Theater-by-the-Grove and Dance Theater are produced by the Department of Theater and Dance and present several productions each year. This includes at least three plays, two dance performances, and co-production with Music Theater of a major musical.

Ovations!, Indiana's premier touring performing arts series, also offers additional theater, dance, and music events.

Theater-by-the-Grove, Dance Theater, and Music Theater are funded, in part, by the IUP Student Cooperative Association.

View the Events Calendar for Lively Arts.

Lively Arts logo

The Lively Arts is the umbrella for all performing and visual arts events presented by the College of Fine Arts.

Find an event to attend on our calendar:

I and You

September 24–26, 30 and October 1–3, 2015, at 8:00 p.m.; September 27 at 2:00 p.m.; Waller Hall Mainstage, IUP Performing Arts Center

A class project brings together two awkward and isolated teens to find the poetry and mystery of life that connects them to each other in I and You, a play written by Lauren Gunderson.

I and You

Gabriel's Dream

October 23–24 at 7:00 p.m., October 25 at 2:00 p.m.; Zink Hall, Dance Theater

The image-provoking lyrics of Peter Gabriel's music unfold a world in which the audience shares in a man's journey in the story of Gabriel's Dream.

Gabriel's Dream

She Kills Monsters

November 5–7 and 11–14, 2015, at 8:00 p.m.; November 8, 2015, at 2:00 p.m.; Waller Hall Mainstage, IUP Performing Arts Center

Agnes, an uptight college grad, returns home when her family is killed in a car crash. She regrets never being closer with her younger sister Tilly, an adventurous but nerdy girl. But when Agnes makes a discovery, it's like she's opened her sister's diary.

She Kills Monsters

The Hairy Ape

February 18–20 and 24–27, 2016, at 8:00 p.m.; February 21, 2016, at 2:00 p.m.; Waller Hall Mainstage, IUP Performing Arts Center

The Hairy Ape is an expressionist play by Eugene O'Neill about a brutish, unthinking laborer known as Yank as he searches for a sense of belonging in a world controlled by the rich. At first, Yank feels secure as he stokes the engines of an ocean liner. However, the tables turn, and Yank undergoes a crisis of identity.

The Hairy Ape

Carmina Burana

Saturday, April 9, 2016, at 7:00 p.m.; Fisher Auditorium, IUP Performing Arts Center

IUP Dance Theater combines forces with the vocal arts, piano, and percussion areas of the IUP Department of music, bringing to life a visual and exciting new interpretation of Carl Orff's monumental work.

Carmina Burana

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

April 14–16 and 20–23, 2016, at 8:00 p.m.; April 17, 2016, at 2:00 p.m.; Waller Hall Mainstage, IUP Performing Arts Center

This Tony Award-winning musical comedy introduces us to six awkward, quirky, and thoroughly endearing students on the quest of a lifetime—becoming champion of the annual spelling bee. This production is not recommended for younger children.

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee