Don't let people dictate what you can and can't do. At Plymouth State University you have the option to become an Interdisciplinary Studies major. This major is for people who know exactly what they want to do to with their majors and their futures, but the school may not offer that as a major at the moment. I went through the course catalog and created my major to cater to my needs and goals. It was tough and the course load was tougher, but in the end it was worth it. Posted below is my original post from when I first submitted my contract to be adjudicated, with some revisions I made once I came to IDS Senior Seminar. At the time I didn't know that it would take three revisions before it was accepted. Â
The contract I would like to propose is called Performing Arts Production and it is a combination of theatre, business, and dance. These three disciplines are separate at this university, but I wanted to combine the three to give myself a well-rounded education that I can apply to multiple aspects of working in the theatre. I am trying to set myself up to be able to work in any area of the theatre, so what I have chosen to place in my contract in combination with my other electives and on-campus employment all give me experience I need to apply in my future career. My contract is comprised of various theatre classes with their focuses ranging from acting and performance to technical theatre and stage management, followed with some theatre based history courses as it is important to learn the history of whatever area of study you find yourself in.
Then there are dance classes to increase my skill and broaden my knowledge of dance techniques. I have also added practicums in both dance and theatre which give me hands on applicable experience in stage management, carpentry, sound and electrics, or in terms of the dance practicum, helping to produce a conference. Lastly, I have marketing and finance classes to give me insight into how to own and operate a business. Then I would take that knowledge and apply it with what I've learned about running a theatre in my theatre management and production classes- giving me the ability to run my own theatre company or dance studio. I took some of my original inspiration for classes from what is required for the Music Theatre and Acting majors but then I really looked at what classes the business and theatre departments really and to offer and shaped it into a degree that would fuel my needs.
The Music Theatre major focuses solely on musical theatre and has a few classes on theatre tech and dance, and does not include anything business whatsoever. The separate majors in the music, theatre, and dance department do not overlap enough to fill what I want to get out of my education and they do not overlap in the business world at all, but I knew I would need some of what business had to offer. With that, here are the classes I decided would best fit me for my degree.
TH2500 Stagecraft Fundamentals (QRCO)
Stagecraft is a standard class for all theatre majors. It teaches the basics of technical theatre including drafting and interpreting the drafting package, woodworking, and electrics. It also covers general technical stage knowledge and rigging. The class also requires you to have 10 hours outside of class where you come in and work with the student workers on the show which gives the students an immediately applicable experience and skills.
BU2450 Principles of Marketing
This class shows students the basics of marketing and creating value in a product or service to a customer. The class focuses in promotional strategies and activities which will be useful in starting a business such as a theatre or dance studio as I would like to. The class also puts what you've learned to work by using a backpack simulation where you build a backpack and try to market it to your target market and each team competes against the rest of the class to be the best.
BU1152 Financial Accounting
Understanding the finances of a company are essencial when operating a business. This class takes you through how to read and understand all the financial sheets a business would have and need. It is also building off what I have learned in other classes, it will give me a better understanding accounting principles, measurement techniques, and applications with the material will be very helpful.
BU 3480 Social Media Strategy
This is an online course that was suggested to me while editing my contract. The course is online and it focuses on how to use social media to market yourself or your business. Through the course we had to analyze different companies online presence and complete some Hubspot Certification courses. As a result I am content marketing certified and Social Media certified, which means I understand inbound marking by way of social media. I also created a full social media audit and marketing strategy for a company of my choosing, I chose Society6.
BU3420 Organizational Behavior
This class was an interesting business class. We spend a lot of time learning how people and peoples behaviors worked within a work setting and dealt with concepts like perception, motivation, communication, diversity, group dynamics, leadership, decision-making, ethics, organizational structure, conflict management, organizational culture and change. Then we put all of that and the other business classes to the test by creating an ice cream and a company and having to work with a team to put on a event with the "Taste of the Common Man" event, where people would come and taste test our ice creams and see how everything came together. Reflecting back, how well you work in the group reflects what you and your team learned from the class, even if amidst the project you don't realize it.
TH2100 Technology for Theatre Professionals
This is one of the theatre classes not related to performance. This course breaks down how to market yourself and use the internet to your advantage within the scope of theatre. It also shows you how to edit sounds and create posters and other basic graphic design and sound projects relating directly to theatre. In addition we learned how to edit videos to make your reel and how to make and edit your website, which is how this new Wix site came to be. This class builds on what I learned about marketing and SEO from Social Media Strategy and applied it directly to theatre, and having that other course under my belt gave me a leg up in the class that others did not have.
TH3900 Acting II
Acting II was switched with Acting III after my contract was approved, solely because my class schedule did not line up with taking Acting III. But the classes are the same it's just more training. Throughout all the levels of acting classes you dive into scripts and work with them while learning and applying acting techniques as taught by the 'great acting teachers'. In this class the final is a mini script analysis project to have you get a feel for what you'll be doing for script analysis. Mine in this class was about 50 pages.
TH3210 Script Analysis
Script analysis is probably the hardest class theatre majors can take, but I felt it was necessary to learn the skills that are taught in this class because I could see the value in the difficult class. This class shows students how to do a complete analysis of a script. It has to research the author, the settings, pull out beats and find external and internal actions for every action in the script, and has it documented in a complete analysis- mine was 100 pages. This is helpful as an actor to understand how to find some of the information and how to make informed decisions as an actor playing the part. But it also helps you fully understand the script inside and out as a director, which is vital if you're going to direct a show well. This is also a prerequisite for Directing for the Stage, where you repeat this process again in conjunction with the rest of the class.
TH4610 Directing for the Stage
As previously stated, this class had the prerequisite of Script Analysis, and you repeat the project from that class with a different show, and this time you are also directing a scene from this show. In this class you choose a 12-15 minute cut from a show and hold rehearsals and direct your peers in performance of this cut. Your final grade in this class is partly your directing book and partly the performance your actors give. It is a very stressful project but very rewarding. There is a video of my scene on my website. Throughout the class you are directing the others in your class and learning directing techniques and how to talk to the actors in a way that conveys what you are trying to produce.
TH2230 American Musical Theatre
This class discusses the history of American musical theatre and how it evolved from European musical and dramatic traditions. It covers themes, musical styles, dance innovations and the artistic elements of musical theatre. This class coupled with Theatre History I give you important knowledge of the background of composers, writers, and the musicals themselves and gives context to the shows as an actor.
TH4510 Theatre History I
Theatre history I starts with the origins of theatre in Ancient Greece and continues on through the first half of theatrical history on a global spectrum. We look at rome, greece, medieval england, india, japan, and many others. The course continues into Theatre History II where they finish out the history.
TH2200 Stage Management/Arts Management
Stage management was an important class for me to add because it was not in the music theatre major and it is a job I want to be able to do and have available to me. This class covers everything the stage manager needs to do through from pre-rehearsal process through the run of the show. And this class became my prep for my practicum I did the next semester. (see advanced practicum in production) Apparently the department thought I was good enough at it here to have me jump on a tech for Mary Poppins the following year and be the production ASM (which I got paid for) and then become the stage manager for the musical Quilters the following semester (see again advanced practicum in production)
TH1650 Practicum in Production
The practicum credits I have already enrolled in covered running sound for the show and then working 40 hours in the scene shop learning carpentry skills and helping build the sets for the show. These are both important jobs in the shop and I have learned them through these practicums and have opened my hire-ability. As a result of the second practicum I got hired to work in the scene shop and have worked there since. All the practicums are hands on experience with jobs you may not have had the chance to do otherwise.
TH3670 Advanced Practicum in Production
For advanced practicum in production I completed a lot of stage management. I was asked to ASM The Trial my sophomore year and then when they needed someone to be the production ASM for Mary Poppins I was going to complete another practicum but they decided since I didn't need another I could just get paid. However I ended up receiving another one after that because I was asked to stage manage Quilters last spring so I completed another advanced practicum then. These acted as hands on work of a skill I wanted to improve upon and master, so I can work as a stage manager out in the world. Since then I jumped on as an emergency production stage manager for The Lion King Jr.
DN4010 Dance Practicum
The dance practicum was for me to work closely with Amanda Whitworth to produce the ACDA conference that PSU hosted in Spring of 2019. My dance practicum ended up being working on the preliminary work for running a conference. A lot of the work I did was going to meetings with Amanda and taking notes and then contacting places like hotels to see if they had space for the amount of people we were planning to have on campus or finding locations that we could hold dance classes on campus. I had to have some calls with physical plant to see what we could do about transportation around campus with the shuttles for dancers as well. Then I was put in charge of the clothing and merchandise we were planning to sell, and being the main contact person with Body Covers, the company we wanted to purchase the items from.
DN3070 Dance Design
This class focuses on the art of making dances as well as the concepts and principles associated with movement as applied to the stage and the classroom. This will be important and very helpful to me whether I open a theatre or a dance studio because I will be choreographing work and applying knowledge of movement in different settings. In addition, I have been choreographing shows at the middle school level but in order to get hired at a professional level I need to comprehend more styles of dance which is what this class will do. I am also taking it solo as the class was reworked when the dance minor reworked all of its courses. So I am the first to flush out the course.
DN3270 Advanced Modern Dance
This is one of the technique classes offered at PSU. The instructor will tailor the class to the needs of the class and help each person expand their skills and strengthen their dancing ability. Continuing to practice and learn will make me a better dancer and will give me a better shot in auditions. The advanced level of this class shows mastery in this technique.
DN3360 Advanced Ballet
This is another one of the technique classes offered at PSU. The instructor will tailor the class to the needs of the class and help each person expand their skills and strengthen their dancing ability. In the case of ballet, stronger dancers were allowed to do the class in pointe shoes and strengthen their ability in pointe as well. Continuing to practice and learn will make me a better dancer and will give me a better shot in auditions. The advanced level of this class shows mastery in this technique.
The combination of these classes coupled with the work I have found and been offered gave me the ability to walk out of this school in December with a strong skill set in multiple areas of the theatre and makes me very highly employable. I can work one place doing one thing and get hired on to do other jobs there and make great connections to continue to be employed. The classes I have taken and skills I have learned make me feel confident in my ability to find work and continue to learn and grow and master skills in all areas of the theatre, so I can continue doing what I love.