BEST COLLEGES BFA MUSICAL THEATER — Page 7

FSU.

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Ok...I know that this post hasnt been updated since...well July. But I have to clarify something.

There IS a good musical theatre school in GA as well as several in the southeast. The best one in GA is Shorter College. We have an awesome department. We do 2 musicals and 2 straight shows a year as well as several 2nd stage shows, including 2 other musicals. This year we are doing Urinetown and Civil War as our 2nd stage, Chorus Line and Cabaret as our main stage. We have won several awards at American College Theatre Festival, going to the finals twice as a matter of fact. We have awesome classes and our department only has 70 students. Our professors know us all well and personally. Plus we have leading role opportunities to freshman as well! And at the GA Theatre Conference, most of the people who get passed on to SETC are from Shorter. So there ya go! GA has a good musical theatre school.

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I attend the University of Arizona in Tucson working toward my BFA in MT. The program here is based through the school of theatre arts and as a MT major I take just as many acting classes as the acting majors; it's exciting to get to do chekov, shakespeare, and comedia. The program is very fun and selective. No more than 12 are accepted into MT and 12 into Acting as freshmen...there are cuts after both freshman and sophomore years but there's no set number of people that will be cut. My entire MT class from last year got acepted for sophomore year.
We get our vocal training through the school of music so we do do classical training for our voices in addition to working on musical theatre music. The dance part of the program is through the school of dance and you take at least one class a semester...ranging from intro stuff to major level dance classes. Good luck with everything.

Cheers,

C.

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Just because Marymount has a program doesn't mean it's any good. I know someone who goes there...actually, I'm not even sure if she was accepted into the program...probably because she sucks...but, I digress...hehe

-Vincent

SCAD was mentioned a few pages back....sorry to offend anyone (the person who mentioned it) but that school is god aweful! They're great when it comes to fashion and design and they have a beautiful campus, but their MT program is not good at all. They put on a show a few years back which was the same as my high school was putting on and our show was much better quality. Given the fact that I go to a performing arts school, still, it's sad when a college can't put on a decent show. When I comes to great MT schools I would def. have to go with CCM, Boston Conservatory, Carnegie Melon, U of M, and so on.

I do want to keep this all in perspective for you. Just because you'll go to Carnegie Mellon or Northwestern or NYU doesn't mean you're one step above those who may go to Marymount Manhattan or Emerson, for example. You can still achieve whatever level of success in "the biz" that you want, even if you aren't at NYU.

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check out UArts in Philly

Just don't freak out if you don't get into CMU, tho. It's not the be-all, end-all of schools.

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There are lots of good schools for MT and none of them is any guarantee of work after graduation. There is no ONE best school. The admissions rates are so low that it's as competitive to get in as it is to an Ivy League college in many instances.

Generally speaking, the 'top' tier schools, which have similar admit rates, are CCM, Tisch, CMU, UMich, OCU, Syracuse, BoCo, Emerson, and then the next grouping would include, Penn State, Ithaca, UArts, Elon, Baldwin-Wallace, Otterbein, Hartt, Point Park. Juilliard does not have a musical theatre program.

Each of these colleges is a bit different in what they're looking for. For some, you need good academics as well as a great audition, some you have to pass academic review before you can audition, for others your audition is going to determine whether or not you get in. Most of the top schools have some type of showcase for agents/directors/casting people in NYC, and some do for L.A. as well.

Do people make it in the business if they don't go to one of these schools? Of course, some do, but it's a tough biz, and the better education and training (as well as making important and valuable contacts while in school) you can get, the better off your chances will be when it comes time to start auditioning.

And no, wildhornfanatic, CMU's reputation has not gone downhill. It's a wonderful and very well-respected (and extremely selective) school. I can say that without bias because I go to Tisch.

Updated On: 11/9/05 at 09:22 AM

I disagree, bwaybaby18. You should go to the best possible program you get accepted to, regardless of the size. It isn't about being a big fish in a small pond. It's about getting the best possible education and training that you can. If the best school you get into is a small program, that's fine but if it's a larger program, that's fine, too. The size of the program isn't always the determining factor in how much attention you get. Tisch has probably the largest drama program in the country but the individual studio classes are very small, generally in the 12-15 range. Your focus should always be on learning as much as possible, and not being the big fish.

Carnegie-Mellon is a VERY good musical theatre school, but they have a far stronger straight drama program.

Cincinnatti Conservatory of Music is widely regarded as the best musical theatre school.

At both of these schools, you have to re-audition i think your sophmore year to remain in the program.

The University of Michigan was my choice program - they have quite the record, the most beautiful campus in the world, friendly staff, and regular lectures from Audra McDonald, who swears by it as the best musical theatre program in the states. I agree with her - it's more nurturing, more educational - some may prefer the cutthroat, real-life programs of the former two schools, but if you feel it's best to learn by example, not by fire, this is the best school.

also check out Oklahoma, Northwestern, Syracuse, Florida, Penn State, and NYU (although NYU's rep has slipped over the past few years, I hear.)

Syracuse has an awesome program. CCM has a great music program but they 'lack' in acting because they are a music conservatory. Both schools have a showcase. If you want more, PM me I have a lot of information.

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