Musical Theatre Schools in California

<p>Hello,</p>

<p>I'm currently a second year at the Boston Conservatory as a Musical Theatre Major. I LOVE the program but our school has a cut system and I want to be prepared if I get cut. I really would like to make it in the TV/Film Industry with a musical theatre training to hopefully someday work in movie musicals, television, film, on stage, and choreographer. I was thinking about transferring to colleges in California since I'm now eligible to join SAG (Screen Actors Guild). If I go to CA, I'll be a member of SAG. Schools I was looking into were AMDA LA (BFA Musical Theatre) even though I hear of their bad reputation, UCLA (BA Theatre), UC Irvine (BFA Musical Theatre/BA Theatre), California State University, Fullerton (BFA). In high school my GPA was 4.3 weighted and the top 20% of my class at the Dreyfoos School of the Arts. At Boco I have a B average for my GPA so far. What programs do you think would be good for me to continue my education without having to start as a freshman and continue being a junior transfer. Thank you.</p>

<p>I think it would be challenging to find a California program where you can transfer in as a junior BFA MT major. Best bet is to contact these schools directly and speak with someone in the theater department --there are too many variables from school to school to know how they would treat your specific case–you, of course, would have to audition. UCLA (BA not BFA program–a lot of academic outside of major are required) is extremely difficult to get into period no matter what your grades are…the others are not as difficult but all may require prerequisites you don’t have and might require you to enter as a sophomore (or less) FYI- UCLA and USC (BFA acting) are in Los Angeles proper, CSU-Fullerton (end of sophomore year audition into program -they take 10) and UC-Irvine (end of freshman year audition into program they took 6 last year) are in Orange County about 30 minutes to 1 1/2 hours away depending on the traffic. LOL AMDA would probably be the easiest way to go, but don’t know as much about that program.<br>
Why are you preparing to be cut? Is that imminent?</p>

<p>Have you spoken with anyone at Boston Conservatory? As they do have the ‘cut system’ I would think there would be a resource at your school that would have a listing and information regarding ‘transfer friendly’ institutions.</p>

<p>CalMTMom thank you for the feedback.</p>

<p>I haven’t even started my sophomore year yet, but cuts are in the middle of the year (December) so I just wanted to be prepared so I will always have a back up and not be without a school to continue. I’m really academic, so school has always been a priority.
The reason I was looking into CA is I would like to get to know the place, continue getting a degree and hopefully get some more SAG work since there is more union work in CA.</p>

<p>If you get cut and transfer to a school in California, do you want to get a degree in musical theatre or in film?</p>

<p>If you’re also looking into Non MT degrees, Chapman U started a Screen Acting BFA a few years back. You might want to look into that?</p>

<p>As far as MT in CA, there’s only UCLA, UCI, and CSU Fullerton. I have had a few friends that went to and graduated from AMDA, but it’s a weird school that you hear a LOT of mixed things about. Some people love it and others don’t, but overall, I’d avoid going there if you can go to a different school. It does have somewhat of a bad reputation as SCAMDA, and they do let a lot more students into their program than they should. I would say, if you get in with a really good scholarship offer, then it’s a possibility. I’ve heard stories of students getting accepting, then going for a year or so and then being asked to leave…because they were only let in so the school could have more funding. If they want you enough to give you a good scholarship, that pretty much means they really want you to graduate from the school…because you’ll be a good representative of them. </p>

<p>If you want to do film, I guess UCLA would have the most weight on your resume in the film industry since it’s a very well known and established program. </p>

<p>UCI and CSUF have good programs. Since you’re transferring, CSUF would be ideal for you…you could just audition into the program as a transfer and not have to worry about being one of the CSUF MT wannabe’s who must fight for one of the limited spots on the program. UCI, you would have to attend for one semester before you could audition to be in the BFA program…the way UCI works however is that you have to advance through 2 audition only level classes of MT before you could be considered a MT BFA student. The first class is MT 2…they audition students for 40 spots each semester. Then MT 3 only has 20. When you have been accepted into MT 4, you ARE a BFA student (only 7 spots are available per graduating class). Each class must be taken for three semesters (I could be wrong and it could be 2 instead), before you can audition for the next level class. It’s a good school, but it somewhat has it’s own cut system, although they don’t call it that. Also, there’s the problem sometimes that undergrads must compete with graduate level students sometimes for mainstage productions. As many people have said, usually when a school has an undergraduate and graduate program, the school sometimes focuses more on one of those two groups instead. Because of UCI’s reputation as a graduate program, I guess that the graduates get more attention than undergrads…i COULD be wrong though! It’s a good school nonetheless! </p>

<p>Going back to UCLA, however, many people I talk to in SoCal tell me not to go to UCLA…a recent graduate told me in person that while he loved and valued his time there, he doesn’t think UCLA is a good school right now to be doing MT at since they have just changed faculty like 1 or 2 years ago right after he graduated. He thinks it’ll be a good program in a few years, but commented on how it will take time to develop under the new faculty. I would say, if you’re really interested in film/tv work, go to UCLA for acting but also study voice and dance outside of your major requirements…it IS a BA program, so you’ll have more electives to take than if you were to go to a BFA program!</p>

<p>Good Luck…anyway, you have a while before you even know if you will have to transfer into those programs! You have a whole year at BoCo before you even know if they will cut you or not! It’s a good idea to think ahead, but you’ve got so much time! Hopefully nothing will happen, and you will be able to graduate from BoCO!</p>

<p>Mtmommy: I think I want a musical theatre degree just because I get the discipline in everything, but if it comes down to it I would be glad in either Musical Theatre or Screen Acting/Acting as long as I can continue my education without having to take too many classes to meet the requirements as a transfer so I can graduate when I expected to graduate. Thank you</p>

<p>Vivianngo123: Thank you for the information/opinion it is really helpful. I hope to continue and graduate as a Boco student, but this information is great for me to be prepared if I need to use it.</p>

<p>Sounds like you are interested in MT programs in Southern California - but, just to put it out there, there is also a BA Musical Theatre program at Chico State.</p>

<p>Mt Mama, Thanks for letting me know of Chico State. I’ll be looking into a lot of these programs, since I have some time. </p>

<p>Hopefully I’ll still be a Boco Grad, but I’m glad for the information for me to be prepared.</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

<p>I hope you get to stay at Boco, but if you want to transfer to an MT program in California, I would suggest Cal State Fullerton. Everybody transfers in as a junior because the program doesn’t really start in earnest until junior year. The only problem is that you would probably need a lot of GEs to catch up to Fullerton’s requirements.</p>

<p>thank you for the feedback, I think I’m going to look into Chapman, UC Irvine, AMDA LA (As a back up), maybe Fullerton. Would love to apply to UCLA, but looked at the requirements I would probably have to start over as a freshman cause we don’t have much academics at Boco.</p>

<p>I applied and got into USC theatre program as a transfer. Really happy! I still might not go cause I could go to a state school for free but I would be a business major. But if I do decide based off of what I want versus my/family’s wallet then USC here I come.</p>