Johnny Carson School of Theatre & Film at the University of Nebraska

Hello, and welcome to the Johnny Carson School of Theatre & Film application portal!  The Carson School offers students several areas of study:

• BFA in Acting Degree
  
• BFA in Design/Technical Production Degree
  
• BA in Theatre Degree
  
• BFA in Emerging Media Arts Degree

We are using Acceptd for the Acting, Design/Technical Production, and BA-Theatre degree applications.  There is no fee for this application.  We will also be attending many state thespian festivals across the USA, so please check our Carson School website for festival locations and for information about our other programs, applications, and deadlines.  The Carson School is located in picturesque downtown Lincoln, Nebraska, on the University of Nebraska city campus.

The BFA in Acting offers comprehensive actor training to prepare students for the professional world of theatre and film. We offer courses in acting, voice, diction and dialects, movement, Shakespeare, period styles, acting for the camera, motion capture, audition techniques, advanced movement (armed and unarmed stage combat), voice-over for TV and radio, stage makeup, directing, theatre history, scripts in performance, stagecraft, design, stage management, and more.

In the summer of 2017, we took 17 acting students to Study Abroad in London, England!  We were in residence at Shakespeare's Globe.  Students participated in Complicite and Frantic Assembly workshops and performed on The Globe and Sam Wannamaker Playhouse stages.  They also experienced world-class theatre and museums in London, and took day trips to Stratford Upon Avon and The Royal Shakespeare Company.  18 students studied abroad in the summer of 2019, and 13 students were in London in the summer of 2022.

The BFA in Design/Technical Production is for those desiring concentrated training and education in scenic, lighting, and costume design, and technical theatre.  The training the student receives in this program allows him or her to seek an entry-level position in professional theatre, television, or film industries; or pursue further education at a graduate school or internship program.  It's the goal of the faculty to give the student the classroom instruction, practical experience, and individual attention needed to form clear goals pertaining to a career in technical theatre.

The BA in Theatre provides students with a well-rounded liberal education as well as three emphases from which to choose, each designed to provide depth in a particular area of theatrical studies: 1) Theatre Arts, 2) Theatre Creation, and 3) Theatre Leadership/Management.

The Carson School received a generous donation to build the Johnny Carson Center for Emerging Media Arts and to offer a BFA degree in Emerging Media Arts.  We admitted our first class of students in the fall of 2019.  Students learn to create media across a continuum from filmmaking to game design, virtual reality, experience design, special effects, sensory media, sonic art and data.  Please see our webpage for application information and deadlines.

For guideline and requirement questions please contact Todd at tcuddy1@unl.edu or 402-472-2453.

For technical questions, please check out the Applicant Support Help Desk for frequently asked questions.