Brad Willcuts
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FacultyTheatre
Associate Professor
Musical Theatre; Choreography; Dance
Biography
Brad Willcuts received his BA from Minnesota State University and MFA in Theatre Performance Pedagogy emphasizing in Musical Theatre and Movement from Virginia Commonwealth University. He is a proud member of Actor’s Equity Association.
Brad worked at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City where he served as Assistant Fight Choreographer for the acclaimed Porgy and Bess production which opened September 13th, 2019.
Brad has worked on Broadway for the 2015 new musical Amazing Grace where he served as Assistant Fight and Military Movement Director. He served as the same position for the show’s former iteration at the Bank of America Theatre in Chicago (now known as the CIBC Theatre) for the “Broadway in Chicago” run as well as the ’17, ‘18 Broadway National Tour.
He has worked in Prague, Czechia where he served as Dance, Movement and Fight Assistant for the world premiere of Legende Holmes (Sherlock Holmes the Legend) at the prestigious Karlin Music Theatre. He served as Assistant Movement Director for the award-winning Mother Courage and Her Children at Arena Stage in Washington D.C. starring Kathleen Turner which received a Helen Hayes nomination for Movement Direction. He worked as Assistant Fight Director for Romeo and Juliet at the Tony Award winning regional Theatre, The Shakespeare Theatre in Washington D.C. He choreographed South Pacific at Virginia Repertory Theatre where he won the Richmond Theatre Critics Circle award for Best Choreography, Assistant Directed and Choreographed 9 to 5 starring Sally Struthers at Riverside Theatre, Mame at Virginia Repertory, Directed and Choreographed Joseph…Dreamcoat at Big Fork Summer Theatre and choreographed Arabian Nights for Broadway Director Gabriel Barre for VCU Theatre. While at MSU, Brad has Directed and Choreographed Grease, Urinetown and American Idiot, Oklahoma and Head Over Heels along with Grand Night for Singing, See Rock City and Love and Other Junk for the Summer Circle Theatre.
As a performer, Brad has worked across the country and in England as singer, dancer and actor performing with Bette Midler, Marvin Hamlisch, Christina Aguilera, Emily Skinner, and the international touring group The 12 Irish Tenors to name a few.
Media Mentions
Awards and Honors
Teacher/Scholar Award
Michigan State University
2021
Supported by the Office of University Development, Teacher-Scholar Awards recognize faculty who, early in their careers, have earned the respect of students and colleagues for their devotion to and skill in teaching, and whose instruction is linked to and informed by their research and creative activities.
HUB Faculty Fellows
MSU HUB for Innovation in Learning and Technology
2020-2021
The purpose of the Hub Faculty Fellows program is to provide an opportunity for faculty to work on a project that will improve the learning experience for students at MSU. Successful topics will address one or more of the following issues: enable the faculty member to initiate a project designed to reimagine a learning experience at MSU; help to create an intellectual community interested in student learning; support directed research and development focused on learning with technology.
Catalyst Award Grant Winner 2020
MSU HUB for Innovation in Learning and Technology
2020
MSU is improving the digital learning experience for students. Incorporating digital strategies to support pedagogy can enhance students’ learning experiences and offer efficiencies in assessment and analysis. Many digital learning innovations impacting institutional initiatives at scale often start small. Innovations may spring from novel pedagogical approaches in individual courses, as collaborative experiments across disciplines, or the result of student feedback and needs analysis. We recognize the value of providing support and resources to change the student experience for the better. The Hub for Innovation in Learning and Technology is committed to facilitating new ideas.
Catalyst Award Grant Winner 2022
MSU HUB for Innovation in Learning and Technology
2022
MSU is improving the digital learning experience for students. Incorporating digital strategies to support pedagogy can enhance students’ learning experiences and offer efficiencies in assessment and analysis. Many digital learning innovations impacting institutional initiatives at scale often start small. Innovations may spring from novel pedagogical approaches in individual courses, as collaborative experiments across disciplines, or the result of student feedback and needs analysis. We recognize the value of providing support and resources to change the student experience for the better. The Hub for Innovation in Learning and Technology is committed to facilitating new ideas.
Fintz Award for teaching Excellence in Arts and Humanities
2019
AT&T Technology Award “Best Enhanced” class
Michigan State University – Information Technology
2017
Courses
Musical Theatre Acting I, II and III
Beginning, Intermediate and Advanced classes in acting for musical theatre.
Choreography and Composition
Advanced course in composition for dance and choreographic theory.
Social Dance: History and Contemporary Reflections
An innovative course that brings students into the world of social dance through virtual reality, podcasts and experiential dance projects.
Jazz Dance
Beginning, Intermediate and Advanced options in classic jazz dance technique, jazz funk and contemporary jazz.
Contemporary Dance
Beginning, Intermediate and Advanced
Musical Theatre Styles Dance
Beginning, Intermediate and Advanced options for the vast array of styles in professional musical theatre performance.
New Media Acting Laboratory
Co-taught with Ryan Welsh, this class explores advanced media acting projects including lip syncing for musical theatre, ADR for all film types, green screen and motion capture.
Commercial and Hip Hop Dance Styles
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