<p>You could look into Marquette University in Milwaukee 
</p>
<p>It seems to have a pretty good BA in theatre with a lot of performance opportunities. I don’t think it would be too much of a reach academically for your daughter.</p>
<p>Well said, OneToughMommy! </p>
<p>And while I’m flattered to be including on a list of “professionals” like Soozie and Kat, I am not one, just a mom who went through this with my kid. Just want to set that record straight.</p>
<p>Good luck to you and your D, shaun. We’re all right there with you. On another thread there is a link to a wonderful statement about the life skills theatre kids develop. Maybe that will make you feel better!</p>
<p><a href=“http://lecatr.people.wm.edu/majorslearn.html[/url]”>http://lecatr.people.wm.edu/majorslearn.html</a></p>
<p>My Junior daughter has yet to land a lead in middle school or high school production (she’s 0-4) yet she regularly lands leads at Frenchwoods and community theater productions against a more talented pool of kids. Politics is a partial explanation. But I think a better explanation is that she’s an actress that sings. My anecodotal evidence is that as you move up in the MT world, much more focus and attention is paid to the ability to actually play the character. A blank faced kid with an amazing voice can get the role of Eponine in high school (particularly when the choir director is doing the casting!) but amazing voices are a dime a dozen at higher levels. So unless the actress can actually “be” Eponine – its not going to happen no matter how good the voice. My daughter’s voice teacher – who a long running part on Broadway and has other students who have been on Broadway – has told her his view that he believes acting is the most important skill in the MT world. </p>
<p>What this says to me is you are certainly not hurting your daugher’s chances in the MT world by pursuing a strong acting program while continuing with voice and dance lessons. Every good acting program I’m aware of has the ability to continue with voice and dance training at some level – Purchase, NCSA, Rutgers, etc. </p>
<p>Shaun – I sent you a PM with additional details.</p>
<p>Great point about the importance of acting training, ActingDad. </p>
<p>My son, who has concentrated on acting training but has a perfectly adequate singing voice, didn’t get leads in high school musicals (they only did musicals), mostly because of school politics…but once he was old enough (at around age 17) for young adult roles, he had some really good parts in community theatre productions.</p>
<p>You act when you sing, you act when you dance… on stage, to be successful, you are an actor. Never worry about high school leads. They mean very little to the adjudicators when it comes to college auditions in theatre. Actually. They mean nothing. What matters is truth and ease in the audition. </p>
<p>(And I would like to echo the sentiment about Marquette University. Very strong program, excellent school, good people.)</p>
<p>I’ll add my pet Southern Utah University to the list. It flies under the radar, but it’s a good school in a nice town with a surprisingly strong theater program-- BFA in Musical Theater, Acting, and Theater Tech. There’s also a connection with the world-class Utah Shakespeare Festival, which is held on the college’s campus every year. It’s also well within your daughter’s reach academically and not too expensive. Worth checking out for just about anybody, I’d say!</p>
<p>You don’t mention where you are from…but think about public universities in your home state or adjoining states that might have good acting programs (BA or BFA). This often keeps the cost down and leaves $$ for graduate programs.</p>