B.A. to M.F.A.

College Majors Theater/Drama Majors
21

<p>I’ve glanced at this thread, but frankly hadn’t paid too much attention since we don’t have a graduate program here at Otterbein. But I just realized as I read through it that no one has mentioned the U/RTA schools. The University/Resident Theatre Association has 37 member schools which offer MFA degrees in one or more areas. To quote from the website:</p>

<p>“The University/Resident Theatre Association was established in 1969 to work towards the highest standards in theatre production and performance, and to help bring resident professional theatre to the university campus and its community… One of the first projects U/RTA implemented was the National Unified Auditions/Interviews, or NUA/Is, to help talented student artists benefit from instruction and production programs and to contribute to the creative work of resident theatres.”</p>

<p>I taught at one member school–Southern Methodist University–in the late 70’s, and chaired another–Illinois State (and its partner resident theatre, the Illinois Shakespeare Festival)–in the late 80’s. These are good departments with solid MFA programs. Anyone considering an MFA degree needs to look at these schools. Here’s the website:</p>

<p>[url=<a href=“http://www.urta.com/]U/RTA[/url”>http://www.urta.com/]U/RTA[/url</a>]</p>

<p>A small handful of highly-reputed departments are not members, including Yale, NYU, Harvard, and UC San Diego. They have their reasons for not joining U/RTA, I’m sure. But discounting the U/RTA schools when researching MFA programs would be the equivalent of discounting any school other than Juilliard, North Carolina School of the Arts, and Carnegie-Mellon for undergraduate actor training.</p>

<p>Hope this helps.</p>

22

<p>Doctorjohn, are you saying there are three categories of schools offering theatre MFAs?</p>

<p>1.) The U/RTA schools.
2.) The small handful of highly regarded programs that are not U/RTA schools.
3.) Other schools with theatre MFAs.</p>

<p>Or…are almost all Theatre MFA programs U/RTA?</p>

<p>If there are schools other than that short list of Yale, Harvard, etc, that are non-U/RTA, what sets the U/RTA schools apart?</p>

<p>(Sorry if this is a dumb question. You said 37 schools are U/RTA, and I don’t know how many theatre MFA programs actually exist.)</p>

23

<p>Hate to speak for Doctorjohn but what the hey. I did mention URTA earlier in the thread…(just razzing you sir.)</p>

<p>U/RTA isn’t a category, it is a consortium. Think of it as a graduate school version of the BFA “unifieds” only more highly organized and codified. There are criteria in order to join and maintain membership. (disclaimer: the same may also be true of the BFA Unifieds but I never got that impression.)</p>

<p>The schools who are not a part of U/RTA are not necessarily highly regarded. There are highly regarded graduate programs who are not a part of U/RTA. U/RTA is quite a bit like the Equity. Being a member of Actor’s Equity equates to a certain experience, it often indicates a level of knowledge and ability. However, being a member of Actor’s Equity does not necessarily equate to quality. </p>

<p>There are many schools with MFA programs. And those programs range in quality, size, and focus. The variety is always amazing to me. It ranges from the Dell’arte Physical Theatre MFA all the way to the more contemporary training favored at many schools. </p>

<p>As I said, there are criteria for size and scope and general mission of a U/RTA program. What sets them apart is the large group of quality programs that all attend the National Unified Auditions and Interviews. </p>

<p>Certainly Doctorjohn will have much more to say. But I had some time to kill, and a small bit of knowledge. Please forgive.</p>

24

<p>Interesting about the great variety of MFA programs. I guess it’s easier to find a fit between an individual student and program than what you find with BAs and BFAs, which impart more general knowledge.</p>

<p>My son was once briefly exposed to commedia dell’arte and loved the masks and how their use influences one’s freedom of expression and physicality. I noticed that Tisch offers a pricey summer program in Florence. But a whole MFA in dell’arte physical theatre…my goodness.</p>

25

<p>kjgc gets to speak for me, given how long we’ve known each other, and how senile I’m getting… :slight_smile: Sorry I missed your mention of U/RTA, Ken. (but you left out the “/”… :))</p>

<p>kjgc’s right, NJTheatreMOM, about the plethora of graduate programs. I don’t know exactly how many are out there, but there have to be a handful in almost every state. I know that I’ve recommended this book before, but the Directory of Theatre Training Programs has information on MA, MFA and PhD programs as well as BA and BFA ones. Here’s their link:</p>

<p>[Theatre</a> Directories - Summer Theatres - Regional Theatres - Theatre Training Programs](<a href=“http://theatredirectories.com/training.html]Theatre”>http://theatredirectories.com/training.html)</p>

<p>Many, many of them are looking for teaching assistants, for their Intro to Theatre class or for their Intro to Acting class, anything which has multiple sections which simply cannot be staffed by full-time faculty. And they desperately need technicians to help build shows and supervise the practicums which virtually all freshmen do. Granting a tuition waiver and paying a small stipend is a lot cheaper than hiring from the community. Think of it as something like medical interns in teaching hospital.</p>

<p>As for U/RTA, kjgc’s right about this, too: not all are equal. But all did have to meet standards to join, and those standards are described on their website. When the organization was founded, it included having a resident professional theatre directly connected to the graduate program. I think those rules have loosened somewhat; it’s been a long time since I was involved. I’ll check and see what I can find out.</p>

<p>One thing they do which is incredibly useful, however, is the National Unified Auditions and Interviews for MFA programs. All 37 members attend, with members from their Design faculty as well as members from their Performance faculty. Students seeking an MFA program audition simultaneously (as 18 year-olds do at various Thespian conventions) and receive callback interviews, which are private. Most U/RTA schools are absolutely dependent on these auditions to recruit their incoming graduate classes.</p>

<p>(Yes, there are two “Unified Auditions”; no, they are not connected; the U/RTA ones came first; I had nothing to do with choosing the name for our undergraduate BFA auditions :))</p>

<p>And, just for fun, and to save people the labor of going to the U/RTA website, here’s the list of member schools and member resident theatres:</p>

<p>1 University of Alabama
2 University of Arizona / Arizona Repertory Theatre
3 Brandeis University
4 California Institute of the Arts
5 Caliornia State University, Fullerton
6 California State University, Long Beach / Cal Rep
7 University of California, Irvine
8 University of California, Los Angeles
9 University of Cincinnati, College Conservatory of Music
10 University of Connecticut / Connecticut Repertory Theatre
11 Florida State University
12 FSU / Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training
13 University of Florida
14 University of Illinois, Urbana/Champaign
15 Illinois State University / Illinois Shakespeare Festival
16 Indiana University
17 University of Iowa / Iowa Summer Repertory
18 University of Maryland
19 University of Minnesota
20 University of Missouri - Kansas City / KC Repertory Theatre
21 University of Nebraska, Lincoln / Nebraska Repertory
22 University of Nevada, Las Vegas / Nevada Conservatory Theatre
23 Northern Illinois University / Summer NITE
24 University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill / Playmakers Repertory Company
25 Northwestern University
26 The Ohio State University
27 Ohio University
28 Pennsylvania State University / Pennsylvania Centre Stage
29 Purdue University
30 University of South Carolina
31 Southern Methodist University
32 Temple University
33 University of Tennessee / Clarence Brown Theatre
34 University of Texas, Austin
35 University of Virginia / Heritage Repertory Theatre
36 University of Washington
37 University of Wisconsin, Madison
38 Kansas City Repertory Theatre
39 Illinois Shakespeare Festival
40 Iowa Summer Rep
41 Nebraska Repertory Theatre
42 Pennsylvania Centre Stage
43 SummerNITE FESTIVAL</p>

<p>For more information about the organization, including the difference between the schools and the theatres, go to [url=<a href=“http://www.urta.com/]U/RTA[/url”>http://www.urta.com/]U/RTA[/url</a>]</p>

<p>Hope this helps.</p>

26

<p>Thanks very much for the U/RTA list and the background info about U/RTA, Doctorjohn. </p>

<p>It’s interesting that some of the programs seem to appear twice on the list, such as: </p>

<ul>
<li><p>“28. Pennsylvania State University / Pennsylvania Centre Stage” and “42. Pennsylvania Centre Stage”</p></li>
<li><p>“43. SummerNITE FESTIVAL” and “23. Northern Illinois University / Summer NITE” </p></li>
<li><p>“39. Illinois Shakespeare Festival” and “15. Illinois State University / Illinois Shakespeare Festival”</p></li>
<li><p>In addition, there seem to be two MFA programs associated with FSU…</p></li>
</ul>

<p>I wonder how many of the MFA programs on the U/RTA list offer assistantships? I checked a few of the schools’ websites at random (including the website for Temple University, which is located near us) and could not find anything about assistantships on those particular ones. </p>

<p>Does anybody know of any U/RTA schools that definitely do offer assistantships? </p>

<p>(Probably that wonderful-sounding $50 theatre directory has the info in handy form, but I don’t really have any reason to purchase the book at this time. My son is currently a freshman in a BFA program that hopefully we can afford to keep him in for all four years. :slight_smile: I am just trying to understand the basics of theatre MFAs because this thread got me interested and curious. Hopefully these posts are proving to be of some value to others as well.)</p>

27

<p>Off the top of My head I am most familiar with the programs I interviewed with… Penn State, Indiana, Illinois State all offered assistantships for directors, and I believe actors. I believe that FSU/Asolo does for actors. If I remember correctly the FSU acting program is at Asolo and other programs are on the main campus? It has been a while since I was applying to grad school. Over the past few years we have graduates go to Yale, Pace, NYU, UCLA, Rutgers, Dell’Arte and USC, so I am a little more recently familiar with those programs, but even in those cases I can’t remember how exactly the financials worked. Really the best way to find out is to check the program websites. It is interesting too, because you really find out about the different kinds of programs!</p>

28

<p>Here is the information on the MFA Acting at Indiana University. It consists of 9 students. As an undergrad at IU many of my D’s intro theatre classes are taught by MFAs. </p>

<p>[Master</a> of Fine Arts, Acting](<a href=“http://www.theatre.indiana.edu/academics/graduate/acting.html]Master”>http://www.theatre.indiana.edu/academics/graduate/acting.html)</p>

29

<p>Thanks HoosierMom2012, that webpage makes the Illinois program look very attractive! I hope your daughter likes the MFA students who teach her.</p>

30

<p>She LOVES them NJ. She is in awe of their talent. And it’s Indiana not Illinois. As a BA she is competing at auditions against MFA and PHD for some shows. There are some shows however that the graduate students are not allowed to audition for. She gets a thrill out of it though. When she is called back with MFAs for a part she feels she has really accomplished something. And they inspire her to rise to their level. </p>

<p>Last year I remember a page devoted to the MFAs graduating. I tried to find it because I thought everyone would be interested in the people and backgrounds who were accepted into the program. But I can’t find it now :(</p>

31

<p>So what are opinions on B.A. to M.F.A. vs. B.F.A. to M.F.A? I feel like the more I ask around, the more I hear that the way to go is to first do a BA in Acting and then get your MFA in Acting rather than the BFA route because people get burned out with a BFA and MFA. I’m curious to see what you guys think. I’m in the midst of trying to decide BA or BFA.</p>

32

<p>EmiMcD, I don’t think many people get a BFA immediately followed by a MFA. Both degrees prepare you for a professional acting career. </p>

<p>If someone gets a BFA, they usually go out and work professionally…then maybe get a MFA after a few years, for the purpose of further, high level training, or to prepare themselves to teach on the college level.</p>

<p>What you need to do is decide whether you want a BA or a BFA in acting. If you get a BA, you might want to follow it with an MFA, or you might not. Depending on the program and the person, a BA could prepare you to work professionally also.</p>

33

<p>EmiMcD. All training is different, as are all programs, as are all the students that attend the programs. There are quite a few students that get both a BFA and an MFA. As for “getting burned out” I’m not sure what that means. If you are serious about this as a lifetime you will always be training in one way or another. While many BFA programs are quite good, you will not learn all there is to know about the field in four years. I don’t care how intensive those years are. Don’t decide on the BA or the BFA based on a potential MFA program. Attend the program that feels right, that meets your current desires for an academic program. What is it you want to study? Not just in theatre, but overall? The more you know, the better artist you will be. And in the end, the goal is to be an artist, not an actor isn’t it?</p>

<p>I have both a BFA and an MFA, and I wish I could go back to school right now and study different aspects of theatre, art, philosophy…</p>

34

<p>Excellent post KJGC! </p>

<p>To chime in I also have both a BFA and an MFA, as do many other professionals in the arts I have worked with. </p>

<p>One of the best actors I have worked with has a BA only and has a highly successful career on Broadway, film and TV. Another colleague has a BFA, MA, MFA AND Phd! </p>

<p>There is no one path to a career. Choose the academic environment that you want to be in for he next four years. You will grow significantly and be exposed to paths that you might not now even know exist. I agree with KJGC wholeheartedly — the more you know the better artist you will be.</p>

35

<p>kjgc,</p>

<p>My daughter has the same thoughts as you. She has a BFA is currently working on her MFA and certainly is aspiring for a PhD. She has been taking acting lessons since she was 13 (at the age she was the only teen with all adults including equity actors). She is a life time learner.</p>

<p>She finds her desire to sharpen her skills and learn new techniques makes her totally available to her teachers. Additionally, she finds that the undergrads open up to her and seek her advice. She is certainly enjoying the experience.</p>

<p>In her undergrad college search, she definitely knew she wanted the conservatory style experience, but wanted a strong liberal arts program too. She went to NYU and thoroughly enjoyed her academic classes. She also spent her summers doing academic classes abroad, some attached to NYU and some outside of NYU.</p>

36

<p>I am currently an undergrad at SUNY New Paltz, a school I picked precicely for the purpose of going to grad school. I find it absolutely necessary and a responsibility of an actor to gain as much knowledge as they can and it is my priority to gain as much education as I can, go as far as I can with that, before I will even consider myself a well rounded enough person to be a legitimate actor. I care very much about my craft, and the benefits of a masters degree are so great that I couldn’t pass up the opportunity. SUNY New Paltz has a great reputation academically (the second most impressive acceptance rate behind SUNY Geneseo in the SUNY system). And the theatre program is very legitimate, drawing from work of Meisner and Michael Chekhov. With impressive grades, I hope to be accepted into a good MFA program and continue my training.</p>

37

<p>Iwhit, you mention getting impressive grades at SUNY New Paltz in connection with your desire to be accepted at a good acting MFA program. </p>

<p>Undergraduate grades are a topic I have not seen addressed very much in the discussions of MFAs on this board.</p>

<p>I know that at many auditioned BA and BFA programs, high school grades are far less important than the audition.</p>

<p>When it comes to MFA admissions, are grades of much greater importance?</p>

38

<p>I once asked one of my Acting Teachers at a summer conservatory I was at the same question, what is important in getting into a graduate program. He has his MFA from Brandeis University. He told me that strong undergraduate academics is important. But I also think it depends on the program. Either way, if you apply to a Graduate Program at a private university, they will most certainly ask to see your transcripts, and you definitely want an impressive transcript. I doubt good grades will be the deciding factor, but as long as it’s an aspect of you that they will be seeing, you want it to be impressive. Good grades can’t hurt, can they?</p>

39

<p>Based on my experience, many MFA programs ask for a 3.0 or above undergraduate GPA. While the audition is paramount in MFA admissions, at the very least most schools would look for a 3.0 in major coursework, even if willing to look at a slightly lower overall GPA. An MFA is a “terminal” degree in terms of university teaching so most schools will want students to demonstrate both talent and academic ability in their chosen field. Some schools will also ask for GRE scores, but these are more likely for dramaturgs, directors, technical directors, and Phds.</p>

40

<p>

</p>

<p>Just wanted to bump this very old thread up (incase anyone is looking for MFA program right now).
Playmakers is a fantastic company and I am inherently jealous of the actors that get to work with them. I’ve seen 6 shows there, Henry IV Pt 1., Pt. 2, Henry V, their SYC production of Sweeney Todd, and just a couple of months back I saw The Tempest and Metamorphoses together. It was a great opportunity to actually get to tell the actors I saw in the Henrys that I saw them 2 years earlier and they were even more talented than before. Also love the gender-blind casting I’ve seen there.</p>

<p>They are a true quality theatre - great theatre complex, kind staff, nice auditoriums and snack bar, and I’ve never been disappointed with a show by them. Even the Summer Youth Conservatory is professional! Said complex is within walking distance of a street filled with lots of shops and restaurants. Chapel Hill is a beautiful city!</p>

<p>They really go above and beyond - they had a heated pool installed in the stage for the Tempest/Metamorphoses run and it was the most unique production I have ever seen! You can find amazing pictures with a quick Google. Have also seen it rain on stage there! All the plays I have seen have had artists producing original music and creating the loveliest soundscapes… The Eros angel scene in Metamorphoses (this was the favorite scene of many in the group I went with) and the plucking of the piano sound board in Sweeney Todd really stand out.</p>

<p><a href=“https://www.playmakersrep.org/performances/Metamorphoses/Meta012w.jpg”>https://www.playmakersrep.org/performances/Metamorphoses/Meta012w.jpg&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://thefivepointsstar.files.■■■■■■■■■■■■■/2013/11/meta-photo-008.jpg”>http://thefivepointsstar.files.■■■■■■■■■■■■■/2013/11/meta-photo-008.jpg&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“https://www.playmakersrep.org/performances/1314%20Repertory/Temp003w.jpg”>https://www.playmakersrep.org/performances/1314%20Repertory/Temp003w.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;