Kevin Landis, Ph.D., M.F.A.

Kevin Landis

Kevin Landis, Ph.D., M.F.A.

Director & Professor

Curriculum Vitae

About

Kevin Landis is professor and director of the Theatre and Dance Program in the Department of Visual and Performing Arts at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs. His research interests and publications are varied.  He has studied contemporary avant-garde theatre groups, Eastern European actor training methods, Native American melodrama, Nordic art, American drag, and performance analyses of evangelical church services as well as restaurant food preparation. He has published on several of those topics and co-authored the book Cultural Performance: New Perspectives on Performance Studies. He is currently writing a manuscript about the contemporary history of the Public Theater in New York. Landis is an MFA trained actor and member of the Actor's Equity Association. He specializes in physical theatre training derived from his work with Grotowski's lead actress, Rena Mirecka.  Landis uses an eclectic training method that includes Michael Chekhov Technique, Suzuki and LeCoq clown and mask work. The training focuses on the actor's understanding of his/her body as the integral component for vocal expression and performative creativity.

Education

  • Ph.D. in Drama, Tufts University, Medford, MA
  • Dissertation: Republic of Dreams: Stacy Klein and the Double Edge Theatre, 2009
  • M.F.A. in Acting, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA, 2005
  • M.A. in Theatre Theory, Brown University, Providence, RI, 2001
  • B.A. Colby College, Waterville, ME, 1998

Courses Taught

Upper Division

  • Advanced Acting Studio I
  • Clown and Physical Theatre
  • Manifestos of the Avant-Garde
  • Nationalism, Romanticism and Melodrama
  • Nordic Legacy
  • Setting the Artistic Table
  • Special Topics World Theatre
  • Theatre Practicum
  • World of the Play


Lower Division

  • Acting Studio I & II
  • Introduction to Theatre

Professional Experience

Recent Professional Direction:

  • Hair (2020)
  • The Art of Dining (2019)
  • Peer Gynt (2018)
  • Wild Honey (2017)
  • Cabaret (2017)
  • The Shadow (2015)
  • Psycho Beach Party (2014)
  • Woyzeck (2014)
  • Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (2013)
  • Salome (2012)
  • The Inspector General (2011)
  • The Bacchae (2010)
  • The Merry Wives of Windsor (2010)


Recent Professional Acting:

  • The Tempest (2016) - THEATREWORKS
  • Love's Labors Lost (2012) - THEATREWORKS
  • Church (2011) - THEATREWORKS
  • The Checkov Letters (2011) - THEATREWORKS
  • The Colorado Shakespeare Festival
  • New Rep Theatre Boston
  • The Theatre at Monmouth

Selected Publications and Conference Presentations

  • Kevin Landis and Ciara Murphy, “The Public Theater’s Mobile Unit: Lean and Mean Shakespeare,” American Theater, March 2017.
  • Kevin Landis and Suzanne MacAulay, Cultural Performance: New Perspectives on Performance Studies, London: Palgrave MacMillan, 2017.
  • Kevin Landis, "In Conversation: Tina Packer and Jon Jory Discuss the State of Theatre," American Theatre, October 2014.
  • Kevin Landis, "Culinary Pataphysics: Food, Theatre and the Historical Avant-Garde," Gastronomica: The Journal of Food and Culture, Vol. 14, No. 2, Summer 2014, 46-55.
  • Performing the Evangelical Migration- International Federation for Theatre Research, Barcelona, Spain (2013).
  • Landis, Kevin and Suzanne MacAulay, "New Perspectives in Cultural Performance," in The Visual and Performing Arts: An International Anthology: Volume II, Edited by Stephen Andrew Arbury. Athens, Greece: AITNER, 2012.
  • Stop Bloody Acting! And Other Lessons from Devised Performance- Alliance for Colorado Theatre Educators. Keynote Address. Denver, Colorado (2012).
  • Molecular Theatre- International Federation for Theatre Research, Osaka, Japan (2011).
  • “Mama-Dada (Book Review)”, Theatre Journal, Spring 2010.
  • “The Disappearance (Performance Review)”, Theatre Journal, Spring 2010.
  • "Julian Eltinge's Manly Transformations," in Gay and Lesbian Review Worldwide 14, 5 (September/October 2007).

Honors and Awards

  • UCCS Making a Difference Award (2020)
  • Research and Creative Works Award, UCCS College of Letters, Arts and Sciences (2017)
  • Tenure Track Teacher of the Year, UCCS College of Letters, Arts and Sciences (2013)
  • Chair, UCCS LAS Curriculum and Requirements Committee (2013)
  • Roser Grant for Two Bed, Two Bath Guest Artist Residency (2012)
  • Roser Visiting Artist Grant for Double Edge Theatre Residency (2010)
  • Tufts University Award for Outstanding Contribution to Undergraduate Education (2008)
  • Award for Sleight of Hand, Sleight of Dress Graduate Colloquium, Tufts University (2007)
  • Spelling's Commission on Higher Education Committee, Tufts University
  • Phi Beta Kappa