There have been years where the theater major forum was way more active (or at least way more interesting) than the MT forum. This year just happened to not be one of them activity-wise anyway. Honestly this year in MT could have been a quiet one too were it not for the early energy of posters like @theaterworks.
At a ballpark it only takes one enthusiastic and persistent person to start a wave that eventually sustains itself. That is just as likely to happen in either forum. Several years ago that wave starter in the theatre forum was @bissou. Years before that fishbowl freshman held the theatre forum in rapture. (Most of you will not know whom I’m talking about but if you search on it, some fascinating stuff.)
So if the motivation to combine is because of inactivity, I think it’s a mistake. There are nuances in the two discussions that could be lost. For example a focus on film and tv training, LA vs. Broadway which may need more elaboration in the theatre community than one would find in MT. Or subject matter dominance can be make a combined forum less interesting for one camp vs the other. For example there is a ton of “coaching talk” in MT land that really isn’t as relevant (so far anyway) in theatre land.
Anyway, I think the separation has value. Those with interests in both worlds (like me) can and do go back and forth. Keeping the tech theater folks in the mix is of high value add too. I’d hate to see that separated out.
This thread prompted me to look at the stats for all of the forums for college majors here on CC, and I was genuinely surprised to find out that Musical Theatre is the #2 College Major Forum by Threads count and #1 in Replies. I believe this data goes back “to the beginning of time” on CC. The first number shown is the count of Threads and the second number is the count of Replies:
Engineering Majors 18,300/157,000 Musical Theater Major 10,300/175,200
Business Major 9,400/59,600
Music Major 6,900/89,600
Other College Majors 6,400/25,600
Visual Arts and Film Majors 4,100/29,700 Theater/Drama Majors 3,800/48,400
Science Majors 3,700/15,100
Architecture Major 2,100/13,200
Math/Computer Science Majors 1,300/6,400
Nursing Major 1,000/6,700
Dance Major 408/3,000
Journalism Major 378/1,300
Education Majors 269/680
Humanities Majors 131/350
Foreign Language & Culture Majors 76/180
Considering that there are an order of magnitude more Engineering grads each year than MT grads, this is really amazing. While you could chalk some of this up to the “Momma Rose Syndrome” among Theatre parents and the angst inherent in the you-never-know audition system, I think it really speaks to the complexity of the admissions process. The latest number of Engineering grads per year was 97,858 and my estimate for MT grads is around 3,750 (250 programs x 15 grads per program).
Actually, the data does not go back to the start of CC. When I joined CC in 2002, 15 years ago, there was no MT or Theater/Drama forum (or any college major forums). There was a VERY long MT catch-all thread and a VERY long Acting catch-all thread. These were broken down into parts (like Part 1, 2, 3 etc. as they got so long). After a while, a separate forum was made for MT and also for Theater/Drama (and more college major forums have been added over time). This REALLY helped because in a big catch-all thread on MT, for example, so many topics arose and you could not really look things up. It is my opinion that the MT forum on CC is the BEST resource on the internet for those looking to pursue a MT major.
As far as the original discussion here on whether or not to combine the MT and Drama major forums…both the current option and the proposed option have their merits. However, one big plus, IMO, to the way it is now, is that it breaks things down into more specific topics, by separating the majors. Sure there are overlapping subtopics within both of these majors. And some are even applying to both majors. But by combining both forums, while not nearly as extreme as the original catch-all threads for these majors on CC, it moves back away from the usefulness of the specific topics inherent in each forum. Truly, one can read and participate on both.
I spend a little time on other forums here and these numbers don’t shock me.
Slightly off topic, but there is a thread about knowing CC’ers IRL and was it weird to meet up. Meeting MT CC’ers seem so natural to me. I think it is a result of how active these boards are (to tie my point back to topic). I find myself so vested in some of your stories. I also eagerly look forward to seeing your performers thrive in school and after. So meeting up for coffee, pizza, Broadway shows, lunch, and to see your kiddo in their show nearby (I’ve done all of these) feels normal.
