Theatre does not exist without space. At the Sargent Conservatory, the actor, stage manager, designer, director and technician constantly transform space through vision, skill and hard work.

 

The Loretto-Hilton Center for the Performing Arts

Loretto-Hilton Center for the Performing Arts

The Loretto-Hilton Center for the Performing Arts, funded in part by the late Conrad Hilton, houses administration offices, two spacious dance studios, dressing rooms, design spaces, fully equipped scene and costume shops, and light and sound labs. It also houses two of our theatre spaces: the Virginia Browning Mainstage Theatre and the Emerson Studio Theatre.

130 Edgar Road
St. Louis, Missouri 63119-3194

Phone: 314-246-6929

Mainstage

Virginia Browning Mainstage Theatre

Virginia Browning Mainstage Theatre

The Browning Theatre at Webster University's design was inspired by the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis. The thrust theatre is used for a multitude of artistic activities and has seating for nearly 1,000 people. It is home to the Sargent Conservatory’s Mainstage Series, as well as to productions staged by the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Webster University Dance Ensemble, and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis.

A large ensemble of actors singing, dancing, and playing instruments surround a woman in a long white dress in the center. The stage has a large door with red velvet curtains on the side and four pillars in the background and a glass chandelier and small floating lights hang from the ceiling.

Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812, 2024

The stage is set with multiple, multi-level staircases and archways. Actors surround the center of the stage which has a bed. Two people lay dead on the bed and another on the floor beside them.

Romeo and Juliet, 2023

A large ensemble cast sings with their arms and legs out. The stage lighting is moody red and yellow. There are large, rectangle panels hanging from the ceiling in the background and different faces are projected onto each panel.

American Idiot, 2022

A large group of actors are having a raucous party, dancing on the floor and on tables in a furnished room. The stage lighting is dark blue with neon-dramatic green accents, in particular a huge neon door at the back of the stage.

Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812, 2024

An actor in a whimsical, flowing red and yellow gown dances in the center surrounded by actors, two wearing wings. The scene displays a crumbling stone wall with large stained-glass windows and arches, as well as ivy, moss, and trees.

Myth and Hymns, 2023

A woman in a period dress sits on a red velvet chaise lounge surrounded by other actors and an accordion player.

Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812, 2024

An actor with horns wearing black leather stands in front of three others who sit on stairs behind him. The set has archways and stairs leading to a balcony with decorative, metalwork railing and climbing flowered vines.

Romeo and Juliet, 2023

Emerson Studio Theatre

Stage Three set from the top of the theatre

Black Box Theatre

Stage Three set from the top of the theatre

The Emerson Studio is Webster's unique black box theatre. It is a flexible space that is constantly changing from mock proscenium to fully immersive environments. The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis uses this space to present its Studio Series of intimate theatrical works. Sargent Conservatory uses this space each semester for at least one of its productions. 

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Actors dance around a tree placed center stage, made from strips of cloth wound around the trunk and hanging from the branches. The lighting is dark purple and blue.

Blood at the Root, 2023

In a living room, a man in a suit and suspenders stands on one leg on top of a coffee table with his arms out to the side and head back while two women on the floor in front appear worried he will fall.

Bright Room Called Day, 2023

Two actors in brown and white clothing are in an office space. One sits cross-legged with his eyes closed and the other stands. Sheets of paper are everywhere, scattered all over the floor, hanging from the ceiling in the background, and paper confetti is floating on both sides.

The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, 2024

A multi-level stage with two actors: a man performs a serious monologue while a woman sitting in a chair has her back to him. She is looking at a computer.

Blood at the Root, 2023

Three actors are onstage. Two wear sticker-laden helmets and mimic driving. One actor holds a trash can lid, while the other holds an old bike handle.

Rain and Zoe Save the World, 2023

An actor wearing a peacoat and stocking cap, has a beard made of pearls and a sleeve with fishing net. Behind the actor is a chair and a hanging draped cloth.

The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, 2024

Actors sit on small, multi-level stages painted in earth-toned, grid work. One actor stands with a microphone in her hand.

Blood at the Root, 2023

Stage III in Webster Hall

Stage III is a small proscenium-style house that contains movable seating and modified thrust capabilities. Stage III is home to at least one Sargent Conservatory production every semester as well as to our “Every Tuesday” series of performances, which involve 20-minute plays presented almost every Tuesday by students in the directing sequence.​

Emerson Studio Theatre view from stage manager's box

Proscenium-Style Theatre

Emerson Studio Theatre view from stage manager's box

Stage III is a small proscenium-style house that contains movable seating and modified thrust capabilities. Stage III is home to at least one Sargent Conservatory production every semester as well as to our “Every Tuesday” series of performances, which involve 20-minute plays presented almost every Tuesday by students in the directing sequence.

An actor lays on a dirt floor. In the back, another actor carries someone over their shoulder. They stand in front of a blue-lit screen with a wooden framework structure on both sides.

Mud, 2023

Stage is set like a rustic restaurant with a bar in front of a window view of a pine forest set against an evening blue sky. Six actors stand and sit in the restaurant.

The Spitfire Grill, 2023

Five actors dressed in medieval clothing stand in front of a crumbling stone wall and large, round, stained-glass window.

Silence, 2024

Three actors are on a stage decorated with quilt designs. One is dancing and one is playing a harmonica while holding a rabbit marionette.

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, 2021

Two women are talking in a rustic bar. One is standing and she holds a book and pen. The other sits on a bar stool. The bar is blue and is in front of a winder with views of pine trees against an evening blue sky.

The Spitfire Grill, 2023

Two actors in the medieval period are involved in an argument. A man with a crown is on the floor and a woman is standing by him.

Silence, 2024

Two actors sit on a sofa in modern day. A man is deep in discussion with someone while a woman with her feet on the couch looks away.

Seminar, 2022

Performance Classroom Spaces

The Sargent Conservatory of Theatre Arts has classrooms in the Loretto-Hilton Center as well as in Webster University's Old Orchard facility.

The Loretto-Hilton Center, a professionally designed theatre center, houses some of our productions and most of our production classes. We share this building with two professional companies, the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis and Opera Theatre St. Louis. Students benefit from the high-quality facilities that are in use by our professional partners. There are two scene shops, a paint annex, costume shop, crafts shop, dye room, wig and makeup room, and props shop in the Loretto-Hilton Center, as well as two design studios that serve as our classrooms.

Performance classes take place in the Old Orchard facility a short walk from the Loretto-Hilton Center. There are six acting studios and a green room at "Spaces," our nickname for the facility. Acting and directing classes also take place in Stage III, the Conservatory's small proscenium theatre in Webster Hall.

Dance classes take place in the two dance studios in the Loretto-Hilton Center as well as in the studios at Old Orchard.

Students in an acting class, all in a circle, do a one-handed bridge pose. The classroom space is a large studio with a black dance floor.
A professor guides a student with a costume construction project. They are at a worktable in a design studio, next to another student at work.
Two students wearing period clothing rehearse a scene around a table, while their teacher and classmates look on in the background.
Students in a movement class, all wearing black workout outfits, do a variety of warmup activities, including jump-roping and stretching on mats. The classroom space is a large studio with a black dance floor.
Students stand around a worktable, cutting patterns. There's a clothing form in the foreground.
A student sitting on a mat and reading from a handout is laughing with a beaming expression.
Students in a voice class are standing on yoga mats and doing a physical warm-up.

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