Facilities

The Department of Theatre and Media Arts has several facilities and resources available to support student instruction.

Theatres

The Harris Fine Arts Center houses three theatres used for student productions and instruction. To schedule one of the theatres listed below or a room in the HFAC, call the

HFAC Scheduling Office at 422-3002.

Pardoe Theatre

Largest of the three, the Pardoe Theatre is named for T. Earl and Kathryn Pardoe, a husband-wife team who contributed immeasurably to speech and dramatic arts at Brigham Young University. T. Earl Pardoe was chairman of the Speech Department at BYU from 1919 to 1928, and again from 1931 to 1952, when he retired. He and his wife Kathryn taught thousands of BYU drama students during their years here, and left a valuable and lasting legacy. The Pardoe Theatre is essentially a laboratory for the application of production theory, and provides the venue for the Pardoe Series of productions. Virtually any type of production is technically feasible on its large stage with a proscenium opening of 19 by 55 feet, and it seats 500 people.

Margetts Theatre

The Margetts Theatre was named for Philip N. Margetts, a leading figure in theatre in Utah during the late 1800s and early 1900s. Philip Margetts was a cast member in the first play produced in the Old Bowery in 1851and organized the first stock company in Utah. His success in organizing the Mechanics Dramatic Association so impressed President Brigham Young that he made immediate plans for the construction of the Salt Lake Theatre. Margetts performed leading roles in many plays, six nights a week for over fifty years. The Margetts Theatre is a black box theatre, designed to allow flexibility of audience seating and staging. It is home to the Margetts Series of productions each theatre season, and provides a venue for experimental and original scripts. Measuring 30 by 50 feet, the Margetts Theatre seats approximately 125 people.

Nelke Experimental Theatre

Miriam Nelke, for whom the Nelke Theatre was named, was one of the first teachers of dramatic arts at Brigham Young Academy. She taught classes in speech and dramatic art for eight years under Presidents Cluff and Brimhall. Her students so appreciated her tutelage that they later formed the Nelke Reading Club in her honor, a Provo organization that existed for decades. The Nelke Experimental Theatre is designed primarily as a laboratory for the practicum activities of the acting and directing students, and is home to the student-directed weekly Mask Club productions during the school year. It features an elevator stage, sharply raked auditorium seating, and seats 280.

Music Dance Theatre

(MDT) classes, show production rehearsal halls, and production offices for MDT are located at the south end of campus in the Knight Mangum Building (KMB). For scheduling in this building call 422-2563.

Media Arts Lab

The Media Arts Lab has several facilties: two editing facilities and two labs where TMA students can reserve and check out basic and advanced film, video, and sound recording equipment. To access Media Arts lab hours, student directory, or equipment reservations, please visit the Media Arts Database. You must be an enrolled Media Arts student to log-in to this site.

Please contact Tom Morrill with questions at 422-8955, or mr007@byu.edu.