As a parent of a recent graduate from one of these programs, it nice to see it get some recognition. My daughter loved her experience there.
http://www.onstageblog.com/columns/2017/8/16/the-top-ten-most-underrated-college-theatre-programs-for-2017-mid-atlantic-region
I have a grad from UMBC and a current Fredonia student (both BFA Acting) and completely agree that these programs are fantastic!
Lesser known gems :-*
I just e-mailed the link to S17, who is starting a theater tech BFA at Fredonia tomorrow. Adelphi was his other choice. The deciding factors were that he wanted to be away from home and almost $20K per year. I do feel a tinge of sadness that we won’t be able to see all of his productions at Fredonia the way we would at Adelphi, which is about 20 minutes away v. 9 hours away. But, we don’t have to take out loans or remortgage the house to send him to SUNY… and with the money I’ve saved, I can send him to a semester or a summer abroad.
@techmom99 All of the programs on the list are great, as well as so many others out there. What’s most important is their happiness and if they find the right fit. I’m sure your son is going to love Fredonia! My daughter had a very good friend from high school that just graduated from the acting program there and had an amazing experience. My sister in law also graduated several years ago from the MT program there and can’t say enough about how great her training was.
And in reality what my daughter is discovering is that what it mostly comes down to is just having training versus not having any. Right after she graduated, she had almost a month to start some serious auditioning before she started her summer theater teaching job at a local camp. Fortunately, we live very close to NYC so she wanted to get her feet wet. She went on about 5 to 6 auditions a week, with some success and a share of not this times (what she did book varied quite a bit ranging from an off broadway show, to a character in a themed show in Coney Island, to a third call back in September for a web series - fingers crossed!) She noticed that you can really tell when someone had training - it showed in approach and most obviously in preparedness when showing up for the audition. And unfortunately she said you can tell when someone didn’t. Obviously, once they enter the room you have to have some talent to back it up as well. But the knowledge she gained from all her technique, diction, auditioning, etc. classes gave her a definite advantage as well as confidence heading into that unarguably competitive environment. Now, that her camp job just ended and after the extended weekend trip to see the solar eclipse, she’ll be back to auditioning! But without doubt her training has been invaluable.
Just to clarify, she was able to do the off broadway show during the summer at the same time she was teaching - one was at night and weekends the other during the day. Theater kids know how to juggle! And the Coney Island stint runs from mid Sept through October.
@ella411 - Your D’s experience sounds great. My mom was born in Coney Island but I haven’t been there in years. I don’t think S17 will be auditioning but you never know, he said his acting for non-majors class is great.
I just need to vent for a second - and also to thank people like @lovetoact and @ella411 for offering some useful feedback on real-life experiences. Is anyone else tired of reading articles that purport to recommend various theater programs but then talk primarily about the facilities for most of the schools, not mentioning anything useful? I’m starting to get really bitter on the whole topic. Nobody is going to care after you leave school how gorgeous the Performing Arts buildings are. How is the training? What is the experience like?
This response isn’t about college lists, but when my son visited his two top schools after he was accepted. The first school had beautiful new buildings and state of the art performance facilities. The department head had a gorgeous corner office with soaring ceilings and windows. Son really enjoyed the visit, as well as the students and faculty he met. The second school had older, less up to date buildings and facilities. The department head’s office was in the basement of the theatre, and the assistant apologized for the industrial sized fan running because they had been flooded following a torrential rain storm. The office itself was cramped without windows with piles of papers, etc. Son is now a happy senior at school number two…he found his people 