You will have multiple opportunities to become involved in the theater department's activities and production season. We produce three main stage performances through the course of the academic year, plus a series of senior major capstone projects or performances. One of our main stage productions is a musical theater work, produced in collaboration with the music department.
Auditions
Acting auditions for the productions are held at the beginning of each semester. Announcements are posted throughout campus, and emailed to any student wishing to be on the department email list. Students are active in all aspects of production — from performing to stage-managing to working backstage. You do not have to be a theater major or minor to audition for productions and freshmen are often cast. If you have an interest in technical theater or stage management, please let us know and we will find a way to accommodate your interest.
Student Advisory Board
Other opportunities to get involved include serving on the theater department's Student Advisory Board, a student group that advises the department on curriculum, staffing and other aspects of the theater program. Student Advisory Boards have hosted alumni events featuring a performance and discussion of "The Rise and Fall of Miles and Milo" by Sara Farrington (Asselin) '03, and a discussion of theater and politics with professors David Canton (History) and Bill Rose (Government).
Reading Committee
The Reading Committee, a group composed of both theater faculty and students, selects options for the theater department's main stage season, including the musical selection. This group considers the types and genres of theater the department should produce over the course of any student’s stay at the College, and the range of playwrights and forms of theatrical performance we should challenge ourselves to undertake. Serving on this committee is a unique opportunity for direct involvement in the shaping of our production season.
Wig and Candle
Wig and Candle is an active student theater organization that stages a variety of plays and performances throughout the academic year and provides further opportunities for students to direct, act, stage manage and produce. Recent years have seen 24-Hour Theater, a marathon of writing, directing and acting; 48-Hour Musical, the creation of short musicals in two days; cabaret evenings; a student-directed production of "Putnam County Spelling Bee"; and a student written and composed original musical based on Friday the 13th.