The College Decision

[CapnHook]

Posted: 9/8/03 at 5:43pm

What are some good colleges on the East Coast for a B.A. in Theatre (Performance, Directing, or Graphic Design), Theatre Education, etc.?

I see that Greensboro College (in North Carolina) has a superb Theatre Education program, unlike anything I have ever seen. The University of the Arts (in Pennsylvania) seems to have an outstanding musical theatre program, however the school seems to be way too competitive. The University of Central Florida, I am told, has a HUGE program for Performance.

Posted: 9/8/03 at 7:05pm

UCF has a good drama program, but FSU has the best theater program in Florida. I just went to a presentation on it today. Average GPA to get in is 3.5-4.2. SAT's have to be really high too.

[DrVincento2]

Posted: 9/8/03 at 7:57pm

I have to defend my school.

UCF was my LAST choice for schools. I had applied to Cincinnati, NYU, University of the Arts, Point Park Conservatory, and UCF. Obviously, Cincinnati was on top just by mere program but my sights were on UArts. The location, facilities and program were VERY appealing. NYU is an excellent school but their program is not nearly the program it was 5 years ago. Point Park is defintely becoming more recognized especially for their dance and musical theater programs.

UCF, which used to be the SMALLEST theatre program in Florida, is now officially the LARGEST musical theatre program in the country in terms of actual full-time, tenured facutly (currently at/around 42). The musical theatre program has a full time dance, one voice and three acting professors. The adjunct faculty includes one additional voice and dance professor. That's just the undergraduate program. The graduate program has three professors; voice, dance and acting. Mind you, there are only FOUR current graduates in the MFA Musical Theatre Track because it was just established last year. Their classes are held at the Seaside Musical Theater in Daytona FL. The Performance Track is just as good and has MANY professors in voice, movement and acting.

UCF offers a BA-Theater, BFA-Musical Theater, BFA-Performance, BFA-Stage Management, BFA-Design, MA-Theatre, MFA-Performance, MFA-Musical Theatre and MFA-Design. UCF is also implementing a MFA in Youth Theatre next Fall and possibly a MFA Directing Track in 2005.

The current size of the department is at around 300+.

I DO NOT recommend the UCF BA-Theatre Track. It is very limiting and you end up doing more shop work then actual theatre work.

Class sizes are small; around 16 for BFA-Performance and 12 for BFA-Musical Theatre. You also have to do a professional, PAID internship before you can graduate. MEANING, you get a job before you graduate! We have a graduate in the Urinetown tour, RENT tour and had one in the Grease tour. Some of the performance students are also currently working with the Alabama and Utah Shakespeare Festival.

You must maintain a 3.0 average while in the department and there are also yearly evaluations held by the faculty.

I posted the season schedule in another post - but - we currently perform around 14 shows per season; which includes professional summer stock. There are two additional shows held at Seaside performed by the MFA-Musical Theatre students.

Some downsides of the program; limited schedule (it is now officially a conservatory) and not so nice performing venues. There is currently a proposal to build a HUGE performing arts center for the music and theatre department.

To me, that sounds like one of the best programs in Florida!


Personally, I love it. The class sizes are small, it's intimate and defintely hands on. The faculty is EXTREMELY warm and nurturing and are not there to see you fail as well as not pull the wool over your eyes BUT they don't treat you like a piece of ____ for four years.

ALRIGHT! ::Steps off soapbox::

[PB ENT.]

Posted: 9/8/03 at 8:38pm

Hook~ While I can't offer personal experience as others...here's a book worth it's weight in gold or $$$ in my book.
"The Directory of Theatre Training Programs" published by Theater Directories, a division of American Theatre Works, Inc. Dorset, VT.

It contains information on 468 programs,incl tution,cirr. faculty,prods. idex of degrees...lots of stuff! for about $30.00

Got it on www.half.com (I think).

[PB ENT.]

Posted: 9/8/03 at 8:39pm

Hook~ While I can't offer personal experience as others...here's a book worth it's weight in gold or $$$ in my book.
"The Directory of Theatre Training Programs" published by Theater Directories, a division of American Theatre Works, Inc. Dorset, VT.

It contains information on 468 programs,incl tution,cirr. faculty,prods. idex of degrees...lots of stuff! for about $30.00

Got it on www.half.com (I think).

[Phantess]

Posted: 9/8/03 at 8:51pm

I just came back from a Boston University seminar, they have everything you listed as majors in their fine arts school.

I'd also suggest NYU or Fordham.

Posted: 9/8/03 at 9:00pm

NYU and Fordham are extremely expensive. Because of the Florida Bright Futures scholarship, I have to go to a public florida college (for free though). FSU costs $13,000 for an out-of-state student and I don't know about UCF's tuition but it's got to be lower than $30,000 (no, $38,000 NYU's tuition goes up this year). I heard NYU's undergrad program isn't very good anyways. I'd suggest a cheap good liberal arts college, like FSU or UCF, for undergrad.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 9/8/03 at 9:25pm

Yale
Julliard

[catcher]

Posted: 9/8/03 at 10:18pm

I know this is odd, and not a usual choice, but I know tons of theater people who went to Carnegie Mellon.

[ShineOn]

Posted: 9/9/03 at 2:36am

Ahem...

*pipes in*

Miss Skinner and Miss Champlin are both CMU grads (as is the current Chicago HOTTIE -- Brent Barrett).

[QueenS]

Posted: 9/9/03 at 10:45am

Catcher, I'm assuming that you are being sarcastic?

Yale only has a graduate program for theatre.

For musical theatre, I would look at Boston Conservatory over BU.

Posted: 9/9/03 at 8:44pm

Hold up,

Yale only had a graduate program for theater?

A good friend of mine told me to go to Yale because my plays would most likely get staged there. And now you're telling me they won't. Huh?

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 9/9/03 at 9:43pm

Seeems to me like CMU is one of the best around, also one of the hardest to get into.

Posted: 9/9/03 at 9:51pm

Ya well know you what BwayGirl107,

A wise witch once told me some things you cannot change, but until you try you'll never know. ;-D

[Theatreboy33]

Posted: 9/9/03 at 10:05pm

Hi. Im a student here at NYU. Im studying for my BFA in acting in the Stella Adler Conservatory, home of marlon brando, robert deniro, kevin costner, mathew modine, benicio del torro, and many others. the program is WONDERFUL. and you cant get closer to your chosen profession than greenwich village. its the best decision i ever made for studying theatre. if you want theatre education, it also has a BA program just for that too. good luck deciding. i hope you get into all your top choices!

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 9/9/03 at 10:05pm

Haha, Last5years Updated On: 9/9/03 at 10:05 PM

Posted: 9/9/03 at 10:11pm

Lol, it's true. I seriously feel like I'm going to have to "defy gravity" by finding someway to get a fullride scholarship, otherwise I'm stuck with a Florida College cuz of this Bright Futures crap my parents got sucked into.

But hey, life's not ****ty, and the internet is still for porn right?!

[PJ]

Posted: 9/10/03 at 8:11pm

I'm looking into Carnegie Mellon, NYU, Columbia, and Sarah Lawrence. I'm considering Sarah Lawrence more for it's location rather than the education I'd recieve. Anyone know what their theatre directing program is like there?

Posted: 9/10/03 at 8:24pm

I heard two different things about Sarah Lawrence:

a) It's a party school/lots of gay kids
b) It's a place where playwrights get their stuff staged and has an awesome program

Either way, it's a win win situation for me, eh? hehehe Updated On: 9/10/03 at 08:24 PM

Posted: 9/10/03 at 11:44pm

Fordham. Hands down. I'm here right now. Their theatre department is more exclusive than NYU, the professors here have studied under Meisner and Stella, the program is wonderful. I'm currently the only playwriting major in my class, which makes for a wonderful one-on-one focus, which they give every student. They have four tracks, Production, Performance, Directing and Playwriting. Fordham IS expensive, but they're generous with financial aid. As a theatre major, you're also guaranteed housing in a wonderful apartment for all four years.

And they have connections like you wouldn't believe. Morseo than Tisch, which is more cutthroat. Fordham is nurturing. And Robert Sean Leonard went here.

Also, you're guaranteed a senior showcase to which the industry is invited, not to mention opportunities up the wazoo to act/direct/produce/have your work staged in between. Updated On: 9/10/03 at 11:44 PM

[chasing_rainbows43]

Posted: 9/10/03 at 11:57pm

Shameless plus for Wagner here.
I heart The Wag. Kathy Brier went here, Janine LaManna, Randy Graff, Jackie Hendy (just started Nine)....there's a ton more but I can't remember off hand. Wag kicks butt.