is anyone currently or recently in the BFA acting or musical theatre program and can describe what it was like? such as how difficult classes were, the atmosphere, performing opportunities and anything else you think would be relevant? thank you!
My daughter is going into her sophomore year as a MT BFA. The program is definitely intense and immersive. She loves the atmosphere - the city, her professors, her fellow students. There are plenty of performance opportunities in both student run productions and performances at the Pittsburgh Playhouse, but Playhouse casting is very competitive, and freshmen are only allowed to audition for Playhouse Jr. productions in their second semester. What she is realizing is that most of the learning really takes place in the classroom, and casting depends on lots of factors that often have little to do with talent level (like whether that season’s shows are right for your particular type).
Hope that helps. On the whole, she is happy with her decision to attend PPU.
Great teachers, however less and less opportunities. The dance majors are now allowed to audition for the main stage shows so almost no BFA students are in the chorus. Some directors won’t even look at you even if you were in a regular show or even a summer show the last year and only had a bit part knocking you out for the entire year. The BA students are given the exact same opportunities so why even for the BFA? Also, hardly any master classes and they do not work around or help you with outside opportunities for work such as Summer stock. You have to be a real go getter and be able to do all of that on your own. They do not check the calendar for Summer stock dates and will schedule their call backs on the same days and won’t let kids go. So your pocketbook and resume could suffer. All things to keep in mind when choosing program if you need to build a resume.