinois State University. They received their B.S. in Mathematics from Colorado Mesa University in western Colorado, where they originally hail from. They have professionally sound designed for St. Michael’s Playhouse in Vermont, McLeod Summer Playhouse in Illinois, and Hangar Theatre in New York. Their research interests are in lighting technology, sound design for theatre and animation, and Foley sound work. Caisa also worked for OSF as a FAIR lighting assistant in 2016.
Office: THTR 157
E-Mail: sanburgc@sou.edu
Staff
Amy Harper
Staff Technical Manager – Costume Shop
BFA in Theatre, Costume Design – Southern Oregon University
Amy is a proud Alum of SOU’s Theatre program, and has been a part of the campus community in various ways since she started taking classes in the Fall of 2002. She came to study as a performer, but instead found her true passion working in the Costume Shop. While her skills branch into all areas of the shop, Amy is most happy working on costume crafts or talking about her latest adventures with Medieval recreations. Amy runs the Costume Shop in tandem with Design and Tech Faculty, and is in-class for any Theatre Practice that runs in the shop. She believes in creating a safe and welcoming space for all.
Office: THTR 159
E-Mail: harpera@sou.edu
Jane Hickinbotham
Staff Technical Manager – Scene Shop, MoTS Instructor – Scenic Build Instruction
BFA in Technical Theatre – University of Wisconsin Milwaukee
Originally from Wisconsin, Jane’s career started at several regional theatres, where she worked as prop master, carpenter and assistant technical director. She moved to Ashland where she worked for 7 years at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival as a carpenter, followed by six years as the technical director at Ashland High School. Currently, Jane is the Staff Technical Manager at Southern Oregon University’s theatre scene shop, where she helps teach students safe techniques in building scenery and takes care of the shop and the building in general and supports the faculty.
Office: THTR 169/170
E-Mail: hickinboj@sou.edu
Cathi Romero-Molay
Production Manager
MFA, Scenic Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; BFA, Theatre Arts, Southern Oregon University
Cathi has worked as a Production Manager, Stage Craft Instructor, and Technical Director at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, Utah Festival Opera, the Mondavi Center, Benvenuti Performing Arts Center, & Natomas Charter School’s Performing and Fine Arts Academy. She has also served as an ambassador for the 2007 Prague Quadrennial US Exhibition, where she assisted in the construction, curation, and docent work as it toured to Prague, Czech Republic, and Houston, TX.
Office: THTR 131
E-Mail: romeroc1@sou.edu
Contact the Theatre Program
SOU Theatre Program
1250 Siskiyou Blvd.
Ashland, OR 97520
541.552.6346
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