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Monday 8am - 4pm Tuesday 8am - 4pm Wednesday 8am - 4pm Thursday 8am - 4pm Friday 8am - 4pm

PLU Theatre & Dance

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United States
Tacoma, WA
PLU Theatre & Dance

We serve to support the academic study of theatre from all perspectives including acting, directing, playwriting, dramaturgy, and technical design.
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Theatre & Dance at Pacific Lutheran University

We are on the traditional lands of the Nisqually, Puyallup, Squaxin Island and Steilacoom peoples; we acknowledge and respect the traditional caretakers of this land. The Karen Hille Phillips Center for the Performing Arts at Pacific Lutheran University is home to the Eastvold Auditorium mainstage, the Studio Theater, theatre faculty offices, and a green room and script library.

11/14/2024

Spotlight on… Alonna Hall! Alonna is a Senior Musical Theatre and Design/Technical double major at PLU. Something that Alonna loves about PLU Theatre and Dance is how many opportunities are available to students. PLU has broadened her horizons in terms of what she finds fulfilling and creative in her future in theatre. Thanks to the flexible and seasoned faculty, Alonna has been able to explore scenic and lighting design opportunities which led her to double majoring. Due to this, she plans on pursuing lighting design and performance full-time after graduation.

11/05/2024

Our second production of the year, Native Gardens, opens this Thursday, November 7th! PLU theatre students had the opportunity to assist our faculty in designing the set and costumes for this show. Come catch the show Nov. 7-9 at 7:30 pm and November 10 at 2 pm to see all of their hard work!

10/29/2024

Spotlight on… Parker Brown! Parker is a fourth-year Acting/Directing major with minors in Dance and Writing. Parker deeply appreciates the copious amounts of opportunities PLU theatre has to offer for students to learn and get involved within the program. The season is so wide and vast, there’s a spot for everybody! Students are able to take important roles within the program, and express their own ideas and creativity freely. The support system from the students themselves and the faculty help provide a loving and engaging environment that allows you to take risks and develop new skills. Additionally, students are granted opportunities for leadership within the program! Parker is incredibly grateful to have been able to co-direct with Tom Smith in this year's musical r***e, and is excited to direct Sherwood: The Adventures of Robin Hood in the spring!

10/22/2024

For our faculty directed productions, theatre majors and minors participate in work days to help construct sets, props, and costumes for the shows! The past few weeks, students and faculty have been working together to construct the unique set for our production of Native Gardens, which performs November 7-9 at 7:30 pm and November 10 at 2 pm in the Studio Theater. Come see all of the hard work our theatre community has put in to make this show happen!

10/15/2024

Consider supporting PLU Theatre and Dance for this year’s Bjug day! Any contribution helps our program and students thrive. To donate, go to https://www.givecampus.com/schools/PacificLutheranUniversity/plu-s-bjug-day-of-giving-2024/?a=8406059 then click “Give Now!” and under “Designations” find “Academics” and then “Theater and Dance.” We appreciate your support! 🖤💛

10/10/2024

This week our senior theatre majors presented their Capstones! Capstone is a required culminating project for students of all majors at PLU that asks them to reflect on what they’re learned throughout college and how it will help them in the future. For theatre students, our BFA majors put together and present portfolio of their work and our BA majors reflect on how theatre relates to their vocation. Congrats, seniors! 🎉

10/04/2024

Our first production of the school year, The Great American Songbook: a musical r***e, opens tomorrow! We were fortunate enough to have 3 different co-lighting designers for this production. Two of them, Marley Bjornstad and Glen Fritz are current PLU students! The third, Jacob Viramontes graduated from PLU in 2017 and has been designing lights in the Seattle/Tacoma area ever since. To see their amazing work, come see the show tomorrow, Friday October 7th at 7:30 pm or Saturday October 5th at 5:30 pm in the Eastvold Auditorium in the Karen Hille Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. We hope to see you there!

10/01/2024

This year we will be continuing our “Spotlight on…” series by highlighting our theatre and dance students and what they love most about our department. Our first spotlight is on… Taya Lovejoy! Taya is a PLUS year Acting/Directing major with minors in Dance and Hispanic Studies. Taya loves that the PLU theatre and dance department allows students to gain valuable experiences that will help them after graduating by taking on leadership roles. Taya applied to choreograph our faculty directed musical r***e last school year and is grateful that she got the chance to collaborate with both her fellow students but also our experienced faculty.

09/17/2024

Connect with us on Instagram!

09/12/2024

Calling all current and former theatre and dance Lutes, we’re continuing our “Where is this?” series! Can you guess where this picture was taken in the Karen Hille Phillips Center for the Performing Arts? Comment below!

09/03/2024

Reminder that tonight is the Interest Meeting for the Theatre and Dance department! If you would like to get involved in theatre and dance at PLU, attend the meeting at 6pm in the Eastvold Auditorium in the Karen Hille Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. We hope to see you there!

05/15/2024

Spotlight on… Student Choreographers! Each spring for our annual dance concert, around 10 students are chosen to choreograph a number for the production and see their own choreographic vision brought to life on stage with costumes, lighting, and sound. This experience allows students to step into leadership roles and gain skills in collaborating with their peers in an artistic environment. Students also have opportunities to choreograph or assistant choreograph for our musicals and musical r***es throughout the academic year!

04/30/2024

CONGRATULATIONS to PLU Alum Justin Huertas for earning 3 Drama Desk Award nominations for Lizard Boy: Outstanding Musical, Outstanding Music, and Outstanding Book of a Musical. We are so proud of you!

04/18/2024

Spotlight on… Student Lighting Designers! Students have the exciting opportunity to design or assistant design the lighting for all of our shows! This is a very hands on way for our students to gain experience that will help them after graduation, and they can even earn class credit for doing so! (photo from Jasper in Deadland with lighting design by Anna van Vleet)

03/27/2024

Calling all current and former PLU theatre Lutes! We’re continuing our “Where is this?” series! Can you guess where in the KHP Center for the Performing Arts this photo was taken? Bonus points if you can guess what it’s a photo of. Comment below!

03/22/2024

Spotlight on... Student Dramaturgy! Today we sat down with Marilyn Willis, a plus year music education major and theatre minor who was the student dramturg for our faculty productions of Macbeth and Jasper In Deadland.

“What is dramaturgy?”
Marliyn: “A script historian, I research basically anything that would possibly be of interest to know before performing in a play or musical. Another part of my duties were creating lobby displays, which really allowed me to tap into my elementary music education creativity so that was fun!”

“What did you find when researching for Macbeth?”
M: “I researched a lot about the historical context of what was happening when Shakespeare wrote, but also researched what parts of Scottish history were dramatized for the play. I also did herbal research based on what the witches mention when casting spells. There’s also the infamous “Macbeth curse” that I found out a lot about.”

“What did you find when researching for Jasper In Deadland?”
M: “I did mythological research on several different cultures, also a LOT of research on Dante’s Inferno!”

“How will this experience impact you in the future?”
M: “It was fun to be involved in something off stage that is just as important and beneficial as costumes and set. And it’s cool to be so intellectually involved in a show. I can also put this on my resume and actually get hired to do this for theaters in the future which is awesome!”

Address

12180 Park Avenue S
Tacoma, WA
98447

Opening Hours

Monday	8am - 4pm
Tuesday	8am - 4pm
Wednesday	8am - 4pm
Thursday	8am - 4pm
Friday	8am - 4pm

Website

http://www.plu.edu/theatre-dance/

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Videos

PLU’s annual spring dance concert opens tomorrow night!! Today we sat down with two of our student choreographers for this show to ask them about what they’ve loved the most about the process. You can catch the show tomorrow and Saturday at 7:30pm in Eastvold auditorium. This production is free for PLU students. We hope to see you there!

We are thrilled to announce our 2024-2025 Theatre and Dance Season! Which production are you most excited for?

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Our Story

The Karen Hille Phillips Center for the Performing Arts at Pacific Lutheran University is home to the Eastvold Auditorium, the Studio Theater, theatre and dance faculty offices, classroom spaces including state-of-the-art scenic and costume shops, and public spaces. We support the academic study of theatre and dance from all perspectives including acting, dancing, musical theatre, design, directing, choreography, stage management, playwriting, dramaturgy, and technical areas.