<p>Maybe take a look at UChicago. It has a fairly unknown theatre program but its an incredible one. Tons of productions occur each year, the theatre program is small, well organized, very guided, great theatre spaces, and there are great opportunities with the Court Theater on campus and in the city of Chicago. </p>
<p>I recently got an email that gave great suggestions on how to find a job after graduating, indicating that there is a great support structure in place. UChicago is also selective, and has the feel of an LAC in some ways.</p>
<p>If her stats end up as high as you think she could get into the honors program and stand a chance for great merit aid. The school is beautiful. The film school is also very strong and connected to the industry in Hollywood so she can build connections while in there.</p>
<p>eggdropsoup, I’m going to suggest that it’s probably not a good idea to use vague expressions like “good” or “not so good” theatre departments. There are so many variables and characteristics that people evaluate programs on. In fact, when someone comes onto CC and asks, “Is X school good for theatre?” just about everyone says, “What are YOUR criteria for a good theatre school?” Some people are focused on training, others on professional connections. Some want more literature/history, and others want to be in as many productions as possible. Some are interested mostly in reputation and the fame of the graduates. There are lots of other questions - structure vs. freedom, “experimental” vs. “classical” … but then the definitions themselves also become very subjective. </p>
<p>I think from some of your comments it’s hard to know just what does and doesn’t appeal to your daughter in a theatre program. It would help if we knew, because everyone has different interests.</p>
<p>OK, maybe I overstated the case about Reed and no doubt things have changed in the eons since I attended. Reed has outstanding academics and does a great job of preparing students to excel in whatever they want to do (assuming they don’t drop out). But the op asked about small schools with top theater programs. Some schools manage to straddle this line more successfully than others, and several have been suggested here. To the best of my knowledge, Reed is not one of them.</p>
<p>I haven’t read every post, but perhaps your D should consider the fact that although many great theatre programs are at large universities, the elite theatre programs are small and nurturing, giving the student the sense of a tight and tiny community. This goes for USC and UCLA, as well as Tisch, BU, CMU, and Rutgers. She may need to adjust some of her “must haves” and zero in on those that are most important to her. Although not very rigorous, there is always CalArts on the West Coast, but I don’ know about for musical theatre. In fact, I don’t know about musical theatre at any of these schools, as my S applied for straight theatre. If she wants a double major, Fordham, Muhlenberg, Sarah Lawrence, and of course Brown are worth a look. USC and Tisch both allow a double major, as does UCLA, I believe. My S started out looking at Brown, but ended up falling in love with much larger universities that had better theatre programs in the end.</p>
<p>I was a theater/dance major and ended up later going to law school. No poli sci or pre-law degrees is necessary to attend law school. Just strong grades and LSAT. </p>