<p>I did a little research and found a few threads that briefly touched on diversity in the musical theatre schools....so I formed a thread to specifically 'talk' about this topic rather than mix it amongst another topic. Can you tell I am an office manager!? I try to keep my folders tidy. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>Please contribute!! </p>
<p>SUE aka 5pants</p>
<p>Sue, thanks for starting such a thread. I am interested in this, too, though my D would not contribute to "diversity" much. However, I am wondering which programs are diverse and in what way, and which ones are not. I also would be interested in whether issues of diversity are considered by schools for admission, and if so, how strongly.</p>
<p>NMR,</p>
<p>I am interested also...and I will be the first to admit that my two Ss don't contribute to diversity at Webster.</p>
<p>Now, someone mentioned on another thread that Webster isn't that diverse....perhaps true with the last couple senior classes, but I can say that the current sophomore and junior classes do have more ethnicity. I can't imagine MT programs not wanting to be diverse as there are such great musicals and plays requiring ethnicity.</p>
<p>My Ss are currently studying August Wilson plays in their directing class. So diversity is of course incorporated into the cirric.</p>
<p>SUE</p>
<p>SUE aka 5pants</p>
<p>This is a good issue to discuss. Keep in mind that besides the make up of the MT program per se, there is the greater college/university and one can examine the make up in terms of diversity as those statistics are published. My kids wanted colleges with diverse populations. At many BFA programs, students take some courses, as well as live with, students outside their major. </p>
<p>Within the BFA programs, diversity also matters and then of course, one would think in terms of productions, they'd want a diverse group of actors. I don't know the make up of other BFA programs or the exact one of my own daughter's. I do know that within her program there are African American, Hispanic, Indian, Asian, and handicapped/wheelchair bound students. She talks about all these friends and works with them in different capacities, plus I have met some, not all, and have seen pictures. She attends Tisch.</p>
<p>
[quote]
This is a good issue to discuss. Keep in mind that besides the make up of the MT program per se, there is the greater college/university and one can examine the make up in terms of diversity as those statistics are published. My kids wanted colleges with diverse populations. At many BFA programs, students take some courses, as well as live with, students outside their major.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>This is very true - my class is about un-diverse as you can get, but my uni as a whole is very diverse - I was the only white British person out of six flatmates last year!</p>
<p>I thought diversity was the sort of thing schools would look at if they cast their classes, I mean in addition to variety of voice types, reasonable male/female split, etc. Certainly, I think that's what one of the courses in my school does. :)</p>
<p>Thanks for starting this as a thread.
Diversity is an issue for our family and I hope diversity is considered beyond racial/ethnic issues and might include issues of economics as well as other factors.</p>
<p>I want to add a personal example of how why I would like a program that has sufficient diversity to do productions that require vocal qualities/song types and styles that do not conform to the traditional MT versions. This year D's school is doing Aida. D was sort of in the running for Aida (although she is really too young) so she learned some of the vocal parts. What she found was that she had a whole other voice inside of her, completely different from what she is used to and required of my standard MT. Now maybe good coaching would have brought this out also, however when she auditioned for Beauty and the Beast it would not have been appropriate to sing from Aida since the types don't match. </p>
<p>If schools do not have a significant numbers of students who are minorities, it is difficult to put on shows that are based around issues of race. Schools that want one or two of each "type" are unlikely to have a critical mass to actually deal with a production in which race and type overlap. I know many productions can be cast color blind, but shows like Purlie, Miss Siagon, or Raisin (and I am sure there are others) would not make sense to color blind cast. If these are not produced regularly in college settings it may continue to marginalize them as "ethnic" productions, which perpetuates the view that they are less accessible. (Maybe - I am just speculating)</p>
<p>Schools can't change who auditions for them. I see who is auditioning at CCM frequently while they are waiting in the hallways, and it is not a very diverse (at the most quick visual inspection) group. But I do think that college program may need to think more actively issues of diversity and what it does to perpetuate the current situation.</p>
<p>Gosh that was long winded and sounds rather preachy. I better get back to work and expand my energy on actions that can change what is in my purview.Thank you for starting this as a separate thread. Clearly it is an issue of interest to me. I also believe that there is more than one side to the diversity issue, other than race. I am not suggesting that poeple here are solely focused on</p>
<p>Yes, long-winded and preachy. :)</p>
<p>Ok, so I get the importance of diversity, ethnic and otherwise, in an MT program to increase the casting range of the student body to cover a wider variety of shows. And I understand the importance of diversity in a college environment to increase the students' exposure to different cultures, lifestyles, viewpoints, strengths, biases and life/world experiences. I get it.</p>
<p>What I don't get is that "diversity" seems to be one of the big buzzwords in many of the campus presentations I've attended this past year. And touring these campuses usually reveals that the student bodies are indeed incredibly diverse. In fact, my campus experiences over the years would seem to indicate that college populations are among the most diverse populations to be found in this country, perhaps on the planet.</p>
<p>So if this is the case, why is such a big deal being made of diversity? Why does diversity need its own thread on the MT major forum of CC? Is there such a diversity of diversity in college MT programs that this needs to be part of the selection criteria? Is someone implying that some programs are intentionally not as diverse as they should be? What deep dark secrets lie in the halls of CCM? Is the time of my enlightenment at hand? What am I not getting here?</p>
<p>
[quote]
Schools can't change who auditions for them. I see who is auditioning at CCM frequently while they are waiting in the hallways, and it is not a very diverse (at the most quick visual inspection) group.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Again, I think this is an important point. I'm certain there's no problem with having a diverse cast in my department (especially considering what a diverse faculty we have!), yet we still have a class full of the stereotypical white middle class types.<br>
Back home, theatre was the same - there was an Asian guy I acted in competitions and that was it, and certainly the junior shows and school shows were very much open to all (though my large comprehensive school probably had less than 10 students from ethnic minorities at one time)</p>
<p>SrMoment- I think diversity is important in all college programs because that is when most kids break out of their comfort zone and discover who they are and what is their place in the world. It's a time to meet people from different backgrounds, eat new foods, try things you have never experienced. Many kids hit college with little experience with people very different from themselves.
Is it an appropriate topic for an MT thread? Yes, because it matters deeply to some people who are making school choices right now. If you are not interested in the subject, you don't have to read it.</p>
<p>Anothermom-w-q has it right. There is no hidden agenda here, I think. Getting away from the abstract and making it real, my D doesn't want to go to a MT program where she will just get more of the same kind of environment that she has in her small suburban high school. So when she is looking at programs, what they have to offer in terms of "diversity"--viz., people who aren't exactly like her--is actually one of the more important criteria.</p>
<p>Well, MT and theatre have some particular interests in diversity that other courses do not, so I think a specific topic is fair enough. :)</p>
<p>College can be good for breaking out of the comfort zone as anothermom-w-q says, though a diverse student population doesn't necessarily equal that - I've read some interesting threads on here relating to students from ethnic minorities or international students preferring to stay with those from similar backgrounds, though thankfully that's certainly not for all of those students. I actually felt a bit guilty last year that most of my friends were very similar to me in race and origin, and it certainly wasn't intentional on my part as I thought like TwinDad's D! That said, they are interesting people who managed to broaden my horizons in other ways! </p>
<p>Not trying to derail the thread with that point - it is covered in other threads! :)</p>
<p>Thank you, 5pants, for creating this thread. You are right that there are old threads in the MT forum that discuss diversity. It's been a topic I've discussed on here myself. From my experience, diversity is a very important issue to minority students who wish to major in college musical theatre program--primarily because the majority of the BFA programs are composed of primarily caucasian students. Gee, I'd love to know the stats at the various colleges in their musical theatre departments. This is a totally separate issue from diversity on the campuses. And Keepingcalm is right that diversity (and a school's choice of shows) is very important in casting for minority students. Some people seem to understand this problem, even if they or their children do not "contribute to the diversity" of their particular program. Others do not understand it. Those that live it, really understand it! I have watched my daughter struggle with this in the past. I keep hoping she won't have to deal with it in the future.</p>
<p>Is there anyone willing to solicit this information from the various school representatives? Ask them to post their breakdown? I would be interested to know this also.</p>
<p>I have to believe that NYU is very diverse with it's location...or is this naive thinking?</p>
<p>SrMoment
I'm going to take a wild guess that your child is Caucasian.
Some of our kids aren't. If yours weren't, you'd have a different perspective, believe me.</p>
<p>I would say NYU is diverse after being here. I mean, we have all types, LD, African American, White, Middle Eastern, Indian, Asian, etc. I would say that it seems that the straight acting studios have a little more diversity, but overall the group dynamic in diversity (including religious, sexual, everything) is good. Everyone seems to be accepting as well.</p>
<p>I would say that the strictly academic programs at NYU have a higher diversity rate. And, as assumed, The group at NYU is mostly Caucasian, as I'm sure is the truth of most BFA Programs.</p>
<p>NOTE: This is based on my personal experience/observation/opinion as a student. This in no way reflects the opinion and or actual breakdown of NYU.</p>
<p>Coming from the student aspect, I strongly feel students who come to audition for a BFA programs who are minorities have an advantage over me. I know many schools (esp on the east coast) are looking to fill their classes with more diversity. I may be one of 5 tall baritones with brown hair who are caucasion looking. However, there may be only 1 or 2 African American baritones. Since it's so easy to get a white guy into your program, I'm sure they would rather take the minority. </p>
<p>I hope I am not sounding too ignorant. Its just an observation. I also know of a young guy who also auditioned this year at BoCo along with me, who is Spanish, and was admitted. I had seen him perform... and I never really thought he was Boston Conservatory material. Maybe he had a great audition... or maybe it was affirmative action. But nowadays, auditors are looking to mix up their classes a bit.</p>
<p>chris - what does LD stand for? :)</p>
<p>Learning Disability.</p>
<p>I'd say that's diversity...but I don't know what the thread thinks...</p>
<p>MTgeek:
I think your point has a lot of validity, I really do, especially since most of these schools are looking to fill their classes with a "company" of sorts. You are right about the fact that they can only take so many tall brown-haired caucasian baritones. Of course, what you said about the "Spanish" guy you didn't think was BoCo material, could be construed as you saying that white MT students have to be more talented than minority MT students. Hmm. Well, I'm her mom, so I guess I wouldn't be a very objective observer of my d's talent. So I won't touch that one. But some people might take a LOT of objection to that comment. Furthermore, isn't the proof in the pudding down the road? The students have to get cast, they have to pass juries, they have to get jobs. Right? Anyway, a large issue for minority MT students is the CASTING issue. If his or her school isn't selecting shows where a minority student has as good a chance as a white student at getting cast over the four year period, then that's a problem for the minority student.</p>
<p>To anyone:
This issue of diversity is of great interest to our family, but sometimes when it's discussed on CC, posters seem not to be sensitive to the DIVERSE array of "situations" that arise for minority students as they prepare for, audition for, and attend MT programs.</p>
<p>I think mtmommy is right that most of us posters don't realize the additional layers of complexity that ethnicity can add to the college search. I know one fairly prominent school that accepts a reasonably large percentage of "ethnically diverse" students in MT. Yet, the 2 AA girls I knew who went there both ended up transferring, because while that was true of the MT program, it was not true of the general population, and they both felt out of place, not in the training, but in the culture of the school.</p>
<p>Another factor - not just the percentage of the class, but the numbers taken. If a school like Otterbein (just as a size example) takes 25% minority - that is still only 2 per class - or a total of 8 in the program. So, a larger program may be more likely to have the students necessary to do a Ragtime, or Parade, or Purlie.</p>
<p>If the auditions for shows are limited to MT majors, that could be completely different from a school that allows non-MT majors to audition, and has a diverse general population. Also, ask questions about color-blind casting. That seems to be a growing trend, particularly in educational, and small regional theatre settings.</p>