Faculty Feature: Juan Rivera Lebron, Chair, Department of Theatre Tuesday, July 8, 2025
Juan Rivera Lebron is a native of Puerto Rico and has worked on film and television, off-Broadway and extensively in theaters throughout the United States. Rivera Lebron joined Point Park University's School of Theatre, Film and Animation as chair of the theatre department in July.
Who or what inspired your passion for a career in theatre?
Great teachers and colleagues. I had a terrific high school theatre teacher who encouraged me early on, and I was fortunate to work with some professional actors as a young actor who helped guide me in discerning a career path.
Tell us about your career path.
After attending Carnegie Mellon University for my B.F.A. in musical theatre, I moved to New York to begin my acting career. After several years working there, I auditioned for and was admitted into the resident acting company at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, where I spent seven years as a company member. I had a wonderful experience there, which really set the course of my interests and career for some time. It was there that I discovered a deep passion for Shakespeare, an appreciation of poetry and the "classics."
OSF is also where I started teaching workshops and classes and eventually developing curriculum. From there, I continued to work in various companies and found my way to the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, where I met my wife, Christine. We moved to Pittsburgh when a teaching position opened up at Carnegie Mellon and I joined the faculty there.
I've been aware of Point Park as an excellent training program and I've worked with several talented Point Park alumni over the years. I am thrilled to join the faculty of this terrific theatre program.
As the new chair, what is your vision for the Department of Theatre?
First, I hope to continue to support the great work that is already being done by many of the faculty. I also want to foster a collaborative atmosphere that is centered on the student experience. The Conservatory of Performing Arts experience should continue to be welcoming, supportive, collaborative and creative. We will build a strong sense of community founded on a rigorous curriculum that prepares students through practical, hands-on work that will reflect the challenges they will face in the industry.
We also have an amazing opportunity to realign the program with current industry standards and to do some deep thinking about what the future might hold for our students as they head into a world that is changing rapidly through emergent technology.
Our goal should always be to equip students with adaptable tools that will give them the most successful path forward in ways that celebrate their individuality and make them industry leaders.
What course are you teaching in our theatre program?
I am teaching Acting in the second and third years, which includes scene study, advanced scene study and Shakespeare/heightened text. It is an exciting step to dive into the process of scene work since it is the ‘basic unit’ of dramatic writing — everything is a “scene," even if it is only four lines long!
Once you have a process in place from the first year, we use scene work to explore different choices within the world of the play. Then exploring Shakespeare — I am so excited about that! It is a passion of mine and has been a big part of my professional work, so introducing the ways heightened text and poetry can make the actor’s process soar to new heights in an exploration of language and character is absolutely thrilling.
What advice do you have for students auditioning for our theatre program?
Be yourself — we want your uniqueness, your personality, identity, culture and experience. Don't try to be a version of someone you think we want to see. Your artistic work will always move through who you are, so be bold, be passionate, be distinct, be you.
What are three things or places students should take advantage of in Downtown Pittsburgh?
Oh, good one. I am still learning downtown myself, so I welcome everyone's recommendations! We have amazing theaters within walking distance of our campus, so I say go and see as many shows as you can at the Benedum, Byham, Heinz Hall and the August Wilson Center (which is amazing). There are so many wonderful theater companies in town that do really exciting work, like City Theater, Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera, Pittsburgh Public Theater, Barebones Productions, Bricolage Prodution Company and Quantum Theatre — not to mention our very own Pittsburgh Playhouse!
I have already gone past my limit of three, so I say go and grab a pastry at La Gourmandine, go to the Andy Warhol Museum and go see a Pirate's game. It is all right there.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
"We are the music makers and we are the dreamers of dreams ... Yet we are the movers and shakers of the world forever, it seems," from Ode by Arthur O'Shaughnessy (not from Willy Wonka!), is a little piece of one of my favorite poems — that, I think, is who we are at the Conservatory of Performing Arts. Come and join us!