Featured Courses
Spring 2026
THEA 0825: Contemporary Global Stages (Gen Ed Credit)
This course investigates urban spaces around the world as sites of artistic and social performance. Through a comparative and glocal framework, we will examine how cities from the Global South to Pittsburgh serve as platforms for everything from theatre and site-specific visual art to protests and everyday life. Blending theory and practice, the course invites students to analyze and create. We’ll engage with key concepts like urban sprawl, site-specific art, walkability, and mobility, while also undertaking creative assignments that encourage direct interaction with Pittsburgh’s own streetscapes and communities. The semester culminates in a photo essay project that reflects your critical and creative vision of urban life.
- Tu/Th 9:30 am-10:45 am | Heymann Theatre
- The topic is different every time it is offered!
- The course counts towards multiple Gen Eds: The Arts, Cross-Cultural Awareness, and Global Issues. It also counts as a Hist/Lit/Crit elective for the Theatre Arts major, or a general elective for the Theatre Arts major or minor.
THEA 1406: Musical Theatre Appreciation (Gen Ed Credit)
This course is designed to investigate the history of Musical Theatre and to gain a greater appreciation for the art form through listening, script analysis, and critical examination. Students will explore the genre through scenes and songs, observation of professional performance followed by critical response, and guest demonstrations. No experience in performance is necessary for participation.
- Mo/We 3:00-4:15 pm | B44 Cathedral of Learning
- The course counts towards the Arts Gen Ed requirement.
THEA 1392: Special Topics in Performance: Stage Combat (Elective Credit)
This course is designed to expand the students’ movement vocabulary and skill through a robust introduction to basic principles and techniques of theatrical stage combat. Coursework will emphasize safety, scene partnering, and physical specificity within the context of stage combat choreography. As a practical and process-oriented course, class activities will consist of learning, drilling, and performing physical techniques, reading materials or articles pertaining to the subject matter, viewing filmed examples of fight choreography, and giving performance presentations of choreography learned in class.
- Tu/Th 1:00-2:50 pm | B44 Cathedral of Learning
THEA 1407: Intro Musical Theatre Design (Elective Credit)
New This Spring! > Step into the world behind the curtain in this vibrant, team-taught introduction to the art and craft of theatrical design. Led by instructors specializing in scenery, costume, lighting, and sound, the course offers an immersive exploration of how each design element shapes the storytelling of musical theatre. Students engage in hands-on learning and creative collaboration while developing essential terminology, core design principles, and practical techniques. Through script analysis, concept development, and visual communication, students gain insight into each design discipline and its contribution to the overall production. With varied teaching styles and tailored assignments, the course provides a multifaceted experience that emphasizes design as both artistic expression and intellectual inquiry.
- Tu/Th 11:00 am-12:15 pm | 1601 Cathedral of Learning
THEA 1410: Musical Theatre Dance History (Elective Credit)
New This Spring! > This course explores the history of dance, choreography, and corporeality related to American musical theatre. Students will interrogate critical sociological narratives regarding dramaturgical bodies and dance from the beginnings of seventeenth-century ballet through twenty-first-century hip-hop. In this class, students will garner a thorough understanding of vital innovations in the industry by key choreographers such as Katherine Dunham, Agnes De Mille, Jerome Robbins, Bob Fosse, Camille A. Brown, Sergio Trujillo, and Andy Blankenbuehler. Students will develop necessary vocabulary and foundational theories throughout the semester in order to situate and analyze bodies, dance, and choreography historically and critically. Activating a wide range of case studies, the class will conceptualize the functions of dance within musical theatre as well as how dancing bodies communicate and amplify fundamental storytelling.
- Mo/We 1:00-2:15 pm | B20 Cathedral of Learning
Regularly Offered Courses by Area
Introductory
- Introduction to Dramatic Art
Performance Area
- Theatre and Collaboration
- Introduction to Performance*
- Acting I*, II, III
- Voice and Movement I, II
- Directing I, II
- Stage Management I, II
- Musical Theatre Performance
- Special Topics in Performance
Design, Technology and Management Area
- Introduction to Theatre Design
- Intro Musical Theatre Design
- Theatrical Production
- Introduction to Stagecraft
- Stage Lighting I, II
- Scene Design I
- Scenic Painting
- Sound Design I
- Costume Production and Technology
- Stage Makeup
- Costume Design I
- Special Topics in Design & Technology
History, Literature, Criticism Area
- World Theatre I: 500 B.C.E. – 1640
- World Theatre II: 1640 – 1890
- World Theatre III: 1890 – Present
- Enjoying Performances
- Contemporary Global Stages
- Playwriting I
- Musical Theatre Dance History
- Seminar in Theatre Arts
* Students who have taken an introductory level acting course or private acting lessons prior to attending Pitt, may be eligible to audition out of THEA 0830 - Introduction to Performance and transfer directly into THEA 1102 - Acting 1.
In order to schedule an audition/interview with Head of Performance Ricardo Vila-Roger, students must complete the Application to Audition Out Form.
If applicable, please include a headshot and/or resume.