Biography Guidelines and Program Information
University of Utah Department of Theatre
All program bios must be typed (12 point Times New Roman Font, single spaced) and emailed to the
Communications Coordinator (or submitted via online form) by the set deadline. No handwritten bios
will be accepted. Late bios may result in your biography being omitted from the program. Proof and
edit your bio for spelling, grammatical and/or other errors before emailing it to the Communications
Coordinator. If you are emailing your bio, please include the name of the show and your name in the
subject line of your email (e.g., “Program Bio: The Night Witches, Aaron Swenson”). Your
Communications Coordinator is pretty sharp for a Gen-X-er, but please help him out. He is often
undercaffeinated and appreciates your consideration.
Bios must include the following information:
• Your name, typed in all capital letters, as you wish it to appear in the program. Example: JOHN
T. JENSEN
• The role you are playing or the technical/design position you fulfilled for the production in
parentheses with no formatting. If you are an actor, please confirm the spelling of the name of
the character you are playing. Example: (June Talley) or (Technical Director)
• The body of your bio, 80 to 100 words in length. Write your bio simply and with an economy of
words. Be aware that due to space constraints, the Communications Specialist may edit your
bio. Keep your bios professional in tone and content. In paragraph format, include:
o Your class level. Example: Freshman, Sophomore, Junior or Senior
o Your program of study and emphasis. Examples: ATP, PADP (costume design emphasis)
o Optionally, you may reference your hometown.
o Productions in which you have participated at the University of Utah, the role(s) or
production/technical/design position(s) you fulfilled, and the theatre(s) in which you
worked. You may group your production experience in chronological order (most recent
first) or by theatre. If you have a great deal of experience, please select the most
significant or memorable roles/positions for mention.
§ Titles of Plays are always italicized. (Do not bold, underline, or all caps titles of
plays.)
§ Names of characters played or tech positions can be in parentheses after each
title, or structured within a sentence. Make sure that your character names are
spelled correctly. Technical positions should be capitalized. Do not italicize,
bold, or underline the names of characters or tech positions.
Examples:
*Drew’s previous Studio 115 credits include Alaska (Chris) and The Affair (Larry).
*Last year Jennifer performed the role of Little Red Riding Hood in the Babcock
Theatre production of Into the Woods.
*Most recently, Kelly was the Assistant Stage Manager for Candide and Little
Women for the Lyric Opera Ensemble.
o Production experience or training you may have had prior to your tenure at the
University of Utah, or concurrent to your enrollment at the University of Utah.
o Significant accomplishments/credits or academic achievements.
o Please DO NOT include any of the following in your bio:
§ coded messages. Example: XOXO to GDB & PAPS J,
§ “shout-outs.” Example: Jack wants to say “hey” to all his Bio 101 peeps!
o You may include a classy “thank you” to someone who may have been an important
support to you, but note that these may be cut due to space limitations. Example: Lucy
would like to thank her husband and children for their support in her academic pursuits.
(If an individual or corporation has given a significant contribution of time, materials, or
financial support, this should be referenced in the “Special Thanks” portion of the
program, not in an individual bio.)
o If you are a scholarship recipient, your bio must close with an acknowledgement of the
scholarship(s) you received for the current academic year.
§ Examples:
• (Harold E. & Joyce A. Tornquiest Scholarship recipient.)
• Flynn is the proud recipient of the Keith and Amy Engar Scholarship.
Examples of Well-Written Bios
JONATHAN JONES (Lighting Designer) was born and raised in New York City. He is a
senior in the PADP (Lighting Design Emphasis) and the Stage Management Program.
He designed lights for Angels in America: Millennium Approaches and The Busybody
(Babcock Theatre). Jonathan was the Assistant Stage Manager for The Piano Lesson and
The Glass Menagerie (Babcock Theatre). Jonathan is the resident Lighting Designer at
the Red Windmill Playhouse. He is also the proud recipient of the Harold E. and Joyce
A. Tornquist Scholarship.
MARY BLYTHE (Ensemble) is a sophomore in the ATP. Recent roles include Helena in A
Midsummer Night’s Dream and Betsy in The Heidi Chronicles (Babcock Theatre). From
2003-2007, Mary studied at the prestigious Stagedoor Manor. In 2009, she received a
Pulitzer Prize for her collection of short stories “A Life in the Making.” She would like to
thank her parents for their continued support of her artistic and literary endeavors.
Libby Hunter Scholarship recipient.
The Communications Coordinator will also work with the Stage Manager, Production Manager, and
Dramaturg to obtain the following information:
• Title of the play and playwright(s), composer(s), and lyricist(s).
• A cast list (with names of characters on the left and actor names on the right) in order of
appearance. Please do not format this list into columns or with tab settings.
• “Setting” and “Time” information from the script.
• Intermission information.
• Director’s notes and Dramaturgical notes when available.
• Contractual information about the publisher. (Example: Fifth of July is presented by special
arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc.)
• “Special Thanks” list of individuals or corporations who made significant contributions of time,
materials or finances for the production.
• A list of crew members.
