<p>Does anyone know anything about the MT program at Catawba College? I don't see it listed here on this site.</p>
<p>I took my daughter to visit Catawba last year. They are a very old program and have a lot of working professionals out there. We watched a play that we thought was incredible. However it was not a musical. We took an extensive tour twice. I thought the theatre tech was wonderful, very hands on. The facilities were outstanding. The main theatre was also built to serve the community. What I was not impressed with was the dance department, (small and limited to two rooms) and the voice department was small. My daughter was seeking to transfer out of vocal performance and voice is her area of focus. I was particularly impressed with the way they create internships and workstudy. Also they were more generous financially then anyone else she talked too. As a transferring junior, my d had a very rough time getting in anywhere. I liked Catawba and I liked the idea that my d would come out of there knowing a lot about the business side, and technical side of theatre because they stress that. It was affordable and I was impressed with the drama, but she opted for a conservatory. I failed to mention that the campus is beautiful and easy to get to. (Off an Interstate in central NC.)</p>
<p>You should check because this could have changed, but when my son was looking at colleges, Catawba was one where you didn’t go immediately into MT. You would go into theatre and then audition for MT after a semester or a year (I don’t remember which). If your child wants MT very badly, such a choice may not be the best. If theatre is OK without MT, then go for it!</p>
<p>Bump – any new information on Catawba?</p>
<p>I don’t have any program-specific information, but we do know a girl who just started there as a freshman. Whether she is already an MT major, or just an intended MT major, I’m not sure. She went to a PA high school and had several other MT acceptances but chose Catawba. She seems happy there so far, but of course it’s early days.</p>
<p>We had a friend whose son ended up attending Catawba but his focus ended up being on straight acting. He did do a semester or year abroad in Italy and ended up going back to Italy to get a masters in some form of acting. His parents were very positive about his experience at Catawba. </p>
<p>A very strong girl from our local HS just graduated Catawba with BFAMT. She is back here in LA auditioning. </p>
<p>I’m a BFA MT, dance minor student at Catawba. The way things work around here is a little different from other places. You are accepted into the BFA program and receive theatre scholarships via your audition your senior year, but cannot formally declare your major until second semester freshman year (this goes for the whole school, not just theatre) and cannot declare a BFA until you submit a letter of intent to the faculty to review after you get here. Your freshman year, you are doing gen eds and getting the basic theatre classes that are required for all theatre majors out of the way, but you can start voice, dance, etc. if you talk to the faculty.</p>
<p>A few pros:
- Students graduate with a full tech resume, which means students can go out and find a tech job when performance pickings are low.
- 70-80% of our seniors have jobs lined up before graduation.
- Our alumni network is unparalleled due to how old the program is. Attend one alumni event and you will have a plethora of business cards from artistic directors, owners, producers, choreographers, directors, actors, teachers, etc from all over the country… all of whom are kind and happy to talk to you.
- The curriculum is fairly flexible, even in the BFA programs, which means students are able to take theatre electives that interest them and study abroad.
- Scholarship money. Catawba itself has a 50% discount rate, which means the average student gets enough scholarship to pay for half of tuition and room and board. We also offer a full-ride theatre scholarship as of last year.
- No divas or stage parents. Kindest bunch of people you’ll ever meet.</p>
<p>To the person talking about the guy who studied abroad in Italy - Many of the students here study physical theatre at the Accademia dell’Arte in Italy. There’s at least one person who goes every year or so, which is fairly impressive for a school of our size. One of our dance/movement teachers is a Catawba alum and has an MFA from the Accademia and we had a commedia dell’arte master class with another Accademia alum recently.</p>
<p>If you have any other questions, feel free to ask me!</p>