Overview
Our theatre production degree provides students with a fully customizable education that lets you decide your focus for deep learning. We balance technology and management training with artistic exploration so your creativity can really shine.
Starting with your first year, you’ll gain hands-on experience creating production elements for public performances. This immerses students in the collaborative process immediately and empowers you as a creative early in your academic career. You don’t get that kind of opportunity everywhere, and because our faculty are engaged in the industry, your experience is informed by the latest technology and techniques in the profession. You can also shadow faculty in their work or join them as an assistant – a great way to expand your network.
Our state-of-the-art facilities, including fully staffed shops with industry-standard equipment, provide you with ample opportunities to put skills into practice. Some examples include advanced training with CNC routers; 3D printing; wig lofting; ETC EOS control boards; Vectorworks; QLab and Nomad software; and entertainment rigging essentials such as Thomas Truss, CM Classic ½ hoists and Skjonberg control units.
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Faculty and Staff
Our inspirational faculty and staff make sure students feel welcome and empowered to think outside the box and explore all possibilities of making art at UWM. Visit the Peck School of the Arts directory to meet these artists, explore their biographies and engage with recent work.
Scholarships and Aid
Financial constraints shouldn’t hinder your artistic dreams. Our comprehensive range of scholarships and aid programs is designed to empower and support artists like you.
Study Abroad
We believe that a complete education in the arts should take you beyond the classroom and the local community. By studying abroad, you’ll gain more than a change of scenery. You’ll embark on a transformative educational experience and bring a global perspective to your field of study. Explore upcoming trips offered in partnership with the Center for International Education.
Requirements
Admission Requirements
Undergraduate applicants must meet general University admission requirements in addition to specific program requirements found on the Peck School of the Arts apply page.
Undergraduate Advising
Academic advising is a collaborative process that empowers students to realize their maximum educational potential. Students are encouraged to visit the Peck School of the Arts Advising & Student Services page to meet with your advisor prior to each semester’s registration period. Advisors provide students with individualized appointments to assist with degree requirements, course selection, campus resources, college success strategies, graduation assessment, academic policies and more.
Laptop Requirement
Preparing for a future defined by digital technology is an important step in developing artists. Our digitally integrated curriculum helps you achieve a professional level with leading art-related software and practices.
Laptop ownership is strongly recommended for all students. However, it’s required for most majors. For more information, please visit the Peck School of the Arts admission page.
Advance to Major and Retention
Theatre faculty will assess students' academic and artistic growth through grade reports and/or individual conferences at the end of each semester. All Theatre majors who do not demonstrate a consistent level of artistic and academic improvement while maintaining a 2.5+ GPA overall with a 3.0+ GPA in their program may not advance and may be placed on probation. Failure to demonstrate improvement in subsequent semesters can result in academic probation or being dropped from the program.
Credits and Courses
University Core
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| General Education Requirements 1 | ||
| Competencies 1 | ||
| Oral and Written Communication – Part A and Part B 2,3 | ||
| Quantitative Literacy (QL) – Part A and Part B 2,3 | ||
| Foreign Language 2,3 | ||
| Distribution Requirements 1 | ||
| Humanities | 6 | |
| Natural Sciences (Must include one lab) | 6 | |
| Social Sciences | 6 | |
| Cultural Diversity 2 | ||
| Electives | ||
| University Credits (outside of PSOA) | 12 | |
| Credits in Peck School of the Arts 4 | 9 | |
| Total Credits | 39 | |
- 1
Learn more about the General Education Requirements.
- 2
Credits may be utilized in conjunction with General Education Social Sciences, Humanities, or Arts credits. See advisor for guidance.
- 3
Theatre students must complete the General Education Requirements (GER) in Oral and Written Communication competency (OWC), Quantitative Literacy competency (QL), and Foreign Language proficiency prior to enrolling in 310-level or above theatre courses.
- 4
9 credits are required in 3 of the 4 other departments in PSOA, outside of the student's discipline: Art and Design, Dance, Music, Theatre, or Film, Video, Animation, and New Genres.
The minimum number of credits required to complete the Bachelor of Fine Arts in Production is 120. Students who need background preparation courses in math, English, foreign language, and chemistry may need additional credits.
Theatre Department Core
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Select one of the following: | 3 | |
| Fundamentals of the Actor's Process (recommended) | ||
| Storytelling: (alternate) | ||
| THEATRE 230 | Acting 2: Text and Performance | 3 |
| THEATRE 213 | Play Analysis | 3 |
| THEATRE 214 | Stagecraft (with lab) | 4 |
| THEATRE 225 | Costume Construction (with lab) | 2 |
| THEATRE 236 | Theatre Production and Design | 3 |
| THEATRE 275 | Performing Arts Management | 3 |
| THEATRE 305 | The Theatrical Experience: | 3 |
| THEATRE 321 | The Theatre: Beginnings Through Realism | 3 |
| Select one of the following: | 3 | |
| The Theatre: Modern and Contemporary Period | ||
| Theatre in the Americas: Latin American, Caribbean, and Latinx Theatre | ||
| Total Credits | 30 | |
BFA Production Track Requirements and Electives
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Required | ||
| THEATRE 202 | Theatre Practicum | 1 |
| THEATRE 412 | Career Preparation and Development | 2 |
| Select 8 total credits from the following: | 8 | |
| Studio (4 credit per semester, repeatable) | ||
| Rehearsal and Performance: (variable credit by assignment) | ||
| Select 7 total credits from the following: | 7 | |
| Advanced Theatre Practicum | ||
| Advanced Studio (repeatable) | ||
| Internship in Professional Theatre (variable credit) | ||
| Production Area Electives | ||
| Select 33 Production or related credits | 33 | |
| Total Credits | 51 | |
Production Area Electives
In consultation with your PSOA and Production advisor, select courses from within the Production Curriculum, outside the Production Curriculum, or any other program in PSOA.
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Within the Production Curriculum | ||
| THEATRE 215 | Properties Production | 3 |
| THEATRE 218 | Computer Modeling and Graphics for Live Performance | 3 |
| THEATRE 224 | Make-Up | 3 |
| THEATRE 285 | Costume Construction 2 | 3 |
| THEATRE 304 | Costume Design | 3 |
| THEATRE 314 | Special Effects for Stage Scenery | 3 |
| THEATRE 318 | Scene Design | 3 |
| THEATRE 319 | Scenic Painting | 3 |
| THEATRE 325 | History of Costume | 3 |
| THEATRE 337 | Sound Production and Digital Editing for Stage and Studio | 3 |
| THEATRE 338 | Lighting Production | 3 |
| THEATRE 343 | Patternmaking | 3 |
| THEATRE 380 | Stage Management | 3 |
| THEATRE 418 | Lighting Studio | 3 |
| THEATRE 435 | Production Management | 3 |
| THEATRE 437 | Sound Design and Digital Editing | 3 |
| THEATRE 448 | How to be a Teaching Artist | 3 |
| THEATRE 480 | Leadership Skills for Theatre Management | 3 |
| THEATRE 699 | Independent Study: | 1-4 |
| Outside the Production Curriculum | ||
| THEATRE 410 | Stage Directing | 3 |
| THEATRE 497 | Study Abroad in Theatre | 1-12 |
| Peck School of the Arts | ||
| Consult with Theatre Production advisor | ||
Sample Plan of Study
| Year 1 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Fall | Credits | |
| THEATRE 110 | Fundamentals of the Actor's Process | 3 |
| THEATRE 214 or THEATRE 225 | Stagecraft or Costume Construction | 2-4 |
| THEATRE 305 | The Theatrical Experience: | 3 |
| GER | 6 | |
| Credits | 16 | |
| Spring | ||
| THEATRE 202 | Theatre Practicum | 1 |
| THEATRE 225 or THEATRE 214 | Costume Construction or Stagecraft | 2-4 |
| THEATRE 230 | Acting 2: Text and Performance | 3 |
| THEATRE 236 | Theatre Production and Design | 3 |
| GER | 6 | |
| Credits | 15 | |
| Year 2 | ||
| Fall | ||
| THEATRE 275 | Performing Arts Management | 3 |
| Production Electives | 6 | |
| GER | 6 | |
| Credits | 15 | |
| Spring | ||
| THEATRE 213 | Play Analysis | 3 |
| THEATRE 575 or THEATRE 475 | Studio or Rehearsal and Performance: | 2 |
| Production Electives | 3 | |
| GER/PSOA | 6 | |
| Credits | 14 | |
| Year 3 | ||
| Fall | ||
| THEATRE 321 | The Theatre: Beginnings Through Realism | 3 |
| THEATRE 412 | Career Preparation and Development | 2 |
| THEATRE 575 or THEATRE 475 | Studio or Rehearsal and Performance: | 2 |
| Production Electives | 6 | |
| GER/PSOA | 3 | |
| Credits | 16 | |
| Spring | ||
| THEATRE 322 or THEATRE 324 | The Theatre: Modern and Contemporary Period or Theatre in the Americas: Latin American, Caribbean, and Latinx Theatre | 3 |
| THEATRE 575 or THEATRE 475 | Studio or Rehearsal and Performance: | 4 |
| Production Electives | 6 | |
| GER/PSOA | 3 | |
| Credits | 16 | |
| Year 4 | ||
| Fall | ||
| THEATRE 675 | Advanced Studio | 4 |
| Production Electives | 6 | |
| GER/PSOA | 3 | |
| Credits | 13 | |
| Spring | ||
| THEATRE 432 or THEATRE 685 | Advanced Theatre Practicum or Internship in Professional Theatre | 3 |
| Production Electives | 6 | |
| GER | 6 | |
| Credits | 15 | |
| Total Credits | 120 | |
Theatre, BFA: Production Learning Outcomes
Students graduating from the Theatre, BFA: Production program will be able to:
- Use essential theories of theatrical production and performance and apply them effectively for artistic expression.
- Utilize and express the elements of design through aesthetic awareness and fabrication processes.
- Execute a personal artistic process for productive work in theatrical production.
- Articulate and derive contemporary solutions from applicable elements of a variety of theatrical performance and production styles.
- Function effectively, productively, and cooperatively within a team of production artists engaging in an artform fully dependent upon true collaboration.
- Analyze, devise, design and execute fabrication and generation processes required to create practical theatrical production content based on a designer’s vision.
- Analyze a play’s content, design criteria and performance style and execute those elements to successfully educate and entertain an audience through the storytelling.
- Execute all basic technical processes and artisanal skills in the areas of Costuming, Stage Management and Technical Production.
- Engage in effective verbal and non-verbal communication with other theatrical artists.
- Engage empathetically by exploring their own and others worldview to create respectful, ethical, and accessible environments to create diverse works of theatre.
- Apply personal criteria and critical thought when evaluating their own and others current work and identify new directions for future work.
- Employ the modes of behavior historically observed by artisans, engineers and designers working in the professional entertainment industry.
- Present themselves confidently for professional employment in a variety of interview and portfolio review formats.
Policies and Regulations
Academic Regulations
For information on University-wide Academic Action Policy and honors for scholarship, see Academic Policies.
Auditing Courses
No studio or performance courses may be audited.
Declaration of Submajor
In most instances, after two years of basic preparatory courses in the major, students choose an area of specialization within their respective departments, known as a submajor. Students must declare a submajor after they have accumulated 45 to 75 credits to assure completion of the appropriate curriculum requirements for graduation.
Grievance and Appeal Procedures
If you have concerns about a class or a grade, or if you’ve been dropped from a program and would like to appeal, follow the grievance procedures found under the resources section on the Peck School of the Arts Advising & Student Services page.
Independent Study
Under special conditions, juniors and seniors are permitted to take courses in independent study. For regulations on independent study, see the departmental advisor.
Program Changes
All program changes must be signed by the instructor and the Peck School of the Arts Office of Student Services. Certain other courses may also require this approval indicated in the semester's Schedule of Classes.
Second Bachelor's Degree Candidates
Students with good scholastic records who wish to earn a second bachelor's degree in the Peck School of the Arts must obtain the recommendation of the Peck School of the Arts department in which they wish to major before they can be accepted. Upon acceptance, students must earn in residence a minimum of 30 credits beyond the studies for the first degree and must satisfy all curriculum requirements.
Semester Credit Load
A full-time Peck School of the Arts student is one who takes a minimum of 12 credits per semester. Typically, Peck School of the Arts students are not permitted to carry more than 18 credits per semester. Students who have a 3.0+ cumulative GPA may, with the permission of the Peck School of the Arts Office of Student Services, carry up to 21 credits per semester.
Transfer Students
Transfer students from other universities and colleges or UWM units are accepted by the Peck School of the Arts provided they meet the UWM admissions criteria and have a 2.0+ cumulative GPA.
Honors in the Major
- Honors in the Major is granted to students who have earned a GPA of 3.500 or greater in the major and the academic department's recommendation.
- High Honors in the Major is granted to students who have earned a cumulative GPA of 3.500 or greater and the academic department's recommendation.
- Departmental Honors are granted to students recommended by their academic department for Honors excellence in performance not reflected in the GPA.
- Dean's Honors are granted to students with major achievements in one or more of the arts.
College of the Arts and Architecture Dean's Honor List
GPA of 3.750 or above, earned on a full-time student's GPA on 12 or more graded credits in a given semester.
Honors College Degree and Honors College Degree with Distinction
Granted to graduating seniors who complete Honors College requirements, as listed in the Honors College section of this site.
Commencement Honors
Students with a cumulative GPA of 3.500 or above, based on a minimum of 40 graded UWM credits earned prior to the final semester, will receive all-university commencement honors and be awarded the traditional gold cord at the December or May Honors Convocation. Please note that for honors calculation, the GPA is not rounded and is truncated at the third decimal (e.g., 3.499).
Final Honors
Earned on a minimum of 60 graded UWM credits: Cum Laude - 3.500 or above; Magna Cum Laude - 3.650 or above; Summa Cum Laude - 3.800 or above.