THEATRE CONSERVATORY (THAR)
THAR 099 - PERFORMANCE ATTENDANCE
Attendance at music and theatre performances in the Chicago College of Performing Arts. Required of all undergraduate majors for six semesters. Grade P/F. (0)
Credits: 0
Course Notes: Acting or MUST majors only
THAR 114 - CREATIVE ENSEMBLE
This course explores essential building blocks of an actor’s work, addressing both vocal and physical aspects. Students learn to listen to their own creative instincts as an aid to dissolving self-judgment, with a particular focus on play, self-discovery and engagement with the ensemble. Actors will create and present both solo and group original short theatre pieces.
Credits: 1
Attributes: Humanities
Course Notes: Acting majors only.
THAR 167 - INTRODUCTION TO IMPROVISATIONAL PERFORMANCE
An introduction to the art of improvisational performance trough foundation building and ensemble exploration.
Credits: 2
Course Notes: Acting Majors Only, or by permission of instructor
THAR 193 - INTRODUCTION TO THEATRE FOR NON-MAJORS
Through this fully online course, students will explore the process by which theatre is made and gain an understanding of and ability to evaluate the contributions of all the various collaborators in any performance event. With access to Roosevelt's Digital Theatre subscription, students will also view and discuss a number of performances of leading theatre practitioners from around the world. This course fulfills the Humanities General Education Requirement.
Credits: 3
Attributes: Humanities
THAR 203 - DRAMATURGY I
Study of the elements of play writing, including script analysis, character development and dramatic structure. Writing will focus on the development of a short script.
Credits: 1-3
Attributes: Humanities
Course Notes: Acting Majors Only, or by instructor permission
THAR 206 - FUNDAMENTALS I: ACTING & VOICE SPEECH I
An introduction to the dynamics of the actor's art, focusing on individual self-awareness, spontaneity and expressiveness. This course also develops technical foundations for awareness of body, breath, and voice toward free and healthy vocal production.
Credits: 4
Attributes: Humanities
THAR 207 - FUNDAMENTALS OF ACTING II
An introduction to the dynamics of the actor's art, focusing on individual self-awareness, spontaneity and expressiveness. Open to freshmen theatre majors.
Credits: 3
Attributes: Humanities
Prerequisites: THAR 206
THAR 220 - VOICE & SPEECH FOR THE ACTOR I
This course develops technical foundations for awareness of body, breath, and voice toward free and healthy vocal production and begins work on authentically connecting with personal voice through text.
Credits: 2
Attributes: Humanities
Course Notes: Acting or MUST majors only
THAR 221 - VOICE AND SPEECH FOR THE ACTOR II
This course continues to build awareness of voice and speech concepts developing practical skills in ear training and the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) while building flexibility in speech sounds toward specificity of character and storytelling.
Credits: 3
Attributes: Humanities
Course Notes: THAR or MUST majors only
THAR 225 - INTERMEDIATE ACTING I
Continued development of the actor's skills; increasingly more complex textual demands.
Credits: 1-3
Attributes: Humanities
THAR 226 - INTERMEDIATE ACTING II
Continued development of the actor's skills; increasingly more complex textual demands.
Credits: 1-3
Attributes: Humanities
Prerequisites: THAR 225
THAR 231 - ACTING ON CAMERA I
Adapting stage acting technique for camera; performance of dramatic roles on video and film; improvisations, monologues, and scenes from plays. Additional study of television commercial work.
Credits: 3
Attributes: Humanities
Course Notes: Acting or MUST majors only
THAR 232 - PERFORMING SHAKESPEARE AND HEIGHTENED TEXTS
DocuSign Envelope ID: 32FE26AE-E46C-491F-B2FA-7C78709189AB This course develops the tools necessary to fulfill the particular vocal, physical, intellectual and emotional demands of performing classical texts through examining the works, primarily, of William Shakespeare. Students gain a useful working knowledge of iambic pentameter and various rhetorical devices; learn to recognize and make use of textual and rhythmic performance clues and are able to confidently audition for, rehearse and perform in any play of heightened language, Shakespeare or otherwise.
Credits: 3
Attributes: Humanities
Prerequisites: THAR 225
Course Notes: Acting or MUST majors only
THAR 270 - VOICE AND SPEECH FOR THE ACTOR III
Students build on prior coursework to develop imaginative and expressive flexibility and range. Text-based work is used to develop the actor's emotional connection to voice and expand specificity and risk-taking in use of voice and speech.
Credits: 2
Attributes: Humanities
Prerequisites: THAR 221
Course Notes: Acting or MUST majors only
THAR 271 - VOICE AND SPEECH III: DIALECTS
An advanced voice and speech course developing the actor's skills in ear training, phonetic shifts, resonance, and prosody to build specificity in acting work requiring accents and dialects from across the globe.
Credits: 2
Attributes: Humanities
Prerequisites: THAR 270
THAR 312 - SPECIAL TOPICS: INTERDISCIPLINARY SEMINAR
This seminar engages performance majors from across disciplines in the exploration of selected topics that bridge artistic, cultural, and scholarly perspectives. Emphasis is placed on interdisciplinary dialogue, critical inquiry, and the integration of diverse performance practices. Course content varies by semester according to the instructor’s area of focus and may include readings, discussions, presentations, and creative or research-based projects.
Credits: 3
THAR 330 - ACTING ON CAMERA II
Adapting stage acting technique for camera; performance of dramatic roles on video and film; improvisations, monologues, and scenes from plays. Additional study of television commercial work.
Credits: 2
Attributes: Humanities
Prerequisites: THAR 231
THAR 331 - SPECIAL TOPIC IN ON-CAMERA ACTING
Special topic course related to television and commercial on-camera work.
Credits: 3
Attributes: Humanities
Prerequisites: THAR 231
THAR 332 - ADVANCED ACTING: MODERN REALISM & HISTORICAL STYLES
Scene study starting with Ibsen and the stylistic change of the 19th century into Chekhov and Stanislavski. Study continues with European and American playwrights in the early part of the 20th century, ending at the Harlem Renaissance (1930s).
Credits: 2
Attributes: Humanities
Prerequisites: THAR 226
THAR 340 - INTRODUCTION TO PROFESSIONAL BUSINESS
Preparation for a professional career in theatre. Discussion of headshots, résumés, Actor's Equity, SAF/AFTRA, major markets for actors, and Q&A with guest speakers.
Credits: 2-3
Attributes: Humanities
THAR 341 - STAGE MANAGEMENT
Credits: 2-3
Attributes: Humanities
Course Notes: THAR or MUST majors only.
THAR 348 - STAGE DIRECTING I
The art and craft of stage direction; fundamental theories and practice.
Credits: 1-3
Attributes: Humanities
Course Notes: Acting or MUST majors only.
THAR 350 - THEATRE PRODUCTION PRACTICUM
This is hands-on training in areas of theatrical production, with students receiving introductory skills that are guided toward the development of CCPS productions.
Credits: 1
Attributes: Humanities
Course Notes: Enrollment in a BFA degree or by permission of instructor.
THAR 351 - THEATRE PERFORMANCE ASSIGMENT
A theatrical production (play, musical, revue, devised work, etc.) in which a student has been cast in a performance role.
Credits: 1
Attributes: Humanities
Prerequisites: THAR 246 and THAR 248
Course Notes: Students must secure a casting in a Theatre Conservatory production by way of auditioning. Production rehearsal and performance schedules may include evenings and weekends.
THAR 352 - COLLABORATIVE PERFORMANCE LAB
This experiential-learning interdisciplinary laboratory introduces and examines collaborative processes, making space for artistic creation and critical reflection beyond what constitutes the artistic product. Theatre, music, and interdisciplinary undergraduate and graduate students will engage in various group-inspired experiments and reflections centered on interdisciplinarity, artistic agency, and societal intersectionality, in addition to analyzing well-noted collaborative projects and creating original process-inspired works. This course is team-taught by professors from both music and theatre.
Credits: 3
Course Notes: Seats reserved for three cohorst of students: BFA; BM/BMA; and MM.
THAR 353 - OFF-CAMPUS THEATRE PERFORMANCE INTERNSHIP
Performance internship as a member of a cast in a professional or semi-professional production.
Credits: 1
Prerequisites: THAR 246 and THAR 248
Course Notes: Students are responsible for auditioning for and securing a casting in an off-campus production, for which the Chair of the Theatre Conservatory can review the opportunity and approve it as an appropriate performance internship. By permission of the Chair of the Theatre Conservatory
THAR 354 - AUDITION SKILLS FOR STAGE/TV/FILM
This course focuses on monologues for stage/tv/film, as well as cold reading, self-tapes, and other skills necessary to be viable in today’s audition market.
Credits: 3
Attributes: Humanities
Prerequisites: THAR 246 and THAR 248
Course Notes: THAR or MUST majors only. Consent of Instr.
THAR 371 - STAGE COMBAT I
Basic techniques of stage combat including hand-to-hand, falls, rolls, flips, and dives.
Credits: 2-3
Attributes: Humanities
Prerequisites: THAR 207
THAR 372 - SPECIAL TOPIC IN STAGE COMBAT
Stage combat employing weaponry: basic fencing, rapier, dagger, and broad sword.
Credits: 3
Attributes: Humanities
Prerequisites: THAR 371
Course Notes: THAR or MUST majors only
THAR 375 - PHYSICAL ACTING III: CIRCUS AND PHYSICAL STORYTELLING
This course will offer students the opportunity to explore their physical capacities within the world of circus arts and drawing from martial arts and physical practices such as capoeira and Suzuki work to create character and story. Students will be encouraged to take calculated risks and push their understanding of their physical limits.
Credits: 3
Attributes: Humanities
Course Notes: Acting or MUST majors only
THAR 381 - STUDIES IN THEATRE
Credits: 3
Attributes: Humanities
Course Notes: THAR or MUST majors only
THAR 382 - VOICEOVER I
Introduction to voiceover techniques, auditions, and production.
Credits: 3
Attributes: Humanities
Course Notes: THAR or MUST majors only
THAR 383 - AMERICAN THEATER: DRAMATIC VISIONS OF SOCIAL JUSTICE
This capstone course will identify and define the theme of social justice in the works of selected dramatists, historical periods, and ensemble companies of the American Theatre. Available only to senior-level theatre arts and musical theatre students. (1)
Credits: 1
Attributes: Humanities
Course Notes: THAR or MUST majors only
THAR 385 - PERFORMANCE ART I
Specialized study of both theory and praxis in the field of performance art.
Credits: 3
Attributes: Humanities
Course Notes: THAR or MUST majors only
THAR 387 - ADVANCED ACTING: SHAKESPEARE
This course, building upon the work begun in THAR 232, students deepen and broaden their facility with performing classical texts, both verse and prose. Class work includes script analysis of several classical plays through a modern lens, development of a minimum of two contrasting classical monologues to a professional audition standard, and the study, rehearsal and presentation of a public performance of selected scenes from a Shakespearean play.
Credits: 3
Attributes: Humanities
Prerequisites: THAR 232
Course Notes: THAR or MUST majors only
THAR 388 - ADVANCED ACTING PERIOD STYLES
Acting styles required for period plays.
Credits: 3
Attributes: Humanities
Course Notes: THAR or MUST majors only.
THAR 395 - INDEPENDENT STUDY
Special projects in acting, directing, design, history and criticism, or play writing.
Credits: 3
Attributes: Humanities
Course Notes: THAR or MUST majors only. Consent of Instr.
THAR 398 - THEATRE SENIOR SHOWCASE
BFA seniors work with Senior Showcase faculty to choose and rehearse monologues, scenes, and/or song cuts that best represent their talent and professional ambitions. This material is then professionally filmed and sent out to talent agents, casting directors, and artistic directors in major markets for stage, TV, and film. There is also an invited live Senior Showcase performance.
Credits: 1
Course Notes: Available only to students enrolled in the final semester of a BFA degree program.