By Gabriella Nutile
Features Editor & Co-Copy Editor
Sacred Heart University’s Theatre Arts Program has many exciting things planned for this fall, specifically with their brand new Theatre Arts Repertory Program.
The new program is intended for Sacred Heart students who want to fully engage and focus on broadening their acting careers while also getting help from some professionals in the theatre world.
“We have professionals, such as our director, Jerry Goehring, so they know a lot of people and the students can take advantage of that and work with them to learn more about the theatre industry,” said Assistant Director Alison Roach.
The new repertory program is selective, as only a handful of Sacred Heart’s theatre members are picked to be a part of this.
“Many people in the theatre program weren’t really involved as others, so Jerry wanted to give more incentive and opportunities to those who he knew that wanted to learn and be more involved with theatre,” said senior Tiffanie Rodenberg.
Rodenberg also mentioned that being a part of this new program does not give her or anyone else special privileges when it comes to auditions, nor are they thought of in any way different from the others.
This is a huge opportunity for Sacred Heart’s students, as they are gaining more knowledge from professionals who know the ins and outs of the theatre lifestyle.
“Other theatre programs in this country have this and since they were growing so much, our director thought that the kids would benefit from the program just as much at Sacred Heart,” said junior Julia Vezza. “We would gain a lot of knowledge from this and broaden the horizons of students here.”
The theatre students not only have enthusiasm for this program, but they also have some goals and expectations in mind as well.
“Within five years, our theatre program wants to be the largest Catholic institution theatre arts program there is in the country. The theatre wants to provide professional quality productions of all sorts of works, such as contemporary and classics,” said junior Patrick Robinson.
Director of the Theatre Arts program, Gerald Goehring, is a successful producer who has been an executive director and CEO of the Tony awards. Goehring knows how beneficial this program will be to the theatre students and wants them to develop on their storytelling.
“The life blood of young theatre artists is the ability to tell a story. Be it as an actor, writer, composer, designer, director or theatre technician,” said Goehring. “The Sacred Heart repertory program will learn how to work on new scripts and musicals with professionals from the industry.”
The theatre program has accomplished a lot throughout the years and the addition of the repertory program provides a professional guidance that will only help further develop the program for Sacred Heart students.
“These students should introduce and engage themselves to take advantage of the successful professionals. They can leave here with the tips and experiences the industry has to offer, but also the business process as well,” said Roach.
The directors have been an influential piece in the evolution of Sacred Heart’s theatre program.
“The theatre team is really fortunate to have Jerry and Leo as the head directors, as well as the people that help create these shows, such as the book writers, casting directors and stage managers. It takes a lot of advertising as well and we’re a great team,” said Roach.
Staff Reporter Taylor Gries contributed to this story.
