<p>I am a junior in high school and obsessed with Musical Theatre. I have done alot of performing (I am in a very competitive show choir, my high school does 2 musicals a year and I’ve been in all of them, and I have acted in regional/summer productions since I was in 5th grade.) I LOVE performing, but my ultimate goal is directing…should I audition for MT or something else?</p>
<p>MichaelNKat - I love your insight and would especially appreciate your feedback.</p>
<p>I don't profess to be an expert, but here are some thoughts I have regarding your question. A BFA in Musical Theater is incredibly time consuming and in many ways is akin to a double major in acting and voice with a minor in dance or some such combination of the 3 disciplines depending on the focus of the particular program. Between the curricular requirements and out of class responsibilities, including preparation for class, auditioning for shows, rehearsals, performances, and serving as crew, it is incredibly time consuming, intensive and leaves little time for anything else. It has been often said by various posters on the CC MT board, who have a professional or experiential back round to know, that you should not enroll in a BFA MT program unless you can not envision yourself doing anything after college other than attempting to make it as a performer.</p>
<p>Given your goal to ultimately pursue directing as a career, I then question whether a BFA MT program would be appropriate for your interests and desires, particularly if you want to get formal training and experience directing while you are in college. While we have all, of course, read or heard about or seen actors who become directors, if the directing component is a priority for you while in college, I think you should look for a program other than a BFA in MT. There are schools out there that have directing focused theater programs as well as schools with programs that combine acting with directing and also provide performing opportunities including musicals. Some are BA programs, others are BFAs. There are other posters on this Board who could probably give you a focused list of schools to look at but in general, if you are presently looking at schools for MT, take the time to look at all of the programs offered through the theater department.</p>
<p>In this regard, UArts has a BFA program in Theater Management and Production that might be of interest to you. The curriculum includes acting studio and directing. Students direct their own projects and can also audition for shows. In addition, students in this program can also minor in musical theater. If you go to the UArts website and drill down to College of Performing Arts/School of Theater Arts/BFA in Theater Management and Production, you will find a link for the program's curriculum. The curriculum page has hyperlinks for each course that will pop up a more detailed description. The Minor in Musical Theater has a curriculum for majors in Theater Management and Production that focuses on voice, dance and musical theater performance. Once you are on the curriculum page for Theater Management and Production, look at the left side of the screen and you will see a link for Majors and Minors, hit that and then select Musical Theater Minor from the list and scroll down to the curriculum for Thetaer majors (the curriculum in the MT minor varies depending on your major).</p>
<p>Hope this is helpful.</p>
<p>Thank you so much MichaelNKat! While researching MT schools, I came across this forum, and have read a ton so far, but this was my first post(!) and I appreciate your help. </p>
<p>I would love some more feedback on MT schools with good directing programs (if I decide to direct it will DEFINITELY be musicals, so this seems logical). I really want a chance to perform as well, but I think I need some more "back stage" experience while in college, so your suggestion of a minor or double major was just what I was thinking..but I wasn't sure which one should be the major, performing or directing.</p>
<p>I really feel good about UARTS, probably because I really like your posts! so I will look into that further. But I live in Indiana and will take another look at Ball State's curriculum also, for the in-state tuition break. </p>
<p>I am a good student, but I'm going to need some scholarships to go out-of-state. Does anyone know about the level scholarships available in the Theatre Production area as opposed to the MT performers?</p>
<p>UArts offers a ton of merit based scholarships in amounts up to $14,000 a year. There is also need based money available.</p>