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SFA Theatre Professor Recognized by His Alma Mater
Sylvia Bierschenk - May 6, 2008
NACOGDOCHES, TEXAS - Dr. Alan Nielsen, professor of theatre at Stephen F. Austin State University, recently was honored by the Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with the Alumni Achievement Award in Theatre.
The annual award recognizes alumni who have demonstrated outstanding achievement and overall professional excellence, according to the awards dinner program.
A native of Nebraska, Nielsen attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln from 1974 to 1977, earning his Master of Fine Arts in playwriting. He continued his studies at City University of New York where he earned his doctoral degree in theatre history and criticism.
Nielsen toured the United States as a professional puppeteer, spent 10 years in New York City, working in Off-Off-Broadway theatre and advertising, and two years at the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis before joining the SFA faculty in 1990.
In addition to being a teacher and director, he is a composer/lyricist, playwright and author. He has had more than 20 original plays and musicals produced across the United States. He has also written two books: "Historical Survey of Opera Houses and Legitimate Theatres Built in the State of Nebraska, 1850-1917" and "The Great Victorian Sacrilege: Preachers, Politics and the Passion, 1879-1884."
Nielsen's most recent directing credits at SFA include "Lend Me a Tenor," "Tintypes," "Grease," "A Cheever Evening," "Anton in Show Business" and "Harvey." In 2006 he was a guest artist at LaSalle University-SIA in Singapore where he staged "Two Gentlemen of Verona."
He has also served as the director of The Original Cast, SFA's cabaret/improvisational troupe, since 1991 and received the Teaching Excellence Award for the College of Fine Arts in 1999 and 2003.