Eisner Center

for the Performing Arts

Sharon Martin Hall is the crown jewel of the Eisner Center. Named for Denison Trustee Sharon Smith Martin, a member of the Denison Class of 1965 and an ardent supporter of the arts, the 360-seat proscenium theater has been built with the ability to accommodate a wide variety of performances. Featuring multiple stage and seating configurations, a fully automated fly system, state-of-the-art lighting, audio, and video capabilities, and adjustable acoustics, Sharon Martin Hall is a flexible and adaptable performance venue that allows for intimate audience experiences, engaging creative work, and unique learning opportunities.

Each year, Sharon Martin Hall is home to a diverse array of events by students, faculty, and guest artists. From classic orchestral performances to the TUTTI Festival of new works, to jazz, wind, and choral performances, Sharon Martin Hall features a wide range of music concerts. The theatre, music theatre, and dance programs all partner with the Eisner Center and regularly produce plays, musicals, and dance concerts in Sharon Martin Hall, providing students with educational opportunities to hone their craft in both performance and production techniques.

Built in 1972 and renovated in 2019, Burke Recital Hall features a soaring space designed for acoustic performance. With 220 seats, regular performances include the Denison chamber singers, string ensembles, piano concerts, and over 15 student recitals by music majors and minors each year. With two Steinway grand pianos, Burke Recital Hall is a favorite of musicians and audiences alike. In addition to performance opportunities, Burke Recital Hall is a favorite for studio classes, masterclasses with guest artists, and the creative work of student composers.

The Thorsen Dance Studio is named for Denison Trustee Jamie Thorsen, a member of the Denison Class of 1977. Thorsen Studio is an extremely versatile studio space, serving both as the main teaching space for the Department of Dance and as a flexible performance venue. Featuring a Harlequin sprung-floor system with a Marley top layer, along with radiant floor heating, dancer safety and comfort are prioritized. With a grid of lighting, audio, projection equipment, and configurable seating risers, choreographers have the ability to craft work in multiple orientations for performances. And in a classroom setting, students and faculty can explore movement work under natural light from story windows on three sides. Each year, performances include a fall choreography festival, guest showings, senior dance research performances, and concerts by the Denison Dance Company.

Formerly known as the Black Box Theatre, the 3600-square-foot Hylbert Family Studio Theatre is an intimate performance space with flexible seating configurations. With the capability to showcase productions of varying scales, the Hylbert Family Studio Theatre regularly features department of theatre productions, student-produced work, an occasional concert, and even musical theater performances. Fully supported by dressing rooms and updated lighting and audio systems, the Hylbert Family Studio Theatre provides the ability to play, rehearse, explore, and perform.

The Martha “Gay” Reese Lobby serves audiences attending any of the performance venues in the Eisner Center. Centrally located for easy access, students often gather here to study, socialize and catch up before rehearsal, and to plan their next big project.

A teaching museum, the Denison Museum engages in and supports learning and inquiry in the liberal arts. The museum’s collection, which is accessible for student and faculty research, holds more than 9,000 artifacts from cultures across the globe. Housed in the Eisner Center, the Denison Museum engages in and supports learning and inquiry in the liberal arts through its collection and exhibitions. The museum serves all divisions of the college by integrating object-based learning into the curriculum. World-class exhibitions create a space for interdisciplinary engagement and dialogue, helping infuse the arts across the campus community.

Serving as the main classroom for the Department of Theatre, the large rehearsal space is built for movement and experimentation. With a two-story glass wall, allowing a ‘peek into the art-making,’ the Large Rehearsal Room is the primary rehearsal space for theatre and music theatre productions. The footprint is the same size as the Sharon Martin Hall stage, which allows scenery to be taped-out and blocking rehearsals to happen in full scale before a production moves into the performance space. Equipped with rehearsal furniture and lighting and audio equipment, the large rehearsal room is also a performance venue for student works, theatre-making projects, as well as senior research performances.

The medium rehearsal space is a versatile space, equipped for traditional teaching, small music ensemble rehearsals, and theater lab work. With a Steinway piano and clerestory windows providing natural lighting, the medium rehearsal space is a favorite with small ensembles, pianists, and solo performance work.

Rehearsal is key for any musician, and the Eisner Center features many sound-isolated spaces to ensure quality student practice time. With nine individual music practice rooms, each equipped with a piano, three percussion practice rooms, and four chamber room spaces with grand pianos, students have ample opportunity to rehearse either solo or as an ensemble.

Sharing the soaring ceiling space with the Burke Recital Hall, the Burke Rehearsal Room is home to many of the Denison Music Ensembles. Rehearsals here for Wind Ensemble, Orchestra, the American Roots Ensemble, and Jazz Programs fill the Eisner Center with music on a regular basis, as do classes ranging from the “History of Gospel Music” to “Country” to “Modern Music Theatre.”

With 18 fully equipped studio workstations featuring industry-leading software, the Eisner Center Computer Lab serves as a dynamic hub for interdisciplinary digital creation. This flexible, high-impact space supports a wide spectrum of artistic and technical work, from electronic music composition and audio production to recording, mixing, and mastering for dance and other performing arts. Students also use the lab to design lighting plots, develop scenic mock-ups, and prototype multimedia projects, making it a vibrant space for collaboration across artistic disciplines.

Complementing the lab, the Eisner Recording Studio is outfitted with contemporary professional-grade recording technology within a thoughtfully designed acoustic environment. Together, these spaces offer students hands-on experience in the full creative process, from initial concept to polished production, preparing them to work confidently and creatively in today’s professional music and media landscapes.

Serving as a library, as well as a meeting and study space, the Theatre and Dance Library features an extensive collection of scripts, research materials, and production archives.

The Music and Choral libraries, in addition to the Music Department Office, have been named in honor of Professor Emeritus William N. Osborne through a gift by the Denison Singers in honor of their longtime director.

The Green Room is named for Denison’s Burpee’s Seedy Theatrical Company, the nation’s oldest college comedy improv group. Serving as both the ‘star’ dressing room for visiting artists and a gathering spot for students when performing in Sharon Martin Hall, the Green Room has live audio and video feeds from the live performance. When not in use for production, the Green Room can also be used as a seminar room, meeting space, and study space.

With over 30 make-up stations and multiple curtain configurations, the dressing rooms are the center of performer preparation.

Realizing costume design for theatre, music theatre, and dance productions, the costume shop employs over 20 students each semester. Whether taking a costume construction class or as an employee, students learn to pattern, drape, alter, and sew costumes for the productions across Eisner. Equipped with full laundry and dyeing capabilities and ten modern machines, the Costume Shop is professionally run and often creates over 200 costumes a year. Also on-site is a fully-archived costume stock, featuring the historic costume collection, and with costume pieces representing a wide range of time periods.

The Eisner Center Scene Shop realizes the scenic designs for productions in Sharon Martin Hall and the Hylbert Family Studio Theatre. Employing 10-15 students each semester, the shop focuses on safe, modern production techniques as part of the creative process. Students learn scenic construction skills, prop creation, and scenic painting and learn from industry professionals.