<p>Can anyone give any advice/information about the Musical Theater progarm at SUNY Buffalo?</p>
<p>Hi,
I'm currently a theatre major at buffalo, but I auditioned for the musical theatre major last year and I'm considering doing it again this year. So, I'll try to give as good of an interpretation as I can from my point of view:) I personally love the theatre dept here, even though I've only been here for 3 months. As far as classes go, I know musical theatre majors have to start out taking ballet, jazz, and tap, music theory, acting 1, and intro to theatre, and then sophomore year they can take ballet 2, jazz 2, and tap 2, another year of theory i believe, acting 2, intro to tech theatre, and i think musical theatre repertoire. There's also other classes for junior and senior years like method acting, musical theatre dance, musical theater scene study....and then other classes to take any time you can get fit in such as modern dance and social dance, and shakespeare classes, mask classes, mime classes...there are a ton of options. The MT major is more structured and I'm not sure the exact classes that are required, but there are definitely options too. I just went and saw the musical for the fall a couple weeks ago, She Loves Me, and it was really good. The department really seems to come together as a whole with theatre and mt majors working on the set in tech theatre class, and then performing on it later...it's really neat to see it all come together. Also, in addition to the dept. productions, there is something called the GEMMS musical theatre club which is by audition i believe, and majors can audition and be in that and it's like a student produced musical. There is also the Zodiaque dance company or studio dance ensemble that anyone can audition for if they are really serious about dance too, because those are made up of mostly dance majors. Also, there are student guild productions, which are student directed, and those are really neat to be involved in. I was just in Lysistrata at the beginning of this month and it was really fun. Oh, and mt majors can also get cast in the straight plays, too. For instance, in the upcoming production of The Importance of Being Earnest, the 2 people playing Gwendolyn and Cecily and mt majors. There is also a combined special major with mt and dance if that is an interest to you. Overall, the dept seems really flexible and willing to help kids out, and everyone is really friendly and helpful. Plus, the Center for the Arts(CFA) where most of our classes are is pretty amazing:) This past September the national tour of Jesus Christ Superstar with Ted Neeley came to the main theatre in that building for a week, and it was really cool because we would be walking down and hall and BAM! Ted Neeley! Definitely a neat experience. So yeah, sorry this is really long, and if I left anything out feel free to ask and I'll answer if I can! Also...here's the dept website if you want to browse around on there too.
<a href="http://www.cas.buffalo.edu/depts/theatredance/index.shtml%5B/url%5D">http://www.cas.buffalo.edu/depts/theatredance/index.shtml</a></p>
<p>Cindy</p>
<p>We saw a production there about 2 years ago that was very good. Saw one last year that wasn't so good. Their dance is very good. If you are a NY State resident, the price is right. And they have academic and talent scholarship (can't get both, I don't think). The head of their department left a little over a year ago and went to Elon. Alot of controversy over this. There has also been some discussion about this program on another thread. Maybe do a search on 'SUNY Buffalo' or 'UB' to find it. I think it is a decent program. Last year they said they were only taking 10 students though, so probably not a good backup even though they audition fewer than some of the schools on this forum.
My d currently has a friend in the MT there. Haven't heard much from him since the start of his classes, so if we see him over the holidays, I may find out how he feels about the program. In the mean time, Cindy013 would be a good source.</p>
<p>Anyone auditioning Jan 27th in NYC?</p>