Stage and Screen Acting
Stage and Screen Acting (SSA) at UNLV is an exciting and innovative new undergraduate program designed for students interested in pursuing a professional career on the stage and screen. It offers conservatory-style training for the serious acting student in all aspects of performance including stage acting, acting for film and television as well as voice, movement and speech training.
Admission to the concentration is by audition. Essential “basic training” is required of all actors in the freshman and sophomore years, and then students choose one of three options in the program. These allow the student to focus their study in the junior and senior years:
Option A – includes performance electives from the stage acting studios and acting for the camera styles equally, to create a program balanced evenly between stage and screen.
Option B – is the heavily weighted toward the stage acting studio courses with fewer electives chosen from the acting for the camera styles.
Option C – is the heavily weighted toward the acting for the camera styles courses with fewer electives chosen from the stage acting studios.
Learning from Seasoned Professionals
SSA students will learn from seasoned professionals with extensive experience in national and international theatre, film and television. Many faculty members are veteran union members (AEA, SAG, AFTRA, DGA) and working actors and directors. Students will learn the practical aspects of the craft of acting on stage and on screen from artists who have spent time in the business and have outstanding teaching credentials.
Stage Experience
SSA students are eligible to audition for all Main Season and Second Season productions of the Nevada Conservatory Theatre (NCT), the production arm of the Department of Theatre. The NCT regularly features guest artists from around the country.
Working with the Best
Students work alongside professional guest actors, directors and designers. Recent guest actors at the NCT include GW Bailey, Steve Vinovich, Martin & Mary Kildare, Sally Struthers, Sandy Duncan, Erik Fredrickson and many others. Recent guest directors include regional theatre veterans Paul Barnes of the Great River Shakespeare Festival, and James Edmondson of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, as well as many others. Guest artists in other areas of NCT production include John Iacovelli, Ming Cho Lee, John Napier, Xu-Zheng He and Joe Varga.
Workshops
Workshops are often conducted with guest artists, talent agents, managers, and casting directors, providing SSA students with important contacts for careers after their training at UNLV.
