BWW Student Center's School in the Spotlight: University of Georgia

The Student Center also offers a show calendar of college and high-school productions where schools can upload photos, videos, cast lists, articles and other media content for each of their shows. BWW will be combing through all content regularly and will launch weekly feature stories highlighting productions locally and nationally that have provided us with this extra content.

The Department offers a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre, and Master of Fine Arts in Design & Technology, Dramatic Media, Performance or Theatre & Performance Studies. A Bachelor of Arts is also offered in Film Studies.

The department's roots reach back to 1893, when UGA students formed the Thalian Dramatic Club, one of the oldest college dramatic clubs in the country. In 1926, a second dramatic club, the Blackfriars, was formed at UGA, and there was an immediate rivalry between the two groups. In 1931, the two clubs merged under the leadership of journalism professor Edward C. Crouse to become the Thalian-Blackfriars, the official theatrical club of the University of Georgia with its own playhouse in Seney-Stovall Memorial Theatre. By 1932, the new "University Theatre" was offering its first season ticket campaign. In 1939, the Department of Dramatic Art was created with Professor Crouse as its first Department Head; the following year the named changed to the Department of Drama. The productions were mounted in Seney-Stovall Chapel until 1941, when the Fine Arts Building was completed with its 1600 seat theatre and small Cellar Theatre.

In 1951, the department incorporated Speech, becoming the Department of Speech and Theatre; the two fields split in 1969, creating the Department of Speech Communication and the Department of Drama and Theatre. In 1976, the department expanded to incorporate screen media, in particular cinema. A film studies minor was added in 1999, and a film studies major in 2006. In 1995, the department expanded its scope of inquiry further to incorporate the study and practice of digital media as a type of dramatic art, and the use of interactive media in live performance. In 2004, to reflect its expanded scope, the department's name was changed to Theatre and Film Studies.

Dr. David Saltz is the current Head of the Department of Theatre and Film Studies. There are 21 faculty members, four distinguished adjunct faculty members, three full-time staff members, and 36 graduate assistants.

The 2012-2013 performance season will next present THE FANTASTICKS on February 5-10 in the University Theatre Mainstage (check out the promo shots below!), MUST GO ON on February 21-March 3, UNDER CONSTRUCTION on March 21-29 and the season will end with a production of Shakespeare's MACBETH running April 11-21. For tickets and more information, click here.

Questions/concerns/suggestions related to BWW's student center can be addressed to studentcenter@broadwayworld.com

Program info courtesy of UGA. Photo credit: John Gallagher

Jim Barrow as Bellomy, Caleb Huett as Hucklebee, Stephanie Bacastow as Luisa, and Christopher Stapp as Matt

Stephanie Bacastow as Luisa and Edward McCreary as El Gallo

Christopher Stapp as Matt and Stephanie Bacastow as Luisa