Alum spotlight: Hilary Noxon (BFA ’03)

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Hilary Noxon 2003 Scenic Design

Hnoxon@me.com

Hilary majored in Graphic Design at VCU, but her roommate was Elizabeth Hawkins Hearn, who “convinced me to take a Stagecraft class and I fell in love with it, because it was such a collaborative process.”

Hilary at the Tony Awards in 2013

The summer of her senior year, the student Technical Director at VCU brought a handful of students to work at Music Theatre Wichita. Hilary recalls, “It really set off our careers and lined me up for graduate school in Scenic Design at the University of Arizona. 

Magic Of Heineken- Film Model Builder in 2011

After getting her MFA, Hilary lived with her parents in Virginia Beach for a few months before she took a bus to NYC. “I didn’t even know how to begin. I literally just walked to theatres and talked with anybody.” Through a contact that Liz Hopper (former Head of Costume Design) gave her, she landed a one-day overhire gig at Showman Fabricators. “I made so much money because it was union. It was just enough to get me on my feet.”

Hilary at the Tony Awards in 2013

Soon, she ended upstate at Scenic Art Studios, where she met designer Anna Louizos, who was working on Curtains starring David Hyde Pearce. Hilary explains, Louizos “desperately needed extra hands and it just fell into place. A week and a half after moving to NYC, she hired me on the spot!”

Cinderella opening night in 2013

One of the first shows Hilary worked on was In The Heights, which Louizos designed. “I saw it through from the first workshop at 37 Arts, to Broadway, then the tours.” Hilary did model building, paint elevations and renderings and “observed the drafting process for a few years.”

School Of Rock, Broadway- Meet & Greet with Cast in 2015

According to Hilary, Anna “set me up” with her future wife, Sarah Jaramillo, who was stage manager for Altar Boys. They started as friends, but when In the Heights was nominated for the 2008 Tony Awards, Hilary invited Sarah, “It was our first date.”  They were married August 2013, and in 2015, they had their son Sawyer.  Sarah currently works on live events for Sports Illustrated. 

Family trip to France in 2018

About seven years ago Hilary crossed over to TV and has been working exclusively in the medium for the last four years. Most recently, she got to work on The Marvelous Ms. Maisel, “My first period show.” She continues, “I don’t have a strong desire to Art Direct, because a lot of the art is removed, it’s more administrative. But possibly Production Design.” 

Looking back at VCU, Hilary remarks, “For a school that isn’t a well-known theatre school, we’ve churned out a lot of really solid people.” Hilary certainly belongs on that list! 

Closing night of School of Rock on Broadway in 2019


Compiled by Liz Hopper (professor emeritus) and Jerry Williams (BFA ’71) for the July 2022 Theatre Alumni newsletter