Acting and Directing Program
International film star
Edward James Olmos addresses Mesa Theatre students
The Acting/ Directing program is constructed to help students
meet the rigorous demands of a professional career in Acting and
provide a strong foundation and practical experience for future
directors. From your first semester on you will be in performance
classes taught by academically and professionally experienced
faculty. Unlike huge and impersonal schools, acting opportunities
in all productions at Mesa State College are open to motivated
and talented freshman.
In our array of Acting classes you will be exposed to techniques
and approaches that are industry standards today. Training is
grounded in Stanislavski, Meisner, Cohen, Spolin, and Epstein
and Harrop for Period work. Voice and movement classes are complimented
by individual vocal lessons and performance opportunities in student
and faculty choreographed Dance Concerts.
Acting students also audition for one act plays directed by the
Directing classes each year. The Department's new black-box theater
comes online the Fall of 2002 and a second season of experimental
and other challenging productions is in the offing. A Summer Theatre
Festival on campus with paid positions and Internships round out
the school year.
Mesa State is strategically located at the hub of a circle of
important entertainment centers such as Aspen, Telluride, Moab,
and Park City, Utah. There are Regional Theaters of international
repute within driving distance such as the Utah Shakespeare Festival,
the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, and the Colorado Shakespeare
Festival. There is a thriving theatrical scene in Grand Junction
that offers opportunities for summer employment. New theaters
seem to spring up daily and many, we are proud to say, are led
by Artistic Directors who graduated from Mesa State´s Theatre
Program.
At Mesa State, we are committed to the philosophy of training
theatrical entrepreneurs. And we do it in an environment of low
teacher to student ratios so that personal attention and mentoring
are possible. Our many graduates in the industry have informed
us that Mesa´s approach was invaluable.
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