Students in Theater Professor Mary Vreeland's  Acting 1 class work on their final scenes in Weston Auditorium last week. This course is an introduction to professional stage performance techniques. Students learn how to build a character using techniques such as playing actions, status, physical transformation, improvisation, relaxation and script analysis. Students perform monologues and scene work for the class and analyze and develop them.

Students in Assistant Professor, Film and Video, Rachelle A. Dermer'sShort Film Story Development course prepare for the upcoming Screenplay Table Reads event featuring screenplays by students in Writing the Series & Short Film Story Development this Wednesday, December 20, 2023, 6 PM to 9 PM in the Ellis White Lecture Hall. Jonah Pishkin, with the help of fellow students playing various roles, conducts a table read of his script. Jonah is currently performing in  It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play at the Wallace Theater for the Performing Arts in the McKay Complex.

Beginning this evening, the Communications Media Department will present its production of It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play at the Wallace Theater for the Performing Arts in the McKay Complex. Written by Joe Landry and directed by Fitchburg State Professor Kelly Morgan and student Allison Thompson, the classic movie is retold as a charming 1940s-themed radio show, including a live Foley operator for sound effects. Experience the impressive vocal range of the actors as they play multiple characters "over the air." Learn more about the production and when to see it here.

Students assist Technical Theater Professor Jo Nazro and continued building the  set for the upcoming production of It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play at the Wallace Theater for the Performing Arts in the McKay Complex . Local Theater Professional David Allen Prescott was on hand to assist with the stage buildout. Learn more about the production here.

 Students in Theater Professor Mary Vreeland's Stage Movement course take turns  pantomime scenes for fellow students in Weston Auditorium. This workshop-oriented course utilizes the basis techniques of movement with emphasis on developing each student's potential for effective physicalization of a character on stage.

Theater Professor Kelly Morgan broke students in his Directing the Play course into groups of actors and directors. Each were given a scene and strategy which they then workshopped in Weston Auditorium. Directing the Play is an introduction to the professional stage director. Students will study the work of great directors. They will stage short productions for the class. Students will learn to analyze and develop their scene work. Students will attend performances of productions on and off campus and actively analyze them in class.

Students assist Technical Theater Professor Jo Nazro with creating the set for the Theater Programs production of the live radio play of the holiday classic "It's a Wonderful Life." The Frank Capra classic will be presented as a live radio broadcast in front of a studio audience, with actors performing as dozens of characters and creating sound effects. Learn more about our Theater Concentration here. 

Honors student Darcy Lacey who is taking a research semester to focus on film directing, is working with Communications Media's Assistant Professor, Film and Video, Rachelle A. Dermer. Taking this research semester to study acting and acting methodology which she is applying to directing a short film entitled "I Am, Myself, Alone." Darcy chose to direct the script by a fellow Communications Media student Alyssa Fields that is about acting -- featuring Shakespearean dialogue and swordplay. She has worked with Theater Professor Kelly Morgan on combat staging and choreography.

Students in Theater Professor Kelly Morgan's Voice and Articulation course work on  elements of vocal production and presentation with special emphasis on the study and application of phonetic theory in Weston Auditorium.

Students in Theater Professor Kelly Morgan's Advanced State Combat course work out the choreography of their fight scenes in Weston Auditorium.