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Majoring in theatre at UPIKE is not only fun but provides skills that employers seek out and highly value. Through hands-on learning and practical experience, you’ll achieve proficiency in communication, collaboration, empathy, creative problem solving, commitment, adaptability, and teamwork. You’ll learn about theatre from both sides of the curtain—performance and technology – through coursework and stage productions. A theatre major perfectly complements almost any major, such as biology, business, or religion, and prepares students for careers not only as theatremakers, but as communicators, educators, and leaders.
Along with a small core of foundational classes, students focus on what interests them most, whether that’s acting, directing, dramaturgy, technical work, or some of everything! Every course is experiential, meaning that students practice what they learn from the very start. UPIKE works with local and national professional organizations, such as The Appalachian Center for the Arts, the Artists’ Collaborative Theatre, and the American Shakespeare Center, to provide a wealth of opportunity to students. The theatre program develops unique educational and theatrical experiences, including student-directed and student-written work, Appalachian theatre initiatives, and workshops and other collaborations with industry professionals.
THR 254 -Voice for the Stage Students will learn a full personal physical and vocal warm-up; develop internal and external awareness of the vocal apparatus; be able to release habitual tensions; discover the efficiency of alignment, breath and sound; increase awareness of vibrations in the body; develop resonance, range, and strength in the voice; and discover a personal connection to breath, voice, and ultimately to text. THR 250 -Basics of Technical Theatre This course provides a study of the technical aspects of stage production. The emphasis will be on gaining practical experience in the use of stage and shop facilities. Additionally, it will include consideration of the physical theatre and stage, construction, painting and rigging of scenery as applied to theatrical production. THR 110 -Basics of Acting This course is a study of basic acting as a performance experience. The emphasis is on fundamentals of performance, including concentration, transitions, interaction and the structuring of action.
Graduating with a major in theatre from UPIKE will provide you with a broad, active, practical knowledge of both the performance and technical aspects of theatre. You’ll be prepared with the tools necessary to be confident and competitive in theatre auditions and interviews
Acting Arts Administration Arts Education Broadcasting Casting Choreography Content Creation Directing Dramaturgy Educational Theatre Elementary Education Event Planning Facilities Management Fundraising
Law Lighting Design Management Outreach Producing Project Management Publicity Publishing Recruitment Scenic Design Screenwriting Sound Design Stage Management Tourism Management Voice Acting
Blue Gate Musicals Ohio Star Theater Disney College Program
“At UPIKE I discovered my passion for theatre. While attending UPIKE, I helped start the theatre program. Being able to find my passion and practice my craft at the same time was a huge plus for me. It is what helped me start my acting career and land my first contract after graduation at Blue Gate Musicals. All of the faculty and staff truly care about the students; they stop feeling like professors and more like a family. Working with the theatre we are told to ‘be scared and do it anyway.’ That’s now what I live my life by, and I wouldn’t have been able to do that without the help of Kim Willard and the University of Pikeville.” MATT CONN/CLASS OF 2018 /PROFESSIONAL ACTOR
“At UPIKE I discovered my passion for theatre. While attending UPIKE, I helped start the theatre program. Being able to find my passion and practice my craft at the same time was a huge plus for me. It is what helped me start my acting career and land my first contract after graduation at Blue Gate Musicals. All of the faculty and staff truly care about the students; they stop feeling like professors and more like a family. Working with the theatre we are told to ‘be scared and do it anyway.’ That’s now what I live my life by, and I wouldn’t have been able to do that without the help of Kim Willard and the University of Pikeville.”
MATT CONN/CLASS OF 2018 /PROFESSIONAL ACTOR
Associate Professor of English(606) 218-5117JennaSteigerwalt@upike.edu
Professor of Theatre(606) 218-5334stephanierichards@upike.edu