Theatre for Young Audiences companies in the United States rely heavily on recognized titles to bring in audiences. As a result, most of their productions are adapted from recognizable titles, including films, television series, and popular literature. These adaptations draw audiences in that may not otherwise go to the theatre, which is especially important within the world of TYA where the target audience (children) only gains access to a theatre through adult caregivers. Additionally, most children go to the theatre as part of school field trips, further encouraging season selections that will fill educational needs in addition to providing theatrical experience. The intersection between theatres, the adapted works they produce, and the educational responsibilities of these theatres were the inspiration for this thesis. How can theatres help audiences move away from simple compare and contrast between a book and a play? How can theatres promote more meaningful interaction with the artistic process? This thesis seeks to provide a pathway for practitioners seeking to foster more meaningful audience engagement. It begins with a history of how Theatre for Young Audiences, dramaturgy, and adaptation theory evolved in the United States. That context provides a foundation on which to explore how the intersectionality of each of these domains can be harnessed to engage audiences in purposeful critical thinking about the art they see and drive them toward becoming thoughtful creators on their own.

An overview of the lighting design processes for two main stage productions produced by the University of Massachusetts Amherst Department of Theater, EVERYBODY by Branden Jacobs Jenkins, and DANCE NATION by Clare Barron, with specific emphasis on the emotional, logistical, and pedagogical challenges of producing live theater in an educational setting after a year of isolation due to the covid pandemic. This thesis documents my design process for each production including text analysis, preproduction process, collaboration with the assistant Lighting Designer Hyejung Kang and the production electrician Michael Dubin, and includes reflections on my experiences teaching and mentoring students throughout the collaborative and production processes.

An experience, early in my life, at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center opened my eyes to the transformative power of Theatre - it would shape my ambitions for performance, inform the choices I made about my acting career, and impel my passions. That single moment had a profound and lasting effect on my soul, one that would ultimately point me to the purpose of "me;" but what exactly was it? What transaction occurred between the performers on stage, and myself, and others in attendance that evening? My life as an actor has been an incredible journey of growth. Over forty-six U.S. states, and abroad, I have performed in Broadway musicals, stage plays, concerts, recordings, cabarets, as part of political campaigns and sporting events, and in universities, schools, and churches. Acting has fundamentally changed the way I see people, and challenges the way I learn, express and see myself. As my imagination, creativity, and craft has grown, I remain profoundly impacted by my experience in Tampa, and I have often wondered exactly what happened that evening? Did it have anything to do with the synesthetic elements of the performance – the lights, sounds, or scenery? Was it specifically the music, the voices, the amazing singers? Perhaps it was the daring acting and story. Did it depend on particular foreknowledge or familiarity of skill, or craft? Was it something that happened by chance, or by design? Was it because of me? Or did it, somehow, override everything I was at the time? Was it something intangible that is present at some, or all, theatrical events that enlivened the experience? This paper seeks to provide answers to some of these questions. My process in seeking answers will be to chronicle my own life experience as a person/artist. Having begun a script a couple of years ago, I decided to return to solo performance as a means to help me determine what made the experience I related so memorable. The attempt is to write and perform a solo performance piece that chronicles the foundation of this incredible journey of growth, while shedding light on the initial Tampa experience. My intention is to gain an understanding about something I believe contributes to "theatrical spirituality." I believe that the unique blending of the script and the interpretation of these words through acting can impart life. The combined force of the power of story and the spoken word can cause something tangible, something good, meaningful and of intrinsic worth to happen in an individual or audience as a result of a performance. It is my belief that the formation, articulation and expression of that understanding represents, in part, my acting philosophy – what I do and why I do it. In a broader and more important sense, however, it also represents my understanding of who I am and why I am.

Higher Education in the U.S. today is experiencing a theoretical and practical shift toward educating the "whole person" and to that end, is investigating ways to include spirituality in all facets of the academy. This requires focusing on the concept that "in addition to material knowledge, spiritual, emotional, and ethical knowledge is imparted to students" (Khan 2009). Many colleges and universities are searching for avenues to answer this call and better prepare students as business, political and social leaders in a new millennia that defines religion very differently than it did twenty years ago. Today, students are exposed to a much wider array of organized religions from all over the globe. Additionally, the very definitions of religion and spirituality have undergone a seismic shift making it difficult for colleges to incorporate a religious or spiritual focus into curriculum. More and more people are cobbling together their own unique combinations of religious ideas, practices, experiences and core values from a variety of religious and non-religious sources. The term 'spirituality' is sometimes used to describe this new do-it-yourself faith...To be 'spiritual' understood in this sense, is to have deeply held convictions, and anyone can have those kinds of heartfelt allegiances. This new ambiguity about what counts as religion or spirituality makes it virtually impossible to keep religion out of higher education. (Jacobsen and Jacobsen 2012) Research on the subject of religion and spirituality indicates that this is a point of major concern for many young American college students who are searching for personal and social significance. (Arnett 2000a; Astin, et al. 2011; Jacobsen and Jacobsen 2012) This study asserts that college students enter a unique stage of development known as emerging adulthood (Arnett 2000a) that calls for increased focus on meaning making and identity formation. In an effort to meet the individual and institutional need for spiritual exploration, this study will offer specific applied theatre practices that connect theories in theatre, psychology, student development and leadership designed to serve the emerging adult population as part of a holistic educational vision. This study confirms the feasibility of such a program by a detailed examination of specific theatre techniques and, in particular, the adaptation of Playback Theatre as the most viable form for inner life exploration and campus community building. A formal investigation into the efficacy of theatrical methods is called for as validation of theories and practices offered here. It is my hope that this research will encourage campus-wide awareness of theatre's utility and application to a wider range of students. By recognizing the need to educate the "whole person", institutions of Higher Education can give students the best possible preparation for a full and meaningful adult life through theatre practices uniquely designed for the purpose of inner life exploration and awareness. Key Implications: new areas of application for Applied Theatre Studies; collaborative opportunities for college theatre departments and student services, expansion of campus wide-visibility and understanding of theatre arts, feasibility for attending to student inner life needs and student community building through theatre.

As a Christian theatre artist with a conservative upbringing, I continually seek to discover the role of postmodernism in faith and how this intersection correlates with theatre in a postmodern society. In a profession that constantly challenges the status quo of Christian living, and a faith that frowns upon most "secular" behavior, I find myself in a position of questioning the connection between these two components of my life. Furthermore, I am troubled by the exclusive nature of the evangelical Christian community for people who do not meet its expectations of absolute truth—namely, the treatment of the LGBTQ+ community and the judgment of others. After reading several contemporary plays with religious narratives, it is safe to say that there is a correlation between Christian faith and the postmodern stage and this connection can be used to debunk these accepted truths in Christian thought. In this thesis, I explore three plays by mainstream American playwrights—Terrence McNally's Corpus Christi, Stephen Adly Guirgis' The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, and Sarah Ruhl's Passion Play: A Cycle—to disrupt the metanarrative dogma that evangelical Christianity continues to force upon its "believers." These topics include the traditional evangelical treatment of homosexuality, the judgment of others, and the exclusivity of the gospel message. Using postmodern theory and the New Testament Gospels as a lens, this thesis expands the universal messages of the Gospels and makes them inviting and applicable to all people despite varying cultures, lifestyles, or worldviews.

A man in the preparatory phase for parenthood with his first child can go through a lot of extreme emotional highs and lows, depending upon the man's economic, relationship, and physical status, as well as community pressures and support. In preparation to portray an array of prenatal fathers in a showcase of scenes, I have read an assortment of plays and scholarly sources. In reading a large sample of prenatal plays, I have extracted several possible emotional changes within a man's psyche. I also analyzed the social rationale behind these changes through the writings of sociologists and other scholarly sources. In addition to this research, I was going through my journey toward parenthood at the initiation of this research, as my child was born half way into the project. With the exploration of theatrical literature and sociological research paired with my personal experience of going through the prenatal phase, I have documented the changes a man may experience in his emotional growth. This time is full of differing anxieties that spring from the anticipation of change, while a man is preparing for parenthood. Through the medium of a showcase of theatrical scenes that are representations of the prenatal father, I explore the emotional journeys of several of these men and document my findings. As actors in theatre, we use the emotional life of characters to enlighten our choices in actions and tactics. These tactics are in service to the selfish goals we have as characters. The emotions the character has may act as either a driving force or an obstacle in obtaining our goals. When exploring the emotions of a pre-paternal man, one must consider all the variables in the creation of these emotions. In this project, I extract the emotions that a prenatal father may be vulnerable to and document for personal use as an actor presenting pre-paternal characters.

Contemporary models of educational and commercial theatres espouse the belief that theatre is the true collaborative art form: one in which artists of different talents, training programs, and experiences can come together to briefly create something more significant than themselves. However, as the theatre has moved into the twenty-first century, the ensemble nature that is so unique to theatrical performance is frequently abandoned for a streamlined top-down structure of theatre making, one in which monetary, scheduling, and efficiency concerns inhibit the true creation of an ensemble. For multi-faceted theatre artists who have interest and talents in more than one field of the theatre, the current reigning structure of theatrical creation can seem restrictive, even reductive to their creative potentials. In this thesis, I explore a revived form of theatrical creation centered around the concept of the total ensemble artist, or the modern-day equivalent to the Renaissance man, an artist and student of many different passions. By developing a model of theatrical creation that allows and encourages an actor's agency in the creative process, I hope to show that the ensemble approach to theatre making, in which actors must work together to create and support a production in intimate and challenging ways, is beneficial and necessary to both theatre artists and the audiences that come to view theatrical productions. Rather than being limited to the confines of the categorized and structured model of commercial theatre, these artists will be able to work together to create individualized, meaningful stories on stage that allow the theatre to remain influential, relevant, and representational of our collective experiences.

The question of "who am I" created an involuntary domino effect which led me to my most valued work I have done as a graduate student, serving predominantly Latino/a students in educational theatre settings. This thesis explores three productions I worked on and the questions that have evolved in my understanding of identity and cultural sustainability as a Latina theatre artist and educator working in educational theatre. As an Orlando Repertory teaching artist, I began a residency with HOPE CommUnity Center along with some colleagues. We worked with high school students from their youth group to devise a show titled Walk a Day in My Shoes (Camina un dia en mi zapatos), which speaks to the experience of these students as either DREAMERS or first-generation Americans. During Theatre UCF's Pegasus PlayLab festival, I worked as the assistant director and dramaturg for El Wiz, an original Latino musical adaptation of The Wizard of Oz, written by local Latina/o artists in the Orlando community, as a response to the impact Hurricane Maria had in the Island of Puerto Rico. For Theatre UCF's mainstage season, I worked as the assistant director and as an understudy for Water by the Spoonful written by Quiara Alegria Hudes, which follows a diverse group of individuals trying to navigate addiction, identity and redemption. In this thesis project, I reflect on my own growth and experiences as part of the process and seek to define the necessity of identity and cultural sustainability as a part of the theatre education space, acknowledge the complexities that creates challenges for diversity and access within theatre programming, and articulate areas of growth that theatre institutions may need in order to support the diverse communities they inhabit and the students they serve and educate in a new millennium.

Learning your type in the entertainment industry is not an easy lesson for many young performers. This is especially true if you are already being cast as the 'older woman' or 'witty sidekick' at 13 years old. A wise professor once told me, at the ripe age of 20, that moving to New York City after graduating with my Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Musical Theatre would be a mistake. He told me that as a character actress my time will come and that I am too young to play the roles I am right for. These words were not easy to hear and took time to accept, but it helped me shape my future. Knowing I had time to spare before pursuing a professional career as a performer, I have been teaching theatre in middle and high school to inspire other students to refine their craft and continue their own path to a career in the theatre industry. I also got married and started a family, so by the time I am ready to pursue a career as a professional actress, my children will be older and more independent and not need mommy around 100% of the time. This also gives me plenty of time to research and continue to perform (as my teaching schedule allows) for when that time comes. It occurred to me I should explore those mature women roles and create a one-person cabaret titled Just a Number: A Cabaret Exploring the Roles My Age Prevents Me From Playing. I wanted to explore and develop performance roles I will age into. This cabaret allowed me the opportunity to explore those roles, but also how my life has and will continue to prepare me to play these strong characters. Most of the characters have gone through major life experiences. By the time I am at the right age to tackle those roles professionally, I will have already experienced marriage, motherhood, loss of loved ones, moving jobs and homes, and who knows what else! Those experiences will allow me to bring more life and authenticity to the roles that this cabaret featured. I also took a moment to reflect on my career as a young performer who was not the right type for roles I was up for. This was a tough reality to accept as a young performer, and I came to terms with that truth; taking a moment to poke fun at that time in my career added some levity to a potentially heavy subject that many actors must face. For the material, I looked at the works of major musical theatre composers and lyricists whose material features strong female characters of a certain age. I incorporated songs that chronicle the life of a character actress and highlight major life events that someone my age needs to go through to truly understand what the character has experienced.

This document will utilize the author's work on the developmental musical, From Here, to analyze the contemporary process of composing, arranging, and orchestrating a musical. Further, this document will highlight research on the process of composition by some of Broadway's best known composers, as well as the author's creative process of composing, arranging, and performing From Here. One key aim of the composition process will be to create music that supports the story and, thereby, reflects the emotions of the characters. While the end of the musical examines the tragedy of the 2016 Pulse nightclub attack in Orlando, Florida, USA, the rest of the musical reflects other realities of life including the joy of love and friendship. In support of creating visceral musical "emotion", the author will document the process of creating music themes, called motifs, and chord structures that help define and carry the emotion of songs. By researching the process of living, successful, Broadway-level composers, and documenting the process of this composer, the author hopes to offer a blueprint for future composers to create emotionally-infused, dynamic, story-centric scores.