NTPA Promotes Bethany Bourland to NTPA Collegiate Pursuits Artistic Director

North Texas Performing Arts has announced the promotion of Bethany Bourland to the role of NTPA Collegiate Pursuits Artistic Director.

Bethany has been a valuable member of the NTPA creative team since 2018 and has directed high-quality productions featuring some of NTPA's largest casts. Bethany has been leading the NTPA Collegiate Pursuits program since the spring of 2021.

With competitive casting, limited cast sizes, personalized audition feedback, and Actor's Equity-style rehearsals, Pursuits productions provide an excellent opportunity for high school youth grades 10-12 to experience and prepare for collegiate-level productions and study. In addition to productions, Bethany works closely with the Collegiate Pursuits Program Director to plan specialty production workshops tied to each production such as dance and dialect workshops. The Collegiate Pursuits program also offers 1-on-1 private training as well as annual summer college audition prep intensives to help students through every step of finding, applying, and auditioning for the college program that best fits their needs.

Bethany also leads NTPA's Acting Company for Excellence, offering benefits to student members in grades 6-12 who desire the pursuit of excellence on stage and off. ACE members are mentored to enhance leadership skills and hone the craft of performing.

Bethany has been directing and teaching children's theatre for over a decade. She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Drama: Acting Emphasis from the University of Oklahoma. Growing up in Katy, Texas, Bethany began her directing and teaching career with the Katy Visual and Performing Arts Center. Bethany worked in Oklahoma as a Casting Associate for film and television with Freihofer Casting. During that time, she also worked as an on-camera acting coach and as the program director for The Actor Factory Young Performer Academy. During her time in Oklahoma, Bethany acted as Associate Producer for the OU School of Drama's theatre-for-young-audiences touring series, Helmerich Literature Alive. Favorite directing credits include Cabaret, The SpongeBob Musical, Oklahoma, Tuck Everlasting, A Gentleman's Guide To Love and Murder, Mamma Mia, and Little Women.