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MSU UNSCRIPTED

18th Annual First Year Showcase

Directed by Sarah Hendrickson

November 21 - 24, 2024

MSU Auditorium, Studio 60

The show you are about to see is completely improvised, meaning there isn’t a script. The performers are making everything up off the top of their heads. We can’t do this show without you, so be ready to yell out suggestions when called upon. Thank you for being here and supporting our students in their first show with the MSU Department of Theatre!

RUNNING TIME: 

The show runs about 1 hour with no intermission.

DIRECTOR’S NOTE:

Improv comedians are constantly looking at given circumstances with a new perspective and working as an ensemble to achieve a common goal. One of my favorite principles of improvisation is the idea that there are no mistakes, only opportunities to explore a new idea. An important part of my teaching philosophy is to encourage students to expand the boundaries of discovery to become brave artists, and find the humor in things whenever possible. This is my 7th year directing MSU Unscripted. I look forward to this show every year because I get to witness new friends form bonds and create space for each others’ creativity. This ensemble impresses me every day with their authenticity, empathy, and creative risk-taking. Thank you for being here to support our first year students in their first show at MSU!

SHOWS

Thursday 11/21 7:30pm 
Emelia Duffield, Casey Fosbenner, Ella Galens, Nolan Loukes, Ava Mazilauskas, Noah Savage
Laini Seltzer, Haley Tamtoro, Anna Zaccari

Saturday 11/23 2:00pm 
Zachary Barker, Emelia Duffield, Collin Gardner, Cameron Gilbertson, Bryce Lang, Nolan Loukes
Eleanor Rossini, Aubriana Scott, Haley Tamtoro, Maya VanNoord

Saturday 11/23 8:00pm 
Casey Fosbenner, Ella Galens, Cameron Gilbertson, Bryce Lang, Ava Mazilauskas,
Eleanor Rossini, Noah Savage, Laini Seltzer, Anna Zaccari

Sunday 11/24 2:00pm 
Zachary Barker, Emelia Duffield, Collin Gardner, Nolan Loukes, Ava Mazilauskas, Noah Savage
Aubriana Scott, Haley Tamtoro, Maya VanNoord, Anna Zaccari

Sunday 11/24 6:00pm 
Zachary Barker, Casey Fosbenner, Ella Galens, Collin Gardner, Cameron Gilbertson, Bryce Lang
Eleanor Rossini, Aubriana Scott, Laini Seltzer, Maya VanNoord

PRODUCTION TEAM

Department of Theatre Chairperson
Dr. Stephen Di Benedetto
Production Manager
Robert Reid Goodson
Director
Sarah Hendrickson
Assistant Director
Shelby Parker
Stage Manager
Tashvi Shetty
Stage Management Faculty Mentor
Tina Newhauser
T-Shirt Design
Maya VanNoord
Lighting and Sound Board Operators
Julia Blatson, Ella Johnson, Eleanor Rossini, Taryn Stone 
Promotional Photography
Cayla Hadaway & Shelby Ginsburg
Office Operations
Kath Clark

CAST & CREW BIOS

ZACHARY BARKER (Actor) East Lansing, MI; Freshman, double major BFA Acting and Business Management. Some of his favorite credits are Wizard Of OZ (Cowardly Lion), Letters From Birmingham Jail (Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.), Mean Girls (Damien), Rocky Mountain High (Ensemble), In Emily’s Words (Ensemble), And The Prom (Kevin/ Ensemble). He would like to thank his family and friends for their love and support. He would also like to thank Sarah Hendrickson for the amazing opportunity.  

JULIA BLATSON (Crew) Mattawan, MI; Freshman, BFA Stage Managment, Lyman Briggs College Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (BS). Her recent credits at Mattawan High School include The Addams Family (SM), Clue (ASM), Mamma Mia! (Crew), and Mary Poppins (Crew). She would like to thank her family, boyfriend, and the support from her peers in the BFA Stage Managment program. 

EMELIA DUFFIELD (Actor) West Bloomfield, MI; Freshman, BFA Acting, double major in English. Emelia’s favorite credits include Mamma Mia!(Donna), Clue(Miss Scarlett), The Winter’s Tale(Polixenes), and Saint Joan(Joan). She would like to thank Sarah and the amazing cast and crew of MSU Unscripted, as well as her family for their continuous support. 

CASEY FOSBENNER (Actor); Philadelphia, PA; Freshman, BFA Acting, BA Elementary Education. Her recent credits include The Yellow Boat (Benjamin) with MSU’s They’re So Dramatic, as well as A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Puck) and Newsies (Crutchie). Casey is extremely grateful for this performance opportunity and for the new friends she made this fall! 

ELLA GALENS (Actor); Rochester Hills, MI; freshman, BFA acting. Some of her favorite credits are Into the Woods (witch), Anything Goes (Evangeline Harcourt), Edgar (Bianca), Mean Girls (Ms. Norbury), and Noises Off (student director). She would like to thank this cast and crew for all the fun during rehearsals, and her family for supporting her! 

COLLIN GARDNER (Actor); Portland, TN; Freshman BFA Acting. His most memorable roles include CLUE (Swing for all male leads), The Wizard of Oz (Tin man), Big Fish (Will Bloom), and The Book of Will (Ben Jonson). All these performances took place at Portland High School, which planted the seeds for where he is now. He is incredibly excited to be a part of this wonderful production! 

CAMERON GILBERTSON (Actor); Northville, MI; Freshman, BFA Acting. His most recent starring role include Clue (Mr. Green), it’s a wonderful life (George Bailey), and The Play That Goes Wrong (Johnathon), all performed at Northville high school. Cameron is extremely excited to have the opportunity to be a part of this amazing production and can’t wait to see you all there! 

ELLA JOHNSON (Crew) Grosse Pointe, MI; Freshman, double major BFA Stage Management and Biochemistry. Her recent credits include Little Shop of Horrors (Production Stage Manager), Abra Cadaver (Director and Stage Manager), 12 Angry Jurors (Production Stage Manager), Mamma Mia! (Production Stage Manager). Ella is thrilled to have had the opportunity to work with such an amazing cast and crew on this show! She would like to thank the entire cast and crew for making her weeks filled with laughter and fun! 

BRYCE LANG (Actor) Milford, MI; Freshman, BFA Acting and Musical Theater minor. Some of her favorite credits include Newsies (Katherine), You Can’t Take it with You (Alice), and Shrek (Dragon). Bryce would like to thank the wonderful director Sarah as well as her friends and family for their love and support. Enjoy the show! 

NOLAN LOUKES (Actor) Richland, MI; Freshman, BFA Acting. Some favorite credits include A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Puck), Peter and the Starcatcher (Peter), The One-Act Play That Goes Wrong (Dennis) and Clue: High School Edition (Mr. Green). He would like to thank his family and friends for the continued love and support, and to the cast for being fantastic people! 

AVA MAZILAUSKAS (Actor) South Lyon, MI; Freshman, BFA Acting. Her most recent show at Michigan State University was The Yellow Boat (Mother) while her recent credits at South Lyon High School include Once Upon a Mattress (Queen Aggravain) and Steel Magnolias (M’lynn). She would like to thank her family for their love and support as well as the incredible actors in this production she got to work with.  

SHELBY PARKER (Assistant Director) Fort Worth, TX; First-year MFA Acting candidate. Recent credits include A Beautiful Day in November… (SnapDragon) at Michigan State University and reANIMA (Aven) at Broken Arts Entertainment. She would like to thank this cast and crew for their humor, bravery, and creativity in putting this show together—you are truly inspiring. 

ELEANOR ROSSINI (Actor and Crew) Chicago, IL; Freshman, BFA Stage Management. Her recent credits include Something Rotten!(Production Stage Manager), Into the Woods(Production Stage Manager), and Puffs!(Production Stage Manager). Eleanor is so excited to be involved in this incredibly unique improvisational production! She has had an absolute ball getting to know her classmates and instructors. She would like to thank her friends, mentors, and fellow stage managers for their support and kindness. 

NOAH SAVAGE (Actor) Auburn Hills, MI; Freshman BFA Acting. His recent credits include Legally Blonde (Emmett Forrest), Cyrano de Bergerac (Cyrano de Bergerac), These Shining Lives (Media Crew Chief), and Nevermore! (Director). He would like to thank his fellow freshmen for their friendship and hilarity, Sarah Hendrickson for her boundless encouragement, and his family for their constant support! 

AUBRIANA SCOTT (Actor) Detroit, MI; Freshman, double major BFA Acting and Business Exploratory. Her recent credits include Into the Woods (Baker’s Wife), Hello, Dolly! (Irene Molloy), Mamma Mia! (Tanya), and Legally Blonde (Brooke Wyndham). She would like to thank Sarah for all her guidance and enthusiasm as well as her family for their continued support! 

LAINI SELTZER (Actor) Birmingham, MI; Freshman, BFA Acting. Her recent credits include The Book Women (Della “Star” Harlow), Newsies (Finch) and Chicago: High School Edition (Roxie Hart). Laini would like to thank the cast and crew of this production for creating such an amazing first MSU show for her, and specifically director Sarah Hendrickson for introducing her to the wonderful world of improvisation. She hopes you enjoy the show!  

TASHVI SHETTY (Production Stage Manager) Canton, MI; Sophomore, BFA Stage Management. Her recent credits include Inherit the Wind (Assistant Stage Manager) and Horse Girls (Assistant Stage Manager). She would like to thank Sarah Hendrickson for her first production stage management opportunity and her friends and family for their continued support! 

TARYN STONE (Crew) Berkley, MI; Freshman, BFA Stage Management. Her recent credits at Berkley High School include Legally Blonde (Stage Manager), Musical Comedy Murders of 1940 (Stage Manager), and Seussical Jr (Stage Manager). Taryn is so grateful to be a part of a welcoming and dedicated group of both cast and crew! She is so excited to be working on an improv-based production. She would like to thank friends made throughout rehearsals, Sarah, and her family for all the support! 

HALEY TAMTORO (Actor) Cupertino, CA; Freshman BFA Acting, Creative Advertising (Art Direction). She would like to thank the cast for their boundless energy and willingness to play, and to Sarah for her continuous stream of encouragement and support.  

MAYA VANNOORD (Actor) Holland, MI; Freshman, BFA Theatre Design and BA Apparel and Textile Design. Her recent credits as costume designer include Clue, SpongeBob: The Musical, Rabbit Hole, Women of Lockerbie, and Letters to Sala for the Zeeland High Players. She is also costume designer for Second Stage Production’s Stop Kiss. She is so grateful for the opportunity to work with these incredible people and would like to thank her family and friends for their love and support. 

ANNA ZACCARI (Actor) Effingham, IL; Freshman, BFA Acting and minor in Musical Theatre. Her recent credits include School of Rock (Marcy/Student Dance Captain), Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Baker/Wife/Ensemble), The Lion King, Jr. (Timon) at The Little Theatre on the Square and White Christmas (Judy Haynes) at St. Anthony High School. She would like to thank Sarah for such an amazing experience and her new friends, her boyfriend Henry, and her family for their constant support and encouragement! Insta: @annamzaccari 

Michigan State University Land Acknowledgement

We collectively acknowledge that Michigan State University occupies the ancestral, traditional, and contemporary Lands of the Anishinaabeg – Three Fires Confederacy of Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi peoples. In particular, the University resides on Land ceded in the 1819 Treaty of Saginaw. We recognize, support, and advocate for the sovereignty of Michigan’s twelve federally-recognized Indian nations, for historic Indigenous communities in Michigan, for Indigenous individuals and communities who live here now, and for those who were forcibly removed from their Homelands. By offering this Land Acknowledgement, we affirm Indigenous sovereignty and will work to hold Michigan State University more accountable to the needs of American Indian and Indigenous peoples.

friends of theatre logo

Friends of Theatre is a membership organization promoting, encouraging and enhancing activities of the MSU Department of Theatre. We organize events and programs that expand the community experience of theatre. We also create fund-raising opportunities and promote improvements in the programs and facilities of the MSU Department of Theatre. How can you join?  Make a donation to the Michigan State University Department of Theatre and you will become a most welcome member. Click here to learn more.

We would like to express our gratitude to the following friends who have generously supported the MSU Department of Theatre during the past year. If we have inadvertently left your name off this list, please accept our apologies and contact us so that we may make the correction. This list is current as of 3/21/24.

Named Summer Circle Courtyard Donors
Sam and Mary Austin
Selma Hollander
Linda Nelson
Gretel Geist Rutledge
Jane K. Vieth and Alan P. Suits

Diamond ($2,500+, Season Sponsors)
Ms. Free
Mr. Gunn
Dr. Harris
Ms. Kern
Mr. Kief and Ms. Rutledge
Mr. Matson
Dr. and Mr. Paulsell
Mrs. Peters
Ms. Somerton
Dr. Stone
Robert Swaney
Prof. Williams
Richard and Karen Williams

Platinum ($1,000-$2500)
Dr. and Mrs. Austin
Mr. and Mrs. Babcock
Dr. Bryson and Mrs. Coffman Bryson
Mr. and Mrs. Buck
Dr. and Mrs. Constan
Mrs. Davis
Drs. Dennis
Mr. Fahey
Dr. and Mrs. Forsyth
Mr. and Mrs. Gift
Robert Hamilton Schirmer
Mrs. Kangas-Preston
Mr. Kiersey
Ms. Knapp
Mr. Nichols
Dr. O’Halloran and Dr. Woodruff
Mr. and Mrs. Pearson
Prof. Roznowski
Dr. and Mrs. Severance
Unknown-Anonymous Donors
Dr. and Mrs. White

Gold ($500-$1,000)
Mrs. Bird
Bruce Brown and Derrick Carter
Mr. Checketts
Mr. Conger
Prof. Domer
Mrs. and Dr. Fitzgerald
Kami Frankel
Prof. Kotula
Ms. Lepard
Mark Skibbe
Robert Stephenson
Dr. Taggart
Mr. Van Faussien and
Mrs. Storen Van Faussien

Silver ($250 – $500)
Mr. Andrews
Mrs. Baird
Charlotte Barvinok
Mr. Baumgart
Dr. Birdwell
Mrs. Brazil
Mrs. and Dr. Bursian
Mr. Henry
Dr. Horner
Dr. and Ms. Jennings
Mrs. and Mr. Moellenberg
Ms. Munshaw
Mr. and Ms. Sobieski
Ms. Wepman
Mr. and Dr. Wolski

Bronze ($100-$250)
Dr. Abrahams and Dr. Greenberg
Dr. Berding and Dr. Henriquez
Dr. and Ms. Bonsall
Mr. Chau
Ms. Corbin
Mrs. Couf-Cohen and Mr. Cohen
Mr. DeWaal and Ms. Aiello
Manisha Dostert
Mr. and Mrs. Gainer
Mrs. Gilluly
Steven Godfrey
Prof. and Mr. Gould
Kimberly Greene
Mrs. Helder
Mrs. and Mr. Howard
Mrs. and Dr. King
Mr. and Mrs. King
Mr. Lynch
Ms. Lynch-Blosser
Ms. Matway
Mr. and Mrs. McKenney
Ms. McMurtry
Mrs. Mernitz
Dr. and Mrs. Mittig
Jennifer Ortwein
Dr. and Mrs. Oxer
Mrs. Potter
Kimberly Price
Ms. Roth
Prof. Salchow MacArthur
Karen Sheridan
Ms. Singer and Mr. Mencher
Mrs. and Mr. Smith
Mrs. and Mr. Stevens
Ms. Terrien
Mrs. and Mr. Thomakos
Mrs. Thomas
Mr. Thomas
Dr. and Mrs. Todd
Mr. Topliff
Mrs. Truax
Mr. and Mrs. Tuchinsky
Ms. Van Looy
Prof. and Mr. White

Pewter ($50-$100)
Mr. and Mrs. Allen
Ms. Atkinson
Mrs. Baker Newell and Mr. Newell
Dr. and Ms. Beauchamp
Mrs. and Mr. DeGuire
Mr. and Mrs. Ferris
Mr. and Mrs. Foster
Ms. Funk
Mr. and Mrs. Haney
Brian Harper
Mrs. and Mr. Ingram
Dr. and Mrs. Kaplowitz
Mrs. and Mr. Kilbridge
Debbie Kupinsky
Mr. Lambert
Mrs. and Mr. Lambert
Mrs. Lepak
Ms. and Dr. Meierfrankenfeld
Ms. Pierson
Prof. and Mrs. Singh
Mr. Talsma
Ms. Wolfe
Mr. Zirm and Mrs. Lewis

In Honor and Memorial Giving Program

Contributions made to the Honor/Memorial Giving Program offers you a way to honor any important occasion, including birthdays, weddings, and anniversaries. It is also a special way to remember those who are no longer with us.

The honoree will receive a beautiful card notifying them of your thoughtful gift. Any contribution of $50 or more will be listed in our program all season long (July 1 through June 30).

In Honor of Ms. Teriah N. Fleming
Prof. Kirk A. Domer

Distinguished Department of Theatre Scholarship Donors

Dixie Durr
The Dixie Durr Scholarship Fund

Virginia E. Albright
The Virginia Albright Acting Scholarship Fund

Gretel Greist Rutledge
The Frank C. Rutledge Scholarship in Theatre
The Gretel Geist Rutledge Annual Student Awards for Design Excellence in Theatre Production

Selma Hollander
The Stanley and Selma Hollander Endowed Graduate Fellowship In Theatre

Mary Culpepper
The Barbara Hacker Baldwin Theatre Scholarship

Website: https://theatre.msu.edu/
Email: theatre@msu.edu