Student Opportunities

& Resources

Department of Theatre

Learn about the amazing opportunities for ACU’s Theatre students.
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Student Opportunities

& Resources

Department of Theatre

Learn about the amazing opportunities for ACU’s Theatre students.

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Senior Showcase

The Senior Showcase is an important final step in the professional training programs for graduating senior actors and musical theatre majors at the ACU Theatre and, for many, the beginning of successful professional performance careers. Learn more about Senior Showcase and meet our next showcase members at the button below.

2025 Senior Showcase

Tepper Semester

Study in NYC through this unique residency program from Syracuse University’s Department of Drama. Advanced-level undergraduate students can take full advantage of New York City’s rich cultural community while immersing themselves in a rigorous artistic training program.

More about Tepper Semester
Greenhouse Productions logo

The Greenhouse Arts & Media

Earn three hours of Theatre or Film Credit during the Summer!
Establish Your Roots in the industry and earn three hours of theatre or film credit during a summer session through a co-department agreement between ACU’s JMC and Theatre departments and The Greenhouse Arts & Media.  Greenhouse provides college students with opportunities for personal and professional development, practical experience, and strategic planning for life after graduation.

The course is led by Shun Lee Fong, director of Greenhouse Media, along with ACU alumna Sommerly Simser of Netflix. In this three-week LA experience, students write and film a 10-minute short film as well as engage with LA industry professionals of faith. A red-carpet screening is held in December.

More about Greenhouse

ACU Theatre students at The Greenhouse Arts & Media Summer Internship Program (Marco Perez, Caleb Shields, Riley Dodd, Hayden Casey) join alum Caleb Pierce (’15) known for TV shows Veep, Insecure, The Big Bang Theory, and Grey's Anatomy.
ACU Theatre students at The Greenhouse Arts & Media Summer Internship Program (Marco Perez, Caleb Shields, Riley Dodd, Hayden Casey) join alum Caleb Pierce (’15) known for TV shows Veep, Insecure, The Big Bang Theory, and Grey’s Anatomy.

ACU alumna Sommerly Simser from Netflix, made participation in Greenhouse possible.
ACU alumna Sommerly Simser from Netflix, made participation in Greenhouse possible.

ACU Theatre students participate in ACU’s Undergraduate Research Creativity and Innovation Festival

The ACU Office of Undergraduate Research, Creativity and Innovation supports the participation of undergraduate students in scholarly research and creative projects through grant funding, hosting the ACU Undergraduate Research, Creativity, and Innovation Festival, and other collaborative initiatives.

 

Alex Dulske – Behind Closed Doors
(playwriting)

Lila Griffith – Choreography and History of
“The Sound of Music.”

Nathaniel Riechle – Choreography and History of
“The Sound of Music.”

Kinsey Herbel – Lighting “A Doll’s House”: Bringing Clarity to the Ideas that Keep
Us Trapped

Maya Padilla – Voice for the Stage
(singing vs. speaking)

Ashton Taylor – Mothman in Heels
(playwriting)

Forms & Applications for Current Theatre Students

Applications

Theatre Forms

Ally Beans (ACU Theatre Alumni), Ashley Parizek (ACU Theatre Alumni) and Michael Cassara - all top level New York industry casting directors and agents
Ally Beans (ACU Theatre Alumni), Ashley Parizek (ACU Theatre Alumni) and Michael Cassara – all top level New York industry casting directors and agents.

Professional alumni in the industry including Peter Hargrave who is currently touring the country as Scar in the national tour of the Lion King
ACU Theatre alumni, now industry professionals (l-r): Peter Hargrave (’12) currently on the national tour of The Lion King; Kat Hargrave (’11) Senior Agent at DGRW Agency, NY; Ashley Parizek (’12) Agent at Avalon Artist Group, NY; Ally Beans (’14) Casting Director with Eisenberg/Beans, NY, Dallas; Owen Beans (’14) Equity Actor, Producer, Dallas
2023 graduating BFA performance track seniors from the spring ‘23 Senior Showcase
2023 graduating BFA performance track seniors from the spring ‘23 Senior Showcase

2025 Senior Showcase

 

2025 ACU Showcase

The Senior Showcase is an important final step in the professional training programs for graduating senior actors and musical theatre majors at the ACU Theatre and, for many, is the beginning of successful professional performance careers. The showcase is the capstone for performers to participate in before they graduate. During the spring semester students perform and audition for invited agents, managers, casting directors, producers, musical directors and industry professionals in New York City and then make themselves available for callbacks, interviews, future auditions and representation. The senior showcase is an essential bridge in establishing a connection with industry professionals and ACU Theatre seniors who are ready to move into the marketplace.

2025 Senior Showcase Performances

March 3, 2025
9 p.m. seating; 9:30 p.m. performance
54 Below (Cabaret Venue)
Tickets required. To purchase a ticket click on the link below

MORE At 54 below

March 4, 2025
Performances at 4 p.m. and 6 p.m.
Actor’s Temple Theatre
No ticket required for Showcase performances

Denim Atkins

rESUME

BIO

Zola Feasel

rESUME

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Haven Foster

rESUME

BIO

Hannah Galambos

rESUME

BIO

Taylor Herndon

rESUME

BIO

Ainsley Houghton

rESUME

BIO

Spencer Kasselman

rESUME

BIO

Layla Leveret

rESUME

BIO

Patti Maisano

rESUME

BIO

Jilly Nickens

rESUME

BIO

Ella Root

rESUME

BIO

Madi Sipe

rESUME

BIO

Courtney String

rESUME

BIO

Will Thompson

rESUME

BIO

For more information, please reach out to Theatre Chair Dawne Meeks.

Senior Showcase Credits

Director/Showcase Coach – Joey Banks
Producer/Theatre Chair – Dawne Swearingen Meeks
Musical Director – Chris Hollingsworth
Accompanist – Marc Sanders
Showcase Coordinator – Devin Braswell
Industry Liaisons – Kat Hargrave, DGRW NY talent agency;
Ally Beans, Ally Beans Creative LLC, U.S. operations at Lindsay Nicholas New York

 

54 Below Credits

Cabaret Director/Producer – Dawne Swearingen Meeks
Assistant Producer – Madi Sipe
Musical Director – Chris Hollingsworth
Accompanist – Marc Sanders

2024 SHOWCASE HIGHLIGHTS

Tepper Semester

ACU Theatre majors in performance and design tracks have the opportunity to spend their final semester studying with Broadway and award-winning instructors in New York City.

The Tepper Semester – a unique residency program from Syracuse University’s Department of Drama – takes full advantage of New York City’s rich cultural community and offers undergraduate students in advanced levels of acting, musical theatre, design, and stage management the opportunity to immerse themselves in a rigorous artistic training program. The ACU Theatre has an affiliation agreement with Syracuse University allowing ACU Theatre majors to attend the Tepper Semester.

As a student in the Tepper Semester, you work closely with an accomplished faculty of professional artists who nurture your creative, intellectual, and personal growth. Musical theatre students take dance classes at Broadway Dance Center. The program also guides you in understanding the business of the industry, which is essential for a rewarding and successful career in the performing arts. As an immersion experience, the professional preparatory semester creates the base of a national arts network for emerging young artists. Residency in New York City is an integral part of the Tepper Semester. Students live and study in the heart of New York’s theater district and attend studio classes in Syracuse University’s Fisher Center located at Madison Avenue and 31st Street in the heart of Manhattan. The program also takes advantage of the vast cultural and educational resources the city has to offer. Students learn from exposure to a broad spectrum of world-class theatres, museums, libraries, and numerous entertainment venues so vital to artistic training. Students attend Broadway or Off-Broadway theatre productions each week.

“I’m really excited about who we’re going to be working with, both the professors and also the other students and getting to be around people who love to create…Every year when the seniors come back from Tepper, they always seem to have an elevated sense of permission about pursuing their craft. They feel more confident about going forward, and they feel like they can really do this, so I’m excited to embrace that.”

–  Andrew Gilliland

“I am so excited to be sharing this experience with all of my really close friends. I am so thankful that this opportunity allows me to experience what it would be like to live in New York as well…. Being able to have the opportunity to perform for some casting agents is so exciting … while auditioning whenever we can is super helpful too.”

– Payton Reeves