ITHACA, NY — Veteran Broadway musical performer Courtney Young — whose credits include such shows as “The Producers,” “The Full Monty,” “Young Frankenstein” and “Little Me” — has joined the faculty of Ithaca College’s B.F.A. program in musical theatre as an assistant professor.
“Courtney Young has worked with such Tony Award–winning directors and choreographers as Susan Stroman, Rob Marshall, Jack O’Brien and Robert Longbottom, and now she’ll be working with our students,” said Catherine Weidner, chair of the Department of Theatre Arts. “Courtney has been where our students want to be, and I don’t just mean on Broadway. I mean on stage; in dance calls, auditions and callbacks, and rehearsal rooms; at workshops; and doing the ongoing training that makes up a successful career in the performing arts.”
Young is an educator, director and choreographer who calls herself a “recovered” performer. This spring she will work as assistant director to Garry Hynes on “1776” at New York City Center. Her other recent directing credits include “Titanic,” “Avenue Q,” “The Addams Family” and “Singing in the Rain.”
She worked as resident choreographer for Susan Stroman on “The Producers” on Broadway and associate director/choreographer for Robert Longbottom on “Carnival” at the Kennedy Center, as well as on the U.S. national tour and Korean production of “Dreamgirls.”
As an actor, Young’s other Broadway and national tour credits include “Cats,” “Fosse” (U.S. and Japan tour) and “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.” She has worked at Carnegie Hall, the Goodspeed Opera House, the Paper Mill Playhouse, the Kennedy Center, City Center and the Old Globe Theatre. She received a B.F.A. from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and an M.F.A. from Penn State University, where she studied with Susan H. Schulman.
Young replaces Mary Corsaro, who is retiring this spring after 31 years of leadership of the musical theatre program.
“The faculty are excited to have Courtney join us,” said Weidner. “She comes to Ithaca with an impressive depth of professional experience, and I’m sure she will continue the legacy of excellence that the industry has come to expect from our graduates.”
A nationally recognized professional theatre-training program, the Department of Theatre Arts attracts a diverse student body from across the globe. Its five degree programs combine rigorous training with a liberal arts education, striving to prepare students to participate vigorously and generously in a global community that encompasses the theatre, film, television and entertainment industries.