<p>I was admitted to William and Mary with a scholarship for full tuition plus $3000. I love the campus, and I love the school. My biggest concern is that I am a theater major. I was also admitted to NYU for theater with a sizeable scholarship. I was wondering if anyone could tell me anything about the theater major, and if it would aid me in achieving my goal of becoming a stage actress. Please help me!!</p>
<p>I saw your post here after I responded to a question you asked on the NYU/Tisch forum.</p>
<p>The William and Mary theatre program is very highly regarded. I have a relative who attended and is now a MT professional. </p>
<p>You might want to start a thread about William and Mary in the MT forum.</p>
<p>I know the theater department puts out very high quality products. You could try contacting someone in the theater department (a professor) to get more info?</p>
<p>My D is also applying to W&M with intentions of being a theatre major. We love the school and hope she gets accepted. I think everything about the school is well-regarded! That being said, the theatre department clearly can’t beat NYU in terms of reputation, internships and access (definitely CAN beat in terms of cost, but with your scholarships that seems to not really be a factor). Williamsburg is adorable and the W&M campus is beautiful. If that appeals to you, that’s great, but if you want to be near Broadway (off-Broadway, off-off- etc,) and live a a real city, of course it’s NYU. Either way, it sounds like you’ll do great. (BTW, you probably already know this, but W&M does a summer Shakespeare theater; if you end up going to NYU you could always come work/intern at W&M for the summer)</p>
<p>Completely agree with justwonderful. I’m a huge W & M fan, but it almost certainly isn’t a better choice for a future professional actor than NYU. Is your concern financial? Even with a nice scholarship at NYU, the school and the city are expensive. It’s a real leap of faith for an aspiring actor to take on educational debt. Still, NYU alums are part of a terrific network, and the training and experience you’ll get there are much more likely to help you find acting work.</p>
<p>A few well-known actors have graduated from W &M - Glenn Close is one; Linda Lavin, another alum, was just on campus for a master class. I’m sure you’d get excellent roles in W & M productions, but I don’t see how that could offer you enough in the way of training. The program at W & M is part of a liberal arts experience, while the Tisch program is more of a conservatory experience. W & M does not have a separate MT major. And the dance program (my d is a minor) is modern-based with few other options, so you wouldn’t really be building your dance skills for MT there. Intermediate ballet and jazz are offered, but my d, who is a good dancer (not pre-professional), doesn’t consider them as good as the classes at her home studio.</p>
<p>Hannah, you have received some good replies here. One thing I am curious about is how interested you are in musical theatre. You had posted in the Tisch MT forum, but your concerns seemed to be more about acting per se, given that you were asking about Tisch’s classical studio and its summer commedia dell’arte program.</p>
<p>Frazzled1 mentioned that William and Mary is not very strong in dance training, but possibly that is not a priority of yours…?</p>
<p>One thing that you might consider is that you may be able to supplement your training at William and Mary with summer study (or a semester abroad, if W & M theatre majors can do that).</p>
<p>The excellent scholarship you have been offered at William and Mary would help you have funds available for summer study. There are lots of good programs, including classical in London. Or, with regard to commedia, I am pretty sure that non-Tischies can attend the Tisch summer commedia program. </p>
<p>I should mention that there is a very highly regarded, semester-long, physical theatre/commedia program in Italy that theatre students from Boston University, Muhlenberg, Emory and other schools attend. It is at the Accademia dell’Arte in Arezzo. They have a summer program as well.</p>
<p>Something that has been much discussed in the Theatre/Drama Majors forum on CC is that it is NOT necessary to go to school in New York to have a good shot at professional theatre work after graduation. And it is certainly not necessary to have a BFA from a conservatory-type program like NYU either.</p>
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I didn’t mean to give the impression that the dance department isn’t a good one. From what my d tells me, it’s a strong modern program - though it only provides a minor, not a major (let alone a BFA). </p>
<p>I hope Hannah will return and clarify whether she’s interested in MT or acting at Tisch. JMO here, but it does seem to me that a student who wants a career in musical theatre will be very far behind the competition if he or she has a BA in theatre with a liberal arts focus while so many other graduates have trained intensively for several years in voice, acting, and various styles of dance.</p>
<p>The OP could always contact a Theatre department faculty member for information on how recent department graduates have fared in finding work as professional actors. And Hannah - congrats on your scholarship! I’m sure W & M will love to have you.</p>
<p>My daughter will be attending W&M in the fall as a theatre major as well. A little over a year ago she had just been accepted as a summer Cherub at Northwestern’s High School Institute in the Theatre Arts Program. I still remember her tears of joy as she was sure that the path she wanted to follow was sealed by this deal. Her plans (she was a Junior in HS) were to do auditions in the fall, but she was sure that she wanted to attend Northwestern or NYU as they were highly acclaimed both academically and for their theatre programs. She also liked Muhlenberg and considered that her “safety” since there were no auditions for the theatre major and her grades were in their top 25%.</p>
<p>After spending 5 weeks at Northwestern she knew two things: (1) She did NOT want to go to Northwestern, and (2) she did not want to attend a conservatory or conservatory/type school where she would live and breathe theatre for the next 4 years. It was a tremendous experience for her because she realized after spending 5 weeks living the “conservatory schedule” that it was not for her. She said that most of the kids there (a huge number of which will be attending NYU and Northwestern) were so passionate about theatre that they didn’t seem to have the number of outside interests that she had. I’m not saying that they didn’t have other interests, but the passion for “everything theatre” certainly surpassed hers. For instance, she does community theatre, summer stock and high school shows because she really enjoys theatre. She also heads up an a capella singing group at her school and enjoys performing with them. She plays the piano and guitar and likes spending time alone composing her own music. She is passionate about literature and the french culture and would like to spend a semester abroad. She is a campus ambassador, working in the admissions office at her private boarding school, and also loves fashion and hanging out with her friends. She is very eager to pledge a sorority so that she can make new friends and involve herself in philanthropy programs. </p>
<p>W&M and NYU are very different schools, both exceptional, but different. At NYU, you will really be living the conservatory life. At W&M, you will be having more of a traditional college experience. As others have already said, you really cannot compare the programs. It really is more about what you want. Have you visited both campuses? Which feels right to you? My daughter plans to major in theatre and English at W&M and then who knows? She says maybe law school and maybe she’ll go for the MFA if she still has the yearning to follow her dream of performing on stage for a living. For now, she wants to keep her options open. And you do have options. As a few have already mentioned, you don’t have to go to New York to be an actress. I believe that part of being a great actor is to be a well rounded, well educated human being with lots of life experiences to call upon. Training is certainly part of the picture, but it comes in many forms. Good luck with your search!!</p>
<p>Hi! Thanks for all of your posts. I appreciate the advice. I did audition for MT at NYU, but I am more of an actress than a singer or dancer, and, while I would love vocal and dance training, I am more concerned with becoming a strong actor than pursuing musical theater. I have played serious musical roles (I am currently playing the Witch in Into the Woods), but I have been more successful in straight plays, having starred in a number of them. I also have been pursuing Shakespeare, and I am currently taking a class on it. I would say that classical stage acting is my main priority. Having said that, I would like a good singing and dancing program, even if it is not associated with my major. I don’t know that most of that makes sense, but I hope it helps give an idea of what I am looking for in a program.</p>
<p>Hannah, congrats on your admission. Should you wish to get in touch with any current W&M theatre majors, some of the W&M tour guides are students in that department. Feel free to contact the Admission Office and we can put you in touch with some of our students who are theatre majors.</p>