Represent Your State! (aka Good Theatre Colleges, sorted by State)

[CapnHook]

Posted: 7/11/05 at 6:05pm

List the State you live in, and which schools you know of that have good theatre programs.

This can be a guide for high school students looking for colleges around their area.

Updated On: 7/12/05 at 06:05 PM

[CapnHook]

Posted: 7/11/05 at 6:09pm

NORTH CAROLINA:

(in no particular order)

University of North Carolina-Greensboro - http://www.uncg.edu
Greensboro College - http://www.gborocollege.edu
Catawba College (Salisbury) - http://www.catawba.edu
Western Carolina University (Cullowhee) - http://www.wcu.edu
Elon University - http://www.elon.edu
NC School of the Arts - http://www.ncarts.edu

UNCG is a larger school located in Greensboro, NC. They do one musical a year in addition to a lineup of straight plays. Theatre class sizes are large, don't expect to do shows until your an upperclassman. Students participate in first-rate production, but graduate with less acting experience than other schools.

Greensboro College is a small, private school located in Greensboro, NC. They do one musical a year in addition to a lineup of straight plays. Theatre class sizes are small, you will be acting in productions from your first semester to your last. This school manages the North Carolina Theatre Conference. Full-ride scholarship is offered to one theatre student every year.

Catawba College is a small, private school located in Salisbury, NC. They do one musical a year in addition to a lineup of straight plays. Theatre class sizes are small, you will be acting in productions from your first semester to your last. Their theatre where main stage productions are located shares the same stage platform with another theatre. This is sometimes distracting for classes, but is also a unique venue. Take a visit.

Western Carolina University is a larger school located in Cullowhee, NC. They do one musical a year in addition to a lineup of straight plays. Theatre class sizes are large, don't expect to do shows until your an upperclassman. They just opened a new performing arts facility this year. Take a visit!

Elon University is a larger school located in Elon, NC. They do one musical a year in addition to a lineup of straight plays. Theatre class sizes are large, don't expect to do shows until your an upperclassman. Students graduating from the school are known to be better singers, however being comparitively worse actors than graduates from other colleges. If singing is your emphasis, look here. If you're wanting to act, look elsewhere (but also check out Elon).

NC School of the Arts is a larger school located in Winston-Salem, NC. Number of musicals and straight plays vary from year to year. Theatre class sizes are large, very large, don't expect to do shows until your an upperclassman. This is an Arts school, so there is a lot of competition.

Updated On: 7/11/05 at 06:09 PM

[Unknown User]

Posted: 7/11/05 at 6:46pm

Oregon-

I would only say Southern Oregon University. They are in the heart of the shakespear festival in Ashland, OR. You can get internships with the festival i'm told they have a great program. look into it?
~~EM~~

[Aigoo]

Posted: 7/11/05 at 7:32pm

Illinois-

Northwestern University - Enter as a non-MT major for Freshman year. Audition for an MT major as you enter Sophomore year.

[KelRel]

Posted: 7/11/05 at 8:04pm

Kentucky
The University of Kentucky has an ok theatre department.
Centre college in Danville, KY has a really good theatre program, or so I'm told.

[Jess1483]

Posted: 7/11/05 at 9:23pm

Montana

The University of Montana's Theater Department is actually very good. They have a touring company that students get to take advantage of. One of my friends toured with "Steel Magnolias" this year. Not a strong musical theater program, but the community theater is very, very good in that respect.

[BwayTheatre11]

Posted: 7/11/05 at 11:29pm

Ohio:

CCM
Kent State
Wright State
Baldwin-Wallace

Updated On: 7/12/05 at 11:29 PM

[shlamdiddly]

Posted: 7/11/05 at 11:34pm

Maryland

College Park has a fairly new Arts building with like...5 or 6 theaters or something. Its really nice. I visited there over spring break...I don't actually go there.

[marincrazy11]

Posted: 7/12/05 at 12:11am

Michigan

UofM-well...yeah, I don't really have to say anything about it
Western Michigan University-great program, have a couple of friends there right now. 2 for MT and 1 for theatre performance
Oakland Univeristy(my school)-Small program, lots of attention, we just got a brand new musical theatre person, fun faculty, great voice teachers, and we are getting a new arts building in the very near future. I believe they break ground within the next year. Also we have Meadowbrook Theatre on our campus which provides great expousure and opportunities to our students.
And we have an integrated department. Music, Theatre, and Dance is all one department.

Updated On: 7/12/05 at 12:11 AM

[whatyouown223]

Posted: 7/12/05 at 1:05am

Delaware: University Of The Arts is nearby in Philly

[zzannahk]

Posted: 7/12/05 at 6:50am

Obviously there's going to be a lot of NEW YORK, but my college, SUNY New Paltz, is just 2 hours from the city,
My first semester, the cast from Aida came a performed, this included Cheyenne Jackson!!!! Because one of the stage managers (I think) was a New Paltz alumni!!

here's what the website says:

The Department of Theatre Arts is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Theatre.

New Paltz Graduates are active in just about every aspect of the broad field of theatre, from the stage to film to television. In New York City, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, and numerous cities across the United States, New Paltz graduates are actors, singers, designers, stage managers, production managers, casting directors, agents, technical directors, electricians, scriptwriters, directors, and teachers. The list is long, and many former New Paltz Students have become known in the business for their accomplishments. New Paltz students have also gone on for further theatre training in outstanding graduate programs such as Yale, NYU, Cal Arts, FSU, ISU Normal and others.

JOHN TURTURRO
Turturro has portrayed a wide range of characters in more than 40 theatre and film roles, among them Jesus Quintana in The Big Lebowski (directed by Joel and Ethan Coen) , Sid Lidz in Unstrung Heroes (directed by Diane Keaton) , Herbie Stempel in Quiz Show (directed by Robert Redford), Paulie Carbone in Jungle Fever (directed by Spike Lee), Moe Flatbush in Mo' Better Blues (directed by Spike Lee) and Bernie in Miller's Crossing (Joel and Ethan Coen).

KOCH
Ted Koch (Theatre, 1976) appeared in the Tony Award winning revival of Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman" on Broadway. Koch played the role of protagonist Willie Loman's son Happy. According to the New York Times, "Mr. Koch's Happy is just about perfect."

BADALUCCO
Michael Badalucco (Theatre, 1976) earned an Emmy for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for his portrayal of lawyer Jimmy Berluti on the Emmy award winning ABC-TV series "The Practice."

WILLIAMS
Michael Williams, a New Paltz student from 1991-1996, and the actor who played nervous soundman "Mike" in the summer box office hit, The Blair Witch Project, returned on September 12 to an old haunt, a crowded McKenna Theatre.

Updated On: 7/12/05 at 06:50 AM

[LilMiZBroADwaY23]

Posted: 7/12/05 at 2:02pm

I'm gonna add some for Michigan

MSU- Great program. I've gone there for camp for two years, it also has a wonderful Vocal Performance program. The teachers are great.

U of M- Also great, as you can see many actors and actresses have graduated from here. It's well known, and is also a great Vocal Performance Program.

Western Michigan College- I really don't think the campus is all that great (very small, so I didn't like it) but the MT program is very select.

Sorry for all the Vocal Performance propaganda, that's what I'm hoping to go into.

[dietcherryemma]

Posted: 7/12/05 at 3:18pm

Tennessee


- Well, we don't have any schools that are going to pop out as theatre schools, but the programs are good and usually small.

Belmont (has a good music buisness program)
MTSU (check out their tech theatre program)
UTK (good classical voice program, MFA, and there is an equity house on campus, which is a major plus.)

[rclocalz]

Posted: 7/13/05 at 11:24am

TENNESSEE

I will add more about MTSU because it is the best Theatre School in Tennessee.

Middle Tennessee State University - The Theatre Department is of average size with about 150 theatre majors and 20 faculty members. What is so great about the program is that they have chosen not to have a graduate program so that the undergraduates have all the opportunities. They do 5 mainstage productions a year with countless Studio Theatre Projects. Another HUGE plus is the internship and overseas opportunities. I recently finished a NYC internship with Fly Fig Theatre Company that MTSU sponsored. I also have had the chance to perform overseas in Finland, Russia, Latvia, and currently Honduras through the sponsorship of MTSU Theatre who paid for all of the costs! It's a great program that prepares you to be a professional actor straight out of college or to get into graduate school.

(The Website is currently being renovated so it hasn't been updated in a while)
Middle Tennessee State University - Theatre Department

[pndmnd]

Posted: 7/13/05 at 8:53pm

Adding some for Michigan (where I'm from) and Illinois (where I go to school).

Michigan:
Central Michigan: Not a bad program either. I'm not sure what it's like now, but there are some grads at my school who went there for undergrad. I know they were starting a Musical Theatre BFA a few years ago, so it should be established by now. Nice medium sized campus.

Illinois:
University of Illinois: Large program (with an MFA program, as well).
Millikin: BFA's in Musical Theatre and Acting, as well as a BA. Nice dance program.
Illinois State University: Another good program that has an MFA. Also home of Illinois Shakespeare. Nice campus in a town that's not too big and not too small and has easy access to Chicago and St. Louis.
DePaul: In Chicago (Loop campus). Well known and good if you want to go to school IN the city.
Southern Illinois University: I don't know much about them, but I've heard that they have a good music program.

[ariel0098]

Posted: 7/13/05 at 11:44pm

Oklahoma
OCU, UCO, or OU i can't remeber which one it's way confusing

[BroadwayBabe2587]

Posted: 7/14/05 at 4:20am

FLORIDA

Orlando---University of Central Florida
Big department. Highly competitive (big surprise there..lol.)
GREAT job opportunities because it's so close to DisneyWorld and Universal Studios.

Tallahassee---Florida State University
All I've heard is that it's really tough to get into the musical theatre program. Supposedly the best (out of the public schools) in the state.

Pensacola---Unviersity of West Florida
Beautiful campus, beautiful theatre, great programs!
BFA Musical Theatre program is fantastic. Smaller school. More personal attention. That's why I'm going there.

Plus the scholarship. lol.

[CostumeMistress]

Posted: 7/16/05 at 10:12am

KelRel... isn't NKU also good in KY? Less expensive, I hear...

[Qfan2.0]

Posted: 7/20/05 at 1:11am

florida forgot a school:


Florida School of the Arts:
Small Department+Small School+Small Town=More focus on your art.
Average Size theatre(600 seats) plus a black box(100). Strong departments and cheap too.(I go there

[musicallover2008]

Posted: 7/20/05 at 10:16am

I am here for Iowa. I don't know much about any of the theatre programs at colleges in Iowa. I go to Central College in Pella, IA and would never leave this theatre program. The professors at Central College are premiering plays in Iowa. Last year Central College was home to the Iowa Premier of the play “Playhouse Creatures.” I had the opportunity to do lighting for the show and was honored to have that big of a part in the show. Also during the last year we took two trips to Minneapolis and had the opportunity to see some of their theatres. I didn’t go on the first trip, but the group that did saw the premier of a play called “Flags,” and came back talking about how phenomenal it was. So one of our directors contacted the playwright and acquired the royalties for the play before the play went to Samuel French. I could go on talking about Central’s theatre department but then this post would never end.

[FosseBoi]

Posted: 7/20/05 at 11:30pm

Georgia

I dont know of any really good ones, except one. Shorter College. They have a VERY good reputation. One of the Bway babies goes there!

[Im a Protestor]

Posted: 7/26/05 at 8:58pm

Virginia-

Virginia Commonwealth University- Very good straight theatre program, very good vocal preformance program, does not have a musical theatre program, but is growing in that area. (Richmond)


Shenandoah University- Very good musical theatre and vocal programs. Pretty good theatre and dance programs. Conservatory setting as far as I know. (Winchester)


James Madison University- Meh. It's alright. It's where alot of the kids from public high schools go who were in their school plays, but not really a good school if you want to really concentrate on just musical theatre/theatre. Would be good if you want to do musical theatre AND have a life outside of it. Definitly not a conservatory setting. (Harrisonburg)

[Unknown User]

Posted: 7/26/05 at 10:56pm

I live in PA

I'll add some more later and in depth, but we have

Carnegie Mellon
Temple University
Curtis

[off the top of my head]

[Coondiggitydogg]

Posted: 7/27/05 at 12:19am

DELAWARE:
GRADUATE program at UofD is very well known and regarded called PTTP. They are more classical but turn on the TV and someone will probably have graduated from there.

[darkmist115]

Posted: 7/27/05 at 5:01pm

New Jersey:
Westminster Choir College
MAYBE mason gross school of arts at rutgers?

i can't think of any others.