Musical Theatre schools

[BroadwayDreams2]

Posted: 7/18/04 at 12:44pm

I'm at that point in my life where I have to start applying to colleges. I really want to go to the American Musical and Dramatic Academy. That's going to be very hard to get into so I was wondering if you knew of any schools that have a good musical theatre program. I'd prefer if it were in NY or at least on the east coast but if theres a really good one out west, let me know.

[Jamie Hat]

Posted: 7/18/04 at 12:50pm

University of Arizona has one of the best on the west coast, and I think either UCSD or San Diego State have a great one as well (I forset which). The other LA schools are mostly film based.
Otherwise Carnegie Mellon, Northwestern, Yale, and the NY usual have great programs.

I would highly recommend (if possible obviously) trying to attending a class wherever you are thinking about.

[broadwaystar2b]

Posted: 7/18/04 at 1:24pm

Boston Conservatory, Cincinnati Conservatory, AMDA & NYU Cap 21 are the usual line up you see in the Playbills.

[JRBfan]

Posted: 7/18/04 at 1:54pm

I know a lot of people who go to Point Park for theatre, and love it! I'm pretty sure it's one of the top 10 in the country.

[shlamdiddly]

Posted: 7/18/04 at 4:36pm

nothwestern has a great theater program

[MusicPos2]

Posted: 7/18/04 at 4:48pm

If you want NYU, you want the School of Education, not CAP21, CAP21 is really bad for voice. You really want to be sure that wherever you go, the voice teachers have classical background. Vocal health is extremely important. Also, I would stay away from AMDA for the same reason. The best thing you can do is take a lesson and observe some classes in lots of different schools to see what the best would be for you.

[Paul LW]

Posted: 7/18/04 at 4:52pm

CCM, CMU, BoCo, U of M.

Don't pick a school because it is simply in New York. Pick one that is right for you.
Too many people from my boarding school went to New York, because it IS New York, not if it was the best program for them.

NYU is risky as an undergrad in Musical Theatre.

[shesings]

Posted: 7/18/04 at 4:52pm

I went to AMDA and its not very hard to get into. Much easier than programs like NYU, Northwestern, Carnegie Mellon, etc. Unfortunatly they have let a lot more people into the program b/c they need to expand the program. I seriously went with some amazingly talented people, but also some people who I swear were horrendous. So just go for it. A lot of people love AMDA, a lot hate it. You're going to get out of it what you put into it. Good luck!

Also - NYU Cap 21 is NOT bad for voice - they are acutally really good for it. Idina Menzel went there! Updated On: 7/18/04 at 04:52 PM

[DoReMi]

Posted: 7/18/04 at 5:12pm

When a school produces such talent as:

Kristen Chenoweth
Kelli O'Hara (Sweet Smell, Dracula)
Ron Raines (Chicago, Guiding Light)
Tamara Long (original Dames At Sea)
Stacey Logan (Crazy For You PBS, Beauty & the Beast, Sweet Smell)
Leona Mitchell (20 years Metropolital Opera)
Sarah Colburn (Joanna- recent Sweeney Todd - NY City Opera)
Julie Hanson (Christine -Broadway Phantom)
Dan Webb (Colline- Broadway La Bohem)
Ryan Ball (chorus The Frogs)
plus numerous 42nd Street cast members.....

you know you need to check out Oklahoma City University.

www.youatocu.com

[TTL]

Posted: 7/18/04 at 6:12pm

Yes POINT PARK in Pittsburgh is good! I'm there right now for a Summer Dance Intensive! Many Alumni have been in Nat'l Tours/B'way Shows.
POINT PARK UNIVERSITY Website

[Thoroughly Modern Cara]

Posted: 7/18/04 at 6:26pm

There are soooo many threads already on this topic! Try the search function first!!

https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.cfm?thread=194813#196892

https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.cfm?thread=206424#208225

https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.cfm?thread=168962#170344

[showstopper]

Posted: 7/18/04 at 6:34pm

Shesings is right. I went there and found the same to be true. There were some really amazing people and there were some people that couldn't possibly make a career out of musical theater. I left soon after I got there because it wasn't the school for me. There were too many people in my group that weren't very serious and I thought some of the teachers were horrible. I went back home and reapplied to colleges and will start again at another school. I know I made the right choice this time. PM me if you have any questions about schools.

[sean martin]

Posted: 7/18/04 at 6:56pm

Weirdly enough, North Carolina has some damn fine schools as well: both Guilford University and U-NC, located in Greensboro, produce some incredibly high-calibre talent.

[ShbrtAlley44]

Posted: 7/18/04 at 6:58pm

I worry sometimes about the whole CAP thing because I'm at Strasberg (through NYU) and don't know how well I'd be trained for musicals, which is what I want to do. CAP people are usually looked at preferentially, right?

[MusicPos2]

Posted: 7/18/04 at 8:27pm

Idina did not go to CAP, she was in one of the drama programs. CAP teachers are usually solely trained in musical theatre, which can be really dangerous. If you don't learn classical technique (read Idina's bio, she is a classically trained singer), you are very likely to injure your voices. As a student at NYU, I heard CAP21 performances, and one of my roomates went there: they had voices that might make it on Bway, but they wouldn't last anytime b/c they weren't using good technique. If you really want Tisch, do what others do and go only for acting and get your voice training some other way (if you want dancing go with CAP and just get another teacher). You can study with the School of Ed faculty for only like $75/semester, if you're a student at NYU and not in SoE.

[sean martin]

Posted: 7/18/04 at 8:34pm

Pick up this month's Opera News: extensive article on the economics of a singing career.

[Mattio98]

Posted: 7/18/04 at 8:34pm

I'm currently at CAP21 and I can tell you that all of the voice teachers there that I know of use classical Bel Canto technique.

[MusicPos2]

Posted: 7/18/04 at 8:40pm

I don't know you, but most of the people I've heard in that program are very tight when they sing, and the vibrato sounds very forced.

[Mattio98]

Posted: 7/18/04 at 8:44pm

I know that my teachers stress relaxation and the woes of vocal tension.

Posted: 7/18/04 at 9:40pm

the other thing about cap is that it is a bfa, and some people want a ba, which allows you to easily pursue a secondary career if you change your mind about theatre. What if you discover you actually want to do something else? Difficult when you've only taken a few basic GE's and all theatre. No CEO is gonna look at a degree from cap and say "great, welcome to the company." Check out the BA at Emerson college (as well as the BFA). It's in Boston and is Amamzing. If you get a BA, you sort of have a second major in anything you want (theatrical or not).

[MusicPos2]

Posted: 7/18/04 at 10:00pm

Music or theatre education is also a really good way to go, that way you're guaranteed another career. I wouldn't worry about how the BFA looks, if you have a performance degree, it's really worthless outside of the theatre community. I think one thing that you can take from the debates in this is that you have to really find what's best for you. Listen/watch the students with someone that knows what they're talking about: just because someone knows classical technique, doesn't mean they can teach that. Even at NYU SoE I learned that the hard way.

[PJ]

Posted: 7/18/04 at 10:00pm

Like someone else said, Menzel did NOT major in Musical Theatre at NYU. She was an acting major. In her bio it says she earned a BFA in Drama at NYU.

[bronxboundexpress]

Posted: 7/19/04 at 1:10am

I am at Tisch in Drama and I think MusicPos seems to be right from what I have heard and observed about CAP.

[skingdom]

Posted: 7/19/04 at 2:42am

I'm a student at NYU not in CAP21...I'm in a drama studio...not necessarily wanting to do only acting... I am sick of all this CAP knocking, only for the fact that people claim to understand what good technnique is...and it is usually only when someone has studied classical voice that people acknowledge good technqiue. Now there are definately healthy and unhealthy ways of singing and I'm not saying that there are not students and teachers who are not good....but that certainly does not at all apply to everyone at CAP. And belting will always take more of a toll on the voice...and not everyone in CAP is a belter. This is not to say CAP21 is the best musical theatre school. There are singers, there are actors and there are dancers. There are some that do equally well in both categoris for musical theatre. CAP trains everyone in everything. ( How extensively I am not sure. but studio is only three days a week.) It depends on what you put into it, how badly you want it.

NYU excepts more drama students than any other conservatory so obviously the turnout is going to be less. I believe, and this may only be from my studio, that self drive is more pertinent at NYU than say at CCM or Carnegie Mellon or somewhere else ( I am not sure of this.) Since there are so many students the teachers push less, and unfortunately for NYU there is no showcase unless you create one. SO there is a good sides and bad sides to CAP21...you will not ruin your voice in CAP21...and if you want more training...more classical training you can always go to Steinhardt for lessons...or look in Back Stage.

This does not mean I don't think CCM, BC, UCLA, Carnegie Mellon, MU are not great, because obviously they have successful students.

[skingdom]

Posted: 7/19/04 at 2:44am

CAP21 students earn DRAMA BFA's as well, not musical theatre BFA...So that does not really answer the Menzel question. Either way she has made it on her own, regardless of her training.