{"id":4241,"date":"2025-11-03T13:22:02","date_gmt":"2025-11-03T21:22:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogschapman.wpenginepowered.com\/copa\/2025\/11\/03\/recent-chapman-copa-graduate-ariya-selvakumar-assists-with-center-theatre-groups-production-of-american-idiot\/"},"modified":"2026-07-17T22:32:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T22:32:17","slug":"recent-chapman-copa-graduate-ariya-selvakumar-assists-with-center-theatre-groups-production-of-american-idiot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/copa\/2025\/11\/03\/recent-chapman-copa-graduate-ariya-selvakumar-assists-with-center-theatre-groups-production-of-american-idiot\/","title":{"rendered":"Recent CoPA Graduate Ariya Selvakumar Assists with Center Theatre Group's Production of American Idiot"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Ariya backstage<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ariya Selvakumar (BA Theatre, Psychology minor), a Chapman University College of Performing Arts (CoPA) graduate in the class of 2024, continues to display Chapman\u2019s values as she pursues her passions in the performing arts. Recently, Ariya had the opportunity to apprentice and assist with the projection design for Center Theatre Group<\/a>\u2019s production of Green Day’s <\/span>American Idiot<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ariya learned about this apprenticeship opportunity through Connor Bogenreif<\/a>, CoPA\u2019s Assistant Director of Career Development and Alumni Engagement, who personally sent her the opportunity after posting it for the Chapman community. \u201cI don\u2019t think I would have found out about the opportunity if he hadn\u2019t,\u201d Ariya says.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Thriving Through Curiosity<\/b><\/p>\n

Within a couple of weeks of interviewing for the role, Ariya started working as an apprentice to <\/span>David Murakami<\/span><\/a>, the show\u2019s Projection Designer. Ariya approached the role with curiosity, a value that drives Chapman students and graduates. \u201cI honestly was just kind of excited for it all, and to have this opportunity for education post-graduation,\u201d Ariya shares. Ariya\u2019s curiosity and open mind prepared her well for her tasks. For example, she contributed to handwritten content that appeared throughout the production, such as animated scribbles and doodles to enhance a comedic moment, and the lyrics to the song “When It’s Time”. During the process, Ariya was promoted from apprentice to assistant, and since then, David Murakami has invited Ariya to work with him on other projects as a shadow, assistant, and Associate Projection Designer.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

A Chapman Education That Opens Doors<\/b><\/p>\n

\"\"
Ariya\\’s projection work in the background of American Idiot<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ariya\u2019s eagerness to learn during her time at Chapman broadened her career opportunities post-graduation. She shares, \u201cBecause of Chapman, I was able to try designing and try performing, and realized that I want to continue with both of these things, and not just one.\u201d She\u2019s done exactly that\u2014while continuing work as a Projection Designer, Ariya has also been <\/span>working as a Disneyland performer. Being able to continue with both passions post-graduation was her \u201cbiggest hope throughout [her] time at Chapman,\u201d she shares. \u201cI really thought that I would have to choose. But my professors reassured me that I can do both. And actually doing it post-grad has reassured me that I <\/span>can<\/span><\/i> do both.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ariya continues to excel on stage and behind the scenes, a testament to her inquisitiveness, intentionality, and hard work. Her journey illustrates how Chapman CoPA graduates turn their artistic passions into thriving professional careers, \u201cdriven by curiosity, inspired by Chapman.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ariya Selvakumar\\’s experiences and education at Chapman University have prepared her for diverse career opportunities, from projection design to performance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5443,"featured_media":4255,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[58,365,10,7],"tags":[23,3,273,389,374,89],"class_list":["post-4241","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni-theatre","category-copa-career-news","category-copa-news","category-theatre","tag-chapman-alumni","tag-college-of-performing-arts","tag-copa","tag-copa-alumni","tag-copa-careers","tag-theatre-alumni"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/copa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4241","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/copa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/copa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/copa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5443"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/copa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4241"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/copa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4241\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4540,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/copa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4241\/revisions\/4540"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/copa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4255"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/copa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/copa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/copa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}