Singin' and Dancin' and Improv-in: Oh My!

Hey everyone!  My name is Amy Driscoll, and I’m a student here at the University of North Dakota.  I am actually a pre-nursing major, but I’m a theatre minor, and I love it!  


This semester I am involved in Godspell, Two Rooms, and I am also taking the Stagecraft class as well.  Godspell is currently the top priority in my theatre life right now, as we are getting ready to open the show on Tuesday.  So far, the show has been a lot of fun, and a lot of hard work as well.  We have been rehearsing five days a week for the past month and a half, and we have been learning so many things!  We have been singing and dancing and improving oh my!  I’ve learned a lot about singing and dancing at the same time, and it has been both frustrating and rewarding.  


I feel that we’ve all come a long way from the beginning and I know that I am more than ready for an audience tomorrow night!  


Overall, I think that Godspell is really a show for everyone, and everyone should come and see it!  It’s a high energy show, and interesting to watch from beginning to end.

Live Out Loud!

Amy Driscoll

Freshman Lives Out Loud... right away!

Hey!

My name is Lucas “Luke” Skjaret and I am one of the Freshman Theatre Art majors here at UND.  My first few weeks here at UND have been a blast! Over the summer I went into a little “drama withdrawal” but now that I am here, surrounded by a bunch of cool thespians, I am feelin’ good again!  I am currently one of the stage managers for our fall musical, Godspell.  It is been such an amazing experience.  I get see all aspects of the production and am able to be super involved in it.  I even get to participate in production meetings and behind the scene work--I feel like I am really working on Broadway!

My classes are going great also.  I am currently taking Acting One and Intro to Theatre.  Acting One is such a cool class.  We do a bunch of exercises that get our minds and bodies focused.  We are also learning a lot of the core skills in acting.  I really feel that I am learning the building blocks that will help me become a better actor.  Not to mention, theatre classes are usually small, so that much needed “intimate” relationship between myself and the other classmates is awesome.  We are currently working on monologues so we when audition for the spring productions, we will be fully prepared.

Introduction to Theatre is one of my bigger classes but the teacher, Brad Reissig, makes it feel like it is just him and I.  We are learning a lot of the basic stuff about theatre (types of theaters, periods of theatre) and we also read a lot of plays, which is nice cause an actor needs to have a large repertoire of plays.  Now, the basic stuff may seem kind of “lame” but it is actually really cool.  There is so much more to theatre than just a person on stage talking to themselves.  Also, Brad’s humor and fun teaching style is a nice break from my other, more boring, lecture classes.

All in all, I am super glad that I decided to be a Theatre Art major at the University of North Dakota.  I just can’t wait to get back to Burntess Theatre!

Live Out LOUD!

Luke Skjaret 

Welcome to the Livin' Out Loud Blog

Welcome to the Department of Theatre Arts Blog!  I'm Kathleen McLennan, Department Chair for UND Theatre, and it my pleasure to be the first to post on Livin' Out Loud.

We are in the midst of a very exciting academic and production year, and through this blog you will be able to read about the experiences of our students, faculty and staff.


We have great programs in place and exciting plans for the future with a place for you. We promise a full curriculum for theatre majors with small classes and one-on-one attention. First year students have opportunities to audition for main stage shows and several student-directing projects as well as an opportunity to work on production crews and in our shops. Students may direct and design in our lab theatre.


We welcome two new faculty this year, Professor Emily Cherry (MFA), who will head up our new musical theatre focus, and Professor Lon Hurst (MFA), who will oversee our dance minor.  Our new Dance Minor offers technique classes in Tap, Ballet, Jazz, and Modern Dance with advanced classes in Dance Composition and Choreography. Our Music Theatre curriculum includes classes in acting, dance, and classes in the Department of Music.


Theatre Arts at UND prepares students for careers in theatre and a host of other areas with its strong liberal arts tradition. The BFA in Performance honors the liberal arts while providing a rigorous curriculum in acting styles, dialect, and movement for the actor. Design students have regularly worked in the lab theatre and completed a main stage show as a senior project. All students take a common core of classes before electing an area of interest.


Students who want to study a little of everything in theatre may select from a broad array of classes in theatre history, dramatic literature, directing, and playwriting.


We're glad you are here... join in on the most exciting times of our student's lives, and LIVE OUT LOUD.