Barnett Theatre

The Theatre/Dance Department's main stage, this 425 seat theatre was constructed in 1971 as part of the Greenhill Center of the Arts, and in 2002 underwent a major renovation that included improvements in lighting, sound, and overall facility. This theatre is host to many productions throughout the year, as well as functioning as a hands-on classroom.

Barnett Theatre features a large proscenium stage with full flyspace, four on stage electrics, two side stage electrics, one catwalk electric and full array of lighting fixtures including Studio Spot automatic moving lights and scrolling fixtures. It also boasts a large light booth, with an Obsession II light board, several light storage areas, as well as a large, modern sound booth equipped with Sony Sound Forge and Audacity sound building programs, a Crest Audio X Eight sound board, an instant replay machine, and a myriad of various microphones, and other sound equipment.

Hicklin Studio Theatre

The black box theatre is located in the Greenhill Center of the Arts where students will experience the versatility of this space because it can be converted into an arena, corner or thrust seating arrangement. This theatre is home to the Summeround Series, an occasional mainstage production as well as scenes and one acts from our directing classes. In addition to a performance space, this theater serves as a dance studio, classroom and rehearsal space. The technical aspects of this 50' x 50' theatre include full pipe grid overhead, an Obsession 600 Light Board, a 150 dimmer per circuit lighting system, and a full lighting fixture inventory with conventional lights as well as moving lights and scrollers.  The sound system features SFX software for playback with a 18 x 4 x 2 mixer with a complete system of amps and speakers, which can be completely customized for any staging. The sound system also includes the standard CD, minidisk and cassette players. Hicklin Studio Theatre is named after Dr. Fannie Hicklin who was a part of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater for 24 years as a teacher, director and administrator. She directed over 50 theatre productions where her love for theatre continues to be celebrated year after year in this black box theatre.

Costume Shop

Located in room 40 in the Greenhill Center of the Arts (under Barnett Theatre), the Costume Shop holds an extensive collection of costumes old and new. Costumes for all of the Theatre/Dance production are built onsite by UW-W students as part of their degree requirements. The collection also consists of the many costumes made in the shop and clothing donated by local community members who support the program. Degrees in the Theatre/ Dance department require a well balanced approach and emphasize learning more than one tool of the trade so that actors, designers, lighting technicians, stage managers, and others are knowledgeable in the many areas of theatre.

The costume shop has a variety of equipment including: Bernina and Pfaff sewing machines, Bernina sergers and steam generators, a spray booth and 60 gallon dye vat for craft projects, along with a stove and two washers and dryers. Costume shop hours are Monday through Friday 1pm to 5pm during the school year. Summer hours may vary. The costume shop also rents to area high schools and theatres from the large variety of items. Prices are reasonable, and by appointment only. For more information, contact Tracey Lyons at (262) 472-1605.

Design Room

The Theatre/Dance Department has classroom/lab that functions as a design room.  It is the primary teaching space for design/tech classes as well as a computer lab for design/tech students.  The room features classroom space, computer lab space and a lighting lab.  The classroom space has 16 drafting tables, a computer enhanced teaching station with a projection unit.  The computer lab area has five computer work stations networked to a printer and a 24" plotter.  All of the computers in the room are loaded with Microsoft Office, AutoCAD 2009, Vectorworks 2009, Autodesk VIZ 2008, Lightwright 4, Virtual Light Lab, Sound Forge, Poser and Painter.  The lighting lab is outfitted with 12 channel lighting system and has its own inventory of lights and gels for the lighting students to create live mockups of their lighting designs.  The Design Room evolves as technologies change, allowing our students hands on access to current technologies.

Scene Shop

The students of the Theatre/Dance Department construct all of the sets on site in a fully equipped wood shop with some metal work capabilities. Degrees in the Theatre/ Dance department require a well balanced approach and emphasize learning more than one tool of the trade so that actors, designers, lighting technicians, stage managers, and others are knowledgeable in the many areas of theatre. The scene shop connects to Barnett Theatre and Hicklin Studio Theatre via large loading doors and also includes a paint storage room and tool room. As an extension of the scene shop – the tech area has set storage below the stage of the Barnett Theatre with an extensive selection of furniture and properties. The scene shop hours are Monday through Friday 1pm to 5pm during the school year and typically 9am to 5pm in the summer during the months of May, June and July.