Current Musical Theatre Junior!

College Majors Musical Theater Major
1

<p>I’m a current UCF Musical Theatre student and I love the program. I actually transferred from FSU, but the professors at UCF seem much more down-to-earth while still having comparable professional experience. My professors always encourage me to try new things and push myself harder each semester.</p>

<p>For our program, Acting, Dance, and Voice are pretty equally balanced. Students are expected to grow in each area, regardless of where they start. By the time you finish the program, you are expected to be strong in all 3 areas (making sure you are a true “triple threat”).</p>

<p>While we take classes with many different theatre professors, but the musical theatre classes with Earl Weaver, Dr. Steve Chicurel, Tara Snyder, Judi Siegfried, and Jim Brown are the most excellent that I’ve had in my college experience.</p>

<p>Earl is the coordinator of our program and one of our dance/acting teachers and he amazes me because he always knows what all of his students are working on and he comes to any performance (within UCF or outside) that I ask him to. He always pushes me and encourages me to be the best performer (not actor, not singer, not dancer, but PERFORMER) I can be.</p>

<p>Dr. Steve is one of our voice specialists and he is brilliant. I swear that he knows more about my voice than I do. His attention to detail is musically unmatched. Tara Snyder is one of our other voice specialists and she always pushes us to use our voices in the most actor-driven way I’ve been taught. It’s great to have both of them as voice professors because I get the music-heavier feedback from Dr. Steve and the actor-heavier feedback from Tara.</p>

<p>Judi is the best dance teacher I’ve ever had. She pushes all of her students to their individual limits and then she pushes them further. I’ve never been happier with my dancing than after having taken class with Judi. The great thing is that she makes sure that you have great technique while also making sure that you pick up the history and vocabulary you need to succeed.</p>

<p>Acting and Musical Theatre history could not be more fun than with Jim. Jim’s energy made a 9am History class actually fun. I never missed a class because he found a way to always keep me intrigued and entertained. Jim is also the best professor to talk to outside of class because he’s always interested in what you’re doing.</p>

<p>Another positive side-note about UCF’s Musical Theatre program is that we currently have 2 staff accompanists and 1 student accompanist that have accompanist office hours. This means free time for students to go over their songs for class or upcoming auditions to make sure they are prepared. The accompanists are always willing to answer musical questions you have and will give you feedback if you request it. They’re great sounding boards and wonderful people!</p>

<p>Some other great things about UCF are its location, student activities, and people. There is something for everyone. If you can think of an idea for a club, we’ve probably already got it. Make sure to check out some of our other awesome activities!</p>

2

<p>Great! Some new UCF info! I’ve been hoping a current student would write in about their experience there.</p>

<p>I have several questions:</p>

<p>What can an applicant expect at an on-campus audition?</p>

<p>What is the make-up of the current MT students-- ratio of boys/girls, and where are they from? (Florida mostly, or is it a nice mix?)</p>

<p>Do you have any kind of cut after, say, sophomore year? Is there any kind of Senior showcase?</p>

<p>I know there are many more questions-- hopefully others will ask some.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

3

<p>I can answer those questions for you! I’m about to be a senior BFA Musical Theatre major and I started in the program as a freshman at UCF. I’ve absolutely loved me time there and everything posted above is true. I’ve volunteered at on-campus auditions, so I’ve experienced it from both sides of the table. So I’ve got three years of experience with the program is what I’m saying :)</p>

<p>The program takes about 20 kids a year, and strives to have even male to female ratios, but sometimes it’s a little slanted in either direction. Also, some classes are smaller than others, but 20 is the goal for each group coming in. Most of the kids are from Florida, but there are several out of state students, and UCF has a great support system for students out of state. UCF attracts a lot of in-state talent because of Bright Futures. </p>

<p>There is no cut system, but there are semester reviews and students must maintain above a C in all theatre classes or they will be put on probation. They may be cut from the program should academic performance not improve.</p>

<p>The on-campus audition is the best I had when I went on the great american college audition tour, as many do. The faculty and student volunteers are warm and welcoming, no sneering at students who are just trying to do their best for very stressful college auditions. Typical there is a dance combination first, usually musical theatre jazz/ballet, and then an optional tap audition for those who are able. Then there are individual singing/acting auditions, where auditionees have three minutes (I think) to sing 2 16/32 bar cuts and a short monologue. A very standard package for college auditions. You can check back here: [Theatre</a> UCF: Auditions Request](<a href=“http://theatre.cah.ucf.edu/auditions-department.php]Theatre”>http://theatre.cah.ucf.edu/auditions-department.php) for the most updated audition info, starting in the fall. Earlier is better, as slots and alternate positions are offered on a rolling basis (or at least used to be, the auditions have changed slightly since 2010). There is also a music theory test, which everyone loses their mind over. It’s very stressful for a lot of people, but it shouldn’t be. It goes over very basic music theory skills and is used simply to identify what level a student must be taking theory should they be accepted. Having a very high or very low score will have NO effect on the student’s acceptance, and he/she should simply do their best. If accepted into the program, students are required to take up through theory 2, so they’ll learn a lot about it later on.</p>

<p>Hopefully that helps a bit. It’s been the best decision I’ve made, coming to UCF. I absolutely love the faculty and my class. It’s an incredibly challenging yet supporting program.</p>

4

<p>can either of u offer insights on the theatre opportunities? Not MT, just straight theatre. and are there any classes or options to take acting for camera classes or prepare for a career in film, tv, or voice acting?</p>

5

<p>Can you tell me the performance opportunities for students? Are freshman able to audition?</p>

6

<p>I did not like my experience in the Musical Theatre program at UCF. They call it a conservatory and it just makes me laugh. You can not call this program anything close to a conservatory when 9 out of 10 students leave the program because of their dissatisfaction with the program rather than being forced to leave because of lack of effort. </p>

<p>Yes the teachers are nice, if you are one of their favorites. The favorites are not the ones that do their homework and do well in their classes either. Sometimes this can just happen naturally but most of the time it requires a lot of a** kissing. I personally did not feel as though I had to suck up to my teacher when I was paying them. There is also a lot of negativity and drugs within the whole theatre program. And you can tell who has been hitting the bong a little to hard in voice class. </p>

<p>The teachers hardly ever compliment you. I understand they treat you like how you are going to be treated in the real World, but if you get up there and sing a song great and another person gets up and absolutely murders a song, they will say the exact same things to you. It really gives you a warm fuzzy felling inside!</p>

<p>You also have to audition and take any part that is offered for you every semester. Most students can not get a job because they have a huge time commitment for a understudy ensemble role. There have even been times where a understudy gets to go in because they main actor can not for fill the role, and they they take the role from the understudy who has been practicing the role the whole semester, and just give the part to a upperclassmen. Favorites and seniority are a huge headache at theatre UCF as a whole.</p>

<p>I can go into more detail about the teachers if you ask. But I am just putting it out there that most of the theatre teachers (performing and non performing) are horrible with grades. Three of my four theatre grades were wrong first semester. I had to email and meet with the teachers to show them their mistakes. Very unprofessional. The only time the teachers will be nice to you and tell you semi useful information is in the BFA review.Of course that only happens once a semester and is approximately 10 minutes long so soak it up while you can! </p>

<p>If you go into the program as a BA, don’t worry if you audition enough times they will let you in to BFA. This shows how high their standards are as a program. I think they just do it because they have so many people leaving the program that they need to keep the classes from being totally empty. </p>

<p>All in all this program really turned me off from theatre. They try to act like they see your individual acting styles but quite frankly they just want to make everybody into a leading man and a leading lady. This can be good, but not when it is not what you want to focus your career around. The acting teachers were the worst in my experience.</p>

7

<p>Wow, a lot of varying opinions on here. Anyway, I just submitted my accptd video auditions and would like to know how long before I can expect a callback or rejection notice? I’m OOS and I need to plan my trip if I do get a callback and was wondering the general time frame of submission to notice. Thanks</p>

8

<p>Does someone within UCF care to comment on UCFStudent1’s comments on another thread within UCF? That post was quite disturbing. Maybe this is just a disgruntled student. I should hope that some of those comments are not true. Tough for those applying to this school to read such a post. I get that it might not be the right fit for this student but the comments are very inflammatory. </p>