Performance Arts
University Hill is a prime location for the showcasing of artistic talent, from students to nationally acclaimed performers.
Syracuse Stage
Syracuse Stage is Central New York’s premier professional theatre. Founded in 1974, Stage has produced more than 220 plays in 36 seasons including a number of world, American, and East Coast premieres. Each season 90,000 patrons enjoy an adventurous mix of new plays and bold interpretations of classics and musicals featuring the finest theatre artists. In addition, Stage maintains a vital educational outreach program that annually serves over 30,000 students from 24 counties. As a thriving regional theater and member of the League of Resident Theaters (LORT), Syracuse Stage attracts prominent performers, directors, and designers. It has hosted leading performers such as Tony Award-winner Elizabeth Franz, Emmy recipient and Golden Globe winner Jean Stapleton, Sam Waterston, John Cullum, James Whitmore, and Ben Gazzara.
Syracuse University Department of Drama
The Regent Theatre Complex, which houses the Department of Drama and Syracuse Stage, contains three theaters and a cabaret space. These four performance spaces provide the broadest range of staging possibilities, from conventional proscenium to theater-in-the-round.
-The John D. Archbold Theatre is a 499-seat proscenium theater where Syracuse Stage productions, including the collaborative productions with the Department of Drama, are produced.
-The Arthur Storch Theatre is a 200-seat proscenium theater. The main stage Department of Drama productions are produced here.
-The Black Box Laboratory Theatre is an intimate and flexible space used for short plays and experimental efforts, mostly produced entirely by students in the Department of Drama. It seats 65 audience members in a variety of configurations.
-The Sutton Pavilion provides students with a versatile cabaret space for late-night entertainment for Syracuse University and the greater Syracuse communities.
The complex also includes dance studios, design and craft studios, lecture rooms, performance/rehearsal studios, seminar rooms, musical practice rooms, locker rooms, and showers as well as the professionally staffed technical shops that build the Syracuse Stage and Department of Drama productions. Facilities for the department also include adjacent buildings with stage management classroom and office spaces; theater design and technology studios, classrooms, and CAD lab; and a performance classroom.
College of Visual & Performing Arts
The College of Visual and Performing Arts at Syracuse University is the center of cultural life at Syracuse University. VPA contributes culturally to the community as well, with programs like the Literacy, Community, and Photography programs at Ed Smith Elementary School in Syracuse, or the Partnership for a Better Education, a collaboration between the Syracuse City School District and VPA. The college contains the School of Art and Design, Department of Communication and Rhetorical Studies, Department of Drama, Setnor School of Music and Department of Transmedia.
The Setnor Auditorium is housed in the Crouse College building and is the site of many of the School of Visual and Performing Arts concerts and recitals. The 700-seat auditorium features a magnificent timber-framed ceiling which creates excellent acoustics. The famous Holtkamp organ is also housed there. The organ, built in 1950 by builder Arthur Holtkamp, features 3,283 pipes and 20 chimes. The auditorium features approximately 175 concerts and recitals each year, many of which are streamed live over the Internet.
Paul Robeson Performing Arts Company
The Paul Robeson Performing Arts Company provides the Central New York Community with high quality theatre performances derived from the African American tradition. Located at 805 East Genesee Street, the PRPAC is a program of the African American Studies Department at Syracuse University. The Katherine Dunham Room is used as rehearsal space and the Black Box Theatre houses performances. The PRPAC was founded in 1982 by William H. Rowland II and Roy E. Delemos, who were challenged by the lack of performance opportunities for African American artists in Syracuse. The PRPAC seeks to “provide minority actors, dancers, singers, writers, directors and technicians with opportunities to develop their skills in the performing arts in ways that amplify the richness and diversity of the African American culture. The company is also dedicated to youth programs and uses the arts to address complex issues such as violence, workforce preparation, academic achievement, and multicultural understanding. The PRPAC offers the Youth Ensemble program and the Arts Experience Summer Camp.
