Name: Brandon Ray
Graduation year: 2000
Degree earned: B.A., Theatre (Music minor)
Current city: Normal, IL (Yes, that’s a real place)
Current area of study: 3rd-Year MFA candidate in Directing at Illinois State University
Why did you pick McMurry?
I grew up in Abilene, and I knew I wanted to study theatre in college. I had no idea how to look for a college, so I decided to sit out a semester after graduating from Wylie High. During that time, I went to a play at McMurry – Lost In Yonkers, which featured Betty and Charlie Hukill as actors. I loved it, and enjoyed looking around the theatre lobby at the pictures of past productions. The variety of interesting shows that McMurry did convinced me to enroll there.
What was your favorite show you were a part of at McMurry?
I had many great experiences at McMurry and was able to try so many things. My favorite shows as an actor were Fiddler On the Roof (who wouldn’t like to play Tevye?), Pump Boys & Dinettes (we got to be a cast AND a band) and a student-directed production of How I Learned to Drive. I always loved acting, but while I was at McMurry, I discovered directing and playwriting. Some of the highlights of my life were directing Stephen Sondheim’s Assassins with all of my friends in the cast, and seeing a fully-realized production of my play Just One of Those Things.
Be honest, how was the transition from college life to the “real world”?
The theatre business is hard, but McMurry’s philosophy of training theatre generalists really helped me out. I was equipped to do a lot of things, and I never really knew I should be terrified to go out and do it. After I graduated, I took a job directing a play at the Market House Theatre in Paducah, Kentucky where a McMurry alum was the technical director. After the show closed, I moved up to Chicago.
Chicago is a really fantastic city for young theatre artists to get started. The city isn’t as intimidating as New York or LA, and there are a million opportunities of all kinds because there are over 200 non-equity theatre companies. It’s hard to make a living in theatre there, for sure, but you’ll experience some of the most vital, exciting theatre being done anywhere in the country.
Tell us a little about your current job.
I’m a grad student studying directing!
What is your favorite thing about being a grad student there?
I go to classes to study different aspects of theatre and get to direct productions with really excellent design teams and well-trained actors. Next month I’ll begin directing a fully-funded production of Sarah Ruhl’s beautiful epic, Passion Play, as my thesis production.
What lead you there?
While I was in Chicago, I became the Artistic Director of New Leaf Theatre. During my four seasons at the helm, I directed several productions, two of which were nominated for Joseph Jefferson awards for Best Ensemble. Another great thing about doing theatre in Chicago is that the local press is very good about reviewing even small-budget productions, so I was fortunate to have some good reviews in the Chicago Reader, the Chicago Sun-Times and even the Chicago Tribune. After leaving New Leaf, I also did a bit of freelance directing, mostly with short plays at festivals. MFA programs are extremely competitive, so I’m happy that my experiences with directing and helping to run a theatre company were able to get me in to ISU.
Do you think your (theatre) education at McMurry prepared you?
The fact that I was able to experience so many different aspects of theatre at McMurry, and that I was able to discover my interests in directing and playwriting, were absolutely invaluable. The fact that I was able to work on something like forty or fifty different shows during my time at McMurry gave me plenty of time to observe and learn the process of putting on a production, to see what works and what doesn’t, and to develop myself as an artist. In addition, the liberal arts focus (as opposed to a conservatory-style training system) gave me an intellectual curiosity which has fed me as both a student and an artist.
What was your favorite theatre class to take?
Charlie Hukill’s Playwriting class. Not only did I discover a talent that I didn’t know I had, I also learned a ton about theatre, about how plays are structured and how to take advantage of that in telling a story – both on the page and on the stage.
Give any advice you can to current or perspective students.
Take part in every way you can. Don’t narrow your focus to one thing. You might come in as a musical theatre actor and discover that you’re really good at lighting design or stage management and open yourself to new career prospects.
Take advantage of your non-theatre classes, because the knowledge you gain there is the material you use to create your art. Theatre artists should learn as much as they can about science and literature and music and languages and history.
Know the value of a degree in Theatre. Theatre artists are trained to read through something, analyze it to find the most important parts and then be able to use their creativity to present it in the most appealing and effective fashion for the general public. Tell me one business field that doesn’t value those skills.
Please give us a peek at your favorite memory from college (if you can pick just one).
One night after rehearsal for Assassins, a few of us were going to stay to paint the stage floor. A lot of cast members ended up staying to help out, and KTXS anchor George Levesque (who was playing John Wilkes Booth) came back about 10 minutes later with Cokes for everybody. It was a beautiful example of a cast who believed in the show and each other enough to make work into a joyful shared experience. I think about that night a lot, and it inspires me.
What do you miss most about college life?
I won’t say it’s the best time of your life, because I love being a husband and father. But it is definitely the easiest and most fun time of your life. You have all the independence of being a “grown-up” with only a fraction of the responsibility. If you’re a theatre major, your colleagues become more like family than friends. I formed some of the closest friendships of my life at McMurry.
Besides the aforementioned production of Passion Play, which you should all come see if you happen to be in Central Illinois from Feb. 17-25.
Abilene Community Theatre is reviving my play Just One of Those Things in March!
Go see it! http://abilenecommunitytheatre.com/#show3.
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