Boston Conservatory Theater Department collection, 1952-2013

The Theater Department is one of the three main divisions of the Boston Conservatory. It developed out of basic acting classes for the music students of the conservatory, but soon expanded to offer theater training to a limited number of accepted students. The program was created and conceived by Harlan Grant, who was brought on by Albert Alphin after he became president in the early 1930s. The program during these early years was largely directed toward plays, with some light musical theater, and courses taught acting, directing, scenic design, and other theater management principles. The program developed in the 1950s and 60s to involve more musical theater productions. By the end of Grant’s tenure as chair and into subsequent department leadership, the program directed the majority of instruction and mainstage performances towards musical theater, teaming up with the vocal teachers of the music department to provide dedicated voice instruction in the style of musical theater. For much of the 1990s and early 2000s, the department was led by Neil Donohoe, who maintained the focus on musical theater, which has produced many graduates that have had successful careers on Broadway and other stages internationally. In 2015, the department added a major in Contemporary Theater, which focuses instruction on acting, directing, writing, and producing experimental and multidisciplinary theater works.