Rate My Professor Ben Reigel

Benjamin Reigel is Associate Professor of Theatre Arts - Acting & Directing at Colorado Mesa University, a position he has held since 2017. He earned an MFA in Acting from the University of Delaware's Professional Theatre Training Program in 2003 and a BA in Theatre Arts from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities in 1999, where he received the Presidential Outstanding Minority Student scholarship. Prior to Colorado Mesa University, Reigel served as Assistant Professor of Theatre at Western Michigan University from 2012 to 2017. There, he was the primary acting teacher for performance majors, recruited and mentored students in BA and BFA programs, directed mainstage productions including Romeo and Juliet, The Country Wife, Cymbeline, and Pride and Prejudice, and taught courses such as Beginning Acting, Acting I-III (Shakespeare), Introduction to Acting, Voice & Movement Lab: Stage Combat, and Shakespeare in Schools. From 2009 to 2012, he was Assistant Professor of Theatre at Shorter University, serving as one of two primary acting teachers and movement instructor. He recruited and mentored students, directed mainstage productions like Romeo and Juliet, Pride and Prejudice, Trojan Women, Othello, Still Life with Iris, and You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, created the New Play Reading Series, and taught Acting I-III (Shakespeare & First Folio Technique), Movement I-II (Laban, Alexander, Suzuki, Mime), Stage Combat, Period Styles, Professional Theatre Workshop, and Theatre Appreciation.

Reigel is a professional actor, director, and fight choreographer with credits at prestigious venues including Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, American Players Theatre, Utah Shakespeare Festival, Maine Shakespeare Festival, Michigan Shakespeare Festival, and Texas Shakespeare Festival. Notable acting roles include Tom in The Glass Menagerie (Farmers Alley Theatre, 2015 Wilde Award nominee for Best Drama), Hamlet (Backbone Ensemble Theatre), Marlowe in She Stoops to Conquer and Salisbury in King John (Michigan Shakespeare Festival, 2014 Wilde Award nominees), Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet (Utah Shakespeare Festival), and Richard III and Caliban (Maine Shakespeare Festival). He has directed Cyrano de Bergerac (Texas Shakespeare Festival) and Romeo and Juliet (multiple venues, including American College Theatre Festival Certificate of Merit). As Founder and Artistic Director of The Backbone Ensemble Theatre, Reigel focuses on First Folio texts and original Shakespearean practices, having performed, directed, or choreographed more than 50 Shakespeare productions. His specialized training encompasses Guthrie Theatre Workshop with John Barton, Roy Hart Vocal Training, Suzuki Actor Training, Shakespearean Folio Workshops with Randall Duk Kim and Anne Occhiogrosso, and advanced stage makeup.