Liberal arts AND Theatre?

College Majors Musical Theater Major
1

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>I'm a junior looking for either a BFA MT program where you can take Liberal Arts courses (more than just a simple humanities class), or a BA program at a Liberal arts school that is very challenging and could hold a candle to an arts school.</p>

<p>Could anyone give me some info on the theatre dept. at the following schools, or point me to a thread that has info on them?
-Wagner College
-Stephens College
-Whitman College
-Muhlenberg
-Chapman College
-Cornish College of the Arts</p>

<p>any other school suggestions would be appreciated as well! Thanks a bunch, I continue to marvel at the plethora of information there is in the forum!</p>

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<p>Cornish is a conservatory and doesn't have an MT major. I'm actually thinking about doing a walk-in for them. I've don't have any first-hand experience, but it seems like I've read some good things about Muhlenberg on this forum.</p>

3

<p>As far as I know, Chapman doesn't offer musical theatre training. They have a great vocal department, but I was under the impression that it is classical oriented.
My D and I visited Muhlenberg and were impressed by the school and the department. It seemed to be a place where you could get the whole college experience, and still get good training in the different skills needed for MT. I know the person in charge of dance there is an excellent tap dancer, and the facilities are really nice.
My nephew considered Whitman, but I don't think they do musicals very often.
Hope that helps a bit. There is a student who posts here who's father works at Chapman, I have the feeling he will give you some in depth info too. Good luck!</p>

4

<p>Of the schools you listed, Wagner is the only one I've heard of that actually offers musical theatre. You could look at the "big list" of MT majors (See FAQ link on main MT page). I don't think Muhlenburg is exactly MT, although I think they do some MT in summer shows.</p>

<p>Of the BFA audition programs, some people in the past have mentioned that certain programs require or allow for more liberal arts courses. Among the ones I recall are NYU, Syracuse, Michigan, maybe Miami. Someone also at one time posted the percentage of classes in the major - for example, CMU requires a very high % in the major, like a conservatory would. You would be looking for schools with a lower percentage in the major.</p>

<p>Other possibilities that I would recommend are Indiana University (by fall 2007, they plan to have an MT audition required degree) and Texas Christian University (BFA in theatre with MT emphasis, no audition required except for scholarships).</p>

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<p>thanks everyone! </p>

<p>Happy New Year...</p>

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<p>As of last year, Penn State was the BFA MT program with the most extensive liberal arts requirements (as compared to the other liberal arts/conservatory programs such as NYU and UMich). However, I believe that has changed somehow - I just can't remember the details - but I'd all them to your list of liberal arts and MT schools.</p>

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<p>Several BFA in MT programs allow for a significant amount of liberal arts courses, even a minor in another subject, possibly a second major (the latter being more difficult to accomplish at most places). It won't be like going for a BA degree in terms of a liberal arts education but indeed several BFA programs do have a significant liberal arts component, so you must look into each one. Some that do, for example, are NYU/Tisch, UMich, Syracuse, Penn State. Penn State seemed to have the most required gen. ed. for a BFA program, in fact, that we came across. In any case, some BFA programs have VERY little liberal arts (ie., CMU, BOCO), and some have more, as mentioned. </p>

<p>There are some BA programs where you can focus on Musical Theater. I can't say they "hold a candle" to a conservatory, as you are asking, because ultimately, you must decide between the BFA or BA route and they do differ, but there are surely some BA programs where you can focus on MT in a significant way. </p>

<p>Some examples...</p>

<p>James Madison University....has a BA in Musical Theater, must audition to be accepted. </p>

<p>Wagner College.....has a BA in Theater Performance with a Musical Theater emphasis, by audition. </p>

<p>Fordham University.....has a BA in Theater Performance where you can supplement with dance courses at Alvin Ailey and vocal training at the Singer's Forum for credit, must audition to get into this major as part of admissions.</p>

<p>American University.....has a BA in Musical Theater, with an audition to get into the major as an applicant.</p>

<p>Muhlenberg.....has a BA in Theater (including Performance) but while it does not have a MT major, it has high quality MT training (acting, singing, dancing). If you want MT, they recommend you major in Theater Performance and minor in Dance OR Vocal Performance (music dept). Optional audition.</p>

<p>Indiana University....has a BA in Theater and Drama but lots of MT there and are starting a BFA in MT, fall of 2007, no audition. </p>

<p>University of New Hampshire....BA in Theater with concentrations in Acting or Musical Theater (minors available in each too). No audition.</p>

<p>McDaniel College....Has Music Theater, no audition, it is a Dual Major between the Dept. of Music and the Dept. of Theater Arts. No audition.</p>

<p>There are many BA schools with theater/drama majors where there are opportunities in musical theater such as Skidmore College, Sarah Lawrence, Drew, Conn College, Cornell, Goucher, Yale, Brown, Tufts, and many others. </p>

<p>Hope this helps.</p>

<p>Susan</p>

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<p>My daughter's vocal teacher had recommended Stephen's College. The program seemed interesting. It was a 3 year BFA, went year round, where the students worked in their summer stock productions in Iowa in the summer. I believe you were allowed to take liberal arts classes, not just those very limited to a conservatory program. The couple of drawbacks to the program were that there was no audition process, and it was basically a female college. Males were accepted into the theater program, and the teachers filled in the roles in the productions as needed. They did offer talent scholarships, as well as other academic and leadership scholarships, were considerably less costly than other programs, and were a very nice school to deal with during the process. We did not have the opportunity to go visit this school, so I cannot say more about the program. Although my daughter was accepted into the program (this was her safety school), and offered a considerable amount of money, she accepted an audition based school in the east. Good luck with your search.</p>

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<p>Check out what Dr. Himmelheber posted a long time ago about Fullerton's GEs and other requirements; maybe it's on the Fullerton thread. They require a LOT of academic courses for MT majors.</p>

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<p>iheartMTT</p>

<p>We are familiar w/ Wagner and Muhlenberg, both offering training towards MT to different degrees as well as a good liberal arts base. We visited both and spoke w/ the department heads at both. As Susan mentioned, Wagner requires you submit a tape for an audition spot, rather early in the year, for next year probably near Dec 1, 2006. Not sure what you might be looking for towards the liberal arts end, but Wagner offers a strong curriculum in education even w/ an education focus towards theatre. Muhlenberg offers a strong liberal arts curriculum and theatre program where you can audition for a talent scholarship. They do have beautiful facilities. I very strongly encourage you to speak directly to the heads of the Theatre departments at each school. From them, you'll also get an accurate sense of the programs and how each is different. Happy New Year and Good luck with your search!</p>

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<p>IU - adding to soozievt - I'm pretty sure that beginning in 2007 the BFA MT will require an audition.</p>

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<p>Thank you Ericsmom for clarifying...that IS what I meant with regard to Indiana...right now, for the BA programs, no audition. I'm sure the new BFA program at Indiana in 2007 will require an audition.</p>

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<p>Wow, thank you so much everyone, this is great information!</p>