Guest Artists

de Laski Performing Arts Building

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Every semester, artists at the top of their field are on our stages, in our classrooms, and working with our students.

Mason's Center for the Arts brings world-renowned performing artists to stages on our campuses every year and provides free tickets to students. Many of these same artists come into our classrooms to share their expertise.

Professional Artist Residency in Theater (PART)

In 2012, The School of Theater launched the PART program, bringing professional artists of all theatrical disciplines to Theater at Mason to teach, mentor, and work with our students. The guest artists stay for a few days, a week, or a semester to teach and mentor students, offer master classes, workshops, special events, and courses that fulfill the requirements for Theater majors.

Generous donors help make the PART program possible. For information on sponsoring this program, please contact the CVPA development office or call 703-993-1593.

American actress and singer and seven-time Tony Award nominee, Kelli O'Hara, participated in a Masterclass with Theater students at Mason.
American actress and singer and seven-time Tony Award nominee, Kelli O'Hara, participated in a Masterclass with Theater students at Mason.

Here are just a few examples of our artists in residence

  • Paige Whitley-Bauguess - A Baroque dancer who interprets, recreates, and performs Baroque theatre dance in venues all over the world.
  • Thomas W. Jones II - Directed, written and performed in more than 200 plays worldwide. His work as a writer, director, and actor has been acclaimed nationally and internationally, receiving 48 Washington DC Helen Hayes Award nominations and winning 15 awards, including Best Director for Samm Art Williams’ Home and his own Bessie's Blues. His most recent works include Three Sistahs, Point of Revue, Two Queens One Castle, Bricktop, Heart ‘n’ Soul, Love Johnny, A Cool Drink A Water, Holler and Sheddin'.
  • Kelli O'Hara -  The American actress and classically-trained singer has appeared in many Broadway and Off-Broadway musicals such as Kiss Me, Kate, The King and I, The Bridges of Madison County, and South Pacific. She is also known for Sex and the City 2, Live from Lincoln Center and Numb3rs. 
  • Luciana Stecconi - A scenic designer who has designed sets for more than 70 shows, mostly in the Washington, D.C., area. She has a very impressive and long resume of work including sets for The Winter’s Tale at the Folger Theatre, Jesus Christ Superstar at Signature Theatre, From the Mouths of Monsters at The Kennedy Center, and The Who and The What at the Roundhouse Theatre.
  • Jenelle Lynn Randall -  Actress, Jenelle Randall, is known for Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, The Young and the Restless and Boardwalk Empire. She has also appeared on Broadway and Off-Broadway. 
  • Ed Asner Actor, activist and winner of seven acting Emmy Awards, Ed Asner, is best known for his role as Lou Grant during the 1970s and early 1980s, on both The Mary Tyler Moore Show and its spin-off series Lou Grant. 
  • Vladimir "Volodya" Shpitalnik - Vladimir Shpitalnik is a set and costume designer, artist, and illustrator. He has created theater sets and costume designs for works such as Death of a Salesman, The Threepenny Opera, The Nutcracker and many others.
  • Stacy Keach - A noted actor of stage and film, he has appeared in many productions including The Bourne Legacy, Planes, Man with a Plan, Two and a Half Men.
  • Carlos Murillo - A professional director and chair of theater at DePaul University.