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The 25 Best Drama Schools for a Master of Fine Arts

This year, THR is lifting its annual ranking of the best drama schools to a higher level. The magazine is concentrating on the best places to get a postgraduate education (with one- to three-year programs) and for the first time is expanding the polling..
A Star Studded ‘Coup’

A member of the Improv Revolution troupe runs out from a long line of other improv actors onto the center of the stage, a smile breaking across their face. “Sex with me is like boba …sold for $2 on the side of Ring Road!” they yell and the audience...
When art taps you on the shoulder

Marianne Manalang was in the middle of enjoying a pizza at UC Irvine's outdoor food court last week when a woman descended on her with an urgent message. "Think not I love him, though I ask for him," the stranger implored, taking a seat next to hers...
'Boeing' set for takeoff

Director's orders: Take a break from heavy drama and catch a comedy. "Laughter is good medicine," said Eli Simon, chancellor's professor of drama at UC Irvine's Claire Trevor School of the Arts. "Let's have a fun time in the theater." He should know...
Will Ferrell Astounds UCI Students

Ron Burgundy, Buddy the Elf, Ricky Bobby, and even George W. Bush are just a few of the countless characters and personalities that actor and comedian Will Ferrell has generated to cement himself in entertainment history. On Thursday April 16, UCI’s...
UCI's Electra Revives Greek Tragedy Through a Romanian Lens

Electra is one of the oldest existing plays in Western literature. Some version of it is attributed to each of ancient Greeks' towering tragedians: Sophocles, Euripides and Aeschylus. Through the centuries, the mythological revenge tale has inspired...
FNAM & UC Irvine Launch Show Search for New Musicals

The Festival of New American Musicals and the University of California, Irvine a nnounce the launch of a nationwide search for new, short musicals created by writers between the ages of 14 - 23. The Festival produced a pilot of ShowSearch in 2013 in...
Complete Casting Announced for Finding Neverland on Broadway; Teal Wicks to Play Mary Barrie

Casting is now complete for the Broadway production of Finding Neverland. Teal Wicks (Jekyll & Hyde, Wicked) and more will join a company that includes the previously announced Matthew Morrison, Kelsey Grammer, Laura Michelle Kelly and Carolee Carmello...
UCI Play Explores American Racism, Through a Glass Darkly

Black History Month doesn't officially begin until Feb. 1, but for Orange County theater, it came a bit early. In early January, South Coast Repertory mounted a production of Matthew Lopez' Obie-Award-winning play The Whipping Man, set in the turbulent...
PASSION to Take the Stage at UC Irvine's Claire Trevor School of the Arts, 1/23-25

UC Irvine's Claire Trevor School of the Arts (CTSA) Drama Department will produce Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's musical PASSION with guest Director Kent Nicholson, January 23 - 25, 2015. The play is an essential part of the Department's second...
Education & Training Learning resources for theatre professionals: December 15

Robert Cohen's book, "Acting Power", is listed in Susan Elkin's article which scours the market for learning resources to find the best applications to help students, performers and other theatremakers hone their craft.

UCI Irvine's CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF Elevates Production with Professional Chops; Runs 12/6-14

The Department of Drama, Claire Trevor School of the Arts (CTSA) at the University of California, Irvine will mount Tennessee Williams' classic, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, opening December 6 and running through December 14. The play, which was the winner...
Theatre review: The Last Lifeboat at Claire Trevor School of the Arts

Is there more to the sinking of the Titanic than we’ve been told? Have we been misled by the usual account depicted in books, newspaper articles and movies covering the tragic event? The astonishing answers are yes and yes! Having just enjoyed...
‘The Last Lifeboat': The Other Side of Titanic

The story of the Titanic has been one of vast cultural significance ever since the first film based on the incident was released only 29 days following the actual sinking. Fast forward a century later and its inspiration has been translated in every art..
Play at UC Irvine considers Ismay's role in the Titanic

On the night of April 14, 1912, an iceberg struck the RMS Titanic on its maiden voyage. J. Bruce Ismay, the managing director of the White Star Line, which operated the ship, found a seat on a lifeboat and made his way through the freezing night to...
UC Irvine Department of Drama Founder Robert Cohen Retires

When Robert Cohen wakes up in his Laguna Beach home, Samuel Beckett is in the kitchen, cooking breakfast. Jerzy Grotowski is on his couch, watching the morning news. Patrick Stewart walks in the front door, carrying the newspaper. Or maybe it just...
Improv Helps Ph.D.'s Explain Their Work—and Loosen Up

The question surprised Lyl Tomlinson. The graduate student in neuroscience was telling a room full of about 150 people about his research into how exercise improved memory in mice, when a query from a panel threw him a curveball: Could there be a link...
2014 LA STAGE ALLIANCE OVATION AWARDS Winners Announced - Geffen's THE COUNTRY HOUSE, 110 IN THE SHADE & More!

The 2014 LA STAGE Alliance Ovation Award winners were announced. Congratulations to our Drama alum Amanda McRaven for her best Director of a Play and to Meghan Brown for best Original Play both for "The Pliant Girls" at the Fugitive Kind Theater.