The Pre-College Intensive at West Chester University is a summer training program for motivated high school students with an interest in the study of theatre arts. In this immersive experience on the beautiful campus of West Chester University, students take classes with university professors and professional artists, rehearse in our world-class facilities, live on campus in dormitories, eat meals in the dining hall, and train alongside their cohort.

This program is an immersive, ten day, on-campus experience designed to introduce high school students to the college theatre environment. All students are required to live in the dorms and have a meal plan.

At the conclusion of the Pre-College Intensive, students will leave with audition-ready materials (as well as a sense for what to expect from the college audition process), as well as an expanded vocabulary of performance technique. Classes, coaching, and critique are rigorous and individualized; we cap at only 24 students in order to dedicate one-on-one attention to each young performer.

We recommend this program for students who have completed their freshman year of high school, and who have not yet attended college. Most participants are between the ages of 15 - 18.

There is no audition needed to gain admission to this program. All spaces are available on a first-come, first-serve basis. Spots are extremely limited.

Do auditions stress you out? Does the process of applying to college overwhelm you? Is going to school to study theatre a decision that makes sense for me? And what even is a headshot and a resume?

In our 2023 Pre-College Intensive, we will dive into these questions with a team of college professors and professionals who are here to guide you every step of the way. Whether you’re here to sharpen some technical skills, get ready for your college auditions, learn some new theatrical training techniques, or simply want to spend some time rehearsing alongside motivated peers in a college-level classroom, we are here to support your learning — and can help you grow in the process.

Each day, you will take an acting class with Charlie DelMarcelle (WCU Professor of Theatre and Barrymore-Award winning actor); a classical text class with Ezra Ali-Dow (MFA, The Savannah College of Art + Design) ; an Improv class with Rob Cutler (M.F.A. from the University of Connecticut, professional actor, improviser, and puppeteer), and a Voice and Movement class with Kim Carson (Barrymore-Award winning actor, musician, photographer, and artist).

At the end of ten busy days, you will …

• Craft an audition package with a contemporary monologue, a classical monologue, and a 16- or 32-bar cut of a musical theatre song

• Explore a variety of performance techniques and acting styles from professional working theatre artists, all of whom are expert teachers and coaches

• Perform in a mock college audition for invited professors and professionals from across the Philadelphia region, who will provide targeted feedback and more information about area programs

• Perform in a showcase for family and friends, sharing the best of the work that has been created throughout camp

• Sit for a professional headshot with Kim Carson of Kim Carson Photography (digital download included in the price of this program)

• Attend a field trip to see professional work around the region (previous field trips have included Philadelphia’s Arden Theatre and Delaware Shakespeare Festival)

• Train alongside other theatre students your own age, learning and growing as an ensemble

• Gain a taste of campus life — including dorm living, meal plans, and roommates.

TRAIN WITH PROFESSIONALS

Students will receive college-level instruction in acting, voice, dance, movement, and improvisation. Our instructors are a combination of West Chester University faculty members and working professional artists. Students will take daily courses in acting, voice and movement, and classical text, as well as master classes in a variety of special topics (improv, design, and stage combat, to name a few!) taught by professionals and WCU professors.

explore the transition to college

Your college experience will always be unknown until you get there, but practicing things beforehand in a supportive and structured way can ease that transition. Living in dorms, eating in the dining hall, making new friends, and navigating new spaces is a huge part of the program experience. While we will work hard in classes, we believe in everyone learns best in an environment where physical, mental, and emotional wellness are considered essential. We balance the rigor of the curriculum and coursework with plenty of time for breaks, decompression, and social time.

network with current students

Our Pre-College Apprentices are current students studying theatre in the WCU Department of Theatre and Dance. Have questions about college life? Look no further. They are invaluable resources since they’ve just gone through the process of transitioning from high school to college.

Perform in a showcase

We’ll spend ten days working towards two goals: perfecting your audition package, which will be shared with an invited audience of professors from the region’s area theatre programs (previous participating schools include Rowan, Rutgers, Drexel, Arcadia, Temple, West Chester, Bryn Mawr, and more) and curating our classwork into a showcase, which will be open to friends and family as well as an invited audience of professors and professionals. Our camp is deliberately capped at only 24 students in order to give individualized attention to each student; we promise that everyone will have their moment to shine.