Best Colleges to Aim For For Musical Theatre?

[phantomcrazy14]

Posted: 6/17/11 at 6:22pm

Next year I'm going to be a Junior in high school, so the college searches will begin. I was wondering, what colleges would anyone recommend looking at? I'm very serious about Musical Theatre. Any suggestions?

[shrekster224]

Posted: 6/17/11 at 6:44pm

The ones that people usually regard as the top ones are University of Michigan, Carnegie Mellon, NYU, Penn State, and for conservatories would be Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music and Boston Conservatory. There is a thread here though:
https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.php?thread=854618

And check out College Confidential Musical Theater for more help.

[spike3]

Posted: 6/17/11 at 6:50pm

Point Park University and Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh. NYU,and CCM in Cincinnati

[Performer]

Posted: 6/17/11 at 7:08pm

The best colleges for MT are (in my opinion):

CCM (Cincinnati) - top for training triple threats
Carnegie Mellon (more acting emphasis)

And otherwise, U Michigan is good and has more academics than others and boco is pretty good, except for that it is a larger program and cuts students. Syracuse is a rising program as is Penn state. Nyu new studio tisch MT is also great.

Good luck and audition for as many as possible!

[AlfieByrne]

Posted: 6/17/11 at 7:13pm

I think I read somewhere that Carnegie Mellon had 7 Tony nominees this year, while NYU had 8 (not counting producers/faculty) who were mostly from their graduate program.

CCM will train you to become a wonderful member in the chorus, from what I hear with their triple threats.
Updated On: 6/17/11 at 07:13 PM

[broadwaybaby77]

Posted: 6/17/11 at 7:47pm

I agree with pretty much everything people have posted here.

In my opinion, the most important thing for you to do (in addition to visiting/doing your own research) is find someone you trust who's already gone through the process who can be objective about it all. You'll hear different things from people giving tours at the schools and parents of kids who did/didn't get in and students who did/didn't get in to 'x' school...you can hear too many opinions and it can really cloud your personal judgment. Try to find someone to talk to who doesn't have a bias or can't stand to gain something financially by sharing their thoughts with you.

If you want to PM me about any of these schools, feel free. I did the whole process a few years ago and applied to 9 schools, many of which are listed here.

[Luner_onTheatre]

Posted: 6/18/11 at 12:55am

Wagner College!

I might be biased since I currently go there for Arts Administration with a concentration in Theatre but the school is really incredible. Trust me.

We DO NOT have a Musical Theatre Degree but we DO have a THEATRE PERFORMANCE degree. Its really great because you can choose if you wanna go more towards straight plays or musical theatre. Its actually a fantastic degree and program.

~ Plus, we currently have about 10 Alumni on Broadway including:
- The Book of Mormon
- Sister Act
- Catch Me If You Can
- Memphis
~ Dozens on Tour! Literally! (6 on Young Frankenstein alone)
~ Tony AWARD WINNER Michele Pawk on Staff
~ Arturo Porazzi (Memphis Stage Manager Currently) who has worked on Broadway since the 1970's works there.

And we're on Staten Island in New York City so we're still in the city and close to Broadway and everthing else New York City and NYC Theatre has to offer.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask

[PReeves2]

Posted: 6/18/11 at 1:05am

Is the only MT program in New York City at NYU? Seems very odd to me if so.

[BwayTday]

Posted: 6/18/11 at 1:07am

Along with being competitive to get into artistically, most of these schools are hard to get into academically (if GPA averages aren't lying). I think CCM (or University of Cincinnati) and Point Park are relatively low (3.0ish I believe).

Pace also offers a MT degree.
Updated On: 6/18/11 at 01:07 AM

[gravity87]

Posted: 6/18/11 at 1:12am

Also in Manhattan: Marymount

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 6/18/11 at 1:14am

I love those Boston Conservatory kids with their vivacious humanity and lack of cold, dull Carnegie Mellon robot eyes.

[AlfieByrne]

Posted: 6/18/11 at 1:23am

^ Was that sarcasm? I think Josh Gad and Patina Miller are some of the most lively performers on Broadway right now.

[MichaelRhodus]

Posted: 6/18/11 at 6:02am

If you want to be in the city, but don't want NYU audition for CAP21's Conservatory program.

I go there currently.