Featured Class: History of Theatre

There are many fine arts credits that an Electronic Media student has to take to earn their BFA but none are more enjoyable than the History of Theater sequence Professor Robert Pavlovich is the instructor of the course. Professor Pavlovich is a veteran theater actor and has appeared in several motion pictures including a forthcoming movie with Nicolas Cage titled Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, coming to theaters December of this year.

Professor Pavlovich is passionate about theater but he graduated with a degree in broadcast journalism from Loyola University in New Orleans. He has been with CCM since 1999 as an adjunct professor teaching the History of Theater sequence and Acting For Camera.  

 “Teaching is fun.  I enjoy the interaction.  It's hard to get "personal" with a class of 45, but I try.  For a while I tried having big discussions, and I found that it invariably led to us covering less of the essentials.  I come from a long line of teachers as well.  There are at least 5 teachers in my family teaching in grammar, high school, college, medical school and in technical colleges, not including those who have retired from the profession,” says Pavlovich.

The class is mostly filled with theater design & production, musical theatre, and drama students but there is a prominent presence of E-Media students in each section.

Recent E-Media graduate Kim Schupp remembers the History of Theater class very well. “Professor Pavlovich seems to be very passionate about what he teaches which makes it more interesting and fun to learn about. He inspires students to follow their dreams even if they’re not in the performing arts,” says Kim.

With the class you learn everything about theater from its beginnings as a religious ceremony to the modern-day Broadway musical.

You start in fall quarter with the beginning of performing as a religious ceremony to the Greek and Roman tragedies that honored the God, Dionysus. You also learn about Chinese and Japanese opera.

During winter quarter you learn about the Golden Age of Theater in England, Spain, France and Italy. You learn about William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe and other famous playwrights of the day.

Finally you get to spring quarter and you start getting into modern day theater with learning about melodrama, showboats, and American theater.

Students are urged to take the class in sequence to get the timeline and history correct. Many types of dramatic performance of ancient cultures influenced most of the theater practices that are used today.

Kim Schupp also says that if you haven’t taken the class you should. “I’d advise everyone to take at least one of Professor Pavlovich’s classes. It opens your eyes to theater in a way I didn’t think possible. His reviews for his tests were so good, I bet if I took one right now, I’d still get an A.”

Written by Joe Witterstaetter, posted October 2009