Theater Management

[BWayBoy88]

Posted: 7/30/05 at 8:55pm

Hey everyone. I have always wanted to persue a career in theater, but I realize how hard it is to be an actor. I want to major in something other than musical theater so I have a backup. I was thinking of majoring in theater management because I would love to still be involved in theater in some way. Does anyone know schools that have a good theater arts/management program? Also what special things do you need to do to get accepted?

[life_so_far]

Posted: 7/30/05 at 11:16pm

Thats also what I want to do, but I decided a little bit too late. My school doesn't have a Theater Management program. I would love to know what colleges do have it in case I want to transfer or something. As of right now I'm saying that I'm majoring in Business and minoring in theater.

[briarbrad]

Posted: 7/30/05 at 11:31pm

Very few schools I can think of have bachelors degrees in Theatre Management. One that comes to mind is DePaul Univ. There are alot of schools that have programs in Stage Management (Boston Univ, Penn State, CCM...), which is really just a general drama BFA with a focus on management and a little design and production. There are also degrees in Production and Technology Management (CMU, Rutgers, DePaul...) that are focused on technical production, theatre management, and design.

There are, however, alot of graduate Theater Management programs (CMU, Yale, FSU...)

[BWayBoy88]

Posted: 7/30/05 at 11:43pm

So far the schools I visited that had theater management were Ithaca and Wagner. Pace is in plans of creating a theater management BFA but I'm not sure if its final or not. Also Emerson has theater studies I think is what they call it which is a study of various forms of theater but you pick a concentration.

life_so_far-I am also considering majoring in business and minoring in theater. If I really like a school that doesnt have theater management I will probably go that route.

[life_so_far]

Posted: 7/31/05 at 2:31am

briarbrad- The graduate program at CMU is actually when I began to become really interested in theater management. People looked at me like I was crazy when I said that I could get my Masters in Arts Management from CMU, because its not the same thing as getting your BA in Arts Management (or at least at my school). At my school you have to be artistic whereas it seemed to me that the program at CMU stresses more of the business end of it. I'm probably the most un-artistic/talented person ever, so the business part really interested me.

BWayBoy88- the Business/Theater combo was the best that I could come up with to compensate for a Arts/ Theater Management degree. I'm glad to see that I'm not completely crazy for thinking that it will work! I was actually going to start a thread about this a few days ago to see if it was do-able.

[mebice]

Posted: 8/1/05 at 2:06am

The graduate program at Columbia looks amazing. Its a Theatre Management/Producing degree. I guess one of the producers of Bee is a very recent graduate there. That is my number one choice for grad schools now that I have one year left for my BA in theatre studies. CMU also looks good- here's some info on the arts management at CCM. I went there to look at the facilities and to interview some people about the program. According to someone there, the arts management program actually doesn't cover theatre very much, but more galleries, and orchrestras palaces and things like that. That was very disappointing to me because CCM is such a wonderful school. But yeah, check out Columbia!

[CostumeMistress]

Posted: 8/4/05 at 10:25am

Another option besides Theatre Management is a double-major in Theatre and Business. Take tech. courses and participate in supervisory roles in the theatre department, and focus on management in the business school. That'll give you a nice, well-rounded degree.

[life_so_far]

Posted: 8/4/05 at 11:47pm

The only problem with double majoring (with me) is I can not act to save my life. At my school a minor in theater only requires one acting class whereas I'm pretty sure that the major requires more (I say pretty sure because I can't remember how many you have to take if you concentrate in technical theater)

[rclocalz]

Posted: 8/7/05 at 12:18am

I am pursuing Arts Management for my MFA degree and as a profession. I HIGHLY recommend NOT doing a double major with Business because you will find there being such a waste of time with MANY of the business classes that have nothing to do with a non-profit arts organization. I found out too late and added about an extra year of college because of it. I would Minor in Business or Leadership Studies and Major in Theatre Studies. Many Arts Organizations want a business man/woman with an Arts background or performance experience even. Also find a school that provides Arts Management classes that you can take while doing your BFA. My school, MTSU, has several classes that deal with Theatre Management, Marketing, and Fundraising. My top pick for my MFA is going to be the Alabama Shakespeare Festival Arts Management program because they are considered the best program in the country.

[rclocalz]

Posted: 8/7/05 at 12:18am

HOLY CRAP I AM A BROADWAY STAR NOW!!!

[singingsweetee82]

Posted: 8/10/05 at 1:23pm

I am in the EXACT same boat as life_so_far. Basically I decided that I wanted to do theatre management during my freshman year but my school doesn't have that degree. I'm going to major in theatre studies and minor in management. My plan is to then do an MFA program. As I was looking at those programs, most are more interested in aplicants having a background in the arts than in business. There are also lots of theatres/theatre companies that have internships in management over the summer. Hope this helps!

[kateerin]

Posted: 8/11/05 at 1:50pm

Shenandoah Conservatory has an undergrad program in arts management and you specialize in Music, theatre, or dance. Good Program. www.su.edu

[meagan9848]

Posted: 8/12/05 at 2:49am

I go to Northeastern and I'm majoring in Music Industry. I would imagine that if you did a major in Music Industry and a minor in Theatre that it would work out for you...

[ElphabaRose]

Posted: 8/14/05 at 11:00pm

You guys have just saved my life!!! I'm an incoming freshman at Brandeis and I was having a similar problem (love theatre, want to be involved, don't think I can make it on stage). I now know what type of things I should combine to make my hopes more realistic.

Thanks guys!

Updated On: 8/14/05 at 11:00 PM

[meagan9848]

Posted: 8/15/05 at 1:32am

Does Brandeis have a program for that?

[Sporti2005]

Posted: 8/15/05 at 1:42am

ithaca college has a theatre arts management degree (BA i think?)..i have a friend who's a junior in it and she loves it. she got a great summer job working at a theatre in ithaca.

[WalveMalve]

Posted: 8/16/05 at 10:34pm

My recommendation is either going to a good business school and taking a lot of theatre classes or pursue the theatre arts management degree and then get a masters degree in Arts Management. Getting a theatre arts management as a bachelors limits you to only working in the theatre industry -- an industry which is very small and competitive. At least if you have a degree in business undergrad you can work in another industry until you can find a good job in the theatre world. If you pursue the theatre arts management degree you can only work for small number of companies that will actually pay you (or pay you a salary that matches the cost of living). If you have the Master of Arts Management you can work in theatre or any other arts area and you'll have a far superior degree to anyone with just a bachelors.

[JazzyJessieK]

Posted: 8/24/05 at 11:23am

I'm in the same position...

I'm majoring in theatre and getting my aa in business from a local community college. I will be starting to apply for schools shortly and going to URTA this winter. When I talked to my advisor and he said majoring in theatre and having a minor in business is the best way to go. anyway... I'm also trying to search for graduate degree programs around the country. I'll let you know if I find any other good ones!

[life_so_far]

Posted: 8/24/05 at 12:46pm

I just figured out the if your major in theater (concentration in design/technology) then you only have to take one acting class... which is the same for minor.

So now I might double major in business and theater.

[hot_brdwy_diva]

Posted: 8/25/05 at 12:37am

I had a friend of mine that pretty much developed her own major. It was similar to theatre management. I don't know who she had to talk to... but she worked it out that she was taking certain directing type classes along with business classes, musical theatre and performance classes and even some publicity stuff. So it was a major pretty much made up by her... and no one else had it.
I think she eventually went to be the manager of some entertainment shows at some theme park.

[Benzy92]

Posted: 8/25/05 at 1:39am

AHH! I thought I was the only one that wanted to major in Theatre Arts Management! From what I've heard, Ithaca and Wagner have the best

[mebice]

Posted: 8/25/05 at 9:47pm

Does anyone know about Montclaire University in NJ? Is it okay...if Columbia doesn't give me a couple dollars, I will have to go there for their Theatre Management GRAD program.
Tell me about for all you New Jersey peeps.

Also- any grad students that know any good theatre management programs.