PERFORMING ARTS COLLEGES — Page 2

Yeah I have a friend at Wagner who's in the musical theatre program there and she says it's great!

Oh and I have a couple of friends at Marymount Manhattan also and they say it's a great program!

Good luck with the search!

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i find it interesting that people who don't go to NYU throw around "it's not that great of a school" and then say one or 2 names of people who have been in a couple broadway shows as proof why their school is awesome. it happens every time this type of topic is brought up. also, most of the other nyc college auditions i went to made some kind of crack about "that three letter school," but i have never heard NYU make any kind of comment about another school (except maybe juilliard :) ). competition between other nyc schools has never even been an issue in that environment.

so here is the deal straight from a tisch student. 2 current students (that i know of) are on broadway right now and in school -- i think that's pretty neat. in the alumni magazine there are so many goddamned alumni that they forgot to mention that raul esparza is an alumni and he was up for a tony. which kind of pissed me off but there are just pages and pages of both theater and movie stars and actors that have come out of the program. this year, 7 nyu alumni in wicked, etc. the nyc location is key. most of my friends are already working or beginning to work just because of the location or are working right in the business. quite a few of my teachers are people i have either previously heard of or whose work i have heard of, many of whom were tony voters, etc. working in their profession. as for the size, yes the school is huge but they break it down so you can definitely make a name for yourself within it. and as for the expenses ... nyu is good in that you can still make a living with an nyu degree even if theater doesn't work out. otherwise i have no comment about the expense :)

btw marymount manhattan doesn't have a MT major, only a minor.

Updated On: 6/11/04 at 10:18 AM

Tisch has Cap21 which is it's musical theatre school and its very hard to get into. Marymount only has the MT minor. The long list of schools on the first page are great.
And instead of looking at what schools "stars" went to, you could always go to a not-so-frequented school and make your own mark...THAT's where your talent comes in. Also, if you're really into musical theatre and you're confident enough in your voice, you might want to go to a school for ACTING that occasionally has musicals (ie Fordham, SMU ) because that's how you build up your strengths.

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btw i agree about CAP 21 (lacking in the voice training) and am much more impressed with the students that are showcased through Steinhardt (their production of 'A New Brain' this year was very impressive). what I personally have been doing is taking my acting/dance/etc. and half of my voice through tisch and the rest of my voice electives through steinhardt and outside of school and it has been working out well.

right now the schools that i am hearing a lot about are carnegie melon (it seems either everyone from nyu applied there and didn't get in, or applied, got in, and decided they'd rather be in NY) and CCM, also Northwestern (although their mus. theater is only a minor or something .. i can't remember exactly.) good luck!

Julliard and Yale don't offer musical theater majors.

How about performing arts colleges solely in NYC?

Shenandoah Conservatory in Winchester, VA. It's kind of a small town but there are things to do, there are lots of cute little places and it's close to DC sprawl. It's private so it's expensive but something like 96% of students get craptons of financial aid. I live in Winchester (just in high school, alas) and I go to all of their shows. They're AMAZING! They did Sweeney Todd last fall and The Will Rogers Follies back in February. Anyway check 'em out.

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So, one school that has not been mentioned yet, and is very up and coming, is Kent State University in Kent, Ohio. I am soon to be an alum of that school, and I have receieved fabulous training from here.

Some famous alumni: Alice Ripley, Mark Lamura, Mark Setlock, Erin Coors, Jeff Richmond, and hopefully, Bryan Guffey! lol

I'll promote Montclair State University in Montclair, NJ- just 12 miles out of NYC.
Its entering the top list of theatre schools next year and is doing national auditions.
It has four degrees-
BFA Musical Theatre
BFA Acting
BFA Production/Design
BA Theatre Studies.
All are very strong and intense programs with excellent facilities. There is a new theatre on the campus, designed by the same architect who designed the stellar NJPAC in Newark, NJ, that is also set up as a regional theatre as well. So that means tons of master classes with the shows that stop to perform on our campus. We also have an outdoor theatre, a blackbox, and an auditorium, not to mention other small theatres used for experimental work.
One of the best parts of Montclair is that it is affordable and you have the opportunies to do extra programs- such as our program with the Shanghai Theatre Academy and/or London Theatre trip. Amazing experiences- both of them.
Def. check out MOntclair because right now its kind of like a hidden gem. Its going to be very big in a few years!

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