Learn about... University of Maryland
Where you spend your college years will determine where you go with the rest of your life. Large enough to offer a variety of choices, small enough to provide a sense of community, SMU prepares students for a lifetime of achievement and leadership.
You’ll receive the education of your life through challenging academic programs and small classes led by outstanding faculty. The quality of the total collegiate experience will enhance the life of your education, from the beauty of the campus to the opportunities for study, service and experience beyond the Quad. SMU and Dallas add up to a vibrant setting for maximizing human potential – yours!
The Facts...
A private university of 11,000 students near the center of Dallas, SMU offers strong undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs through seven schools — in the humanities and sciences; business; the performing, visual, and communication arts; engineering; education and human development; law; and theology.
Students come from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and nearly 90 foreign countries, and represent diverse economic, ethnic, and religious backgrounds.
SMU itself is a gateway to the global community, offering more than 20 study-abroad programs as well as a unique campus in Northern New Mexico on the site of a historic fort and 13th-century Indian pueblo.
The University's 10 libraries house the largest private collection of research materials in the Southwest.
The internationally acclaimed Meadows Museum houses one of the finest collections of Spanish art outside of Spain.
Founded in 1911 by what is now The United Methodist Church, SMU opened in 1915 with support from Dallas leaders. The University is nonsectarian in its teaching and committed to freedom of inquiry.
SMU has more than 600 full-time faculty members. 84 percent of full-time faculty hold the doctorate or highest degree in their fields.
The student-faculty ratio is 12-to-1.
SMU ranks in the top third of national universities in U.S. News & World Report.
SMU has been ranked as the top school in its conference for 10 straight years in the U.S. Sports Academy Directors’ Cup Division I overall athletic rankings.
SMU alumni number approximately 100,000 worldwide. About 60,000 alumni live in Texas, with nearly 40,000 living in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Prominent alumni include Nobel Prize-winning physicist James Cronin, First Lady Laura Bush, U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Antonio O. Garza, Jr., Academy Award-winning actress Kathy Bates, computer memory pioneer Robert Dennard and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Beth Henley. Notable athletes include Olympic gold medal swimmers Lars Frolander, Steve Lundquist and Ryan Berube; the late Payne Stewart, championship golfer; and the late Doak Walker, Heisman Trophy recipient.
Events – SMU sponsors hundreds of community events annually, ranging from concerts and theatre performances to lectures and symposia.
Distinguished Visitors – Speakers available to the community have included President George H.W. Bush, Colin Powell, Margaret Thatcher, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Barbara Walters, through such programs as the Willis M. Tate Distinguished Lecture Series, Hart Global Leaders Forum and John Goodwin Tower Center for Political Studies.
Internationally Renowned Museum – The Meadows Museum houses one of the finest collections of Spanish art outside Spain, including works by Velázquez, El Greco, Murillo, Goya, Picasso and Miró. The Museum also presents outstanding special exhibitions and educational programming for youth and adults.
Fall 2007 Enrollment
Undergraduate students 6,176
Graduate students 3,367
Professional students (law and theology) 1,286
Total enrollment 10,829
Total new first-year undergraduate students 1,309
Enrollment by Gender: Male 50.3%, Female 49.7%
Undergraduate Students by Gender: Female 53.9%, Male 46.1%
Average Age: Undergraduate 21, Graduate/professional 33
Financial Assistance – 79.4 percent of new first-year students receive need- or merit-based financial assistance.
Scholarships – Competitive merit-based scholarships include the President’s Scholars Program, the Hunt Leadership Scholars Program and a scholarship program for outstanding Dallas-area community college students.
This is the school of your dreams!
This could be the education of your life. So make this the day you apply to SMU! Just complete your application, submit it, and watch your opportunities unfold.
Learn all about admissions by CLICKING HERE!
Picture yourself here!
We could tell you that SMU is in the heart of Dallas, a thriving metropolitan area. That our 170 tree-lined acres boast historic Collegiate Georgian buildings, beautiful lawns, and smiling faces. And that there's always something happening on campus. Or you could see for yourself. And while you’re here, you can learn all about admission, scholarships, financial aid, and campus life. Can you picture yourself at SMU? To get the full picture, you need to visit.
Living on campus
If you think residence halls are for dreaming, you’re partially right. Residence living is also great for pizza parties, study groups, and spontaneous socializing. They are great places to get connected and make lifelong friends. And since all first-year students live on campus, SMU provides plenty of options, like theme halls for Honors students or those into the arts. If you’re a dancer, it’s nice to live somewhere with a practice room. Each hall has its own personality, but together they help build a sense of community.
To visit residence life and see what we mean, CLICK HERE!
Get Involved
There’s an activity for everyone at SMU. You know that thing you’re into? There’s a club for that!
Some of the most important events in your college life will take place outside the classroom. With nearly 200 student organizations on campus, we’re sure to have something that fits you just right. Create great memories and make new friends for the rest of your life.
Learn about student organizations by CLICKING HERE.
Dallas – a Top 10 city. If you want all the opportunities of a big city without the attitude, you've come to the right place! Dallas, which boasts more restaurants per capita than New York City, has become a global center of commerce and culture while still maintaining the feel of a medium-sized city. It’s also one of the most accessible cities in the nation with two airports and a light rail system with a station close to campus.
You can have sushi one night and authentic Tex-Mex the next. Take in the largest collection of Spanish art outside of Spain right on campus (SMU’s Meadows Museum of Art) or the largest collection of Art Deco architecture (Fair Park) in the world. With multiple nightlife districts, you can hear all kinds of bands – local and national – or try your hand at swing dancing, salsa, or a little techno. Not to mention Shakespeare in the Park, art-house flicks, and jazz under the stars. You have a glorious, metropolitan city at your disposal. For a comprehensive list of Dallas-related links, go to our Visit Dallas Page.
For more information:
SMU Division of Enrollment Services
Office of Undergraduate Admission
PO Box 750181
Dallas TX 75275-0181
Physical Address:
Laura Lee Blanton Building
6185 Airline
Dallas, TX 75205
214-768-2058
1-800-323-0672
ugadmission@smu.edu
And Visit Us ON THE WEB!
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The Acting Program At...
S M U
SMU MEADOWS SCHOOL OF THE ARTS
During four years as an undergraduate in the Theatre Division, you’ll have the opportunity to “rise to the top,” to reach your full potential as an actor, director, designer, or playwright — to go wherever your inspiration and abilities lead you. No matter what area you choose, there are scores of opportunities to excel. The study of theatre at SMU is intensive, and the emphasis on liberal arts within a theatre context is unique. The same is true for the graduate program in the Theatre Division, where you’ll experience concentrated, in-depth study in your chosen field of acting, directing, or design. That’s why students leave SMU with the skills and connections to enter the profession.
The Division of Theatre within the Meadows School of the Arts is one of the most highly regarded programs in the United States. Here, exceptional faculty bridges academic and professional theatre. They’re committed not only to developing skills, but also to creating an atmosphere in which talented students feel stimulated and nurtured. To help provide you with an extremely rich and diverse training experience, the Division annually plays host to a number of guest artists. This unique balance provides continuity in training, a strong resident support system and a continuous infusion of fresh ideas and new challenges.
The program's combination of faculty and guest artists provides strong career guidance and support upon graduation. In addition, you learn from distinguished visiting faculty. Recently, students met with playwrights Edward Albee, Horton Foote, and Terrence McNally; actors George Grizzard and Rosemary Harris; and designers Elizabeth Greenwood and Ming Cho Lee.
As an integral part of your education, theatre productions directly enhance the classroom and studio curriculum. Every year the Division produces a series of eight plays, including a subcription series of full-scale productions, workshop production, and a festival of new plays. The opportunities are supplemented by faculty-directed studio productions, and independent projects.
The Meadows School is one of the nation's finest university complexes for instruction and performance. Facilities include the Bob Hope Theatre, a proscenium stage; the Greer Garson Theatre, a classical thrust stage; and the Margo Jones Theatre, a black box space. Each space is supported by a full-scale scene and costume shop.
Undergraduate Programs
The Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting at SMU is unique because of the emphasis on actor training within a liberal arts course of study. After the first year, students have three years of concentrated acting, voice, and movement coursework and the opportunity to act in eight or more productions per year. The curriculum explores the process, complexity and richness of acting while challenging students with the intellectual rigor necessary to the discipline of theatre. For a typical course of study, CLICK HERE.
The Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre Studies at SMU emphasizes all areas of theatre within SMU’s exceptional liberal arts course of study. In the first two years, all students complete the same acting, voice, and movement coursework as for the B.F.A. in Acting. In the junior and senior years, the focus is on directing, playwriting, stage management, design and/or critical studies – with the option to continue courses in acting. Students also have multiple opportunities to participate in our season – either as actors, directors, assistant directors, playwrights, dramaturgs, designers, or stage managers. It’s a curriculum that's as flexible as it is rigorous, and it's designed to fully support the theatre artist’s exploration and development. For a typical course of study, CLICK HERE.
For a complete list of undergraduate courses in Theatre, CLICK HERE.
Admissions & Auditions
At the undergraduate level, admission is a two-part process. In order for a student to be considered for admission as a Theatre major, he or she must apply to the University and also complete an audition. Auditions are held in Dallas and at select sites around the United States. Reservations are required for both national and Dallas auditions.
First-year and transfer Theatre candidates should prepare two contrasting monologues from contemporary plays and one song. (No accompanist is provided or required.) The total time should not exceed five (5) minutes. Auditions will also include an interview. Candidates interested in design, directing, playwriting, or other areas of theatre should be prepared to discuss and demonstrate their abilities in those areas in addition to presenting their auditions. All auditions will be videotaped.
Admission to the B.F.A. program is highly selective. For information on undergraduate auditions, CLICK HERE.
To have information on our undergraduate program in Theatre sent to you, please CLICK HERE.
Our Facilities
The Meadows School of the Arts has one of the finest education facilities for arts education in the United States, including classrooms, studios, labs and support facilities. The Division of Theatre has primary use of six performance and rehearsal spaces in addition to studio classrooms and computer labs. All of the performance spaces are equipped with lighting and sound systems and are supported by professional costume, lighting and scene shops, as well as a full-time production staff.
The 392-seat Bob Hope Theatre, donated by the late comedian, has a proscenium stage, continental seating and a hydraulic orchestra pit. The Greer Garson Theatre, a gift of the Academy Award-winning actress, is a 366-seat classical thrust stage with balcony and raised playing space. The 125-seat Margo Jones Theatre is a flexible black box theatre. Additional spaces utilized by the division include rehearsal studios, classrooms and lecture halls, computer labs and technical teaching spaces.
The four-story Jake and Nancy Hamon Arts Library is adjacent to the Owen Arts Center and houses all arts library collections, a slide library, an audio/visual center, and the Center for Instructional Technology in the Arts. The G. William Jones Film and Video Collection, a part of the library's holdings, is housed in the Greer Garson Theatre's 3,800-square-foot refrigerated storage vault, with screening rooms also in the building.
For more information about Meadows School of the Arts facilities, CLICK HERE.
Our Production Season
The Division of Theatre presents a season of fully-produced plays annually. The season serves as an important part of the students' training program. Actors, directors, designers and playwrights are given the opportunity to take what they have learned in classrooms and studios and present it to a community audience. These critically-acclaimed productions are an important part of the cultural life of SMU and the larger community. Read about our 2007 - 2008 season by CLICKING HERE.
To receive more information on subscribing to theatre, CLICK HERE!
About Our Alumni
Meadows School of the Arts theatre graduates are actors, directors, designers, and playwrights for the stage, film and television. Many have gone on after graduation to form their own theatre companies and alliances.
Some of our most notable alumni include Academy Award-winning actress Kathy Bates and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Beth Henley, playwrights Jack Hefner and James McClure and the late director Garland Wright. Television and film actors include Amy Acker (Angel), Emmy Award winner Powers Boothe (HBO's Deadwood), Lauren Graham (The Gilmore Girls), Debra Monk (NYPD Blue as well as work on Broadway), Belita Moreno (The George Lopez Show), Patricia Richardson (Home Improvement) and Regina Taylor (I’ll Fly Away). Notable designers include Tony Award-winner John Arnone, lighting designer Frances Aronson and costume designer David Woolard. Other graduates are playwrights, educators and producers, including Tony Award - winning producer André Pastoria and James Houghton, the founder and artistic director of Signature Theatre in New York.
For the most up-to-date artistic and professional achievements of our alumni, please CLICK HERE.
Our Faculty
Members of the Theatre faculty combine strong academic credentials with extensive professional and artistic experience. They offer training that is both traditional and classical, but they also foster a sense of the exploration that always occurs in theatre. As a result, Theatre graduates are well-prepared for entrance into the professional arts community.
Here are just a few of our gifted faculty members...
Cecil O'Neal, Chair, Division of Theatre, B.F.A., University of Wisconsin.
Cecil O'Neal received his B.F.A. in arts and political science from the University of Wisconsin and he worked on his graduate studies at the University of Wisconsin and the University of Toronto. Prior to coming to SMU, Professor O'Neal spent 20 years as a professional actor, director and producer in the United States and Canada. Now at SMU, he teaches acting in both the B.F.A. and M.F.A. programs, directs division productions and serves as head of recruiting for the Division of Theatre.
Rhonda Blair, Professor of Theatre, Ph.D., University of Kansas.
Rhonda Blair, professor in the Division of Theatre, has directed and acted in more than 70 productions and has been doing original solo and collaborative performance work since the 1980s. Her classes include Critical Studies in Performance: Solo Performance; Theatre History; Theories of Modern Theatre Practice; and Text Analysis. She has given national and international workshops and presentations on solo performance, gender and performance, and improvisation, including workshops in Cuba and Poland.
Carole Brandt, Professor of Theatre, Ph.D., Southern Illinois University.
Carole Brandt is Professor of Theatre and former Dean of the Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University. She previously served as Head of Theatre at Penn State, Chair of Theatre at the University of Florida, and Director of the School of Drama at Illinois Wesleyan University.
Michael Connolly, Head of Acting, Ph. D., Indiana University.
Michael A. Connolly began university teaching in 1980. In 1982, he signed his first Equity contract and remains a working actor today. Most recently, in the summer of 2006, he appeared at the Tony-Award-winning Utah Shakespearean Festival as “Falstaff” in The Merry Wives of Windsor and as “Polonius” in Hamlet. This marked his fifth season at the LORT-B+ festival.
Jack Greenman, Assist. Professor of Theatre, M.F.A., Univ of California, Irvine.
Jack Greenman comes to the Meadows School of the Arts from an appointment with Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle. He has worked professionally for the last 20 years as an actor, educator, and voice and dialect coach.
Kevin Paul Hofeditz, Professor of Theatre, M.F.A., U. of Missouri-Kansas City.
Kevin Hofeditz joined the faculty of the SMU Division of Theatre as professor and division chair in 1998 and became associate dean in 2002. He received his B.A. in theatre performance from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville and his M.F.A. in acting/directing from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. He is a professional actor with credits in regional theatre, stock and off-Broadway. Mr. Hofeditz is a member of the Actors' Equity Association.
Russell Parkman, Associate Professor of Theatre, M.F.A., Yale University.
Russell Parkman received his B.A. from Trinity University and his M.F.A. in scenic design from Yale University and is a member of United Scenic Artists Local 829. He teaches Scene Design at SMU. In New York, Mr. Parkman has designed at Manhattan Class Company, Cucaracha Theater and The New Theatre of Brooklyn as well as at other theatres and operas across the United States and around the world.
Sara Romersberger, Assoc. Professor of Theatre, M.A., Univ. of Illinois.
Sara Romersberger, Movement Specialist, holds a B.S. in theatre education from Illinois State University, an M.A. in dance from the University of Illinois, and a Certificate of Mime/Movement from Ecole Jacques Lecoq, Paris, France. Prior to SMU she held full-time faculty positions held at Illinois Wesleyan University, West Virginia University and Elon College, N.C.
Ashley Smith, Assist. Professor of Theatre, M.F.A., Univ. of Delaware.
Ashley Smith has been a text and dialect coach in Chicago for the Tony Award-winning Victory Gardens Theatre, in New York for the Accidental Theatre Company, and in Dallas for the Dallas Theater Center, Shakespeare Dallas, and WaterTower Theatre.
Learn much more about our wonderful faculty by CLICKING HERE!
Here's the information you need to contact theatre at SMU!
For admissions information, CLICK HERE.
For more on our programs, please contact us at:
theatre@smu.edu
Phone: 214.768.2558
Fax: 214.768.1136
Visit us ON THE WEB!
Our division offices are located in 1164 Owen Arts Center.
Our mailing address is:
Division of Theatre
SMU-Meadows School of the Arts
P.O. Box 750356
Dallas, TX 75275-0356
Dee Darwin, Administrative Assistant
214.768.2558
Bobbie Lay, Coordinator
214.768.3328
DIRECTIONS TO SMU
SMU is located in the heart of Dallas in University Park – a traditional residential neighborhood just five miles north of downtown. It is bound by U.S. Highway 75 (North Central Expressway) to the east, Hillcrest Avenue to the west, Mockingbird Lane to the south and Daniel Avenue to the north.
