Since the inception of the Fairmount College more than a century ago, theatre has been a part of the cultural life of this institution and the city of Wichita. The academic program in theatre, started in 1924, was led through its first four decades by George Wilner. Upon his retirement in 1960, Wilner, a top Shakespearean scholar, handed the baton to Dick Welsbacher. Welsbacher guided the theatre program through its next three decades, adding an experimental theatre, a summer theatre, and a master’s program in theatre as part of the Speech Communication Department.

In 1986, when the Elliott School of Communication was created, the theatre program was transferred from Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences to the College of Fine Arts to round out the college’s arts offerings. In fine arts, theatre and dance were combined to create the School of Performing Arts, with each discipline offering its own Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. A decade later, through cooperation between the schools of Performing Arts and Music, a BFA in Musical Theatre was added. Leroy Clark led the school through this decade of rapid growth and change. When Bela Kiralyfalvi became chair, he served as an advocate for students and faculty, and the school’s programs flourished. The Dance and Musical Theatre programs achieved national accreditation.
Today, the School of Performing Arts offers a BFA degree with “tracks” in performance, musical theatre, and theatre technology/design. It also offers a BFA degree in Dance and a BA in general theatre studies.

The theatre program – though now more professionally oriented in its training goals - brings to our students and audiences a wide variety of fine theatre and musical theatre from classical to cutting-edge contemporary works, and offers our students with outstanding classroom instruction, supported by a full array of performance and production experiences.

As before, we are conscious of the importance of exposing our students to artists and teachers other than just those on the faculty. Lectures, master classes, workshops, and seminars conducted by distinguished professionals in the field are held each year as part of the educational experience either on campus or as part of the American College Theatre Festival.

The theatre program offers more than $40,000 annually in undergraduate scholarships to new and continuing students. In addition, we offer a large number of paid student assistantships, which also serve as a valuable tool in rounding out students learning opportunities in the crafts of theatre.

As WSU Theatre sails into a new era under the leadership of Program Director Drew Tombrello, audiences can look forward to many exciting developments. Naturally, none of this would be possible without you – our special audience. Your support allows us to do the work we love to do, and there’s nothing more rewarding than sharing it with you. So whether you’re a longtime subscriber or visiting us for the first time, on behalf of the school’s acclaimed faculty, staff, and students, I thank you for being a part of this, our eightieth birthday celebration!

Steve Peters, Ph.D.
Chair, School of Performing Arts
College of Fine Arts