Falcon Futures: Stage and screen arts major gains professional experience

A college aged man sits in a chair in a theatre.

Falcon Futures: UW-River Falls stage and screen arts major gains professional experience through prestigious summer theater apprenticeship

Sept. 15, 2026 — Ryan Bartley of New Berlin, a University of Wisconsin-River Falls stage and screen arts major, needed to find an internship experience for the summer before his senior year. The prestigious apprenticeship he landed on the East Coast gave him a taste of life as a working actor and memories to last a lifetime.

Bartley spent five weeks as a member of the training company of Vassar College’s Powerhouse Theater in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. The theater is known for hosting workshops for Broadway-bound musicals in development, including major hits such as “Hamilton” and “Hadestown.”

For the initial application, Bartley sent in audition materials, including his performance resume and videos of himself singing and performing a short monologue. He cleared the first round and was asked to provide more information about any special skills and talents – his included playing saxophone, singing and doing character voices and accents. Then he was asked to dream a little and answer the question “What creative project would you pursue if you had no restrictions?” Bartley’s answer was that he would stage a revival of his favorite musical, “American Idiot,” which features the music of the band Green Day. He later learned that “American Idiot” was another of the Broadway musicals that was workshopped at the Powerhouse.

“I’m not saying it was fate or anything, but it was pretty crazy when I found that out,” he said.

A couple weeks later, Bartley learned that he had been accepted to the training program. As part of the program, he traveled to Poughkeepsie in mid-June and auditioned again in person to be placed into one of two companies and assigned roles in some of the shows for the season.

Company members ranged in age from 18 to 26. Though some had more acting experience than others, Bartley said they bonded over the humbling experience of auditioning for a part.

“Regardless of where you have been, everyone’s still nervous for an audition,” he said.

Bartley and the rest of the company were kept busy with rehearsals and classes from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Company members lived together in a house on campus and gathered in the common room during downtimes to swap stories and share experiences. Cast members came from all over the U.S., including the East Coast and California.

“I feel like it was some of the East Coast people’s first exposure to someone from the Midwest,” Bartley said. “There were some guys who came up to me and asked, ‘So it’s called Culver’s, right?’”

Bartley performed in two shows, followed by a festival featuring short works by student playwrights and directors. The first show was a 16th-century Spanish play called “Fuente Ovejuna.” One challenge for the actors was taking the audience through a dramatic emotional arc, from a lighter first act, which included funny moments and even some spontaneous freestyle rapping, to a very dark second act.

“The director told us, ‘The more they laugh in the beginning, the more they will cry at the end,’” Bartley said.

The second show, “Ashram,” was a recent work about the corrupt guru of an ashram—a Hindu monastery—in upstate New York. For this stage reading production, Bartley split the lead role with an actress from Ukraine. To keep the character’s continuity, Bartley used his skill with character voices to copy his costar’s accent.

“She came up to me afterwards and said, ‘Ryan, if you would ever like to, you can say you are part Ukrainian now,’” Bartley said.

In addition to rehearsing and performing, Bartley attended classes taught by theater professionals covering topics including acting, auditioning and script analysis. The long days and moving right from one show into another gave him a feel for what life as a working actor would be like.

“Getting to experience how busy that is, how to take care of yourself, I feel like I got some real experience for what could hopefully be my real career someday,” Bartley said.

Bartley has participated in theater for most of his life, recruited for his first role around age 5 by his mom, a school theater director, to play a part in “A Christmas Carol.” He performed in musicals in middle and high school and has appeared in many productions at UWRF, most recently the musical, “The Drowsy Chaperone.” He has also played saxophone in the Marching Falcons Marching Band, participated in the Honors Program, served as past president of the Masquers student theater organization and is the current vice president of the Focus on You Film Club. He has also honed his video production skills through his on-campus job as a videographer for Student Involvement.

This wide range of opportunities is what first attracted Bartley to UWRF and he believes it will give him options after graduation.

“I knew I wanted to do theater in college,” Bartley said. “I also wanted to do filmmaking and something music related. Stage and screen arts let me do it all. I’d love to act professionally one day, but the experience I got in video production and editing, that’s to put money on the table.”