Testimonials
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Diane Ballering, BA - Drama
"I was hired to stage manage a show for a grad school here in New York. And these last few weeks I have realized how much better (I feel) my experience at UWSP was compared to this grad school program. (the set designer was drooling over my ability to tape down the set for starters) I'm sure much of it is from the fact that this is a relatively new grad program, but I just felt the need to write and say thanks.
Thanks for giving me not only a good education, but for making it a fun, relaxed atmosphere while working on shows. Thanks for having faith in my abilities and recognizing me as a human being as well as a student. Thanks for, well, just thanks."
Scott Allen Luke, BFA - Musical Theatre
"I credit much of my sense of professionalism, work ethic and overall sense of self to my experience at UWSP, which instilled in me that theatre (and life in general) is a collaborative endeavor that requires dedication, hard work and trust. UWSP also allowed me to be, as well as become, the person I truly am. I think it’s all of this that automatically gives me a leg up going into an audition or job.”
David LaRose, BFA - Design
"Next year I will be teaching both semesters. First semester I will teach the Introduction to Lighting for non-theatre majors. The second semester I will teach the Introduction to Lighting class for theatre majors. I am designing two large operas and some dance pieces next year. The first, Street Scene, in November, and Magic Flute in April. I'm sure my advisor will think of something else for me to do as well! For the operas I will have two assistant lighting designers that will do all the paperwork, including all drafting. I have a master electrician with two assistants and a full crew of 20 students to load in, a dedicated programmer, and more than likely a show crew of 6 (four on follow spots and two deck electricians)."
"I will say that my liberal arts education has been so valuable!! We were discussing Aristotle's Poetics in my Aesthetics class earlier this week, and no one knew Aristotle's 6 components of tragedy or their order of importance. I let the professor list them on the board. Then he asked the class to put them in order of importance. The class was quiet. I finally raised my hand and put the components in order. I've found that many of my peers have never "thought outside of the box" and have not developed a "educated" or research based approach to design. I miss sitting in your office and having intellectual conversations!! Since this is a conservatory, we do not emphasize liberal arts classes. Students still take their script analysis and theatre history, but these classes are mostly taught by adjuncts."
Ali Gilbertson, BFA - Acting
Jake Paque (BFA, Acting 2006) and I opened PHEDRE last weekend. One night during our last week of rehearsal our director was panicking with some things...when I got there she was struggling with covering a couch. I said, "Here, let me do that. You got a staple gun?" So I covered it.
Then we were about to get started with the run and I overheard the director say, "Jake does, I bet Ali does too...Hey Ali! You have fight experience?"
"Ah, yeah, I do."
"Like, you know what you're doing?"
"Yeah, I was a teacher's assistant and fight captain for a show..."
"Awesome. What to be our fight captain and run a fight call every night?"
Then later that night I was on stage and overheard the director say, "I bet Ali knows how... Hey Ali! Can you do stage makeup?"
"Ah, yeah."
"Like, you're pretty good at it?"
"Took a class...I'm actually very good at it. I love it."
"Awesome. Would you do old age on Kym and Collin every night?"
"Sure!"
She then exclaimed. "Ah, I LOVE these WISCONSIN kids!!"