So I was accepted to Tisch at NYU and I got my studio placement today–Meisner! I never really had a studio preference (besides being a little apprehensive of Strasberg), and they didn’t ask me about a preference at my audition. I was wondering if anybody on here has any really up to date info on Meisner? All the stuff I’m finding on CC seems to be from several years ago…unless there are some threads I’m just not finding, in which case I’d really appreciate it if someone could post links! Other than that, I’d love to connect with any students in the Meisner studio, or parents of students in the studio, just to get a deeper sense of it all.
I have no NYU specific information but my son has been studying Meisner method this year at Rutgers Mason Gross as a BFA Acting student. He was shocked by the dramatic improvement in his acting skills over this past year. He just he recently watched taped monologues from his college auditions versus current ones and that brought it home. He has definitely found Meisner very challenging and intense and exhausting at times. He says he is very grateful and happy that he will get extensive Meisner training at Rutgers (which you would too at NYU Meisner) as opposed to several classes with a little bit of several different methods (toolbox) that he might have gotten elsewhere. He feels strongly about that. He is a very instinctual, improv-y actor, and before college his training and approach was more Adler-like. So his personal toolbox is expanding any way I gather. This seems to be so personal to each actor - ultimately you draw on what you find useful in your work. Good luck and congratulations to you!
I will trade you! I got into the Playwrights Horizon studio! I am so disappointed and will likely not go to NYU now. At least you are in an acting studio! Unfortunately there does not seem to be much outside information online about the various studios to help make the decision.
I’m so sorry you didn’t get the studio you wanted. But, please know that Playwrights IS an acting studio. I hope someone who has current info on Playwrights can chime in, as my son graduated in 2008.
I believe those students can do ANYTHING when they get out. It is a different philosophy, one that strives to produce a complete theater artist. It’s incredible how much you learn about acting when your acting lessons also include directing, designing, and even writing your own scenes.
I was thrilled when my son landed in Playwrights (and so was he). The fellow students who opt to become directors will be some of your favorite people.
Not to derail… on with Meisner.
I will second what jasmom said. Playwrights is a terrific studio and anyone who gets placed there will receive great training.
I have to say after reading some posts about studio placements in recent days, here and elsewhere, that it surprises me that so many applicants have not researched each studio before now. It’s one reason that I wish they’d return to having applicants indicate a studio preference during the interview portion of the artistic review, like they used to do. It seems that they, by doing so, would have a much more informed applicant pool.
I agree with you @alwaysamom - but in fairness to the kids- NYU doesn’t make it super easy to find out much about the studios. The websites are antiquated and light on info. The best way seems to be to research the original “founder” (Adler, Meisner, Strasberg etc) for some studios- but that won’t work for all. You can’t really visit individual studios during tours etc - they don’t make it easy to find out specifics. You just sort of have to rely on the sorting hat to make sure it all works out.
With that said - I don’t think there is a “bad” studio at NYU. Every singe one offers a respected and long established approach to acting and art. (and that includes playwrights- some REALLY cool stuff comes out of there!) Unless a kid has gone to a PA school, summer intensive, or had some other specific training in acting (which I think is the least common- kids take dance lessons and singing lessons, and get help with monologues- but fewer seem to have acting classes) they may not really know the difference. So unless you KNOW that there is a technique you have a problem with- don’t judge until you are there. My D did the summer program there in HS- and a lot of those kids end up applying for/attending NYU. They ended up in all different studios- and some were very unhappy when the emails came out last year. I asked about this just the other day- D says that everyone she knows from “before” are in love with their studio now- it becomes your family.
Thank you for the encouraging responses! I will be attending the accepted student event this weekend and hope to learn more. My biggest concern with PHS is the lack of dance and vocal training and I am also hearing it is the most time consuming studio making it harder to dual major or minor. While my dream is theater… I had hoped to back it up with a good fall back and it feels like this studio is the least likely to accommodate this. Also, not to whine, but it feels like this studio is a bit of a catch all. The lack of good information about PHS makes it hard to address my concerns. I am going to attend with a positive attitude and an open mind and will let you know what I learn.
@sadsk8er There is a Playwrights Horizon FB page that you might want to take a look at and possibly message a couple of the members and see what they have to say.
Well good for you for investigating and keeping an open mind! I hope you have a great weekend and you leave with clarity.
Follow up…It was a jam packed weekend at NYU! What an amazing place! I believe any studio is good however not every studio is a good fit for a particular student. While I believe I would thrive in PHS I am afraid I would have to give up singing and dance to do this studio as they are not part of the curriculum. If I were placed in one of the other studios with singing or dance my decision would be made and I would be going to NYU. Sadly, I am faced with having to make a hard decision and likely will not attend NYU.
Just in case you aren’t quite ready for complete clarity, all Tisch students can take private voice (1credit?) unless things have changed. That doesn’t completely resolve your concerns. I do wish you the best. I love that you know what type of training you want. :)>-
@sadsk8er As @jasmom already mentions, students in any studio can take private voice lessons. There are also dance electives in Open Arts.
But the main reason for my post is to make you aware that Playwrights Horizon has a Musical Theater Practicum! Did you know that?
https://drama.tisch.nyu.edu/object/dr_studios_phts_overview.html
So, if I recall, this MT practicum is fully immersive for an entire semester and is an option within PH studio.
Further, some of the students studying directing, put on musicals. My D was not in Playwrights, but one year, she was in Little Shop of Horrors at Playwrights, which was a directing project of one of the PH students.
Further…I am aware that my D’s very good friend who she went to Tisch with in CAP21 studio, who is now a professional director and choreographer (in fact, both are involved in an event together tonight in NYC as I am typing this!), teaches dance as part of the second AND third year performance curriculum in Playwrights Horizon studio! So, there’s that too!
I’m not trying to convince you to attend Tisch/PH…but do talk to current students and alum and make sure you are aware of everything this studio offers, and on top of that, after two years, you can switch to another studio if you wish.
Thank you for all this great info! I asked every faculty member and student I saw this weekend and was told there is no singing or dance in the first 2 years at PHS. The PHS student conducting my tour said this studio shifts to more technical curriculum and most “actor types” opt out to another studio after the required 2 year commitment is up. Yes, you can use an elective for voice or dance but not both. Private is an option but with a $70,000 price tag that could be tough. Also, everyone said anything extra is nearly impossible because of the time requirement for this studio.
soozievt:
Playwrights does provide some musical theater training in the “advanced” studio which is not until year 3 or 4 if you choose to stay in that studio. It is only 1 semester and after 2 years out of it, I feel like I would be behind students have have focused on those skills the entire time.
@sadsk8er I just wanted to make sure you knew of all these possibilities to take voice, dance and the MT Practicum at PH. The dance course in Playwrights that my D’s good friend teaches is part of the 2nd and 3rd year performance curriculum in PH. PH is not going to equate with a BFA in MT program, that’s true. But there are opportunities to take voice and dance and MT while in this studio, as well as acting of course. Also, at Tisch, students in any studio can audition for MainStage musicals (my D was in a MainStage musical at Tisch and students came from many of the acting studios), as well as be in student run musicals (my D was involved in those too) and sometimes musicals at other studios (my D was in a musical at Strasberg studio, even though at the time she was in CAP21 studio) and as I mentioned, she was in a directing project for a PH studio directing student of a musical. I just wanted to make sure you were aware of these things since your initial post came across as NO opportunities to do any singing, dancing, or MT! But perhaps this is not the place for you. Did you apply to BFA in MT programs and did you get into one? If you want to focus on MT, that would likely be a great choice if you have that option.
My D’s passion is MT. She was accepted to a few MT programs at other universities and also to NYU Tisch Lee Strasberg studio. She feels she should choose the BFA MT program as that’s her true passion, however is uneasy about passing on NYU Tisch as she knows she would learn so much there…also the price tag is a major driving factor for us all! Decision time approaching quickly!
No question there are opportunities in all the studios at Tisch making this decision so hard!!! Yes I did get into other BFA MT programs. Had I not, I would definitely be taking my chances at Tisch in PHS. It seems to me the choice is between dedicating 4 years to a true MT program or hoping for a CHANCE at SOME musical theater opportunities in the Tisch PHS studio.
Danils: I don’t believe the Lee Strasberg Theater is as far from MT as the PHS Studio. I could be wrong but I think either singing or dance is part of the core curriculum meaning you only need to pick up one skill outside of the program.
It sounds like you would prefer a BFA in MT program and I truly understand and fortunately, you have that option!
So many of my D’s peers who were in the acting studios at Tisch are very talented in MT and have gone onto MT careers including Broadway.
My D was in the CAP21 (MT studio at the time) at Tisch, but if anyone had told me when she entered college that after 5 semesters she would switch to ETW studio for 3 semesters, I would have not believed it. She is VERY into music and is known as a singer. However, she had more voice and dance training before college than acting and liked a chance to concentrate on acting in ETW, plus there was some singing and dance in ETW and she took private voice, and she wrote her first original musical in ETW and starred in it there as a project. So, it might be hard for you to imagine this too as a MT person but that is just the nature of Tisch and there are MT type students in all the studios and some opportunities for training and performing in those areas. She was also in an a coed a cappella group all four years at Tisch and many of the members were from acting studios. Many of them have gone onto successful music and MT careers. Just a thought. But it may feel to you as a better fit to attend a BFA in MT program.
(by the way, I always thought of PHS and Strasberg as the two non-MT studios that offered the most MT of the Acting studios, and then ETW)
My oldest daughter will graduate from NYU this spring and was in Meisner her first two years. Her experience was a good one overall. She loved her teachers, made terrific friends and learned a lot, felt challenged etc… Vicki, the head of the studio, is awesome and her speech teacher Gigi was particularly fabulous. The kids really bond to one another. The performance opportunities within Meisner are very limited but NYU/Tisch has lots of options for kids to get involved. The expense is enormous, really enormous, and several of her friends had to leave because of the cost.
Cost is certainly enormous! I was awarded academic scholarships to every other school but nothing from NYU and didnt qualify for financial aide. My parents tell me if NYU is where I need to be they will pay which I really appreciate but it makes me even more aware of it needing to be the right decision. if they are going to spend $70,000 + per year it better be for my dream and not 1/2 of my dream. I never imagined my college decision would be this hard!
sadsk8er, you strike me as a very rational thinker (and I know your parents are proud that you are taking such care with this decision). I wish for you what I wished (and wish) for my son and daughter, that you choose a path where you feel challenged and excited everyday, where you look forward to what you’ll learn next, and where you’ll take full advantage of the amazing opportunities your parents are subsidizing or helping to subsidize. If you have options that will provide those opportunities, you can’t go wrong. Choose. Enjoy.