Anyone have any insight on SUNY Cortland, SUNY Geneseo, Fredonia or
Buffalo for musical theatre programs?
SUNYs Buffalo and Fredonia have BFA programs. Buffalo is bigger than Fredonia. I know one acting student at Buffalo and he’s loving it there. I don’t know much more. I know several MT and Acting kids at Fredonia (disclosure–it’s in consideration for my son for Acting) and they have a lot of good to say about the program, classes, direction, shows, etc. We visited there in the fall and they’re in the process of renovating and adding space that will update facilities, scheduled to be completed this fall. They offer stage combat training/certification and there’s a 10-day London Theater arts course that students can enroll in (additional fee) for the December/January break. For the upcoming year, they have two musicals and two plays on the mainstage (in addition to dance ensemble productions). There are also student-run productions. There is a jury at the ends of year 1 and 3, a barrier review after year 2, and a senior project. My son’s Fredonia audition (Acting, not MT, but relevant since all the kids have to do a monologue) was the only one he had that the auditors gave him real direction regarding his monologue and had him stretch to show them solid, relevant character changes. They wanted different emotional and physical expressions that his character might feel/engage in. It wasn’t just to throw him for a loop to see how he dealt with curve ball like some of the other directions (‘now do it like you’re a priest,’ ‘now do it like you’re on the edge of a cliff and your life depends on it’).
Cortland is auditioned BA and I know a few freshmen there who are very happy–can you tell I live in NYS? 
Geneseo is BA but I don’t think there’s an audition for entry to the department.
As an aside, I saw a professional production of ‘In the Heights’ produced through MusicalFare and the Raices Theatre Company that was one of the best productions of that show that I’ve seen. Several of the actors were students/graduates of local Buffalo colleges.
Thank you so much for the info . We are still a few years out but my oldest will be visiting the schools for education and figured we could bring daughter along to check them out. Thank you
I don’t like disparaging schools, but I would rank Fredonia light years ahead of Buffalo. That was NOT true in the early 2000s when Lynne ran UB, but it is today.
Also, @lovetoact - I saw that same In the Heights. I agree, it was very good, but there was almost NO diversity. It made me giggle at how white the actors were. The cast was obviously very talented, but I thought the casting was frightening for a professional theatre.
We visited University at Buffalo last fall and loved the facilities, faculty and dance opportunities (you can do a combined 5-yr BFA in MT and BA in Dance if accepted to both via audition).
University at Buffalo also auditioned during the NYC Unifieds in the same building.
Did you think so, @TheaterHiringCo ? We saw the show because my son’s friend (from the New York Summer School of the Arts) played Sonny. A few of the leads were absolutely not culturally-similar to the characters, but Camila, Nina, Sonny, Kevin, Benny, Abuela Claudia, and Daniela were all Latina/o and/or people of color. That was also a great little theater! If it weren’t 8 hours from my house, I’d go back! 