Dr. Justin P. Cowan – Department Chair

Dr. Justin P. Cowan (Department Chair, Associate Professor) has many areas of expertise including Musicianship for Musical Theatre, Musical Theatre History, Musical Theatre Performance, Audition Techniques/Vocal Coaching for Musical Theatre, and Stage Directing.  He is also an accomplished Musical Director, holding a DMA in Conducting with a Cognate in Stage Direction from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, as well as undergraduate and masters degrees in Voice and Conducting, respectively.

As a Musical Director/Conductor, credits include: NY Regional: West Side Story, The Producers, Hairspray, Cabaret, Annie Get Your Gun. Other Regional: Sweeney Todd, Sunday in the Park with George (North Carolina Summer Rep).  Damn Yankees, Avenue Q, Gypsy, Guys and Dolls, Legally Blonde, How To Succeed… (Ocean State Theatre Company).  South Pacific, Man of La Mancha, Pump Boys and Dinettes, Dirty Blonde, A Christmas Carol (Triad Stage).  [Title of Show], The Fantasticks (Florida Repertory Theatre). The Drowsy Chaperone, Annie, The Great American Trailer Park Musical (Maples Repertory Theatre).  Always…Patsy Cline, Ethel Waters: His Eye is on the Sparrow (Florida Studio Theatre).  Little Shop Of Horrors, Something’s Afoot, A Grand Night For Singing (The Schoolhouse Theatre).  Into the Woods, The Secret Garden (Gallery Players). Caroline, or Change, Heathers, Hairspray, Into the Woods, Monty Python’s: Spamalot, Mr. Burns: A Post-Electric Play, A Year With Frog And Toad, Dani Girl, Cabaret (UNCG School of Theatre).  Church Basement Ladies, Are We There Yet?. The Winter Wonderettes (Prather Entertainment Group).  Little Women (The University of Alabama). Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Ain’t Misbehavin’, Das Barbecü, Songs For A New World, The 25th Annual…Spelling Bee (BIG ARTS Herb Strauss Theatre).

NYC concerts include: Dream a Little Dream with Hamilton’s Deon’te Goodman (54 Below) and An Evening with D’Archangelis and Horneff (Greenroom 42).

International Conducting: Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade (Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic Orchestra at Kroměříž Castle in Kroměříž, Czech Republic).

As a Producer/Director, Dr. Cowan previously served as the Artistic Director for the Herb Strauss Theatre on Sanibel Island, FL as well as the Founding Artistic Director of North Carolina Summer Rep, a professional theatre in partnership with the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Additional directing credits include: Allegro (Upcoming), Melancholy Play, a chamber musical, Hedda Freeman: a contemporary adaptation of Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler (WCSU), The Santaland Diaries (Paperlantern Theatre), A New Brain, Melancholy Play, a chamber musical, The Piano Lesson (University of NC-Greensboro).

More information about Dr. Cowan can be found at ConductorCowan.com and/or DirectorCowan.com.

Contact Information
Dr. Justin P. Cowan, Chair
Department of Theatre Arts
203-837-8476
cowanj@wcsu.edu

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