Get Ready to Perform, Design, and Construct Your Next Performance
At Webster University’s Conservatory of Theatre Arts, the faculty and staff execute a professional training program for acting, musical theatre, directing, theatre studies and dramaturgy, design, technical theatre, and stage management.
Plus, our Conservatory is associated with professional theatre companies, two of which are on campus: The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. Explore below to learn more about our sequential and intensive program for training artists for theatre.
Conservatory Season
2020-2021
Canfield Drive – Written and gathered by Kristen Adele Calhoun and Michael Thomas Walker
The Living – By Anthony Clarvoe
Deadly – Book and lyrics by Vanessa Claire Stewart, music by Ryan Thomas Johnson
Water by the Spoonful – By Quiara Alegría Hudes
Mac Beth – Adapted by Erica Schmidt from Macbeth by William Shakespeare
Urinetown, the Musical – Music and lyrics by Mark Hollmann, book and lyrics by Greg Kotis
Photo by Eric Woolsey
Our Partners and History
For more information about the Webster University Conservatory of Theatre Arts, see who we've partnered with, the amazing talent that has worked on and off our stage and where all of our work takes place.
Production Photos
- Ismene
- Twelfth Night
- Bomb-itty of Errors
- Picnic
- Machinal (capstone)
- Miss You Like Hell (capstone)
- Bright Star
- [title of show]
- As You Like It
- Lysistrata
- Men on Boats
- She Kills Monsters (capstone)
- Fly by Night (capstone)
- Brigadoon
2016-17 Season Photos:
- Slasher
- Macbeth
- The Glorious Ones
- The Philadelphia Story
- Next Fall (capstone)
- Rhinoceros (capstone)
- The Drowsy Chaperone
2015-16 Season Photos:
- Dogfight
- Stage Door
- Shotgun
- The Miser
- Mr Burns, a Post-Electric Play (capstone)
- The Cockfight Play (capstone)
- The Pajama Game
2014-15 Season Photos:
- Stop Kiss
- Spring Awakening
- Hay Fever
- Big Love
- Honk! (capstone)
- The Last Five Years (capstone)
- The Tempest
2013-14 Season Photos:
- Alice in Wonderland
- The Country Wife
- Smokey Joe's Cafe - The Music of Leiber and Stoller
- The House of the Spirits
- Reckless (capstone)
- A Reconsolidated Life
- Into the Woods
2012-13 Season Photos:
- The Children's Hour
- A Midsummer Night's Dream
- Yours, Anne
- Uncommon Women and Others
- Eurydice (capstone)
- The Pig Iron People (capstone)
- Legally Blonde: The Musical
2011-12 Season Photos:
- Top Girls
- Carousel
- Hot L Baltimore
- Hello Again
- Edgar Allan Poe's Nevermore (capstone)
- 100 Saints You Should Know (capstone)
- Dinner With Friends (capstone)
- Lady Windermere's Fan
2010-11 Season Photos:
- Fit For Feet
- The Insect Play
- The Three Penny Opera
- The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
- Almost Maine
- The Wonderful World of Dissocia (capstone)
- A Year With Frog and Toad (capstone)
- The Receptionist (capstone)
- Government Inspector
2009-10 Season Photos:
- The Proposal
- Company
- The Winter's Tale
- Cloud Nine
- On The Razzle
- The House of Blue Leaves
- The Wedding Singer
2008-09 Season Photos:
- On the Edge
- Our Town
- Stepping Out
- Picasso at the Lapin Agile
- Dancing at Lughnasa (capstone)
- Betrayal (capstone)
- Cabaret
2007-08 Season Photos:
- Tied to a Stick
- Anton in Show Business
- Tartuffe
- The Cripple of Inishmaan
- Angels in American: Millennium Approaches
- The Spitfire Grill
- Oklahoma
2006-07 Season Photos:
- The Siren Song of Stephen J. Gould
- A Month in the Country
- The Comedy of Errors
- The Night of the Iguana
- Bat Boy
- Private Eyes (capstone)
- You're a Good Man Charlie Brown (capstone)
- No, No Nanette
*For production photos before 2006-07, please visit our archive.
Undergraduate Majors and Minors
Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting
Bachelor of Fine Arts in Costume Construction
Bachelor of Fine Arts in Costume Design
Bachelor of Arts in Directing
Bachelor of Fine Arts in Lighting Design
Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre
Bachelor of Fine Arts in Scene Design
Bachelor of Fine Arts in Scene Painting
Bachelor of Fine Arts in Sound Design
Bachelor of Fine Arts in Stage Management
Bachelor of Fine Arts in Technical Direction
Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Studies and Dramaturgy
Bachelor of Fine Arts in Wig and Makeup Design
To complete a minor in theatre, students must take a minimum of 18 credit hours from the courses below. All credit must be completed at Webster. Courses to fulfill a requirement for any major cannot also be used to fulfill a requirement for the minor in theatre.
Theatre Courses
THEA 1050 Theatre Appreciation (3 hours) - GCP Arts Appreciation/Written Communication
THEA 1080 Studio Acting (3 hours) - GCP Arts Appreciation/Oral Communications
THEA 2100 Introduction to Theatre Design (3 hours)
THEA 2030 History of Theatre: Greeks to Elizabethan- GCP Roots of Culture/Written Communication
THEA 2040 History of Theatre: Restoration to 1915 (3 hours) - GCP Roots of Culture/Written Communication
THEA 2050 History of Theatre: 1915 to Present - GCP Roots of Culture/Written Communication
THEA 2060 Introduction to Dramaturgy and Play Analysis - GCP Arts Appreciation/Written Communication
THEA 2080 Studio Acting II (3 hours) - GCP Arts Appreciation/Oral Communications
THEA 3040 Topics in Theatre (3 hours) Repeatable with different titles
THEA 3070 Creative Dramatics: Social Issues (3 hours)
THEA 4060 Advanced Dramaturgy Seminar (3 hours)
MUTH 1030 History of American Musical Theatre (3 hours)
ENGL 4150 Shakespeare (3 hours)
Additional Information
Theatre Minor Advisor - Doug Finlayson, finlaydo@webster.edu
Explore Our Premier Programs
Discover more about our relevant and hands-on curriculum across a variety of fields and disciplines.
How to Apply
Students seeking an audition for Acting, Directing, or Musical Theatre will be required to submit pre-screen materials through Acceptd. The faculty will review all submissions weekly. Once reviewed, students will be notified if they are invited to request an audition date with Webster University. We will open the application in Acceptd on October 1, 2020.
The submission deadline for Acceptd is January 30, 2021. (Please check with Patti Baygents at pbaygents80@webster.edu if you need to submit pre-screen materials after this date.)
Once you have received an invitation to audition, the first step is to apply to Webster University. Application may be made either through our website at webster.edu/apply or through Common App.
After completing your application, you will receive an email with a link to submit an Audition Request Form and a $30 fee in order to select an audition date. You will be contacted by Patti Baygents, Audition Coordinator for the Leigh Gerdine College of Fine Arts, to schedule a time for your audition.
Students seeking a portfolio review and/or interview for Costume Construction, Costume Design, Lighting Design, Scene Design, Scene Painting, Sound Design, Stage Management, Technical Direction, or Wig and Makeup Design are not required to upload to Acceptd. However, if students do submit through Acceptd, their materials will be reviewed by faculty.
The first step for Production majors is to apply to Webster University. Application may be made either through our website at webster.edu/apply or through Common App.
After completing your application, you will receive an email with a link to submit your Audition Request Form and $30 fee. You will be contacted by Patti Baygents, Audition Coordinator for the Leigh Gerdine College of Fine Arts, with next step information regarding how to schedule a date and time for your review or interview.
If you have any questions regarding the Conservatory or the audition or review process, please contact Patti Baygents, Audition Coordinator, at pbaygents80@webster.edu or 314.246.4216.
