NYU First Year Curriculum
Drafting
Drawing
Research and Resources
Theater Organization
Fundamentals of Design
Fundamentals of Stagecraft
Scenery
Costumes
Lighting
Sound
Scene Painting & Model Making
NYU Second Year Curriculum
Scenery Design
Costume Design
Lighting Design
Sound Design
Management Seminar
Script Analysis
Directing for Designers
Contracts and Law
Careers in the Arts
SketchUp
Figure Drawing
Advance Drafting
AutoCAD
Vectorworks
NYU Third Year Curriculum
Internship
Mentorship in Scenery Design
Mentorship in Costume Design
Mentorship in Lighting Design
Mentorship in Sound Design
Mentorship in Management
PRODUCTIONS
Production in the Drama Department and especially in Tech Track, is an extraordinarily important aspect of our training. Production is the laboratory where training is put into action. In 2008-2009 more than 100 different plays were presented in the department's four theatres. There are four levels of production done each year: Department, Studio, Student "Program Board", Directing/Independent Projects. The Department presents a season of curriculum driven productions that range from fully resourced musicals to dramas to festivals and cutting edge technology projects. The 2009-2010 Season includes The Who’s Tommy, Ostrovksy’s The Forest; Lope de Vega’s Fuentes Ovejuna; Civil Rights Scene Festival; Buried Treasure: Woman Writers Scene Festival; four cabaret projects – both musical and political; two projects for young audiences and a virtual reality project.
Department productions are intended to provide a near professional experience while still in the university environment. The majority of the shows are designed by upper level Tech Track Students; occasionally a show is designed by graduate design students or Tech Track Faculty. Nearly all of the productions are stage managed by Tech Track management students. The productions are fully supported by the shops and staffs of the department along with student crew members to facilitate the construction and installation of the designs. A normal schedule for a department production will include five to eight weeks of rehearsal, four weeks of construction, one week of tech and dress rehearsal and ten performances over two weeks.
The next tier of production is studio related work. The Experimental Theatre Wing produces four medium to large productions each year in the Frederick Loewe Theatre on the second floor of 721 Broadway. Often Tech Track students are the production staff on these projects. Our students have functioned as Designer, Technical Director, Master Carpenter, Master Electrician, or Stage Manager for many of these productions.
Many of the other studios affiliated with the Drama Department will also produce plays for their students. The Atlantic Theatre Company, and The Stella Adler Conservatory all either own or rent theatre spaces in order to present their productions. Opportunities to design, tech or stage manage are extremely abundant within the structure of the studio program.
A typical Tech Track student will participate in nearly a dozen department productions prior to graduation. In a student's first year, he or she will work on a department production, in a crew or assistant position each semester. In the sophomore year they will assistant design with third and fourth year students on various projects, assist the TD or ME or Costume Department Head and probably work on a Program Board production (or two.) In the junior year they might be responsible for designing a scene festival or a Theater for Young Audience project, will begin working at their internship and might be the associate designer on a major production. In the senior year, IF the student demonstrates their readiness for the project, they may be asked to assume a role of great responsibility on a department production.
Management students will often assist Mainstage stage managers in their first two years, stage or production manage a small production and finally take on a major production in their final year.
