UA in Prestigious Shakespeare Festivals

Nicholas Burroughs
Nicholas Burroughs

From the April 2014 Desktop News | Nicholas Burroughs is an actor with a plan. Burroughs, a senior majoring in musical theatre, has been invited to perform at the Tony Award-winning Utah Shakespeare Festival after he graduates in May.

“I feel extremely honored to be working with such a famous theatre,” said Burroughs, a native of Birmingham. Burroughs was cast in the festival’s 2014 season running from May through August as a pre-show performer, which involves 30 minutes of singing and dancing before all the main shows; serving as an officer for the main stage production of Measure for Measure; and starring as the male understudy for the rest of the main stage performances.

“After performing in the Utah Shakespeare Festival, I’m moving to New York to be an aspiring Broadway performer and also to work in television and film,” he said. “I have had a blast at UA, but I can’t wait to finally move to New York.”

Burroughs’ invitation places UA students in two of the three most prestigious Shakespeare Festivals in the country, with MFA students performing in the Colorado Shakespeare Festival every year. Burroughs was cast in part by efforts made by Seth Panitch, associate professor in the Department of Theatre and Dance. Panitch arranged for the festival’s casting directors to visit UA and hold auditions for undergraduate and graduate acting students.