help with college choices for musical theater

College Majors Musical Theater Major
21

<p>Just a comment about SUNY Geneseo. It has a BA in MT as soozievt listed... they do their academic admissions completely separate from the MT admissions. The academic admissions are very tough academically so if there are 'academic issues' you may want to ask careful questions of this school. It is very selective academically. My d applied last year as a backup BA program (although she wanted a BFA) because it is in close proximity to us, and she is academically strong and felt she could get in academically. This may not be a good backup, though, for all students depending on their academic situation. Their brochure says that academic situations may be overlooked if the 'talent' is there, but we were told the opposite in her interview. They do require an audition. My d got in academically and accepted to the MT program, but ultimately decided on one of her other offers as this was a backup for her and she preferred a BFA.</p>

<p>By the way, the college itself is wonderful for lots of majors - beautiful small town campus, close to Rochester, NY, (I am an alumni math major - maybe a little biased - lol)</p>

<p>Good luck Singalong Mom and your D!</p>

22

<p>Does anyone have any experiences with Point Park University? Reputation, senior showcases, distinguished alumni/faculty in musical theater, ability to find MT work after graduation, etc.? Thanks. I'll post in the Point Park thread as well.</p>

23

<p>cbwheatley, I'm going to reply to you on the Point Park thread. If you'll click on the drop-down menu on my name and send me an e-mail, I can provide you with further information.</p>

24

<p>My D is a high school junior, who will be beginning her search process after she finishes a current production. I'd like to get some of it out of the way before soccer season starts! We are reading all of the lists, and I am looking at both price and geopgraphy. She is looking at program. One of her concerns is that the program be not only artistically challenging, but offer academic challenges as well, as she is a smart kid with good grades. Because of this, she is even wondering about going MT, or acting/theater with dance and vocal classes. Any comments?
We are also looking at expanding her "wishlist" from Chicago or NYC (remember the price part of my concerns?) to other schools. I have seen Montclair State jump up on this site. Does anyone know anything about this program? Point Park is also a frequent school to come up, as I know PSU, etc, comes. We are in central PA, and I have always given my kids a 6 hour road trip radius (though I may except Florida).
Any suggestions, experiences, etc, would be most helpful!
And, will we be doing another "rising Juniors" thread?
Thanks for any help.</p>

25

<p>If your D is looking for schools with both good training and academic challanges, she will want to look at the number of general education credits a school requires of their BFA MT students. Some schools like Penn State require a full Gen. Ed. core of their BFA students, others like Carnegie Mellon, require very few Gen. Ed. classes.</p>

<p>As far as Montclair State goes... there is a current student at Montclair who has answered some questions somewhere on the MT Major Site.... do a search for Montclair and I am sure that student's postings will come up.</p>

<p>I don't know a lot about Point Park, but I think it is a conservatory program that does not require many Gen. Ed.credits.</p>

<p>Muhlenberg is a BA program in Theatre where students often double major or minor in voice and/ or dance.</p>

<p>James Madison University is another BA Program. They offer a BA in Theatre and Dance with a concetration in Musical Theatre. JMU is about 4 hours from State College PA. There are a number of PA students at the school.</p>

<p>Syracuse University is a BFA program that requires students to take a fair number of courses outside of the Musical Theatre major.</p>

<p>There are so many schools out there, and each one is different in terms of artistic and educational environment. On this page Soozievt posted a list in response to a similar question from a parent in VA.... a lot of those schools would also be close to you in PA. That list may be a good place to start.</p>

<p>Good Luck!</p>

26

<p>Thanks so much for the feedback. Though I know the choice is finally hers (sort of), she is so busy I'm trying to at least narrow down the possibilities. We did go to Penn State for a visit, but here in central PA we have a history of rooting for Pitt in our home, which seems to have overshadowed Penn State! A friend suggested Long Island U....any comments out there?
Thanks.</p>

27

<p>I don't know anything about Long Island U. I have never heard of the program.</p>

<p>I just realized that I gave some inaccurate information about Point Park. Apparently they have both a BA and a BFA program. There is some pretty thorough information about the program on the Point Park thread.</p>

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<p>I have been looking into applying to Montclair State myself, but I've held off since they didn't really have much info about the major, the curriculum, etc. But the website finally has updated their course catalog and now have a basic curriculum and it looks like a really comprehensive program.</p>

<p>According to the website:
"Students in the BFA programs are subject to a semester jury or portfolio review and faculty evaluation to determine if they should be permitted to continue in the pre-professional programs of training."</p>

<p>Here is the curriculum for each of the three programs:</p>

<p>Theatre - BFA - MT Concentration</p>

<p>Performance:
Acting I-B.F.A
Voice for Performer I
Acting II-B.F.A.
Acting III-B.F.A
Acting IV-B.F.A.: Characterization
Voice for Performer II
Musical Theatre I
Musical Theatre II
Acting VII: Professional Auditions
Play Direction I
Production Stagecraft
Production Operation
Production Costumes
Business of Production</p>

<p>Supportive Theatre Courses:
Introduction to Theatrical Medium
Stagecraft
Play Script Interpretation
Theatre History: Classical to Elizabethan
Theatre History: Restoration to Modern
Stage Make-Up</p>

<p>Required Music & Dance Courses:
The American Musical
Theory I
Aural Skills I
Performance Practicum
Applied Music I-IV
Modern Dance I-IV
Dance Arts Activity</p>

<p>Performance: Production I-III</p>

<p>Additional Courses:
Modern Dance I-IV
Ballet I-IV
Theory II
Aural Skills II
Class Piano for the Non-major
Introduction to Diction
Music History II
Dance History: 1850-Present</p>

<p>Music - BM - MT Concentration</p>

<p>Core Courses:
Theory I
Theory II
Theory III
Aural Skills I
Aural Skills II
Aural Skills III
The American Musical
Performance Practicum for Performance Majors
(Voice master class; 8 semesters)
Introduction to Diction: English and Italian
Pedagogy of the Voice
Secondary Instrument Piano I
Secondary Instrument Piano II
Secondary Instrument Piano III
Secondary Instrument Piano IV</p>

<p>Choose two:
Music History I
Music History II
Music History III</p>

<p>Choose from the following:
Chamber Singers
Choir
Opera Workshop
Collegium Musicum
Chamber Ensemble Performance</p>

<p>Applied Music I - VIII</p>

<p>Required Theatre & Dance:
Musical Theatre I
Musical Theatre II
Acting VII
Theatre History II
OR
Dance History II
Choose from the following (6 s.h.)
Dance Technique: Modern I - IV
Dance Technique: Ballet I - IV</p>

<p>Electives:
Dance Technique: Modern I - IV
Dance Technique: Ballet I - IV
Dance History I
Dance Arts Activity
Introduction to the Theatrical Medium
Stagecraft
Theatre History: Classical to Elizabethan
Stage Make-Up</p>

<p>Gen Ed 2002 New Student Seminar:
Freshmen Seminar for Music Majors</p>

<p>Dance - BFA - MT Concentration</p>

<p>Core Courses:
Dance Technique: Modern II, III, IV
Dance Technique: Ballet II, III, IV
Choreography I
Laban Movement Analysis and Bartenieff Fundamentals
Choreography II
Dance Improvisation
Dance History: 1850 to Present
Dance Methods
Choreography III
Dance Repertory </p>

<p>Required Music & Theatre Courses:
The American Musical
Theory I
Aural Skills I
Applied Voice I-IV
Performance Practicum
Acting I-BFA
Acting II-BFA
Musical Theatre I
Musical Theatre II
Acting VII-BFA: Professional Auditions</p>

<p>Additional Courses:
Stagecraft
Stage Make-Up
Theory II
Aural Skills II
Class Piano for the Non-major
Introduction to Diction
Music History II</p>

<p>As you can see they have a lot of options in how you can major in MT, one that satisfies every type. Not to mention that it's a much cheaper alternative than the other top tier schools out there. After seeing what they have to offer I'm definitely gonna apply because it seems like a really fantastic program, even if it is very young.</p>

29

<p>She may want to look into Baldwin-Wallace as it should be within a 6 hour radius of you (Cleveland). MT majors are required to take about 30 credits in liberal arts. Although I haven't found the the liberal arts classes to be too challenging. Now the Conservatory classes are another question.</p>