ABOUT THE DEPARTMENT OF DRAMA

The Department of Drama in Syracuse University's College of Visual and Performing Arts (SU:VPA) offers conservatory-style training combined with a level of integration with a professional theatre company that is unparalleled among undergraduate programs. Each season Syracuse Stage and the Department of Drama co-produce a show, and during that process students have the opportunity to work with professional actors, directors and designers, and earn points toward membership in Actors' Equity Association, the union for professional actors and stage managers.

IN THE STORCH THEATRE

GUYS AND DOLLS

Based on story and characters by Damon Runyon | Music and Lyrics by Frank Loesser | Book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows | Directed and Choreographed by Banji Aborisade | Music Direction by Brian Cimmet

Oct.  6 – 15 | Opening Night: Oct. 7

Topping Entertainment Weekly’s list of the ‘Greatest Musicals of All Time’, Guys and Dolls is everything we love about musical theater. Nathan Detroit needs serious dough to keep his craps game afloat and his marriage-minded girlfriend, Adelaide, happy. When Nathan makes a bet with high-roller Sky Masterson, his problems appear to be solved. Featuring unforgettable showtunes like “Luck Be a Lady” and the irrepressible “Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat,” Guys and Dolls will put a spring in your step and a smile on your face.

View the program here.

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IN THE STORCH THEATRE

GHOST SHIP

By Philip Valle | Directed by Ricky Pak

Nov. 10 – 18 | Opening Night: Nov. 11

A fully immersive, multi-sensory theatrical experience with a limited audience of only 16 ‘passengers’ per performance, Ghost Ship is referred to as a tragedy without explanation and a mystery without escape by its playwright Philip Valle. Calling on its audiences to climb aboard the ghastly Mary Whalen, Ghost Ship is a sensory voyage not for the timid of heart. In 2019, it was honored by the Kennedy Center with ten national awards including Outstanding Theatrical Creation.

View the program here.

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IN THE ARCHBOLD THEATRE

A CHRISTMAS CAROL

By Charles Dickens | Adapted by Richard Hellesen and David DeBerry with music orchestration  by Gregg Coffin | Directed by Melissa Rain Anderson | Featuring 2 Ring Circus | Music Direction by Brian Cimmet | Choreographed by Andrea Leigh-Smith | Co-Produced with Syracuse Stage

Nov. 24 – Dec. 31 | Opening Night: Dec. 1

This holiday season brings a tried-and-true family favorite to Syracuse, Charles Dickens’ beloved, A Christmas Carol, the greatest ghost story ever told! Melissa Rain Anderson directs the treasured production, which is co-produced with Syracuse Stage and runs from November 24 until December 31. Featuring the awe-inspiring 2 Ring Circus from New York City, this beautiful and timeless message of generosity’s triumphing over greed is sure to warm your heart and fill your soul when the weather turns cold.

View the program here.

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IN THE STORCH THEATRE

HEAD OVER HEELS

Songs by The Go-Go’s | Based on The Arcadia by Sir Philip Sidney | Conceived and Original Book by Jeff Whitty | Adapted by James Magruder |  Co-Directed by Kiira Schmidt Carper and Kathleen Wrinn | Music Direction by Brian Cimmet | Choreographed by Kiira Schmidt Carper

Mar. 1 - 9  | Opening Night: Mar. 2

A hilarious and sexy celebration of love in all its infinite varieties, this bold and fierce modern musical comedy comes from the visionary minds that rocked Broadway with Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Avenue Q, and Spring Awakening. Told through the story of a royal family embarking on an extravagant journey and set to the iconic music of the 1980s all-female band The Go-Go’s, it includes such hit songs as “We Got the Beat,” “Vacation,” and Belinda Carlisle’s “Heaven is a Place on Earth.”

View the program here.

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IN THE LOFT THEATRE

TOUCH(ED)

By Bess Wohl | Directed by Christine Albright-Tufts

Apr. 5 - 14  | Opening Night: Apr. 6

Kay has always worried about her sister Emma. Worried so much in fact that she’s mostly put her own life – save for an unsatisfying job teaching science to middle schoolers – on hold, always on call for when Emma faces another mental health crisis. After years of medication and psychiatric hospitals, Kay and her novelist boyfriend Billy decide to bring Emma to a secluded cabin in the woods, as a sort of vacation from the doctors and therapy. But when Emma miraculously starts to get better, Kay is suddenly faced with a terrifying prospect: Finally taking care of herself. Darkly funny and unexpectedly tender, Bess Wohl’s Touch(ed) is a deftly observed drama about navigating life, love, and loss in an age of endless anxieties.

View the program here.

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IN THE STORCH THEATRE

THE DROLL (OR, A STAGE-PLAY
ABOUT THE END OF THEATRE)

By Meg Miroshnik | Directed by Celia Madeoy

Apr. 19 - 28 | Opening Night: Apr. 20

In 2011, playwright Meg Miroshnik pondered the question, “What would it have been like to discover a passion for acting during the 18 years in which theater was illegal and considered an abomination in 17th-century Puritan England?” She also posed the question: “What is it like to fall in love with theater today in the face of anxieties about its future and future audiences?” This daring and darkly funny play celebrates our need to come together in the act of collective storytelling.

View the program here.