the Aldridge at night. Administratively, the reestablished college has created a home where Art, Music, and Theatre Arts can share resources, cross-pollinate, and speak with one voice to university leadership about space, staffing, and investment. It is arts education as institution-building. “Howard’s Department of Theatre Arts cultivates students to achieve four key outcomes: scholarly inquiry, business acumen, creative proficiency, and access to the professional marketplace,” said Salter. “Our students and faculty advance the field through rigorous research and innovative praxis.” “Faculty contributions — from Dr. Khalid Long’s groundbreaking work positioning him among premier August Wilson scholars, to Dr. Ofosuwa Abiola’s explorations of Afrikinesis as a framework for evaluating and researching African Diasporic dance, to professor Dominique Douglas Hendricks’ research chronicling case studies in change management within arts and culture institutions, to Ifanike Batts’ research bridging the cultural practices of Ifá and Isese into musical theatre movement, to Dr. James Ballard, III’s research in entertainment psychology, including IRB-approved studies on team chemistry and cohesion, to visiting professor Margo Fenley’s pioneering work in Intimacy Direction, to visiting director Professor Nicole Brewer’s work in anti-racist theatre, and to my own investigations into the craft, art, and spiritual practice of dramatic narrative performance — reflect a department-wide commitment to scholarship that is both rooted in heritage and oriented toward the horizon.”
creators who understand that theatre is more than the act of liquidating attention for marketing clients’ needs — it is a practice of cultural stewardship, civic responsibility, and the sustained evolution of Black life and storytelling.” SHAPE CULTURE AND SHAPE THE AFRICAN DIASPORIC EXPERIENCE FOR GENERATIONS TO COME. WE WILL FURTHER CEMENT OUR INSTITUTIONAL POSITION AS THE HUB, HAVEN, AND PREEMINENT TRAINING GROUND FOR DRAMATIC ARTS CREATIVES READY TO
The Curtain Call, and the Next Cue
who already understand the Howard reputation. “Howard’s alumni are living proof of the Department of Theatre Arts’ enduring impact. From Chadwick A. Boseman to Roxie Roker (BFA ’52), Ossie Davis, Richard Wesley (BFA ’67), Wendy Raquel Robinson (BFA ’89), Franchell “Frenchie” Davis (BFA ’14), Kamilah Forbes (BFA ’ 00 ), Susan Kelechi Watson (BFA ’99), Kathy Perkins (BFA ’76) and countless other luminaries — including many faculty alumni — generations of artists have not only carried Howard’s training into the world but have returned as mentors, collaborators, and catalysts for opportunity,” Salter said. “They create a feedback loop that sets standards and opens doors for current students, showing that at Howard, education is never just a credential — it is a commitment to craft, community, and the continued advancement of the Black dramatic narrative.”
The simplest way to understand Howard’s intersection with theatre arts is to sit in Ira Aldridge during a student-run tech rehearsal. Watch as a senior stage manager calmly calls the show, an underclassman learns the choreography on short notice, a lighting board operator paints the scene in cues, and a pair of actors each takes a note, resets their breath, and finds the moment again. In that room, history and horizon literally stand on the same stage: Baldwin and Beyoncé, Gregory and Gurira, heritage and hustle. The cues keep coming. There will be another national tour to plan, another child-facing matinee to book, another alumni mixer back on campus, another internship cohort to place at Arena Stage, another broadcast collaboration to cut for WHUT, another showcase at the Apollo Theater in New York City. And, inevitably, another student who takes the “Long Walk” across the Yard will be prepared for a life in the arts because this place taught them to make meaning, as well as make scenes. “In the next decade, Howard’s Department of Theatre Arts will be the definers of the new standard, thinkers of new scholarship, evolvers of the new Black aesthetic, builders of the new audiences, incorporators of emerging technologies, preservers of our traditions and sacred ways, and innovators of new pathways,” Salter concluded. “In short, on behalf of the African diaspora — and humanity at large — we will continue to cultivate stewards of the dramatic narratives that unite, define, and evolve the African diasporic experience, one story at a time.” “We will further cement our institutional position as the hub, haven, and preeminent training ground for dramatic arts creatives ready to shape culture and shape the African diasporic experience for generations to come.”
THE HOWARD PLAYERS, VINTAGE HOWARD UNIVERSITY PHOTOGRAPH
commitment to cultivating leadership, innovation, and equity nationwide. Our growing initiatives with emerging leaders in arts advocacy, including Arts Workers United and applied theatre with the university of Regina’s Centre for Socially Engaged Theatre in Saskatchewan, further extend Howard’s impact into global and community- engaged artistic practice.”
The Alumni Signal
Why Howard Theatre Still Matters
If legacy needs proof, look to the alumni roll. Chadwick Boseman’s career, culminating in “Black Panther” and a posthumous canon, has come to symbolize Howard’s blend of training and purpose; his name now crowns the college that shaped him. Phylicia Rashad (BFA ’70) and Debbie Allen (BFA ’71), sisters whose careers traverse Broadway, television, dance, and educational leadership, also carry Howard’s imprint. Taraji P. Henson (BFA ’95) has been candid about how faculty support built her runway to a career spanning “Hidden Figures,” “Empire,” and beyond. Even renowned author Toni Morrison cites her time as a Howard dramatist as some of her most formative. The signal is generational: Howard artists lead and circulate influence, returning often as mentors, donors, and collaborators. That circle continues in visible ways. In 2022, Anthony Anderson (BFA ’22) completed his “Long Walk,” earning the BFA he began decades earlier, joining a cohort that sees education not as a credential but as a commitment to craft and community. For the department, the annual BFA showcases in D.C. and New York formalize that passage from student to professional, placing young performers in front of agents, casting directors, and producers
Artistic training is always a bet on the future. The Department of Theatre Arts trains its students to sustain careers in a volatile industry by preparing them for many roles and equipping them with durable competencies: interpretive skill, historical literacy, physical and vocal technique, collaborative discipline, critical inquiry, and administrative savvy. It’s a model designed for longevity, because Howard knows the story it’s telling is bigger than any one class or cohort. But the deeper answer to “why Howard theatre?” is communal. The department’s mission explicitly centers the growth and development of the African diasporic experience on stage and in scholarship. That emphasis generates artists who see their work not just as employment but as a cultural responsibility and a civic practice, whether they’re helming a nonprofit, touring a musical, writing a new play, or teaching the next class of Bison to hit their mark and tell the truth. “At Howard, we train artists to be active participants in the creation of dramatic narrative, shaping work that grows and reflects the African diasporic experience in ways that honor both individual vision and collective autonomy,” Salter said. “Our purpose is to cultivate
Heritage and Horizon
What distinguishes Howard’s Department of Theatre Arts is a simple, radical premise: Black life is not niche material, it is a generative center for technique, theory, and innovation. From the Players’ early productions to HUCT’s child-facing tours; from the Aldridge Theater’s modernist curve to the growth of dance as a major; from a season bill that can frame “A Doll’s House” alongside a Baldwin premiere to a curriculum that turns undergraduates into technicians, dramaturgs, producers, and performers — Howard’s theatre program builds artists who can both honor the canon and alter it. Today’s department is also deliberately flexible. Students rehearse Shakespeare in the morning and devise new work in the afternoon; they intern at Arena Stage, produce for WHUT, and run lights at
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Howard Magazine
Fall 2025
Fall 2025
Howard Magazine
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