The Performing Arts Department is a thriving retreat that offers rich opportunities in theatre, music and dance amidst students’ daily academic rigors. We strive to provide a foundation for the artistic and intellectual growth of our students, equipping them with skill sets and competencies that can be applied to an array of fields and jobs, both related to and separate from the arts. Guided by a spirit of creativity and collaboration, our faculty are committed to educating the whole student, marrying the theoretical with the practical and producing high caliber creations in formal and informal settings.

Each fall, the curtain rises on our main stage musical, providing countless students the opportunity to work both on and off stage as actors, technicians and designers, alongside members of the Pioneer Valley theatrical community. Students glean unparalleled lessons in leadership, presentation and cooperation under the direction of professional theatre artists. The spring season finds students mounting a Theatre for Youth Audience production in conjunction with the Education Department. Elementary Education majors devise “creative drama” workshops that are led throughout the Pioneer Valley for young students who ultimately visit Bay Path for an exclusive, student only matinee of that season’s production. Oftentimes employing puppetry, original orchestrations and state of the art technical feats, Bay Path is becoming a leader in cultivating theatrical experiences for the entire family.

For the student who desires to delve deeper into the world of acting, two successive courses are offered each year:

• Acting 1 is designed to familiarize the student with the basic techniques of the craft of acting. Students are given the opportunity to develop their skills through pantomime, improvisation, playmaking, monologues, scene study and other various traditional methods based on a technical, Stanislavski-inspired approach.
• Acting 2 is where great plays of the modern and classical theatre are analyzed and performed as students tackle complex language and characters from the dramatic literature canon. Students create their own masks in the style of Commedia Dell’Arte for use in lazzi and scenari, recreate the original performance conditions of Elizabethan times, speaking Shakespeare’s words with newfound confidence and understanding, and develop skills in directing, learning the principles of staging, promptbook assembly and rehearsal technique. Students’ experiences culminate in a university-invited Scene Night.

So what are you waiting for? Seize the day during your time at Bay Path University and be sure to take part in the exciting and rewarding challenges offered by the Performing Arts Department!