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TheatreFest Featured Performers
TheatreFest Featured Performers are the crème de la crème of high school theatre talent. These young, budding stars will audition to showcase their exceptional abilities on the grand stage of the Convocation and Closing Ceremonies of TheatreFest. Imagine the brightest, most promising theatrical lights across Texas, handpicked to shine at TheatreFest.
Exhibitors
PlayFest
PlayFest is a playwriting competition/event whose principal objective is to encourage the writing and production of new plays. The purpose of PlayFest is as follows:
- To encourage and promote the study of playwriting by all
- To encourage and promote the writing of new plays
- To provide a clearinghouse for the reading and evaluation of new plays in a working and teaching environment
- To provide greater incentive to playwrights by establishing a working relationship between professionals, educators, and playwrights
- To produce new plays annually at TheatreFest; this may include staged readings, workshop productions, and new play seminars
TxETA and TheatreFest welcome our PlayFest Guest Artist, the accomplished and generous Bradley Michalakis!
Bradley Michalakis currently serves as Associate Artistic Director of Dramaturgy at the Alley Theatre in Houston, where he manages the literary office and produces the annual Alley All New Festival. Before relocating to Houston, Bradley worked as Director of Literary Development at the Foxboro Company, the producing office behind the recent Broadway productions of
For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/ When the Rainbow Is Enuf by Ntozake Shange, as well as John Leguizamo’s
Latin History for Morons.
Bradley's work has been seen at Alley Theatre, Catastrophic Theatre, Rec Room Arts, Theatre for a New Audience, The Acting Company, Resident Ensemble Players, and Delaware Shakespeare Festival. Bradley has also steadily produced live music and comedy events in NYC since 2014.
We feel immensely fortunate to have Bradley here to serve as audience and respondent to our performers and playwrights. Thank you in advance, Mr. Michalakis, for your valuable time and wise advice!
Auditions
The Texas Educational Theatre Association, Inc. offers Texas theatre students an opportunity to audition for colleges and universities from across the nation. Being held in October, the TxETA Auditions are one of the first auditions in the state. Let the colleges and universities see your work early!
Students perform a two-minute acting audition or a five-minute technical portfolio presentation for up to 50 different college/university programs.
Meet our professional guest musician Thomas Furlow.
This is Thomas’s third year serving as a professional guest for TxETA Theatrefest. A proud Southeast Texas native, Thomas Furlow brings over 15 years of experience as a professional musician and accompanist. He has collaborated with more than ten school districts across the region and has served as an accompanist for state-level solo and ensemble events in Austin. Thomas is also the collaborative pianist for TxETA, and he has shared his musical talents in churches for more than two decades, both as a pianist and worship leader.
A classically trained musician, Thomas studied voice, piano, and organ at Stephen F. Austin State University and Lamar University, where he earned his Bachelor of Arts in Music. He is an active member of the American Guild of Organists (Beaumont Chapter) and currently serves as Music Director for St. Andrews Presbyterian Church.
Outside of his professional work, Thomas enjoys spending time with family and friends, playing a variety of instruments—including piano, organ, melodica, and accordion—and taking yearly trips to Colorado to enjoy the mountains and snow.
We are very grateful to Thomas for sharing his gorgeous talents with us at auditions... and maybe if we're lucky we can find him at a piano some evening as well.
DesignFest
DesignFest is a competition and showcase where students, instructors, and professionals bring emphasis and recognition to the study and execution of theatrical design, stage management, and technology. DesignFest submissions are seen by over 1500 theatre artists from all over the United States.
DesignFest- Read about our guest artist, lighting designer Christina Giannelli
TxETA is excited to host freelance lighting designer Christina Giannelli as our technical theatre professional guest.
Christina R Giannelli is an award-winning lighting designer working primarily in the performing arts. Her designs for Opera, Ballet and Theatre have been seen around the country and across the globe. She earned a BA in History of Art at Yale and more recently an MFA in Entertainment Design at University of Houston. Over the course of her career, she has served as Resident Lighting Designer at Houston Grand Opera, Texas Ballet Theater, Houston Ballet, and The Metropolitan Opera. Art/architecture projects include Ed Wilson’s Soaring in the Clouds at the George R Brown Convention Center and Delivering Miracles at the Margot Women’s Hospital, Dallas TX. For many years she produced Weekend of Texas Contemporary Dance and other dance events at Miller Outdoor Theatre. She is the founder of Dance Source Houston, a service organization supporting dance performance and dance makers in Houston.
We feel very fortunate to have Christina joining us for TheatreFest. Come to one of her workshops at TheatreFest to learn and get inspired!
FilmFest
“Make a Film Using Your Smartphone” - The FilmFest contest is designed specifically for TheatreFest students. The contest is envisioned as a fun way to bring student filmmakers from around Texas together to learn from and experience the work of their peers. During the 24-hour event, every team will receive the same prompt detailing the genre, a prop, and some lines of dialogue. Each of these elements is required in a completed 2-3 minute film made with a smartphone. All creation must occur within the competition period: writing, rehearsing, shooting, editing, graphics, etc. The competition is held at TheatreFest and the showings of the completed films will take place on Friday night! The contest is open to all students who are registered for TheatreFest.
FilmFest- Read about our guest artist Nell Teare, actor, director, producer, writer, educator
The biggest prize in this contest is having the chance to learn from our guest artist, industry professional Nell Teare!
Nell Teare is an award winning writer, director, actor, producer and educator whose work is rooted in a lifelong love of story. She began her artistic training at Houston’s High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, then earned her BFA from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Originally a professional actor, she brings a character driven sensibility to her directing. Alongside her work in feature films, she directs English-language dubs for global studios including Netflix, Amazon, and Disney, helping performances resonate across languages and cultures. As an educator, she mentors emerging artists in performance, writing, directing, and filmmaking. Nell sits on the boards of The Houston Cinema Arts Society and LA’s Celebration Theatre.
We are so fortunate to have Nell with us, and we thank her for giving her time and expertise to inspire our young Texas artists at TheatreFest.
TxETA’s Got Talent:
Improv Edition!
Ready to show off that hidden improv talent? Leave it all on the stage with this year’s Improv Edition of TxETA’s Got Talent. No deadline to register. Auditions will take place at TheatreFest. Selected adult and student performers will perform to a live audience at the Convention! TxETA's Got Talent will have a show guaranteed to blow you away. Sign up when you register for TheatreFest.
Meet the host of TxETA’s Got Talent: Improv Edition, the lovely and talented Dr. Phillip Morgan
