Musical Theatre and Music Education

[ohjustjake]

Posted: 11/23/07 at 12:49pm

Okay. I'm going to try and make this make sense.

When I was a Junior in High School and applying to colleges, I wasn't sure if I wanted to go for Musical Theatre or Music Ed - I knew I had to choose one of them because I didn't want to have multiple auditions for different degrees. So I chose Music Education, and am now a voice student at the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam.

But sometimes I feel like I made a mistake - I still want to go to school for Musical Theatre (potsdam doesn't offer the degree), and I feel like I want to transfer sometime in the future. But is there a way that I could double major in Musical Theatre and Music Education? I always thought that I could just get my degree in Musical Theatre and go back for Music Ed when I wanted to, but maybe I should go the other way around. I'm not really sure.

So I guess what I'm asking is if there is anyone who has ever transfered into musical theatre before, or anyone who is a music ed major who may have anything to say about this? This is such a vague post but I'm just looking for any kind of input. Thanks everyone.

[RunningInTheDark]

Posted: 11/23/07 at 1:24pm

I would suggest two things to you:

Either see if your school has a good Vocal Performance degree, and just head in that direction. I don't know how old you are, but you'll have to start over as a freshmen if you go the MT route, and I doubt you want to spend 7 years in school. A VP degree can lead to success on Broadway if you are focused. Think Audra McDonald.

OR

Look into schools with a BM track (such as OCU or Baldwin-Wallace) because that way you'll be covering the same core music classes. BFA is more theatre/acting oriented, forcing you to stay in school an extra year. I will say, however, that MOST schools will say, "DOUBLE MAJOR? PROPOSTEROUS!" So, you'll have to REALLY look at the school and see what's possible and what's not.

and be prepared to stay in school for a long time.