Students build a set for a stage production.
The bachelor of fine arts degree in theatrical production arts is an intensive, undergraduate, preprofessional degree that emphasizes practical theater training and its place in the liberal arts. You'll sharpen your skills by selecting one of two concentrations: theater technology or theatrical design.
If you're interested in scenic carpentry, costume construction, drafting, electrics, sound, properties, and technical direction, then check out the theater technology concentration. In addition to classroom instruction each semester, you'll work in one of the technical areas for a departmental production. At first you'll be a crew member, and as your skills increase, you'll move up to a crew chief position. Your experience culminates in a senior project entailing major responsibility for a departmental production.
You'll love the theatrical design concentration if scenic design, costume design, lighting design, figure drawing, rendering, and art history or other creative areas are more your thing. Outside of the classroom you'll be assigned responsibilities in one of the design areas for a departmental production. You'll work your way up to an assistant design position for a faculty designer, and in your senior (if not junior) year you'll see your own design work realized in a department production.
A recent renovation added state-of-the-art lighting, sound, scene automation, and flight systems to our theaters, so you'll be exposed to the latest advances in theatrical technology. In addition to your classroom and production work, you'll gain added insight from guest artists who offer lectures and advice on current professional developments. Our graduates can be found working on Broadway and off, at major regional theaters and opera companies, and in film and television.
Audition and Interview Information and Requirements