<p>Along the way, I have met many very talented musical theater teens who are looking for a very selective college as they are excellent students with academic interests as well and are not opting to go the BFA route. There has already been much discussion on these boards about choosing between a BA and a BFA program and which is more suited to certain kids' needs/interests, so I am not going to get into all that now. But sometimes it is hard for students to know which colleges have strong theater as well as musical theater opportunities, while also offering a very selective and challenging academic environment. Certain schools come to mind in this regard and have been posted before. One such school is Brown. But there are others that can be discussed on this thread and their offerings and environment for someone who is thinking of this option. </p>
<p>I do know several kids who have gone to Brown and schools like it who are kids who very well could have been admitted to BFA programs had they opted for that route. I am even working with kids now who are going down this path. While I do not know Dani personally, who posts here, I think she also is someone going for this and is even applying to Brown. So, I am going to share something for kids who are looking into that and if DizzyDani or MattyB who post here read it, then it is for them and kids like them. </p>
<p>My older D goes to Brown. She is not in musical theater there but she has done quite a bit of it herself but chose not to pursue that in college and this was NOT a factor in her choosing colleges. She is not involved in theater directly at Brown but enjoys going to it because of her love of theater and years doing it herself. </p>
<p>My D likes to "give back" in terms of helping kids who are choosing colleges because she knows how helpful it was when she was an applicant and went to visit colleges and craved getting first hand information from those on campus and being hosted by them. I have sent many CC kids her way and she has hosted them. She just wrote me that a family from her sister's theater camp wrote her to ask about doing musical theater at Brown. This boy is one of the top talents in MT at my D's theater program and would be an appropriate candidate for a BFA in MT but I think has other academic interests and is looking for a challenging and selective academic college where he can still do musical theater. So, my D wrote the family back and described what she knew of opportunities at Brown. She suggested to me that I post her email to that family as she is thinking that some other families who are looking for this sort of thing or looking into Brown might benefit. </p>
<p>So, I am going to paste it below with slight editing as she used names in it and so I will edit those out. Hope someone finds this informative....</p>
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<p>Here's the information that I know about theater at Brown, though I am definitely not an expert........... I hope some of this information is helpful. </p>
<p>In terms of musical training, there is something called the "Applied Music Program," in which students take private lessons in instumental music or in voice each week. I think you receive half a credit for this. I know many nonmajors take advantage of this opportunity and I have heard good things about this program. This year, there is a mainstage musical, Hair, and I'm not entirely sure if there is a mainstage one every year or not. The mainstage shows are put on through the Theater department so X would be working with professors in that type of production. The theater department offers drama courses, though I don't know if there are ones specifically for musical theater. You can read about the major (otherwise known as "concentration" at Brown) at <a href="http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Theatre_Speech_Dance/Course_Concentration.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Theatre_Speech_Dance/Course_Concentration.html</a>. Actually, you can look at all Brown courses and get short descriptions at <a href="http://boca.brown.edu/%5B/url%5D">http://boca.brown.edu/</a>. This spring, I am going to take a seminar in the music department called, "Reading American Musicals." In terms of the Theater department, X would be able to get strong training in acting, take private lessons in voice (which might be through the music department), enjoy many liberal arts courses in the theater department, and be able to be in mainstage productions.</p>
<p>However, while the theater department does not have much of a focus on musical theater, there are lots of student run organizations that I think X would really enjoy. There is a group called "Musical Forum" that puts on one musical each semester. They are usually pretty good and Chicago is going up next weekend. Their website is <a href="http://mf.students.brown.edu/%5B/url%5D">http://mf.students.brown.edu/</a>. I think X would also love being in an a capella group. There are quite a few and they are really, really good. They are very popular and students often go to their performances or "arch sings" late at night outside at points around campus. Most of the groups record a cd each year and sometimes go on a trip once a year to perform. My favorite groups are the Bear Necessities and the Brown Derbies. Their websites are: <a href="http://www.brown.edu/Students/Bear_Necessities/%5B/url%5D">http://www.brown.edu/Students/Bear_Necessities/</a>, and <a href="http://www.brownderbies.com%5B/url%5D">http://www.brownderbies.com</a>. There is another student group, the Brown Brokers, which presents a full scale student written and student directed musical each fall and it is performed at one of the mainstage theaters. Last year, the show was written by "my sister's" friend from Stagedoor, J. He would probably be a great person for X to contact because he knows all there is to know about theater at Brown and he went through the same decision: BFA or BA.
His email is: <a href="mailto:XXXXXXXXX@Brown.edu">XXXXXXXXX@Brown.edu</a>. </p>
<p>I know of two other student theater groups, though they don't do musicals. Production Workshop is a group that puts on shows in a black box space. They do a range of work from student written productions, to The Laramie Project. Each spring, there is also Shakespeare on the Green and quite a few plays are performed.</p>
<p>I know that Brown has a relationship with the Trinity Reperatory Theater, which I think is a well known regional theater. I don't know much about this, and the programs might be in the summer. You would have to ask someone in the department or maybe J. to find out more about this.</p>
<p>If X is interested in philosophy, bio, and political science, I would say that Brown would be a great choice for him because of the open requirement. as you probably already know, the open curriculum means that the only requirements to graduate are the ones for your concentration and a total number of courses. For X, this would be great because it would allow him to freely explore all those different areas. It sounds to me like he would have to give most of that up in a BFA program, which gives you great musical theater training but almost an exclusively theater related education. At Brown, X surely wouldn't get comparable training, but there are certainly opportunities to take voice, be in mainstage musicals, a great a capella group, and lots of student theater productions...............</p>
<p>Good luck with the whole process!</p>
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<p>I'll add here that this morning I was talking to my mother in law who lives in Saratoga Springs, NY where Skidmore is and they go to all the shows there and take courses there themselves (they are in the Shakespeare course right now) and the student run musicals put on by the Cabaret Troupe there are always very good. They just saw Once Upon a Mattress and said that the lead girl playing Fred was as good as anyone they have seen who goes to BFA programs. </p>
<p>Schools like these are fine options for talented MT kids who want a BA program. There are several ones out there where you can get a challenging academic education and still major in theater OR be immersed in a very active theater campus community. Thought I would share one student's description of the offerings at Brown and invite others to share about similar schools for those looking to go down that path.</p>
<p>Susan</p>
<p>PS, my older D refers to the great a capella groups at Brown (I've heard 'em, they ARE great and have recorded CDs) and my other D at Tisch is in a coed a capella group at Tisch that is going to be competing at Brown in March ironically against the groups she has loved seeing at Brown herself.</p>