Why Choose Oklahoma for Drama?
We train students for professional careers in Acting, Design, Dramaturgy, Stage Management, and Technical Production.
We offer theatre training in a conservatory-style environment while still offering the advantages of a liberal arts education from a nationally renowned university.
As the producing organization for the School of Drama, the Weitzenhoffer Department of Musical Theatre, and the OU School of Dance, the School of Drama produces 16 shows a year.
Each main stage production plays at least six performances and often up to twelve.
Our shows play to a diverse audience, often to sold-out houses, and create box office returns which subsidize our program.
We have four fully equipped performance spaces: the Rupel J. Jones Theatre, a 600-seat proscenium house; the A. Max Weitzenhoffer Theatre, a 225-seat state-of-the-art flexible house; The Lab Theatre, an 80-seat proscenium house; and, the Gilson Studio Theatre, a small blackbox.
Auditions for all productions, including musicals, are open to students of any year or discipline. Freshmen and transfer students are frequently cast in mainstage and graduate-directed productions during their first year at OU.
We have a strong and supportive alumni base now living and working in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, and around the country.
Members of the OU Drama family include A. Max Weitzenhoffer (Tony Award-winning producer and OU Alumnus), James Garner, Alice Ghostley, (two -time Tony Award winner), Ed Harris, Ronnie Clair Edwards, Van Heflin, Dennis Weaver, Rance Howard, Larry Drake, Lonny Chapman, Lou and Jim Antonio, as well as many recent graduates with successful careers in film, television, and theatre.
We continually adapt our program to meet the needs of the professional entertainment industry.
We offer stage combat training in hand-to-hand and armed and edged weaponry as well as classes in acting for the camera and a class in career development and professional preparation.
Our faculty consists of theatre artists with distinguished careers, who regularly return to the professional industry and work as actors, directors, and stage managers and designers, bringing the fruits of their experience into the classroom, rehearsals, and production.
Each year artists from all over the States and many foreign countries visit the campus to work with our students. These include internationally famous actors, voice and movement teachers, designers, technicians, dramaturgs, and playwrights. Past guest artists have included Lou Diamond Phillips, John Cullum, Larry Drake, Actors from the London Stage, Jane Boston, Ian Ricketts, Jade McCutchen, Mark Meinart, Gillyanne Kayes, Andrew Wade, Louis Broome, Tina Packer, Willa Kim, Ken Kercheval, A. Max Weitzenhoffer, and Mark Medoff.
Generous contributions from School of Drama Alumnus A. Max Weitzenhoffer have allowed us to enhance our inventory of intelligent lighting instruments. Mr. Weitzenhoffer is a highly acclaimed independent producer of New York and London theatre productions and has won numerous Tony, Olivier, Evening Standard and Drama Critics awards. He graduated from The University of Oklahoma with a BFA in Drama, and has served many professional organizations including the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, the Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation, President of New York's Circle Repertory Company and is a member of the league of New York Theatres & Producers. He is an active patron of the arts at the University of Oklahoma and has been generous in providing opportunities in five of his West End theatres. Awards from the University include the 1992 Regents' Alumni Award, the 1988 Alumni Association's Distinguished Service Citation and an Honorary Doctorate at the 2000 Commencement ceremonies. In 1994 he was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame.
Our high faculty/student ratio insures that students get the personal attention they need. Friendly, professional faculty and supportive fellow students create a nurturing environment in which students can learn and develop their craft.
The University of Oklahoma is a nationally renowned research university with the lowest tuition in the Big 12.
Norman is a traditional college town with easy access to the Oklahoma City metropolitan area, with a safe and friendly community. Due to the diligent work of OU President Boren and, first lady, Molly Boren, the OU campus and surrounding grounds have enjoyed many recent renovations, additions to facilities, and present a setting of unparalleled beauty in grounds and landscaping. The historic OU campus has been restored and beautified with many gifts from companies and private donors.
The OU campus offers many rich historical and cultural resources, including the largest donation of impressionist art ever given to a public university, the Sam Noble Museum of Natural History, and the Peggy V. Helmerich Great Reading Room.
If you were graduating from OU School of Drama this May, the following productions could be on your resume.
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Great Expectations Kindertransport Once Upon A Mattress The Crucible Oklahoma Festival Ballet Iphigenia or The Sin of the Gods It’s a Wonderful Life - A Live Radio Play Young Choreographers’ Showcase An Evening of Moliere Contemporary Dance Oklahoma The Beauty Queen of Leenane Dancing at Lughnasa Company |
Marat/Sade Quay West Urinetown Come Back Little Sheba Enchanted April Oklahoma Festival Ballet Macbeth Young Choreographers' Showcase Noises Off Equus Arthur Miller Project Pal Joey Twelfth Night Contemporary Dance Oklahoma
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Harvey Androcles and the Lion Our Town Assassins Laramie Project Rimers of Eldritch Hansel and Gretel You Can’t Take It With You Texarkana Waltz My One and Only The Pavilion The Sandbox/Zoo Story Bent Cakewalk Someone Who'll Watch Over Me
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Metamorphoses All My Sons Sweet Charity Every Good Boy Deserves Favour On the Verge The Monument Crave Diary of a Scoundrel Ghosts The Mercy Seat Much Ado About Nothing Anton in Show Business Chess
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