How to be a Theatre Major

First & foremost, read and know the Undergrad Handbook.

• Get involved & Take Charge

• Take Advantage of & Respect where you are

• Make Connections

• Audition well & often (Performance students)

• Be Smart about 479s

• Take your classes seriously

• Have fun!

1. Get involved... Take charge...
   1. Come to the UTAS Undergrad meetings – contact your rep.s on the UTAS Board, and run for UTAS office.  We/You CAN make a difference in the Department.  It is up to us to take ownership ourselves and affect the things that affect us.
   2. Get involved in the Staged Reading series and Directing class scenes – the more you are seen doing good work, the better chance of being cast.
   3. There are quite a few performing groups – from Improv to Sketch Comedy – in the Dept.  Go to the Open House at the start of the year.  Introduce yourself to group members.  Find your niche. 
   4. The new curriculum allows students to choose their own path, instead of forcing us into tracks of performance & design (only two of so many possibilities in our field).  Take advantage of this freedom.
   5. Take advantage of our mandatory advising every semester – talk to teachers in the Department (who are all professionals and scholars in their fields) if you want advice or guidance. 
   6. Go after the Department Scholarships. 

    

2. Take advantage of & respect where you are...
   1. CSPAC!  Nobody has what we have.  Take advantage of these world-class facilities.  Every week there are new performances, from the three Dept.s or rentals… and tickets are dirt cheap! UMD students can get two tickets at $8 for any CSPAC show. Theatre majors get one free to any Theatre Mainstage (available from two-weeks-till opening until one-week-till opening). AND for every CSPAC show, there are a certain amount of free student tickets, available at 11am the Monday before the performance.
   2. We’re a few steps away from the School of Music and Dept. of Dance.  Take a dance class.  Watch for notices and audition for the “Voice Minor” voice lesson series.  Sing in the choral ensembles.  Get the most out of your liberal arts ed. 
   3. Workshops.  CSPAC and UTAS do ‘em.  They’re free.  People on the outside pay BIG bucks for this stuff.  Take advantage.
   4. We are a car/metro ride away from one of the biggest theatre districts in the country.  See professional shows as often as possible.
   5. The studios and venues that we get to work in here are envied by many - make sure to respect that by always leaving a rehearsal room and the Lab just as you found it, with all props put away, desks in order, and no trash left behind.  Rehearsal Room policies.

    

3. Make connections...
   1. The faculty are busy, but never too busy to sit down and get to know you – stop by office hours, or set up appointments – build relationships with this incredible collection of theatre artists who will serve as great contacts when we leave UMD.
   2. From your very first semester, make contacts with the people in your classes.  With few exceptions, these are your classmates for the next four years.  Get to know them earlier rather than later. 
   3. UTAS, the Dept., and CSPAC are constantly bringing in guest-artists to work with students – go to as many of these as possible – introduce yourself to these artists – make connections.
   4. In everything you do – from your 479s and crew work to your fundamentals classes – do it well!  Teacher recommendations matter and can come in very handy later down the road. 

    

4. Audition well & often (Performance Students)...
   1. Read & know the play you’re auditioning-for.
   2. Read & know the show that your audition-piece is from.
   3. Prepare as far in advance as possible – it is borderline impossible to have a great audition when you don’t begin preparing until a week beforehand… teachers & directors will look for preparedness first & foremost (as well as being grounded and making smart choices with the work).
   4. Post-audition, whether you get in or not, go talk to the teacher/director – ask what you can work on. 
   5. If/when you get in to a class or show, do your job as an actor responsibly and well.  Your key to getting into your next class or show is how you do in this one. 
   6. Now in College is our chance to try out new things, get disciplined in our approach, and get used to (and start to learn to deal with the anxiety of) auditioning – something we’ll be doing for a long time.  Audition as often as possible… and get some good material under your belt for when you leave here.  There are majors who graduate having never auditioned for a Mainstage or Off Center.  Don't be them.
   7. Department's Tips for Auditioning.

    

5. Be smart about the 479 burden...
   1. Each 479 is 40 hours… and they make us do three of them!  120 hours before you graduate is no small task – so pace yourself.  Start early, and when you see notices providing 479 opportunities, think twice before turning it down.
   2. Whether it’s a firesale, 40 hours, or a job on a show, plan carefully – such a commitment can have serious consequences on your schoolwork and other commitments.  Adopt good time-management. 
   3. All of that said – when you do your 479 – do it well.  If you complete your hours and strike with a good attitude and you try your best, it can be the easiest “A” you get in college. 
   4. Department's 479 info. - this is a little confusing as it's from the old curriculum - 279s no longer exist - everything on this info. page now pertains to 479s.

    

6. Take your classes seriously...
   1. This one is simple.  For everyone - performers, design/production, education - the courses that we are offered (especially the upper-levels and the specialty courses in the new curriculum) are classes that artists in the "real world" pay big bucks to take.  While we're here, we might as well take advantage of them.
   2. That said, clearly, do your work, and do it well. 
   3. And don't miss class. 

    

7. HAVE FUN!  WE'RE IN COLLEGE!  CAST/CREW PARTIES!  YES!

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The Undergraduate Theatre Artists Society

Department of Theatre  ·  Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center  ·  University of Maryland