CSU Fullerton

College Majors Musical Theater Major
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<p>Hi, wormlett:</p>

<p>Just sent you the documents you requested.</p>

<p>The male and female split is about even - we TRY to get more men in, but usually the talented women here are a little over in comparative numbers.</p>

<p>This year, in the Sr. Class we have 5 Men and 6 Women, and in the Jr. class we have 3 men and 6 women.</p>

<p>Last year, our graduating class was 2 men, 7 Women</p>

<p>But remember, a LOT more women audition than men (FYI this year, 3 men were accepted and 2 weren't; 6 women were accepted and about 45 weren't). So the odds for women is much harder here (as everywhere else).</p>

<p>Hope this helps,</p>

<p>eve</p>

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<p>oh ok, so ultimately its easier to get in for males?</p>

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<p>Yes, that is correct.</p>

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<p>"bump" for Irishcharm</p>

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<p>i'm interested in attending fullerton (art program),can anybody tell me , what is it like? the school , student life.</p>

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<p>Bumping for NOCCAmom.</p>

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<p>Thank you MTMommy for bringing up this thread on the MT forum. I had missed it when moving individual college threads to our new separate college forums recently. Now it is in the right place for those who are researching this program.
CollegeMom</p>

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<p>Thanks!!!!</p>

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<p>Hey everyone,</p>

<p>I have a question, I would really like to focus in acting but still have voice and dance lessons on the side. Is that possible at CSUF?</p>

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<p>You can take private voice at your own expense, or choir (from Music), and there is one class in the acting curriculum - part of your voice & movement curriculum (Singing for the Actor).</p>

<p>Dance classes are available, but only as space permits after all the Musical Theatre and Dance students have been accommodated.</p>

<p>The acting program will (hopefully!) have the BFA in Acting in place starting fall '06, so there are very few units available as "electives" (meaning few dance or voice units may count toward your degree).</p>

<p>eve</p>

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<p>Thank you, I graduate in 2007, so I'm really trying to figure things out now. So at csuf do you have a showcase at the end of senior year? Also- do people in the industry consider a soon to be BFA from CSUF impressive? From what I have seen on the website and heard from other people it sounds great...I'm just trying to dig a little deeper.</p>

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<p>We used to do a showcase (haven't for a few years, as the faculty who spearheaded this retired). We hope to resurrect it in the future.</p>

<p>However, we DO have industry professionals come in and work with our BFAs and "wannabes" (as we affectionately call the sophomores and freshmen).</p>

<p>Last year, Jane Lanier and Dan Mojica both gave excellent masters classes - teaching a professional B'way combination, running an "auditon" with the combos, and giving one-on-one feedback to the students.</p>

<p>We also had a casting director for the (LA area) Reprise! series do a master class with the BFA students' auditions (one of our girls got an Equity job from this).</p>

<p>Our musical director, Mitch Hanlon, was just working with Kristen Chenowith two days ago, coaching her for an upcoming memorial service she is to sing at; we are trying to get her out for a master class this year.</p>

<p>And Matt Morrison, Tony nominee for Light in the Piazza, is coming in February to sit in on our sophomore musical theatre class "auditions" (portion of the curriculum), to give them one-on-one feedback.</p>

<p>And the list goes on and on! We have composers/librettists, choreographers, performers, and directors/casting folks come in every year. It is truly a blessing.</p>

<p>And yes, the industry folks are very impressed with our students. We have students getting jobs straight out of school - not an easy task in the saturated LA market! One recent (December) grad found an Equity gig the day before he graduated (he'll be understudying the Equity role of Lumiere in Beauty and the Beast at Sierra Repertory Theatre). We even have students who did not make it into the program getting pro work (national tours, Broadway, cruise lines, theme parks, etc.); which should attest to both the early training that students receive before auditioning for the BFA, as well as the highly selective nature of the program.</p>

<p>Hope this answers your question. At 2am, I get a little long winded.</p>

<p>:)</p>

<p>eve</p>

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<p>Oh, forgot to add:</p>

<p>An alum is a casting director in LA, and asked us to recommend appropriate students to submit to her for the exclusive west coast auditions for SPELLING BEE. We had five students invited to audition (and they weren't seeing any non-Equity other than ours that I know of).</p>

<p>eve</p>

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<p>Wow- that was a lot of information, I really appreciate that though, because sometimes when I try to get information I either don't get any kind of answer, or a blunt one. Very rare that I get one that detailed, again I appreciate that. Although I do have yet another question. How do you think your acting program at CSUF compares to other "elite" acting programs like NYU or Carnegie Mellon for example? I'm sorry if it seems like I'm digging deep-but I am. After all, this is an important decision right? Thanks so much
Grace</p>

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<p>I feel very neglected, I'm not sure if I like that very much... haha but seriously anyone there???</p>

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<p>Cripes...I'm sorry! I've been trying to juggle 40 judges/respondents and over 400 actors for an acting scholarship audition, with a fast-approaching deadline. Apologies.</p>

<p>I think our acting program ranks well, and will become even more well-recognized once we get our BFA in place (hopefully beginning next fall).</p>

<p>Similar to the musical theatre BFA, the acting program is extremely strenuous (it is already at maximum university units, hence the suggestion by NAST that we progress to a BFA degree). Actors audition into the program at the end of their sophomore year. In their first two years, they take three semesters of acting, three to four semesters of voice and movement, script analysis, introductory tech courses, and four semesters of stage crew assignments. After their first semester, freshmen are permitted to audition for the mainstage season.</p>

<p>We are nationally ranked, in the top 16 undergraduate performing arts training programs in the nation if you give any credence to the Performing Arts Majors' College Guide.</p>

<p>We have just opened a brand new, state of the art theatre complex addition, garnering two new theatres solely for the use of theatre, and many shop expansions (for tech). Additionally, we have two theatres in the old section of our building, two directing labs, one experimental space in Santa Ana (about 15 minutes south of campus) with artists' loft apartments above (which grad students can rent).</p>

<p>Our faculty is comprised of professionals in the film/tv and theatre industries.</p>

<p>Marc Cherry, the producer/creator of Desperate Housewives is an alum of the performing degree program... Yes, in his previous life he was a performer (and a darned good one!).</p>

<p>For more info, check out: <a href="http://campusapps.fullerton.edu/news/2005/performingarts/awards.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://campusapps.fullerton.edu/news/2005/performingarts/awards.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Or</p>

<p><a href="http://www.fullerton.edu/arts/theatredance/mainframeset3.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.fullerton.edu/arts/theatredance/mainframeset3.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>And for the new building:</p>

<p><a href="http://campusapps.fullerton.edu/news/2005/89_pac.htm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://campusapps.fullerton.edu/news/2005/89_pac.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>If you are interested in the undergraduate acting program, you may wish to contact the head of acting, Professor Svetlana Efremova-Reed (a professional film/stage actress who studied at Moscow Arts Theatre and got her MFA from Yale School of Drama - if you ever saw "White Oleander," she was the Russian mother who the ingenue landed with last...<a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0250610/)%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0250610/)&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p>

<p>Hope this answers your questions. Off to "herd more cats!"</p>

<p>eve</p>

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<p>Prof., you mentioned the Performing Arts Majors' College Guide. I'm a future MT major's mom starting to explore the options. How do I get ahold of that?
Thanks.</p>

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<p>You can find it at many college/university library resource areas, as well as some larger high schools' counseling offices.</p>

<p>You can also get it (and other similar, perhaps more current publications) online from Amazon:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref=br_ss_hs/103-4223074-3115020?search-alias=aps&keywords=Performing%20Arts%20Majors'%20College%20Guide"&gt;http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref=br_ss_hs/103-4223074-3115020?search-alias=aps&keywords=Performing%20Arts%20Majors'%20College%20Guide&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>eve</p>

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<p>Professor,
Our daughter has been accepted to Fullerton this fall and will be working towards the BFA program. We couldn't be more excited for her. She's currently a senior at OCHSA. Her conservatory teachers have been professing your schools methods and training as one of the best anywhere! She has done lead roles in the last 3 SRO summer shows at Fullerton College. Directed by Gary Krinke. She respects Gary very much. He also speaks very highly of CSUF. After hearing so much about your MT program we feel very lucky to have your great school in our back yard! We won't have to buy her warm clothes!</p>

<p>Thanks for all the info you gave us on this site!</p>

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<p>How very kind you are; thank you!</p>

<p>And we look forward to welcoming your daughter in the fall. Please ask her to drop by my office any time with questions, or just to say "hi."</p>

<p>I'll be seeing all the freshmen several times this semester in their "478B Stage Crew" class. The first semester, they don't do a crew, but instead take a class en masse that is really a departmental orientation. Representatives from all the programs will speak, students will observe tech rehearsals to see how things work in production here, they will be instructed on how to obtain pre-registration advising, and all kinds of valuable information. It is a WONDERFUL new addition to our curriculum, and I'm very happy to say that it was a crashing success this year (spring registration went relatively smoothly, and our first stage crews with freshmen this spring have brought glowing reports of efficiency and maturity).</p>

<p>Also, the BFA in acting should be on the books by the fall, raising the quality of training and the competitive nature of that program a notch, as well.</p>

<p>eve</p>