Meet Our Artistic Team!

Stephen Crandall - Artistic Director

Stephen Crandall is humbled to serve as the eighth artistic director for TEXAS!

His history with the production began in 1999, when he was cast as the protagonist, Calvin Armstrong. He then played the role for three summers through 2001. He returned in 2002 as an acting coach following his marriage that spring to cast mate, Leigh Anne Thomas. In 2003, Stephen returned as an acting coach again for the Texas Legacies production. Afterwards, he moved away to pursue professional theatre opportunities and graduate school.

He returned to the Panhandle in 2010 after accepting an Assistant Professor position in the Theatre program at West Texas A&M University. Stephen received tenure and was promoted to Associate Professor at WT in 2016. He was again promoted to Full Professor in 2021. He recently stepped down after six years of service as the Department Head of the Art, Theatre and Dance department in 2022 in order to begin his new role as Artistic Director for TEXAS.

Stephen teaches a range of acting, voice and movement courses at WT, with specializations in voice & speech, dialects, movement, and stage combat. He holds membership with the Voice & Speech Trainers Association and the National Alliance of Acting Teachers. He is certified as a Master Teacher of the Lugering technique, as well as a Practitioner with the Lessac Training and Research Institute. Stephen received a Bachelor of Science degree in Theatre Performance from WT, and a Master of Fine Arts degree in Acting from the University of Nevada Las Vegas.

Stephen is an accomplished director with local and regional directing credits, including seven Shakespeare productions for the TEXAS company since 2012 through the “Shakespeare in the Canyon” project started by Dave Yirak. This summer, he will direct Shakespeare’s The Tempest, in June. He has received directing commendations from the Kennedy Center’s American College Theatre Festival and is an associate member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society.

Stephen is also a professional actor and proud member of Actors’ Equity Association. He has performed internationally at the Adelaide Fringe Festival in South Australia, and regionally with the Nevada Conservatory Theatre, Nevada Theatre Company and Broadway Sacramento's Music Circus. He has performed onstage with notable performers including Sandy Duncan, Sally Struthers, John Schuck, James Barbour, GW Bailey, and Steve Vinovich. Stephen credits his experiences at Amarillo Little Theatre and his summers performing in TEXAS as the catalysts for his career as a performer, director, and educator. He is honored to be the newest artistic leader for TEXAS and to help continue the legacy of live performance in the beautiful Palo Duro Canyon State Park.

John Landon - Production Manager

John Landon is a Professor of Theatre and serves as the Technical Director for the Theatre Program at West Texas A&M University. John Landon has been brought on to manage the production of TEXAS Outdoor Musical. Landon is a Professor of Theatre and servers as the Technical Director for the Theatre Program at West Texas A&M University. His B.A. is from Hardin Simons University and his M.F.A. was earned from Trinity University while working at the Dallas Theater Center. He has worked for scenic shops in Dallas, served as the Technical Director for Dallas Shakespeare, Dallas Ballet and was a Designer & Technical Director in the Tarrant County Junior College system.

Dr. Cloyce Kuhnert - Music Director

Dr. Cloyce Kuhnert has been involved with TEXAS for thirty seasons and she is a Professor of Music at WTAMU during the year. She completed her DMA in vocal performance at the University of North Texas . She has been a soloist with Fort Worth Chamber Orchestra, Xalapa Orchestra in Monterrey, Mexico, and was a soloist in Mozart’s Vesperae Solemnis in Alex Tully Hall at Lincoln as Die Fledermaus , Così fan Tutte, Pirates of Penzance, and Susannah. In addition to performance and stage direction, Dr. Kuhnert feels equally at home in her role as Music Director for TEXAS. Dr. Kuhnert is the choir director at Canyon’s First Presbyterian Church. Her students have won competitions and are working with opera companies, universities, and public school schools across the country.

Sarah Wilcoxon - Choreographer

Sarah Wilcoxon is an Associate Professor of Dance at Missouri State University. She holds an M.S. in Communication from Illinois State University and an M.F.A. in Dance from Florida State University. At MSU, Wilcoxon is the coordinator of the dance program and the dance representative for the musical theatre program. Sarah thrives in interdisciplinary, creative collaboration. Her preferred mediums for dance are in musical theatre and film. She has choreographed and directed musicals at Missouri State University and at Tent Theatre. Her award-winning dance films Querencia, Sea Legs, and [UN]square Dance have been accepted to both national and international festivals as well as commissioned at the Springfield Art Museum. Wilcoxon is a fully certified Pilates instructor and works passionately to promote a culture of wellness in the dance industry.

Leigh Anne Crandall – Costume Designer

Leigh Anne Crandall is a graduate of Texas Tech University with an M.F.A. in Design (Costume Design emphasis). Her favorite costume design credits include Crazy For You and Catch Me If You Can at Tent Theatre; Bull in a China Shop, Laramie Project, The SpongeBob Musical, Caucasian Chalk Circle and Our Town at West Texas A&M University; Newsies, Into the Woods, Beauty and the Beast, and Aladdin Jr at the ALT Academy; A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Much Ado About Nothing and The Comedy of Errors for Shakespeare in the Canyon; Little Women, We are Proud to Present..., Mother Courage and Her Children, In the Next Room (or the Vibrator Play), Twelfth Night at Texas Tech University; and Young Frankenstein, Addam's Family, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, The Glass Menagerie , and The Last Five Years at Amarillo Little Theatre. She has also had the privilege of working with several prestigious companies including Cirque Du Soleil's "O" in Las Vegas, Forbidden Broadway Chicago and Looking Glass Theatre Company. She is currently the Costume Shop Manager and Costume Technology Instructor at West Texas A&M University.