The Performing Arts at Rochester

The University of Rochester community is built on the concepts of inclusion and freedom. Freedom in your studies, but also in your extra-curriculars. How are you going to round yourself out? We are more than just students. While our academics are important to the college application process, it’s our extra-curriculars that made us unique.

Upon arriving at college, I wondered how I was going to define myself. Then I was introduced to the a cappella community. Here at Rochester we have five incredible a cappella groups: Trebellious, the Midnight Ramblers, the YellowJackets, After Hours, and Vocal Point. That is a lot of groups for one university and the caliber of these groups is incredible. Almost all of these groups have participated in the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella competition and received recognition for their achievements. These groups have recorded, put on full stage productions with lights and sound, and performed gigs on and off campus.

But Rochester is more than a hodge-podge of a cappella groups. We also have theatre troupes, dance groups, and other music groups. Todd Union puts on professional-level dramas. The Opposite of People (TOOP) is a student-run theatre group that puts on several productions each semester and the acting, tech, and directing are all done by students. In Between the Lines is a student-run group that performs and hosts improv workshops every weekend.

We have musical theatre groups like Roc Players that put on a musical every semester and Off-Broadway On Campus (OBOC) that performs musical revues every semester. We have a group called No Jackets Required that puts on two shows of pop music every semester that have a special musical theme. For example, this semester’s theme was the 90s. In the past, they have done a Grammy Tribute Show and a Beatles Show.

Drama House is the focal point of all performing arts on campus. It’s considered special interest housing, but it is also a house on the fraternity quad. Drama House has a large main room that is used for performances by TOOP, a rehearsal space for a cappella groups and NJR, as well as for many other events on campus. Anybody can live in Drama House if they get through the application process.

The performing arts community has become my family throughout this first semester and I feel like I would be incomplete if I were not involved in a cappella and theatre. The performing arts are alive and well at the University of Rochester and anyone even remotely interested can find their place among this community.