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Interim Dean Brian Kite and Department of Theater Chair J.Ed Araiza have announced that multi-hyphenate storyteller and educator Jennifer Chang joined the school as an associate professor on July 1, 2022 and will begin teaching this Fall.

“Dean Kite, the entire Department of Theater and I are excited that Jennifer has joined TFT as our newest faculty member,” says Araiza. “As an educator, professional director and actor, she has a history of diversifying storytelling aesthetics, and her efforts in both established works and new play development have championed an array of voices. I know our students will be energized by the wisdom, pedagogy and experience she will share in her classes.”

Chang is the recipient of the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award in Direction for the Los Angeles premiere of Vietgone by Qui Nguyen. Her recent directing credits include On Gold Mountain with LA Opera at The Huntington; The Great Leap by Lauren Yee at The Round House Theatre; and Undo the Sea by Inda Craig-Galván with Primary Stages. Her new play/musical development projects include those at Pasadena Playhouse; O’Neill Playwrights Conference; Geffen Playhouse; New Harmony Project; CTG; Sông Collective; Black and Latino Playwrights’ Conference; Theatre Mu; Chance Theater; Boston Court; Ashland New Plays Festival; PlayOn!; East West Players; and Artists at Play, among others. She is a founding member and co-artistic producing director of the award-winning Chalk Repertory Theatre. Chang’s upcoming directing projects include Everybody at Antaeus Theatre Company and American Fast by Kareem Fahmy at City Theatre. Her play The Devil Is a Lie premieres in 2023 at Quantum Theatre in Pittsburgh. She is a current Beatrice Terry Resident at The Drama League in New York City for her play Matter.

As an actor, Chang has appeared in theaters across the country and in film, TV and commercials. She is a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographer’s Society (SDC), Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) and Actor’s Equity Association (AEA). She was a 2021 Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation (SDCF) Fichandler Award finalist and received an Asian Pacific American Friends of the Theater (APAFT) Outstanding Director award in 2019.

“I’m thrilled to bring my experiences and training to UCLA TFT and to work with the tremendous faculty to continue developing world-class acting and artist training for the 21st century,” Chang says. “I know I’ll learn deeply from my new community of colleagues and students.”

Chang was previously a faculty member and head of undergraduate acting in the Department of Theatre & Dance at the University of California San Diego (UCSD), where she taught courses in acting, directing and professional and business development.

She received her BFA in drama and psychology from New York University and her MFA in acting from UCSD. She is an alum of Director’s Lab West and the Drama League New York fellowship. In addition to her teaching roles at UCLA TFT and UCSD, she has been a visiting professor at Pomona College.

Posted: July 27, 2022