<p>We are very new to the process of finding programs, figuring out acceptance/audition details, etc. Last week we visited Arizona State University in Tempe and learned some about their musical theater program. My daughter is currently going into her senior year in HS. I have not found much info on this site yet about ASU, but lots about U of A, any input or feedback on that? ASU told us that they admitted about 90 students into their MT program each year, based on what I'm learning about other programs, that number seems way too high, maybe I misinterpreted the information... Any comments, help or input would be appreciated.</p>
<p>We visited both this spring, not for music but as part of the NMF scholarship offers. I liked UofA better as far as layout, as both are large universities. ASU seemed to go on forever or at least the tour made it seem that way.:) </p>
<p>At both places everyone was very nice. Phoenix I guess gets hotter than Tucson (at least that's what Uof A rep said). </p>
<p>ASU may admit that many because of the size of the University, it's a big one. </p>
<p>Anyway, my D chose neither school as the environment (sand,sagebrush, cacti) were far to different for her, and both schools were big. Between the two, we (parents) liked UA, not as big, very very nice people, not so busy. Really thought it would have been a great choice, but we aren't the ones going to college.</p>
<p>I don't know much about either, except what I have read on this forum. According to "The Big List" ASU offers a BM as it's MT degree, as opposed to the BFA offered by U of A. This would offer a different curriculum, with probably more music classes than dance and acting classes. I would look carefully at the department info to check that. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but may be a better fit more some students than others.
Read all the info about U of A at the top of the main MT page, as it is important to understand what a cut policy is, and how it works at U of A. In fact, if you have not already read the FAQ link, that is a great place to start. If you are looking in the southwest, you might want to look at The College of Santa Fe program also. There are several people here that know about that program.</p>
<p>I wonder how many of those admitted students actualy end up at ASU. I can't imagine any department gracefully handling that number of students.</p>
<p>ASU has been discussed before, but you would have to "search" to find it. We didn't look at either school, but I agree with much of what has been written above. </p>
<p>ASU is a HUGE campus, as we drove through when in the Phoenix area on vacation several years ago. We know some people (distantly related to us) who got into too much partying at that school (not related to music or MT) and didn't do that well. Of course, partying is available at many campuses, both big and small. I think their MT program is definitely music focused, and I think they have a great music dept. You would just need to check out how it does in the other areas of MT training. I know that their dance dept. also has a good reputation, but you would need to check out how integrated it is with the MT dept.</p>
<p>U Arizona - I think is primarily acting based but has decent dance. There has been some discussion about how much the students get in private voice lessons, so double check this. The biggest concern about that program is the recent discussion about cuts, which anothermom-w-q mentioned - be sure to read. I think, though, that I read more about grad's of UA being successful than I do about ASU.</p>
<p>Please e-mail me (from drop down menu) if you would like more ideas on programs to consider. If you do, please tell me where you live, area of country interested in, and what area / areas your daughter wants to focus on. Good luck!</p>
<p>Thanks for the input, I did read about the cutting policy at UofA, a little scary. We've just started our search and are not specifically focusing on the southwest, just happened to be there so we went to take a look.</p>
<p>U of A has decent acting, just like Ericsmom says, and it has a very good dance department, but the MT students don't take dance in that department. The theatre department (which houses the MT program), the music department, and the dance department are very very separate. I am also afraid of the cut policies. I just heard that a boy who was in Side Show last spring and seemed extremely talented was cut.</p>
<p>Maybe things have changed....but in the past the music theatre program at ASU used to have only around 12 students per class. They do have a masters program but I can't imagine that with all classes combined that they would have had more than 50 students at a time. I would double check these numbers. And yes..this is a music based program and the students receive a Bachelor of Music.</p>
<p>UA offers a BFA degree in musical theatre. ASU only offers a BA. </p>
<p>therein lies the major difference. UA houses a large BA theatre college (almost 400 students) and within that a small, exclusive BFA program of only about 50 students (25 acting, 25 musical theatre). </p>
<p>the MT program at UA is strong, but selective. they do have cuts whereas ASU does not make cuts. </p>
<p>UA MT majors DO indeed take dance classes at the dance department. </p>
<p>There was, indeed, a young man in SIDESHOW who was very talented and was cut from the program in May...his cut had less to do with talent and more to do with conflicting interests, priorities, and time. </p>
<p>I just graduated from UA with a BFA last month...so any questions about the program i would be happy field....just PM me or ask on this thread. </p>
<p>thanks!</p>
<p>Don't be afraid of the cut policies, by the way:)</p>
<p>If you make it into the program...all you have to do is listen, work hard, and try to grow as you learn (which is easy because the faculty wants you to grow). </p>
<p>Typical cuts are about 5 kids per year. Less than many colleges around the country. This year was a STRANGELY large year for cuts.</p>
<p>ASU has a Bachelor of Music. They have many BA's, but their degree for musical theatre is a BM.</p>
<p>yes, i apologize. it is a BM. </p>
<p>but not a BFA.</p>
<p>Bumping for Patsy.</p>
<p>Does anyone have any more recent experience with the musical theater program at ASU?</p>
<p>The Obama spoof on SNL just picked Arizona State over Un. of AZ! Not Kidding. They did
apologize to Un. of AZ.</p>
<p>I don’t have any recent experience with the program at ASU, but do know someone that was in their MT program a few years ago. I have no clue if the faculty is the same, but do know that they have a top notch music program and nice facilities. I think there were only 10 or 11 in his entire class which means a lot of personal attention. At that time, it seemed that the MT program was very much focused on Opera and classical Voice. Acting and dance were not major components of their program but this could have changed. Several courses in music theory are required at all schools that have a Bachelor in Music and Music Theatre majors take the same classes as the other music majors. At that time, auditions for the musicals were open to the entire student body of the University. As far as partying…I had to laugh at that as I think that is the same at pretty much every university.</p>
<p>Which has the stronger program in theater production?</p>
<p>As a UofA grad (not MT) I’d have to say UofA is always the better choice! Sorry, couldn’t resist 
</p>
<p>I don’t know much about either program, but when I went to UofA’s school of music it was pretty disconnected from the theater program (as someone said earlier). But it is a good school and I really enjoyed my time there.</p>
ASU offers a distinct BM in Musical Theatre. The program has robust acting and dance requirements every single semester in addition to comprehensive vocal and musical training. The program has about 40 undergraduate musical theatre majors. Class sizes range from 10-12 students per class. The Lyric Opera Theatre program produces two musicals and two operas per year, plus student workshops and scenes/showcase productions. ASU offers many opportunities for cross-disciplinary studies and collaborations with theatre, film, dance, arts, media and design. Alumni are active on Broadway and in national tours, perform at leading opera houses all over the world, and many actually teach and lead other college musical theatre programs of their own. Being in Phoenix, many of the students take advantage of opportunities to work with the many other theatres in the area, including though formal collaborations with Phoenix Theatre and Arizona Opera. music.asu.edu/lot