Questions about theater and the other arts at UC....

<p>Most of my high school ec's involved the arts. I play the flute in a jazz ensemble and sent in a poetry supplement with my application, but I devote the largest chunk of my time acting in theater productions. Although I don't plan to major in any of this, I'd like to stay involved, especially with theater and creative writing. I spent four weeks at UC last summer and got to have a feel for the campus and the academics, but unfortunately I never even looked at the theater facilities.</p>

<p>I know Chicago is a fantastic place for the arts, but can anyone tell me anything about campus programs? I'm interested in acting in plays or possibly taking some creative writing classes. Is is tough to keep up with your work and still manage the hours of rehearsal? (It can get pretty crazy the week or two before a play.) Physically, what do the theater(s) look like? Is it a small black box or something larger? Does anyone ever do musical theater? How about Shakespeare? I know there's something called the Court Theater and something called the University Theater, but I can't really tell from the website what the differences are. </p>

<p>I looked up the creative writing program and this is what it said: <a href="http://creativewriting.uchicago.edu/overview.shtml%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://creativewriting.uchicago.edu/overview.shtml&lt;/a>
This sounds like a different approach. Does anyone out there know about this?</p>

<p>Somebody on this forum (can't remember who) said they wished Chicago would put more resources into the arts. With all the great academics and intellectual discussion, is that an area that gets less attention? </p>

<p>I'm trying to weigh different things in deciding what college I should go to and it would really help to know more about this. Thanks.</p>

<p>All I know is that they have open auditions, so even if you are not majoring in theatre you can be in the plays</p>

<p>Some links that may be helpful:</p>

<p><a href="http://oca.uchicago.edu/community/arts.shtml%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://oca.uchicago.edu/community/arts.shtml&lt;/a>
<a href="http://maroon.uchicago.edu/news/articles/2006/02/28/university_plans_to_.php%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://maroon.uchicago.edu/news/articles/2006/02/28/university_plans_to_.php&lt;/a>
<a href="http://www.uchicago.edu/docs/future_of_arts_report/fig4_60th-drexel.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.uchicago.edu/docs/future_of_arts_report/fig4_60th-drexel.pdf&lt;/a>
<a href="http://ut.uchicago.edu/courses.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://ut.uchicago.edu/courses.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>If I get into Chicago I'd definitely pursue Creative Writing as one of my concentrations - and I think that Chicago's program is as good as anyone else's. If you're a writer you must know that 95% of the progress you make in your abilities come from you - a Creative Writing program can help and guide you, but you must write for yourself. Most famous writers have never taken a writing course - if you have the desire to write you will.</p>