<p>Hey can anyone tell me their experiences or any information on the theatre program/B.A at Columbia College in Chicago?</p>
<p>We have a friend who started the program this year and is absolutely loving it - loves his classes, loves his theatre opportunities, loves the access to theatre in Chicago in general. We also know other kids at Columbia College who are having a great experience in other majors.</p>
<p>It is VERY URBAN. Columbia College and Roosevelt are right in the Loop, similar to being in downtown Manhattan. Very exciting, but you have to be OK with a “city storefront” kind of campus (which my D wasn’t).</p>
<p>If you are planning to attend Columbia College’s open house, try to make a reservation for the earliest time slot. Also, make sure you show up at least 30 mins before the theatre demonstration time (challenging if the weather is bad) or there is a chance you will not have an opportunity to see their presentation. Even though the theatre deparment provides information sessions multiple times, only a small number of people are allowed in their facility. The demand for slots definitely exceeds the supply. We were able to attend the school’s presentation but not able to see the theatre department’s presentation.</p>
<p>I currently go to Columbia, I’m graduating at the end of this semester (I transferred in and have been here for 3 years.) We’re a large department (the largest or second largest in the country I believe) and there’s anywhere between 600-800 students. We have a new head of department who has been making some changes (used to be you could only be cast in one show a semester, now it’s open to two). There are 4 mainstage shows a year (one of which is a musical) and numerous student directed projects (it all depends on how large the directing classes are each semester), as well as faculty projects. Like any theater department, it can be cliquey and I know a lot of people have trouble getting cast (there’s just so many of us and not enough parts to go around). The level of teaching can be hit or miss but I’ve lucked into having amazing teachers who are mostly all currently working in chicago theater and who have fresh insight into the business.</p>
<p>If you have any specific questions I’d be happy to answer them!</p>
<p>Hey Revoltofagirl, I will most likely be attending Columbia College Chicago this fall as an acting major. Can you tell me about the comedy studies program and specifically the semester internship with the Second City? It is basically the reason I am going. Also I am worried that I won’t get much acting experience at Columbia because the department is so big. Do professional theatres in Chicago ever hire students?</p>
<p>I can’t personally speak to the comedy studies and second city experiences as I didn’t go that route, however friends of mine have and they all only have positive things to say about the program! Also it’s a great way to make connections in the improv world of Chicago, my improv I teacher (who was also my acting teacher later on, I loved him so much I wanted more of his teaching) is one of the creators of Chicago Sketchfest (the longest running sketchfest in chicago) who also teaches at second city and owns his own theater complex (he is also a part of the Cupid Players and he performs a lot)… our former head of department (who still teaches at our school) is one of the founders of second city and I know the other improv teachers teach at second city as well.</p>
<p>Theaters in chicago will certainly cast Columbia students in their productions and Columbia allows you to audition outside of school so no worries about that. Whether you’ll be onstage at Steppenwolf or the Goodman is unlikely but it’s possible to get an internship with them or with any theater in Chicago, really. I don’t have personal experience with internships either so I can’t speak much to that… </p>
<p>Even if you aren’t cast in (m)any productions (and this is mostly based on your type as well as how well you network, at least in directing projects from my own experience… faculty directs the mainstages and those auditions tend to be more about talent than any sort of bias although it doesn’t hurt if you’re auditioning for a teacher who knows how you work in the classroom) you’ll receive great training and experience in your classes. I’m not bothered much by not having been cast every semester because I know the work I do is solid and I’m getting cast outside of school… and once you graduate that’s what really matters. I hope this helped!</p>
<p>edit: also if you’re a guy it will be a little easier to get cast than if you’re a girl because we seem to have way more girls at school than guys. the new head of the department is trying to fix this imbalance by making sure the mainstages had plenty of girl parts this season so he’s aware of the problem and working on it, for sure.</p>