Undergraduate Scenic Technology

Undergraduate Scenic Technology students gain practical experience by managing fully staged theater, dance and opera productions in five different performance spaces (including proscenium thrust, proscenium and flexible black box). The school's extensive shop facilities are unrivaled anywhere and include scene, metal, prop, paint, electrics, costume, sound, and wig and makeup shops covering more than 70,000 square feet.

Students utilize state-of-the-art tools and theatrical equipment and are progressively given increased responsibility for budgets, scheduling, and theater and shop personnel management for productions. By graduation, students are ready to compete for the best jobs in the business.

Bachelor of Fine Arts

First-Second Years

In the first two years, students are immersed in the full range of theater disciplines, covering the construction and technical elements of scenery, lighting, costumes, sound, hair and makeup. You will also develop your skills in color and design, drawing and drafting. Technical courses will cover stagecraft, welding, metalworking, theatrical rigging and technical graphics. This foundation will help you collaborate with stage designers and technicians as you progress through the program and begin to work on various projects for the school’s 20-plus performances each year. You will spend the majority of your time in the scene shop during your second year, learning and perfecting various construction and fabrication techniques as well as their implementation. As part of your degree, you will take liberal arts courses.

Third-Fourth Years

Classes in your final two years will cover more complex topics in construction techniques, structural engineering, and the equipment and design of moving scenery. In your third year, you will be given a middle-management position in the scene shop, such as assistant draftsperson or lead carpenter, gradually gaining more responsibility in projects. You will assume a leadership role in the scene shop during your final year, being tasked with overseeing completely a fully-realized production project. 

Scenic Technology Careers

Nearly all of Scenic Technology graduates find careers in their chosen profession. You will find our alumni doing precisely what they had hoped for - building scenery for network and cable television, working on sets for cruise ships, and constructing scenery for theater and dance companies.