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Student Organizations

A wide variety of organizations allow students the opportunity to explore all areas of the art from technical theatre to production, performance, and even improv.  Examples of our student organizations include:

United States Institute for Theatre Technology 

USITT is a student chapter of a national organization, the United States Institute for Theatre Technology.  It serves to offer opportunities for education and practice of all technical theatre roles (lights, sound, stage management, set construction, etc.).  Members are often placed in the crew of Pitt Rep shows, or in the two shows produced as partnerships with Pitt’s Musical Theatre Club.  Other voluntary and employment opportunities are also offered.  Students may also attend regional and national conferences that offer workshops, seminars, and the chance to meet professionals in the field.

Meetings are on Fridays at noon in B-20 in the Cathedral basement.

The Performance Collaborative

The Performance Collaborative organizes opportunities for performance students to work their craft such as: workshops, staged readings, and student-organized productions.  The organization acts as a vehicle for utilizing, promoting and learning from the myriad resources available in the Theatre Arts Department of the University of Pittsburgh, and it increases undergraduate involvement in the decisions made by the Theatre Department.

Learn more about The Performance Collaborative here.

Duse Society

The Duse Society is the organization of graduate students in the Department of Theatre Arts. It is named for Eleanora Duse (pronounced DOO-zuh), who, as legend has it, succumbed to influenza at what is now Pitt's William Pitt Student Union. Every graduate student in the department is a member of the society, which typically meets once a month. Attendance at Duse meetings and functions is entirely voluntary.

The society does all manner of things, from organizing mini-conferences to planning the end-of-year party (The Dusie-Doo) and putting together a guidebook for incoming graduate students.

Download the Duse Society's Unoffical Guide to for the New Graduate Student.

Musical Theatre Club

Since 2009, the Musical Theatre Club has provided opportunities to Pitt's undergraduate students who have a passion for musical theatre. The organization’s mission is to foster and further the knowledge, appreciation and awareness of musical theatre. Club members can gain experience in all areas of musical theatre, from singing/dancing/acting, to playing in an orchestra, to technical production. Throughout the year, the club organizes a wide variety of activities (in and out of the weekly meeting setting) including: seeing local musical theatre productions, formal dances, game nights, viewings of film musicals, and workshops. Each year the club produces, in collaboration with Pitt's USITT students, two productions: a fall variety show, "Broadway in the 'Burgh", and a full-length spring musical.

Meetings are held on Tuesdays at 8:30.  For more information check out the Club's Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/PittMusicals/

Redeye Theatre Project

Redeye Theatre Project (RTP) is a 24-hour theatre festival. For every performance, RTP has spent the past 24 hours writing and rehearsing a festival of brand-new plays.

The clock starts when the playwrights' pens hit paper (or their fingers hit the keyboard). Project participants take a bit of time before the actual 24 hours begins, to allow playwrights and directors assigned to a particular performance to get acquainted, and to cast the shows, but that's all the extra time permitted. From 8 p.m. Friday to 8 p.m. Saturday, the show really must go on.

The work produced is all original, all written on the spot. Many of the project's playwrights don't write outside the confines of this festival; many of their plays will never be seen on stage again (and if they are, they'll almost certainly be heavily revised). That means attending an RTP performance is a one-of-a-kind experience.

More information on Redeye Theatre Project (including production archives, upcoming shows, and information on participating).