Theatre Program at St. Edward's University

Mary Moody Northen Theatre
The arena style theatre provides a very intimate experience for theatre goers. The action takes place within feet of the seats and often the players will interact with the audience if it fits the action of the play. Use of a variety of levels within the stage area brings the action to the audience from all directions. It makes for a delightfully surprising and personal theatre experience.


Theatre Program Requirements

  • Mary Moody Northen Theatre
  • Program Requirements
  • Scholarships
  • Actors Equity
 

Expectations (from handout "Success at MMNT")
You are expected to embrace the notion of a holistic, pre-professional Theatre arts training program, one that is designed to enhance your creativity, knowledge and experience as an ARTIST.
PARTNERSHIP -
Each year the faculty and staff make a commitment to teach courses and produce shows that will advance and challenge every one of the participants on a number of different levels. We view ourselves as am ensemble, a community and as a team. Expect us to be on your team; we're here to embrace the energetic notion of partnership and direct our energy toward clarity of communication and unity. Expect that we are on the same team and that we're here to assist in your development.
MULTIDIMENSIONAL BASELINE
for CASTING A TEAM -
 This concept (multidimensional) is among the more salient features of our program. Productions are designed and layered in such a way that often student-artists, faculty-artists, community and field guest artists comprise the production team, cast and crew. Our multidimensional baseline contrasts with those of other universities where productions are generally staffed by faculty, staff and student artists. Our multidimensional compositions allows for a richer textures production and allows students the opportunity to meet and work with a variety of artists in the field. Additionally, this feature allows us to compete for audiences in Austin's vital Theatre community. Thus, we expect you to know and value this multidimensional production team (director, scenic artists, designers, guest actors, movement specialists, choreographers and community artists).
DIVERSIFIED SEASON -
A large component of your training here is clearly experiential. We don't just expect you to know theatrical genres from an academic perspective; we want you to perform the theatrical genres. Additionally, as scholars in the field we are poignantly aware of the different functions that Theatre fulfills in culture Ð to entertain, to educate, to heal, to celebrate. We expect you to know and appreciate the different ways that a season of shows functions. We design seasons that allow its participants and the audience a variety of enriching and ennobling experiences.
CURRICULUM -
In recent years the field of Theatre arts has grown exponentially. Various fields have collided and fertilized each other to the extent that the once-distant genres of music, Theatre and dance are interacting with each other in ways unheard of only twenty years ago. To meet industry demands and to narrow the historical and traditional gaps found in and among the disciplines (film, media, Theatre, dance, movement, art and music) faculty and staff have been analyzing and assessing the extent to which our current curriculum provides students with timely knowledge, experience and practice. To this end, we expect you to be available to the experimentation and diversified offerings in the curriculum, to understand how time and technology have impacted our culture's "perception" of truth in general and the extent to which that notion has impacted how we teach and learn about Theatre.

Scholarships

The Theatre Department offers Performance Based Scholarships to incoming freshmen which can provide them from $1,000 - $6,000 per year for four years. This can be combined with academic scholarships. The Scholarship Audition Weekend each Spring is the only opportunity to audition for these scholarships. This event, also known as Preview Weekend, gives students and faculty a chance to get to know each other and see if the program fits the students needs. During the event numerous workshops are offered, auditions are held, and students get the chance to observe classes and see a performance of the current production.

Some of the workshops include:

  • Performing Musical Theatre
  • Acting from the Outside In
  • Professional Careers in Costume & Makeup Design
  • Visual Metaphor - Training the Total Artist
  • The Archeology of acting
  • Conceptualizing Characterization
  • Relaxation and Performance

Actor's Equity Opportunity
  • How it works
  • Requirements

"St. Edward's theatre department offers the only undergraduate program in the U.S. where you can earn Actor's Equity points while you train. I am truly grateful for all of the knowledge, experience and connections that I gained during that important time in my life."

Tim Russ, SEU alum. While a student at St. Edward's Tim understudied with Leonard Nimoy, or "Dr. Spock," in MMNT's production of Caligula. Among his many credits and honors, Tim along with fellow SEU alumni Nate Thomas, produced the award-winning film, East of Hope Street.

Membership Candidate Program

  • The Membership Candidate Program allows nonprofessional actors to gain membership into AEA by working as apprentices at specific Equity theatres.
  • To become a candidate, you must first secure a nonprofessional position at an Equity theatre that offers the Membership Candidate Program. Then complete the registration form supplied by the theatre and submit it with $100.00 registration fee payable by certified check or money order to AEA.
  • As a candidate, you must complete fifty (50) weeks of work for automatic eligibility. After completing forty (40) weeks you may take a written exam about AEA. Once the exam is passed you are eligible to join Equity. The fifty weeks do not have to be consecutive. They may be accumulated over any length of time at any number of Equity theatres authorizing the Membership Candidate Program.
  • Upon completion of the program, your eligibility to join AEA lasts for five years. During that time you cannot be engaged at any AEA theatre unless you are signed to an Equity contract.
  • When you wish to join AEA you must complete a membership application and pay the standard initiation fee. As of April 1, 1990, it is $800.00 plus the biannual dues of $70.00. The $100.00 registration fee you pay as a Membership Candidate goes toward this initiation fee.
  • A student is a nonprofessional matriculated for a degree in Theatre Arts at an accredited college or university and and may work under this status only in university-connected theatres or U/RTA theatres. The nonprofessional status of a bona fide student shall last as long as he/she is matriculate for a degree in Theatre Arts. If the student elects to register as a Membership Candidate, all provisions of the Membership Candidate category shall apply.

 
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