Course numbers and class descriptions change each semester and are not displayed in Course Scheduler.
THEA 287M Live Event Planning/Management
This course provides an introductory view into the lucrative and challenging world of Live Events beyond traditional theatre. Students will examine other fields where a theatrical background is often regarded as an asset and begin to connect how their individual skillsets are transferrable within other career paths. Types of live events will include corporate events and industrials, awards/galas, site specific work, wedding and event planning, concerts, production/space rental management and virtual events. Students will work as teams to design and create the paperwork, presentations or concepts required to plan and manage specific projects, incorporating their own background and knowledge as a distinguishing feature to develop their own style. Guest speakers will be incorporated to give a real-world connection to the roles and responsibilities. Students will leave this class with a new awareness of job opportunities in a myriad of growing fields and the confidence to seek them out.
THEA 289A Spectate, Immerse, Participate
This course is an introduction to the study of audiences, with special focus on immersive and participatory performances. What does it mean to be part of an audience, and how are our ideas of attention and spectating changing as media becomes more interactive?
Beginning with a history of audience studies, the course then turns to work under the umbrella of immersive entertainment: from site-specific and environmental theatre and installation art to gaming, virtual reality, audio and video projection immersives, haunted attractions, and re-enactments. Students will read theory and criticism discussing these genres, and attend multiple performances throughout the course of the semester. (Options for recorded, remote, and in-person attendance will be available.) Students will compose critical essays, and write response papers on their research and experiences.
Note: This course is not a studio course; we will be studying and critiquing performances, not creating new immersive or participatory experiences ourselves.
THEA 289G Afro-Caribbean Dance & Movement
This course introduces students to the essential elements of Afro-Caribbean Dance: body movement isolation and polyrhythm. It will teach dance as an artistic expression, taken from the vast culture brought to the Americas from the westernmost regions in Africa; this started a transculturation process that has continued to evolve over the years. We will explore and embody the essence of these dances, intrinsically linked to the adoration of different deities, focusing on the Orisha dances still performed in Cuba today. Furthermore, this class will introduce students to other more widespread and popular dances, such as Salsa, Rumba, Mambo, Cha-cha-cha and Merengue. Students will improve coordination and body awareness and will be able to differentiate different rhythms.
THEA 386D Vocal Coaching
This course is a 1-credit offering that is structured as weekly private lessons. It is intended for upper-level Binghamton University Theatre Department students who are studying acting and performance (or any other enrolled Binghamton University students) who are proficient performers, instrumentalists, technicians, designers, and/or stage managers who are interested in furthering their study of music and theatre for future professional collaborative work. The course is individually designed and divided into weekly lessons, which are scheduled at a mutually agreed upon time by both student and instructor. Typically coursework will center around some or all the following elements: working collaboratively with accompanists and other artists, creating a professional audition book of songs, coaching acting and performance technique for singers, studying voice and singing in conjunction with words and lyrics with focus on musical theatre or art song repertoire, music theory, sight-singing and sight-reading.
THEA 387A Costume Design II
This course is the study of designing multiple costumes for more complex projects such as musicals and Shakespearean plays, operas, or films. Students will be working on realized fitting projects for Studio plays, learning fitting techniques, more advanced paperwork, and swatching in a fabric store. Must have taken 342 Costume Design to advance to this class.
THEA 387B Beijing Opera Makeup: Lines
This is a 2-credit introductory course teaching basic face painting techniques for those who are interested in Beijing Opera. One of the most distinctive aspects of Beijing Opera is its unique make-up style, which disguises actors with astonishing masks painted directly onto their skin. This class teaches the significance of lines and symbolic patterns used and techniques of pigment application. No prerequisites. Open to students from any major. Students will paint on paper mache masks in most of the class periods, and will have their choices to paint on their own faces or the masks in the second class to the last. Prof. Linghui Tu is a professional performer who is also a National Tier-1 Performer at the National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts in Beijing, China. She is the winner of the Chinese Drama Plum Blossom Award (CDPBA) and Chinese Opera Wenhua Award (the highest level award in Chinese opera in China).
THEA 387C Beijing Opera Combat: Spear
This is a 2-credit introductory course that concentrates on the symbolic fighting style of Beijing Opera, using its special spears. It is athletic and gymnastic and is clearly influenced by techniques of martial arts. This course will provide a general understanding of Beijing Opera combat's basic elements. The structures of Beijing Opera Combat include postures, element skill training, and other combat moves. Also, this course will help to improve body coordination and agility and develop knowledge of Chinese culture and performing arts. No previous training is necessary for enrollment. No prerequisites. Traditional weapons are provided and made safe to use. Prof. Linghui Tu is a professional performer who is also a National Tier-1 Performer at the National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts in Beijing, China. She is the winner of the Chinese Drama Plum Blossom Award (CDPBA) and Chinese Opera Wenhua Award (the highest level award in Chinese opera in China).
THEA 387D Actors For Directing
Description: Students learn about play analysis, staging and objectives by participating as actors in directing class projects and assignments and also compose the core group of actors used in performances.
THEA 387S Stage Management Lab
This course provides the working Stage Manager an in-depth discussion forum and practical arena to harness their technical and communication skills necessary to perform the role, through analysis of working documentation, constructive dialogue between departments and within their own team. This course provides a forum for assigned Fall show SM Teams to collaborate and problem solve, as well as learn to delegate and design paperwork together. Groups will have a focus of study within their own productions, with a crossover discussion on more advanced concepts of leadership and team building.
THEA 389A Dance, Power, and Identity
This course sets out to introduce students to dance as an academic subject and explore a range of historical and contemporary dance practices within local, national and cross-cultural settings of America. Students will refine their skills in contemplating, discussing, and writing about cultural meaning and political agency construction in dance. We will look at dance as a location of knowledge and history, a practice that creates political power and identity, a mode of perceptual study, and an embodied form of resistance. Following an introductory unit, this class will explore African American dance, American modern dance, Native American dance, Hawaiian hula, Jewish American dance, ballet, queer dance, and other contemporary dance forms. The course will provide historical and cultural context for these dance practices, provoke informed and insightful discussion and debates, as well as provide training in critical approaches to dance and theatre history.
THEA 389C Modern 2: Lopez Dance Technique
This course seeks to introduce and develop the basic techniques and principles of the influential Costa Rican Lopez Dance Technique and School. Rogelio Lopez has been a dance pioneer and celebrated teacher and choreographer in Costa Rica for over 40 years. Lopez's philosophy, school, technique, and research find inspiration in other works of art and life, (in the realm of painting, sculpture, film, architecture, and literature) sports, (ice skating, parkour, synchronized swimming) social sciences (anthropology, sociology, and philosophy), nature (animals and the ancestral), and other genres of dance (modern dance, folk dance, urban dance, butoh, ballet, flamenco among others). All of the mentioned before are condensed into movement as a means to 1) decolonize the body from pre-established ideas surrounding dance as a form, and 2) explore the study of symbol and gesture and its value and representation in society. Students will acquire skills that enhance their abilities and learn actions to help overcome any obstacles.
THEA 389G Broadway Marketing and PR
This class immerses students into the vast industry of marketing for Broadway shows. Classes will explore advertising, marketing, promotion, logo art creation, and public relations for commercial theatre. Students will learn the development process of actual production budgets, media plans, marketing strategies and learn which ones were standout winners or epic losers. Take deep dives into Broadway show logo creation, evolving key art campaigns, ticket sales challenges, press and publicity campaigns; such as how PR teams strategize which TV shows to pitch for press coverage of their shows. The Broadway League programs and the TONY Awards season will be a part of discussions. No prerequisites.
Instructor Keith Hurd, a Broadway marketing executive and Emmy Award winning TV producer leads this course from true life experiences and campaigns of Broadway shows.
THEA 389H Acting Shakespeare
An exploration of the structure of Shakespeare's verse, the clues in the First Folio, and the Elizabethan World Picture and their application to monologue and scene work. Vocal, physical and imaginative exercises (including the Linklater Sound and Movement Progression) are used to investigate the language and circumstances of Shakespearean sonnets, monologues and scenes. Exercises from John Barton, Kristin Linklater, Tina Packer, Cicely Berry and Patsy Rodenburg are applied to Shakespearean scenes.
THEA 389J Dance Techniques 2: Contemporary/Lyrical
Dance Tech 2: Lyrical Contemporary-Contemporary/Lyrical is a blend of various dance styles including jazz, modern, and classical ballet. Ballet technique will be used, but adapted to the fluidity of jazz movement. A unique trait of the contemporary/lyrical style is its emotional connection to the viewer through musical storytelling. This type of expression will be created by studying the use of music, rhythm, and spatial awareness. Movement may be choreographed to the vocal performance of a song, not just the rhythm, while adding breath and soul to the movement through the dancer's interpretation. This course meets 4 times per week and is 4 credits.
Previous dance experience in ballet, modern, or jazz is required.
THEA 389Q Entertainment Communication and Relations
Entertainment Communications and Relations introduces the student to the Professional and Non-Profit Performing Arts, Entertainment and Sports Industry, and how changes have been made and continue to, influencing the political/social/and cultural backdrop of our Country.
As we advance through the different Marketing methods: Radio (Podcast), Visual (Broadcast & Streaming), Print, Publicity & Public Relations, Direct Marketing and Social Networking, we will use the techniques learned to create examples of Mixed Marketing Campaign messages. The assignments focus on LIVE Entertainment events happening on Campus, and in local Communities.
In order to understand or comprehend the financial obligations of the Producers or Board of Directors of any successful Non/or Profit Entertainment Organization, the members in the Business Management and Creative Production Operations MUST appreciate the skills, talent, and craft held by each other.
THEA 389W Theatre and Dance in East Asia
This course introduces students to theatre and dance through an interdisciplinary approach, in the process addressing such aspects of East Asian culture as language, traditions and religion. It is designed to help students of both Western and Asian backgrounds understand the history and practice of the major East Asian theatrical and dance traditions from their origins up to contemporary settings. The materials used for the course will help students to learn how to demonstrate in-depth knowledge of the literature and theatre arts of the major countries such as China, Japan, and Korea. Through assigned readings and visual materials, alongside class discussion and students' own research, we will seek to understand the status of East Asian performance as a cultural phenomenon that comprises music, dance, and drama, both separately and in tandem. This is an upper-level class and students are expected to conduct their own research when completing all class assignments.
THEA 486D Vocal Coaching
This course is a 1-credit offering that is structured as weekly private lessons. It is intended for upper-level Binghamton University Theatre Department students who are studying acting and performance (or any other enrolled Binghamton University students) who are proficient performers, instrumentalists, technicians, designers, and/or stage managers who are interested in furthering their study of music and theatre for future professional collaborative work. The course is individually designed and divided into weekly lessons, which are scheduled at a mutually agreed upon time by both student and instructor. Typically coursework will center around some or all the following elements: working collaboratively with accompanists and other artists, creating a professional audition book of songs, coaching acting and performance technique for singers, studying voice and singing in conjunction with words and lyrics with focus on musical theatre or art song repertoire, music theory, sight-singing and sight-reading.
THEA 487C Advanced Lighting Design Studio
This course facilitates the development of lighting design within a theatrical design and production process. Work centers on lighting design for specific university productions or special projects. Instruction and practice is given to detailed understanding of design phases and steps in a production process, as aligned with the creation of rendering, light plots, and paperwork related to the production. This course will focus on foundational lighting design and related technical skills, design communications, and leadership skills as applied to theatre and transferrable to other entertainment-related career and educational pathways. Course utilizes several software platforms, to include Vectorworks and Adobe Creative Suite. (In some instances, may require concurrent enrollment in Practica under same instructor.)
THEA 487J Advanced Scenic Design Studio
This course facilitates the development of scenic design within a theatrical design and production process. Work centers on scenic design for specific university productions or special projects. Instruction and practice is given to detailed understanding of design phases and steps in a production process, as aligned with the creation of drawings, models, drafting packages, paint elevations, and fabrication/paint projects related to the production. This course will focus on foundational scenic design and related technical skills, design communications, and leadership skills as applied to theatre and transferrable to other entertainment-related career and educational pathways. Course utilizes several software platforms, to include AutoCad and Adobe Creative Suite. (In some instances, may require concurrent enrollment in Practica under same instructor.)
THEA 487P Advanced Costume Design Studio
Advanced projects in Costume Design. Admission by permission of instructor only. Contact: Devon Painter - dpainter@binghamton.edu
THEA 489B Varieties of the Comic
This course will focus on the comic, for the most part but not exclusively as it expresses itself in plays. It will emphasize criticism of comedy, including the views of George Meredith, Henry Bergson, F. M. Cornford, Sigmund Freud, Johan Huitzinga, Northrop Frye, M. M. Bakhtin, Albert Cook, Barry Sanders, and Peter Berger. A list of the plays to which these critical works will be applied will be negotiated at the beginning of the semester, but they are likely to range from Aristophanes to Beckett. Students will present oral reports to later serve as basis for written papers. Participation in discussion of the assigned readings and the oral reports is a must.
THEA 489Q Advanced Entertainment Marketing
The advanced course allows students the option to continue their Intro projects and
develop a full promotional package; or, they may choose to concentrate on a local
Professional Entertainment or Non-Profit Performing Arts Company, submit a formal
proposal and when approved, begin creating the integrated marketing components for
the promotional presentation. This is an intensive hands-on course. Students work
individually and within groups creating/producing on-air promotional and print material
for theatrical and on-campus productions using digital/VHS cameras, audio recording
and editing suite to produce on-air materials. Computer PODs are used to produce print
advertisements. Students prepare :30 and :60 radio and TV commercials and half-hour
TV documentaries promoting Theatre Department productions to be aired on public-access
and commercial TV and radio stations.
Pre Req-Completion of THEA389Q
If you have questions, please contact the professor prior to registration.
NOTE: For Special Topics courses, course numbers and class descriptions change each semester and are not displayed in Course Scheduler.
