THEATRE TCU HISTORY

FORREST A. NEWLIN

Forrest Newlin was born in Emporia, Kansas, in 1938. From Kansas State Teachers College (now Emporia State University), he earned a BA in Theatre/Art, a BSE (secondary teaching degree) in Speech/History, and an MS degree in Speech/Theatre. During his undergraduate career, he served as student body president. Later he earned a Ph.D. in Speech and Dramatic Art from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

An acclaimed designer and teacher, Dr. Newlin had a prestigious career in higher education, teaching at such institutions as Idaho State University, Emporia State University, Texas Tech University, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Southern Methodist University, and the University of Oklahoma, before joining Texas Christian University as Professor and Chair of the Department of Theatre in 1993. Dr. Newlin taught hundreds of students through his career, and trained many of the finest designers in professional and academic theatre today; he served as the graduate advisor for more than 25 graduate theses and dissertations.

He served as a Fulbright Lecturer to the National Taiwan University and the National Institute of the Arts in Taipei, Taiwn in 1985-86.

His professional design and management credits include outstanding work for Viva Productions of New Mexico, Music Theatre of Wichita, Chinese Cultural University, the Greenville Avenue Theatre in Dallas, the Burt Reynolds Dinner Theatre in Florida, and Golden Hills Theatre in Florida where he was the scenic designer for a production of Annie Get Your Gun, directed by Joshua Logan.

His scenography exposition “A History of the American Film – Scenery Design” toured the USA and Canada for three years with the 2nd Biennial Scenography Exposition of USITT. Solo exhibitions of his original stage designs have been given invitational expositions at many universities, and at the USITT Texas Design Showcase Retrospective. He presented many papers, served on panels, and served as a speaker at SWTC, USITT, ATA, and TETA. He served as the Chair of the USITT National Conference in 1996, the president of SWTA, and was elected a SWTA Fellow in 1994.

He passed away prematurely in December of 2002. His widow, Charlene, still lives near TCU in Fort Worth, and is active in the TCU Fine Arts Guild.

While an undergraduate at KSTC in Emporia, he earned the lifelong nickname “Woody,” a friendly derivative of his first name, “Forrest.” At his memorial service at TCU, a grateful former student claimed: “Dr. Newlin could teach a rock to draw.”