Kendra Newby
Part-Time Instructor
Biography
Kendra Faith Newby is originally from middle Nebraska but moved to Las Vegas four years ago after being recruited for the graduate program at UNLV. She earned her bachelor's degree from the University of Omaha in Technical Theatre with an emphasis in costume design in 2020 and received her M.F.A. in Costume Design from UNLV in May 2023. While obtaining her bachelor’s in Omaha, Nebraska, Kendra worked with nearly every local theatre, including community theatres, The BlueBarn Theatre, and the American Midwest Ballet Theatre. She also received the Outstanding Costume Design for Omaha Entertainment and Arts for her costume design on the world premiere show at the BlueBarn Theatre, Red Summer, written by Beaufield Berry.
During her three years at UNLV, she worked as a graduate assistant, designed two to three mainstage shows a year, and became the resident costume designer for a local theatre, A Public Fit. She also taught for a year at the Rainbow Theatre Company and designed a show for them, as well as worked for a local event coordinating group, Belluscious. Between semesters, she traveled to Utah as a costume assistant for the Utah Festival Opera and spent another summer in Nebraska working for the Nebraska Shakespeare Festival.
In her time post-graduation, Kendra has been busy working all over Las Vegas. She helped build the costumes and spent some months as the head of wardrobe for the Spice Girls Tribute show at Excalibur, she worked in multiple roles for Illuminate at the Strat, and she spent 7 months working full time wardrobe for Awakening at the Wynn. Currently, she is working as the resident costume designer for A Public Fit theatre and working around Las Vegas in multiple high schools as a volunteer in their theatre programs.