Alumni & Careers

Meet Our Alumni

• <span class="lw_item_thumb"><a href="/live/profiles/911-mckinley-hughes" title="McKinley Hughes" aria-label="McKinley Hughes"><img src="/live/image/gid/39/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,0,606,607/2355_McKinley_Hughes.rev.1516295315.jpg" alt="McKinley Hughes" title="McKinley Hughes" class="lw_image" width="345" height="225" data-max-w="606" data-max-h="607"/></a></span><div class="lw_widget_text"><h4 class="lw_profiles_headline"><a href="/live/profiles/911-mckinley-hughes"><p> McKinley Hughes challenges societal norms in Portland</p></a></h4><div class="lw_profiles_description"><p> McKinley Hughes (2016) began an acting apprenticeship immediately following her graduation at the Portland Playhouse in Portland, Oregon. Since then, she created a one-woman show entitled “Hangry” that was performed professionally in local theatres and was recently accepted into the Asheville Fringe Arts Festival. McKinley also performed professionally as Puck in “A Midsummer’s Night Dream” and will be portraying a witch in “Macbeth” forthcoming. She also has the opportunity to direct children’s theatre works at the Portland Drama Club, where she also teaches improvisation, self-esteem, and various other workshops. In her free time, McKinley performs with an improv team called “Squirrel Approved.” In the future, she hopes to continue creating art that challenges people in her community. She also hopes to work with inmates in a women’s prison creating solo theatre pieces. </p></div><a href="/live/profiles/911-mckinley-hughes" class="link-with-arrow gold">Keep reading</a></div>
• <span class="lw_item_thumb"><a href="/live/profiles/674-jamal-crowelle" title="Jamal Crowelle" aria-label="Jamal Crowelle"><img src="/live/image/gid/2/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,0,397,397/268_Screen_Shot_2017-06-07_at_11.24.50_AM.rev.1496849130.png" alt="Jamal Crowelle" title="Jamal Crowelle" class="lw_image" width="345" height="225" data-max-w="397" data-max-h="598"/></a></span><div class="lw_widget_text"><h4 class="lw_profiles_headline"><a href="/live/profiles/674-jamal-crowelle"><p> Jamal Crowell (’10) Using The Force to Succeed</p></a></h4><div class="lw_profiles_description"><p> Jamal Crowelle (E&H ’10) says his former E&H theatre teacher gave him and his classmates a great lesson. “Dr. Biliana Stoytcheva-Horissian told us, ‘If you can’t handle the word NO then theatre…no…life is not for you.’”</p><p> Jamal is in the entertainment field now and he says he fights through every single “no” he’s ever been given. “I fail a lot. I fail pretty much every day. But I was taught by every single one of my teachers (especially Dr. B.) to not quit. To never quit. I was taught that ‘no’ is a necessity to get better and not a wall to block your way.”</p><p> If Jamal’s life lesson from E&H sounds a little like advice from Star Wars’ Yoda, that is appropriate given his current position. Jamal is working currently at Disney World in the show Jedi Training: Trials of the Temple. He is playing the Jedi Master who teaches kids how to be Jedi. The children even get to “face their fears” and duel villains from the movie like Darth Vader. Jamal describes it as, “Pretty geeky cool!”</p><p> Before moving to Orlando, he had been in New York City for two years, and after his Disney gig he plans to head back to New York. “It’s one of the hardest, yet most fulfilling places to live. It is a place of theatre, film, tv, model work, web series work, improv, stand-up, voiceover…well, everything.”</p><p> After absorbing good advice from his E&H mentors, he is now ready to dispense advice to current students who are following his path. “I would say don’t be afraid to be weird. Find that honest thing that makes you get up in the morning and puts fire in your belly. And even if it’s weird, go do that thing. It’s your life.”</p><p> Jamal wants to try every aspect of entertainment and “shoot for the moon! Who doesn’t want to do Broadway or be in a big superhero film!” In fact he loves super heroes…especially Superman. “Always Superman. And probably Yoda.”</p><p> So, watch for his future success, we will.</p></div><a href="/live/profiles/674-jamal-crowelle" class="link-with-arrow gold">Keep reading</a></div>
• <span class="lw_item_thumb"><a href="/live/profiles/683-victor-trussell" title="Victor Trussell" aria-label="Victor Trussell"><img src="/live/image/gid/2/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,33,533,566/322_Victor_Trussell.rev.1499440958.jpg" alt="Victor Trussell" title="Victor Trussell" class="lw_image" width="345" height="225" data-max-w="533" data-max-h="800"/></a></span><div class="lw_widget_text"><h4 class="lw_profiles_headline"><a href="/live/profiles/683-victor-trussell"><p> Victor Trussell ’13 starting acting on a whim – and now he’s acting professionally.</p></a></h4><div class="lw_profiles_description"><p> Victor says he started acting his freshman year of high school, enjoyed it so much he majored in theatre at Emory & Henry, and now he on the stage all the time.</p><p> “I have been performing with a variety of different professional theatre companies since graduation. I have toured the country multiple times with companies like Bright Star Touring Theatre and The National Theatre for Children, both listed by Backstage as ’12 Touring Theater Companies That Make a Difference.’” Not only has acting become his vocation, but he is proud of the impact he is having on school kids.  “These experiences have allowed me to perform for thousands of children, educating them on a range of topics spanning from historical figures like Martin Luther King, Jr. to the importance of energy conservation.”</p><p> His range of theatre involvement shows an amazing array of skills. He has performed with <em>Trumpet in the Land</em>, a historical outdoor drama in New Philadelphia, Ohio, that tells the story of frontier Ohio.  And he has also been in <em>Hairspray</em>, <em>Les Miserables</em>, and even <em>Winnie the Pooh</em>.</p><p> In the summer of 2016, Victor will be performing at the Tecumseh Theater in Ohio doing Shakespeare. “Either <em>The Tempest</em> or <em>Macbeth</em>, or both!”</p><p> Victor is also a playwright. His one-act play <em>Millennial Show</em> has been published in the first edition of <em>Young Scribblers</em>, a publication started by fellow E&H alum Forrest Williams (E&H ’16). “The play, in the form of a variety show, pokes fun at generational stereotypes as well as challenges the ‘problems’ young people face today. Taken from real interviews, <em>Millennial Show</em> also features commentary on related topics addressed within the play.”</p><p> Victor ended up at Emory & Henry because he “loved the intimacy of the campus and classes. I had a ton of hands-on experience in the theatre department.” He is planning to use that experience to keep on writing and performing and inspiring others.</p></div><a href="/live/profiles/683-victor-trussell" class="link-with-arrow gold">Keep reading</a></div>
• <span class="lw_item_thumb"><a href="/live/profiles/1028-anna-bailey" title="Anna Bailey" aria-label="Anna Bailey"><img src="/live/image/gid/39/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/81,0,1288,1206/1615_23874346_10154840054566854_606962292_o.rev.1513118662.jpg" alt="Anna Bailey" title="Anna Bailey" class="lw_image" width="345" height="225" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/39/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/81,0,1288,1206/1615_23874346_10154840054566854_606962292_o.rev.1513118662.jpg 2x, /live/image/scale/3x/gid/39/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/81,0,1288,1206/1615_23874346_10154840054566854_606962292_o.rev.1513118662.jpg 3x" data-max-w="1500" data-max-h="2250"/></a></span><div class="lw_widget_text"><h4 class="lw_profiles_headline"><a href="/live/profiles/1028-anna-bailey"><p> Anna Bailey finds live and film success as an actress.</p></a></h4><div class="lw_profiles_description"><p> While at EHC, Anna Bailey could be called the go-to girl. She frequently performed in roles on stage and worked diligently in the scene shop and her classes. All that work led to success for Bailey upon graduation. She has consistently worked in regional theatre and film/ Just recently, she was nominated for  Best Featured Actress in a Play by Broadway World. She has also performed in regional commercials, and the past summer saw her cast in the world premiere of the musical “Gathering Blue” based off of Lois Lowry’s “The Giver” trilogy at the historic Gretna Playhouse. Bailey is currently performing in a Christmas comedic play “Guess whose coming to Christmas Dinner” at Rainbow’s Comedy Dinner Theatre.</p><p> In reference to how EHC helped her, Bailey notes, “Emory & Henry taught me how to thrive where I am. Going into college, I wanted to go to the Name-brand school. Although Emory wasn’t the huge State school I had dreamed of, it was exactly where I needed to be. I thrived there. When I graduated, I was immediately working professionally and did the whole “NYC” thing. Of course life happened a year into it and I found myself moving to Pennsylvania. I was terrified that it meant I would never work again, or at least I’d never get paid to anyway. I thought it meant the end of my professional acting life. But through perseverance and a whole lot of luck, I have been able to thrive once again off the beaten path. Emory & Henry gave me the know-how and the desire to make art, wherever I may be. Whether its Southwest Virginia, New York City, or Central Pennsylvania, Emory & Henry and the wonderful teachers there guided me to grow and ask for more of myself as a person, a citizen and an artist.”</p><p> At the start of the new year, Bailey will begin working as an artist in residence in the local school districts teaching playwriting and creative writing to children between 7th-12th grade through Gretna Playhouse. She also has another commercial and print job that will begin circulating in February, which was shot earlier this year.</p></div><a href="/live/profiles/1028-anna-bailey" class="link-with-arrow gold">Keep reading</a></div>