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Welcome to University of Miami Department of Theatre Arts!

Welcome!

University of Miami Theatre is strictly an undergraduate training program. Our students study directly with Professors, not graduate assistants. Our Professors remain active in the profession working in the country's leading regional theaters, in New York, and in film and television. Our students do not take a back seat to graduate students in casting, design assignments, directing opportunities, or in research opportunities.

Our student to teacher ratio is very low, offering the kind of personal attention one associates with traditional theatrical mentorship. We know that the keystone to a superior education is an excellent student/mentor relationship.

First-rate productions are a part of our over-all curriculum. All of our programs contribute to fully produced seasons at our Jerry Herman Ring Theatre, one of Southern Florida's most respected cultural centers. Additional projects are mounted in our fully equipped studio theater.

We have a long and impressive record of alumni success. This is an important and supportive professional community.

The University of Miami is in one of the nation's most beautiful cities, Coral Gables. This lush tropical setting supports an equally lush professional arts community and a vibrant multi-cultural population. In recent years, the world entertainment industry has shifted focus from traditional professional centers to Southern Florida. Noted in Premiere magazine as one of the nation's new film centers, the greater Miami area offers students real world experience with the best of the entertainment industry.

We have equal commitment to our Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Fine Arts students. We have an impressive roster of visiting artists and professionals.

A Bachelor of Arts Theater major receives experience in all the elements of the theater: acting, directing, technical design and production, dramatic structures, and the role of the audience as critic and consumer. These areas are enriched with study of dramatic literature, history, and a sense of the great movements in human thought and action. Additionally, the BA student experiences the breadth of the traditional Liberal Arts study. This undergraduate degree in theater serves the student as a broad base for any career choice and for advanced graduate study.

A Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Theater offers more depth in the selected area of study and, perhaps, not quite as much breadth. This degree embraces its intention, which is professional preparation. While it is difficult to teach the artistic impulse or talent, it is important to provide students with the means to access their native talent through craft. A graduate of our BFA programs should expect to have been offered the skills that will make her/him competitive in the profession as it exists today.

In the end, your best college experience will depend on the "fit" of mentorship, environment, opportunity and your unique talents and dreams. Now that you have visited us on the web, I hope you will visit us in person and see first hand why so many prominent actors, directors and designers have found their best fit at the University of Miami. I look forward to meeting you!

Sincerely,

Vincent J. Cardinal, Chairman
Department of Theatre Arts

The Department of Theatre Arts at the University of Miami offers intensive degree programs to prepare individuals for the numerous careers one can pursue in theatre. Individuals may audition/interview to enter these programs, which provide the students with convervatory-style training which focus tightly on the studies of theatre arts. At the end of the students' college studies, they are granted a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in their chosen specialization.

In addition, we feel that the theatre provides skills which can prepare students for countless numbers of careers. Thus, we offer a well-rounded, liberal arts degree in which students can explore the hundreds of courses the University of Miami offers. This degree also allows students the opportunity to double-major with another program in the university. Also, a minor in theatre is available for students who feel that theatre studies can benefit their studies toward another career. Students wishing for the liberal studies degree are granted a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Arts upon the completion of their college studies.

Special Guests Meet With Students

Singer - Song Writer JOHN MAYER with students during a Master Class at the Jerry  Herman Ring Theatre. 

Student Q&A with Angela Lansbury

Mission Statement

The mission of the University of Miami's Department of Theatre Arts is to equip students to work in professional theatre, film, and television or to gain admission to the best professional graduate programs.

Our graduates will be capable of applying learned theatrical techniques without guidance and capable of making independent creative judgment. Our broad aim in theatre training is professional excellence combined with a depth of human understanding, freedom of expression, and imagination in communication for all practitioners of the art and craft of theatre.

Compositional Statement

The Department of Theatre Arts at the University of Miami is comprised of several undergraduate degree programs. The Department offers professional training programs (Bachelor of Fine Arts) in five areas: performance, musical theatre, theatre management, stage management, and design/production. It also offers a general degree, Bachelor of Arts in Theatre, with no specialization. Admission into the professional BFA programs is by audition, portfolio review/interview only. These programs are very selective as the Department of Theatre Arts auditions over 1,800 students each year.

Meet A Few Of Our Gifted Faculty

 Vincent J. Cardinal, Chair; Producing Artistic Director, Jerry Herman Ring Theatre
(305) 284-4474
E-mail: vcardinal@mail.as.miami.edu

Vincent J. Cardinal is the Chairman of the Theatre Arts Department at the University of Miami. Previously, he was the Director of the School of Theater and Head of the MFA Playwriting Program at Ohio University. He served as the Director of Circle Repertory Company's School of Theater and as an Associate Artist with the 27 year old off-Broadway Company.

He graduated in Playwriting from the Yale School of Drama where he was honored with the ASCAP-Cole Porter Award for Best-Collected Work. His play The Colorado Catechism premiered at Circle Repertory Company and has subsequently been published by Samuel French, Inc. and produced internationally

 Bruce Miller, Director of Acting Conservatory
(305) 284-4128, bmiller@miami.edu

Bruce Miller is Director of Acting Programs and teaches acting, directing, and script analysis. His articles on acting appear regularly in Dramatics Magazine and Teaching Theatre. His textbook on acting craft, The Actor as Storyteller, is published by Mayfield Publishing Company. His most recent book for drama teachers and students, Head First Acting, is available at bookstores.

Miller’s stage productions have received many citations including the Moss Hart Award for "most outstanding production" by the New England Theatre Conference in 1992. He has been a recipient of the E.E. Ford Foundation Award for Teaching Excellence, and has been recognized three times by the Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers.

He regularly conducts acting workshops for teachers sponsored by the Educational Theatre Association. He is a member of AEA, SAG, and AFTRA; and holds an MFA in Acting from Temple University.

David Alt, Program Director - School of Music Musical Theatre Program
Phone: (305) 284-4886
E-mail: dalt@miami.edu

Dr. Alt is head of the School of Music's Musical Theatre Program. As musical theatre students from UM's School of Music are enrolled in the Department's Theatre Conservatory, Dr. Alt teaches in the conservatory, works closely with the theatre faculty in planning curriculum, evaluates student progress, and helps select plays for the Ring Theatre season.

He holds a DMA degree from the University of Iowa and a Certificate from the Conservatoire de Musique, Geneva, Switzerland, has studied with Wesley Balk, Minnesota Opera Institute, French baritone Gerard Souzay and soprano Maralin Niska. Nominated for the Carbonnel Award for Best Actor in South Florida Regional Showcase for his work in Brecht on Brecht.

Dr. Alt has been heard recently in reviews of the music of Bernstein, Coward, Gershwin, Berlin, Sondheim, and Weill. He has also recieved his MA from the University of Northern Iowa and BA from University of Northern Iowa.

Facilities

The Department of Theatre Arts facilities are housed in two complexes — the Jerry Herman Ring Theatre and the Hecht Rehearsal and Studio Complex. The Alvin Sherman Family Stage in the Jerry Herman Ring Theatre can be configured as a proscenium, thrust, or arena stage.

This facility has updated sound and lighting systems, including a computer light board and a programmable sound mixer. The production facilities for this theatre consist of well equipped scene, costume, and electrics shops. The box office uses a fully computerized ticketing system. The Hecht Rehearsal and Studio complex consists of a black box theatre, four rehearsal studios, and a design studio.

Prospective Students

Students interested in entering the Bachelor of Arts program are not required to participate in the audition process. Though the BA program is vigorous in its approach to training, due to the fact that we allow the student to explore all areas of the theatre-making process, we do not require them to audition.

Programs are required to submit a supplemental audition application to the Department of Theatre Arts and audition or interview for the program, as well as apply to the university.

 

BFA in Musical Theatre

Students...

Enjoy the luxury of a low student/teacher ration: an average of 10 students to each faculty member.

Are not competing against graduate students for stage roles or classes. The Department does not have an MFA graduate program and thus focuses all of its energies on its undergaduate students.

Take classes in acting, voice/speech, movement, dance and singing every semester from some of the best teachers in the country.

The Musical Theatre program offered by the Department is a highly competitive conservatory based program. Unique in its approach, the Musical Theatre program is complementary to the Performance program. The student is trained to be a singing actor who possesses a solid vocal and acting technique for work, not only on the musical stage, but also in non-musical theatre as well.

Rounding out the curriculum is the sequence in dance and movement that embraces all forms of movement and dance techniques necessary for a successful career in theatre. Students are exposed to a wide ranging repertoire of plays both in the classroom and during our production season.

Bachelor of Arts Degree Program

Students in the Bachelor of Arts degree program must meet all the requirements of the College of Arts and Sciences, and then choose theatre as their major. Students choosing the BA degree must first take five core courses. These core courses include classes in acting, stagecraft - scenery, costumes, lighting, and prop construction, and theatre history.

Following the completion of these courses, the student is allowed to explore other elements of the theatre from a number of different courses. The BA degree is developed to give the student a well-rounded background in all areas of theatre.

Contact Us

Department of Theatre Arts
University of Miami
P.O. Box 248273
Coral Gables, FL 33124-4820

Phone: 305.284.4474
Fax: 305.284.5702
Email :theatredepartment@miami.edu

And Visit Us on the Web by CLICKING HERE!