Spotlight
Kelan Traylor
Kelan Traylor is a senior from Tupelo, Miss., majoring in communication with a double concentration in both public relations and theatre.
Kelan Traylor is a senior from Tupelo, Miss., majoring in communication with a double concentration in both public relations and theatre.
Mississippi State’s Theatre MSU continues its 60th season this month with a theatrical production highlighting the chaos and confusion of teenage life. Sarah DeLappe’s award-winning “The Wolves”—a Pulitzer Prize finalist script depicting young women of a high school soccer team as they gather weekly for practice—is presented on the McComas Hall main stage Feb. 28-March 2.
Mississippi State is honoring eight outreach projects with the university’s sixth annual Excellence in Community Engagement Awards. Winners, awarded in four categories for 2023, include community-engaged research, service, and teaching and learning, and scholarship of engagement.
Mississippi State University Broadcast & Digital Journalism Instructor Victoria Bailey interviews Junior Theatre Major David Hintz. Hintz discusses his experiences as co-director of Pants on Fire, the Theatre Department Children's Show, and serving as stage manager on the production Puffs. Hintz talks about his time in MSU’s comedy improv group, Lab Rats, the inspiration behind his comedic style, and the importance of learning the craft of improv. Hintz talks about what we can expect from the Theatre Department in the Spring and the hard work it takes to get these various shows up and running.
Gabe Smith received his Bachelor of Arts in Communication with a concentration in Theatre in 2005 from Mississippi State University. Smith is from Hammond, La., and he now resides in Starkville, Miss., where he works as Executive Director for Starkville Community Theatre. Smith’s responsibilities include the management of a year-round non-professional theatre company. He became interested in his current job because of his previous theatre experience.
Veronica Washington is a junior from West Palm Beach, Fla., double majoring in communication with concentrations in theatre and music with a concentration in voice. Washington is a member of the State Singers choir, Lab Rats comedy, and she is currently in the “Magic Flute,” an opera the music program is producing. In the future, she would like to be a Broadway performer and perform at the Metropolitan Opera. This summer, Washington made her professional theatre debut at Bigfork Summer Playhouse where she starred in four musicals.
Tabitha Rafferty is a sophomore from Clinton, Miss., majoring in communication with a concentration in theatre. Rafferty is involved with Theatre MSU, Blackfriar’s, Alpha Psi Omega, Lambda Sigma community service honor society, and Thrive Scholars. She spent last summer working as a box office assistant for Carey Dinner Theatre in Hattiesburg.
Myna Sowell received her Bachelor of Arts in Communication with a concentration in Theatre in 1992 from Mississippi State University. Sowell grew up in Greenville, Miss. She now resides in Nashville where she works as a standardized patient in the Center for Experiential Learning and Assessment at Vanderbilt University Medical School.