Michael
Connolly
Associate Professor
Telephone: 214.768.3412
Biography
Michael Connolly began teaching at the university level in 1980. In 1982, he signed his first Equity contract, and he remains a working actor today. Most recently, in April and May of 2012, he appeared as ‘Butch' in Next Fall at the Dallas Theater Center. Also in May 2012, the Dallas Theater Center (LORT-C) named him a member of its Brierley Resident Acting Company. Prior to SMU, Connolly taught at Penn State and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. While at Penn State and Indiana University (during his Ph.D. studies) he received university teaching awards. In 2006, he was named a Meadows Foundation Distinguished Teaching Professor. He has worked under LORT, LOA, Stock, SPT, SAG and AFTRA contracts and is no stranger to regional and national commercials, with a diverse former client list that includes the Museum of Natural History, Sprint, Nortel and Cancer Care Centers of America.
Education
A.B. History (cum laude), College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, MA 1973;
M.A. Acting and Directing, Illinois State University, Normal, IL 1976;
Ph.D. Theatre History, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 1998
Teaching
THEA 4303, 4304, 4387, 6303, 6304
Distinctions
Richard Scammon Prize for Teaching, Indiana University 1991
Provost’s Award for Team Teaching, Penn State 1993
Faculty Award for Outstanding Teaching, Penn State 1994
Distinguished H.O.P.E. Professor, SMU 2005
Meadows Foundation Distinguished Teaching Professor, SMU 2006
Publications
Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival (LORT-C), Incline Village, NV
Benedick Much Ado About Nothing F. Syer 2009
Abhorson, Friar Peter Measure For Measure C. Healey 2009
The Utah Shakespearean (LORT B+), Cedar City, Utah
Gloucester King Lear J.R. Sullivan 2007
Mr. Burgess Candida K. Conlin 2007
Polonius Hamlet J.R. Sullivan 2006
Falstaff The Merry Wives of Windsor Kate Buckley 2006
Polonius Hamlet J. R. Sullivan 2006
Petruchio The Taming of the Shrew H. Woronicz 2004
Falstaff Henry IV, pt. 1 J. R. Sullivan 2004
Richard Greatham Hayfever Paul Barnes 2002
Montano Othello Howard Jensen 2002
Teddy Brewster Arsenic and Old Lace J. R. Sullivan 2001
Gonzolo The Tempest K. Conlin 2001
Jacques As You Like It J. Reich 1982
Archbishop of York Henry VI, pt. 2 H. Jensen 1982
Gregory Romeo and Juliet J. Edmundson 1982
Dallas Theater Center (LORT-C)
Dave O’Malley,
Daniel Shephard Laramie Project Epilogue C. Ferrell 2009
Norman Granz Ella R. Ruggiero 2008
Sorin The Seagull R. Hamburger 1999
Marley/Undertaker A Christmas Carol P. Lane 1997
Dallas Opera
Narrator Bluebeard’s Castle Graeme Jenkins 2007
Dallas Shakespeare Festival (LOA)
Benedick Much Ado About Nothing M. Bensussen 1997
Kichen Dog Theatre (SPT), Dallas, TX
King Lear King Lear Dan Day 2002
George Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? T. Johnson 2000
PlayMakers Repertory (LORT-D), Chapel Hill, NC 27514
Duke Vincenzio Measure For Measure G. Boyd 1985
Jack The Importance of Being Earnest D. Johnson 1984
Lenin Travesties G. Boyd 1984
Duke Frederick/
Duke Senior As You Like It G. Boyd 1983
Dr. Gibbs Our Town G. Boyd 1984
Monsewer The Hostage R. Toland 1985
Joshua Ring Round The Moon D. Johnson 1984
Ellis Curse of the Starving Class G. Boyd 1984
Castel-Jaloux Cyrano de Bergerac G. Boyd 1985
Film and Television:
Tommy The Cambridge Project PBS 1988-89
Dave Snapshots Independent 1987
Bobby Best Wishes* HBO 1983
*Winner: Best Short Film, Chicago Film Festival
Commercials and Industrials (radio, television, and print):
Voice-Over Dallas Opera Season CD 2008
Talent Tenet Health Care Networks 2002
Voice Talent Ci Ci’s Pizza (regional) 2002
Talent Harrah’s Hotels and Casinos (national) 2001
Talent Tandy Corporation 2001
Narrator/Talent Natural Bio-Diversity (produced by the EPA and the Wildlife Federation) 1995
Talent Pep Boys Auto Parts: PBY Private Eye I, PBY 1994-95
Private Eye II, PBY Private Eye III
Spokesman Jack Sprint NorCom (national) 1994
Spokesman Accu-Weather: Great Moments in Weather History (series) 1988-89
Weather History (series)
Spokesman National Rehabilitation Network 1994-95
Narrator Disappearing Groundwater (EPA) 1994
Farmer The Mona Lisa Pizza Parlor Mystery 1994
(EPA and Dept. of Agriculture)
Talent Bi-Lo (regional) 1993
Talent/Spokesman Spectra Wood (regional) 1992-95
Talent/Spokesman Ti-Ez 1993
Talent/Spokesman Laurel Eye Clinic 1993
Talent (voice-over) Cancer Care, Inc. 1988-95
(375 regional commercials)
Talent (voice over) Galliker’s Ice Cream 1987-88
(4 ad campaigns; regional)*
*winner Silver Microphone from National Association of Radio Advertisers
Talent Twilight Zone, Conrail (3 industrial series) 1988
Brodski The Silent Alarm 1986
(film for Firefighters of America)
Spokesman Health South Rehabilitation Clinics 1986
Spokesman Central Bank of Pennsylvania 1985-89
(regional: four years)
Programmer Wang (national) 1985
Talent AMP, Inc. (regional and industrials) 1985
Professional Experience
29 years teaching experience: SMU, Penn State, University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill