Marie Ramirez Downing

Marie Ramirez Downing has roots as an actress playing various roles in both the University setting and in the Chicago theatre scene such as Maria Elena in The Buddy Holly Story, Poncia in The House of Bernarda Alba, Sidonie in The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant, and Mary Warren in The Crucible.  After attending graduate school at DePaul University's The Theatre School, she followed her passion for Voice and studied to be a Linklater Voice teacher and coach. Since 2008 she has studied with the greatest of the Voice and Acting industry including Claudia Anderson, author of Bringing Speech to Life, Louis Colaianni creator of Phonetic Pillows and author of The Joy of Phonetics, Andrea Haring, (founder of the Linklater Center NYC)  Christine Adaire, (Master Designated Linklater Teacher and Professor of Acting and dialect coach for Mary Poppins) Patsy Rodenburg author of The Right To Speak and An Actor Speaks and Kristin Linklater author of "Freeing the Natural Voice" and founder of The Linklater Centre in Orkney, Scotland.

 

Marie is as an Assistant Professor of Acting Voice and Speech at The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in August 2024 for the BFA and MFA Acting Programs. She was previously an assistant Professor of Theatre Arts-Voice, Movement, and Acting and Director of The Acting Program at Sonoma State University from 2020-2024. She has an M.F.A. in Acting from The Theatre School at DePaul University, and a B.A. in Theatre Arts, Acting from California State University, Fresno. She is a Designated Linklater Voice Teacher via Kristin Linklater and the Linklater Center for Voice and Language in NYC.  Marie is also a director, performer, and a scholar. Her 2022 production of Water By The Spoonful (SSU) received many commendations, an invitation for encore performances, and two national awards from the Kennedy Center for “A Brave Rehearsal Space”, and a “Citizen’s award”. Her latest workshop entitled, “Performing Shakespeare, Voice, Movement, and Intersectionality” was presented in La Paz, Mexico in July 2023 at the Voice and Speech Trainer’s Association (VASTA) International Conference.  She was recently appointed Director of Equity Diversity, Inclusion, and Access at (VASTA) in 2023 where she is a member and served a board term 2019-2022. Marie has coordinated and taught in many innovative theatre and voice courses and public performances for California State University (CSU) Summer Arts including, “Theatre and Social Change: Politics, Performance, and Vocal Power, “Performance of Identity: Past and Present Voices Meet, “Latinx Voices on Stage: Community Lineage and Performance, and her latest course “Shakespeare & Company: Voice, Heritage, and Community”  in the summer of 2024 featuring several of legacy training faculty as guest artists.  

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Marie is a professional Voice, Text, and Dialect Coach. Her latest credits include Inherit The Wind (The Goodman Theatre), Leroy and Lucy (Steppenwolf Theatre Company, and the upcoming 2025 production of As You Like It Directed by Lisa Peterson at Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF). 

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