Curious about students’ experience with Muhlenberg & their MT track. Have your kids found it to be a solid program?
Happy to talk about musical theater at Muhlenberg if you are still interested 
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@ Sandradee66, I would love to hear more. My son has applied there. He has been playing a bit of tag with the head of the department, Eric Thompson to learn more.
Hmmm, I think Eric Thompson works in admissions. Have you been in touch with the theatre & dance department specifically? They will hook you up with more brochures and loads of information specific to the theatre & dance programs. They also have a student ambassador program. There’s a lot to say on “musical theatre at Muhlenberg” but I’m sticking with academics-related stuff. Let me know if there’s anything else you’d like to hear about.
Personally, I really wanted to go to college for musical theatre and ended up choosing Muhlenberg over other top-tier BFA MT programs. However, we don’t technically have a formal “Musical Theatre Major.” Our BA in Theatre (theatre major) encompasses all sub-studies. Up until last fall, people declared concentrations (ex. Acting, Stage Management, Directing, etc.), however so many people double or triple concentrated that it was pretty obsolete. There are recent changes to the curriculum (that were approved pre-pandemic and are now being put in effect a little early). From the student perspective, we mostly feel these changes are in support of student interests, but just something to keep in mind if you might be looking at old information especially on CC.
The theatre major curriculum is designed to be incredibly flexible and is only getting more so. The (pre-pandemic) acting concentration is very very heavy with studio coursework, including courses like Acting the Song, On-Camera Acting, Audition Workshop, Voice & Speech, etc. with small class sizes, so the course of study can definitely be comparable to a Musical Theatre degree if you chose to make it so. I’ve seen HUGE increases in serving the students interested in musical theatre throughout my time at 'Berg. This spring, for example, new classes in Writing Musical Theatre, Broadway Jazz and Tap, and freshman musical theatre workshops are all examples of new offerings. And just overall, the program has been getting way better the past five or so years at preparing students professionally (something alums often point out) and the senior showcase with Actors Connection has been really successful.
Basically, you’ll have a lot of autonomy with your schedule. It’s very different from a conservatory MT program experience where you travel with a group of 20 kids to all your classes and don’t get the choice to take Acting Teacher A or B, for example. It might not be for everyone, but I find that, in general, Muhlenberg students tend to appreciate the more flexible structure and thrive off of academic independence. I’m a dancer and a singer, so I fit in those classes when I can (ex. Diction for Singers, voice lessons, Music Theory, a few dance technique classes a day, etc.). I’m also doing 2 totally non-performing arts minors on top of it all, so really anything is possible. #Muhlenbusy culture is a thing, for sure.
Happy to talk about performance opportunities / Summer Music Theatre / lifestyle as well, but definitely poke around on the website and the social media pages.
Helpful website links:
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Hello, He did have a great meeting with Eric yesterday, and he was with Admissions but was a theater major and recruits for the theater department. My son enjoyed hearing all about the school and the department.
He will anxiously wait to hear if he was admitted. He’s a bit nervous, his test scores were not as high as the average. He was only able to take the SATs once and it was cold. All previous 5 were canceled.