Some websites do not reveal much, so I ask the CC community: how active are these departments of theatre and music? Trying to find out how many faculty-directed main stage productions a year, the frequency in which they produce musicals, and if theatre majors get credit (even partial) when they are cast in mainstage productions.
Are the music departments open to student interested in jazz vocals and songwriting? Is there inter-departmental collaboration?
How well-funded are the visual and performing arts at these schools?
How much performing experience would a theatre major get?
Are the theatre departments more interested in experimental theatre than commercial theatre and traditional narrative storytelling? How connected are the faculty to major performing arts markets like NY, LA, Washington, Cleveland, Boston?
Would theatre, music, and fine arts majors feel isolated or marginalized or under-supported on these campuses?
Daughter is seeking a liberal arts degree, not a BFA, and is undecided between theatre (emphasis on performance) and music as majors.
The schools below ended up on her long list of possibilities to investigate.
University of Richmond?
Gettysburg?
Dickinson?
Furman University?
William and Mary?
Colgate?
Hamilton?
Franklin and Marshall?
And on the next two, while there is some info on the school’s website, the information is very thin:
Trinity College?
Case Western?
Oberlin? (for the student NOT in the conservatory)
I am grateful for whatever tidbits on any of these places you can share.
I can’t help on the others but we visited Colgate with daughter #1 who is a back-stage theatre person and we felt the theatre facilities and number of productions per year disqualified the school from consideration for her. It just felt like the energy/support level for theatre was pretty low there.
My daughter was in a BFA program before switching schools but not at the colleges listed. See which ones do more musical theater to combine her interests is my suggestion. But saying this… My daughter left the BFA and changed to a BA but missed the academics. She is pursuing something else to combine her interests but still in the performance realm.
Furman’s Music department is highly rated and non-majors have lots of musical opportunities; a good percentage of non-majors participate in the widely varied musical groups; those with musical bent are thoroughly integrated in all aspects of the school and the student body as a whole is pretty proud of the quality of the music program. I do not have info on its musical theatre possibilities.
Of the schools on which I’d feel comfortable commenting, I’d recommend, for different reasons, William & Mary and Hamilton. W&M simply offers, through both curricular and extracurricular opportunities, one of the nation’s strongest music programs (though their emphasis tends towards classical). Hamilton’s beautiful theatre and studio arts facilities in the center of campus, with associated art museum, indicate a commitment to the visual and performing arts too substantial to ignore.
I love Kenyon and it is strong in both academics and arts - but be advised it is a very small school in a rather isolated area (which killed it for my D)
Hamilton’s location tends to rate as suburban when categorized by outside agencies, and the school’s shuttle can in fact get students to true, nearby suburban areas conveniently: https://www.hamilton.edu/campuslife/transportation/the-jitney. Regarding weather, clouds, from a metereologic perspective, tend to soften temperature extremes. A personal appreciation for the romance of winter snows, as well as for a generally woodsy environment, can serve to enhance the overall Hamilton experience for certain students.
With respect to Kenyon, the vibrancy of their theatre and arts programs can supersede perceptions related to isolation.
My son had a very tough time turning down Kenyon’s offer of admission. I would have been very happy to have him go there. Definitely worth a strong look, in my opinion. Son ended up opting for an acting BFA. Still, he didn’t turn down the Kenyon offer until the last second. He liked Kenyon a lot.
Case Western has a BA and does one musical a year. It’s a small program with smart students. There’s a connection to the Cleveland Play House, which benefits their students, and because of their graduate program, they have access to more faculty. If musicals are important, I’d consider Baldwin Wallace.