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South Carolina School of the Arts
The Department of Theatre & Dance
The show is about to start!
We work hard in the Department of Theatre and Dance at the South Carolina School of the Arts. Everyone probably stays a little too busy— or maybe a lot too busy—but we love it!
The dance classes and voice lessons can be tough, taking notes after rehearsal requires putting aside ego, but in the end, we see significant progress and so does our audience. During the applause, we point upwards to acknowledge our Lord after each performance, then we point to those who have been working behind the scenes in the tech booth and finally we enjoy taking a bow. It’s a good way to do “show business!”
About The Department of Theatre & Dance
Whether your goal is to perform, design, stage manage, or tackle any other career in Theatre and Dance, the South Carolina School of the Arts is the institution where you will receive the highest level of training. Accredited by the National Association of Schools of Theatre (NAST), our theatre and dance programs consist of three core categories of training:
Innovative Training
Receive rigorous instruction in a multitude of techniques across all theatre and dance disciplines, as well as training catered specifically to you with our small student to professor ratio
Award-Winning Skills
Train under professional artists who know how to help you produce quality performances that get national recognition
Abundant Opportunities
We produce two plays, two musicals, and two dance concerts on our main stage every year. Additionally, numerous project and class productions will showcase your talents year-round.
Programs
BA in Dance
Understand, utilize and master fundamental theatrical and dance skills for independent expression.
BA in Theatre
Designed to be a comprehensive, well-rounded education in theatre within the context of a liberal arts education.
BA in Theatre Design
Designed to teach you to create exciting theatrical environments that will transport audiences to other worlds.
BFA in Musical Theatre
Designed to prepare you for a professional career as a “triple threat” on Broadway, national tours, regional theatres, theme parks, and cruise lines.
BFA in Theatre: Acting
Designed to challenge you to become a well-rounded and daring actor through the most time-tested and innovative approaches.
Theatre & Dance Series
Throughout the academic year, the Department of Theatre & Dance at The South Carolina School of the Arts hosts two musicals, two plays, and two dance concerts for you to attend!
October 2023
The Secret Garden
October 4-7 at 7:30 pm | October 7 at 2:00 pm
Henderson Auditorium
Music by Lucy Simon
Book and Lyrics by Marsha Norman
Based on the novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Directed by Dr. David Sollish
This enchanting classic of children’s literature is reimagined in brilliant musical style by composer Lucy Simon and Marsha Norman, the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright of Night Mother. Orphaned in India, 11-year-old Mary Lennox returns to Yorkshire to live with her embittered, reclusive uncle Archibald and his disabled son Colin. The estate’s many wonders include a magic garden which beckons children with haunting melodies and the “Dreamers,” spirits from Mary’s past who guide her through her new life, dramatizing The Secret Garden’s compelling tale of forgiveness and renewal.
November 2023
Frankenstein
November 3-4 and 9-11 at 7:30 pm | November 4 & 11 at 2:00 pm | November 5 at 3:00 pm
Belk Theatre
By Nick Dear
Directed by Robert Homer-Drummond
Childlike in his innocence but grotesque in form, Frankenstein’s bewildered creature is cast out into a hostile universe by his horror-struck maker. Meeting with cruelty wherever he goes, the friendless Creature, increasingly desperate and vengeful, determines to track down his creator and strike a terrifying deal.
Fall Dance Concert
November 16-18
Henderson Auditorium
February 2024
Grease
February 20-24 at 7:30 pm | February 24 at 2:00 pm | February 25 at 3:00 pm
Belk Theatre
Music, Lyrics, and Book by Jum Jacobs and Warren Casey
Directed by Dr. David Shollish
Choreographed by Katie Stewart
Here is Rydell High’s senior class of 1959: duck-tailed, hot-rodding “Burger Palace Boys” and their gum-snapping, hip-shaking “Pink Ladies” in bobby sox and pedal pushers, evoking the look and sound of the 1950s in this rollicking musical. Head “greaser” Danny Zuko and new (good) girl Sandy Dumbrowski try to relive the high romance of their “Summer Nights” as the rest of the gang sings and dances its way through such songs as “Grease Lightnin’,” “It’s Raining on Prom Night,” “Alone at the Drive-In Movie” recalling the music of Buddy Holly, Little Richard, and Elvis Presley that became the soundtrack of a generation.
March 2024
Spring Dance Concert
March 21-23 at 7:30 pm
Henderson Auditorium
April 2024
Our Town
April 3-7 at 7:30 pm | April 6 at 2:00 pm | April 7 at 3:00 pm
Belk Theatre
By Thornton Wilder
Directed by Dr. David Larson
Timeless, profound and beguilingly simple, Wilder’s theatrical classic was described by Edward Albee as “the greatest American play ever written.” Our Town presents the small town of Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire at the turn of the twentieth-century. The three-act play is narrated by a stage manager and performed with minimal props and sets. The play depicts the simple daily lives of the Webb and Gibbs families as their children fall in love, marry, and eventually face their own mortality in one of the most climactic scenes of the American theatre. The message is simple–relish the moments that you have.
Facilities
Faculty
Summer Repertory Theatre
The AU Repertory Theatre or “AU Rep” as it has come to be known features the best student-actors and technicians from local high schools, working hand-in-hand with theatre professionals and students from the South Carolina School of the Arts at Anderson University.
