Theatre Design and Technology

Key members of the design team, costume designers have a significant impact on the visual storytelling of a production while costume technology students apply the skills and techniques to ensure they bridge the gap between the designer’s vision and the practical reality of costumes.

Our program emphasizes the art of collaboration with the director, design team, actors, and production staff.

Our faculty are active professionals in the field who share their expertise and prepare our students to develop cohesive designs that support the central theme and aesthetic direction of each production and to bring a designer’s vision to life.

Our costume students take courses to develop critical analysis skills, explore the world of aesthetics, examine world history, and learn practical applications, such as advanced draping, millinery, fabric painting, hair styling, and makeup design as well as hand-sewing techniques, machine operations, pattern layout, and fabric identifications.

Costume designers and technologists put their skills into practice in the Conservatory’s many productions on campus every year.

Costume Design Concentration Requirements

Costume Technology Concentration Requirements

Lighting designers develop conceptual and artistic ideas to anchor the visual language of a production.

Working professionals nurture our students’ passion for storytelling and collaborative processes and encourage their development of cohesive designs that support other visual elements and the overall production.

Students learn the design process from script comprehension and analysis to developing their conceptual ideas based on the production’s narrative, eventually turning their unique lighting ideas into concrete designs with full paperwork and light lab explorations.

Our lighting design students acquire industry expertise beyond plays and musicals, but also for technology, corporate theatre, dance productions, and more to ensure they develop into complete and uniquely qualified artists upon graduation from the program.

Lighting Design Concentration Requirements

As core members of the creative team, scenic designers are responsible for crafting the physical environment of a stage production.

We focus on developing students’ skills as both artists and craftspeople, nurturing each student’s unique artistic vision and style while emphasizing teamwork and collaboration and the relationship between theoretical and hands-on learning.

Core skills include conceptualization, drafting, model-making, rendering, script analysis, and research. The program allows students to take on various production roles, culminating with the opportunity to serve as the Scenic Designer on a fully realized production prior to graduation.

Students learn from top industry professionals and work closely with directors, designers, and production staff to develop unified designs for both theoretical and realized productions. We value the importance of professional mentorship, with students receiving guidance from working professionals throughout their studies. This combination of classroom instruction and practical experience prepares students for careers in live entertainment and other industries.

They also have access to professional and artistic enrichment opportunities in New York City, including observing technical rehearsals, attending productions, and visiting prominent art museums.

Our alumni work in diverse fields such as theater, opera, experiential design, television, and film.

Scenic Design Concentration Requirements

The sound design program prepares students to delve deeper into the art and practice of aural storytelling and provides students the opportunity to collaborate among visual designers in creating complex and multi-dimensional theatrical storytelling.

Students learn acoustics, electric theory, sound creation and system design. They also explore show control, audio networking, music theory, composition, live sound reinforcement, studio recording, mixing and mastering, post-production, and music technology.

Students experience coursework within and beyond the Conservatory of Theatre Arts and intersect most immediately with the college’s Conservatory of Music and the New Media program offered in the School of Film and Media Studies.

The goal of this concentration is to provide students with the knowledge and skills needed to support their own artistic work and career goals in the professional theatre industry.

Sound Design Concentration Requirements

Stage managers oversee the rehearsal room, tech, previews, and performances. As the primary, if not only, liaison between rehearsal hall and the other members of the creative and production team, stage management students learn to hone their communication skills and the art of diplomacy.

Responsible for the scheduling of rehearsals and documentation/tracking of script changes, props, costumes, scenic shifts, and lighting and sound cues, the stage manager’s role includes paperwork, emails, and conversations.

Collaborating with the director, choreographer, performers, designers, stagehands, musicians, and other managers, the stage manager’s demeanor, clarity and understanding are key to efficiently leading and managing the production process.

Students discuss and fine tune their ability to handle a multitude of needs and requests, looking at both small details and the “big picture.”

More than sharpening pencils and making a list, the stage manager guides everyone to the finish line and beyond.

Stage Management Concentration Requirements

Working collaboratively with the scenic designer and others, technical directors and production managers bring the scenery to life on stage.

This process includes bidding, scheduling, development of technical designs, supervision of crews, budget management, and coordination with the other departments working on the production.

They’re also responsible for supervising and coordinating the load-in of scenery and other physical elements of the production into the theatre, helping to organize scene changes that involve moving scenery, and supervising the load-out of the production when the run is over.

Building on the knowledge and understanding gained as a technical director, you will also learn how to be a production manager who works collaboratively with all areas on the production including scenery, costumes, lighting, sound, and others to ensure the entire production process is a success.

By the end of your professional training, you’ll have a well-rounded set of leadership and technical skills that position you for a successful career that allow you to solve the complex challenges in the world of technical direction and production management.

Tech Direction/Production Management Concentration Requirements