UMW Theatre is committed to helping students create extraordinary lives for themselves. We believe that through the process of developing theatre professionals we help students discover their future selves and their potential to have an impact on our world. We also are steadfast in our belief that we want all UMW students to recognize the power of theatre to enhance the quality of their lives long after they leave our gorgeous campus.
Creating theatre is costly. Our demand for resources far exceeds that of the income at the box office from ticket sales and the support we receive from the university. We want our students to be active on our stages, in our shops, in our classrooms, and in the world beyond UMW. To that end we support creative projects, internships, workshops, and professional education opportunities for our students that enhance their ability to be competitive in the professional job market. Our ability to offer the opportunities to our students sets UMW Theatre apart from many other theatre programs across the country. The enormous success of our graduates is a testament to our ability to have a life-changing effect on our students.
Your support has a direct impact on the lives of our students, many of whom struggle to make ends meet. We want all of our students to have access to opportunities to find themselves in this work and we are diligent in our efforts to help every student achieve their goals. Your gifts support national industry conference attendance for our students, important auditions and portfolio reviews, guest artists for networking events, materials and supplies for creative projects, royalties for student productions, professional residencies, and scholarships for students who find themselves short of the resources they need to make ends meet.
Last year five of our students were selected (in a highly-competitive process) to attend the Strawhat Professional Auditions in New York City; evidence of the growing reputation of our program and the talent of our students. Your support helped these students meet the expenses involved with these auditions.
Last summer one of our students was able to attend the Prague Quadrennial in the Czech Republic, a gathering of professionals working in performance design and an exhibit of cutting edge work in the field. Several others served in professional internships at prestigious theatres—Arena Stage, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, Theatre at Monmouth, Cortland Repertory Theatre, Firehouse Theatre, and the Contemporary American Theatre Festival.
Your gifts make it possible for our students to push beyond their wildest imaginings of what a career in the theatre can be. But your support helps them in other ways, too. For Lewis, it is the opportunity to see live theatre in Washington, DC, even though his family is experiencing a challenging time meeting his day-to-day college expenses. For Victoria, it is the opportunity to direct an important play in Studio 115 without having to worry about the financial implications of scripts and royalties. For Lydia, it is the chance to spend a month in rehearsal for Silent Sky at Ford’s Theatre on an internship arranged by our stage management professor. For Nia, Olivia, Jess, Maddie, Lydia, Riley, Rachel, Jackson, and Diana, it was the opportunity to attend the Virginia Theatre Association pre-screening auditions to hone their audition skills and begin the process of launching their acting careers.
These are a few of the many ways your gifts help our students. Won’t you join us in writing more stories of the ways our students discover their potential because of your help?
You are our partner in this work and we are ever grateful to have you with us on this journey.
| Rank | State | Gifts |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | NONE | 0 |
| 1 | AA | 0 |
| 1 | AE | 0 |
