BE A MEMBER OF WAGNER COLLEGE THEATRE!
Auditions and Interviews for Prospective Theatre Majors will be in person on February 4th. Video auditions as are also accepted and given equal consideration as those who attend on 2/4/24. No added fees are charged and no “pre-screen” is required beyond academic review.
Applicants to Wagner College Theatre will receive an invitation to audition or interview based on college application materials. Wagner’s Admissions Office will inform you if you are invited for an audition or interview.
BE A MEMBER OF WAGNER COLLEGE THEATRE: Audition Day Guidelines
Video Audition: Record a single video that includes these three sections
- Introduction: Tell us about yourself in a one minute unscripted moment. Be creative!
- Acting: Prepare a one minute monologue from a published play of your choice. You should choose material that speaks to you-and do not shy away from humor and joy in your material. We are looking for performers who tell the truth, so let this be the cornerstone of your work.
- Vocal: Prepare one minute each of two contrasting musical theatre selections. Material should be age appropriate and show us something about who you are not only as an actor but also as a person.
Note on Accompaniment: The video submission accompaniment should be a live pianist or a piano track created for the applicant. Please avoid overproduced karaoke tracks. We also welcome applicants to accompany themselves on piano or guitar.
- Dance: Prepare a 1 minute dance that shows your personality while executing a dance based performance. When possible, depending on your level of dance expertise, integrate the following aspects that offer you the opportunity to show your technique/training and level of mastery: a stationary turn (Pirouette), traveling turn, a leap with clear form and a big kick.
For artistic expression – connect to the character of the dance and make dynamic choices in qualities of movement. You could consider integrating a pushed or syncopated rhythm when considering your relationship to the music choice to show more advanced work.
Callback/Acceptance Procedure: Applicants will be accepted on the basis of the academic requirements of the college as well as their submitted audition. Notifications for acceptance will be made beginning February 12, 2024.
To apply for the DTM program you first need to apply to Wagner College through the Admissions office. Once they have reviewed your completed file you will be invited to interview for the DTM program.
In person interviews will occur on February 4th. We will do an overview of the program, hang out and chat and then do individual interviews. If you are unavailable, we will set up individual interviews on other days.
Please also submit a 3-4 minute video which includes an overview of your portfolio. In the video, we want to learn a little bit about you and your interest in Design, Technology and Management. At the interview, you will have an opportunity to share your portfolio with us.
A portfolio might include: examples of your skills in drawing, sketching, and painting; any theatre design work; prompt books or examples of other stage management work; photographs of productions; items that you feel might be helpful in getting to know you. The portfolio is to help jump-start the interview, please bring whatever you have.
The Theatre Studies Concentration is designed for students who want to experience an array of creative skills needed as theatre-makers. Students personalize their academic experience according to their interests, including Filmmaking, Modern Languages, Playwriting, Acting, Dramaturgy, Directing, and more. The program also encourages learners to expand their craft through tech assignments, performance opportunities, and involvement with department and student-run theatre organizations.
Theatre Studies is the most flexible of the concentrations in terms of exploring other interests–current Seniors are also completing minors in Film, Political Science, Dance, and Spanish. This is also the most flexible of the concentrations in terms of accepting transfer credits and community college degrees; if a student is transferring from a community college and is looking to complete a Theatre degree at Wagner in two years, Theatre Studies should be the curriculum followed.
This concentration is also the most flexible with regard to study abroad–in a range of programs from IES London to Semester at Sea. Theatre Studies majors often go on to graduate school in an array of fields and work professionally as theatre-makers after their time at Wagner.
“The Theatre Studies major at Wagner opened my eyes to all the possibilities a career in theatre can offer me. The flexibility of the program allowed me to double major in Theatre and English, participate in department and student-run productions, study abroad in London with the IES Abroad Theatre Studies program my junior year, complete a part-time internship with a talent agency my senior year, write and direct my own play as part of my senior thesis project, and pursue my specific academic interests with my thesis paper. The opportunities I had and diverse educational opportunities I was offered gave me a well-rounded understanding of the theatre industry and academia.” –Emily Lagace, Class of 2020.
Students interview prior to be accepted into this concentration. Virtual interviews are currently being organized for January and February. Please email Dr. Felicia Ruff at fruff@wagner.edu to schedule a time.
Possible interview topics include: Discuss a play you read or a production you saw which spoke to you; What specifically about the theatre studies program speaks to you; How might you make the Theatre Studies major your own?
Unlike many university theatre programs, the first review for prospective theatre majors at Wagner College is academic–there is no other “pre-screen”.
There are no added fees for auditioning or interviewing; students who can not travel to NYC to attend Audition Day in-person should trust that faculty give equal consideration to video submissions and virtual interviews.
We want you to be part of WCT if it feels like the right place for you–from Arts Administration to Dance Education to Film and Music to various concentrations in Theatre–Wagner College provides a uniquely personalized setting for you to join a community of passionate art-makers.
All inquiries regarding your application to Wagner College should be directed to the Admissions Office at 718-390-3411. The faculty will answer your questions about the major.
“After graduation it becomes more and more clear that Wagner College was without a doubt, the best place for me to find myself as a person and as a performer. Wagner College has made me as prepared for this crazy field as one can be, and I think this is the most valuable thing we could have received. You all hold an insanely special place in my heart, and I thank my lucky stars you all touched my life in the profound ways that you have.”
-Danielle Peyton Materese ’11
Wagner College Theatre is committed to creating and fostering an environment where all humans feel safe, heard, and equal. Our goal is to provide equal opportunities for everyone to learn and thrive regardless of color, age, sexual orientation, gender expression/identity, religion, race, national origin, financial status, body types and physical or mental disability. As faculty, staff, and students, we will remember the value of empathy, listening and the value of engagement when it comes to other diverse backgrounds/perspectives that are different from our own. Our commitment to creating this environment is ongoing, evolving, and unwavering. We will uphold the obligation we have to our students to continue to grow as a community to fully and successfully reach our goals. We take pride in striving to ensure that our community is a diverse, inclusive, and safe space for all. Wagner College’s Statement of Diversity and Inclusion (found here: https://wagner.edu/intercultural/diversity-and-inclusion/) guides our purpose, but we understand that as a producing institution, we have work to do to also address theatre industry biases.
Wagner College is located in Lenapehoking, the homelands of the Lenape peoples, who sold “Aquehonga Manacknong” (Staten Island) under duress to European colonizers in the seventeenth century. The native residents were then forcefully evicted from their homeland and relocated to a reservation in Oklahoma. This statement is to acknowledge and honor the Munsee Lenape peoples past and present with gratitude for the land itself and to the people who have stewarded it throughout the centuries. May we all continue to learn how to be better stewards of the land we inhabit.