If all the world’s a stage, the community of the Claremont Colleges has access to many worlds. Even as someone who had been involved in theatre in high school, I was absolutely terrified going into college. Everyone spoke about college theatre as a scary “next step”, the first real example of theatre in a way that was much more intense and all-important. My parents even tried to dissuade me from being involved in theatre in college. And yet, I got involved in theatre in my freshman year — and you can too! The most important thing you can do is get your foot in the door and be aware of the opportunities in front of you. Let’s talk about a couple of them!
- The Pomona theatre department: This is an obvious one! The Pomona theatre department puts on two shows every year run by faculty, and puts on a musical every other year! If you’re interested in majoring or minoring in theatre, these productions will be very important to you. These shows have the most funding, and also tend to have the most auditioners and the largest audience!
- The Green Room: This is one of the student-run theatre groups at the 5Cs! They have a lovely board that is constantly active in the theatre community. They run a lot of events, and often focus on theatre written and directed by students!
- Under the Lights: This is a theatre group based in the Claremont Colleges! This club is very tightly-knit and does a lot of fun one-acts and showcases.
- Spotlight Musical Theatre:
- Improv groups: These are groups active across the campuses with varying levels of commitment! These groups focus specifically on doing improv shows. If you’re interested, check out UTI (Underground Theatre Initiative) and Outside the Box improv!!
- Senior theses: Outside of the realm of organized shows, seniors in theatre are very often trying to put on shows as part of their theses. If you get involved in the theatre community (or even just make sure you’re on the email list), you’re very likely to become aware of the seniors in need of actors, directors, crew members, etc for their shows!
Even beyond these opportunities, there are constantly shows being put on by students or groups that are in need of actors. No matter your experience level, there is a place for every student somewhere within the 5C theatre community. If you keep your eyes (and mind) open, there are so many places for you to get involved! Break a leg out there!