Anne Healy’s office is covered in evidence of her profession: cluttered manuscripts, old and upcoming theater posters and one chair in the shape of a red high heel with an animal print seat.

The senior lecturer started her directorial duties long before casting finished. Right now, she is busy teaching classes while organizing the university’s only musical of the season, The Seduction And Deception of Mozart.

The opera-musical is an original interpretation of some of Mozart’s most popular pieces with a storyline that should leave audiences with a better understanding of the conductor and of the art form, Healy said.

“Some will be introduced to opera for the first time, while others will see it from a new perspective,” she said. “Opera is not something to be wary of or not understand.”

This is Healy’s third production to direct at the university and the second one in recent years to combine both the Music and Theatre Arts departments. This is something Theatre Arts chairman Kim Lafontaine said Healy was brought in to help develop.

“Anne is vital to bringing together the departments of music and theater,” Lafontaine said.

Healy’s background in acting and opera allows her to work with and understand both sides of musical theatrical performance. Healy graduated with her bachelor’s degree in musical theater from the University of Northern Iowa, her home state. Two years later, she graduated from the University of Miami with her master’s degreein musical theater.

Throughout her acting, directing and singing career, Healy performed in New York City, the Bass Performance Hall and on Carnival Cruise lines. Now she is pursuing her doctorate in aesthetics with a concentration in musical theater. She also taught at Tarrant County College, Texas Christian University and numerous workshops before coming to UTA in spring 2007. She said UTA is her home and will be for the foreseeable future.

“UTA is at a wonderful juncture,” she said. “Now is a good time to be here. There is a tremendous amount of diversity and vitally around campus.”

Theater arts junior Robert Bell took three classes with Healy and worked on the production  Dead Man Walking with her in the spring 2010. He said Healy worked heavily with the students on subtext, the meaning behind their actions and lines, and how to portray it to the audience. He said her teaching style in class mirrors her directing on the set.

“She’s very good with pinpointing problems in a student and helping them work through them,” Bell said. “She helps you get to the places you need to go.”

Subtext and vision are two places of emphasis in Healy’s teaching style, according to her and students who have worked under her. Theater arts junior Bridie Corbett took his first course with Healy this semester.

Healy started the class by having students turn their chairs around and face another student and start a dialogue, Corbett said.

Although Corbett has only participated in two classes this semester, she said she is excited for her third session.

“My favorite part of teaching is watching students grow, discover and expand,” Healy said. “That’s also what directing is about.”