Theatre Arts

The department of theatre arts creates a Christ-centered, professional environment for artistic expression by developing the creative mind, body and spirit of each student in the disciplines of: performance, directing, design, technical theatre, production, theatre management, script writing, theatre history and dramatic literature. By imparting knowledge and allowing hands-on participation, the department is about preparing students to impact our world for God’s glory.

Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Arts: Musical Theatre Concentration

Vanguard is one of the only Christian universities to offer a Musical Theatre Concentration. We offer top notch training in voice and acting with specialized courses in musical theatre, auditioning and vocal technique. Along with our own Musical Theatre Dance and Private Dance courses, we have a unique partnership with Orange Coast College where we accept dance units into our program as the third component to a well-rounded program. We produce two musicals annually as part of our main-stage season, and have a student led Cabaret Ensemble who has the opportunity to perform for paid events at school and in the community.

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Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Arts: Stage & Screen Acting/Directing Concentration

Vanguard offers Stage and Screen students a stand-out selection of performance-based courses. The program’s highlight is our three-tiered program in both Acting and Acting/Directing for the Camera, and our two-tiered directing program. Character Acting for Comedy focuses on acting styles for sitcoms while Playing Shakespeare focuses on the classical. Voice and Speech, Stage Combat, Industry Insiders and many other comprehensive theatre courses contribute to a well-rounded theatre major. Performance opportunities abound through our main-stage productions, Senior Showcases and student-directed scenes and one-acts. We enter productions every semester in the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, and each year students participate in our regional festival as Irene Ryan Acting Award nominees.

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Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Arts: Technical/Design Concentration

Personalized instruction and supervised, hands-on design experiences that stretch from designs-on-paper to fully realized productions provide exciting challenges for the Design/ Technical Concentration major. Students develop skills for success in graduate studies or in the technical theatre workplace. All productions are staffed by student technicians, including run crews, lighting crews, riggers, stage managers, sound operators and costume/makeup assistants. Many assistant designer position opportunities are also available throughout the production season.

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Department Promo Video

Sample Senior Project