THE PRODUCTION PROGRAM IN THEATRE & DANCE

The Department of Theatre and Dance sponsors a production program that reinforces the belief that as an academic discipline, theatre and dance must be an intellectual and practical pursuit simultaneously. Serious training and intense attention to students as artists creates a collaborative rather than competitive atmosphere in the department, encouraging and nurturing students to feel empowered to be creative and independent. Each year, six major theatre productions, five dance concerts, and multiple studio theatre and dance performances are presented in the state-of-the art facilities in the Trexler Pavilion for Theatre & Dance and its companion facility, the Baker Center for the Arts.

Visiting faculty in theatre and dance are involved in classroom and production, offering a wealth of diverse professional experiences and styles for students to experience as a way of broadening their own journey as artists. All Muhlenberg students, regardless of major, are eligible to participate in the performance program and work on production crews. Main stage productions of the subscription series are directed, choreographed and designed by faculty, guest professional artists, and advanced theatre and dance students from the department.

Master classes, lectures, and special performances by visiting artists and artists in residence offer further opportunities for students to expand their creative horizons. Work that is developed in collaboration with visiting artists is frequently included in studio and main stage performances. Visiting choreographers create new work for the Master Choreographers Concert each season.

Our students provide considerable talent and leadership in the staging of both main stage and studio projects. Stage experience is considered an important feature of the training process for actors, dancers, directors, designers, technicians and choreographers. Students experience a diverse repertoire of classical, contemporary, musical and experimental work.

Season 2009-10 •Season 2008-09 • Season 2007-08 • Season 2006-07

Students with a serious interest in musical theatre performance can study acting and dance in the theatre arts program and receive vocal training in the department of music. The program is also committed to including live music as an element of dance and theatre, and in addition to having regular accompanists in dance classes, musical scores are frequently commissioned for concert and stage performances.

Students are encouraged to perform, design, and direct studio work, and selected students who have excelled in the studio work are invited to direct, design, and choreograph on the main stage. Student playwrights are featured in the program "New Voices" and directors in "New Visions" as part of the subscription seasons.

Muhlenberg Theatre Association • Muhlenberg Dance Association • Muhlenberg Summer Music Theatre

MUHLENBERG THEATRE ASSOCIATION

The Muhlenberg Theatre Association (MTA) has a membership of more than a hundred students each year, and the student coordinators and technical directors are an integral part of the department's production programs. MTA is represented by a board of directors and funded by the Muhlenberg College Student Council. Members represent both majors and non-majors at the college, and all positions and auditions are open.

MTA provides student technical leadership on main stage performances and supervises all aspects of the student-directed studio projects. The department's studio productions feature works initiated by MTA's Special Productions Coordinator. Student directors, actors and designers often present striking productions of difficult plays and original scripts as studio projects.

 

MUHLENBERG DANCE ASSOCIATION

The Muhlenberg Dance Association (MDA) has over one hundred members each year. The goal is to provide performance opportunities for members of the campus dance community, sponsor community service through dance, and suppport trips to dance concerts in the Lehigh valley, Philadelphia, and New York City.

Muhlenberg Dancers assist in coordinating studio and main stage performances, perform and choreograph in student-initiated studio concerts, and participate in the American College Dance Festival. Dance performance opportunities also include three off-campus touring ensembles under the direction of faculty: Jazztap Ensemble, Six Meters Improvisation Ensemble and an on-campus ensemble, Copasetic Rythms.

MUHLENBERG SUMMER MUSIC THEATRE
Broadway at Home in the Lehigh Valley

The Muhlenberg Summer Music Theatre company includes guest Equity actors, veteran community artists, and exceptional students on stage and a professional design team and administrative staff behind the scenes. The regional company produces a season of extravagant Broadway-style plays and mounts innovative musical plays for young children each season. Artistic directors are Charles Richter, director; Curtis Dretsch, designer; and Jeremy Slavin, musical director.

Since 1981, the festival has presented critically-acclaimed productions of Crazy for You, Carousel, The Pirates of Penzance, Of Thee I Sing, Evita, Into the Woods, My Fair Lady, and The Music Man among others. The Muhlenberg Summer Music Theatre was one of the first organizations to receive the Arts Ovation Award from the City of Allentown and continues to bring thousands of people to the Muhlenberg campus each summer.

The summer program at Muhlenberg College offers extensive employment opportunities for performers, technical artists and musicians as well as training opportunities for teenagers in both dance and theatre. For detailed information on auditions, internships or employment, e-mail Jessica Bien.

The Muhlenberg program is recognized regionally for the quality and scale of the production staging of musicals of the American Theatre. For details on how to become a volunteer, subscriber, contributor, or sponsor of these programs, e-mail Shawn Proctor.