Assistant Professor
Publicity Supervisor, TBTG
Acting
Directing
Musical Theater
Audition Techniques
Office: Waller Hall, Room 206B
E-mail: rgretta@iup.edu
Phone: 724-357-4037
Rob Gretta is an assistant professor in performance (acting/directing/musical theater) in IUP’s Department of Theater and Dance. Originally from Phillipsburg, N.J., he is an alumnus of IUP and graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in Theater. He also holds an M.F.A. in directing from Florida State University, where he actively served as a member of the B.F.A. Performance faculty. While teaching at F.S.U., he served as the associate casting director for the Southern Shakespeare Festival, as well as the interim artistic director of Tallahassee Little Theatre.
In 1993, Rob founded his own theater company, Found Space Theatre, where he also served as the artistic director until 2006, when he left Chicago. FST is an artistic ensemble dedicated to the use of non-theatrical spaces to enhance the context of a play and its effect on the audience. The company produces innovative interpretations of established works and encourages the development of new ones.
Rob has been a professional actor since 1986, working off-Broadway in New York City, regional theaters throughout the country, theme parks, and national tours. Some of his favorite roles include Herr Schultz (Cabaret), Mushnik (Little Shop of Horrors), Magaldi (Evita), Nicely, Nicely (Guys and Dolls), Billis (South Pacific), Larry Mitchell (A Point of Order), Clive/Cathy (Cloud 9), Giles Corey (The Crucible), Mercutio (Romeo and Juliet), Don Armado (Love’s Labor’s Lost), and Dottore Lombardi (The Servant of Two Masters). In 2008, Rob performed in three musicals (Oklahoma, South Pacific, and Guys and Dolls) in repertory at the Post Playhouse in Nebraska. This summer, Rob has been invited back to both direct and act in the 2009 season at Post Playhouse.
Regionally, Rob has directed such productions as Closer, How I Learned to Drive, Sure Thing, Book of Days, The Woman in Black, Always ... Patsy Cline, Othello, Jesus Christ Superstar, and Singin’ the Rain, as well as noted chamber operas il matrimonio segreto and Amahl and the Night Visitors. At IUP, in a joint production with the Department of Music, he directed Guys and Dolls and The 3Penny Opera. Both productions received the Kennedy Center/American College Theater Festival Certificate of Merit for direction and ensemble work. This past spring, Rob directed Anything Goes in the newly remodeled Fisher Auditorium.
Rob is a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association and the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers.
