<p>I was contacted today by an ex-student who is a theatre major at Indianna. We had a good visit at Starbucks and she caught me up on all the goings on in the theatre department. I was shocked to find that almost all the roles go to Grad students. Even very few Seniors get cast. Yikes.</p>
<p>I feel uninformed and embarrassed that I didn't find this out in advance on her behalf. Is this an unsusal policy/trend?</p>
<p>Can anybody help me out here? Prof? Anyone who knows how to find this out BEFORE accepting an offer. I guess we could just come on out and ask at the interview. But are certain programs structured this way? I am really bewildered.
Thanks for the input</p>
<p>I think the general rule out there is that if you want to be on stage as an undergrad, go to a school without a grad program in acting. Especially at Indiana, since there is no BFA in Acting (just a general theatre BA program, I believe), it isn't at all surprising that the grad students (in the MFA Acting program) are getting the roles. Of course there are exceptions to this, one being NYU, where Tisch BFA students are not at all affected by the MFA actors, since the two programs are so very seperate. However, there are relatively few programs that have BOTH BFA and MFA performance programs...most have one or the other. But, if you are interested in one that has both, it is definitely a good idea to ask about grad vs undergrad casting. And I think it's pretty safe to assume that if you want to attend a school, especially a state school like Indiana, where you'd be a liberal arts theatre major (one where anyone can simply declare a theatre major), the priority will PROBABLY be on the MFA students.</p>
<p>I'm not as familiar with theatre programs, but in most major music conservatories, the bigger the graduate population, the smaller the chances of getting cast in operas, etc. Certainly a question to ask in college interviews. And, a reason to see if graduate degrees are offered, and if so, how many enroll in the programs.</p>
<p>i have been told that is the way it is at any state school with a ba undergrad program and a mfa. what is even worse at some is that the grad students also teach the freshman acting classes. worse than that, there is no audition so those classes are full of business majors and whatnot that may or may not have any talent or take it seriously. yuckity, yuck yuck</p>
<p>I understand, but there are so many exceptions. You mentioned NYU and I have students there so I know that is true. Also SMU has both degrees and grads don't step on undergrads roles. </p>
<p>Could someone start a list of the schools where both BFA and MFA in acting are offered and then maybe we can figure this out on our own. </p>
<p>(This reminds me of the BA/BFA list I have. You really have to ask alot of questions when those are both offered too. Oh Lordy! I guess I need ANOTHER list!)</p>
<p>While they may not "mix" at Tisch, grad students and undergrads often share the stage in the program at NYU - Steinhardt. We saw a few shows there and many major parts went to grad students, although the lead in A New Brain was a very talented sophomore. It was one of the issues that we placed on the "negative" side when we were evaluating programs.</p>
<p>I don't have any students at Steinhart, only Tisch, so I wouldn't know about that.</p>
<p>Well, now I am more confused than ever. </p>
<p>Just when I thought the easy solution would be to advise my students to stay away from public/state institutions with an undergrad BA and a Grad MFA in acting, I am thinking of UCLA's degrees and that theory is shot to hell.
Right?</p>
<p>From what i've been told, at OCU they double cast the roles with grad students in one cast, and undergrads in the other. I'm not sure if that pertains to all shows, or just certain ones, but I was told that much by a student.</p>
<p>Sorry it took me so long to catch up - been a heck of a week!</p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>At CSUF, we have a "small" grad class: we take approx. 8 students every 2 years, and many don't make it through...so at any time we may have as few as 5 MFAs in residence and as many as 16. That still leaves a LOT of roles open to undergrads.</p>
<p>We do have to cast the MFAs, as we feel this is a priority in their studies - performing. They teach classes as "internships" for income that offsets the tuition (in most cases, out-of-state). At our school, graduate teaching assistants (as they are called) teach ONLY non-majors courses; with VERY few exceptions (such as a third year directing student - voted one of the best in the nation by the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival - covering a directing I class under the direct supervision of the head of directing program).</p>
<p>We also make a commitment to casting our BFAs (musical theatre) and BAs in Acting. Every grad and senior (both acting and musical theatre) are cast as well as possible; then we give priority consideration in casting the juniors. We are obliged to them - if we accept them in the program, we know we must cast them (another reason that "type" is so vital when auditioning for any program). Whatever roles we cannot fill with grads/upper-classmen are then allocated to lower division students (freshmen and sophomores).</p>
<p>Many schools give ALL the leads to grads. This is to be expected. The grads SHOULD (by all means) be the best actors the school has - otherwise the grad program is weaker than the undergrad program, and becomes a liability.</p>
<p>I suggest that you ask the SIZE of the graduate classes; how often they take a class in (some cycle in two years, so during an A year they graduate one class while bringing in a new one, and in a B year they have only a second year class to focus on; others bring in a class each year; yet others bring in a new class only after graduating another one).</p>
<p>Does this make any sense? I feel brain dead...</p>
<p>I'm probably not that qualified to answer this question and have not researched it extensively, but I have heard of this BA / MFA dilemma. An example was concerning the acting / drama program at UNC Chapel Hill where much of the attention goes to grad students. </p>
<p>We saw a studio show at OCU where almost all the cast members were undergrad's (double cast, performing every other show). Two roles were grad. students who were not double cast, from reading the program.</p>
<p>At Indiana, the large show we saw included almost all undergrad's with only one grad. student, who was in a main role. Their class levels are listed in the program. That same grad. student taught the acting class that my son attended. He was very impressed. Sometimes grad. students are a little older and have real world experience and are coming back to get an advanced degree to be able to teach at the college level. They may be some of the more enthusiastic teachers. I don't think that having a grad. student would always be a negative experience.</p>
<p>In regards to casting at OCU, we certainly do not have one cast with undergrad and one with grad students. That is not how Oklahoma City University operates...and if that's how a college operates, I would certainly run away.</p>
<p>Oklahoma City University does double cast some roles in every opera and musicals (but not every role is double cast). The roles are cast with the best possible performers. And at OCU, there is no shortage of those! It doesn't matter if you are a freshmen or a grad student. </p>
<p>And, unlike other schools, freshmen are cast frequently in roles. I did "The Fantasticks" last year with 3 freshmen students cast in the Matt/Luisa roles. We had 10 freshmen in the cast of "Sussical". I was cast in three leading roles my first year. </p>
<p>If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask! Thanks!</p>
<p>I think this is an issue (like most!) which needs to be addressed with each school. At some, like Tisch, it never happens because the grad students have their own shows, and another thing to keep in mind is that at Tisch, the grad program is not MT, it's straight drama. Even at Steinhardt, the number of grad students cast in shows is going to fluctuate from show to show. This fall they are doing a production of Merrily We Roll Along, which is in rehearsal now, and of the eighteen roles, only one is a grad student.</p>