Senior Spotlight Tyler Hughes

There are many faces that pass through the Galvin Fine Arts Center daily, and senior Tyler Hughes has been one of them for many years now. Hughes is a Theatre major with a Classical Studies minor originally from Naperville, Illinois.

When reflecting on his last four years at St. Ambrose, Hughes was reminded of some of his favorite memories over the years. However, one memory stood out more than all the rest.

"My favorite theatre memory has to be the first full-run of Cabaret," Hughes said. "I don't consider myself much of a dancer, or a musical theatre performer as a whole, so being able to dance and sing my way through a show, especially such a good and exciting show, was a whole new experience for me. One I'll never forget."

Though Hughes always maintained an active role in the SAU Theatre Department, he always made sure that outside of school activities there was still time to have some fun, too.

"One of my favorite non-theatre memories is the first time I went 'sledding' on campus," Hughes said. "Nobody had any sleds, so we just put-on multiple pairs of pants and slid down the hill on our butts. It was a fun time."

Over the past four years, Hughes has built an impressive resume for himself. However, despite his 11 SAU acting credits, he was quick to recall Ken Gorman in the play Rumors as his favorite role.

"It was such a fun farce," Hughes said. "I got to play a character who's just anxious and freaking out the whole play, which really works for me and how I live my life,"

As Hughes plans for his future after graduation, he is thankful for the many opportunities and experiences the SAU Theatre department has given him.

"My hope/dream is to go into voice acting," Hughes revealed. "My experience with An Enemy of the People was one of my favorite performances ever, and I'd like to pursue that further. So far, I'm planning on auditioning for work in LA while getting voiceover training and then eventually trying to be a professional voice actor."

No matter the outcome, Hughes still plans on pursuing a career in theatre in whatever way he can. Furthermore, he had one piece of advice that he wanted to leave for future theatre students at SAU: "Make sure you take care of yourself, talk to friends and family, and people who will help and listen to you no matter the circumstance," Hughes said. "And don't be late to rehearsals! It's a horrible impression of who you are. You can be the best actor in the world, but if you're late for every rehearsal, no one will want to work with you."

Currently, Hughes is directing the production of Two Rooms by Lee Blessing and wants everyone to stream the performances from February 19-21.

Overall, the department has loved getting to know Hughes during his stay here and is glad he still has one more semester on campus before hitting the professional ground ready!