The Wake Forest University Department of Theatre and Dance is a department within Wake Forest University which offers students a BA major in Theatre and a minor in Dance or in Theatre. The Department mounts four theatre productions, two dance concerts, and a varying number of student productions each season. The Department is housed in the Scales Fine Arts Center. The Theatre wing of Scales has two theatre spaces: the 200+-seat, Jo Mielziner-designed, proscenium theatre, the Harold C. Tedford Mainstage, and the intimate 100-something seat thrust stage, The Ring.
Programs of instruction
Theatre Students who choose to major in theatre are required to take courses in a variety of subjects such as Acting, Voice and Movement, Design & Production, Directing, various upper-level design courses, Dramatic Literature, and History of Western Theatre. While a specific academic "track" of performance, or design, or technical theatre is not a requirement of the progrm, students who are interested in specific careers in the field are able to take specialized courses and independent studies, to hone specific skills. Students who choose to minor in theatre are required to take 20 credit hours. Students have gone on to careers in acting and directing. According to director J. E. R. Friedenberg, the program can teach techniques, tools, processes, and provide opportunities to practice the craft of acting and directing in an environment with constructive feedback.
Dance Dance is offered as an academic minor subject. Courses are open to all students and include Dance Composition, Ballet, Tap, Jazz, History of Dance, Improvisation, Social Dance, and Design & Production for Dance. Student dancers can also audition for the Wake Forest Dance Company, which produces two dance concerts every year. The company is composed of dancers with a variety of dance backgrounds and styles including ballet, jazz, modern, tap, and hip-hop. The dance concerts are exclusively cast from members of the Dance Company. The Fall Dance Concert is choreographed by faculty and professional guest artists, while the Spring Dance Concert is choreographed by student choreographers.
University Theatre University Theatre has been offering plays and musicals since 1942. In the first decade of the twenty-first century, there have been four main productions during each annual school season, and feature musicals, comedies, drama and tragedies.
Many productions combine skills from theatre and dance professors and tackle sometimes unusual projects. For example, the production Sonnets for an Old Century featured "newly dead" persons in an airy space who were encouraged by the "experienced dead" to make a statement to the world, and to relate stories of their lives. In the Wake Forest production of Smash, a socialist millionaire infiltrates an upper-class school for girls to try to plant the seed of socialism into their young minds since they may become "future cabinet ministers", but the comedy erupts into love triangles, mistaken identities, and light-hearted look at Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. The play Three Penny Opera was first performed in Germany in 1928, and it needed minor adjustments to make it work for modern audiences, such as modeling the character Peachum on Bernie Madoff:
Theatre productions have won positive reviews. Sonnets for an Old Century won plaudits for having a "strong ensemble performances". Friedenberg's production of Three Penny Opera kept the audience "fully engaged" including "more-than-risqué costumes" and excellent music, according to one report. The production of John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath in 2011 was praised for its "stagecraft" and was described as an "ambitious and admirable" take on "challenging material." The production of Eurydice was described as a "crazy salad of ideas about music, words, living in the present and remembering the past." Directing, according to Friedenberg, is not about multitasking but rather having the "experience and context to be able to figure out which tree needs attention when you look at the forest." It is a process of breaking down complex productions into smaller steps and approaching them in the right order. He added "I think the most important part of the learning curve is to trust yourself, to know your team and how they work, and to know when to push and when to wait." In 2011, Friedenberg recruited playwright John Cariani and star of the TV show Law & Order to work with Wake Forest theater students during their dress rehearsal phase of Cariani's play Almost, Maine.
Student groups The Department is the home of many theatre student groups. The most active is the service organization, the Anthony Aston Players, which supports the Department productions, produces their own plays and performances, and engages in campus-wide service and charitable events such as Project Pumpkin and Hit the Bricks. Other groups include the Chinese Theatre group, BiMoo, a student comedy troupe known as the Lilting Banshees, and a multicultural theatre ensemble known as Umoja. Student dance groups include the hip-hop dance club, Momentum Crew.
Productions + Theatre productions at Wake Forest 2000–2010DateProductionDirectorNotes2012-11-03As You Like ItSharon Andrews2011-10-28Almost, MaineJ. E. R. Friedenberg2009-09-25DoubtBrook Davis2009-10-30Sonnets for an Old CenturyCindy Gendrich & Christina Soriano2010-02-19The Threepenny OperaJ. E. R. Friedenberg2010-04-09MoonchildrenSharon Andrews2008-09-26Intimate ApparelJ. K. Curry2008-10-31All My SonsSharon Andrews2009-02-13The UnderpantsJ. E. R. Friedenberg2009-04-03King LearCindy Gendrich2007-09-28MachinalBrook Davis2007-11-02Twelve Angry MenJ. E. R. Friedenberg2008-02-21WingsCindy Gendrich2008-04-05The GondoliersJames Dodding2006-09-22An Enemy of the PeopleBrook Davis2006-10-27Nathan the WiseJ. K. Curry2007-02-16Psycho Beach PartyCindy Gendrich2007-04-06Romeo & JulietSharon Andrews2005-09-23Hay FeverCindy Gendrich2005-10-28Marvin's RoomRay Collins2006-02-10GintSharon Andrews2006-03-31Kiss Me KateJ. E. R. Friedenberg2004-04-25The Secret RaptureBrook Davis2004-10-29Catch-22Sharon Andrews2005-02-11AntigoneCindy Gendrich2005-04-01Twelfth NightJ. E. R. Friedenberg2003-09-26Angels in AmericaBrook Davis2003-10-31Goodnight DesdemonaJ. K. Curry2004-02-13Monkey BusinessSharon Andrews2004-04-02Into The WoodsCindy Gendrich2002-10-02The Marriage of Bette & BooCindy Gendrich2002-11-06The Cherry OrchardJ. E. R. Friedenberg2003-02-19Vieux CarreSharon Andrews2003-04-04The Servant of Two MastersJames Dodding2001-10-03The House of Blue LeavesJ. K. Curry2001-11-07A Midsummer Night's DreamSharon Andrews2002-02-20A Lie of the MindCindy Gendrich2002-04-12The Secret GardenBrook Davis2000-09-29LysistrataJ. E. R. Friedenberg2000-11-03Biedermann and the FirebugsBrook Davis2001-02-16Off the MapCynthia Gendrich2001-04-06School for ScandalSharon Andrews Source: University Theatre Production Archives
Notable alumni Branden Cook, actor, Masters of the Air, Chicago P.D. Michael Baron, Artistic Director at Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma in Oklahoma City. Kate Lambert, actor, Teachers, Tab Time, Reno 911! Mara McCaffray, actor, The Young and the Restless, Just Add Magic Curt Beech, art director for 2009 film Star Trek Allyson Currin, playwrightSydney-Chanele Dawkins, July 8, 2013, DC Metro Theater Arts, Accessed July 9, 2013 Cary Donaldson, actor, appeared in Merchant of Venice with Al Pacino. Drew Droege, actor, appeared in various films, television shows, and the Chloe web series Marc Palmieri, playwright, actor, screenwriter (graduated 1994)Cherin C. Poovey, January 11, 2013, Wake Forest Magazine, What's up with Marc Palmieri ('94)? Former pitcher faces a new lineup: acting, playwriting and teaching, Accessed June 12, 2013 Kate Roberts, actress, appeared in Broadway show of Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson
References
External links Department of Theatre and Dance website at Wake Forest