During her senior year of high school Grecia Ortiz spent most, if not all, of her free time in one place: the Camille Lightner Playhouse in Brownsville.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI was just always there either for rehearsal, or helping out,\u201d Ortiz said. \u201cI was never home\u2026 my mom would call and ask, \u2018Are you at Camille?\u2019 and I\u2019d say, \u2018Where else would I be?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
The small community theater became more than an escape for Ortiz, who was attending an early college high school that offered no extracurricular activities. At Camille, she began exploring acting and continued to develop her voice. She was cast in her first acting role in the musical adaptation of \u201cCarrie.\u201d<\/p>\n
It is no surprise that Ortiz, 19, would jump at the chance to become part of the first class of the University of Texas at San Antonio\u2019s Dramatic Arts Program. <\/p>\n
She started her junior year in college by leaving nursing, all in hopes of, \u201cmajoring in something that I\u2019m going to actually enjoy doing for the rest of my life,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
UTSA launched the new four-year degree program last fall with about 22 students, said Director Paul Ardoin. This spring, the number of students majoring in theater nearly doubled to 39 and he expects enrollment to continue to increase as the word gets out.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The new program \u2014 which includes courses such as\u00a0 acting for stage, screen, and emerging media, playwriting, stagecraft, and more \u2014 was born out of the faculty\u2019s desire to offer a pathway for local students who were interested in exploring dramatic arts, but had to leave San Antonio to do so, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/UTSAUniversityOfTexasSanAntonio_TheaterDramaticArts_ActingTheaterProduction_FilmMediaDirecting_08_02.jpeg\")
UT San Antonio film and media studies junior Tyler Perez performs a short scene with acting teacher Victor Trevino during an evening class on directing actors for the stage and screen on Feb. 9, 2026. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n
\u201cStudents who have just a thriving and amazing high school theater scene in town,\u201d Ardoin said. \u201cAnd then students who finish [high school] have the choice to go to some of the great programs at Alamo Colleges, but if they want a four-year degree at a public institution they have to make their way up to Texas State.\u201d<\/p>\n
Texas State University in San Marco<\/a>s, which is about an hour north of the city, has one of the top 25 schools of theater, dance and film in the nation, he noted. UT Austin also has pathways through its College of Fine Arts<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cIt did sort of end in a dead end for students who wanted to stay in town and pursue a four-year degree at a public institution,\u201d Ardoin said. \u201cSo it\u2019s been underserved for a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n Beyond the stage<\/p>\n Conversations about creating the four-year degree program started nearly two years ago, Ardoin said. Professors from departments such as music, film and business sought to create a path that could lead students to work in every area of dramatic arts, on stage and behind the scenes.\u00a0<\/p>\n They volunteered to teach courses and Ardoin, who had worked in the film department for at least a decade, became the program\u2019s director. <\/p>\n \u201cAll students take courses in playwriting, all students take courses in performing, all of them take courses in tech, in history, and theater or theory,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd this creates a sort of general set of skills that introduces them to all aspects in the field.\u201d<\/p>\n The plan is to also connect students with internships and apprenticeships to gain experience and exposure to professional routes. Some of these include companies that retrofit theaters, design and build sets and costumes, work on lighting, audio, video and more.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe have a lot of plans for things that we\u2019ll be doing around events and hospitality, as industries, that have so much in common with theatrical performance,\u201d Ardoin said. \u201cWe have courses that are on the horizon for the business side of dramatic arts, like nonprofit management.\u201d<\/p>\n Approval at the UT System level came only months before the start of the semester, meaning most students seeking those majors had long applied and gotten accepted to other schools. But Ardoin said his team had advertised the upcoming program among local high schools and colleges.\u00a0<\/p>\n So far the students who have enrolled have a lot in common with Ortiz. Some had already enrolled at UTSA but changed majors once they found out about the new program. Others transferred from nearby colleges specifically looking for this route.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt was really scary because I was going to college to be a lawyer,\u201d said Elizabeth Cabrera, a sophomore who entered UTSA through a coordinated admissions program at UT-Austin seeking a law degree, but now is changing her major.<\/p>\n \u201cI spent two weeks at Yale University studying law and advocacy. I did everything for law, but I also did theater my junior year and senior year of high school and I really loved it,\u201d she added. <\/p>\n Cabrera, 18, said she naturally gravitated toward acting. Even after choosing to go to law school, she questioned if that was the right path for her. Today she wants to make dramatic arts her major and explore the arts beyond acting.<\/p>\n \u201cTaking these classes really opened up my eyes,\u201d Cabrera said. \u201cI\u2019m like, \u2018Wow, there\u2019s so much more in this industry that I\u2019m actually interested in and that I can actually be good at.\u201d<\/p>\n A distinctive aspect of the UTSA program is that students don\u2019t have to audition to be accepted.\u00a0Ardoin said this was done on purpose, following what they do in other programs in order to foster access. <\/p>\n \u201cWe sort of worked this out as a core value when we started the film program,\u201d he said. \u201cCollege is a place where you go to train in these things\u2026 We don\u2019t need you to be a pro before you arrive.\u201d<\/p>\n The art of taking risks<\/p>\n Before transferring to UTSA, Ortiz didn\u2019t feel confident enough to apply to arts programs citing only her middle school glee club or community theater experience. <\/p>\n She had somewhat reluctantly declared nursing as her major in high school, before she even graduated with an associate degree. She had taken her family\u2019s advice to pursue a \u201cstable career,\u201d something profitable that she didn\u2019t have to worry about in the future.<\/p>\n Ortiz then transferred to UT Rio Grande Valley, where she unknowingly earned a lot of credits that didn\u2019t end up transferring to UTSA. It was at UTSA where she began exploring switching her major and a curious search for \u201cUTSA theater\u201d led her to this new degree plan.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cMy advisor was like, \u2018I\u2019m going to be honest, I would just recommend for you to switch your major,\u201d Ortiz said. \u201cAnd I was like, \u2018Funny, you should say that. I actually heard that you guys are starting in your dramatic arts program.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Breaking the news of the drastic career changes to her family wasn\u2019t easy. So she waited until her fall semester was about to start to break the news to her mother and sisters.<\/p>\n \u201cMy mom was like, \u2018If you\u2019re going to do something, you just have to be the best at it. Quiero que seas la m\u00e1s perron,\u2019\u201d Ortiz said. \u201cAnd I was like \u2018OK, I got you.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n During a recent class titled Directing Actors for Stage and Screen, Ortiz was one of about 20 students holding on to every word uttered by their newly arrived professor Victor \u201cVic\u201d Trevino<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Hollywood actor was the first faculty member hired for the program last fall. He has about 30 years experience and acting credits in movies such as \u201cAmerican Me\u201d and \u201cMachete,\u201d as well as TV shows like \u201cPee-Wee\u2019s Playhouse\u201d and \u201cThe X-Files.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Trevino taught theater to young children and teenagers in LA, so when the opportunity arose in San Antonio, he was intrigued. Born in East Los Angeles and raised in San Antonio, he returned last December to visit the new program and attended a student-led screening, before taking the job.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI was just blown away by what they\u2019re doing,\u201d Trevino said. \u201cThe dramatic arts degree at UTSA recognizes that storytelling today now lives across stage, screen, digital media, streaming, emerging platforms.\u201d<\/p>\n That evening, he had the students pair up to come up with a scene about overreacting, just one scene with not much context having to be developed. The students lit up with excitement, some developed a scene around arguing, others around fear and sadness.\u00a0<\/p>\n Once every team presented their scene to their classmates, Trevino helped them record it on their phones, teaching them how to adjust what they had just performed for a smaller screen, for different camera angles and points of views.<\/p>\n \u201cBe aware that this is your shot,\u201d he said, showing a student the space she has to move in to stay within frame for a single point of view scene.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhat really touched me was just how open they are to ideas, how open they are to direction, how open they are to taking risks, how open they are as artists, and to see that mindset come into the rehearsal hall, and they\u2019re just trying new things,\u201d Trevino said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Building from passion<\/p>\n Since the fall, these students have been pouring a lot of energy not only into their classes, but into nightly rehearsals for their \u201cLittle Shop of Horrors\u201d show, volunteering to promote the program and maybe even gain supporters and donors<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Trevino is also assisting in the play, which is directed by Bradley Freeman Jr., assistant professor of practice, who teaches children\u2019s media at UTSA in the film and media studies program. Freeman brings a peculiar expertise to the program as the renown puppeteer has worked in children shows like \u201cSesame Street\u201d and \u201cThe Muppets Show.\u201d <\/p>\n Other contributing professors from related UTSA departments offering courses, workshops and advice include Yale University-trained stage manager Debra Justice, Buena Vista Theater manager and live production instructor Jerod Jerry, medieval drama scholar and associate professor of acting Kimberly Fonzo, and assistant professor of English and film Maia Adamina.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/UTSAUniversityOfTexasSanAntonio_TheaterDramaticArts_ActingTheaterProduction_FilmMediaDirecting_18_02.jpeg\")
UT San Antonio film and media studies senior Brennen Ledlow uses a Nintendo DS to record footage of classmates acting out a scene for his vlog, a personal project he has been pursuing this year. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/UTSAUniversityOfTexasSanAntonio_TheaterDramaticArts_ActingTheaterProduction_FilmMediaDirecting_12_02.jpeg\")
UT San Antonio film and media studies seniors Hernan Martinez and Jahsou Ili Blaine review a short scene script with dramatic arts instructor and film and stage actor Victor Trevino, middle, before performing in front of classmates during a class on Feb. 9, 2026. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/UTSAUniversityOfTexasSanAntonio_TheaterDramaticArts_ActingTheaterProduction_FilmMediaDirecting_20_02.jpeg\")
Stage and film actor Victor Trevino talks with his students about the differences in acting and performing for a camera compared to acting on stage during an evening course at UT San Antonio on Feb. 9, 2026. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/UTSAUniversityOfTexasSanAntonio_TheaterDramaticArts_ActingTheaterProduction_FilmMediaDirecting_15_02.jpeg\")
UT San Antonio film and media studies students and dramatic arts majors Jason Torres, Conor Cummings and Ireland Robinson review and rehearse a short script before acting out their scene in front of classmates during an evening class on acting for the stage and camera on Feb. 9, 2026. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n