Acting, B.F.A.

Note: This program will be open for Admission for Fall 2020. The curriculum may be slightly altered.

The BFA in Acting is a rigorous, focused and sequential actor-training degree. This degree prepares its graduates to enter the acting profession and work across all media: stage, film, television and web-based work. The degree nurtures and develops both skilled, transformative actors and self-generating, collaborative theatre artists. The degree aims to train young artists whose work is truthful, physically and imaginatively engaged, vocally dynamic and versatile, and who can work successfully in a highly competitive global market place.

Initially, the BFA sequence focuses work on “Self” via the introduction of the fundamentals of acting, and the development of the actor’s body, voice, imagination, and creative individuality. Work also addresses creative blocks and unproductive habits.

The sequence then goes on to deliver rigorous exploration work on the “Role” through a wide variety of dramatic texts and genres that the student will encounter in a career as a professional actor. It continues to develop the core principles introduced in the first year and adds more advanced techniques and methodologies.

Finally, the BFA degree will prepare students for a demanding transition into the professional arena. This preparation includes Shakespeare and other classical texts, self-generated material and solo performance, on-camera acting techniques, and techniques for digital or new media and an expanded mastery of the fundamentals introduced in the first year.

The degree culminates in an online Showcase, which introduces our graduates to industry professionals.

Admission Requirements:

To be eligible for admission to the BFA degree applicants must demonstrate the following, prior to the semester for which the application is submitted:

Applicants must have met requirements for admission to the university as a freshman, or articulating transfer student with 60 completed units at a previous institution.

Students are admitted to the BFA after completing the Major-Specific Admissions Requirements.

Applicants must earn a “C” or better, and a GPA of 3.0 or higher in the following suite of courses: THEA 103 , THEA 112 , THEA 114A , and THEA 116 . If students are enrolled in requirements at the time of the audition, they may audition with a signed Grade In-Progress form from the instructors of the in-progress courses.

Applicants must participate in an adjudicated audition with the Theatre Arts Department performance faculty.
Students may not apply after they have completed 90 units.

Students are allowed one (1) opportunity to audition/apply for the BFA. Decisions are final and there is no appeal process.

To remain in good standing in the BFA degree:

Each semester, B.F.A. in Acting students must maintain a 3.0 GPA in all performance and performance theory requirements (THEA 220A /THEA 220B , THEA 230A /THEA 230B , THEA 266A /THEA 266B , THEA 320A /THEA 320B , THEA 330A /THEA 330B , THEA 366A /THEA 366B , THEA 420 , THEA 430A /THEA 430B , THEA 466 ). Students dropping below a 3.0 GPA in performance and performance theory requirements, or receiving a grade of F in any performance and performance theory requirement, will be placed on administrative academic probation for the following semester. During the probationary semester, BFA majors may not audition for mainstage productions or be involved with Theatre Threshold in any capacity. Following the probationary semester, students earning a GPA of 3.0 or above in performance and performance theory requirements will have their Mainstage and Threshold privileges reinstated, as long as no grade of F was earned in performance and performance theory requirements. Students who fall below a 3.0 GPA in performance and performance theory requirements in any two semesters, or earn grades of F in performance and performance theory requirements in any two semesters, will be removed from the B.F.A. in Acting program.