Congratulations to all of our award winners! Our Publication Award winners will be honored on Thursday, March 19, at our Awards, Awards, Awards ceremony in Long Beach as part of our Annual Conference & Stage Expo.

Herbert D. Greggs Awards

The Herbert D. Greggs Awards promote innovative, in-depth writing about theatre design and technology in TD&T. Merit awards are also given.

Herbert D. Greggs Award (highest honor) and the Herbert D. Greggs Merit Award promote innovative, in-depth writing about theatre design and technology in TD&T. Named in honor of a highly-regarded former USITT General Manager, the Herbert D. Greggs Award was first given in 1979. The "Merit Awards" began in 1998.

Honor

"Theatre Education in the Crosshairs" Summer 2025

Bryan Stanton

Bryan Stanton (they/them) is a theatre educator, scholar, and production manager whose work centers inclusive pedagogy, Universal Design for Learning, and culturally responsive theatre practice. They are the founder of Teaching While Queer and host of the Teaching While Queer podcast. Bryan holds an MFA in Theatre Pedagogy from the University of Idaho and currently teaches musical theatre in New York City. Their scholarship and creative practice examine the intersection of arts education, access, identity, and belonging in contemporary classrooms and rehearsal spaces.

"I am deeply grateful to my husband, Kevin, and my children Juan Carlos, Kelvin, Audrey, and Chloe for their constant support and patience. I want to thank my mentors Sarah Fogarty-Morrison and Kate Powers for challenging me, guiding me, and believing in my voice as a scholar and educator. I am especially thankful for my students, whose curiosity, courage, and willingness to explore how our cultures connect with our art continue to shape my teaching and scholarship every day.

Receiving the Herbert D. Greggs Honor Award is deeply affirming, particularly at a time when the arts remain in the crosshairs and are routinely devalued or dismissed. We are living in a moment of profound division, where difference is often weaponized and even terms like “theatre kid” are used as insults rather than badges of creativity, empathy, and collaboration. Theatre Education in the Crosshairs was written in response to these realities and to the increasing pressure faced by arts educators, especially queer educators, working within systems not designed for us. I believe that multiple cultures sharing a space is like a living painting. We are stronger and more beautiful because of our differences. As a genderqueer educator, I often find myself navigating overlapping crosshairs shaped by heteronormative systems, cisgender systems, and academic elitism. I also continue to confront imposter syndrome, which my friend Erika Guerrero aptly describes as a manifestation of insecurity produced by systems that were never built for us. This recognition reinforces my belief that rigorous, values-driven scholarship grounded in lived classroom experience matters, and that advocacy, care-based pedagogy, and truth-telling belong at the center of our professional literature."

Website

Instagram: @profbryanstanton

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Merit

"Making the Unimaginable Real" Spring 2025

Mark Bruckner

Mark Bruckner is an Assistant Professor of Instruction and Resident Music Director in the Department of Theatre Arts, University of Iowa. A New York Innovative Theater and Audelco Award-winning composer, musician, sound artist, and a Henry Hewes American Theatre Wing design nominee. Prof. Bruckner is  known for his work in new play development, musical theatre adaptations and revivals, and the development of wearable sound technology for production.  He has received commissions from off-Broadway, regional theaters, colleges, and producing organizations across the US.  Recent work includes: Electro-acoustic score and ambisonic sound design for Body Concert by master puppeteer Kevin Augustine of New York’s Lone Wolf Tribe which received the Grand Prize for Best Music at the 2024 17th International Lalka Też Człowiek festival in Warsaw, Poland (featured  at the world renown Festival Mondial des Théātres de Marionnettes, September 2025, France.)  Music Direction, Arranging and Conducting for Sideshow by Henry Krieger and Bill Russell, directed by Paul Kalina (Mabie Theatre, University of Iowa, March 2025); Original Music and Sound Design for The People vs. Nature by Kevin Augustine and LWT (LaMama ETC, New York, Nov. 2022); Original Music and Sound Design for David Adjmi’s Marie Antoinette directed by Mary Beth Easley (Thayer Theatre, University of Iowa, Oct 2024). Prof. Bruckner is also the author of: Wearable Sound Technology: The Making of Magic in Caryl Churchill’s “Fen,” the lead article for TD&T Spring 2017.

"I'd like to thank the USITT and TD&T Editorial Staff, the University of Iowa Department of Theatre Arts; The University of Iowa Office of Vice President for Research; and ret. Sgt, Matthew Miller, and the staff of the IVETS office at the University of Iowa.

Winning this award is such a terrific honor because it recognizes the incredible work of my collaborators, Mary Beth Easley and Kaelen Novak, and the talents of our student actors, singers and musicians. This award also celebrates innovation in theatrical storytelling; and it is a validation that the stories of these student and staff veterans, who gave selflessly to their country out of a commitment to ideals and honor, that their stories, their sacrifices truly matter."

Website

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Mary Beth Easley

Mary Beth Easley is also recognized as a recipient of this year’s award for their contribution to the publication.

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Kaelen Novak

Kaelen Novak is a Theatrical & Experimental Designer who practices traditional costume, scenic and projection design, and conducts research into the inclusion of emerging technologies in the live entertainment design process such as motion capture and virtual reality.

"I would like to thank Daniel Fine, who started me on this journey of exploring interactive media and motion capture in theatre, and to my co-authors Mark Bruckner and Mary Beth Easley, who have helped support me in this research and exploration over the years and let me continue to push boundaries of the practice.

This award means a great deal as it highlights a larger interest in exploring the larger effects of technology's incorporation in the design processes of theatre, which is incredibly humbling to be a part of. It has been an incredible opportunity to both work on this production and experiment with the design process while making it, and it means the world to be recognized for our documentation of that process. I hope it inspires others to explore the boundary where theatre and technology can meet and intertwine, and I cannot wait to see what comes about in the future from this research."

Website

Instagram: @kaelen.novak

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Oscar G. Brockett Golden Pen Award

The Oscar G. Brockett Golden Pen Award sponsored by USITT and the Oscar G. Brockett Center for Theatre History and Criticism at the University of Texas - Austin, honors an outstanding publication in the field of design and production for the performing arts. The recipient of this award, first given in 1986, is the author of an outstanding, major, recent publication in the field of design and production for the performing arts.

Dyeing for Entertainment: Dyeing, Painting, Breakdown, and Special Effects for Costumes

Erin Carignan

Erin is a versatile costume designer, author, and maker who has worked in regional theatre, opera, dance, music videos, and print ads in roles ranging from costume designer, stylist, painter-dyer and breakdown artist, to crafts artisan. She has been a part of over 200 professional productions with several theatre companies, most notably Old Globe Theatre, Los Angeles Opera, La Jolla Playhouse, Pioneer Theatre, and Curious Theatre.

Author of Dyeing for Entertainment: Dyeing, Painting, Breakdown, and Special Effects for Costumes (Focal Press/Routledge 2023) and other work, she is an Associate Professor of Costume Design at Colorado State University, Fort Collins and the Chair of the KCACTF Design Technology Management Region 7. She is an active member of USITT, Costume Society of America, Society of Dyers and Coloursists, and United Scenic Artists 829.

"I would like to thank my family and friends who have been so supportive during the creation and then since publication.

I am honored to be recognized by UISITT for excellence related to one of my biggest passion projects. I have had positive feedback about the book but this level of recognition is the ultimate acknowledgement to me because it is by my theatrical contemporaries at USITT!"

Website

Instagram: @Erincarignan