CHICAGO–(ENEWSPF)–January 6, 2014. Roosevelt University will mark the opening of a new dance facility and introduce members of its inaugural musical theatre in dance class during a ribbon cutting, open house and dance performance being held at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 8 at 218 S. Wabash Ave., Chicago.
The 13,000-square-foot facility, where musical theatre undergraduates are being prepared for professional theatre careers, is part of the Theatre Conservatory at Chicago College of Performing Arts (CCPA) and is the newest addition to Roosevelt’s Chicago Campus.
Equipped for ballet, jazz, modern dance, circus skills and movement classes, Wabash Studios is also home for a new musical theatre program, the first of its kind in the Midwest, to offer the Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre degree with an emphasis in Dance.
“This is a remarkable step forward for our college and the Theatre Conservatory,” said CCPA Dean Henry Fogel of the new facility, which is less than three blocks north of the University’s 430 S. Michigan Ave. location. “This addition to our Chicago Campus will be a boon for further expansion of the theatre program and its performances,” Fogel said.
Wabash Studios has four dance studios, an acting-on-camera studio, a smart classroom, a dressing room, shower and locker facilities and a hang-out space for theatre students.
Seventeen undergraduates from across the nation and Canada who started at Roosevelt last fall and are members of the new musical theatre in dance program’s inaugural class are expected to perform during the opening celebration under the direction of Tony-nominated Broadway performer Jane Lanier, who recently joined the University as an assistant professor of theatre.
“With its new facility, faculty and program, the Theatre Conservatory at Roosevelt University is garnering a national reputation as a performing arts education leader,” said Sean Kelley, associate dean of CCPA and director of the Theatre Conservatory. “We are extending our reach like never before in nationwide recruitment, putting us on track to become the premier musical theatre program in the country.”
For more information about the new facility and/or the Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre degree with an emphasis in Dance, contact Sean Kelley at [email protected] or 312-341-2232 or Patrick Zylka at [email protected] or 312-341-3797.
Source: roosevelt.edu
