Theatre & Dance Program

This studio is a practice and performance space with unobstructed views to the south and west. Fully outfitted for dance, the space has ballet barres and state-of-the-art sprung marley floors. 

The Osborne Theatre is the main performance venue for full-scale collaborative theatre productions and for VAPA Theatre student productions. A flexible black-box theatre with a professional control booth, the Osborne can be rearranged in multiple configurations and seat up to 120 people. 

The Dusty Loo Bon Vivant Theatre is the home of Theatreworks, the professional theatre company at the Ent Center for the Arts. Student productions are scheduled here once yearly. This black box theater seats up to 300 and has a partially trapped floor and a rolling gantry, designed to facilitate flexible performance configurations. 

The Acting Studio adjoins the Osborne Theatre and is VAPA Theatre & Dance's main acting space. Classes and rehearsals for main stage productions start here, in a beautiful room with sprung floors, floor to ceiling mirrors and breathtaking views of Pikes Peak. 

The VAPA Interdisciplinary Arts Lab (ECFA 245) is a multiuse, collaborative space for the interdisciplinary curriculum of the Department of Visual and Performing Arts programs (Film Studies, History of Art & Visual Culture, Music, Theatre & Dance, Visual Arts), equipped with an array of technology and resources including multi-media technology, installation and sculpture capabilities, sound, green screen for film, and more.

The Ent Center Set Shop is VAPA's headquarters for technical theatre classes and production builds. The shop is outfitted with the best tools and equipment and includes our Tech Classroom, complete with a lighting grid and plenty of space to practice construction, painting and design. 

Actor and Stage Director

Staci Mize is a stage director and actor in Los Angeles, California. She graduated from UCCS in 2018 with a BA in Theatre before completing an MFA in directing from UCLA. Before coming to UCCS, Staci wasn't sure whether the school would meet her goals, but upon meeting with Professor Kevin Landis, she knew the program was a great fit because Landis and other faculty had the kind of background and experience she needed. Landis, along with other faculty members, helped Staci find her path through college. Mize found that one of the greatest perks of UCCS was the number of opportunities she found, both to create her own work and to network with other creators. One of her favorite classes in the Theatre major was “Clown Performance,” which she says has allowed her to stand out from other artists in LA. She also enjoyed “Nationalism, Romanticism, and Melodrama” because it gave her, “a good dramaturgical look at art,” and allowed her to “come at [art] from a very different perspective than a lot of schools are teaching.” Mize’s advice to students who are looking at UCCS’s Theatre program? "Jump in with both feet. Immerse yourself in the entire experience."

Broadway Stage Manager

Professional stage manager Robbie Armstrong III currently manages the Broadway show Once Upon a One More Time. He began acting in middle and high school, but knew he would rather work behind the scenes. Armstrong notes that UCCS was a great choice because it allowed him to “dabble and play” with different aspects of theatre production and that faculty taught him how to make art that moves him without his being the performer. Some of Robbie’s favorite memories at UCCS are of classes and of community building during his time as a Resident Assistant, experiences he credits with giving him the foundational leadership and communication skills that he uses daily as a stage manager. Armstrong says that the program in Theatre & Dance gave him many opportunities to meet people in the theatre community and to network with these other creatives. He adds that UCCS is unlike any other school he has seen because students “get the maximum value of everything” relative to UCCS’s size and price. Robbie’s advice to prospective UCCS students is to take advantage of the fact that UCCS is an “opportunity school--you can always find a way to be a leader or take charge in whatever you want."

Renowned dance artist Eiko Otake performing in the lobby of the Ent Center during a residency

VAPA Theatre & Dance production of Indecent by Paula Vogel

UCCS Dance students participate in a workshop by David Dorfman

VAPA Theatre & Dance production of Peer Gynt by Henrik Ibsen

UCCS Theatre & Dance students after workshop with Oscar-winning actress Allison Janney

Image from VAPA Theatre production of A Flea in Her Ear by Georges Feydeau

Performance during Heller Center dance residency with Dohee Lee

VAPA Theatre & Dance production of The Art of Dining by Tina Howe

Prologue with Kim Fields and Bonita Hamilton

COVID-era production of No Exit by Jean-Paul Sartre

Part of a workshop during the Manual Cinema residency

UCCS Theatre & Dance production of Everybody by Branden Jacob Jenkins

VAPA Theatre & Dance performance of Medea by Euripides

Theatre & Dance student Olivia Langley's senior dance performance project, Hecatomb

Acting workshop with Sam Waterston in VAPA Theatre & Dance

VAPA Theatre & Dance production of Hair by Galt McDermot

The Campfire, a storytelling and performance event at the Heller Center for the Arts & Humanities