Gabriella “Gabbi” Farr
Gabriella “Gabbi” Farr is the Honors Student of the Month for April 2026.
A junior majoring in Theatre Arts with a minor in Arts Administration, she was nominated for the honor by Dr. Lei Huang, who is a professor of Marketing in the School of Business.
Dr. Huang, who worked with Gabbi in his HONR 306: Digital Marketing course, was impressed by her industriousness, juggling substantial academic, leadership, and professional commitments. As he noted, “If you know Gabbi, you know she is one of the busiest people alive.”
“My favorite thing about Fredonia is all of the wonderful people I have met in my time here.” - Gabriella Farr
Even while taking 18-plus credit hours every semester, working at Starbucks on campus, and playing on the SUNY Fredonia Women's Tennis Team, Gabbi has taken on e-board roles with both Fredonia Night Live (sketch comedy group), where she serves as the Event Coordinator, and with the Performing Arts Collaborative, or PAC, where she has served as the Director of Performance and Outreach, a role that has found her talking to many Broadway stars (Thayne Jasperson, Taylor Louderman, Laura Bell Bundy, and others) to plan workshops or master classes. She has also been involved in directing and stage management for a dozen productions. A highlight for Gabbi was directing “Stop Kiss” by Diana Son last fall. Next fall, Gabbi will also be the Department of Theatre and Dance Social Media and Outreach Intern.
Off campus, she has worked as a union stagehand for the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts of the United States, Its Territories and Canada (IATSE) Local 25 in the Rochester (NY) and Finger Lakes area, loading in and out touring concerts and performances. Additionally, she has worked at regional theatres in the Rochester area. Gabbi has also shadowed the stage management team for ”Redwood” on Broadway (starring Idina Menzel) at the Nederlander Theatre in January 2025. She got to go backstage and talk to everyone involved and learn how a Broadway show runs during technical rehearsals.
This past J-term, Gabbi studied abroad in London with the Department of Theatre and Dance. She saw six performances and toured two theatres as well as historic landmarks. Seeing how theatre works in a different country was deeply rewarding for her, as was discovering London, so much so that she would be interested in living and working there in the future.
Closer to home, Gabbi has enjoyed the opportunities the Honors Program has given her to “take advanced classes and learn new things outside of my major.” Her favorite Honors course thus far was one with Dr. Natalie Gerber, where Gabbi got to analyze the lyrics of Broadway composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim; she and Dr. Gerber later collaborated on a workshop for PAC connected to the troupe’s staging of Sondheim’s “Company.”
A graduate of Canandaigua (NY) Academy, Gabbi plans to pursue her M.F.A. in directing after she graduates from SUNY Fredonia in May 2027.
Her advice to current students is “Take as many chances as possible! Get as much experience with the things you love in college to help better your skill set before you graduate.”
The Honors Student of the Month Program is a collaboration between the Honors Program and Honors House, which is part of the Office of Residence Life.
