<p>What are the best Non-Audition MT schools to you?</p>
<p>If you are interested in going to school as far away from your home as Pennsylvania, Muhlenberg is well worth a look. It is a well regarded BA program with very strong musical theater opportunities There is an optional audition for merit/talent scholarship purposes. See the Muhlenberg thread on the MT page for more info.</p>
<p>In general, most non-audition schools will be BA programs but if you search the threads, several non-audition BFA programs have also been discussed.</p>
<p>Northern Kentucky University - just over the river from Cincinnati - currently has a strong non-audition program that is growing very rapidly. That being said, they are discussing requiring auditions just not sure what year these will start. One of the benefits of NKU is that Cincinnati region has a huge theatre community so there are many opportunities to perform beyond the college productions and you are competing with a strong pool as some of the CCM kids will stay for the summer and work.</p>
<p>I believe the BA at NKU is non-audition. They do now have auditions for the BFA -- it may have started last year.</p>
<p>I believe that the University of NH is still a non-auditioned BA in Musical Theatre. Cawtawba and Shorter College at one time were non-auditioned BFAs, but they may now require an audition. </p>
<p>Some programs do not require an audition to come to the school and take the first year or two of classes, but then require an audition for upper level classes and/ or to officially declare the concentration or major. All of this information should be available on a school's website.... if you can't find it on the page for the dept. check the registrar page for the current course catalog... you may find the information there. </p>
<p>The majority of Musical Theatre programs are auditioned. Musical Theatre seems to be becoming a more and more popular major, and schools only have so many resources to best accommodate and train students.... private voice lessons, space in required classes, performance opportunities, etc... It is important to check the specific information for each school on their website.... many schools that once did not require and audition now do. </p>
<p>As far as non-auditioned departments go, you may find more non-auditioned programs (like Muhlenberg) that actually are a BA in Theatre where musicals are done on a regular basis, and theatre students have access to private voice lessons and dance classes. I could be wrong, but my guess is that many schools that operate this way require an audition to register for private voice lessons, and most likely placement in dance classes.</p>
<p>I want to confirm what KatMT states. Though we are looking at straight acting programs, most non-audition BFA programs require an audition at the end of the first year (i.e. West Virginia). The exception seems to be Marietta College, but they seem to be geared more toward straight Acting. Drake used to be non-audition, but they now require auditions. You might also want to check out Kentucky's new BA degree. They eliminated their BFA a few years ago, but their BA degree is pretty comprehensive. By the way, I was just talking to a senior at James Madison (not a theater student). He loves it. It's nonresident tuition is not much higher than in-state tuition at Penn State.</p>
<p>I, too, know a JMU student (and several grads) and those kids have school spirit! :)</p>
<p>NMR...........what is the major of the JMU student you know? I was looking at its website and it seems to be interesting and very affordable.</p>
<p>I am the coordinator of the Musical Theatre Concentration at JMU, and teach both Musical Theatre and Acting courses. If you have any questions, please feel free to PM me or email me at <a href="mailto:arecchkm@jmu.edu">arecchkm@jmu.edu</a>.</p>
<p>I would also be happy to put you in touch with current students if you woul like the student perspective.</p>
<p>briansteffy and notmamarose. I am happy that the students that you know love JMU. I am in my second year here, and I find the students to have a lot of school spirit as well. Overall the students at JMU seem to be a pretty happy with the school. </p>
<p>Kate</p>
<p>PS. Brian - I was so glad to read that you have a clean bill of health. </p>
<p>Happy Thanksgiving!</p>
<p>I'm applying for Brandeis and they have a very strong theatre program that requires no audition. I think it's straight acting though, and it has an emphasis on production and dramaturgy as well as performance.</p>