Faculty: Members of the Theatre faculty combine strong academic credentials with extensive professional and artistic experience. They offer training that is both traditional and classical, but they also foster a sense of the exploration that always occurs in theatre. As a result, Theatre graduates are well-prepared for entrance into the professional arts community.

Cecil O'Neal
Chair, Division of Theatre
Professor of Theatre
B.F.A., University of Wisconsin
Cecil O'Neal received his B.F.A. in arts and political science from the University of Wisconsin and he worked on his graduate studies at the University of Wisconsin and the University of Toronto. Prior to coming to SMU, Professor O'Neal spent 20 years as a professional actor, director and producer in the United States and Canada. Now at SMU, he teaches acting in both the B.F.A. and M.F.A. programs, directs division productions and serves as head of recruiting for the Division of Theatre. Read more.

Rhonda Blair
Professor of Theatre
Ph.D., University of Kansas
Rhonda Blair, professor in the Division of Theatre, has directed and acted in more than 70 productions and has been doing original solo and collaborative performance work since the 1980s. Her classes include Critical Studies in Performance: Solo Performance; Theatre History; Theories of Modern Theatre Practice; and Text Analysis. She has given national and international workshops and presentations on solo performance, gender and performance, and improvisation, including workshops in Cuba and Poland. Read more.

Carole Brandt
Professor of Theatre
Ph.D., Southern Illinois University
Carole Brandt is Professor of Theatre and former Dean of the Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University. She previously served as Head of Theatre at Penn State, Chair of Theatre at the University of Florida, and Director of the School of Drama at Illinois Wesleyan University. Read more.

Leslie Brott
Assistant Professor of Theatre
M.F.A., Pennsylvania State University
Leslie Brott received a B.A. from California State University, Sacramento. She comes to Meadows from an appointment with the Professional Actor Training Program at the University of Illinois. With acting credits across the nation, she also works as a professional director and text/vocal/dialect coach. Read more.

Brad Cassil
Lecturer in Stage Management
B.F.A. with Honors, California Institute of the Arts
Brad Cassil comes to SMU with over 15 years of experience as a stage manager, producer, production coordinator, and company manager in theatre, television, dance, business theatre, corporate events, spectaculars and special events. Read more.

Michael Connolly
Associate Professor of Theatre
Head of Acting
Meadows Foundation Distinguished Teaching Professor
Ph. D., Indiana University
Michael A. Connolly began university teaching in 1980. In 1982, he signed his first Equity contract and remains a working actor today. Most recently, in the summer of 2006, he appeared at the Tony-Award-winning Utah Shakespearean Festival as “Falstaff” in The Merry Wives of Windsor and as “Polonius” in Hamlet. This marked his fifth season at the LORT-B+ festival. Read more.

James Crawford
Assistant Professor of Theatre
M.F.A., University of California at San Diego
James Crawford earned his B.A. in theatre arts from Brown University and his M.F.A. from the University of California at San Diego. As an actor, James has worked with such nationally acclaimed directors as Stan Wojewodski, Tina Landau, Des McAnuff and Robert Woodruff. He appeared Off-Broadway in En Garde Arts’ Obie-winning production of The Trojan Women, A Love Story, in The Great Brain at the Promenade Theatre, and in The Kafka Project at the Ohio Theatre. Read more.

Jack Greenman
Assistant Professor of Theatre
M.F.A., University of California, Irvine
Jack Greenman comes to the Meadows School of the Arts from an appointment with Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle.  He has worked professionally for the last 20 years as an actor, educator, and voice and dialect coach. Read more.

Charles Helfert
Associate Professor of Theatre
Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison
Dr. Helfert received his B.A. at St. Norbert's College and his M.A. and Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He teaches courses in Creative Drama, Children's Theatre and Teaching Theatre in the Secondary School. He is a three-time recipient of the SMU Outstanding Teacher Award and the "M" Award for outstanding service to the university. Read more.

Kevin Paul Hofeditz
Associate Dean, Meadows School of the Arts
Professor of Theatre
M.F.A., University of Missouri-Kansas City
Kevin Hofeditz joined the faculty of the SMU Division of Theatre as professor and division chair in 1998 and became associate dean in 2002. He received his B.A. in theatre performance from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville and his M.F.A. in acting/directing from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. He is a professional actor with credits in regional theatre, stock and off-Broadway. Mr. Hofeditz is a member of the Actors' Equity Association. Read more.

Bill Lengfelder
Associate Professor of Theatre
M.F.A., Lindenwood College
Bill Lengfelder, associate professor, received his B.A. from the University of Southern Illinois and his M.F.A. from Lindenwood College. He teaches Movement for the Actor and Stage Combat. Mr. Lengfelder is a first-degree black belt in Kuntaw, Shorin-yu, Shito-ryu, and Kobojitsu (Oriental weapons), with over 21 years' experience in T'ai Chi Ch'uan (Yang and Wu styles) and Hung Gar. He is a professional boxer, mime, trapeze artist, and stage fight choreographer. Read more.

Russell Parkman
Associate Professor of Theatre
M.F.A., Yale University
Russell Parkman received his B.A. from Trinity University and his M.F.A. in scenic design from Yale University and is a member of United Scenic Artists Local 829. He teaches Scene Design at SMU. In New York, Mr. Parkman has designed at Manhattan Class Company, Cucaracha Theater and The New Theatre of Brooklyn as well as at other theatres and operas across the United States and around the world. Read more.

Sara Romersberger
Associate Professor of Theatre
M.A., University of Illinois
Sara Romersberger, Movement Specialist, holds a B.S. in theatre education from Illinois State University, an M.A. in dance from the University of Illinois, and a Certificate of Mime/Movement from Ecole Jacques Lecoq, Paris, France. Prior to SMU she held full-time faculty positions held at Illinois Wesleyan University, West Virginia University and Elon College, N.C. Read more.

Ashley Smith
Assistant Professor of Theatre
M.F.A., University of Delaware
Ashley Smith has been a text and dialect coach in Chicago for the Tony Award-winning Victory Gardens Theatre, in New York for the Accidental Theatre Company, and in Dallas for the Dallas Theater Center, Shakespeare Dallas, and WaterTower Theatre.   Read more.

Gretchen Elizabeth Smith
Associate Professor of Theatre and Head of Theatre Studies
Ph.D., University of Indiana
Gretchen Smith received her B.A. in English from the College of William and Mary and her M.F.A. in theatre/playwriting from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois. She obtained her Ph.D. in Theatre from Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. Dr. Smith teaches courses in theatre history, playwriting, and critical studies courses in gender, dramatic literature and performance studies. Read more.

Claudia Stephens
Associate Professor
M.F.A., Carnegie Mellon University
Claudia Stephens earned her B.F.A. in theatre from The University of Texas at Austin and her M.F.A. in costume design from Carnegie Mellon and is a member of United Scenic Artists Local 829. Her recent designs include Wit, Dreamlandia, Inexpressible Island, How I Learned to Drive, A Christmas Carol (Dallas Theater Center), Ambition Faces West (The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis), Tony Kushner's A Dybbuk (Denver Center Theater), Turn of the Screw, Scotland Road and Sabina (Primary Stages, NYC) and Twelfth Night (Oregon Shakespeare Festival). Read more.

Stan Wojewodski, Jr.
Distinguished Artist-in-Residence
M.F.A., Catholic University of America
Stan Wojewodski, Jr., the former dean of the Yale School of Drama, has been appointed Distinguished Artist-in-Residence in the Division of Theatre. He will teach directing and also direct the 18th-century comedy of manners She Stoops to Conquer. Read more.

Steve Woods
Associate Professor of Theatre and Head of Theatre Design
M.F.A., University of New Orleans
Steve Woods graduated with his B.A. in theatre from the University of Tennessee, a M.A. in speech and theatre from Austin Peay University and an M.F.A. in theatre from the University of New Orleans. He is a member of United Scenic Artists Local 829. International lighting design work has taken him to Berlin, Moscow, London, Prague, Athens, and dozens of countries around the world. His television credits include PBS, ESPN, MTV, BBC and Showtime. Read more.

 

Adjunct Professors
Linda Blase, Lighting Design
Steve Leary, Scenic Design
Melinda Robinson, Stage Makeup
Giva Taylor, Costume Design
Kathy Windrow, Drawing for Designers