Kaitlin Hopkins discusses musical theatre with Big Ideas TXST

Kaitlin Hopkins, head of the Musical Theatre Program at Texas State University, joins the Big Ideas TXST podcast for October's episode, discussing the building of a ground-breaking musical theatre program from the ground up and then navigating the program through the COVID pandemic.    

Hopkins is an award-winning actress, director, producer and educator who has worked in theater, film and television for more than 30 years. In 2009 she revived the BFA Musical Theatre program at Texas State, which is now ranked in the top 10 musical theatre programs in the nation. She is also the proud co-founder of EETA, Educators for Equity in Theatre Arts.

In addition, she is the co-founder of Living Mental Wellness, which is a holistic evidence-based company that offers educational programs to enhance mental wellness for performing artists through an integrated scientific life skills model. Her TEDx Talk on the importance of mental wellness education for students, along with her research and curriculum-based mental wellness training program for performing artists at Texas State has garnered international attention.

As a director, writer and producer her production of The World According to Snoopy made its world premiere at Texas State and had regional premiers at Theatre Under The Stars and Theatre Aspen. Other producing credits include producing radio plays and musicals for The Plays the Thing Series (LA Theatre Works) and The Pet Shop (Animal Planet Network) hosted by comedian Andy Kindler. Her directing credits at Texas State University include: The Hunchback of Notre Dame, RENT, Anything Goes, Urinetown, Hair, All Shook Up, Oklahoma!, The Wild Party, A Little Princess (world premiere) and Bat Boy-The Musical. Her productions at Texas State have been recognized with numerous awards by the Austin Critics' Table Awards.

Big Ideas TXST is a monthly podcast from Texas State’s Division of University Advancement that goes inside the fascinating minds forging innovation, research and creativity at the university. Hosted by Daniel Seed, a lecturer in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, each episode features thoughtful interviews and discussion with the thought leaders developing innovative ideas to make the world a better place.

Big Ideas TXST can be found at news.txstate.edu/inside-txst/big-ideas-podcast. The podcast may also be listened to or subscribed to at:

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