UMW Theatre Viewbook

The company of Spring Awakening

umw.edu/theatre

DISCOVER THE

POSSIBILITIES

The cast of The Drunken City

Majoring in Theatre When you choose a liberal

arts college, you make the choice

to learn about the world by studying a breadth of disciplines that offer perspectives on what it means to be a citizen of our

global society. You soon discover that life is complex and interconnected, and that no major stands alone. We believe that a liberal arts education is the finest preparation for a theatre student because we want our emerging actors, designers, technicians, and arts managers to be curious

about the

world—the source of the stories we tell on our stages.

A major in theatre at the University of Mary Washington prepares you for life beyond college. Whether you work in the professional theatre, pursue a related field, or continue your studies with professional training or graduate school, the liberal arts education you receive at the University of Mary Washington prepares you to pursue your dreams. Our theatre major is

customizable and flexible. You can design a program that allows you to concentrate in the area of your greatest

interest, and pursue a double major or obtain a teaching license if you wish.

100%

of UMW students attending the Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York Internship Fair received summer offers from theatre producers.

“My time with the UMW theatre department truly shaped me into who I am today. The faculty has helped me to grow and discover who I am as a person and an artist. They believe in you and push you to your limits to show you you’re far more capable than you ever imagined.”

Taryn Snyder ’15

“UMW Theatre showed me that I can combine my love of theatre with my head for business and pursue a career in theatre management. The opportunities I had to do everything from acting to stage management gave me the wellrounded experience I needed to go into such a competitive field.”

The company of Sunday in the Park With George

Minoring in Musical Theatre The department offers a performance-focused

minor in musical theatre. This interdisciplinary minor builds skills in vocal performance, dance, and acting.

While you may pursue the minor regardless of your major, theatre majors may choose to minor in musical theatre to create a formal specialty within the major.

Kat Zeringue ’15

41

Minoring in Arts Administration performances in Klein Theatre

Together with the College of Business, the department offers an experientially based minor in arts administration. Students build a strong foundation of course work that connects with real-world experiences in the field. Graduates emerge from the minor

844 students participated in theatre productions last season—onstage and backstage—building scenery, running performances, stitching costumes, acting, assisting directors and designers, selling tickets, and creating online and print marketing campaigns.

fully prepared to pursue a professional career in arts administration.

Preparing to Teach In partnership with the College of Education, the department offers students the opportunity to pursue secondary licensure in theatre as an additional endorsement, as well as a PreK-12 theatre licensure pathway. These professional licenses are five-year programs from which students graduate with both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree. Like the theatre major, the licensure programs combine classroom study with practicum, during which students get classroom experience in local schools.

FLY

After spending a summer in the highly competitive CAP21 Summer

SOLO

Professional Musical Theatre Training Program, Judi Jackson ’15 was invited to participate in Springboard NYC, a prestigious program that prepares emerging theatre artists to begin their professional careers.

Judi Jackson ’15 in Sunday

Our students have the unique opportunity to develop and

produce an entire second-stage season in Studio 115. Each semester, the Studio 115 Committee (composed entirely of students) selects projects to be performed in our flexible black box theatre. Although supervised by faculty mentors, these projects are sometimes student-written and are always student-directed,

acted and designed. The theatre hosts six to eight projects every semester, ranging from scenes and one-acts to fulllength plays and musicals.

Every theatre major completes THEA 482: Senior Project, a semester-long individual creative or research project that provides a capstone to their UMW academic career.

Students pursue independent their academic and artistic

projects that build upon

accomplishments and

reflect what they’ve discovered about themselves.

in the Park With George

PEEK INSIDE OUR DOORS.

Klein Theatre

Our theatre complex includes the intimate 233-seat

Klein Theatre, home of our mainstage work, and Studio 115, our flexible black box theatre. Both theatres boast state-of-the-art lighting and

sound systems and share an impressively equipped scene shop, costume shop, lighting and sound lab, computer-aided design (CAD) lab, management lab, and acting studio. In addition, productions rehearse in our nearby Wonder Bread Studio, a phenomenal rehearsal hall adjacent to Eagle Village. Our students also take classes in the Goolrick Dance Suite, featuring fully equipped studios with floating floors and impressive sound systems. Each year, students and faculty collaborate on four mainstage productions and eight to 12 studio projects to create a season that challenges our students while showcasing their craft.

Students in THEA 131 & 132: Technical Production

duPont Hall

We believe that you learn theatre by doing it. Our classes support our impressive production program that offers our students excellent opportunities onstage, backstage, and front-of-house to apply what they learn in our classrooms, beginning in their first year at UMW. Learning is a constant – in and out of the classroom – as students work with our faculty in every aspect of theatre production. Whether your interest is acting, scenic design, lighting design, costume design, stage management, sound design, directing, costume construction, scenic technology, or theatre management, UMW’s Department of Theatre and Dance has a place for you!

Just to name a few...

Students in THEA 131 & 132: Technical Production

OUR COURSES

PAST PRODUCTION HIGHLIGHTS

• Spring Awakening • A Midsummer Night’s Dream • Lady Windermere’s Fan • The Laramie Project • Into the Woods • Godspell • Proof • Avenue Q • RENT • Our Town • Doubt • Sunday in the Park With George • Lysistrata • The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee • The Tempest

STUDY IT. DO IT. Acting

Fashion History

Individual Study

Acting Styles

Stage Management

Internship

Introduction to Acting

Theatre Management

Senior Project

Musical Theatre Performance

Ideas in Performance

Voice and Body Movement

Introduction to Theatre Design

Directing

Costume and Clothing Construction

Special Studies in Theatre (topics vary each semester in performance, design, literature, directing, history, and theatre technology)

Patterning

Ballet

Fabric Modification

Modern Dance

Dramatic Literature

Jazz

History of Theatre

Dance Improvisation

Technical Production Theatre Crafts Stage Makeup Lighting Design Scene Design Costume Design Scene Painting

Introduction to Theatre Theatre Practicum

Students active in theatre productions register every semester for THEA 390: Theatre Practicum. This experiential learning course lets students get credit for their production responsibilities onstage, backstage, and front-of-house.

I came to UMW 100 percent certain that I was going to be an actor, but here I am with a stage management focus.

I think that’s what I love so much about this department.

I wasn’t put into a box; I was offered the opportunity to do something that I never thought I would be interested in, and I found out it’s what I want to do with my life.

Taylor Kiechlin ’17

Jessica Lane ‘16 in Lady Windermere’s Fan

Learn From Our Guests

Arena Stage

Signature Theatre

Studio Theatre

Woolly Mammoth Theatre

Shakespeare Theatre Company

Ford’s Theatre

Our students learn from professionals who bring the experience of their distinguished careers to workshops, discussions, and master classes on campus. Guest artists enhance our production program by collaborating with our faculty and students as directors and designers each season. Previous guests have included playwright and actor Megan Terry, renowned scene designer Ming Cho Lee, noted costume designer Susan Tsu, avant-garde playwright Maria Fornes, solo performance artist Holly Hughes, acclaimed actors Nancy Robinette and Ed Gero, activist Eve Ensler, and the celebrated director Michael Kahn.

Experience the Professional Theatre Washington, D.C., has emerged as a world-class theatre city, and the Department of Theatre and Dance connects our students to this vibrant community by hosting class trips to

professional theatre performances.

The department sponsors trips to Arena Stage, the Shakespeare Theatre, the Kennedy Center, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Studio Theatre, Signature Theatre, and other theatres throughout the metropolitan area. Artist talkbacks are often arranged for our students.

Ideas in Performance is a popular inquirybased class in which students do field research in New York City. Students meet and interview theatre professionals, explore advanced training, participate in workshops, and see a full range of Broadway and off-Broadway theatre. These extraordinary opportunities allow students to articulate their professional goals while experiencing New York City at its best.

Chris Wingert, Guest Music Director

I wouldn’t be half the person I am had it not been for the extraordinary three years I’ve spent growing in this department. As a stage manager, artist, friend, and student, I am better because of UMW Theatre.

Hayden Morrissett ’16

See the Future

Our Talented Faculty

Many graduates enjoy careers with acclaimed institutions: Ford’s Theatre TheatreWorks New York Theatre Workshop The Shakespeare Theatre Company Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company New Jersey Shakespeare Festival Smithsonian Institution Paper Mill Playhouse Alvin Ailey Repertory Ensemble Studio Theatre Donna Deseta Casting Signature Theatre Kitchen Theatre Company National Endowment for the Arts Central Casting Julie Hodge, Associate Professor of Theatre

Six full-time and six adjunct faculty members, along with five professional staff, bring an impressive array of professional and academic accomplishments to their work with our students. Our teaching faculty pursue active professional careers and bring real-world insight to their classrooms, studios, shops, and rehearsal rooms, allowing students to connect theory and practice to building a career in the theatre. Teaching is a priority at the University of Mary Washington; you will not find a faculty more committed to teaching and mentoring.

Arundel Barn Playhouse University of Tennessee John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Crowded Fire Theater

Our graduates have continued their educations at institutions including: Indiana University SUNY-Stony Brook University of Wisconsin Madison City University of New York University of Maryland College Park University of North Carolina Greensboro Columbia University University of Iowa North Carolina School of the Arts Cincinnati Conservatory of Music Rutgers University The Actors Studio Drama School CAP21 Atlantic Acting School University of Virginia George Mason University American University University of Richmond Harvard University New York University

The Catholic University of America Joffrey Ballet Arena Stage Washington Opera New England Foundation for the Arts Performing Arts Library at Lincoln Center MTV Utah Shakespeare Festival California Shakespeare Theatre Barter Theatre

The department’s professionalism and high expectations make me feel more prepared for the real world than I could have expected from any school. I feel confident and secure as I begin to think about life after graduation.

Joshua Culhane ’16

Dodger Theatricals Actors Theatre of Louisville

Emily Burke ‘15

Stephen Nickens ‘16 &

Mic Townsend ‘17 & Taylor Kiechlin ‘17

Katie Gigantiello ‘14 in

in Sunday in the Park With George

Students in rehearsal for Spring Awakening

The Miss Firecracker Contest

Choosing a college can be a difficult process. Why not spend some time with us as you make up your mind? We would be happy to host you and your parents for a campus visit. We can arrange a tour of the campus and our facilities, tickets to a current production, and visits with students and faculty. There is no better way to get to know UMW than by seeing for yourself how our students and faculty create extraordinary theatre.

If you are interested in learning more, or in scheduling a time to visit, call Gregg Stull at 540/654-1980, email gstull@umw.edu, or write: Department of Theatre and Dance University of Mary Washington 1301 College Avenue Fredericksburg, VA 22401-5358 umw.edu/theatre

umw.edu/theatre