John Taylor, Ph.D.
Director, School of Visual and Performing Arts
Chair, Theatre Department
jhtaylor@adams.edu
THEA-121 719-587-7382
I am Dr. John H. Taylor (The Ohio State University, 1994) and I serve as Director of the School of Visual and Performing Arts and Chair of the Theatre Department at Adams State University. I teach a variety of courses including Introduction to Theatre, Acting, Women and Drama, Classical Theatre, Modern Theatre, Contemporary Theatre, Dramatic Theory and Criticism, Theatre and Social Change, Censorship and the Arts, and Performance Art.
Art matters and theatre can have a real and lasting impact. In my work, one of my goals is to explore the ways in which theatre can be a catalyst for community engagement. The classroom and the stage should be at the forefront of efforts to examine our personal beliefs and the major societal issues of the day. Both can be places where injustice, ignorance, and the prejudices of the past can be exposed and new understandings of the human experience explored. Most importantly, each can be a site where a multiplicity of voices can be heard in discourse.
Since joining our faculty in 1999, the focus of my creative work has been to explore the ways in which theatre can be a catalyst for social justice and community engagement. Working with my students, we’ve created a variety of issue-oriented theatre events including enGENDERing Change: The Adams State Gender Theatre Project (gender equity and activism), Of Words and Walls: The Anne Frank Theatre Project (learning from the past), The Adams State Ghost Light Project (inclusion and diversity), Standing Strong: The Adams State Equality Project (marriage equality), The R&J Project (forgiveness and reconciliation) , The ASC Fahrenheit 451 Project (1st Amendment), the 365 Days/365 Plays project (new works), the ASC Dead Man Walking Theatre Project (death penalty), and The Laramie Project (homophobia and hate crimes).
At Adams State, I have directed many productions including A Doll’s House, Part 2, Noises Off, The Diary of Anne Frank, You Can’t Take It With You, Standing on Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays, Romeo and Juliet, True West, A Doll’s House, A Christmas Carol, Nickel and Dimed, Miracle on 34th Street, Children of a Lesser God, It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play, and The Outsiders.
A portion of Standing on Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays was selected to be performed at the 2016 Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival in Denver.
At Adams State University, our Theatre program practices the art of making a difference. We believe education and theatre should facilitate engagement and transformation. From the classics to new works, comedy improv to social change theatre, our students are challenged to explore theatre in its various forms in order to gain a more expansive understanding of what it is they study and what they can do with their careers. If you are interested in studying theatre with us at Adams State, please contact me at jhtaylor@adams.edu.
Jenna Neilsen, MFA
Professor of Theatre
jennaneilsen@adams.edu
THE-114 719-587-7346
My name is Jenna Neilsen, and I am an Associate Professor of Theatre at Adams State University. I received my BA from Ohio Northern University and my MFA in theatre pedagogy from Virginia Commonwealth University. I teach all levels of acting, voice, movement, costume design and construction, and business of theatre here at Adams State.
Every year that I spend working with actors and theatre creators I become more acutely aware of the reason why I was drawn to theatre in the first place. Theatre creates empathy in a world where we are often told that compassion for others is dying. You cannot judge another person if you are going to become them, as an actor must. We tell stories which invite our audience on an empathic journey with us… and we all come out of the production more compassionate and more ready to help our fellow man. THAT is why theatre was and forever will be crucial to the human experience.
Before coming to Adams State, I acted and directed in theaters in the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic and studied acting at Queen Margaret University College, a leading conservatory in Edinburgh, Scotland. I have presented my research in both theatre pedagogy and theatre history nationally at the South Eastern Theatre Conference, the Mid-America Theatre Conference and the Association of Theatre in Higher Education Conference. My work, Captive Audience: Theatre Presentations at Johnson’s Island Federal Prison Camp, is published as a chapter in the anthology Enacting Nationhood; Identity, Ideology and the Theatre, published by Cambridge Scholars Press.
I have studied professionally with Second City Chicago and internationally recognized improvisation teacher Keith Johnstone. I mentor Adams State’s student-led improv troupe, The Lost and Found, which performs both on campus and throughout the region. I do not teach improv to train budding comedians (though we have several former Adams State students who are now professionally pursuing careers in stand-up, improvisation, and sketch writing around the country). I firmly believe that the skills which are learned in improvisational acting (honesty, active listening, and trust to name a few) are the same skills which when applied to scripted material are the foundation of good acting.
I have directed many productions during my time at Adams State, each time choosing a show which will complement the other offerings of the program and simultaneously challenge our students. Some of the works I have directed include Bright Ideas, Alice in Wonderland, Two Rooms, A Flea in Her Ear, Robin Hood, Getting Out, Marat/Sade, and The Snow Queen. I also performed the one-woman show, My Name is Rachel Corrie and as Lady Croom in Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia.
Welcome to Adams State University Theatre. We would be happy to have you join our “family” where we know that our art is making a positive difference in our students, our community, and our world.
Nicolas Holguín, MFA
Assistant Professor of Theatre
THEA-104 nhoguin@adams.edu
My name is Nicholas (Nico) Holguín, and I’m coming to Alamosa (& Adams State) from Kansas City, Missouri, where I’ve spent the last few years completing an MFA in Acting, as well as working as an actor with professional theatre companies such as Kansas City Repertory Theatre and Heart of America Shakespeare Festival; and even some modeling gigs through my agency, Talent Unlimited.
I’ve come to take on all sorts of creative endeavors with the hopes of expanding my horizons as an artist, educator, and as a person. Whether it was delving into devised projects in grad school, learning Shakespeare (and performing it in the park), or preparing countless self-tapes for class and/or my agent, I’ve done the best I can to be in positions to learn from others as often as possible. There’s so much to learn, and we each offer up a great deal to share with one another; the best experiences I’ve had working within acting have been from generous artists that have that same openness and curiosity.
I’m looking forward to being surrounded by mountains once again, as I grew up in southern New Mexico, and have struggled with the flatness of Missouri/Kansas. My heart (and family) are in the American Southwest, and I can’t wait to return to the region in a new way, with new aims; I hope to bring with me a curiosity and passion for all sorts of performance/storytelling and an even greater yearning for the potential of bilingual (English/Spanish) stories.
Tim Gross, MFA
Assistant Professor of Theatre
THE-125 tgross@adams.edu
My name is Tim Gross and I am an Assistant Professor of Technical Theatre. My MFA is in Technical Theatre from the University of Illinois and his BA is from Montana State University. I’ve spent most of my working life in theatre.
After graduate school, I spent years working in professional scene shops in the Twin Cities where I engineered and built scenery for Penumbra Theatre, Theatre Latte Da, Ordway Center and many others in different parts of the country. Internationally, I have worked in Ireland and Australia.
As a theatre artist, I love designing and building scenery as well as lighting primarily, but I deeply appreciate all aspects of what it takes to make theatre happen. Beyond design/tech, I’ve written, directed, and produced plays. I have worked on opera, dance, and music performances, but I like plays the most. My favorite productions that I have worked on are Gem of the Ocean, Amen Corner, Assassins, Tape, The Barber of Seville, Stop Kiss, and Woyzeck. The prospect of finding another play that I don’t know or love yet is something that keeps me motivated to explore.
And speaking of exploring, when I’m not working on a show, I can usually be found on some trail or mountainside with a backpack on exploring the natural world. Being out in nature is as intriguing to me as a play and I think of them as two sides of the same love.
There are many things to love about being involved in theatre and one of my great interests is helping people to find which part of this art is going to be their passion. While my first love is designing a physical environment for theatre, I am somebody who is interested in helping others to excel in whichever aspect they find themselves in love with!
