<p>I am with supportive. It does seem like there are more plays than musicals but often times (not always) musical have bigger casts. Still, a singing, dancing actor will always have a shot right?</p>
<p>There are going to be roles in musicals where if you can sing and dance, but you aren’t that strong of an actor, you can get cast. But if you can’t act, then you are not going to get cast in plays. And as a theatre lover, I hate seeing any kind of show where the actors can’t ACT. I don’t care if it is a musical.</p>
<p>My D is leaning towards the MT BFA. The school she’s been accepted to for MT is strong in acting and she’ll be able to audition and perform both in plays and musicals.</p>
<p>jeffandann- your daughter was accepted to BSU for MT and Western Mich for AT from what I remember of the big thread, correct? I know a sophomore MT at BSU and a freshman MT who is transferring to AT next year (in hopes of pursuing a grad degree in directing when he’s done) at Western. Feel free to PM me if you think your daughter might want to talk to either of them, maybe I could get them in touch via Facebook or email.</p>
<p>I have seen many musicals where the leads could sing really well and passably move on stage but could NOT act! Believe me- it’s excruciating! Think about people who have won Tony’s for musicals that were not that strong of a singer but could NAIL the acting! Richard Harris, Rex Harrison, and Natasha Richardson come to mind! My daughter is a really strong dancer and almost every time she auditioned for the summer high school musical, she was cast as a dancer because not many of the other kids could dance at all. She kept wanting to scream to them- hey- I can act and sing too!</p>
<p>Thanks MTcoach; I’ll pass that along to my D. Obviously she wants to take her time and make sure she makes the best decision for her future. There’s a lot to mull over.</p>
<p>actingchicsmama, I believe you may be the parent I had such a nice time visiting with while our children auditioned at Webster. Congratulations to your daughter for having some fine choices. Ironically, Webster is the only wildcard for us. Although, I’m not holding out a lot of hope at this point. My son is setting up a visit to Hartt, and if all goes well, that will be his choice. Good luck to you!</p>
<p>Hi - I appreciate the humor in this thread. The real answer lies in the heart of the applicant - what do they really want to be doing and do they have the right stuff to do it. There’s a place for us… somewhere a place… Practically speaking, if you can sing, dance and act to some reasonable degree - the MT course is likely better for a young actor. It is simple math - there are far more opportunities for a person if they can pursue both dramatic and musical roles. I had a student/friend who had a great bass baritone voice, moved well, and was a fine actor - his undergrad was a BA in MT, he went to Rutgers for the MFA in acting - he got out and had agents immediately interested in him - and was told “85% of the gigs I would put in for you would be musicals”. This is because he was young and capable of doing musicals. He did mostly musicals for the first 7 or 8 years - then transitioned into dramatic roles. he is still working, a lot, in his mid-forties, although now he his married with a child and has begun exploring teaching at the university level. Many of the good BFA programs in MT feature acting training either on par or very nearly on par with the acting BFA training - check this out - because if you can get BFA actor training with BFA added components of voice and dance - that would be the way to go. Good journey…</p>
<p>My D just accepted the BFA MT offer.</p>
<p>I think if a kid has the choice between the MT and the acting degree, it’s very much about their goals and who they are. That being said, if their goal is MT, I don’t think it rules the acting degree out because the program will very much define what they’re able to achieve. The obvious choice is the MT degree of course, but the AT degree isn’t necessarily ONLY for those wanting to pursue straight acting. If the kid has interest in doing cabaret type shows or performing on a cruise ship, etc, then the acting degree may not be as useful. Something that I think is so interesting about musicals is that there are so many ways to get there depending on where you fit in. My friend who graduated as a VP from Oberlin just booked the nat’l tour of Oklahoma, students with dance degrees find success on Broadway (I suppose I should say with musicals in general) as do students who have acting degrees. The college experience is very much about figuring out how you can best develop the skills and relationships you’ll need to move on to the next step. The resources of each program might be very surprising to the student given what s/he wants. The best route is not always obvious or easy to find! Given all that, the MT degree IS likely the best choice, but I think the AT degree is definitely not to be ruled out as the best choice.</p>
<p>On other notes- I, too, appreciated the humour happening here 
And congrats to your kids getting to the point of making their final decisions! How exciting!</p>
<p>Congrats to your D, jeffandann - it is great to finally make the decision! </p>
<p>"Somethin’s coming, I don’t know what it is, but it is, gonna be GREAT!!!</p>
<p>I have really enjoyed reading this thread. My D started out looking for Musical Theatre programs. As the year went on she realized that not only was dancing not her strong suit, she really did not want to be in a major where dance lessons would be a big part of major. She is a very strong actor and singer. After all was said and done she decided on going for Acting, but with the availability to audition for musicals. She is determined to advance her dancing skills, along with growing as an actress and singer during her college years. I agree with all of you, that the student needs to really look at who they are and what direction they want to grow. I’m very proud of my D, I know she will thrive and grow the next 4 years.</p>
<p>Momintex, congrats. I am so impressed by the maturity of these kids. Sounds like your D and mine really thought things through, and then came to opposite conclusions. My D came into the process looking to get better at dance and found a program that gives her just that, along with excellent voice and acting. My best wishes to you and your D.</p>
<p>jeffadann - congrats on a decision being made!!!</p>
<p>Echoing the congrats jeffandann!</p>
<p>Thanks folks. And one of her best friends also decided on the same school today, so she’ll have at least one friend on campus.</p>
<p>Marbleheader just saw your post. Is it too late to get you to play for our side? :)</p>
<p>I’ll go where the money is, baby!</p>
<p>Halflokum:: Did you have a child in West Side Story?</p>
<p>^^alas no. She has never done that show but what is not to like about it :)?</p>