University of Missouri-Kansas city

About

Carla Noack relished another year of life in the “Stretch Zone” with her students and colleagues at UMKC. In addition to teaching the MFA acting progression and directing the first-year MFA actors and design students in a production of Julius Caesar, she played Kim in the Unicorn Theatre’s rolling world premier of Will Snider’s How to Use a Knife, directed by Sidonie Garrett; Old Shady in the Unicorn Theatre’s Kansas City premier of Men on Boats, directed by Missy Koonce; and Jennifer in Kansas City Actors Theatre’s production of The Realistic Joneses, directed by John Rensenhouse. Over the summer, she was one of seven artists from around el país to devise a theatre piece called “ART: Audacious Raw Theater,” in Lanesboro, MN, directed by Catherine Glynn. Carla was also invited back to NYC this summer to participate in the third annual Actors Center’s “National Alliance of Acting Teachers” National Congress, where she enjoyed reconnecting with fellow actors and acting teachers from around el país and contributing to discussions of best practices in our field. Prior to joining the UMKC performance faculty, she enjoyed four years as a member of the Great River Shakespeare Festival acting company, where favorite roles included Rosalind in As You Like It, Katherine in Taming of the Shrew, and the Nurse in Romeo and Juliet. For ten years, she was a co-artistic director of the Commonweal Theatre Company in Lanesboro, MN, with whom she played such roles as Josie in A Moon for the Misbegotten, Portia in The Merchant of Venice, Grace in Bus Stop, Smeraldina in Servant of Two Masters, and Lena Szczepanowska in Misalliance. She has also worked regularly with Minneapolis-based companies Ten Thousand Things and Theatre Latte Da. Other recent Kansas City credits include Joan in KC Repertory Theatre’s Lot’s Wife, Rosalind and Queen Elizabeth in the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival’s As You Like It and King Richard III, and the Pilot and Sarah Goodwin in the Unicorn Theatre’s productions of Grounded and Time Stands Still. Carla earned her M.F.A from UMKC in 1992, and first came back to Kansas City in 1997 to play “C” in Kansas City Repertory Theatre’s production of Three Tall Women. She is thrilled to be working in the training grounds that provided the foundation for her career.