<p>Some recent graduate credits include but are not limited to: The national tour of Light in the Piazza, National Tour of Kiss Me Kate, Forbidden Broadway SVU in Chicago and Broadway, and possibly soon to be Elphaba in Wicked. Alumni can also be seen in many regional theatres around the country including Chicago, California, Florida and New York. </p>
<p>The faculty includes international and award winning professionals including, but not limited to, a Tony Nominated Costume Designer, Professors with Broadway Background (including Broadway runs and National tours of Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat, Sound of Music, Fiddler on the Roof, Legally Blond the Musical, and much more).</p>
<p>IWU is set apart from other schools in that the curriculum focuses on individual attention and the growth of each student. Class sizes are small enough so that each student will grow as an individual and better their own unique talents as well as learn and improve on other aspects of the major. This program is not for the student looking for a big name school with little interest in the individual undergrad student. It is a highly intensive program dealing with all aspects of Musical Theatre (dancing, acting, and singing) as well as being a part of a top liberal arts school. All students will be challenged and pushed by our professional faculty in order to succeed in the professional world. Students should expect to graduate with a wealth of knowledge and performance experience in the field of Musical Theatre.</p>
<p>bearfann14, thanks for the information about IWU's BFA program in musical theater. Many of us have heard good things about the program, and I know it's been discussed intermittently here before. Are you a student or teacher there yourself?</p>
<p>I am a student in the BFA Musical Theatre Program. I love it here and i know that IWU, being a great liberal arts school, is not as out there for their BFA programs, but they are great. I got into Syracuse, Michigan, Roosevelt, Millikin and many other schools for Musical Theatre and i am very happy where i am. I just wanted to put the info out there because the IWU program is almost like a diamond in the rough. Just wanted to get the info out so that people can actually at least check it out instead of not knowing. Thank you for your reponses</p>
<p>Thanks, bearfann14. I have heard good things about this program...its on my d's list. How much/many (sounds grammatically wrong either way!) liberal arts do you get? Thx.</p>
<p>I am not exactly sure how to answer your question through this thread. It is a well rounded "track" as we call it. Here is a link to the part of the website the shows what classes are needed for the major. </p>
<p>To graduate, each BFA Musical Theatre student needs 32 “Credits” or “Units”. To give you a relative idea, classes range anywhere from .25 – 1 credit depending on the length, amount per week, difficulty, etc. 22.5 of those credits are “Major Specific”, in other words, 22.5 credits are required in the Major (for BFA Musical Theatre) and 9.5 are required in general education. It is possible for a student to take more of either.
There are some classes that do not have any credits. An example is the Musical Theatre Rep. Class. This class is a master class, required for every MT, once a week where all the MT majors perform and get feedback from all the MT voice teachers. </p>
<p>There are many aspects of "gen eds" that the student is required to/ can take along with their classes in Music, theatre, and dance. The student can take anywhere from 6-15 liberal arts classes outside the major. The amount they take depends on many things: AP credits, possibility of passing out of a language, taking 1 course that covers 2 general education requirements, interest in other elective classes etc. It is also possible, if someone does not want as wide of a liberal arts education, to take theatre/music/dance classes that cover some general education requirements. For example: Theatre History covers history, Dramatic Literature covers a Literature and writing intensive Gen ed. Etc. I know this might sound confusing because it is hard to explain through this thread. All I can say is IWU gives every student the opportunities to have the sort of education they want, whether that is very rounded with classes in and outside of the theatre, or whether they would prefer to try and stay with almost all Musical theatre. </p>
<p>The Link above is where you can see a list of most of the classes required in the 22.5 credits required for the major.
Hope this helped. Feel free to ask any more questions. </p>
<p>PS: I suggest making a visit or requesting a brochure from the program. There are phone numbers and other info on the website. </p>
<p>I think you answered it very well. Especially mentioning that the program can be tailored differently to the individual preferences of the student. Thanks!</p>
<p>i have applied here. what i like the most about IWU is that they encourage studying abroad. I have a passion for the spanish language, and my dream is to study abroad in madrid, but i want to also study abroad in london. and they allow you to do both. I am happy to hear someone talk about IWU in such adoration.</p>
<p>A friend of mine graduated from the IWU BFA program about 15 years ago. Since then, she has appeared in the original cast of 3 Broadway shows. So obviously, this program has been a strong one for quite some time!</p>
<p>My personal opinion - I think IL Wesleyan and Millikin, too, should be in our list at the top of the MT forum. There was much discussion about them some years back before we started having separate threads by school. Anyone know how to get them added?</p>
<p>My son worked this summer with a talented grad. from IL Wesleyan.</p>
<p>I had put in a request for certain schools to be added to the sub forums to Roger Dooley about 8 months ago. This week, I added the request for the schools Ericsmom mentioned. I have not heard back either time. I will keep trying. I can't add forums myself as only the Forum Administrator has those tools. You could also try to contact him with this request. :)</p>
<p>ditto to that. i can't wait to be able to go visit IWU, currently it is my top choice. i love that they have such a strong language and study abroad program. I'm auditioning at IWU on the 23rd of february. Break a leg all!</p>