First UTC Stage Role Has “Romeo and Juliet” Actor Feeling Privileged
In 1990, when she was 25, Bronwyn McEwen enrolled at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga as a theater major.
“I had two major goals in life,” she said. “The biggest was to be a wife and a mom, and the second was to be an actor.”
She quit nine months later to marry Warren McEwen. Goal one: Check.
Her daughter, also named Bronwyn, was born six years later. Goal two: Check.
Acting never left her mind, though, and in spring semester 2022—32 years after she left college and at the age of 58—she returned to UTC to finish her degree as a theater major.
Goal three: Check on the horizon.
Her high school, Chattanooga Christian Academy, had no theater program, so in her first acting part ever, she is playing The Nurse—a vital role—in the UTC Theatre Department’s production of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”.
“I just feel privileged to have this be my first experience,” she said.
The production runs at the UTC Fine Arts Center’s Dorothy Ward Theatre from Nov. 15-19. Performances will occur at 7:30 p.m. each night with a 2 p.m. matinee performance on Nov. 19.
McEwen hopes to graduate in 2026 and has concrete plans afterward.
“The goal isn’t to just have fun here in school and get my degree, which is important,” she said, “but the whole goal of it is to learn how to act and then be able to audition for things.
“I don’t want to be 70 when I graduate.”
Tickets for “Romeo and Juliet” can be purchased through the UTC Box Office in person, by phone (423-425-4371) and by visiting the UTC Theatre web page. Tickets are $12 for general admission and $10 for students (with proof of student ID) and seniors.
