Musical Theatre Schools

[KodyMullins]

Posted: 6/3/12 at 8:46pm

I will be graduating from high school next year and I have full intentions of majoring in musical theatre in college. I would appreciate it if the BroadwayWorld family could help me out a little bit by giving me some insights to which schools are top-notch and which are not. Any recommendations would be great!

Thanks again! Hope you can help!

[matineeidol2013]

Posted: 6/3/12 at 10:31pm

There are the obvious (Cincinnati, Carnegie Mellon and Michigan) but the program to be on the look out for is Penn State. For example, out of the thirteen members of the class of 2010, over half are currently/have appeared in Broadway productions and Equity national tours.

Of course, the school that you'd like to be at will come down to whats the best fit for you personally. But the four above certainly turn out top-notch performers.

[ggersten]

Posted: 6/3/12 at 11:08pm

check out collegeconfidential.com. They have a forum on "musical theatre majors" that discusses individual schools, the audition process, audition schools and non-audition schools, preparing for unified auditions, etc.

[adam.peterson44]

Posted: 6/3/12 at 11:29pm

This very site also has lots of info - check out the left side of the website - under Features-->College Center.

[bwaylvsong]

Posted: 6/3/12 at 11:50pm

Also make sure to have some backups- the odds of getting into any conservatory program, let alone the "top" ones, are against you.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 6/4/12 at 2:10am

Do a search, possibly on the off topic board. There was a thread about this about a year ago....


There may be others, but I found this one:


Musical Theatre Thread

Updated On: 6/4/12 at 02:10 AM

[wicked1492]

Posted: 6/4/12 at 10:04am

*double post*

Updated On: 6/4/12 at 10:04 AM

[wicked1492]

Posted: 6/4/12 at 10:04am

Here's some lite reading of 15 pages and 7 years worth of information.
https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.php?thread=854618

Speaking from experience, the stamp of a "name" school really doesn't matter. What matters is how proactive you are in applying your education and talents.

[Wishing Only Wounds]

Posted: 6/4/12 at 4:29pm

There are some new up and coming schools...
- Elon has a fantastic program... can't think of any negatives to be honest; however, the location of the school blows.

-Wagner has been around a while but has really been upping their game over the past few years. It's not one you should dimiss so quickly (as has been the case in the past). The faculty (coughMichelePawkcough) is excellent, and you're in New York City.

-Rider is getting a whole new program and it should be interesting to see what happens...beautiful facilities, too.

-I've also been hearing excellent things about Miami, can't speak too much about that program though.



Then of course, there are the very prestigious programs that have been mentioned already.

But, I'd definitely check the thread posted above. However, don't limit yourself to a BFA; it's not always better... do a lot of research into the difference between a BFA and a BA. Also, keep in mind, each school has their own version of a BFA.