Wyoming Arts Council

Introducing the WAC performing arts fellowship jurors — Thomas Ossowski

Featured News | November 10, 2014

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The Wyoming Arts Council selects fellowship jurors based on two criteria: They must be from out-of-state, and they must have great credentials.

Thomas Ossowski will serve as a judge for the 2015 performing arts Fellowships in theatre direction, dance choreography and stage design.

He will serve as co-juror with dancer and choreographer Tamara Dyke-Compton, who teaches in the dance program at University of Arizona in Tucson. More about Dyke-Compton in an upcoming post.

Ossowski is an actor and stage director who teaches in the music theatre program at Florida State University in Tallahassee. Check out his web site for all of of his creds. It’s a long list:

Director and music director for Into the Woods at the Central Academy of Drama in Beijing, China

Music director and conductor for How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying at Florida State University in Tallahassee

Director and artistic director for Oklahoma! at the Post Playhouse in Fort Robinson, Nebraska

Music director for Guys and Dolls at the Zug Playhouse in Zug, Switzerland

Director for Urinetown at Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, Illinois

Those are just a few.

Ossowski spends his summers across the border in Fort Robinson, Nebraska, as artistic director for the Post Playhouse. Tom has also directed the Centennial Theater Festival in Connecticut, Seaside Music Theatre in Daytona Beach, Fla., The Lost Colony in Manteo, N.C., and the Bigfork Musical Theatre in Montana. He is on the faculty at the Central Academy of Drama in Beijing, China. His work also has taken him to Switzerland and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Tom is also the former Head of the Music Theatre Department at Illinois Wesleyan University, where he taught acting, directing and musical theatre courses. He is a member of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers.

We invite Wyoming theatre directors, choreographers and stage designers to apply. You may pursue one of these crafts full-time at community college or at UW. You may be a drama teacher in the K-12 level. You may direct or design part-time for a local or community theatre. You’re all eligible if you live full-time in Wyoming and you are at least 18 years old.

To apply, go to Call for Entry (CaFE).

For more information, contact Michael Shay at the WAC, 307-777-5234 or mike.shay@wyo.gov.

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