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Introduction
The WSU School of Performing Arts-Musical Theatre (MT) program offers a unique approach to pre-professional training culminating in a Bachelor of Arts (BA) or a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA). The BFA prepares performers for the diverse demands of professional careers with a degree program emphasizing development of specialized technical skill in acting, singing, and dancing. Other curriculum includes MT Scene Study, Audition Class, Coaching, Directing the Musical, and Senior Project. The BA was designed to offer more flexibility to students wishing to explore additional options in the entertainment business. In addition to technical training, the student chooses a minor outside the SPA curriculum that will enhance their goal to work in the industry.
Performances during the year include two Main Stage musicals and the opportunity to audition for plays, operas and dance concerts. Opportunities to work with nationally recognized guest artists frequently occur throughout the student’s college career. This balance between professional faculty and guest artists results in enhanced technical training, performance opportunities, and networking in an effort to develop both an educated artist and a future professional performer.
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Mission Statement
Students pursuing a BFA or a BA in the MT program will develop knowledge, techniques, and collaborative skills conducive to a lifetime of independent learning and creativity. Through coursework study and production/ performance experiences, students will be prepared to work in the professional theatre, the entertainment industry, and performing arts venues across the country specific to their talents.
Faculty and students will engage fiercely in the discovery and development of a student’s unique skill set, personal aspirations, and marketability through coursework, production, and the jury/assessment process. The program enhances the campus community, the greater Wichita area, and the surrounding thirteen counties through numerous performances each year.
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Objectives
The primary goal of the MT program is to prepare students for a professional career in the performing arts with an emphasis on versatility and marketability.
Develop essential skills and knowledge in all three disciplines (singing, dancing, acting).
Demonstrate a skill set as an actor-singer-dancer that is at a marketable and professional level.
Apply techniques and discoveries mastered in coursework to upper division performance courses as well as Main Stage and Second Stage productions to create compelling and fully realized characters in performance.
Comprehend the level of tenacity required of the professional performing arts industry and decipher how to fit into it.
Prepare and create an audition book/professional marketable material to enter the professional audition world upon graduation.
Synthesize business and marketing skills, industry trends, personal skill set and aspirations to confidently determine and manage career path.
