The BFA in Design and Production offers students professional theatrical training within the broader context of a liberal arts education. The BFA degree provides strong foundational knowledge in all areas of theatre design, technology, and management. The program seeks to prepare students to enter the fields of theatre design, theatrical production, entertainment technology, and stage management. The program will also prepare students for graduate study in design and production.
Our BFA is unique in that students are able to emphasize in an area of your choosing: costumes, lighting, scenery, sound, props, stage & production management, and technical direction. Students will take a minimum of five courses in their concentration area and there are opportunities for some students to do a double emphasis in two areas.
As a professionally based training program, it is critical for TheatreOCU students to work within the industry as their collegiate career evolves. At the Oklahoma City University School of Theatre we strive to involve our students in the industry in a wide range of opportunities. Whether it is with our professional partners or through internships, TheatreOCU students are actively in our industry.
The School of Theatre and TheatreOCU have partnerships with three local professional performing arts companies. These affiliations give our students the opportunities to gain professional experiences in performance, design, production and management.
Oklahoma Children's Theatre (OCT) is the professional children's theatre company for the state of Oklahoma, and they are in residence on the OCU campus. OCT provides extraordinary live theatre and interactive educational experiences for young audiences. OCT offers a number of productions and educational programs for young audiences throughout the year including, two main stage co-productions with TheatreOCU, a statewide touring production, a youth theatre program, an arts collaboration program with local daycare centers and educational classes and camps held during the summer at OCU. For more information, go to www.oklahomachildrenstheatre.org.
Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma is the state's leading professional theatre company. For 50 years, Lyric has produced classic and contemporary musicals and plays featuring both nationally known Broadway stars and local favorites. Lyric produces four smaller works in the Plaza Theatre during the spring, fall, and winter, as well as four large scale, fully orchestrated musicals at the Civic Center Music Hall each summer. Lyric operates under an URTA contract with Actors' Equity Association and employs members of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers and United Scenic Artists. For more information, go to www.lyrictheatreokc.com.
Oklahoma City Ballet and the OCU School of Theatre’s Design and Production program have entered into a new professional partnership. This dynamic pairing will give OCU students opportunities to work in a variety of lighting and management related positions in a professional setting while supporting OKC Ballet’s productions at the Civic Center Music Hall. Oklahoma City Ballet seeks to inspire its audience through classical and contemporary dance performances, a strong educational program, and community service. To find out more about Oklahoma City Ballet, please visit www.okcballet.com.
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The costume design and technology program at OCU is based in preparing our students to effectively visualize, communicate, and realize their own concepts for professional theatre. Courses in costume design cover discussion, style, and the presentation of ideas, as well as the research and historical interpretation involved in design for the stage. Students learn how to successfully implement their designs, aided by the knowledge and guidance of our costume designer and fully staffed costume shop.
Throughout their four years, costume design and technology majors receive hands-on experience in the theatre costume shop- led by our costume shop manager, a full-time cutter/draper, and two professional stitchers. Each semester they will have the opportunity to assist or design for the School of Theatre and School of Music main stage seasons, which include Opera, Musical Theatre, Contemporary Theatre, and Classical Theatre styles. Costume design students study rendering techniques, fashion history, design history, and text analysis, as well as construction and patterning techniques; they also have the opportunity for craft, makeup, and hair design studies within the major. Majors are also encouraged to present at annual regional and national conventions in order to receive additional professional feedback on their work.
Costume Design II—a deeper study of design for different genres, character development, and rendering style.
Costume Technology—an advanced construction course expanding sewing skill into techniques used in historical garments
Costume Patterning—a study of how to take historical research and/or a designer’s rendering and translate it to a 3D garment. Techniques in draping and flat patterning.
Costume/Prop Crafts—techniques in building from unconventional materials. Millinery (hats & headpieces), dyeing and painting, armor, etc…
The BFA in Stage and Production Management at OCU is one of the most distinctive professional training programs in the country.
The BFA program has, at its core, a focus on professional training. The degree is built around the following points of emphasis:
Academics: A demanding and diverse academic curriculum that provides the training required to be successful in today’s theatre.
Production: A robust production environment that produces over 55 productions in theatre, musicals, opera, and dance on an annual basis. Additionally, students will receive their first production assignment in the fall semester of their Freshman year.
Professional Partners: Students will work with (3) professional performing arts partners during their time at OCU, much like that of a top flight graduate school. This will result with a resume that is unlike others.
Faculty: Here at OCU we have (2) stage management faculty, both active in the industry, that focus exclusively on your success.
Study Abroad: Today we work within a global market place. OCU provides opportunities to our students to study abroad in places such as London and beyond.
Production Opportunities
One of the calling cards of the OCU Design and Production area is production opportunities. With an academic year, we will produce over 55 productions. What this means to students is many opportunities to work/learn on productions. Each student will average (2) production assignments during the course of any given semester. These assignments can be structured in many ways within:
OCU School of Theatre - Producing a wide range of plays
OCU Bass School of Music – Producing a wide range of both musicals and operas
Professional Partners – Students will work with the following professional organizations:
We believe very strongly in the power of internships. During your time at OCU you will be required to do at least one summer internship. However, many of our students choose to do these during more than one summer. Here at OCU we maintain a robust list of opportunities for our students all the while teaching them how to look for and secure these opportunities. In the recent past we have had stage managers from New York to Chicago to Santa Fe to Las Vegas to Oklahoma City. Each of these opportunities is geared specifically toward the career paths that the individual student is striving towards.
The BFA in Stage and Production Management is built around a demanding and diverse academic curriculum. The program is led by Jeff Cochran and Laurena Sherrill, two stage managers who are active in the industry and are long time members of Actors Equity Association. During your time at OCU your academic journey is structured around the following principles:
You will take a demanding set of courses that will focus on preparing you to be a successful theatre artist. You will take classes within the full range of the design and production field such as: lighting, costumes, and scenic design. Furthermore you will also take courses that will help you prepare for your professional journey such as: resume/cover letter writing, portfolio development, job searches, and interviews.
In addition, you will take specific classes within the field of stage management. These courses will begin the fall semester of your Freshmen year and continue through the spring semester of your senior year in topics such as:
Each Tuesday, all stage management majors and minor gather to discuss a wide range of topics. This time is designed to bridge the gap between your academic courses and the practical nature of your production assignments.
OCU has a very distinctive environment when it comes to mentoring as we have (2) faculty members who focus exclusively on stage management. Jeff Cochran and Laurena Sherrill not only teach courses within the curriculum, but both full time faculty members mentor the production assignments and are active during our weekly seminars. Additionally, students will be work alongside both faculty members as their assistant stage managers during work with the OCU professional partners.
The Stage Management area has an active list of guest artists that interact with our students. Whether it is meetings with touring stage managers from shows such as Disney’s Newsies, The Book of Mormon, or Wicked or from Broadway shows such as The Phantom of the Opera, the students here at OCU are constantly interacting with leading professionals within our industry.
Built around the model of the leading graduate programs, the BFA in Stage and Production Management at OCU has professional training at its core. With that, we have built relationships with the leading professional performing arts organizations around Oklahoma City. This results in a one of kind training opportunity for the stage management students. During your time at OCU you will work in a variety of positions with these leading arts organizations.
Whether it is working on a union contract, Actor Equity Association, at Lyric Theatre or CityRep or working with a guest choreographer with the Oklahoma City Ballet, a student will see first-hand what it takes to be successful within our industry.
The Stage Management program at OCU has produced very successful and distinctive alumni. The program is built around the idea that you as an individual student will define success for your career and it is our responsibility to help grow you in that direction. Whether it is a life in New York or Chicago, or a career with leading organizations like Cirque du Soleil or Disney, a BFA in Stage Management at OCU can prepare you to achieve your dreams.
We currently have Alumni working in New York at leading organizations like Playwrights Horizons and Bay Street Theatre, in Chicago at the Goodman Theatre, Las Vegas with Cirque du Soleil, in Orlando Florida with Disney, cruise lines such as Princess Cruises and locally at venues such as Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma and the Oklahoma City Civic Center Music Hall.
The reality of our our industry today is that we work in a global market. This is a point that our program takes very seriously. With that we are currently working with partners around the world to develop opportunities that we will prepare our students for the industry.
There are multiple ways for students to experience the realities of Study Abroad. Those can be done in exchanges that work within a given academic semester or summer. These opportunities are designed to complement the students overall experience.
The BFA in Stage Management currently has an exchange with Rose Bruford College located in London. With this exchange, stage management students have the opportunity to spend the spring semester of their junior year studying at Rose Bruford. This experience is designed into the curriculum and allows the student to stay on track to graduate in the standard four years.
Through the Study Abroad Office at OCU, students are able to explore a wide variety of opportunities around the world. These types of programs are designed to complement the students experience at OCU by learning more about a specific culture that is of interest to a given student.
Students with a Lighting Design and Technology emphasis begin working on shows as soon as they arrive on campus, serving in roles such as Light Board Operator and/or as Assistant Lighting Designer. Students typically work on two to three shows a semester.
Sometime in the sophomore year, each student will design their first show, usually a Stage II in the School of Theatre or a children’s theatre show with Oklahoma Children’s Theatre. Sophomores also generally assist Aaron Mooney, Professor of Lighting Design, on professional ballets with Oklahoma City Ballet at the Civic Center Music Hall, OKC’s touring house.
Juniors customarily design lights for School of Music Spotlight productions or School of Theatre MainStage plays, as well as serving as Production Electrician one or two shows.
Seniors commonly design lights for the School of Music MainStage Operas and Musicals, as well as continuing to serve as Production Electricians on the larger shows.
By the time a student has graduated from OCU with a Lighting Design and Technology Emphasis, they are ready to transition easily into any role in theatrical lighting design and production.
Our students routinely graduate with two or three internships under their belts. Lighting students have worked summer jobs and internships at a variety of locations, including; Glimmerglass Opera, Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma, Cirque du Soleil, Opera Saratoga, Six Flags Over Texas, Houston Shakespeare Festival, Music Theatre of Wichita, and Santa Fe Opera. These internships increase the network of contacts that our graduates need to pursue a career in the lighting design industries.
The Lighting Design and Technology track curriculum encompasses a wide scope of skills and artistic explorations. Students graduate well-rounded and prepared to enter the workforce.
Stage Lighting - Introduction to stage lighting equipment, techniques, practices, and safety.
Lighting Lab - Companion to Stage Lighting. Hands-on experience mounting shows for School of Theatre and School of Music. Includes crewing of one show.
Lighting Design - Elements of design as they apply to the use of lighting design. Includes color theory, play analysis, drafting, programming of consoles, and physics of light.
CAD for Theatre - Advanced study of Vectorworks and Lightwright software, enabling students to utilize these programs to create, edit, and maintain lighting plots and various paperwork.
Lighting Design II - Advanced study of lighting techniques as they apply to opera, musicals, and dance, and the history of stage lighting.
Advanced Electrical Production & Programming - Study of skills/duties of Master Electrician, Production Electrician, and Lighting Supervisor. Advanced electrical theory and safety, Lightwright, programming consoles and offline editors, counterweight rigging systems, soldering, data protocols, and LED technology.
Museum, Fashion, & Special Event Lighting Design - Exploration and study of non-theatrical careers in lighting. Areas include; Concerts, Restaurants, Public Art/Sculptures, Museum Exhibitions, Fashion Shows, Retail Windows, Houses of Worship, and other special events.
Oklahoma Children’s Theatre- Students have the opportunity to assist and design lights in a small converted church, concentrating on story-telling without being overwhelmed by a large lighting rig. OCT productions serve as a perfect stepping-stone for freshman and sophomore lighting students.
Oklahoma City Ballet- All Lighting Design students will assist the OKCB Resident Lighting Designer at least once in their time at OCU. Ballets are performed in the OKC 2,500-seat Civic Center Music Hall, affording students the chance to work in a professional venue, with a professional crew, and at a professional pace. Select students are offered the shot at touring with the Ballet.
OCU Lighting Design and Technology Alumni are working all over the world in various areas of live entertainment.
My name is Megan Fouts. I am a freshman Lighting Design student from Piedmont, OK. I came to OCU without much experience in theatrical design, so pretty much everything was new to me. Due to the fact everyone is assigned to productions in their first semester, I was able to learn by observing and hands-on training though those production assignments. At OCU, you are able to observe every part of a show, from the first design meeting to strike. You are also encouraged to explore the many aspects of design.
The classes at OCU are arranged so you begin taking core classes immediately. Only two of my six classes this semester were general education credits, while the remaining were design classes. The professors take the time to get to know their students individually and genuinely want you to succeed. Students continually encourage and support one another. I consider myself lucky to be part of the OCU community.
I'm Bradley Taylor, and I am a senior lighting design student from Searcy, Arkansas. This past Thanksgiving, I was asked to be the assistant lighting designer for Oklahoma City Ballet’s tour of The Nutcracker to Colorado Springs. As the assistant lighting designer, I was responsible for remounting the original design of the show and maintaining the integrity of the design. This included but was not limited to focusing the show, maintaining cues, updating paperwork, and communicating with the lighting designer, who was 741 miles away.
While working on the production, I also had the opportunity to build strong relationships with classmates and our professional partners from Oklahoma City Ballet during our work hours and during our downtime. We kept ourselves busy with a company Thanksgiving meal and a hike through the Garden of the Gods with the production team. In the end, I am very thankful and blessed to have had the opportunity to create many new friendships while strengthening my skills as a lighting designer.
We are currently in technical rehearsals for the Puccini opera La Rondine. Senior lighting student Travis Baldwin is knocking it out of the park on this design. With one lighting plot, he has to create the looks for a drawing room that is supposed to evoke the feelings of a birdcage, a smokey Parisian night club, and a seaside cottage where the heroine walks into the ocean.
Next week (Nov 17th) we are traveling to Plano, TX for the North Texas Drama Auditions. I have already looked at the resumes of all of the prospects we will meet there. Can’t wait to be impressed by the next round of OCU Stars! Bring your A-game!
The Scenic Design program at OCU produces innovative theatre artists who are prepared to enter the entertainment industry as designers, collaborators, and leaders. Our program is grounded on an intensive mentoring process. You will study and work within a regional professional theatre model and be guided by faculty with years of experience in the profession. You will receive individualized mentoring in the areas of scenic design, technical direction, properties design/fabrication, and scenic painting.
We offer a rigorous hands-on training program founded in the collaborative process. Students will have the opportunity to work in props design, scenic painting, projections design, and scenic design. During your OCU career, you will design for theatre, musicals, opera, and children’s theatre. You will begin to work on shows during your first month on campus and, on average, you will do two productions per semester. With our professional partnerships, you will also earn professional credits for your resume while you’re still a student. Our graduates are provocative visual storytellers and innovative collaborators who are prepared for the entertainment industry. A typical four-year track of study at OCU will look like the following:
YEAR 1
YEAR 2
YEAR 3
YEAR 4
Our program is built around the model of leading graduate programs; we have professional training at our core. We have relationships with the leading professional performing arts organizations in Oklahoma City. This results in a one of a kind training experience for our students. During your time at OCU, you will work in a variety of positions with:
Whether it’s on the Production Crew for a ballet, or as a Properties Artisan on a musical, or the Scenic Designer for a Children’s Theatre production, you will see first-hand what it takes to be successful within the industry.
Over 90% of OCU graduates are hired into a job in the entertainment industry within three months of graduation. Whether it is life in Chicago or New York or touring the world on a cruise line, our students’ paths take a number of routes to success. We have alums working as resident designers and scenic artists at regional theatres around the United States. We have graduates who have worked for leading performing arts organizations such as Cirque du Soleil, Walt Disney World, Glimmerglass Opera Festival, and Santa Fe Opera. Every student’s journey is unique and it’s our job to help give you the tools needed to succeed in this industry.
The reality of the entertainment industry today is that we work in a global market. This is a point that our program takes very seriously. With that we are currently developing Study Abroad opportunities with partners around the world to prepare our graduates for the ever evolving industry.
There are multiple options for OCU students to have a Study Abroad experience. These include exchanges with universities in London where students can spend a semester or a summer in England. This experience is designed to allow students to stay on track to graduate within four years. Through the OCU Study Abroad Office, students are able to explore a wide variety of opportunities around the globe.
The properties design and production program will train and prepare students for professional work in theatre, film, television and commercial production work. Properties design and fabrication students have a special eye for detail and an interest in historical accuracy, minutiae, and work in an artistically collaborative environment. The curriculum is multi-faceted in its approach training students. Classes focus on the organizational and managerial aspects of the job, design and research, fabrication techniques, materials and processes and period style and interiors.
Students participate as prop masters and assistants, craftspeople, and set decorators in multiple theatrical venues and spaces. Students work directly under the supervision of the properties design and fabrication program faculty as well as shop staff, visiting artists, and in collaboration with scenic, lighting and sound designers in the program. The interdisciplinary, collaborative approach mirrors the function of properties departments in professional, regional theaters.
Students will be able to engage and interact with properties professionals at various nationally recognized theaters. During their time at OCU, students will apply for internships at professional theaters in summer repertory. Students are also encouraged to participate in national professional organizations and enter production work in competitions to be evaluated by working professionals in order to further their scope and understanding of the job. At the end of a four-year degree, students exiting the properties design and fabrication program possess the skill set, ingenuity and professional abilities to work in many levels of professional properties production.
The Design and Production program offers a wide range of opportunities for sound design and engineering students that include: The Stage II production series, Burg Mainstage shows, and Bass School of Music musical theatre and opera productions.
This variety of sound design and engineering assignments allows students to practice their craft and progress in scale of show. By the time students graduate, they will be ready to address any industry sound needs.
Course work offers the opportunity for study in: live sound reinforcement, digital audio workstation editing and mastery, studio engineering and mixing, system troubleshooting, music composition, as well as script and character analysis.
Students will master the use of analog and digital sound mixers in a variety of system designs for theatrical and live event related projects.
Students will have access to a variety of digital systems including:
Students will also have access to the School of Theatre Audio Lab for sound design and composition, as well as the Bass School of Music Recording Studio for studio engineering projects.
The reality of today’s entertainment and theatrical production industry is that we work in a global market. This is a point that our program takes very seriously. We work with partners around the world to develop opportunities that will prepare our students for careers around the world. There are multiple opportunities for students to study abroad during their time at OCU. They can be done in exchanges that work within a given academic semester or summer. These opportunities are designed to complement your overall experience.
The BFA in Stage Management currently has an exchange with Rose Bruford College located in London. With this exchange, stage management students have the opportunity to spend the spring semester of their junior year studying at Rose Bruford (https://www.bruford.ac.uk/). This experience is designed into the curriculum and allows the student to stay on track to graduate in the standard four years.
OCU has a new agreement with the Santa Reparata International School of Art in Florence, Italy. The school offers programs in studio art, fashion design, and architecture that will be of interest to our design students. SRISA (https://srisa.org/) also offers liberal arts classes that will enable students to fit a full semester abroad into their studies and still complete their degree in four years. We are also developing an OCU faculty led summer program at SRISA for 2020.
Through the Study Abroad Office at OCU, students are able to explore additional opportunities around the world. These types of programs are designed to complement the student experience at OCU by learning more about a specific culture and to prepare OCU Design and Production graduates for the global market.
Learn more about Study Abroad
Our students continue to develop their craft during the summer. Design and production majors typically spend their summers working in the profession. In recent years, OCU students have earned positions and internships with: Cirque du Soleil, Santa Fe Opera, Walt Disney World, Great River Shakespeare Festival, Music Theatre of Wichita, Glimmerglass Opera, Busch Gardens Theme Park, Shakespeare Festival of New Jersey, Dallas Shakespeare Festival, Creede Repertory Theatre, and Black Hills Playhouse.
We believe it is essential for students to have these summer professional experiences to best prepare them for the industry. These internship opportunities will set our students apart from their peers. Our faculty have connections to some summer positions and the students find many of them on their own. At least one internship experience is a required part of the BFA curriculum, but many of our students work in professional theatre and entertainment during each summer of their OCU career.
