So I am an aspiring musical theatre artist who wants to be on broadway, but also wants something to use if I want to start my own theatre company or just need some practical knowledge. Any recommendations on schools, or if this is even possible!
Yes, you probably can do that. Even if you can’t do a full double major, you certainly could load up on business electives. What state do you live in? What is your budget like?
Look into Muhlenberg College.
Yes but I would recommend a BA (Muh;enberg is a great one), not a BFA. The BFA’s by and large are all consuming. Would be very difficult to take enough business classes to matter in most BFA MT programs.
It is very difficult to double-major in an MT BFA program - some schools don’t even permit students to attempt it. However, it is possible at some programs, although it is very likely to require an extra year to complete both majors and possibly summer school as well. If you have lots of AP credit it can help. My d came into her BFA program with more than a full semester of AP credit and took some online classes in the summer to free up space for a minor in entrepreneurship (although she eventually gave up on that plan in order to basically double major in Acting and MT).
Even if you theoretically have enough space in our schedule to fit all the required classes, you may run into irreconcilable scheduling conflicts, for example, between upper-division classes that are only offered in one or two sections and only once per year. This plagued my daughter in her efforts to complete a minor outside of the theatre department.
Attempting a double major is likely to impinge on some professional performance opportunities which MT BFA’s typical pursue, such as summer stock or local professional theatre.
If your primary interest is in starting your own theatre company, you may want to look at programs where they offer a major or minor in Theatre Arts Management, which may very doable in conjunction with a BFA MT program.
@mlei123 several kids at my Daughter’s MT program are taking an entrepreneurship minor…I know thats not exactly what you are asking but a worthwhile consideration. especially at some schools like Belmont ( not my D school) where they have several business minors geared toward the business of music.
Absolutely. My D is a BFA / double major BA at NYU, another friend’s son is a BFA at Elon doing a business minor and another friend’s D is double majoring BFA at U Miami. It’s getting more common for people to do multiple majors and or a major and a minor but you need to find schools/programs that are supportive of artists who also have academic interests. I don’t think you need to do a BA program but you need to be in the right place and plan your schedule carefully. Sometimes even if you can’t double major you can minor and get the right classes - my D took a music business class freshman year at Clive Davis and it taught her a lot!
Schools to look into… NYU, Northwestern, BU, Temple, Elon, U Miami, UCLA, USC, IU, Belmont, Loyola Marymount. When you virtually visit schools, ask about how possible it is to double major. The answers will vary widely because some programs are flexible with room for each student to direct their extra curriculars into a second area of interest and some are not. Coming in with AP credits to help meet Gen Eds helps a lot so also look into that. The right fit makes all the difference - good luck!
At James Madison it is possible to double major in Musical Theatre and Business, but may take more than 4 years to complete. A Business or Entrepreneurship minor would be easier to complete in 4 years with the Musical Theatre major.
EmsDad is right, if you’re looking to start a theatre company or work for a theatre company, a degree in arts administration or arts management would provide you with the skills you need, and would likely be easier to complete as a double major. I double majored in Arts Administration and Musical Theatre at Viterbo University (unfortunately the Arts Admin major has since been dissolved, but the minor remains), and the good thing about pursuing that avenue vs. pursuing a business major was that I got all of the business classes I was seeking, but many of the core arts administration classes also counted towards my musical theatre major.
Personally, I could have finished both degrees in 4 years (I ended up needing 4.5 because I took a year off to go on tour as an actor), but I came in with a LOT of AP credit and several gen ed credits. I also took classes over the summer (think microeconomics, statistics, art history) almost every summer, to make my load easier during the academic year. Something to note was that I was almost always in overload (a full load at my alma mater was 12 credits, I was almost always at 19 credits), so I would only recommend a double major to someone who is very motivated and focused. Going into overload, you may also incur extra charges (this depends on your school). Spreading out two degrees over 5 years or even 4.5 years will mitigate this problem somewhat.
I invite you to think critically about what you want from your career–do you want a job working in theatre administration as your “day” job when you graduate (this is what I do!)? If so, the degree may serve you very well. Do you just want to have an understanding of how producing, management, and finance are at play in theatre, but you don’t necessarily want to make arts administration your full-time job? An arts administration minor may be sufficient.
I require anyone I work with to have a minor or double major “back up plan” because when I was going through, I didn’t…and I think it is important. As others stated, some are easier to do than others. It really depends on the school and their requirements, the core courses required AND how many credits they are bringing with them that would apply to those. I have known several students that enter with 24+ college credits from dual credit or AP tests that wipe out a lot of the requisite core classes for the second degree. One of my students now is planning a “build your own degree” for his second major with a mixture of classes from several different areas (for User Experience/Design Thinking) and about 1/3 are from the Business School. His school has told him it may require him to go an extra year OR summers, but he was fine with that.
My sons have kicked this idea around. S20 went a different route. S21 is on the fence with a film BA vs BFA. Temple, Belmont, and LMU were on his list. One of the best he found was Syracuse. I think Drexel also has something.
https://newhouse.syr.edu/academics/degrees/bachelors/bandier-program
https://drexel.edu/westphal/academics/undergraduate/MIP/
Everything we’ve heard is that it’s tough to double major with a BFA. That’s why these schools offer both a BA and BFA. YMMV.
@onette I completely agree. We have no real idea as to when the theatre industry will recover, and even when it does, there may be far fewer jobs available across the board. I’m lucky to work for an organization that is very nimble and has weathered the COVID crisis well so far, but my organization is absolutely the exception. So many early and mid-career arts administrators I know have lost their jobs. So many actors I know are finding that their survival jobs have dried up. It’s not enough to have a survival job in this industry, especially in this moment. You have to plan to give yourself the skills you will need to succeed in a parallel career. I know that if I lost my job as an arts administrator, I could pivot and get a job as a fundraiser in the healthcare sector and work in that realm until theatre recovers. I can’t say that my friends who only have BFAs in performance disciplines would be able to pivot like that without first investing in some kind of additional vocational training/professional development.
@chmcnm It is hard, but not impossible. The best opportunity to do this is if you are bringing a lot of dual credits or AP credits in with you. I have known kids to enter college with 24+ college credits!! That knocks out a lot of the core classes you might need as the foundation to a double major. It really depends on the school and their individual degree requirements (which can vary a LOT!)