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Program Head: Sarah Shippobotham
(801) 587-9088
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Actor Training Program Brochure, 2009 audition Information, and Application.
The University of Utah Theatre Department offers a dynamic and demanding undergraduate training experience in its Bachelor of Fine Arts degree (BFA.) Actor Training Program -- a professionally oriented university/conservatory program for students who seek careers as actors. Designed to prepare students for classical and contemporary theatre, the curriculum is fundamentally craft-based, offering rich and intensive courses in voice, speech and movement as well as acting. Rigorous instruction is also provided in verse drama, acting styles, audition technique, singing and dialects. The faculty is comprised of nationally and internationally recognized working professionals who bring their talents, skills, and experience to the classroom. We also have a commitment to bringing in guest artists and other visiting professionals to complement our existing curriculum.
Actor Training Program students must also complete the general education curriculum required of all University of Utah undergraduates and a well-rounded core of non-performance theatre classes including theatre history, dramatic literature, scenography, stage management or directing. Because of these demanding requirements, students who successfully complete this program must be motivated, committed, and dedicated, as well as talented.
Admission to the program is by audition/interview and students must demonstrate continual progress and development and pass on-going faculty evaluations in order to remain in the program.
 Our facilities include two theatres: the Babcock Theatre (our main stage which is home to a season of four plays a year) and Studio 115 (our new, versatile black box space, home to up to several experimental productions a year). In addition to the many opportunities to participate in a broad repertoire of productions mounted in our performance spaces, our junior students are eligible to audition to serve as Acting Interns (in the second term of their senior year) with the Pioneer Theatre Company (PTC), a professional repertory (LORT-B) theatre on campus. Also in conjunction with PTC, we offer an internship class and a Senior Show. The class is open to any ATP senior and explores the practicalities of entering ‘the business’ with seminars that can include lectures from visiting LORT directors, a New York agent, the company’s New York casting director and a local television casting agent. The Senior Show is directed by a LORT director brought to campus by PTC and is open to any senior taking the internship class.
We are also constantly working to establish relationships across the country. The Children’s Theatre Company (Minneapolis) has visited our campus to look for interns and the Chautauqua Conservatory Theatre Company has sent a representative several times to audition our students for their summer school. We have placed students with both organizations regularly. We have participated in a pilot scheme for The Monument Valley Theatre Project that involved sending two of our students to work with young Native Americans teaching them acting, movement and voice as well as producing an original piece of theatre.
Graduates have gone on to internships with professional companies such as Houston's Alley Theatre, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Milwaukee Repertory Company, The Minneapolis Children’s Theatre and the Cleveland Play House. Others pursue advanced training at leading training institutions like NYU, The American Conservatory Theater, American Repertory Theatre/Harvard, Juilliard, Yale, the National Conservatory at the Denver Center, Circle in the Square, The University of Washington, The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, The Old Globe/University of San Diego and The University of Delaware. Others head for Hollywood or New York City. Graduates can be seen on Broadway, off-Broadway, and in major regional theatres, including the Guthrie, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Circle Repertory Co., Arena Stage, Yale Repertory Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the Old Globe Theatre and of course, Pioneer Theatre Company. Utah students are regularly seen on stage and in film and television in the United States and abroad.
Department of Theatre Core Requirements
THEA 1220 Acting for ATP* 3 Fall
THEA 1160 Production: Babcock/crew 1
THEA 1170 Production: Lab/crew 1
THEA 1550 Scenography 5
THEA 1713 Script Analysis 3 Fall
THEA 2713 Theatre and Theory 3 Spring
THEA 3600 Stage Management 3
OR THEA 3110 Beginning Directing 3 Fall
THEA 3720 Theatre History 3 CW** Fall
THEA 3730 Theatre History 3 CW** Spring
Total Required Core Hours 25
*THEA 1220 considered part of Theatre Core
**CW -- meets U of U Bachelor's Degree Requirements for Upper-division Communication/Writing
All course requirements for the major must be completed with a grace of "C" or better.
Actor Training Program Requirements
THEA 1223 Make Up (3)
THEA 1230 1st YR Acting for Actor Training program (3)
THEA 2010 2nd YR Singing for Actor Training Program (2)
THEA 2020 2nd YR Singing for Actor Training Program (2)
THEA 2220 2nd YR Acting for Actor Training Program (3)
THEA 2230 2nd YR Acting for Actor Training Program (3)
THEA 2030 2nd YR Voice & Speech for ATP (3)
THEA 2040 2nd YR Voice & Speech for ATP (3)
THEA 2240 2nd YR Movement for ATP (3)
THEA 2250 2nd YR Movement for ATP (3)
THEA 3260 3rd YR Movement for ATP (2)
THEA 3270 3rd Year Movement for ATP (2)
THEA 3010 3rd YR Singing for ATP (2)
THEA 3020 3rd YR Singing for ATP (2)
THEA 3070 3rd YR Voice and Speech for ATP (3)
THEA 3080 3rd YR Voice and Speech for ATP (3)
THEA 3230 Audition Technique I for ATP (2)
THEA 3231 Audition Technique II for ATP (2)
THEA 3170 3rd Yr Acting for ATP Styles (3)
THEA 3180 3rd YR Acting for ATP Styles (3)
THEA 4250 4th Year Movement ATP (3)
THEA 4090 4th Year Voice and Speech for ATP (3)
THEA 4140 Advanced Scene Study for ATP (3)
ATP Requirements: 64 credit hours
Department Core Requirements: 25 credit hours
THEA Elective Credits: 3 credit hours
General Education: 30 credit hours
TOTAL HOURS: 122
All course requirements for the major must be completed with a grade of "C" or better.
NOTE: University of Utah Requirements: Of the total of 122 semester credit hours, students must take 40 “upper-division” credit hours. Any class numbered 3000 or above is designated as “upper-division. Refer to the University of Utah Undergraduate Bulletin for Graduation Requirements
Optional THEA/ATP courses and/or instructor approval courses:
THEA 4050 PTC Company 4th year PTC Internship (instructor approval)
All University students cast in Department of Theatre productions must register for THEA 4919, Individual Performance Projects (1-5 cr hrs). You must sign up for at least one credit. When you have been cast, please contact your director before registering for THEA 4919
ATP FACULTY/MENTORS
Jerry Gardner Associate Professor, Movement/Butoh
Peder Melhuse Assistant Professor, Acting
Sarah Shippobotham Head of the ATP, Associate Professor, Acting, Dialects
Sandra Shotwell Professor, Voice and Speech
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