The department hosts multiple theatre productions each year, featuring the enormous talent from Vanderbilt students and faculty. To receive the latest news on productions and more, sign up for our theatre newsletter. Check back for our 2026-2027 season!
Auditions are open to all registered Vanderbilt students, regardless of academic program. Upcoming audition information will be posted here, as well as any specific audition requirements from the director. You may email the department to request a copy of the script in the days prior to auditions.
We also welcome student participation on any crews for scenery, lighting, costume, makeup, properties, sound, stage management, and house management. Contact us to see what opportunities are available.
Auditions take place on the main floor of Neely Auditorium. Dress so that you can move comfortably.
Content Warning: The content of our productions may be emotionally challenging and include challenging subject material. Please read the script description prior to consuming the content. Copies of each script can be checked out free of cost from the Theatre department (Neely 103). Please email Miranda Harmon to arrange a check-out.
Performances typically start at 7:30 pm, with some weekend matinees at 2 p.m. We typically use the VU Box Office for ticket purchasing. Tickets generally go on sale one month prior to the first performance. Once on the Box Office site, please search for the name of the production and you’ll see a list of the performances available and can select the one that suits you best.
All tickets, including those for students, faculty, staff, and general admission, can be purchased through this site. All student tickets are free but still require reservation through the VU Box Office. Faculty and staff tickets are $5, and general admission is $10.
The lobby opens one hour prior to performance time, and the theatre itself opens a half hour prior to performance time. Tickets cannot be purchased in person at Neely Auditorium. VUTheatre does not allow late seating for any reason.
Note: Neely Auditorium is wheelchair accessible. Please inform us of any special needs when you make your reservation.
Join us for a performance in Neely Auditorium, right in the heart of Vanderbilt’s campus.
Neely Auditorium faces Alumni Lawn and is diagonally across from the rear of Kirkland Hall. Parking for performances is available on West End Avenue and side streets. There is visitor parking in the lot at 21st Ave and West End and at 21st Ave and Terrace Place. Both are pay by phone or app.
Once inside, today’s students find a modern performance space that serves as a classroom during the day, a rehearsal space at night, and a performance venue when we open a show.
Architects gutted the hall in 1976 and designed an open, black box theatre. The flexibility of Neely Auditorium is its strength; as a large space with movable seating risers, Neely offers designers a range of options for stage arrangement. We can stage an Elizabethan comedy in the traditional three-sided thrust arrangement of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre or stage it arena style with spectators on all sides. We can surround the audience with spectacle or minimize scenery to the barest essentials, letting the actors define the space.
Each performance features a new arrangement, helping students explore the variables of theatrical space as they also learn to act, construct scenery, design lighting, manage rehearsals, and produce performances for a public audience.
Set construction takes place in the shop adjacent to the stage; dressing rooms and the costume shop are located on the second floor. Lighting technicians hang and focus instruments while standing on a military-strength wire mesh grid that hangs overhead. State-of-the-art computers and communication systems complement the strength and versatility of the space.
The department recently completed a redesign of Neely’s lobby to add new lighting and display cases, and to create a more comfortable environment for our students and audiences. As in the past, Neely Auditorium remains a dynamic gathering place for the Vanderbilt community.
Please note: Neely Auditorium is fully booked during the academic year for department productions. During the summer, we have a long-standing rental reservation with Nashville Shakespeare Festival and cannot accommodate additional bookings.