Mr. William M. Wilson

Bill Wilson, Professor of Theatre, is currently in his 29th year at Rhode Island College in Providence, Rhode Island, where he serves as Chair of the Department of Theatre and Dance and the Director of Musical Theatre.  He previously served as Chair from 2004-07 and Director of Theatre from 2018-2025.  Bill is also the Co-Chair of Open Books/Open Minds, Rhode Island College’s campus read program.  For 13 years, he served as the Director of the Performing and Fine Arts Commission, managing a $400,000 annual budget allocated between 19 arts organizations.  Bill also served as the Co- Chair for Musical Theatre for the American College Theatre Festival Region I from 2012-2018. At Rhode Island College, Bill has taught Musical Theatre Singing, Musical Theatre Performance, Musical Theatre History, Musical Theatre Dance, Tap Dance, Directing and Movement for the Actor. Previously, he served as Associate Director of Theatre at Minnesota State University at Moorhead, where he also was an Assistant Professor, and the head of the Dance program.  From 1993-1997, he was the Associate Director of the Straw Hat Players Summer Stock Company, producing 20 plays and musicals during four summer seasons.  Bill has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Musical Theatre Performance from Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan, where he was a Waldo-Sangren scholar, and a Master of Fine Arts degree in Directing from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, where he received a Hilberry Fellowship.  He also has a level three certificate in the Margolis Acting Method.

Bill has directed and choreographed over 100 productions including INTO THE WOODS, CRY BABY, THE PROM, BAT BOY, HEAD OVER HEELS, CRAZY FOR YOU, HAIR, THE DROWSY CHAPERONE, 1776, FAME, THE MUSIC MAN, TOMMY, QUILTERS, COMPANY, CABARET, DAMES AT SEA, EVITA, THE BOY FRIEND, SOMETHING’S AFOOT, RED HOT AND COLE, ANYTHING GOES and CHICAGO, as well as the world premiere of the opera AIR.  He has directed plays such as:  THE LARAMIE PROJECT, EXECUTION OF JUSTICE, A DOLL HOUSE, PLAY IT AGAIN SAM, ROMEO AND JULIET, MACBETH, MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING, THE CRUCIBLE, THE SERVANT OF TWO MASTERS and TAMER OF HORSES.  As a choreographer and movement specialist, Bill has studied Tap, Jazz and Ballet since his childhood, and, in the last fifteen years, Pilates, Yoga, and Alexander Technique.  In 2003, Bill became a certified Pilates instructor through the PhysicalMind Institute and in 2007 earned a second Pilates certification with Power Pilates.  He was an instructor at the Providence Pilates Center in Providence, Rhode Island for 13 years, where he taught Intermediate and Advanced Pilates Mat Classes plus private sessions on all Pilates apparatus.

As a period movement specialist, Bill has studied with Peggy Dixon, Darren Royston Phillipa Waite, and Carlos Blanco at the Nonsuch Early Dance Institute in London, England and in Carmona and Valderrobres, Spain, Richard Powers at Stanford University, Elizabeth Aldrich and Charles Garth at the Goucher Early Dance Institute, John Broome of the Stratford Festival, and with his mentor, Nira Pullin of Wayne State University.  He has served as Movement Coach for CYRANO DE BERGERAC,  TARTUFFE, THE SERVANT OF TWO MASTERS, and THE IMAGINARY INVALID among other plays.

Also a specialist in tap dance, Bill trained in Pittsburgh with Gene Kelly’s Sister Louise and her husband Bill Bailey.  Bill has also studied with Diane Walker, Brenda Buffalino, Germaine Salsburg, Robert Gatzke, Julia Boynton, and Josh Hilberman.  Bill has taught tap at Rhode Island College, Providence College, Western Michigan University, and Minnesota State University.  He contributed to the 2010 book EXPLORING DANCE FORMS AND STYLES and appears in the accompanying DVD.

Internationally, Bill has taught at The Guildhall School of Drama, and at the Early Dance Circle in London, England, at the Universidad Pablo de Olavide in Carmona, Spain and at the University of Windsor, Ontario.  Nationally, he has taught at the University of Missouri at Kansas City, Western Michigan University, Wayne State University, Southern Illinois University, North Dakota State University, Wheaton College, Providence College, and at the Culver Military Academy.  He was a Guest Artist at the Dean College Summer Musical Theatre Intensive.  Bill has taught master classes at the National Dance Educators Organization National Conference in Minneapolis, Phoenix, and in Chicago, the National High School Dance Festival in Miami, the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education and Dance National Conference in Philadelphia and Newport, the National Association of Teachers of Singing, the New England Theatre Conference, the American College Dance Festival and at the American College Theatre Festival, for which he is also a respondent.  Bill was the Director/Choreographer for the 2015 National Day of Dance in Phoenix, Arizona in conjunction with the National Dance Educators Organization.  Bill was the Evelyn Danzig Haas Guest Artist in Musical Theatre for Wheaton College.  Bill’s original work A-MIRROR-CA, co-authored with Angelica Vessella was honored for “Outstanding Writing, Ensemble, and Execution” by the American College Theatre Festival in 2012, his production of GODSPELL was performed at the American College Theatre Festival in 2016, and his work from PIPPIN was performed at the the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC as part of the National American College Theatre Festival in 2011.  Along with Angelica Vessella and James Kane, Bill helped devise the original dance piece “All I Didn’t Say” in which he performed at the Fresh Fruit Festival in New York City in July 2014.  The piece was awarded “Outstanding Dance” in 2015 by the All Out Arts Organization.  He is the 2025 nominee for Outstanding Academic Advisor and the recipient of the 2015 Rhode Island College Alumni Faculty Award. Bill is a Certified Gardener through Colorado State University and a guide for Boston By Foot.