HomeTheatre Alumni
Wayne State University Theatre Department alumni have gone on to careers in theatre, television and film, as well as teaching at various colleges and universities throughout the country. Among the many professional theatres in which they are working or have worked are:
- Broadway theatres
- Off-Broadway theatres
- National Tour theatres
- Actors Theatre of Louisville
- Alley Theatre, Houston
- Alliance Theatre, Atlanta
- Arena Stage, Washington, D.C.
- Center Stage Theatre, Baltimore
- Dallas Theatre Center
- Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center
- The Guthrie Theatre
- Long Wharf Theatre
- The Negro Ensemble Company
- New York Shakespeare Festival
- Seattle Repertory Theatre
- St. Louis Repertory Theatre
- The Stratford (Ontario) Shakespearean Festival
- Steppenwolf Theatre, Chicago
- Yale Repertory Theatre
Here are a few of our alumni with some of their professional credits:
David Ramsey (BFA ‘93)
Appeared in Pay it Forward,
The Nutty Professor, Con Air,
Ali: An American Hero, and For Your Love.
Anita Barone (MFA ‘89)
Appeared in Daddio, The Jeff Foxworthy Show,
Carol & Company, Friends, Chicago Hope, Seinfeld,
Caroline in the City, and Ally McBeal.
Jeffrey Tambor (MFA ‘69) Appeared in Arrested Development, Meet Joe Black,
How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Muppets from Space,
Doctor Doolittle, L.A. Law, The Golden Girls, and Three’s Company.
S. Epatha Merkerson (BFA ‘76)
Law and Order, Jacobs Ladder, Random Hearts,
Terminator 2: Judgement Day, Pee-wee’s Playhouse,
The Cosby Show, and Frasier.
Tony Award nominee for The Piano Lesson.
Co-host PBS series Art:21 season one
Martin Pakledinaz (BFA ‘75)
Tony Award winner for Costume Design for Kiss Me Kate;
Tony Award winner for Thoroughly Modern Millie;
Tony Award nominee for The Life and Golden Child; Kiss Me Kate (TV).
Thorsten Kaye (MFA ‘94)
Appeared in Port Charles (Ian),
One Life to Live (Patrick),
and The Bone Collector.
Tom Sizemore (BFA ‘83)
Appeared in Black Hawk Down, Pearl Harbor, Red Planet,
Bringing Out the Dead, Saving Private Ryan, Heat, The Relic,
Natural Born Killers, Play It to the Bone, Enemy of the State,
Wyatt Earp, Passenger 57, Point Break, and China Beach.
Max Wright (BA ‘66)
Grumpier Old Men, Snow Falling on Cedars, All That Jazz, Alf,
Friends, Mad About You, Cheers, WKRP in Cincinnati; Ivanov on Broadway with Kevin Kline (Tony Award Nominee).
Michael Anderson, dance company member, Joffrey Ballet Company
David Calhoun, theatre manager, Marquis Theatre (NY)
Curtis Colden, CBS Daytime TV casting director
Frank D. Hartenstein, production stage manager, Broadway Shows: How to Succeed...., Into the Woods
Ernie Hudson, Congo, Hand that Rocks the Cradle, Ghostbusters
Woody King, Jr., founder, New York's New Federal Theatre
Robert Lambert, Gypsy on Broadway with Tyne Daley; Damn Yankees national tour with Jerry Lewis
Bobby Pearce, personal assistant to Rosie O'Donnell
Mark Pinter, Guiding Light (Senator Grant), TV
Alan Ribant, managing director, Jeff Daniels' Purple Rose Theatre Company
Lloyd Richards, director, Broadway and Regional Theatre; artistic director, Yale Repertory Theatre
Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Michael Hayes, TV; Tony Award winner for Seven Guitars on Broadway
Bil Schroeder, press and publications director, Yale Repertory Theatre
Tom Skerritt, Picket Fences, TV; A River Runs Through It
Lily Tomlin, Short Cuts, Nashville, 9 to 5, among many films; Laugh-In, TV
Mark Tymchyshyn, The Gregory Hines Show
Among the many universities in which they are working or have worked are:
- Stanford University
- Fordham University
- San Francisco State University
- Purdue University
- University of Indiana
- Arizona State University
- University of Michigan