Head of Performance & Professor
Office Location: ASC 261
(205) 934-8300
Office Hours: By appointment
Dennis McLernon is a Professor of Theatre and Head of Performance in the Department of Theatre at The University of Alabama at Birmingham. He is responsible for teaching all components of the acting curriculum as well as directing main-stage productions during the academic year.
Dennis has received national recognition from The Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival in the areas of Teaching (2007), Directing (2008) and Acting (2010). His UAB Theatre production of Suzan-Lori Park's In The Blood performed at the Terrace Theatre at The Kennedy Center For The Performing Arts as an invitee of the 2008 Kennedy Center American College National Theatre Festival.
Regional recognition by KCACTF for "Excellence in Directing" has been awarded for his UAB productions of Rabbit Hole, Clybourne Park, A Streetcar Named Desire, The House of Blue Leaves, In The Blood, and The Piano Lesson. Other directing credits at UAB include The Miser, The Tempest, The Seagull, The Body of a Woman as a Battlefield in the Bosnian War, Falsettos, and Hay Fever.
Since December of 2008 Dennis has had the privilege of conducting acting workshops through the Alabama Department of Corrections with a group of very special men at the Donaldson Maximum Security Prison in Bessemer, Alabama.
A member of Actors Equity Association for over 25 years, he has appeared on professional and university stages in a variety of roles including the title roles in King Lear and Macbeth; as well as Prospero, Malvolio, Robert in Proof, the Father in Eurydice, Ebenezer Scrooge in Scrooge The Musical, and Cladwell in Urinetown.
Dennis is a founding company member of Birmingham's professional acting company, City Equity Theatre. He directed The 39 Steps for CET. Other City Equity credits include American Buffalo (Director), Someone Who'll Watch Over Me (Edward), The Cripple Of Innishmaan (Johnny Pateen Mike) and Frankie and Johnny In The Claire De Lune (Director).
Dennis has appeared in dozens of commercials during his career and can be heard in over one hundred voice-over spots nationally.