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Department of Theatre College of Arts and Sciences

Talent-Based Scholarships

The Department of Theatre awards talent-based scholarships on an annual basis. Scholarship amounts vary, but a typical annual award ranges from $1, 000 to $3, 000 and may be awarded/renewed for a total of four years. 

Students holding scholarships must remain active in department activities and must remain current in the completion of their core requirements.

Touring Performance Scholarships

The Department awards several scholarships for performing in one of our touring companies. Students must be sophomore status or higher and participate in annual auditions to be considered for one of these $1000.00 scholarships. Four company managers are awarded $1500.00 scholarships.

Stage Management Scholarships

The Department awards five $1000.00 scholarships annually for stage managing one of five Theatre UAB productions. Students must participate in annual portfolio presentation to be considered for a Stage Management Scholarship.

Auditions and Interviews

Audition & Portfolio Dates

Students are required to upload audition videos or a digital portfolio. Please use the following guidelines:

Audition Videos

Please upload two contrasting 60 second monologues, one comedic and one serious. Each piece should be filmed/uploaded as a separate piece of media. No continuous videos. There should not be a separate "slate" video. Instead, slates are to appear at the beginning of each piece. The proper slate for a monologue is to share your name, the title of the play and the playwright. For more information, please see the BA with a concentration in performance page.

Portfolio

Powerpoint, Word, or PDF document with images that should include up to a dozen good quality photographs and samples of your work. Brief descriptions of each photo should be included. Please include the following:

For Designers and Technicians:

  • Design work: renderings, sketches, models, production photos, etc.
  • Technical work: ground plans, examples of set construction, scene painting, costume construction, craftwork, etc.
  • Samples of drawings, paintings, sculptures or other non-theatre related artwork.

For Stage Managers:

Sample pages from a Production Book for a show you have stage managed. An entire production book in PDF format for a show you have stage managed is preferred.

  • Pages with blocking notation.
  • Pages from a call script showing cues.
  • Schedules you have created.
  • Blank audition forms you have created.
  • Other documents that capture the scope and quality of your work.

How to Apply for a Talent-Based Scholarship

  • Prospective Students

    All prospective students interested in talent based scholarships must complete the scholarship application on BSMART, UAB’s scholarship application platform. To access BSMART you must be admitted to UAB and have a BlazerID. 

    Prospective students interested in the Musical Theatre BFA, must also apply through Get Acceptd to be considered for talent based scholarships.

    All applicants must register for an audition or portfolio presentation on campus or at an approved alternate site. Contact the department for a list of approved alternate sites.

    Prospective students interested in scholarship/stipend opportunities in the Department of Theatre must complete the supplemental scholarship application and register for an audition/porfolio presentation.

  • Current Students

    No application is required for current students who wish to audition/interview for a talent based scholarship. An audition/interview schedule is posted two weeks prior to current student auditions/interviews and students will select a time on that schedule. Current students are eligible to audition/interview for Department of Theatre talent based scholarships if they are a full-time student, maintain a 2.5 overall GPA, and a 3.0 GPA in their major. GPA scores will be audited at the end of each semester. A scholarship recipient with a GPA below those thresholds will be placed on probation for one semester. A scholarship recipient with a GPA below those thresholds for two consecutive semesters will be declared ineligible for Department of Theatre talent based scholarships until they have raised their GPA scores above the minimum level.