When asked about his theatre experience in high school, Connor McKinley Griffin could go on and on. In fact, he credits Empire’s theatre program for a lot of his success.
Connor graduated from Empire in 2015. He earned his Bachelor’s in Musical Theatre from the University of Arizona and now works in Chicago as an actor. You may have seen him in the television show, Chicago Med, and he has a movie coming out soon that he can’t say too much about yet.
Although Connor is a successful actor in Chicago now, he says he misses being at Empire because of the amazing tools and space they have access to. Connor says technical theatre was vital because he didn’t get the technical experience in college.
“I think without Richard’s CTE class, I wouldn’t have the skills required to be the artist that I am today,” Connor says. “It gives you so many wonderful aspects of being creative in today’s climate that really is a necessity.”
He says other high school theatre programs don’t give students the levels of complexity that Empire provides and it set him up well for his career.
Way to go, Connor! Vail is so proud of you!