This spring, the Ferris State theatre program will present its production of “The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals,” bringing together 32 students from various majors.
Uniquely, though, none of them are majoring in theatre. This is because Ferris doesn’t offer either a major or minor in theatre, a decision that traces back to the school’s founding in 1884 by Woodbridge Ferris.
“It was more of an industrial school when Ferris started,” explained Dennis Henry, director of the program. “(Woodbridge Ferris) had music and theater as part of the program from the very beginning, but never wanted people to focus on it… I think the school sort of kept the same thing. There’s no majors in music either, but we have choir and we have concert band and jazz band and now a marching band, and all those folks don’t have it as a major.”
Jason Zawacki, part of the School of Digital Media, believes another reason for the program’s size is the limited number of faculty who are part of it.
“We only have two professors teaching theater classes, which means there’s not enough credit hours for it to be a major or a minor,” Zawacki said. “There’s not enough faculty that Ferris has brought into theatre.”
Some students would like to see the program expand.
Management Major Brooke Boron expounded on similar sentiments.
“I’d love to see it grow… With the bigger budget and everything, we could do a lot more,” Boron said. “But I think how it is right now, we make it work.”
The faculty hasn’t considered expanding the program, though, since things are pretty good according to Henry.
“Every year, we get folks from about 2 dozen different majors from across campus… who work both on stage and backstage,” he said. “They’re all studying other things and doing theater because they love it.”
The program is growing over time, but remains small compared to the many other theatre programs throughout the state.
“We probably have between… 50 or 60 people who work on the shows each semester,” said Henry, between people who work backstage, as ushers, onstage and in the tech crew.
Including those who take the available theatre classes, Henry estimates that a total of 100 students are involved in the program each semester. For reference, Ferris has a total student population of over 9,000 people.
For some, membership in Ferris’ chapter of Alpha Psi Omega, a national theater honor society, expands the experiences they can have in the program. This applies to Interdisciplinary Studies major Jordan Bos.
“My sophomore year of college, I did tech for ‘She Kills Monsters.’ And then, I got inducted into Phi Alpha Theta after that show, because I also attended some of their events,” said Bos.
Bos also performed in Ferris’ productions of “Working,” “Radium Girls,” “Urinetown,” “Midsummer Night’s Dream” and this semester’s “Monkey House,” as well as taking Ferris’ Introduction to Theatre and Acting classes.
For many, the program represents a sense of community more than a potential career path.
“I think the quickest way to get to know somebody, and get to know a lot of people, is to be in a play, because (of) the time you spend together… I’ve seen, over my lifetime, so many friendships form… It’s a tight-knit group, but it’s also not exclusionary, because… everyone is always sure to welcome in the new people and make them part of the group,” said Henry.
Students involved in the program feel it could be beneficial to several people.
“It’s a really great opportunity to meet a bunch of new people from all kinds of different majors… To have a place you feel like you can always go back to,” Zawacki said.
Bos thinks theatre classes would specifically be helpful for students involved in the Television and Digital Media Production program.
“Honestly, there’s a wide array of people that could benefit from theater,” Boron said. “Anyone who wants to get involved in a community of people that have differentiating personalities. A group of fun, lively people.”
For students interested in learning more, Henry suggests attending Ferris’ production of “The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals” from March 26-29, following Ferris State Theater on Instagram or Facebook, or emailing De*********@****is.edu.