<p>Does anyone have any information on the musical theatre program at Tulane? Any info will help! :)</p>
<p>Reviving this old thread to see if anyone does have any info on the BFA in Musical Theatre program. Son has been accepted (called at home by Prof Howard, always a nice touch) 
but not sure how it stacks up against the other BFA programs he has applied to/been accepted to. Thanks for any help!</p>
<p>That is a nice touch. I can’t compare it to the MT programs at Ball State, Illinois Wesleyan, or TCU. I can only tell you that Tulane is a more academically challenging school overall than those are. Ball State has quite a bit lower admissions standards than Tulane, he might find the classes too easy. Illinois Wesleyan is closer to Tulane than the other two, and TCU is in-between Ball and IW. Then it would come down to what kind of school he is looking for overall. While I realize that theater tends to be a more “consuming” major in many ways than most others in terms of time and focus, there is still a lot of other things that go on at a university that will affect the experience your child has. Even for a theater major, more than half a student’s time will be spent doing other things. TCU is about the same size as Tulane, while Ball State is much bigger and IW much smaller. Then there is Fort Worth vs. Muncie vs. Bloomington vs. New Orleans. Really different environments, what is he looking for? I could go on, but you get the idea.</p>
<p>I feel confident he can get a good MT experience at any of these schools. You probably already know more about the programs at the others than any of us will. Certainly if a Tulane MT student sees this they should speak up and talk about the program, but I would say you (he) should really be looking at the overall environment and anticipated experience at each, not focusing on one program. Since each school offers the major, you should assume he will get a good foundation in that area regardless of which he picks, unless you hear otherwise. Certainly it appears Tulane does a number of productions. I see the announcements for performances all the time, it seems.</p>
<p>Has he been able to visit Tulane?</p>
<p>Thanks for your reply FC. I know his choice of schools seem quite random… those are BFA audition programs that he has been accepted into. While Ball State is definitely less selective as a university he was one of 16 (yield, not sure offered) out of hundreds (theater chair’s numbers) that auditioned for that program. TCU’s is supposed to yield 10, IW 8. He is still waiting to hear back from the “big” MT schools: Carnegie Mellon, NYU, Syracuse. Odds are difficult for anyone for those. I suppose my question re: Tulane was to see if indeed anyone knew much about the MT program, as the others I mentioned either have subforums on the Musical Theatre forum or are talked about on that forum or the theatre one so there is quite a bit more info on those programs. The other schools have quite developed MT programs and Tulane’s is through the Music Dept as far as I can tell, leaning heavy on the music/vocal part of the education and a bit light on the acting/dance side. That said, he and I both love Tulane. His sister was waitlisted there 2 years ago, got in but had already committed elsewhere. Sad times.</p>
<p>Ah yes, the danger of waitlisting for the school. What can you do though. Hope she is happy where she ended up.</p>
<p>Well, I suppose if MT is by far the main driver of the decision, crowding out most other aspects of the decision, then it does sound like some of those other programs are more comprehensive. I am sure you have seen both this [Tulane</a> Admission: Musical Theatre](<a href=“http://admission.tulane.edu/livecontent/programs/65-musical-theatre.html]Tulane”>http://admission.tulane.edu/livecontent/programs/65-musical-theatre.html) and this [Tulane</a> University - Liberal Arts - Music - BFA Musical Theatre](<a href=“http://tulane.edu/liberal-arts/music/bfa-musical-theatre.cfm]Tulane”>http://tulane.edu/liberal-arts/music/bfa-musical-theatre.cfm) but you are right, there should be more talking about the general opportunities. I hope Prof. Howard doesn’t track me down for saying that. I do know the Summer Lyric Theater is a big deal.</p>
<p>Beyond this I am out of my element so I will leave it to others to chime in. I will only add something you and he are no doubt tired of hearing already. Since theater is such a competitive industry and the odds of making it are rather slim, it is good to have something to fall back on, especially something that might keep one close to the industry like a business degree. Or Latin American Studies. I can see it now, hitting it big in Rio. LOL. OK I am getting weird. But Tulane makes it very easy to double major, if that is a consideration at all.</p>
<p>Would love for a student to chime in and tell us about performing arts majors at Tulane! my son is in the same boat as OP’s – except that I have to admit I had no idea Tulane had a BFA program, mainly because (i just looked it up), one auditions for it after the first year.</p>
<p>Anyway. This has just made the “where should I go” deliberations more interesting. We were actually going to take a hard look at all the programs once he knew his final options. Thanks for posting!</p>
<p>Hi UVaHoo, nice to see you here… From what I can see Tulane has two BFA programs, the Theatre (Acting) one you referred to that they audition for after the first year and the Musical Theatre one that they begin as freshmen in. My S auditioned via DVD for Prof Howard for the latter to gain acceptance to the program. Is your S interested in Acting or MT? I too would love to hear from a student in the program… the MT program seems very heavy on the music side (which my S would love) but light on the acting/dance, which might not be great, although he could likely supplement both those areas. I am probably confusing schools now, but is there a dance concentration he could add at Tulane?</p>
<p>There appears to be a dance major and a dance minor. [Tulane</a> University - School of Liberal Arts - Undergraduate Dance](<a href=“http://tulane.edu/liberal-arts/theatre-dance/undergraduate-dance.cfm]Tulane”>http://tulane.edu/liberal-arts/theatre-dance/undergraduate-dance.cfm)</p>
<p>So he could either double major or major in MT and minor in dance. Does that help? I really don’t know much about how this works, but love learning about majors I know little about. You would think I would know more, I played in the pit for all the musicals at my high school and at Tulane.</p>
<p>Hi, I just got accepted into Tulane as well as its musical theatre program and I too would love more information about it! I was also accepted into the musical theatre program at American. Tulane is appealing to me because it has strong academics and a musical theatre program and the opportunity to do a double major. I am going to visit Tulane in April - what sort of things that relate to musical theatre can I check out while I’m down there? I appreciate this thread - it has been difficult to find much online with regards to Tulane’s musical theatre major.</p>
<p>Singin - love the screen name. You should let Prof. Howard know when you are coming and ask him for suggestions. He will know what is going on at exactly that time and be able to schedule you to observe rehearsals, sit in on an appropriate class, attend any performances that might be going on, etc. We cannot, for the most part, know precisely what will be available the day(s) you are there. My D did this with a different major and the prof was great in making her visit productive.</p>
<p>Thanks for the response fallenchemist. I will definitely call Professor Howard next week to get input about scheduling my visit. I talked to him this week when I found out I was accepted and he was very welcoming and informative. I can’t wait to visit!</p>
<p>Just a suggestion, e-mail might be better since you can tell him the dates, he can take the time to see what is happening those days, and write you back. If you call he might not have a complete schedule of classes and events at the ready.</p>
<p>One of you enterprising students should see if upgrading the Tulane MT information site, based on what you found missing and what you saw at other schools, can count as your freshman community service credit. Theater is always a big part of the community, so you can be helping New Orleans and Tulane at the same time. Just a thought.</p>
<p>Son’s an actor who can sing and while I’ve loved seeing him in musicals, I’m pretty sure that’s not the route he’ll take when he heads to college. He’s auditioned for acting programs and has a few acceptances under his belt and was planning, at the end of next week, to really analyze his options. He’s been accepted to an auditiones BFA and BA program; that would be the drawback to Tulane – to have to audition again and hope to get into their BFA – and I just really don’t know much about their program. Will have to be something to really dig into at Destination Tulane.</p>
<p>A quick hijack here: For those interested in a different kind of dance, Tulane just started its first Hip-Hop team. This is enhancing my d’s Tulane experience BUG TIME!!!</p>