Production in the Drama Department is the laboratory where training is put into action. More than 100 different plays are presented in the department's four theatres. There are four levels of production done each year: Mainstage, Studio-Related, Student "Program Board and Directing/Design Projects.
The Department presents a "Mainstage Season" of five fully produced plays and/or musical; two in the fall semester and three in the spring. The season is quite eclectic in nature but normally encompasses a musical, a classical play, a new play, an American classic and a piece by a playwright featured in the curriculum.
Mainstage productions are intended to provide a near professional experience while still in the university environment. The directors are typically young professional directors from the New York theatre world. Traditionally one director is a member of the faculty and one is an alum of the Drama Department.
Usually one show is designed by Tech Track faculty, two are designed by students in the Graduate Design Department and two are designed by upper level Tech Track Students. Nearly all of the productions are stage managed by Tech Track management students. The productions are fully supported by the shops and staffs of the department along with student crew members to facilitate the construction and installation of the designs.
The next tier of production, after Mainstage, is studio related work. The Experimental Theatre Wing produces four medium to large productions each year in the Frederick Loewe Theatre on the second floor of 721 Broadway. Many of the other studios affiliated with the Drama Department will also produce plays for their students. The Atlantic Theatre Company, CAP21, The Stella Adler Conservatory and the Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute all either own or rent theatre spaces in order to present their productions
One of the four theatre spaces in the Drama Department is designated specifically for the extracurricular work of the students. The Shop Theatre is the location of some twelve to fifteen productions annually. The majority of the work is presented under the umbrella of the "Program Board." Each semester a board of representatives from each studio is convened to solicit production proposals from the student body. The Program Board then reviews the proposals, interviews the proposers and selects four or five projects for production in the subsequent semester. Selected projects receive two weeks in the theatre and a small budget to produce their work.
Past projects have included:
- Into the Woods
- The Night Larry Kramer Did My Laundry
- I Know You Opened my Mail, Ralph
- Kiss of the Spider Woman
- W*nkas
- A Ralph Grows in Brooklyn
- A Play Without Gravity
- Little Shop of Horrors
- Godspell
- The Oresteia
One may note several unfamiliar titles in the above list. The Shop Theatre and the Program Board Productions are also a great tryout venue for new plays by the Drama Department Students.
The fourth level of production in the Drama Department is curricular: the Directing/Design Projects. Approximately 40 one-act plays are presented in the Studio Theatre. The majority of these plays were directed by third year, Playwrights Horizons Theatre School students and beginning this year will be designed by third year Tech Track Students. This collaboration in the theatre space is supported by the work in the classroom.
