Theatre Program
We'll challenge you, we'll collaborate with you, and we'll care about you.
Within the WKU Theatre Program you will find two majors, three minors, and a wealth of opportunities. We are committed to fulfilling the missions of our University, our College, and our Department by training our students to be creative, resourceful, and engaged artists who will be the next generation of leaders in our field.
We firmly believe that theatre benefits our region, our nation, and our world in all kinds of ways:
· As a source of cultural enrichment and entertainment.
· As an economic engine for communities.
· As a place where people come together to share an experience across all kinds of borders and boundaries.
· As a space where empathy and understanding can grow.
While students may choose to specialize in a particular area through the BFA degree, we make sure that specialization doesn’t become a limitation. The most successful artists are often the ones who have learned about and experienced a variety of theatre work. To quote Lin-Manuel Miranda’s advice for theatre majors: “Do all the things. … Theatre is all about collaboration, so you have to actually understand a bit of the job your collaborators are doing, so that you can speak to them fluently.” Not only that, exploring new areas of theatre is an opportunity to discover new passions and additional ways to be involved with the theatre industry. With this in mind, all of our majors take at least some course work in performance, design and technology, and theatre history and literature.
WHAT WE DO:
Every student is different, and we see that as an asset to our department and to our field! We offer all kinds of opportunities for artistic, technical, and personal growth so that you can shape your training in the ways that best suit your individual needs and goals.
Productions
From our faculty directed mainstages, to our student directed studio and TYA seasons, to our New Works Festival, you’ll have all kinds of opportunities to learn by doing. Our department is your laboratory.
Shringara: An Indian Music-Theatre Retelling of Love by Shyama Iyer ‘20
Lily Plants a Garden by José Cruz González
Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare
Aglaonike’s Tiger by Claudia Barnett
Hair: Book and Lyrics by James Rado and Gerome Ragni, Music by Galt MacDermot
Collaborations on Creative Work / Research with the Faculty and Staff
Students collaborate closely with department faculty in all kinds of ways:
Production
Students are collaborators on our faculty directed mainstage shows not only as actors and crew but as designers, stage managers, dramaturgs, and assistant directors.
These Shining Lives Stage Manager Kathleen Kerr and Assistant Director Allie Thomas with Dr. Michelle Dvoskin, the production's Director, before a performance.
FUSE (Faculty-Undergraduate Student Engagement) grant projects:
BFA Design & Technology student Jessica Cundiff’s FUSE grant project started as an attempt to define the specific field of draping before morphing into a project about communication and how we accomplish that in a collaborative art. The Fuse Grant allowed her to travel to interview and observe a wide range of professional costume shops in Nashville, Louisville, Cincinnati and New York City.
BFA Musical Theatre student Shyama Iyer traveled to India to study Indian classical music and dance from Indian masters. She made meaningful connections with the arts community in the region and has continued her research of combining Indian music, dance and theatre traditions with her training in Western musical theatre.
BFA Musical Theatre and BS in Communication Sciences and Disorders student Hayley Doerr collaborated with Dr. Amelia Rollings on a research study, “The Short-Term Effects of Acidic Versus Non-Acidic Meals on Acoustical and Perceptual Measures of Female Singers.” They presented their findings as part of the 2019 Voice Foundation’s Annual Symposium, “Care of the Professional Voice.”
TAing for courses
Students learn about teaching and enrich their own knowledge by serving as Teaching Assistants for Theatre classes including University Experience, Musical Theatre History, Fundamentals of Theatre, and multiple courses in our Acting sequence.
Travel
From Louisville to London to New York, we offer a range of options for experiencing professional theatre! Whether attending College Days weekend at the nationally renowned Humana Festival of New Plays at Actor’s Theatre of Louisville or spending a week in London or New York City, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to experience professional theatre!
Big Red is excited to see Waitress with all the WKU Study Away students!
WKU Study Away students onstage at the Lyric Theatre after a performance of the new musical Cirque du Soleil Paramour with the production’s star Ruby Lewis (WKU 2007).
WKU students on the Study Abroad trip to London enjoy a tour of Shakespeare's Globe.
Our annual trip to the Actor’s Theatre of Louisville College Days Weekend offers students a chance to see several new plays, attend master classes and panels, audition and interview for prestigious internships, and network with Actor’s Theatre staff and performers as well as other theatre students for around the country.
Deanna Ogleseby gets hands on in the Props Department at the National Theatre of London!
Honors Sections / Capstones
BFA Musical Theatre major Clare Wilson pulled together her encyclopedic knowledge of musical theatre history, her impressive abilities as a musical theatre performer, and her gift for comedy in her 2021 Honors Capstone project, “Cut Song Cabaret.”
BA Theatre major Maddie Rose created a podcast series exploring how plays from the past speak to contemporary social issues for her 2020 Honors Capstone project, “Listening Back."
For his 2020 Honors Capstone Project, BA Theatre major Jarred Corona wrote and composed Memeical: The Three Act Meme Musical. A workshop production was planned, but unfortunately had to be cancelled due to COVID-19.
To watch Cut Song Cabaret, click here.
To read more about Claire's process, click here.
To listen to "Listening Back", click here.
To read more about Maddie's process, click here.
AFTER YOU GRADUATE:
Many of our students go on to very successful careers in theatre and the arts - take a look at our alumni page to see just a few examples of what they’ve been up to! But even if theatre doesn’t end up being the professional path you choose, the “soft skills” you’ll gain here are precisely the ones that will lead to success in whatever field(s) you pursue: Collaboration. Communication. Creativity. Critical Thinking. Empathy. Flexibility. Problem Solving. Professionalism.
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