College Essays on Theatre

[faithtrustpixiedust]

Posted: 8/1/12 at 9:00pm

Out of curiosity, did anyone here write their college essays on a particular show, performer, experience, etc. and been accepted? I have a vague memory of hearing lots of rentheads talking about their essays on the "no day but today" mantra, but I can't quite remember any details. I can't remember the essay topic/questions, but each time I took practice SAT tests at home, or the real ones, I somehow managed to use Death of A Salesman references as support. I was obsessed! Anyone else have similar experiences? :)

[dramamama611]

Posted: 8/1/12 at 9:19pm

I've had a number of students use experiences from theater as their college admission essay. (I also TEACH the college essay.) Using one as an INFLUENCE is tough: because you need to talk more about YOU than it.

Are you thinking of becoming a theater major or something else? Remember they are looking for what makes you YOU.

[E.Davis]

Posted: 8/1/12 at 9:29pm

Last semester in my American Musical Theatre Class which took a look at its earlist roots in American popular culture through the present. There was a particular emphasis on the cultivation of its present form through an American socio-cultural perspective. I had to finish the semester with a 12 page term paper on a topic of my choice. It could have been a show or a concept. Mine was the use is repetitions and leitmotifs in musicals and how there purpose served the show, wether it be through reprises or recurring themes. I also looked at how it could have been diegetic in it original form and then not when it was reprised.

[PianoMann]

Posted: 8/1/12 at 9:31pm

I wrote my college-application essay on the impact of David Mamet's works on my own writing style, and how reading his plays and then seeing them performed live really helped give me a foundation of the entire creative process.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 8/1/12 at 9:38pm

E. Davis -- the op is referring to ENTRANCE essays, not academic ones.

[PianoMann]

Posted: 8/1/12 at 9:42pm

I'd be interested in knowing what shows you cited E.Davis; I'd venture a guess that Sweeney Todd was mentioned, as that's a gold-mine for leitmotifs.

[NotAnotherSN]

Posted: 8/1/12 at 9:57pm

While I didn't write my entrance essay about a show in particular, the main subject of my essay was my experience in the theatre and the adversity of having a rival throughout my high school theatre career. It was a little more comic (but that's just my personality) than I'm sure a typical essay would be, but as far as I know it went over well.

[keb2]

Posted: 8/1/12 at 10:03pm

I wrote my admissions essay on how a particular show changed my life. I was accepted to three schools (one of which is pretty prestigious and I now attend) and waitlisted at one. Keep in mind that the essay is only one part of any individual's application.

Since entering college, I've written plenty of academic papers on musicals: how war affects the characters in South Pacific, Hair, and American Idiot; the poster design of Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, American Idiot, and Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark; the use of swear words in Spring Awakening vs. an Akon song; and the media coverage of Spider-Man in previews. And those are just the papers from my more academic classes!

It seems to me that the most important part of a college essay is telling a story about something that has affected you, and telling it well. If that something happens to be a musical, and you can write well about it, I don't see why you shouldn't write about it. If you're passionate about it, that will show.

[adam.peterson44]

Posted: 8/1/12 at 10:05pm

Our entrance essay topic (one of two or three that we could choose from) was 'Who besides your family or friends, alive or dead, would you like to go to dinner with and why?' or something similar. I wrote about Oscar Hammerstein. It was a few *cough* years ago now, so I don't remember any details of it. I did get in, though.




Updated On: 8/1/12 at 10:05 PM

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 8/1/12 at 10:05pm

I also wrote my entrance essay on a show, specifically Sweeney Todd. In hindsight, I suppose it may have been an odd choice to write about how a musical featuring cannibalism and mass murder has changed my life, but it seemed to still work.

[E.Davis]

Posted: 8/1/12 at 10:15pm

Wow, totally went over my head on what the original poster was asking. The shows I used if I can remember correctly was, South Pacific, Cabaret, Merrily, Kiss me Kate, Into the Woods, Sister Act.

[PianoMann]

Posted: 8/1/12 at 10:24pm

Those are some very good choices, especially South Pacific and Merrily We Roll Along, in my opinion. "Some Enchanted Evening" is such an influential piece!

[E.Davis]

Posted: 8/1/12 at 10:27pm

Well I mean if you look at the end of Act 1, it was perfect for my thesis.