<p>I'm not planning on majoring in Theater, but I did it in high school, and would like to continue in college. A friend of mine recently told me that Stanford students put on a combined total of 9 productions a year, which to me seems pretty low. Is this true? Is there really not much interest in theater at Stanford?</p>
<p>I'm in the exact same boat as you are, I don't want to major in it but I love doing it. I'm planning on applying EA, and that number seems really really low. Especially since Princeton, which is tons smaller, does something like 50.</p>
<p>itsonlyrockandroll, whoever told you 9 productions a year is lying. </p>
<p>This coming year, the drama department has 5 big productions, directed by upper level PhD students. They will also put on two directing workshops: one acts directed by first year PhD students, and one acts directed by undergrads in the directing core. </p>
<p>Ram's Head, the biggest campus theatre group, will put on 2 big musicals (Gaieties in the fall and a spring musical in the winter- this coming year the musical is Cabaret) as well as student written one-acts. </p>
<p>The Stanford Shakespeare Society puts on one smaller show and two big shows per year(for which you are part of the company for the year), and the Asian American Theatre Project puts on a couple of shows as well. Other groups, including dorms, will put on smaller productions throughout the year- and I know that there are more of us now who are interested in putting on independent shows. </p>
<p>There are also directing students doing various scenes for the first two quarters, and they are always on the lookout for actors. </p>
<p>With the exception of the Shakespeare Society which auditions people only at the beginning of the year and is a huge time commitment, all shows are open to everyone. </p>
<p>There is tons going on. This year I acted, directed, stage managed, assistant lighting designed and assistant sound designed. There is no shortage of opportunity, I promise you.</p>
<p>Does Stanford's growing theater program then mean that admissions is looking to get more actors, or is it just a once-your-on-campus thing kind of thing?</p>
<p>For some reason, the drama department really likes people who audition. I really don't know why, since they don't like, use it to evaluate you once on campus. I guess it's just that extra demonstrated show of desire to go to stanford. I did an interview, and I will never know whether it boosted my application status, but it certainly added SOMEthing. So they may not be explicitly looking for more actors, but they do want to have theatre people on campus. And they won't dismiss the fact that you have a passion for theatre, if you demonstrate it properly.</p>
<p>What are the best classes offered by the Drama department?</p>