Theatre puts your creative ideas into motion. FSC's BA in Theatre Arts is a broad, interdisciplinary degree for students who want to engage deeply with every aspect of theatre without the singular intensity of a conservatory track.
Not every theatre student wants to spend four years inside a single discipline. Some want to act and design. Some want to direct and write. Some want to understand how theatre works — artistically, historically, and professionally — while keeping a foot in another field entirely.
The BA in Theatre Arts is built for you. Unlike FSC's BFA programs in Theatre Performance, Musical Theatre, and Technical Theatre and Design, which are intensive, audition-based conservatory tracks focused on a specific area of professional training, the BA is a comprehensive, interdisciplinary degree that exposes you to all areas of theatre: performance, design, directing, history, and literature. The liberal arts structure gives you room to double major, pursue a minor, study abroad, or combine theatre with business, communication, psychology, or any other discipline that matches your goals. You will still perform on the same stages, study under the same award-winning faculty-artists, and participate in the same full production season as your BFA peers — with more flexibility in how you build your degree around it.
An interdisciplinary theatre degree that develops you as an artist, a thinker, and a creative professional. The BA gives you a comprehensive foundation in all areas of theatre while leaving room to explore the broader interests and career directions that a conservatory track cannot accommodate.
No audition is required for admission to the BA in Theatre Arts. However, scholarship assistance is available for any student majoring in theatre arts. Scholarships are awarded based on an audition and interview by the theatre faculty. BA candidates may present either an audition or a portfolio.
All freshman applicants to Florida Southern Colleges full-time degree programs must submit the following information:
Applying to Florida Southern as a transfer student is easy. Submit:
If transferring fewer than 24 credits, also include your official high school transcript and SAT/ACT scores.
Learn More about transfer admissionsInterested in a BFA instead? FSC also offers BFA programs in Theatre Performance, Musical Theatre, and Technical Theatre and Design for students seeking intensive conservatory training. All BFA programs require an audition for program admission.
The BA in Theatre Arts is a comprehensive degree that exposes you to the full range of what theatre requires and what it makes possible.
Coursework spans acting, stage movement, voice, stagecraft and production practice, scene design, lighting or costume design, directing, and two semesters of theatre history and literature. The breadth of the curriculum reflects the collaborative nature of theatre itself: great productions do not happen because one person does one thing well — they happen because a company of artists understands how every element works together.
The BA also offers more liberal arts flexibility than FSC's BFA programs, with additional elective hours that allow you to take courses in literature, history, business, communication, or any other discipline that complements your interests. This flexibility makes the BA particularly well-suited for students with broad interests who may wish to double major or pursue a minor alongside their theatre studies.
All BA candidates consult with the department about appropriate courses for their first semester, as all theatre programs at FSC are structured around four-year formats.
The BA in Theatre Arts is a 124-credit-hour degree with 50 major-required credits.
All Theatre Arts BA students complete Production Practicum across six semesters, embedding them in the department's full production season from their earliest semesters on campus. Core coursework covers acting at the foundational and intermediate levels; stage movement or voice and dialect; stagecraft and production practice; acting II; scene design; lighting or costume design; directing or theatre management; and two semesters of theatre history and literature.
Students choose one course from Musical Theatre Audition, Musical Theatre Scene Study, or Acting III: Acting for the Camera, acknowledging the range of contexts in which theatre training applies. One additional advanced elective from the department's upper-division offerings completes the major.
The degree culminates in a Senior Project, completed in the student's primary area of focus: performance, design, or technical theatre.
Theatre Arts students can earn a bachelor's and master's degree in as little as five years through FSC's 4+1 programs. Past BA students have completed accelerated master's degrees in education and business, preparing for careers in teaching and arts leadership.
The Theatre Arts Minor requires 24 hours drawn from the department's full course offerings. Twelve hours are selected from foundational courses spanning acting, stage movement, improvisation, stagecraft, applied production experience, scene design, and voice, with an additional twelve hours from the department's upper-division offerings, including directing, theatre management, advanced acting, and theatre history.
Theatre Arts students at FSC are full participants in one of the most vibrant arts communities in the region. Get involved with:
BA students participate in the same full production season as BFA students — four main stage productions each year, including two musicals and a second-stage lab production, and are embedded in the cultural life of the college and the broader Central Florida community.
BA students audition for the same roles as their BFA peers. Perform in the department's four main stage productions, part of FSC's Festival of Fine Arts, and create your own work through student-produced second-stage productions in the only Frank Lloyd Wright–designed theatre-in-the-round.
The BA in Theatre Arts offers study abroad opportunities that go well beyond a semester away. Faculty-led trips to England and France bring students into direct contact with some of the world's most storied theatrical traditions, from London's West End to the historic venues of Paris, while Junior Journey trips to New York City place students inside the industry that so many theatre careers are built around.
The BA in Theatre Arts prepares students for a creative career that the industry cannot fit into a single box. FSC's curriculum combines strong theoretical foundations with hands-on production experience and the practical aspects of self-promotion and arts management, an unusual combination that serves graduates well across a wide range of fields.
Theatre arts training is the foundation of a performance career of all kinds — from regional theatre and touring productions to film, television, and advertising. FSC graduates are working in theatres from New York to Washington D.C. to San Francisco, and Florida's status as the fourth-largest state for actor employment means opportunities close to home as well.
An understanding of the whole theatrical production, not just one discipline, is exactly what directors and producers need. The BA's holistic approach to theatre training, combined with the 4+1 MBA option for students interested in the business side, is direct preparation for leadership roles in professional theatre.
Running a theatre, managing an arts organization, or directing educational programs requires both creative vision and strong organizational skills. The BA offers hands-on production experience and access to over 70 minors, such as music management, early childhood education, English: Writing, and business administration, providing a versatile and robust foundation for a dynamic career across multiple fields.
The BA's comprehensive curriculum includes scene, lighting, and costume design, giving students a foundation in the visual and technical elements of theatre that translates into careers in scenic, lighting, and costume design, stage management, and theatrical production.
The BA's emphasis on theatre history, literature, and criticism prepares graduates for graduate study in theatre and related fields, as well as careers in education, dramaturgy, and playwriting. FSC graduates have gone on to study at leading graduate programs in theatre and the humanities.
A theatre arts education develops the performance skills, storytelling instincts, and presence that media and communications employers actively look for. FSC graduates have built careers in broadcasting, content creation, advertising, public relations, and entertainment marketing, fields where the ability to communicate compellingly is the core skill.
"I love the amount of opportunities to learn. There's always a chance to be a part of a project if you look for it."
"The theater department is the perfect size -- allowing for lots of one-on-one time with the professors. They work closely with each one of us to fine tune the talent that we each came in with."
From main stage productions to faculty-led study abroad trips to England and France and Junior Journey trips to New York City, FSC Theatre Arts students are always in the work.
The Princeton Review ranks Florida Southern among the nation's Top 25 College Theater programs, placing FSC among the most respected conservatory programs in the country and recognizing the talent of the students and faculty-artists who make it possible.
The industry regularly recognizes FSC's theatre faculty for their artistic achievements — including a three-time recipient of the Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival awards, a finalist in the BBC's Voice of Musical Theatre International Competition, and multiple recipients of recognition from Broadway World Orlando and the Orlando Fringe Festival for scenic design and theatre technology.
Professor of Musical Theatre, Musical Theatre Program Coordinator
Associate Professor of Theatre Arts
Assistant Professor of Theatre, Theatre Performance Program Coordinator
Assistant Professor of Costume Design
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Read the latest from FSC's Department of Theatre Arts and Dance, from main stage production announcements and casting news to student achievements and faculty recognition.
Interested in the BA in Theatre Arts, the Theatre Arts Minor, or whether FSC's theatre program is the right fit for your goals? Our team is here to help.
Professor of Musical Theatre, Musical Theatre Program Coordinator
Explore all degree options in FSC's Department of Theatre Arts and Dance or discover programs that pair naturally with a Theatre Arts BA:
A career in the arts takes curiosity, creativity, and the courage to explore. The BA in Theatre Arts gives you the training, the flexibility, and the community to build yours. Take your next step today.
