Musical Theatre

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As a musical theatre major at Wilkes, your intense training in acting, voice and dance will be grounded in the liberal arts and sciences. Our bachelor of fine arts program focuses on preprofessional training to give you a competitive edge.

Program Snapshot

Program Type	Format	Credit Hours
Major	On Campus	122

Why Study Musical Theatre at Wilkes?

The musical theatre program at Wilkes provides robust, preprofessional, conservatory-style theatre training grounded in the liberal arts and sciences. We are committed to small class sizes, individual support for each student and our program’s mission to create skilled, accomplished theatre artists.

As one of the only schools in the region that offers a bachelor of fine arts in musical theatre, we provide more for students who want to commit their focus to the arts and earn additional credits for a robust training and learning experience.

Our performers showcase their craft on our main stage in the Dorothy Dickson Darte Center for the Performing Arts and also explore innovative works in the intimate setting of our black box theatre.

We stage a variety of productions, including Broadway musical hits, relevant modern dramas and Shakespearean classics, so you’ll perform a variety of acting, voice and dance styles.

What Will You Learn as a Musical Theatre Student?

Train with a musical theatre focus in an intensive course of study of acting, voice, and dance
Gain a well-rounded foundation of technical theatre skills
Use and offer feedback to grow your confidence as a theatre professional
Navigate professional auditions and industry expectations
Work as part of a production team to bring excellence to the stage

Upcoming Audition Dates

Once you’re an admitted student, you must schedule an audition for admission to any theatre program and to be eligible for scholarship awards.

Find out more about requirements and schedule your theatre arts audition.

Schedule Your Audition

Program Highlights

Get on Stage

We have a low student-to-faculty ratio and a collaborative, cohesive department that’s about the size of a small repertory company. Our musical theatre BFA students have ample opportunity to practice their craft on the main stage starting with their first year on campus.

Business Focus

As a preprofessional training program, we prepare students for the business side of the profession and ready them to navigate the complex entertainment industry. Our students also have advantage over the competition through extensive audition training, coaching and experience.

Networking

Our students and productions earned recognition from the American College Theatre Festival sponsored by the Kennedy Center. The annual festival is only one of the industry networking opportunities available to our majors.

It’s nice because it’s small. You’re not a number. Your professors know you.
Brianna Rowland '21

Brianna's Story

Theatre Arts Season

main stage productions each year, including two musicals

black box productions annually

478

seats in the Darling Theatre of the Dorothy Dickson Darte Center for the Performing Arts

Wilkes University Theatre stages four main stage productions each year, two musicals and two non-musicals, plus multiple black box productions.

Our main performance space, the Darling Theatre in the Dorothy Dickson Darte Center for the Performing Arts, features a 34-foot-deep proscenium stage and 480 seats.

The theatre boasts a hydraulic orchestra pit, state-of-the-art lighting, a 36-line set and a scene shop with the most modern safety standards, as well as extensive costume and prop facilities.

You can create smaller, innovative work in our intimate black box theatre or explore a range of movement styles in our dance space.

The Darte Center, also known to the Wilkes community as the DDD, also hosts several rehearsal rooms for you to get your work up on its feet. As a musical theatre major at Wilkes, you have plenty of space outside the classroom to hone your talents.

Careers & Outcomes

The entertainment field is one of the largest industries in this country and offers a wide variety of opportunities that both include and extend beyond the stage and screen production space. A musical theatre BFA prepares you for a variety of career opportunities in front of audiences, behind the scenes, or as part of the production process. Graduates from our program have gone on to pursue careers in performance, as well as writing and directing, film and theatrical production, and arts education.