Good Musical Theater Colleges? — Page 2

There are a couple of people currently on tour with Broadway shows that went to Kent State University in Ohio. Very small, but excellent program.

I am looking into SUNY Purchase for lighting design. Are most of the SUNY schools good ones?

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I always tell students that there are two things to look for in musical theatre. The first is that all the voice teachers are classically trained (preferably in opera). The worst thing you can do is learn something as tough as belting from someone that doesn't know about vocal health. There are a lot of people out there that will teach all sorts of weird ways to sing, and you can do serious damage (sometimes even that's not enough, I just aquired a student with two nodules, who got so into the pitfalls for choral singing that she did huge damage and is now working with me to avoid surgery). The second is what is the music education option. You can always perform when you have a teaching certificate, but you might be waiting tables with a performance degree. There are tons of talented people out there, and not even the best get noticed, sometimes. You'll want to see if that music education program will give you access to the same teachers as the performance majors as well as the other classes. It's a tough major, but the pay for a teacher is a lot better than the none many performers get. Looking at my Alma Mater, NYU, be careful: there are two musical theatre programs: one is CAP21 at the Tisch School of the Arts (great for drama and dancing, but I have yet to hear one good singer, nor one that will not have a career ending nodule within 10 years), the other is better musically in the Steinhardt School of Education's Department of Music and Performing Arts Professions. Of course, if you have the money, you could always take lessons outside of NYU for the music that Tisch lacks, but who wants to pay those prices and not get good voice? Also, you want to find a place with a big voice faculty: not all voice teachers are good for each student, so you want to have the flexibility to switch if you're not improving as much as you like (don't let anyone tell you that you're doing fine: when my teacher left, I did better in one semester with my new teacher than I did in 3 years with the other). Switching is NOT personal, it's just that different things work for different people. I would stay away from anything that only does musical theatre b/c they usually teach very poor vocal technique. If you aren't sure about something, contact the National Association for Teachers of Singing for a good voice teacher in your area (all members must be recommended by other members). These people can tell you if the instruction you hear about is good (bring a tape of a lesson, that can help). There is a by-law that says no member will speak ill of another teacher without cause, so you'll have to actually explain your concern (as I said, the tape will help a lot). Most schools will let you take a sample lesson to see what you want.

Honestly if you are worried about the compitition for getting into a tough acting school then maybe you should think twice about what profession you want to be in

Actually, to respond to the "avoid Emerson College" comment... they just got a new head of musical theatre who is totally changing the program into what it USED to be (which was highly acclaimed- the oldest musical theatre program in the conutry). They're rebuilding the whole thing to make kids work-able (able to get the jobs they want in the business as well as learning as much as they can).

I'm heading to the Boston Conservatory in the fall as a musical theatre major- this is the 2nd best musical theatre conservatory in the country, if you look at successful working actors in the business (they are behind CCM).

Webster University, Elon University, Ithaca College, & Roosevelt University/Chicago College of Performing Arts are good school- the first two i mentioned are up-and-coming, definately programs to look into. NYU is great but the first two years are tough to get through I hear (from students & alums). Boston University's program is good, but you can do just as well in the liberal arts dept. if you do all the shows :). UMichigan, UMiami, Carnegie Mellon, & Florida State are very good, and again, very very selective. Florida State is big on dance (must be a dancer to go there), CCM is big on voice (must be a fantastic singer to go there), & Carnegie Mellon is big on acting (same as i wrote). Most of these schools get hundreds (& in some cases, thousands) of students auditioning for 20, 30, or 40 spots in programs, so much sure you have backups to fall back on-- these colleges can be temperamental, & you never know how your audition will be.

The college process is crazy & stressful, so good luck with it!

Always,
Abby

The biggest thing to remember is just like what I said about voice teachers, not every school is right for every person, and it's NOT a one shot deal. If you don't get into a school you really want to go to, you can transfer. Take lessons from the best people that you can, even outside of your school. Don't let someone tell you that you can't do it. I was told by the University of MD that I'd never pass my senior recital for music ed, and I got an A on it after working really hard at NYU. I'm not really sure that Steinhardt should be as high ranked as many people are posting it. It's great for voice, but for other things, I think it lacks, but I did hear great reviews of RAGTIME put on in the new Skirball Center for the Arts (which rivals the best of the Broadway stages in technology and size). They also do two major productions each year. The thing is you have to know what you want, don't worry about who graduated from there b/c every school has a few really famous people, realize they aren't in the majority. The only thing to stay away from is schools that do nothing classical, you really need that background b/c of vocal health. (From what I've heard from a friend at AMDA, although she loves it, I would stay away from there b/c it seems they do unhealthy belting.)

Boston Conservatory the second best musical theater school in the nation?

Hmmm..sorry but no. They have lost much of their good rep and their facilities are less than great.

I would place U of Michigan or NYU as second best. And CCM is falling.....rapidly.

What about Marymount Manhattan College? I'm going in next saturday to tour the college to see what it's all about.

I'm surprised that my own college, Northwestern University in Evanston, IL, is not mentioned on this thread. I've taken a history course in the Music Theatre certificate program here. The professor kept raving about all of the famous personalities that the School of Speech had produced, including people who played prominent roles in Aida (Heather Headley) and Titanic: A New Musical (Brian D'Arcy James)...

Frank Galati and Mary Zimmerman (both Tony winners) also work here. It's a shame that I haven't met either, especially Galati considering how much time I spend talking and writing about Ragtime.

Right now I'm searching for schools with good theatre production possibilities. Certain schools are specific about having it (Ithaca has a concentration, I recently heard of a place called Catawba that I have to look in to) but other seem to only list theatre or musical theatre as majors. If I look closer at a plain t/mt major would it only include performance?

I do a lot of production work (Production manager, asst. director, etc) for my school, and it's what I want to do. Well...I really want to direct- - but anything along the lines of a show is inticing. Anyone have anything to say about that side of any of the big schools?

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I love how people on this post are ranking these schools. Each school has it's great things and as many flaws to go along with it. Unless you can show me a ranking system somewhere, it is all extremely subjective. What does BEST mean as far as a musical theater program goes? Stating that it is "the second best" or "the best"....what does that mean? According to who? Does Princeton Review Rank them? Who keeps these numbers? What does working mean? CCM has a lot of talent graduating from their school, but the majority go on to being in the chorus' of Broadway shows. Not that their is anything wrong with that and I don't mean all graduate and only get work in the chorus. I think many of their graduates are phenomenal, Leslie Kritzer, Matt Bogart, Vicki Lewis, Michelle Pawk, etc. But CCM is certainly known for being the cookie cutter school and by looking at their curriculum and talking to alums, while the vocal and dance sides of the program are first-class, the acting side of the musical theater program is pretty poor. CCM is also the self-proclaimed "Best School!" Anyone who has been to their auditions knows that they rail on and on about how they are the "BEST." Someone I know was tempted to raise their hands and ask according to who, but obviously didn't. Everything at CCM is about competition. They truly prepare their students to be fighters, to get work. It's a great quality to have. I find that their students seem to really know how to sell themselves but unfortunately when they enter the rehearsal room or even performance time, their students tend to be missing some of the qualities you expect from someone who has studied at a drama school for 4 years...or even 2. (This is obviously coming from my opinion and the times I have worked with CCM students in major roles- not chorus) CCM will kick your ass while you're there. Is that good for you? Some would say yes, others no.
Boston Conservatory has a good program, particularly vocally. I saw there leagues showing this year however, and I can say that I wasn't all that impressed with them, particularly in the acting area.
I mean if you go by CCM's website which has a quote that says CCM and BCon are the best schools in the country for musical theater, well than sure you have something to support your statement. Then again...how long ago was that statement made? Well it's been on their website FOREVER...I think things may not be the same as they were 10-15 years ago.
CMU has a wonderful program with extremely committed teachers and students. They are leaps and bounds ahead of any musical theater program when it comes to the acting side of the program. CMU trains their MTs to not only be musical performers, but also well rounded individual actors for TV, Film, Straight Plays, Classical Plays, etc. I mean look at some of their graduates- Patrick Wilson (the man has done musical theater, film, television- I think many on this board would agree that the man is pretty damn talented), Emily Skinner (a great musical theater performer who in recent years has done more straight drama), Rob Marshall (originally a performer who has become one of the best musical theater directors today), Christian Borle... plus many others. And then there are those who went through part of the program including Sutton Foster (who left to do a tour), Tonya Pinkins, Josh Groban. The voice side of the program is as good as any. CMU's one real fault may be in the dance area, which is not particulary emphasized at CMU. CMU's actors are some of the smartest I have ever had the pleasure to work with (and I have worked with students from all of these so called BEST schools)
Michigan is great for singers and alright for dancers. It is not good for those who want to hone their skils as actors. I must say that you can never tell what Michigan is looking for. They have their two poster boys though- Gavin and Hunter.

All the other programs people have mentioned have their great sides. I have to say however that I am most familiar with CCM, BCon, CMU and Michigan. But lets say that BEST is completely subjective when it comes to picking the correct college for you.

LostWaterFall- CMU has one of the few undergraduate theater directing programs. North Carolina, NYU also have programs.

Updated On: 4/10/04 at 01:56 AM

Thanks for letting us know "the best" DefyingGravity2. Can you please elaborate on why...

Wagner College on Staten Island is good...I have a friend who is in the musical theatre program there and I hear great things. I also have friends in the musical theatre program at Marymount Manhattan and that is really good too.

Good luck with the search!

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THAT IS A FACT. haha, the thing is i know plenty of people who didn't think that where they went was the best so they either left or stayed, but i've always heard good things about Michigan. The comment about grades is very true... lets just say the feedback i've recieved about Michigan is the most posetive, i apologize? for all previous U of M comments.

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