With multiple performance venues, students at Gannon University can develop on-stage skills in voice, stage combat, acting for the camera and more to prepare for a career as a professional artist or as a foundation for further study.?

The program emphasizes acting, directing, improvisation, movement and voice. Students may also create their own course combinations to satisfy their personal interests.

Many theatre graduates migrate to metropolitan areas like New York and Los Angeles, which provide direct exposure to the job market, and some graduates have even explored international connections to start their careers.

You Will Experience

The theatre program takes advantage of the University?s urban location to provide students with internship opportunities that are right around the corner from the campus, including:

• Dramashop, a contemporary theater company??
• ?Erie Art Museum? ?

• Erie Arts and Culture/Pennsylvania Council on the Arts? ?

• Erie Civic Center?s Warner Theatre? ?

• Erie Philharmonic Orchestra??

• Erie Playhouse (named as the best community theatre in Pennsylvania)??

• local broadcast affiliates of national networks ? ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, PBS and NPR? ?

• local radio stations ? including: country, contemporary hits, mainstream rock and top 40?

You Will Achieve

Career opportunities for theatre graduates can be found locally and abroad in a variety of media, including the stage, film, education, television, radio and online media. Theatre graduates can also be found in arts advocacy organizations, human services agencies, advertising and marketing. Such opportunities include, but are not limited to, the following:?

• actors and performers??
• advertising communicators ? public relations professionals and copywriters? ?

• arts managers ? promotion and management of theater and related fine arts? ?

• educators ? K-12 and university theater instructors and professors? ?

• entertainment law ? lawyers for the entertainment industry? ?

• non-profit administration? ?

• stage combat choreographers and stunt performers??

• voiceover artists? ?

• writers ? for both/either stage or screen??

Salaries in the field vary depending on the location and type of organization.

• Starting salary: $36,200??

• Mid-career salary: $58,600??