Hello I’m a F, rising Senior in VA.
I recently discovered my passion for MT around my Junior year. I’m wondering if I have a change of making it into a good BFA program. Although I discovered my passion for MT late I’ve been taking singing lessons for a while and have been in choir and things like that since elementary school. I would say I’m pretty good with singing although I’m going to take lessons specific for MT type singing this year. Acting wise I would say I’m pretty good- not as good as my singing but I wouldn’t say it’s bad. Above Average? I took some acting classes before and Theatre in my school. My problem is with dance although this year I’m going to push and take a bunch of basic dance classes like ballet, jazz, maybe contemporary or tap? Along with my voice lessons and working out. I want to know if I have a possibility in making it to good schools for MT and what schools you would recommend for someone like me to audition for? I also have a 3.7 GPA unweighted right now but any programs to look into would be appreciated!! I’m looking into some of those “Top 20” schools but I want to have a “reach, safety, and fit” type range even though that’s not exactly probable with Musical Theatre?! Thank you also if schools offer Study Abroad programs that would be a plus!
No one here can tell you if you can. Musical theater is about talent. Plain and simple. They will evaluate you also on potential. Just wanting to do it is not enough. You might want to consider programs that you can do theater and also get a degree.
Many BFA theater programs are almost no academics. You need to consider this. For those programs they are also looking for the best of the best in all 3 phases.
BA programs might give you both academics and theater.
Also rejections is part of the life. Taking sharp criticism. You have to be thick skinned.
If there is anyway to be evaluated locally I would attempt to do so.
Hope this makes sense.
Yes thank you I know! I guess another question would just be what schools would you recommend have strong BFA programs that aren’t necessarily the “Top 20” I just need a wider range of schools to audition too
I would recommend you follow the Musical Theater threads as they are a wealth of information. Also, this year will be different as I imagine most (if not all) auditions will move to video. Will make things much easier (and a lot less expensive) than the travel usually required.
Not to alarm you, but there is a LOT to do in a short amount of time. You’ll need a prescreen (audition for the audition if you will) with very specific guidelines. Go to the MT thread and several people will help explain. My D is starting in a BFA program. It’ll be a wild ride!
BTW - I would seriously look at schools like Muhlenburg. They have a BA (audition only for scholarships I believe) but have a very solid theater program. Will be far easier to gain admission into programs like that.
Very Funny…I was going to recommend the same school…LOL
This sounds exactly like me! I was in my first musical the summer before my junior year and decided my junior year I wanted to pursue musical theatre. I started voice lesson sophmore year and chorus frehsmen year. I also didn’t have alot of dance experience like you but I’m going to NYU Steinhradt for musical theatre. I would recommend you keep taking classes but also learn some dances at home, because you won’t always have time to go to dance classes and right now most studios are closed. For you I would recommend looking into BM (bachelor of music) because these are easier to get into if you’re a strong singer and not as strong of a dancer and then once you’re in the program you’ll have dance classes like a BFA program. NYU Steinhardt has a great program that you should defintely look into, so does Oklahoma City University, Baldwin Wallace, Catholic University of America etc. I have a YouTube channel that I started to help people who are planning on applying for musical theatre college programs because I was so lost and new to everything when I started and I didn’t want others to have to go through that. I you look up Madison Halla Channel on YouTube you should find it and I would recommend looking at my video titled “How to Become A Better Dancer Fast” to get better at dancing for dance calls and I woudl recommend “How To Build Your Perfect Musical Theatre College List” as well. Hopefully those will be helpful along with the other videos.
I 100% think it’s possible to get into a top ranked musical theatre program, just make sure you keep an open and positive mind, keep practicing your craft and don’t worry too much or attach your self worth to getting into the top 20 BFA musical theatre programs because they are a crapshoot to get into and talent doesn’t = admission. There are so many incredible programs out there!! If you want to reach out to me personally you can DM me on Instagram @madison_halla and I can give you some more help! Best of luck!
@bellatar @VPMT2024 I agree w @rickle1 …best advice I can give is go read last few years discussing, venting MT threads as well as the final decision threads…I recently posted a lengthy summary of our process as my D is a Fr MT this year. I reference several other posters who offer a ton of info. best of luck!!