WashU Performing Arts

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WashU Performing Arts

We are a dynamic department dedicated to teaching and learning about dance and theater through various forms of inquiry.

The WashU Performing Arts Department (PAD) provides rigorous instruction in theater, dance, and performance, enriching our students creatively and intellectually. We combine faculty actors, directors, designers, dancers, playwrights, and choreographers continuously engaged in professional theater and dance productions with faculty doing internationally recognized research in the study of theater,

dance, and performance. Students who become involved with the PAD find a generous, challenging, and responsive home base at Washington University.

08/18/2026

Join us for the 2026 Morrin Lecture: A Conversation with Branden Jacobs-Jenkins!

📅 Friday, September 18, 2026
🕙 3:00 p.m. (reception to follow)
📍 Emerson Auditorium & Frick Forum, Knight Hall

Branden Jacobs-Jenkins is the acclaimed playwright and theatre artist behind 'Purpose', 'Appropriate', The 'Comeuppance', 'Everybody', 'Gloria', 'An Octoroon', and more. His honors include a two Tony awards, a Pulitzer Prize, the MacArthur fellowship, the Windham-Campbell Prize for Drama, the inaugural Tennessee Williams Award, and more!

Learn more & RSVP here: https://pad.washu.edu/form/rsvp-2026-morrin-lecture

Branden’s visit is in conjunction with the Tennessee Williams Festival of St. Louis and its production of ‘Appropriate’ and is co-sponsored by the WashU Departments of African & African American Studies, American Culture Studies, Art History & Archeology, English, History, and the Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity & Equity (CRE2).

08/13/2026

WashU students - we can't wait to have you back on campus soon! Make sure to mark your calendars for auditions (starting at the end of this month) 📅

Drama:
August 27 & 28 (callbacks August 29 & 30), 7:00-10:00 p.m.
Casting for the A.E. Hotchner Playwriting Festival, 'Mean Girls', 'Top Girls', 'Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead', and 'Proof '

Dance:
Washington University Dance Theatre - August 31, 7:00-10:00 p.m.
WashU Dance Collective - September 2, 7:00-9:00 p.m.

Get more auditions details and sign up for an audition slot on the PAD auditions website (sites.wustl.edu/padauditions)! ALL WashU students are welcome to participate in our shows regardless of major or minor.

Plus - don't miss our Dance and Drama placement classes next Wednesday! Get more details on the PAD website: pad.washu.edu/events

08/11/2026

We can't wait to meet you, !

Join the PAD during the August 18th WashU Arts & Sciences Open Houses to connect with dance, drama, and design faculty, learn about academic requirements and course offerings, explore the dance and drama honor societies, hear about our upcoming events, sign up for auditions, and more!

Plus - that afternoon you don't want to miss the three PAD faculty members speaking during Session 1 of the WashU Arts & Sciences Faculty Spotlight Talks!

More details on the PAD website: https://pad.washu.edu/events

08/05/2026

🎙️Milestone Episode #30 of the features an insightful and inspiring episode with actor, writer, and facilitator Jeff Pagliano!

Believing in “imagination as a portal for change,” Jeff specializes in interactive and immersive theater applied across multiple disciplines. He has designed learning experiences on leadership development and workplace culture and delivered team building workshops for corporate clients around the world. A proud member of Actor’s Equity, Jeff has also appeared as an actor in Regional and New York theater productions. He started his career in the film industry working on the feature films “Contact” and “Deep Impact” and in the office of director Robert Zemeckis. Jeff was involved in many PAD productions when he was a student including "Romeo & Juliet" and "The Servant of Two Masters". He was also a founding member of the WashU comedy troupe Mama’s Pot Roast and directed the musical "Chess" for All Student Theater (AST). Don’t miss this interesting interview that will make you believe that storytelling can truly change people and the world!

Listen now: https://pad.washu.edu/news/pad-podcast-episode-30-jeff-pagliano

07/08/2026

🎙️Episode 29 of the is out now! This episode features Keith Sherman, founder of Keith Sherman and Associates (KSA) – a global communications firm for a diverse range of entertainment, arts, lifestyles, and international brands. KSA has represented hundreds of Broadway, Off Broadway and touring productions, films, television broadcasts, Olympic sports, music projects and major events globally. The company represented The New York Times for a decade, the Tony Awards for 18 years, the Drama Desk Awards for 12 years, and the Chita Rivera Awards for nine years. From figure skating to film and from music to musicals, Keith and his team have represented nearly 400 events over the last 36 years and counting! Rob and Keith talk about his humble beginnings at working for the Student Life newspaper and his involvement with the PAD that allowed him to blend his business and marketing background with a life in the arts. It would be bad PR to miss this episode, so give it a listen: https://pad.washu.edu/news/pad-podcast-episode-29-keith-sherman

06/03/2026

🎙️It's a new for your summer listening pleasure – inspiring AND loaded with sage advice! Episode 28 really should be assigned listening for all students, and it features television producer, screenwriter, and author Nick Santora!

Nick is an executive producer, showrunner, screenwriter, and author who has written for and/or produced 'The Sopranos', 'The Guardian', 'Law & Order' (dun-dun), 'Prison Break', 'Lie to Me', and 'Scorpion'. He has created and executive produced 'Beauty and the Geek', 'Breakout Kings', 'Reacher', and the soon-to-be-released this summer spin-off of Reacher called 'Neagley'. Rob and Nick talk about his circuitous journey studying multiple subjects at , his graduate training and professional career as a lawyer, and how he spent a week of vacation writing his first screenplay that won Best Screenplay of the Competition in the New York City Independent International Film Festival. It was at this moment that his career as a writer and creator began!

Listen now: https://pad.washu.edu/news/pad-podcast-episode-28-nick-santora

05/22/2026

Episode 27 of the PAD podcast features Tracy Wise, Author and Freelance Writer! After an international childhood lived throughout Asia because of her father’s aid work, Tracy has spent her career in theatre, opera, and then higher education administration. She currently writes university presidential speeches, campus communications, and news stories in California’s Inland Empire. She has a BA in Theatre and Spanish from (which includes a year at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, UK) and an MA in Cultural Studies (a historiography degree) from the University of East London in the UK. Tracy talks to Rob about the many skills she learned as an official “Metzian” in the Performing Arts Department. Tracy learned local lessons that she leveraged into an international career. Don’t miss this one!

Listen here: https://pad.washu.edu/news/pad-podcast-episode-27-tracy-wise

05/11/2026

Don't forget — our 2026 Handprint Ceremony is this Wednesday (May 13th) from 10am to noon in the PAD Hallway!

Anyone who participated in a PAD dance or drama production during their time at WashU is invited to leave their mark on the PAD 🎨

05/07/2026

Congratulations to our 2026 PAD student and faculty award recipients! 🌟🏆

04/30/2026

🎙Episode 26 of the features the very funny and engaging Joanna McNurlen! From studying Drama and Business at to building a dynamic career with roles at Deloitte, Spotify, and now her current role managing a team of Technical Architects at Salesforce, and teaching Change Innovation and Management at NYU, Joanna shares how her path was shaped by growth, risk-taking, and learning through failure. Rob and Joanna talk about the PAD classes that most shaped and (her word) broke her in a way that led her to a better understanding of the value of emerging from a struggle and understanding her true talents applied to business.

Do not miss this funny, thought-provoking, and inspiring episode featuring the one and only Joanna McNurlen! ✨

Listen now at the link in our bio 🔗

Address

St. Louis, MO

Telephone

+13149355858

Website

https://pad.wustl.edu/

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