Alumni Experiences

Actor Michael Underhill

Theatre faculty Jesse Hinson and alumnus Michael Underhill ’10 are making their acting debuts at the award-winning Nora Theatre Company in Photograph 51. The 2015 play by Anna Ziegler is part of the Brit d’Arbeloff Women in Science Production Series. Katelynn...

Saheem Ali

NU Broadway

Each semester, the Department of Theatre’s NU Broadway series offers seminars and master classes with nationally acclaimed theatre artists. NU Broadway is designed to help students learn more about New York theatre with special focus on the new generation of...

Actor Ahmad Maksoud

Ahmad Maksoud ’09 performed in many plays during his time at Northeastern. After graduation he went on to study at the American Repertory Theatre’s Institute for Advanced Theatre Training in their joint program with the Moscow Art Theatre School.  In all...

“Science with Sophie” Sophie Shrand

Sophie Shrand liked science as a kid, but didn’t have female scientists to look up to—except Ms. Frizzle, the red-haired, 4th-grade science teacher in The Magic School Busanimated TV series. Twenty years later, “we still don’t have enough real live female...

Hanne Larsen

Theatre Grad Featured in the Boston Globe

“The Sex Myth: A Devised Play,” a theatrical performance created by Theatre alumna Hanne Larsen ’17 is headed to New York City! Larsen adapted the production based on the book “The Sex Myth: The Gap Between Our Fantasies and Reality”...

Actor Michael Satow

Michael Satow ’07 played many different roles on stage in the Studio Theatre at Northeastern, from the lovable con man Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls, to Jim the dying father in Tales of the Lost Formicans, to Touchstone the clown in As You Like It. Now...

Joey Frangieh

Northeastern alum creates theatre to remember

Joey Frangieh AMD ’12has created quite a splash in the short time since he left Northeastern. Just this past year, he has found himself working on Broadway as the assistant projection designer for On Your Feet and  Closer to home,...

Other Stories

Gillian Mackay-Smith ’04 is an actor in the Boston area. She has performed regionally with the Lyric Stage Company, Bad Habit Productions, Fresh Ink Theatre Company, and Apollinaire Theater Company, among others, and devised work with New Exhibition Room and Project: Project.  She appeared in the web series Conversations From The Afterlife and the feature film The Beverages, for which she received the award for Best Supporting Actress at the 2009 British Film Festival Los Angeles.  She was nominated for an Independent Reviewers of New England Award for her performance in Apollinaire Theater Company’s production of Greenland and an ArtsImpulse award for her work in Fresh Ink Theatre Company’s The Housekeeper.  She reads with Rhombus Playwrights Group and has sat on the boards of Fresh Ink and Gurnet Theatre Project.  While at Northeastern, she was the 2003 recipient of the Eugene Blackman Scholarship for Excellence in Theatre.

“I am extremely grateful for my undergraduate education at Northeastern.  I was given so many opportunities to learn and explore my work as an actor in a practical environment while simultaneously being challenged intellectually in an academic space.    Exposure to design, dramaturgy and stage management in addition to my acting studies provided me with a greater ability to collaborate professionally and a greater respect and reverence for the art form.  When I enter a rehearsal space, I am prepared and ready to work.  I learned a sense of humility, gained a groundedness and drive; I learned that I am always learning.  My career as an actor would not have been possible without my educational foundation at Northeastern.”

Joey Frangieh ’12 is a director, designer, producer, and the founding artistic director of Boston Theater Company. He was the youngest person to ever direct at the historic Shubert Theatre, when he directed the world premiere of Finish Line, a documentary play about the 2013 Boston Marathon that he devised himself. He has worked on Broadway as the assistant projection designer for On Your Feet: The Story of Emilio and Gloria Estefan and Allegiance a new musical chronicling the Japanese Internment. 

“Getting a theatre degree from Northeastern was an invaluable experience. The eclectic coursework gave me a well-rounded theatre education and the opportunity to taste many different aspects of theatre. My classes were all taught by top notch professors who help prepare me for the real world. The theatre department helped me grow as an artist in ways I could have never imagined. Many of the experiences and lessons I learned at Northeastern have time and time again proven to be incredibly valuable in my professional work. I went into college unsure of how I fit into the world of theater and I left ready to tackle my career ambitions head on.”

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.”