Carrie Ann Quinn
Biography
Carrie Ann Quinn, Professor of Theatre Arts, is a professional actor and director in theatre, television and film. Quinn has directed professional theatre productions and performed onstage as an actor in professional union theatres in New York, Boston, Los Angeles and regional theatres throughout the U.S and Australia.
Area of Expertise
Acting, Directing, Movement, Voice, Improvisation, Devising
Degrees
MFA, Acting - Theatre Education, Boston University School of Theatre Arts
BFA, Drama, New York University Tisch School of the Arts
Additional Information
Quinn has appeared on TV shows including Julia (HBO/Max), Defending Jacob (Apple TV+) Chet Smith: Eye on That Sun (3Worker), Fame LA, (Fox) and feature films Chappaquiddick, The Fighter, The Sympathy Card, and many other independent films. She recently directed her first film, Launch at Paradise, a SciFi short, which has garnered 6 awards and 8 nominations, premiering at dozens of international film festivals; Quinn is co-founder of the international theatre company Escape Artists, a company devoted to developing original plays, film/tv scripts and podcasts based on real women from history, whose stories have been overlooked, disregarded or misconstrued. She co-wrote, produced and performed in the original play, Possessions, based on the 17th century Mancini sisters, with support from grants, fellowships and artist residencies. Possessions premiered in the US, and toured to Sydney, Australia, receiving rave reviews, and has been adapted into a TV pilot script for a limited series. Her current new play, Wild Women, based on prostitutes in a female-owned brothel in the wild west during the gold rush, is in development with staged readings and workshops ongoing in NY, Boston and Sydney, Aus.
Quinn presents her theatre education research and her original acting technique, A Method for a New Millennium, throughout the US and at international conferences and universities in Europe and Australia. At UMass Boston, Quinn has directed many department shows over the years including Working: A Musical, Pride & Prejudice, The Party Hop (virtual), The Importance of Being Earnest, New Voices, New Stories, Bat Boy: The Musical, Polaroid Stories, Urinetown, The Musical, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Wit? Or Without You!, Hedda Gabler and The Shape of Things. Professor Quinn works closely with the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF) representing UMass Boston and the Northeast region as a Region I Production Respondent and an Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship Mentor. Under her mentorship, many UMass Boston theatre students receive regional and national recognition, awards and scholarships for their acting and theatre work. Top Awards include: 2021, 2018, and 2017 National Irene Ryan Acting Finalists (2020 and 2022 Alternate-finalists awards); 2023 Best Scene Award, and 2019 & 2017 Best Classical Acting Scene Award. Quinn was awarded the Region I Classical Acting Mentor Award in 2017 and 2019, given by National Partners of American Theatre and KCACTF. She is a proud member of the performer unions: Actors' Equity Association (AEA); Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) and Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC).