Rachelle Mendez (Theatre ’94) won her 7th Emmy this fall, for her work on the Netflix reboot of Queer Eye. She also premiered her new fashion competition show on HBO, The Hype, which can be streamed now!
Claudia de Vasco (Theatre ’01) was recently named the Executive Artistic Director of The Public Theater of San Antonio.
Steven Vargas (Instrumental ’87) was profiled by Outsmart Magazine for his work in healthcare advocacy.
James Francies (Instrumental ’13) was featured on the cover of the October edition of Downbeat magazine as part of Pat Methany’s “Side-Eye Trio.” You can catch him performing with the Trio in Houston this coming February.
Olly Sholotan (Theatre ’15) will play Carlton Banks in the hour-long drama series Bel-Air, developed from the characters of ’90s sitcom Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
Zoe Cagan (Instrumental ’15) delivered the Convocation address for the New England Conservatory this fall.
Laurence Turner (Instrumental ’21) was named the winner of the Dr. Andre Thomas Scholarship to support his study of Jazz at Florida State University.
Alan Gonzales (Theatre ’12) will host Project Runway Redemption, a spin-off of the original that invites previously eliminated contestants to compete again. (Gonzales competed in Season 18, but did not win.) Gonzales also showed a new collection in September, and has been costuming the series Legendary for HBO Max and The Quest for Disney Plus.
Matthew Loden (Instrumental ’86) is the new Dean of Rice University’s lauded Shepherd School of Music.
Alana Bright (Theatre ’20) returned to Kinder HSPVA to discuss her experience on the Fox Drama series Our Kind of People with current Theatre students.
Avalon Hogans (Creative Writing ’22) was named Youth Poet Laureate of Houston in October.
Jamila Glass (Vocal ’01) was interviewed by Essence about her work on fellow alum Justin Simien’s (Theatre ’01) Netflix series, Dear White People. Glass was the principal director for the show’s final season, which was reimagined as a musical.
Nneka Okafor (Theatre ‘04) has been cast as the character “Jessie” on the FreeForm series Everything’s Trash.
Pace Webb (Theatre ’00) will expand their Los Angeles-based restaurant, “Daddy’s Chicken Shack,” to the Heights early next year.
