EmpowerMU

Theatre Bachelor of Arts (BA)

Direct Your Future with a Theatre Degree

Marywood's Theatre program will prepare you for a career in contemporary theatre by providing professional instruction in acting, directing, and design.

Students participate in all aspects of production, broadening their knowledge and developing an understanding of the diverse skills necessary to produce modern theatrical shows. Our small class sizes ensure that you receive personalized instruction. Courses are taught by faculty who are working professionals in the entertainment industry.

Productions

Each year Marywood University mounts theatrical and musical theatre productions on the main stage of the 1100-seat Sette LaVerghetta Center for Performing Arts. Students build the scenery, construct costumes, hang and focus lights, and perform in these productions.

Recent productions have included Godspell, To Kill A Mockingbird, Songs for a New World, Our Town, Measure for Measure, Dead Man’s Cell Phone, A Little Night Music, Crimes of the Heart, Miss Julie, Proof, Once Upon a Mattress, The Fantasticks, Elegies, Sunday in the Park with George, and All in the Timing.

All seniors have the opportunity to present a capstone project that represents the culmination of their work at Marywood. This capstone can be an original play or musical, a show directed by the student, a production featuring the student, or another creative endeavor.

  • Instruction in acting, playwriting, and stage direction
  • Small classes taught by working professionals
  • Three main productions each year, including a musical
  • Required senior capstone project

Top Employers

  • Freelance Playwright
  • Theaters
  • Motion Picture/Video Industries
  • Dance/Theater Studio

Top Career Paths

  • Actor
  • Stage Manager
  • Director
  • Theatrical Designer

Dig Deeper Into the Program Details

Undergraduate Admissions Requirements

  • Completed application
  • Official transcripts
  • Letter of recommendation
  • Official SAT and/or ACT test scores (Marywood is test optional)
  • Essay (optional)

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All Undergraduate & Transfer Students

Acceptance by the University is required before an audition can be scheduled. 

  • Apply to University.
  • FAFSA Deadlines for financial aid: February 15 (fall entry) and November 1 (spring entry).  

General Guidelines for All Auditions

Prospective theatre majors should contact Dr. Timothy Pyles (tpyles@maryu.marywood.edu) to arrange an acting audition or interview.

The Sette LaVerghetta Performing Arts Center (PAC) is a three-story structure located on the western edge of campus that houses the Music, Theatre, & Dance (MTD) department within the College of Arts and Sciences. The MTD department is comprised of faculty offices and studios, classrooms and practice rooms, music therapy lab and clinical observation room, small recital room, dance studio, Black Box Theatre, and main stage theatre.

The Performing Arts Theatre is the main stage theatre and recital hall for all University-related events. This large 1100-seat performance space contains a proscenium stage, orchestra pit, dressing rooms, box offices, control room, backstage area and the ability to fly scenery. Other features include sound and lighting boards, a 9-foot Steinway grand piano and 7-foot Steinway grand piano (on stage), a Mason & Hamlin grand piano (orchestra pit), and large Allen electronic organ.

PAC Room 104 (first floor) is used as a student recital hall, large-ensemble rehearsal space, and meeting room. It houses two grand pianos and has a raised stage for performances. Two classrooms, the music therapy lab and observation room, and music therapy faculty offices are also located on the first floor. The second floor houses teaching studios, ten practice rooms containing both upright Yamaha and Grand pianos, a small harp studio with three harps, guitar studio, and faculty offices.

Music Therapy Research Lab (Room 106, first floor) contains biofeedback equipment interfaced on PC (Electromyography/EMG -2 channels), Temperature, Skin Conduction (2 channels). Also included are stand-alone biofeedback instruments: Resp@Rate; OMRON and a Marshall-Auto-Oscillometric Electronic Digital Blood Pressure and Pulse Monitor with Print-Out. The Music Therapy Clinic (Room 106, first floor) is a fully-supervised clinical setting complete with a one-way mirror for observations. University music therapy students, under the supervision of the clinic coordinator, offer weekly services to community individuals with special needs.

Computer Lab (first floor) is an open lab classroom with sixteen MAC computers for student use. In addition to Microsoft Office and Internet capability, software applications include set/lighting design and scriptwriting.

The Electronic Music Lab (second floor) has eight computers with Internet access and Sibelius music-writing software; eight portable MIDI keyboards; two full-size electronic keyboards; and mixers. The Piano Lab (second floor) contains twelve Yamaha Clavinova electronic pianos in addition to a master piano, each featuring a full-sized touch-sensitive keyboard. Piano Lab also houses a MAC computer. Music scores library/storage space for choral and orchestral music is also located on the second floor. Six large classrooms and a student lounge are located on terrace floor/lower level.

Black Box Theatre (terrace floor/lower level) is a laboratory theatre designed with flex staging to accommodate student-directed productions and to support experimental theatre.

Across campus, The Swartz Center, adjacent to Loughran Hall houses the University chapel and is a dual-use space. The chapel offers the music department an intimate 180-seat performing space. Completely renovated in 2007, the Marian Chapel (formerly the IHM Marian Convent), boasts a new Peragallo pipe organ and new 7-foot Steinway grand piano.

The Latour Room -  located in Nazareth Hall Student Center, is a large multi-purpose venue that is occasionally used for music rehearsals and concerts.

The Rotunda, a large, multi-story dome clad in marble at the center of the Liberal Arts Center, is a main focal point of the campus. It is an especially effective performing space for unaccompanied vocal ensembles.

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Sette LaVerghetta Center for Performing Arts

2300 Adams Avenue
Map & Directions

The Sette LaVerghetta Center for Performing Arts is a three-story structure that houses the Music, Theatre, & Dance (MTD) department. The facility includes studios, classrooms and practice rooms, music therapy lab and clinical observation room, a small recital room, dance studio, and a Black Box Theatre.

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The rustic inside of the Marywood Black Box Theater with dark wooden floors, plants, and objects hanging from the walls

Black Box Theatre

2300 Adams Avenue
Map & Directions

Black Box Theatre, located on the terrace level of the Sette LaVerghetta Center for Performing Arts, is a laboratory theatre designed with flex staging to accommodate student-directed productions and to support experimental theatre.

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MTD Student Handbook

The information in this handbook is designed to familiarize you with university and department policies specific to the MTD degree programs.
Please save this handbook, as it will provide guidance throughout your studies at Marywood. Bring this handbook to all academic advising sessions.

Student Handbook

From #DayOne, Marywood is here for you each step of the way.

Marywood Players: The Marywood Players is the only official student-run theatre club on campus. Students have opportunities to be involved both onstage and backstage in faculty-directed mainstage productions, as well as student-directed workshops and showcases in the Black Box Theatre. We work closely with the Theatre Program but students of all majors are welcome to join our ensemble. If you are an actor, technician, or theatre enthusiast this is the club for you!

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