Northeastern theatre alumni enjoy a wide range of successful careers on and off stage. Because our program cultivates multi-dimensionality, alums are prepared to work in diverse kinds of theatres and have found their artistic passions in settings ranging from New York and Broadway to regional theatres and the cutting-edge fringe scene in Boston and beyond. Their goal is not just “fame,” but a lifetime of meaningful work in the theatre. Meet four of our graduates:

SAHEEM ALI – DIRECTOR

Born in Kenya, Saheem Ali ’03 has enjoyed a successful directing career in New York City. 2016 projects include A Lesson From Aloes (Juilliard), The Seagull (NYU Tisch), Hair (Pace University), and The Booty Call (Inner Voices). Last year he was Associate Director of The Tempest starring Sam Waterston and Jesse Tyler Ferguson at the Public Theatre/Shakespeare in Central Park. Saheem has worked on and off Broadway with George Wolfe (The Normal Heart) and Michael Greif (Angels in America). Other directing credits include the Public Theater, O’Neill Musical Theater, New York Theatre Workshop, Lincoln Center, Theatre de la Jeune Lune, and Signature Theatre. He received a Presidential Scholarship in Theatre at Northeastern University.

“My under­grad­u­ate edu­ca­tion at NU’s The­ater Depart­ment was instru­men­tal in launch­ing me into the pro­fes­sional world in New York. The com­bi­na­tion of the­o­ret­i­cal in-class learn­ing, prac­ti­cal rehearsal and per­for­mance, and expe­ri­en­tial co-op oppor­tu­ni­ties equipped me with the tools that I needed to enter the pro­fes­sional arena. When I began the pro­gram, I was unde­cided about which spe­cific role I would fit into. All I knew was that I wanted to be in the the­ater. The struc­ture of the pro­gram, where you are exposed to the dif­fer­ent aspects of theater-making, was invalu­able. The abil­ity to try the dif­fer­ent fields — act­ing, design, dra­maturgy — was essen­tial in help­ing me iden­tify that my pas­sion lay in direct­ing. It pre­pared me for the appli­ca­tion and even­tual admis­sion into the grad­u­ate direct­ing pro­gram at Colum­bia. I look back at my time in the The­ater Depart­ment as the essen­tial foun­da­tion to my career as a director.”

MICHAEL UNDER­HILL – ACTOR, ADMINISTRATOR, AND ARTS ENTREPRENEUR

Boston born Michael Underhill ’10 is an IRNE nominated actor and creative leader in Boston’s thriving fringe theatre scene. Committed to the creation of original and devised work, he has been artistic associate with Imaginary Beasts since 2009 and has served on the artistic board of Happy Medium Theatre Company since 2011. “With these roles comes an extra layer of responsibility in administration and production,” he explains. “In return for that commitment, I have a voice in the room where artistic decisions are made.” Michael has received critical acclaim for performances with SpeakEasy Stage Company, Stoneham Theatre, Theatre on Fire, Whistler in the Dark, Heart & Dagger, and ShakespeareNow! He has also worked with the film companies Thompson Films, Greenview Entertainment, Malarkey Films and Joel Marsh Films.

“When I entered North­east­ern, my con­fi­dence as an actor was, shall we say, slim to none. In act­ing classes, I was chal­lenged and pushed to places I thought I could never go — mentally, physically or emo­tion­ally. I received so much indi­vid­ual atten­tion, encour­age­ment and analy­sis because the student-professor ratio is small. In analy­sis class, I learned how to read a script, by crawl­ing over every word of text, for­wards and back­wards, in a quiet room with no dis­tur­bances. In tech classes, I picked up the prac­ti­cal skills required to phys­i­cally put on a play, even though I attended as a per­for­mance concentration. I became pres­i­dent of Silver Masque, and I left my senior year ready to con­quer the world. I have not had more than a month off in between projects since grad­u­a­tion.”

KEVIN DEANE PARKER – STAGE MANAGER, TECHNICAL DIRECTOR

Kevin Deane Parker ’15 received a 2016 Arts Impulse nomination as Best Stage Manager for Edith Can Shoot Things and Hit Them at Company One. While studying industrial engineering at Northeastern, he found his home in the theatre department. Multi-faceted and interested in all things backstage, Kevin has worked with Huntington Theatre Company, SpeakEasy Stage Company, Boston Children’s Theatre, Bad Habit Productions, Actors Shakespeare Project, Theater Offensive, Ogunquit Playhouse, A.R.T. Institute, Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, Wooden Kiwi Productions, Argos Productions, and Boston Theater Company. Immediately upon graduation, he served as Technical Director for the Gloucester Stage Company. Favorite projects include stage managing BHP’s Gross Indecency (IRNE Award – Best Fringe Production) and technical direction for Company One’s The Flick (Norton Awards for Outstanding Design and Production).

“The theatre department at Northeastern provided a laboratory for me to not only learn theatre-specific skills, but to apply engineering to a creative setting. My particular interest is translating the principles of industrial engineering (reducing cost, increasing efficiency) to the complex world of theatrical production. The theatre faculty always supported my efforts. Theatre co-ops allowed me to take on projects where I applied these experiments in professional theatre. I was able to develop a cross-departmental relationship at Northeastern that wouldn’t have been possible with other theatre programs or universities.”

HEIDI NEL­SON – DRAMATURG

Heidi Nelson ’06 studied performance at Northeastern and is now a freelance dramaturg focused on new play development and ensemble-based theatre in the Washington DC area. She was the Dramaturgy Fellow for the inaugural season of ArtsEmerson: The World On Stage and later served as their New York based programming consultant. She was dramaturg for the American Repertory Theater’s Elliot Norton Award-winning production of Samuel Beckett’s Endgame and the world premiere of Ellen McLaughlin’s Ajax in Iraq. Her article, “Bryan Doerries’s Theater of War: A New Incarnation of an Ancient Ritual,” was published in the LMDA Review.

“My expe­ri­ence at North­east­ern has proven invalu­able. Inter­est­ing course­work com­ple­mented by hands-on pro­duc­tion expe­ri­ence fueled my pas­sion for cre­at­ing mean­ing­ful art that sparks dia­logue and inspires social aware­ness. The men­tor­ship of an excep­tional pro­fes­sor set in motion a chain of events that led to my being accepted into an excel­lent MFA pro­gram and mak­ing cru­cial con­nec­tions with influ­en­tial col­leagues in my field. None of my accom­plish­ments would have been pos­si­ble with­out the edu­ca­tional foun­da­tion and artis­tic inspi­ra­tion I acquired at NU.”