Undergraduate degrees in Theatre and Musical Theatre

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The Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting, Bachelor of Fine Arts in Costume Design, Bachelor of Fine Arts in Scenic and Lighting Design and Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre Stage Management provide an excellent balance of theatre studies with many opportunities for practical experience. The Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre, one of the oldest such programs in the United States, includes dramatic, musical and dance study - with practical application in all areas - for the talented performer who seeks a career in musical theatre. The Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre for Youth prepares the student to work in all areas of children's theatre, whether it is as a director, producer or teacher, working with adults and/or children in theatrical productions, workshops or children's theatre companies.

All programs begin with concentrated study in the major in the first semester of the freshman year and continue to balance classes and production work or performance throughout the four-year program.

The course of theatre study in the performance programs includes courses in basic acting technique, improvisation, theatre games, scene study, contemporary and period styles, stage craft, stage lighting, stage management, costuming, speech and dialects, makeup, theatre history and directing.

Musical theatre study is comprised mostly of music and theatre courses with a minimum of one dance class per semester, which, over the course of eight semesters, must include modern dance, ballet, jazz and tap. Musical theatre students have the same basic theatre core as acting majors: They have the same music theory classes as music majors and study applied voice for eight semesters from the same teachers as the voice majors. They also take a course in American musical theatre history and are eligible to audition for the Music Theatre Ensemble after the freshman year.

The culminating experience for music theatre students is the two-person revue. Each senior in the programs teams with another to conceive and execute a one-hour production that showcases their talents.

Acting and youth theatre students have the same theatre requirements as musical theatre students, with two years of dance classes. These programs also include a core of general education classes as a foundation for well-rounded actors and well-educated professionals.

Students majoring in theatre for youth take courses in teaching techniques, children's literature and psychology. In addition to these required courses, students may choose a number of theatre courses in the technical areas as electives. Acting and youth theatre students also perform in the Shenandoah Showmakers, a touring children's theatre ensemble.

In the scenic and lighting design program, the integration of practical, skill-oriented classes with design and art allows the student to develop as a theatre artist. The costume design program emphasizes design and construction as separate but complementary skills. Design students experiment with and then synthesize class and production work by fulfilling construction and design responsibilities for student and departmental productions.

Design students enroll in classes in stagecraft, stage lighting, costuming, makeup, drawing, theatre history, stage properties, stage management and directing. Advanced courses in scenic and lighting design include drafting and CAD applications, lighting design, graphic techniques, scene design, scenic art and production seminars. Costume design students take classes in costume construction, costume design, costume rendering, costume history, scenic art and production seminars.

Theatre students follow an intense course of study, from the opportunity to be cast in a production the first day of school until the very last day of the spring semester. The production and performance opportunities are extensive. In addition to the numerous student-directed, one-act plays and senior showcases, the annual theatre schedule includes two musicals, two children's theatre productions, one opera, one mainstage play, a Laboratory Theatre production, a touring children's theatre production and either a touring revue or a concert musical production.