Brandon Box-Higdem
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Educational Background:
University of Arkansas at Monticello, Sept 1990- May 1994
Bachelor’s of Arts, Vocal Performance Emphasis
Graduated Magna Cum Laude with honors
North Dakota State University, Sept. 1994- May 1996
Master’s of Arts, Theatrical Directing Emphasis
The Actor’s Studio School of Drama (New York City) 2001
Performed Post-Grad Work
Voice Training: Directing Training:
Tami Allmaras Gunter 1988-1990; The Actor's Studio: Arthur Storch
University of Arkansas: Dr. Kent Skinner 1990-1994; North Dakota State University:
The Actor’s Studio: Alba Quesada 2001 Dr. Paul Lipton, Laurence Ruth,
Donald Larew
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Acting Training:
The Actor's Studio: Susan Aston
North Dakota State University: Laurence Ruth
Directing Experience:
Murder on the Orient Express Bentonville High School Fall 2023
RENT Argenta Community Theatre Summer 2023
**Show won "Best Musical", "Best Director of a Musical", "Best Ensemble", "Best Supporting Actor", from BroadwayWorld.com
Memphis Argenta Community Theater Summer 2022
**Show won "Best Musical", "Best Director of a Musical", "Best Ensemble", "Best Leading Actor", "Best Lighting design" from Broadway Word.com
Big River Argenta Community Theater Summer 2018
**Show nominated for “Director of a Musical” and “Set Designer of a Musical” of the Decade by BroadwayWorld.com
Sweet Charity Argenta Community Theater Summer 2017
The Crucible North Little Rock High School Fall 2015
History of America: Abridged North Little Rock High School Fall 2014
Macbeth North Little Rock High School Fall 2013
Thoroughly Modern Millie North Little Rock High School Spring 2013
A Christmas Carol North Little Rock High School Fall 2012
Grease North Little Rock High School Spring 2012
Arsenic and Old Lace North Little Rock High School Fall 2011
Crazy for You North Little Rock High School Spring 2011
A Midsummer Night’s Dream North Little Rock High School Fall 2010
Beauty & the Beast North Little Rock High School Spring 2010
Greater Tuna North Little Rock High School Fall 2009
A Midsummer Night’s Dream Nebraska Shakespeare Tour Fall 2008
Romeo and Juliet Nebraska Shakespeare Tour Fall 2007
Violet Dana College March 2007
Smokey Joe’s Café Dana College March 2006
The Secret Garden Dana College Sept. 2005
The Dinner Party Living Picture Project March 2005
Seussical: the Musical Dana College Sept. 2004
Big River Chanticleer Theatre May 2004
Parallel Lives: Kathy & Mo show Living Picture Project February 2004
Into The Woods Dana College Sept 2003
Grease Dana College March 2003
Brighton Beach Memoirs Chanticleer Theatre May 2003
State Fair Chanticleer Theatre May 2001
* received 8 Theatre Arts guild nominations including Best Director and Best Musical
Das Barbecue Dundee Dinner Theatre March 2001
Beau Jest Omaha Community Playhouse January 2001
Christmas Carol National Tours Nebraska Theatre Caravan Nov. ‘99 & ‘00
Carousel Bellevue Little Theatre Sept. 2000
Sylvia Brownville Little Theatre July 2000
Singin in the Rain Dundee Dinner Theatre December 1999
Clue: The Musical Omaha Community Playhouse November 1999
King And I Bellevue Little Theatre September 1999
Guys and Dolls Dundee Dinner Theatre July 1999
Godspell Dundee Dinner Theatre March 1999
Annie Get Your Gun Dundee Dinner Theatre February 1999
Into the Woods Chanticleer Theatre October 1998
* received 13 Theatre Arts Guild nominations including Best Director and Best Musical
Assassins The Weekend Theatre July 1998
*Voted Best Musical for 1998 by Arkansas Democrat Gazette
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers Sleepy Hollow Summer Theatre July 1997
Romance/ Romance Little Country Theatre March 1997
Acting Experience:
Albin/ZaZa La Cage Aux Folles Argenta Community Theater
**Nominated for “Performer of a Musical of the Decade” for this role by BroadwayWorld.com
Emcee Cabaret Argenta Community Theatre
Montjoy Henry V Nebraska Shakespeare Festival
Pseudolus Funny Thing…Forum Chanticleer Theatre
*Nomination Outstanding Leading actor in a Musical, Omaha Entertainment Awards
G. Dansforth Pettibottom Mad About the Boy Blue Barn Theatre
Cash Dogs Playing Poker Living Picture Project
Younger Brother Ragtime Omaha Community Playhouse
* Best Supporting Actor in a Musical, Theatre Arts Guild
* Best Supporting Actor in a Musical, Omaha Entertainment Awards
* Mary Peckham Acting Award, Omaha Community Playhouse Awards
Prior Walter Angels in America Univ. of Nebraska Omaha
Applegate Damn Yankees Chanticleer Theatre
*Best Leading Actor in a Musical, Theatre Arts Guild
Lord Alfred Douglas Gross Indecencies Omaha Community Playhouse
* Barbara Ford Acting Award, Omaha Community Playhouse
Dr. Neville Craven The Secret Garden Omaha Community Playhouse
* Best Supporting Actor in a Musical, Theatre Arts Guild
* Clarence Teal Award, Omaha Community Playhouse
Richard Henry Lee 1776 Nebraska Theatre Caravan Tour
Witch, Malcolm Macbeth Nebraska Theatre Caravan Tour
Kokopelli Legends of Blue Marble Nebraska Theatre Caravan Tour
George M. Cohan George M! Frost Fire Theatre
Brother Clarence Monky Business Pritchard Productions
Ensemble Various shows Musicana Dinner Theatre
Dr. Neville Craven The Secret Garden NDSU
Sir Thomas Cromwell Meg NDSU
Alphonse, Gus, et.al On the Verge NDSU
*Irene Ryan nomination
Burning Hills Singer Medora Musical (‘91-‘94) Troupe America/ Stage West
Educational/ Theatre Related Employment:
Fall 2016- Present: Director of Forensics & Debate/Bentonville High School
-Instruct, coordinate, and coach the Varsity/ Forensics I team
- Organize and prepare competitors’ acting and public speaking events to travel to
12-14 tournaments per year, includes making hotel reservations, registration
for all competitors, travel plans, completing travel and purchase orders for every
tournament ensuring payments is received on time.
- Plan curriculum instructional maps and syllabi for 5 Forensics classes
- Facilitate, coach, motivate, and educate 125 to 150 students on the team per semester
promoting concepts of PERFORMANCE, FAMILY, MENTORING, DECORUM,
and PRIDE in one’s own work.
- Facilitate coach, motivate and educate student directors on the how-to’s of the
mentoring/directing process, observing after school rehearsals with aspiring
directors for group musical rehearsals
** Must facilitate yearly royalty payments to whichever company owns the
rights to musical we are undertaking for the tournament season
- Build better actors and public speakers through classroom instruction and feedback
Build stronger, more eloquent speaking style and encourage “individual” intrinsic
motivation on scene work and selection with sideline coaching and evaluation
-Serve as Tournament Director for our annual “Tiger’s Eye” Speech tournament
-Attended by 23-27 schools, student attendance numbers total up to 750 students
-Help coordinate/organize behind the scenes work promoting student leadership and
mentoring to facilitate a smooth, student- run tournament.
Summer 2010- Present: Creative Team at Argenta Community Theater
-Served in various positions where needed on Argenta team over the years.
a. Cast in inaugural production of Cabaret as Emcee
b. Creative Consultant to the Producing Artistic Director for Jesus Christ Superstar
c. Creative Consultant to the Producing Artistic Director for Mrs. Miniver
d. Assistance Director/Props Master for Brigadoon
e. Cast in production of La Cage Aux Folles as Albin/Zaza
f. Director of production of Sweet Charity
g. Director of production of Big River
h. Built strong working relationship with Producing Artistic Director
i. Provide feedback on potential season production selections or when questions arise.
Fall 2009- 2016: Director of Forensics & Drama Instructor/ North Little Rock High School
-A member of the Arkansas’ largest high school Speech and Drama faculty at inner-city school
- Teach and coordinate curriculums for Drama I-IV class rosters totaling 150 students per year.
- Formulate four syllabi for each course providing basic theatre education incorporating theatre
history, performance, writing monologues, movement, script analysis, reading scripts,
acting methods, Broadway musicals and how the arts are beneficial for all
- Provide basic information to students on what it means to be a working
director & actors, organizing in-class scene studies, script research, and discussions
- Instruct, coordinate, and coach the Competitive Speech/ Forensics team
- Organize and prepare competitors’ acting and public speaking events to travel to
8 tournaments per year, includes making hotel reservations, registration
for all competitors, travel plans, completing travel and purchase orders.
- Facilitate, coach, motivate, and educate 35 to 80 students on the team per semester
promoting concepts of PERFORMANCE, TEAM, FAMILY, MENTORING,
DECORUM, and PRIDE in one’s own work.
- Motivate and educate student directors on the how-to’s of the mentoring/directing
process, mentoring before school rehearsals with aspiring directors for group musical
rehearsals** Must facilitate yearly royalty payments to whichever company owns the
rights to the musicals we are undertaking for tournaments
- Build better actors and public speakers through classroom instruction and feedback
build stronger, more eloquent speaking style and encourage “individual” intrinsic
motivation on scene work and selection with sideline coaching and evaluation
-Direct the North Little Rock High School West Campus fall play
-Cast averages from 10-25 students cast depending on the production selected
-Facilitate script selection and obtain royalty/ rights for each production on the season
-Research past productions for design discussion with tech students and help coordinate
design students and instructors on directorial vision for production
-Interview and select student directors, facilitate auditions totaling around 50-80 students
callbacks, and casting selection, juggle schedules of students to build rehearsal
schedules and facilitate an 8 week rehearsal process tech weeks up to opening night
-Organize promotional design meetings with Art department for each production
including designs for program, T-shirts, and tickets
-Serve as Tournament Director for our annual “The Wildcat Classic” Speech tournament
-Attended by 22-25 schools, student attendance numbers total up to 550 students
-Help coordinate/organize behind the scenes work promoting student leadership and
mentoring to facilitate a smooth, student- run tournament.
-Co-direct the Spring Musical
-Cast averages between 80-120 per musical cast
-Assist in the selection of the musical each year and obtain royalty/ rights for each production
-Meet with co-director and choreographer to set schedules and discuss directing process facilitate
auditions for around 150 to 180 student, callbacks and casting selection
-Juggle schedules of the students, creating and facilitating a 9 week rehearsal process
-Help coordinate students involved in production totaling 225-300 students including tech students,
cast and front-of-house
Spring 2013-Spring 2016: Adjunct faculty/ Pulaski Technical College
-Taught Intro. to Theatre course to students fulfilling their Arts credit for their core graduation
requirements
-Created course syllabus around a more theatre history based course, providing a basic
knowledge of all aspects of theatre
Spring 2008-Spring 2009: Acting Instructor/Performer’s Edge
- Instructed basic theatre acting techniques for 2nd -12th grade students
- Student enrollment totals varied from 27 to 50 depending on courses offered
- Course consisted of 10 weeks of 2 hour intensive acting-based sessions and culminated in
a public performance that coordinated all the facets (music, acting, dance) students
learned
-Curriculum consisted of varying themes, all musical theatre performance centered
Spring 2002-Spring 2007: Guest Director& Adjunct faculty/ Dana College Theatre Department
- Coordinated and established curriculum for a musical theatre degree at Dana
- Instructed musical theatre courses to Dana students who are establishing a baseline in
theatre/musical, theatre education and performance
- Provided theatrical direction for musical productions varying from 1 to 3 per year over a 5 year
period
- Provided educational/ professional guidance to aspiring acting and directing students looking to
pursue a career
Summers 2000-2003: Stage Director/ Instructor, First Stage Summer Theatre Academy
- Organized classroom exercises centered around theater elements (spatial relationships, blocking
patterns, theatre etiquette, improve.)
- Involved 60 Jr. and Sr. high school students per week in intensive two week program focused
on 3 branches of theatre (music, dance, and acting)
- Culminated in an hour long public performance of their selected production
- Assisted in the creation of each summer’s show by providing ideas on themes and music centered
on history of theatre, musical theatre, or environmental issues
Sept. 1998- Feb. 1999: Touring & Family Days Event coordinator: Neb. Theatre Caravan
- Researched possible venues for a spring tour, sent out publicity packets, facilitated follow-up
telephone contacts to possible venue sites, organized schedules and travel routes
- Kept organized records of phone logs, mail-outs, and contacts and negotiated contracts with
performers and artisans for the event
- Visual/ display work utilized in the set-up of the event.
- Organized artisans, volunteers, performers, and staff for a Playhouse-wide public event
attended by over 600 people over a two-weekend period
Aug. 1997-May 1998: Nebraska Theatre Caravan Tour and Workshop Ensemble Member
- Performed a 9 month contracted tour throughout mid-America centering around Nebraska
- Perfected and performed 3 separate shows with audiences ranging from kindergarten
to general public audiences
-Taught numerous kindergarten classroom styled workshops dealing with the power of
music and movement in theatre
-Instructed numerous 6th -9th grade classroom-styled workshops dealing with Shakespeare
and the power of the word
-Taught numerous high school classroom-styled workshops dealing with musical theatre,
audition methods, and team building skills
Sept. 1994-May 1996: Graduate Assistantships in Theatre Props & Box Office Manager
- Maintained and compiled budgets, both by production and entire theatre season
- Obtained a working knowledge of Ticketmaster system which enabled me to utilize
previously acquired computer skills
- Maintained organized files on locations of “hard-to-find” props
- Created and obtained props for 3 productions
- Compiled season ticket subscriber lists and organized bulk mail outs to subscribers
announcing the theatre season and each production
- Organized training for box office staff work and class schedules, including my own, and ushers
for each production
Non-Theatre Related Experience:
March 1998-July 2009: Younkers Department Store
-Held various positions, ranging from basic sales floor associate to the title of Visual Manager of
a thirty million dollar store with our company.
-Utilized theatre/ set design background to develop floor plan layouts, visual presentations, and
merchandising opportunities for a 100,000 sq. foot department store
-As Visual Manager facilitated interviews and selected team design members, managed a team
of three merchandisers as well as selling staff & managers, set departmental goal bi-annually
observed fashion trends accordingly to reflect those trends throughout store
-Managed and maintained departmental budgets, observed store’s total sales and acted accordingly to
push fashion trends to build revenue and boost sales
-Worked closely with Regional Visual and Store directors, Store Manager, Assistant Store Managers,
and selling floor managers to incorporate corporate visual requirements
Career Achievements & Academic Honors:
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Serving a four year term as President of the Arkansas Communication and Theater Arts Association,
a statewide organization of theater, dance, and communication instructors. We provide
conferences that feature large amounts of professional development for our instructors. I created
and facilitated 2 fall conferences attended by our 80 members.
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Named a member of the inaugural "Hall of Fame" member 2018 by the University of Arkansas
Choral and Musical Theater Alumni Association
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Arkansas Communication and Theater Arts Association’s 2018 Teacher of the Year
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The NFHS Speech, Debate and Theater Association Outstanding Speech, Debate, and Theater
Educator Award 2018
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Bentonville School District “Excellence in Teaching” for 2018
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Chosen by the Arkansas Department of Education/ Fine Arts division to assist in the revamp of all
Fine Arts Curriculum/ Frameworks for the entire state. (2013 & 2019)
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Consistently coaching performers to reach National competitions every year since 2012
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1st Arkansas Forensics Coach to coach a student competitor to the NSDA National stage in Humorous
Interpretation (receiving 9th place)
The Actor’s Studio School of Drama (August 2001-January 2002)
-Member of the Dean’s list for fall semester.
North Dakota State University (September 1994- May 1996)
- Received Graduate Assistantship for two full years
- Irene Ryan Nomination for work in LCT production of “On the Verge” (Fall 1994)
University of Arkansas at Monticello (September 1990- May 1994)
- Received full tuition scholarship in Choir
- Received full tuition scholarship in Band
- Received full tuition scholarship in Speech/ Debate
- Member of Alpha Chi Honorary Scholastic fraternity**elected Member of the Year 1994
- Member of Kappa Kappa Psi Honorary Band fraternity**elected Vice President for 1991-1992
*elected President for 1992-1994
- Member of the Debate Society 1991-1994**elected President 1993
- Member of UAM Student Ambassadors**elected Member of the Year 1994
- Member of the Dean’s List from 1991-1994
- Graduated Magna cum Laude with Honors
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