Welcome to the 2026-27 Season
Boldly Creative
Creating with curiosity. Collaborating with purpose. Leading with courage.
The strongest performing artists are not trained for one stage, one role, or one path.
They are prepared to create, collaborate, lead, and adapt across the many ways stories
are told in today’s performing arts industry.
At the Wichita State University School of Performing Arts, our season is intentionally
designed around that belief. Through theatre, musical theatre, dance, film, voice
acting, immersive performance, and new work development, students engage in the diverse
artistic practices shaping today's creative landscape while working alongside faculty,
guest artists, and one another as performers, designers, technicians, choreographers,
stage managers, and creative collaborators.
Student Leadership and Creative Work
While the season features collaborations with accomplished guest artists, faculty,
and professional creators, a defining characteristic of the Wichita State University
School of Performing Arts is our commitment to student leadership and artistic initiative.
Students are not only performers, designers, technicians, and collaborators - they
are also producers, choreographers, directors, writers, and creative leaders. Through
organizations and initiatives such as Empty Space Theatre, the Wichita State Music
Theatre Company, and Mid-America Dance Theatre, students develop and present original
work while gaining firsthand experience leading artistic processes and creative teams.
JOIN US
What makes Wichita State School of Performing Arts unique is not simply the number of productions we produce, but the breadth of opportunities through which students learn, create, and lead. Across theatre, dance, musical theatre, film, voice acting, immersive performance, new play development, new musical development, and student-created projects, students experience the many ways stories are imagined, developed, and shared in today's performing arts industry.
At the heart of this work is a vibrant artistic ecosystem where faculty, alumni, guest artists, students, and community partners learn from one another through shared creative practice. Together, we explore new ideas, embrace innovation, take meaningful artistic risks, and transform curiosity into action. Through this collaborative process, students develop not only the skills of their craft, but also the adaptability, confidence, and courage to contribute as artists, creative leaders, and engaged citizens in an ever-changing world.
Join us for a season that is Boldly Creative - where bold ideas take shape, new voices are amplified, and artists work together to create meaningful experiences that ignite imagination, build connection, and inspire what is possible.
DINNERTIME: A Play in Seven Courses
The season opens with the Bela Kiralyfalvi National Student Playwriting Competition Reading, DINNERTIME: A Play in Seven Courses written by winner Anna Halza. This darkly comic and imaginative new work explores truth, beauty, desire, and human
connection through a dinner encounter that becomes increasingly absurd and unexpected.
Directed by WSU alumna Jane Gabbert, whose distinguished career spans film, television, regional theatre, and Off-Broadway
performance, the project immerses students in the collaborative process of developing
and presenting new work while connecting them with an accomplished professional artist
whose own journey began at Wichita State. Following each performance, audiences are
invited to participate in a post-show conversation exploring the play, its themes,
and the process of bringing a new work to the stage.
CABARET
Directed by Assistant Professor Jacob McGlaun with choreography by Senior Educator Sabrina Vasquez, one of musical theatre's most celebrated and provocative works, CABARET transports audiences into Berlin's Kit Kat Klub as social and political tensions
rise beyond its doors. Through iconic music, unforgettable characters, and powerful
storytelling, the musical explores identity, freedom, belonging, and personal responsibility
against the backdrop of a society on the brink of profound change.
For students, CABARET offers a large-scale collaborative experience that brings together performers, musicians,
designers, technicians, stage managers, and production leaders in the creation of
a richly layered theatrical world. The production challenges artists to engage with
complex historical and social themes while navigating the demands of musical storytelling,
character development, movement, and ensemble performance. Through this process, students
gain valuable experience in interdisciplinary collaboration and discover how theatre
can both reflect and challenge the world around us. More than a musical, CABARET invites audiences and artists alike to consider the role of art, community, and individual
choice in times of uncertainty, making it a work that remains remarkably relevant
for contemporary audiences.
CAPSTONE CELEBRATION
The CAPSTONE CELEBRATION showcases the creative, scholarly, and artistic achievements of graduating students
across Acting, Dance, Design and Technical Theatre, Musical Theatre, and Theatre.
Bringing together presentations, performances, research, design, and creative inquiry,
the event highlights the breadth of work produced throughout the School. It serves
as both a culmination of students' academic journeys and a celebration of the next
generation of performing arts professionals.
PSYCH! — Jo Zakas Musical Theatre Incubator
The spring season begins with the Jo Zakas Musical Theatre Incubator, featuring the continued development of PSYCH! One of the School's most distinctive opportunities, the incubator places students
inside the creation of a new musical alongside acclaimed songwriting team Amanda D'Archangelis (music) and Sami Horneff (lyrics), who met through the internationally recognized BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre
Workshop and have built a successful career developing original musicals for professional,
educational, and industry audiences. Their work includes Single Rider, The Radium Girls, Coming Attraction, and numerous readings, workshops, and concert presentations throughout New York
City and beyond.
Rather than simply performing a finished work, students become active participants
in the development process as story, character, music, and structure continue to evolve.
Through workshops, rehearsals, revision sessions, and audience feedback, students
experience firsthand how contemporary musicals are shaped and refined. The incubator
provides valuable insight into the collaborative relationships between writers, performers,
directors, dramaturgs, and producers while exposing students to the many artistic
and administrative roles involved in bringing new work from concept to production.
Following each performance, audiences are invited to participate in conversations
about the creative process, giving students an authentic new-work development experience
rarely available at the undergraduate level.
SPARK: Dance Repertoire Concert
SPARK celebrates the diversity, innovation, and collaborative spirit of contemporary dance
through a dynamic repertoire of original works created by guest artists, faculty,
and student performers. This season features a new work by internationally recognized
choreographer Kirven Douthit-Boyd, former Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater performer, artistic leader, and educator
whose distinguished career has spanned performance, choreography, and arts leadership
on national and international stages. Students work directly with Douthit-Boyd throughout
the creative process, gaining insight into professional rehearsal practices while
collaborating in the creation of a new work developed specifically for Wichita State
dancers.
The concert also features original choreography by Mina Estrada, Wichita-based choreographer, educator, and arts leader who’s contemporary, improvisation-driven
approach encourages curiosity, exploration, and artistic risk-taking. Alongside choreography
by School dance faculty, these works expose students to multiple creative methodologies,
artistic perspectives, and performance demands. More than a repertory concert, SPARK places students at the center of the creative process as collaborators in the development
and realization of original work, deepening their artistry, adaptability, and understanding
of how contemporary dance is conceived, created, and shared with audiences today.
FIRST-YEAR SHOWCASE
New in 2027, the First-Year Showcase brings together 1st year emerging artists from across the School of Performing Arts
in an interdisciplinary performance experience. Designed to introduce students to
the School's culture of collaboration from the beginning of their academic careers,
the showcase encourages creative exploration, artistic risk-taking, and meaningful
partnerships across disciplines. It highlights the talent, potential, and imagination
of the School's newest artists.
PERFORMING ARTS FILM SHOWCASE
The Performing Arts Film Showcase expands storytelling beyond the stage and into film. Actors and dancers gain valuable
on-camera experience while students also participate as writers, directors, editors,
designers, and production crew members. By engaging with film from multiple perspectives,
students develop skills that reflect the growing connection between live performance,
digital media, and contemporary artistic practice.
YOU ON THE MOORS NOW
Directed by Assistant Professor Kate Compton, YOU ON THE MOORS NOW reimagines the worlds of Pride and Prejudice, Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, and Little Women, bringing together four iconic literary heroines who reject the futures written for
them. What follows is a bold, imaginative, and often hilarious theatrical adventure
as these women chart their own paths, challenging traditional expectations of love,
identity, and self-determination. Blending romance, comedy, action, and social commentary,
the play invites audiences to reconsider familiar literary narratives through a contemporary
lens while exploring who gets to shape their own story.
Presented as an immersive black box experience, the production transforms the relationship
between audience and performer by placing patrons within the world of the play itself.
This approach creates a unique artistic and logistical challenge for students and
provides significant opportunities for leadership across performance, stage management,
design, and production. Working alongside faculty and student designers and production
leaders, students will collaborate to create an environment where storytelling extends
beyond the traditional stage and into the audience space. Through innovative staging,
audience engagement, and interdisciplinary problem-solving, YOU ON THE MOORS NOW becomes both a dynamic theatrical event and a powerful learning experience that reflects
contemporary approaches to theatre-making.
THE WAY STATION
The season concludes with the audio show, THE WAY STATION, directed by retired faculty member and current adjunct faculty Dr. Bret Jones, who pioneered film and audio performance opportunities within the School of Performing
Arts more than a decade ago. Through this innovative production, students explore
the unique possibilities of storytelling through sound, developing skills in voice
acting, vocal characterization, script interpretation, microphone technique, and audio
performance while discovering how character, atmosphere, and emotion can be conveyed
without visual elements.
THE WAY STATION transports listeners to a blight-infested future where a small group of survivors
undertakes a perilous journey to a remote way station, carrying humanity's most precious
hope - a newborn baby. As the story unfolds, students draw audiences into a richly
imagined world using only the power of voice, sound, and storytelling.