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Gary
Austin
Actor/theater instructor
The creator and original director of famed Los Angeles theater company
The Groundlings, he helped launched the careers of such well-known comedians
as Will Ferrell, Phil Hartman and Julia Sweeney. |
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Martin Benson
Theater founder/director
He was trying to break into the movies as an actor when he and fellow
alumnus David Emmes started a small theater company in an old dime
store. Today, Costa Mesa's South Coast Repertory is a major force
in American theater.  |
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Ed
Bullins
Playwright and author
A distinguished artist-in-residence at Northeastern University, this
living legend has written more than 50 plays and earned the New York
Drama Critics Circle Award, the Vernon Rice Drama Desk Award, and
the Obie, among others. |
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Yuriko Doi
Theater founder
After earning a master's degree in drama at SF State, she went on
to study with esteemed masters of Kyogen and Noh. In 1978 she brought
these traditional Japanese aesthetics to American audiences when
she founded the Theatre of Yugen in San Francisco. |
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David
Emmes
Theater founder/director
He was teaching theater at Long Beach City College when he reunited with fellow
alumnus Martin Benson to form what would become the South Coast Repertory, today
one of the country's most successful regional theaters. |
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Paul Gemignani
Broadway music director
Stephen Sondheim's music director of choice, he's wielded the baton
for "Sweeney Todd" "Into the Woods" and
many more. In 2001, he won a Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement
in the Theatre. |
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Susan Harloe
Actor
She
was a librarian and full-time actor and founded the critically acclaimed
Word for Word Performing Arts Company with alumna JoAnne
Winter in 1993.
Susan says that attending SF State "opened up the whole
world to me." |
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JoAnne Winter
Actor
She assembled the core group of actors for Word for Word, a literature-based
theater company described by Tobias Wolff as "a new art form,
and a deeply affecting experience." |
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BD
Wong
Actor
He made his Broadway debut in "M. Butterfly," which earned him
the Outer Critics Circle Award, Theatre World Award, Drama Desk Award, Clarence
Derwent Award and Tony Award. No other actor has earned all five for a single
production. |
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Robert Woodruff
Theater director
When he became artistic director at Harvard University's American
Repertory Theatre, this alumnus was described by his predecessor
as "one of the most imaginative and visionary directors in the world." |
