Conservatory of Theatre Arts

The Theatre and Performance Program is happy to announce The Philip McCormick Waller Directing Scholarship and The Philip Launch Award, two new awards specifically for Theatre and Performance students in the Directing Concentration.

The Philip McCormick Waller Directing Scholarship

The Directoring Scholarship will be awarded to a high achieving junior in the Directing Concentration and  will be applied to their tuition, and room and board bill in their senior year. The award also supports and encourages the recipient to direct their senior project, direct a student group production, assistant direct a mainstage production, or other opportunities that nurture their education as a young director.

The Philip Launch Award

The Launch Award is intended to lay a pathway for a high achieving senior iin the Directing Concentration to take their first steps as a professional theatre director in their post-graduation work as a director and/or assistant director. It provides a one-time cash award to a student by the time of graduation. The award recipient is expected to use the funds towards mounting a new theatre production either in New York City in tandem with The Tank, or at a space in the student’s hometown, or new home post-graduation.

The Tank in NYC is a space/company where Philip worked in the years before his death, and the leadership of The Tank is providing an opportunity for a NYC based recipient of the award. Funds can be used for production expenses that might include artist fees, rights to scripted material, production build expenses, or creative team and production staff.

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Generous Inspiration

The Philips Awards emerge from a generous gift from retired Literature and THP Professor and former Purchase College Provost Gary Waller, and his wife, retired Literature and Pedagogy Professor Kathleen McCormick. Their son Philip was a theatre director, notably with his Mercury Glass company in NYC, who passed away suddenly at a young age in March 2024.

His family has sponsored a fund and these awards in Philip’s name to support emerging directors from our Theatre and Performance program. With his parents, Philip spent many years living on campus from the age of five through the end of high school and beyond and also working first as a student and later as an instructor in the Purchase Summer Youth Theatre Program. For many years, he regularly attended productions at the PAC and eventually worked there. These experiences helped spark his interest in theatre as a career.

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Philip McCormick Waller

Tribute Book for Philip McCormick Waller

View Tribute Book

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Application and Requirements

Applications for both awards will be available for THP Directing Concentration students by February each year. Requirements for application and consideration, as well as due date to apply, will be communicated with the publishing of the applications.

Typically, requirements that you:

1) are a declared and registered Directing Concentration student at Purchase College.
2) have completed courses that meet the directing concentration requirements. For the Scholarship Award, you must be enrolled in or have completed at least two courses that meet the Directing Concentration requirements; for the Launch Award, you must have completed or be on track to complete the Directing Concentration requirements by the end of your final semester.
3) have a GPA minimum of 3.0.

We encourage high-performing students to apply. While we know that grades are only one measure of a student’s skill, they are still valuable in measuring commitment to learning the craft and assessing how each student demonstrates responsibility for their work.

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