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Student Spotlight

Alan Wales

Alan Wales

Alan Wales, a Master of Fine Arts in Acting student, plays the lead role in the UH School of Theatre and Dance's production of Bridget Carpenter's Up.

Alan Wales, a first-year Master's of Fine Arts in Acting student in the UH School of Theatre and Dance, plays the lead role in the school's production of Bridget Carpenter's Up, running now through Oct. 17 in the Quintero Theatre.

The play was inspired by the real-life Larry Waters who tied weather balloons to a lawn chair and took off on an unauthorized flight. Changing the names of the characters, Carpenter's play features the lead character Walter Griffin, played by Alan Wales, who never quite came down from his airborne voyage. As Griffin lives in the past, his wife and son suffer in the present.

Wales said he is humbled and thrilled to be joining UH for his first production. Originally from Elkhorn, Wisconsin; Wales spent the last half-decade in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis-Saint Paul in Minnesota. There, he worked with the Actor's Theater of Minnesota, Bloomington Civic Theatre, Savage Umbrella and Minneapolis Musical Theatre.

Recent credits for the young actor include an original adaptation of The Awakening, Scarlet Pimpernel, Love Me or Die (based on Pagliacci), Zanna Don't, Secret Garden, and Song of Singapore.

Wales is a graduate of Rockford College in Illinois.

Wales has performed roles in other productions such as Smoke on the Mountain, An Ideal Husband, Urinetown, The Miser, Phantom, Angels in America and The Glass Menagerie.

Up by Bridget Carpenter is directed by Steven W. Wallace, the Artistic Director of the UH School of Theatre and Dance. The play continues Oct. 13-16 at 8 p.m. and Oct. 17 at 2 p.m. Tickets are available by calling the Theatre box office at 713-743-2929. Single ticket prices are $20; $15 for UH faculty, staff or alumni and $10 for seniors and students. For more information about tickets, visit the Theatre's website.