I have been thinking about this for some time… I wonder about the possibility of shifting the focus of the MT and theater forums (which I would require the intervention of the moderators) creating one that is performance based (whether MT or straight acting) and one that is Tech based (stage management, lighting etc) It seems to me that MT/Acting have far more in common than Acting/Tech (which both end up in the theater forum) I know a ton of people who have applied to both types of performance programs - and there are so many of us who frequent discussions in both forums. Just a suggestion… anyone else agree?
Agreed
Sounds good to me.
That’s a great idea!
Great idea!
OK I’ll be the devil’s advocate. Though I realize there is overlap, my kid only wanted to major in Musical Theater, so I like that the MT and Acting threads are separate. Tech should be separate too.
I think that it would get very confusing and basically require that many/most threads and even posts be delineated as “Musical Theatre” or “Acting.” For example, discussions about audition requirements, BA vs. BFA programs, specific school programs, and so on. If someone started thread about auditioning for the University of Oklahoma they would have to clarify if they are talking about the Weitzenhoffer School of Musical Theatre or the Helmerich School of Drama, which hold auditions using completely different processes and dates, have different requirements, etc. If not, then a cycle of several posts are likely as people might chime in with information about both acting and MT, with conflicting dates, process information, even locations.
I have noticed several such confusions arising this spring as people have been discussing acting programs on this forum when others assumed they were talking about MT.
@Calliene - I get it… I feel the same way about the tech threads that show up on the theater board- they have nothing to do with MY kid’s journey. And maybe the solution IS that the tech thread should be separate… but it hardly seems right that theater get 3 threads in the forum… after all, there are other whole sections (Humanities, engineering, math/computer science, business…) that are all folded into one thread- and they have a LOT more variations than we do
@Emsdad -I think there are far more people who get confused wandering between the two, than would be confused by differences in posts about schools - but that’s just me.
Again- not claiming to have all the answers- or even all the questions. Just thinking (typing) out loud in response to some comments I have been seeing in this cycle
I don’t think acting has any place in tech – but I would prefer 3 separate groups. MT is so different with prescreen requirements, dance requirements audition requirements, strength of programs etc. Just my .02
I think we should leave tech in the AT forum. It’s not hurting anyone and many kids who pursue acting also are pursuing tech training (mine for example). Lin-Manuel said a good actor should learn ALL areas of theatre which includes tech and he seems to be doing ok 
I think it should be one performance/tech forum. Let’s all be one big happy family. <3
MODERATOR’S NOTE: Let me know if you guys decide you would like to see any changes, and I will ask an administrator about it.
@bisouu - I don’t have any problem with that idea either… I get that it would be hard to separate acting/tech threads from the existing theater forum… and I like the idea of one big happy family… as I said above- I was surprised when I looked at the list of forums for other majors- ours are already the most specific…
As the parent of a tech kid I don’t think there are enough tech threads to warrant its own section. My D is super close to all the other BFA (MT/Acting) kids in her program, and there is a fair amount of overlap at school such that I enjoy reading about it all. Honestly, a stand alone tech section might be a bit lonely.
@Reckless I agree
So maybe one big happy theater family is the best idea?
Some things to consider:
- A combined forum would mean no more list of MT-specific schools at the top.
- A combined forum would result in far fewer MT-specific threads "pasted" at the top of the list of threads - to serve all three disciplines would result in too many pasted threads to support the current number of threads anchored at the top between MT and Theatre (CC seems to prefer not having too many threads anchored at the top of forums).
- Trying to combine "Acceptances" threads between MT, Acting, and Tech in the current format would easily swamp the character limits for the posts listing each individual acceptance. As it stands now, its a struggle each year to cut down the character count to fit in just the MT acceptances (with a few acting acceptances thrown in by enthusiastic participants). It may not be possible to fit all the acceptances into a single thread no matter what format is used, hence, it is likely that the number of acceptances threads would have to double, or the threads would be limited to one per discipline (vs. the current format of "by school" and "by applicant"). Unless, of course, CC relaxes the character count limits per post for these threads.
There are, no doubt, potential work-arounds for these problems, but I think none of them would be able to preserve the current amount of information presented when the forum opens in your browser.
I honestly believe that you would give up a lot more than you would gain. MT is a very specific and complicated admissions process and combining forums would lead to a significant amount of cognitive overhead to try and keep everything straight between MT, Acting, and Tech programs.
Why would the schools at the top have to go away?
My guess is that in a combined forum, the list of schools would have to encompass popular programs in one or more of the three disciplines, and would increase in size probably far beyond what CC would like to see. For example, for Acting, you would begin by adding schools like Chapman, CalArts, Julliard, SUNY Purchase, UNCSA, Rutgers, Boston U, Minnesota/Guthrie, Depaul, etc., etc. The numbers build pretty quickly.
Then, of course, you would have to designate programs by discipline, i.e., BOCO-MT, Julliard-Acting, CMU-Acting/MT/Tech, etc. It would get much harder to navigate through the mass of programs to find what you are interested in.
These threads are under “college majors” on CC. If tech is the major, it should have its own thread, even if it’s lonely. Everyone is free to visit the other threads.
Something else to think about: the MT forum has about 3-4 times the activity of the Theatre forum going by the numbers shown for “Threads” and “Replies.” This means the content of each page will be approximately 75 percent MT and 25 percent Theatre. Theatre folk will have to sort through a lot more pages if they are not interested in MT. MTers will have to sift through 33 percent more “stuff” if they are not interested in Theatre.
It may actually work out worse for Theatre people than just having to sift through 3 times more stuff, because the more active MT threads will be cycling back to the top more often, so, Theatre threads may rarely stay on the first page for very long. It would be an interesting simulation to see how this would play out…