Niagara University’s celebrated theatre program was among those listed as one of the “Top College Theatre Programs You Might Not Know, but Should” by professional acting and college audition coach Michelle J. Evans. Evans, the owner of MJE Acting Studio, detailed the theatre programs of 10 schools in the North in the Feb. 19, 2020, edition of PerformerStuff.com, an online community created for and powered by performers, educators, and entertainment industry professionals.
The opportunity for theatre students to receive one-on-one mentorship with faculty, which provides extra confidence as they prepare for careers in the entertainment industry; the fact that NU is one of the oldest professional theatre training programs in the region; the rigorous theatrical and liberal arts education and guidance students receive; and the London summer study-abroad program earned Niagara a place on Evans’ list.
Evans also cited the fact that Niagara University alumni “can be found both on and off the stage and screen” and noted that Carmen Ruby Floyd, ’00; Brandon Sierra, ’04; Armand Schultz, ’81; and Ryan Murphy, ’04, “have all used the skills they learned at NU to fuel their successful careers.”
Niagara’s unique theatre curriculum fuses a conservatory approach to theatre training with a liberal arts education and offers three separate tracks: performance; design and production; and theatre specializations. Theatre faculty bring inspiring and new opportunities to students to meet the evolving demands of the industry, and the variety of annual productions staged by NU Theatre gives students an artistic playground for growth and development and a heightened sense of purpose in their artistic pursuits.
For more information on Niagara University’s theatre and fine arts program, visit https://www.niagara.edu/theatre.