<p>Oh, boy. This again? I came into this with my main ambition being to play the classics at the big Shakespearean festivals and repertory companies and the advice I got and found to be spot on was that the high contact hour conservatories are the way to go for that if you don’t want to spend seven years in academia to get an MFA. To my knowledge, the ones of those that also have at least a small MT component are Juilliard and UNCSA. CMU also obviously has their vaunted MT program, but you’d need to check to see how much of that is available to the acting majors who get the full classical training. The way I understand it, they do a lot of scene work in in the classics while the MTers break off and do theirs in the range of MT styles. If somebody with intimate knowledge of both sides of the program knows better, please correct me if I’m wrong. I also understand there to be some flexibility in the UM Guthrie program that allows upperclassmen to take extra singing and dance classes. They’re not a full out conservatory like the others due to a fairly strong liberal arts core they have to complete about which I’ve mainly heard people who were initially enthusiastic complain, but they have graduates playing in virtually every major festival in the country. Hell, this years cast at The Acting Company is mainly made up of their graduates.</p>
<p>And just so some of the newer parents don’t think I’m alone in this opinion and take me as slighting their kids’ programs, I’ll just repost a comment by Doctorjohn from a similar discussion some years back. He is the chair of Otterbein program which was recommended earlier in the thread …</p>
<p>Actually it is not a “this again” dating back to the days of Wally’s World. (Good times). It’s a different question and therefore up until now the replies have attempted to address what is being asked. The OP has a rising high school junior daughter a year out from even applying to colleges and still sorting out her options. At this point unlike what your goals were by the time you applied for college, she is not stating that her main ambition is being able to play the classics at the cost of all else including studying MT. She wants training in the classics, training in music theatre, an urban environment and to be around smart peers. So to that end, I for one attempted to answer what that would look like in the only program that I actually know something about directly and what I wrote is correct and should not be dismissed within the context of the question. Same can be said for all other replies the preceded yours. </p>
<p>Your advice makes complete sense within the context of wanting all in for the classics or bust with no possibility deferring that study to an MFA later as referenced by Dr. John in your quote. I assume you have direct knowledge of the schools you claim are superior for classics work including Juilliard, UNCSA, CMU and Guthrie to speak to their training and that they also offer MT training. Or you are simply offering your opinion. By reputation they certainly seem to be excellent schools. Juilliard, CMU and Guthrie also check the “urban” box and hopefully the people that attend those fine programs are also smart and academically successful across a variety of disciplines. I’d not argue with your advice and I would also not dismiss what has already been written about other programs either.</p>
<p>As an aside to fishbowlfreshman…did you know that OSF also commissions and stages new musicals now too? Some voice/dance work may even come in handy there! :D</p>
<p>I have to agree with halflokum that the question on THIS thread is not the same as the question that Dr. John (and fishbowl) was responding to (quite effectively) asked years ago by WallyWorld.</p>
<p>Keep in mind, too, that the OP’s D loves Shakespeare, but also has a goal in mind of pursuing acting for TV, not the Shakespearean stage so much. Add in that she desires to continue with some MT training, even if acting training will be her primary emphasis.</p>
Yeah. How’d that go??? And yes. That’s why they do at least a little MT work at the schools I recommended. </p>
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The question itself is a bit different, but the answer is still essentially the same as to the classical component to which I was responding. That’s apparently what the OP’s D wants to emphasize first and foremost and it’s really the one area of training that isn’t available in any real depth outside of academia. And the bottom line is that no school can do it all in four years. One thing is going to have to be sacrificed for another whether it be the in-depth classical component, singing, dance, liberal arts or what have you. It’s like former Dean at UNCSA Gerald Freedman used to say. “There are twenty four hours in a day. They’re not enough!” So basically, if she wants the advanced MT training, she’s going to have to wait for grad school for the in-depth classical component. It’s just a choice she’s going to have to make. That’s not calling any program superior or inferior like the words HalfaKlum seems to want to put in my mouth. It’s just a matter of what is prioritized in the limited time the faculty has to work with you. </p>
<p>As for TV and film, most schools make something of an attempt, but none in America do it particularly well. That’s best handled in the non-scholastic studios and by getting some practical experience in front of the camera other than at the UK schools who’ve caught on to the differences and have begun to more effectively train their students in them. That’s why I didn’t address that. And btw, I notice that a couple of them now offer a one-year “advanced classical” option post-graduate. I’ll hypothesize that’s because of the room they’ve had to make in the schedule for the screen acting component. But, of course I couldn’t have attended all these schools, so it’s just a hypothesis. Interestingly, couple of others also now offer an MA in Screen Acting.</p>
<p>I’m just saying that the OP’s daughter likes Shakespeare and wants to get some training in it but never really said she is hoping for intense Shakespeare work over all else. So, I think the suggestions on this thread have been pretty spot on as to where she might be able to get acting training but also do some MT, which is what I hear her saying, and that the acting training includes work on Shakespeare/classical. </p>
<p>As far as OSF, I prefer to be emailed privately, as what you were referring to (which is very much ongoing) identifies her directly. </p>
<p>Unrelated to that, I just realized that ironically to this thread, my D was just cast in something significant, that I am not allowed to mention yet, and while she is a singer in it, it has to do with a work of Shakespeare.</p>
Left turn. And maybe a left turn is actually the correct turn (almost said is actually the “right” turn but that would have been directionally confusing). But provocative even if correct and come on, you knew that when you wrote it.</p>
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<p>Your read of the priorities expressed in the question. You might be right. Or not. I and many others read the question differently. I thought your contribution was valuable to the discussion. It just didn’t have to be the final word and I assume nor would you expect it to be.</p>
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Gosh isn’t that the truth? I tried to express as much in my mention of my own daughter’s wish that she could get in on some of the acting programs that are available to the actors in her program. It’s a huge problem if you dig this stuff whether it relates to loving the classics, dance, improv, want to sing to the rafters or whatever. The people that would gladly do it all are forced to choose or spend more years in study. Perhaps a lifetime.</p>
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As I know you would also say to that comment were implied about something you wrote, recheck what I wrote because I never suggested you said any program was inferior and on the contrary I said that if these schools are superior for classical training, I leave it to people other than me to know that. Maybe you do know the details firsthand about those programs. Or you have a strong opinion based on whatever informed experiences you are bringing to the table. Not my call and not what I said. I’m staying in my lane and only posting about the one and only program that I do know something about. I’m allowed to do that and as a data point it is potentially helpful if somebody current from that program does so when asked something that applies to what they know. What I won’t do never did is render opinions about the training in programs that I don’t directly know anything about. Others will and do but it’s not my gig because other than showing up as the roadie for auditions at other programs, I can’t really know what it is like to study there, the quality of the teaching etc. I’m pretty sure I’m in the clear here. Feel free to check.</p>
<p>If she applies to Tisch, then my suggestion would be that she audition for MT and say that she will accept any studio assignment. If she does get in NSB MT, then she can pursue that training for two - three years, and then audition for the Classical Studio and / or for the study abroad at RADA. There is also (I am pretty sure) an elective(s) in Shakespeare open to all Drama students. She can add a semester of Stonestreet (screen acting) senior year as well (which many Tisch students do).</p>
<p>Note that in the primary studio at Playwrights Horizons, there is not an MT practicum - that is an advanced studio option, ie, beginning in junior year (and PH has changed their advanced studios, and perhaps even their primary training, this year, so it would be good to check out the situation there if this becomes necessary later for OP). </p>
<p>My experience with students I know who have gone / are going to Tisch is that they may enter with one path in mind, and then discovered different options they wanted to prefer instead. This may happen to students at other BFA programs as well; I can only speak to what I know from my experience.</p>
<p>Thank you, all of you, for giving us so much to think about. mommadrama, I love the statement from LAMDA, and fishbowlfreshman and acting mom, I also appreciate your thoughts about the UK schools – very interesting to hear that, even though they accept few Americans, they do accept them right out of high school.</p>
<p>LAMDA and NYU are definitely high on our list, and I deeply appreciate the feedback about the various studio options at NYU. </p>
<p>As for Julliard and CMU, which have both come up… Several of my daughters’ teachers want her to apply to Julliard, but I sort of feel as if that’s a waste of time, given the reputation, extreme selectivity. But maybe it’s worth it just to take a shot? I guess we have time to decide.</p>
<p>As for CMU – to be very honest, we were warned away from applying to CMU by a friend who was an actor and playwright in NY before jumping to the west coast to become a TV writer. He said everyone he knew who went there talked about how “mean” the program was, how much competition there was between students. This weighs in to the “nurturing vs. bullying” equation, perhaps. But of course, he’s one guy, and he’s spreading only what he’s heard. </p>
<p>We’re adding to our list, thanks to all of you wonderful folks! Thank you!</p>
<p>Payingourdues: I wouldn’t shy away from applying to Juilliard. Granted when my D was wait listed there she was devastated (but now thrilled about going to LAMDA), she said the experience she received at Juilliard at the auditions was worth it. During the callback stage and final callbacks she said she learned so much and it was an invaluable experience. Give it a try knowing their selectivity and tell her to enjoy it! Good luck in this process. My D has grown tremendously this last year through it all</p>
<p>I was going to say the same thing about Juiiliard. Their process is the most thorough of any school. If you get into the final callback round they said it means you are of the caliber to train at Juilliard. Unfortunately they have to cut half of those that make the final weekend, but if you got that far it would be a real ego boost I would think! And an amazing educational experience.
And another way to look at it- It’s a bit like winning the lottery. If you don’t buy a ticket you will never win!</p>
Was this an older person? They apparently have “the bad old days” just like the old school Juilliard and BU, but I’ve never heard such a thing from anybody who went there recently. And I know around ten different graduates in their 20s. If anything, a complaint might be that they’ve gone too soft. So you might want to ask some others about that who’ve studied there in the last decade or so.</p>
<p>Finances, however, have to be a concern if you aren’t wealthy since since it’s your daughter you’re talking about. The head of the program has been notoriously quoted as saying “I can always get good girls” in response to why the big scholarships tend to go to boys …</p>
<p>Thank you, all, about Julliard – sure, maybe it’s worth it to buy a lottery ticket!</p>
<p>And Fishbowl, yes – it was indeed an older person talking about CMU. See, that’s why it’s good to check in here, because so often people’s information is out of date! Thank you!</p>
<p>Juilliard and CMU are definitely both lottery schools!</p>
<p>My concern about Juilliard and a few other schools was that if a student decides to change course in his or her studies, there won’t be many options that wouldn’t require changing colleges. My son will be a MT major at Ithaca in the fall, and I am pleased with his choice for many reasons, one of which is that if he finds that MT is not for him, he could major in Acting, Vocal Performance, Theatre Tech, or Communications, as well as other liberal arts options. </p>
<p>Come to think of it, does Juilliard offer a technical theatre degree? Does anyone here know? Just curious.</p>
<p>No, Juilliard is music, including operatic voice, but not music theatre voice, dance and acting. They have staff to do the tech work. The place is amazing. If you can, take the tour. Fascinating building. There are about 800 students. Around 600 are in music, and 100 each in dance and acting. These are rough estimates I’m remembering. It’s not a school to learn tech.<br>
Someone on our tour wanted to go to school at Juilliard for MT. And although we were told the acting students sometimes do a musical, Juilliard does not teach MT. It was a bit embarrassing for that family who had traveled from the Midwest to tour the school.</p>
<p>LOL - that’s like the HS graduates from Glee who always assumed they’d go to Juilliard only to find out too late that they didn’t teach MT! Even TV characters don’t do the necessary research!</p>
<p>Half of those wouldn’t be on the list if it weren’t for the help from everyone here!.. Still looking to about double the list for when my daughter has to turn in a preliminary list later this year. (So we have to expand the list, then contract it again.)</p>