<p>mybroadwaybaby, with respect to your post 19, at UArts, it’s not really that the acting and MT programs are blended together. Each program has a differentiated curriculum based on the focus of each respective performance discipline. It so happens that acting training is emphasized in the MT program and hence the common acting studio classes between the 2 programs. If you go on the UArts website, you can pull up the curriculum for each program and see where they are common to both and where each veers off based on the particular program. As far as auditioning for shows goes, all of the shows are open to students in both programs out of recognition that the MT program is training actors also and that the acting program has many students who are vocally talented. The shows are part of the educational opportunities at the school and the “open” auditions are good experience to prepare students for auditioning for the broader range of work they will encounter in the real world. That being said, a student in the acting program at UArts can “blend” the programs a bit by taking a minor in MT by audition. The minor offers acting majors classes in dance, voice and MT performance taught by the MT professors, but just not in the same quantity and depth as the MT students receive. The MT minor curriculum is also on the website.</p>
<p>Thanks, MichaelNKat…thanks for clarifying…we are in the process of taking our advice and looking at each website in detail. thanks again.</p>
<p>Don’t leave out USC. Incredible program and really awesome options for internships, etc.</p>
<p>Mybroadwaybaby:</p>
<p>Its an interesting question. (See post #19 above.) Ill try to craft a balanced answer. It will require a little history, and a lengthy answer, so please bear with me.</p>
<p>Otterbein has had a BA degree in Theatre since the 1960s, and several of our distinguished alumni, including three-time Tony nominee Dee Hoty, are graduates of that program. We added the BFA in 1982, but inasmuch as it was offered by the Department of Theatre and Dance, it was a BFA in Acting. (We simultaneously added a BFA in Design/Technology.) We continued to do musicals, of course, and several Acting majors did a concentration in musical theatre. But the core of everyones degree remained the acting program, with coursework in Shakespeare, speech & diction, directing, and the capstone internship with casting directors in New York. </p>
<p>We formalized the MT concentration in 1993, creating the BFA in Musical Theatre. But we didnt abandon the BFA in Acting or the required coursework. We decided that there were distinct benefits to having a single class with equal numbers of Acting and MT majors, and a production program with a balance of musicals and plays. All of our performance majors receive the same basic training in acting, so that no matter what style of play theyre doing, theyre expected to do grounded work, playing objectives out of given circumstances, relating to partner, the things that Konstantin Stanislavki first wrote down for us. </p>
<p>Robert Cohen used to talk about Maria Callas and the reason she was such an incredible artist, even though she didnt have the most beautiful voice: she acted everything. When she sang a high C, it wasnt to show off her voice, but to make her partner listen to her feelings and do what her character wanted him to do in that moment. She aligned the musical demands with the dramatic ones. (Singing high Cs is remarkably easier when you do that.) Our training seeks to do the same. So the MTs study acting from the beginning. </p>
<p>At the same time, weve found it beneficial for the Acting majors to study singing and dance. Stanislavski required it, toohe just didnt write much about it. There are performance challenges in musicals which Acting majors can benefit from meeting, including high-energy vocal work, ensemble choreography, and just plain entertaining, which can then be translated back into plays. It also means that students find the path that is best for them. Weve had MT majors who did the majority of their work in plays, and Acting majors whove done the opposite. Sometimes they switch degree programs. That cant be done easily at institutions which have separate programs. </p>
<p>So, as you can see, there are both historical and pedagogical reasons why weve kept our programs and our students “blended”, and why were happy that were in a liberal arts college that has a strong integrative studies program, so that our students learn how to speak history and psychology and biology.</p>
<p>But there are a number of things that we cant do, because of our commitment to maintaining both degrees and the liberal arts coursework. Our Musical Theatre majors dont get nearly the amount of music theory and music history that students get in Bachelor of Music programs like those at Michigan and Baldwin-Wallace. We wish we had time and space to offer more work in movement, including advanced combat, to our Acting majors. Were trying to figure out a way for our students to do a semester abroad, when we already lose them for a semester to their internships. And we would dearly love for students to be able to double-major in theatre and another field, as students at NYU and Michigan apparently can. </p>
<p>We cant do it all. No one can. But the good thing is that we havent all been standardized. We do it one way. UArts has a similar but not identical approach, as MichaelNKat has noted. CCM does it differently. NCSA does it differently than that. So do Evansville and Webster, not to mention Carnegie and NYU and the Bostons–BU and BOCO and Emerson and Brandeis. </p>
<p>Hope this helps. I would love for fishbowl to jump in and describe the advantages she sees to the focused conservatory training in acting that shes finishing up this year.</p>
<p>Happy new year to you all.</p>
<p>Dr.JOhn.</p>
<p>Thank you for the very balanced reply. I appreciate hearing what you wish you could add to the program at Otterbein…it just gives so much more information to the prospective student, that simply hearing your merits. It sounds like you have a great program there…my daughter and i are hoping to get visit to you all sometime this year.</p>
<p>Doctorjohn,</p>
<p>Sorry I took so long to reply, but I’ve been beezy, beezy, beezy …</p>
<p>My school doesn’t “blend” Acting and MT majors, but rather makes no distinction between the two. The philosophy is that it’s all theatre with MT being just one more genre. The emphasis is on training for the classic stage with the belief that if one can truly master that, she should be able to adapt to the acting, vocal, physical, intellectual, and technical challenges presented by most genres and styles with relative ease. As far as MT goes, singing, basic dance, “acting a song,” and some very rudimentary music theory are included in the curriculum along with some MT scene work and occasional productions, but to nowhere near the extent one would expect from programs specifically designed to nurture MT specialists. However, there are students here who plan to pursue MT after graduation and we have a number of successful alumni whose primary work is in MT, so I guess chiming in may be relevant. </p>
<p>For me, the main advantage of college conservatory versus liberal arts BFA style training is in the complete immersion it entails. As an upperclassman, what I get is around eighty hours per week of hands-on contact with the faculty and guest artists working exclusively on my craft. This doesn’t even begin to include all the outside time I put in, but it all leads to having a pretty big box of tools by graduation. Right now near the beginning of fourth year, I am certified in unarmed combat plus four weapons with more to come and I have seven accents and dialects right on tap with the easy ability to pick up as many more as I want. Since roles are assigned, the average student will also have ten to twelve productions and all that experience gained on his/her scholastic resume by graduation. More importantly, however, are the myriad acting, voice, and movement influences to which we’re exposed. For some, including me, this leads to one developing one’s own unique and codifiable approach to acting as opposed to simply learning and living by a single set of dogmas prescribed by a long-deceased master. </p>
<p>As you said, nobody can do it all and what has been sacrificed here is the wide array of tradition academic classes one could take in other places. Instead, we get a few courses covering some history, literature, and social sciences designed to be relevant to the artist. Some on the faculty wouldn’t appreciate me saying this, but my take is that they’re really just there to provide the bare minimum of the traditional approach to education required to remain accredited. I couldn’t even imagine trying to fit a Biology class into this schedule …</p>
<p>Thank you, Fishbowlfreshman…that was a very informative and helpful contrast! I really appreciate your taking the time…</p>
<p>Fish:</p>
<p>I knew I could count on you for a thoughtful and cogent answer. It may be the clearest description posted on cc yet about what a conservatory program really looks like. Let me add my thanks to mybroadwaybaby’s. And good luck this year!</p>
<p>Also might want to check out UMiami, or Emerson.</p>
<p>Anyone have references about auditioning for Acting at Webster and Pace, or have attended, or are currently attending either of these schools. My D. has auditions at both these schools coming up shortly, so any advice, tips, and insights into the quality of the courses would be useful. It would be great to know from others, on the following question "If you had to choose between these two, which one would you pick and why? Thanks in advance for responses.</p>
<p>There are many threads discussing Pace’s BFA programs, as well as auditions, on the Pace MT forum here:</p>
<p>[Pace</a> University MT - College Confidential](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/pace-university-mt/]Pace”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/pace-university-mt/)</p>
<p>There are many threads discussing Webster’s BFA programs, as well as auditions, on the Webster MT forum here:</p>
<p>[Webster</a> University MT - College Confidential](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/webster-university-mt/]Webster”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/webster-university-mt/)</p>
<p>Where does fishbowlfreshman go to school?</p>
<p>Note the time on Soozievt’s post- 4:05 AM. I had to laugh…</p>
<p>My post was at 7:05 AM here in the East . That’s when I posted and what it says when I view my post. I was sleeping at 4:05 AM!</p>
<p>arrdad, fishbowlfreshman prefers not to say where she goes to school.</p>
<p>Thanks NJMom. I appreciate wanting to stay anonymous on this board. The college MT world seems very small at times, and giving honest feeback on this board could compromise some people. The reason I asked for fishbowl’s school is because her great description of the program she is in seems like a good fit for my D, who will be auditioning next fall.</p>
<p>Just so you know, fishbowlfreshman is not in a MT Program, but rather a BFA in Acting degree program. Some schools that offer a BFA in Acting, do not offer a BFA in MT.</p>