Theatre Arts
- Theatre arts majors work as actors, assistants to faculty designers, stage managers, production managers, technical directors, and choreographers. Most students act, design, technical direct, or manage at least one production annually and often assist faculty on outside professional productions.
- Alumni include Emmy Award-winning actors, lighting directors, Broadway designers and stage managers, costume technicians and wardrobe managers, technical directors, and lighting programmers and technicians. Notable performance alumni include John Turturro, Aida Turturro, Michael Badalucco, and Joan Chen, among others.
- Student performers compete annually at the Kennedy Center American College Festival, winning several national awards over the past several years at the national conference. Our outstanding performers travel to the Actors Theatre of Louisville annually to audition for the acting company. Since 2010, two of our seniors have moved on to full acting internships at ATL. Many recent performance graduates have moved on to work Off Broadway, in regional theatre, and in film and television.
- The Department’s vast alumni network works vigorously with the department to ensure student placement and provide employment opportunities throughout the country, especially in New York City. Most serious graduates from the past decade have found gainful employment in the entertainment industry or full assistantships in leading graduate programs.
- The Department is particularly proud of its graduate placement record during the past 15 years, with unparalleled acceptance into the nation’s leading graduate programs. Dozens of alumni have received full assistantships and tuition waivers.
- From 2009 to 2014, overall student enrollment in the Department of Theatre Arts grew by more than 60 percent. Much of this growth can be attributed to the recent success of the Design and Technology concentration, which expanded from a dozen students to 60 during that period. Overall, the theatre BA program at New Paltz has become one of the strongest in the nation.
