Musical Theatre Professor Elected to Leadership Role

Assistant Professor of Musical Theatre, Jamey Grisham, was recently elected to represent the Central Region Board for Actors' Equity as a Principal Delegate for the next four years. 

The Central Region Board includes the states of Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Wisconsin, as well as the National Council at large. 

Grisham also will serve on the National Stock Council where he'll aid in all negotiations with the Resident Stock Theatre community. 

A multidisciplinary storyteller, Grisham's body of work spans six continents, 80 countries, and more than 100 productions and venues worldwide. An actor, director, choreographer, composer and musician, his ventures have garnered six Encore Michigan Wilde Awards in theatre with an additional seven nominations, six Travel Weekly Magellan Awards in cruise line entertainment, one THEA Award and one Broadway World Regional Award nomination.

His collaborators include Tony Award-winners, Emmy Award-winners, and Olympic medalists. During his 12-season tenure as a resident acting company member and director/choreographer with the historic Barn Theatre in Michigan, Grisham helmed the Midwestern premieres of Sam in “Ghost, The Musical,” Will in "American Idiot," Stacee in “Rock of Ages,” and the title role in “Tarzan.”

He also choreographed the much-anticipated rework of “Pal Joey” with director Peter Schneider, librettist Patrick Pacheco and Kim Zimmer as “Vera,” as well as the newly released “Hands on a Hardbody” starring Rex Smith. 

Grisham is a proud member of the Actors’ Equity Association, SAG-AFTRA, Dramatists Guild, American Federation of Musicians, ASCAP, and the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, where he is a two-time recipient of the SDC Foundation Observership.

His training includes an M.F.A. at Brown University, where he was a Stephen Sondheim Fellow; a B.F.A from Roosevelt University’s Chicago College of Performing Arts Theatre Conservatory, where he was a Newberry Library Fellow and member of the Franklin Honor Society; London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art; Royal Shakespeare Company and Harvard University.