<p>How's theater/drama at UChicago? As far as I know, it's going to be one of my top choices, and if I can be assured that groups at least exist there, that'd probably cement it in my list. :D</p>
<p>I mean, I'm sure they exist, but how popular/good are they?</p>
<p>Check out [url=<a href="http://ut.uchicago.edu%5DUT%5B/url">http://ut.uchicago.edu]UT[/url</a>]. Although I can't recommend coming to Chicago to get a degree in theatre, which isn't offered, or theatre studies, which is relatively new, UT provides excellent opportunities for people who want to be involved in theatre. I'm also pretty sure it's one of the oldest student-run theatre organizations around.</p>
<p>I currently go to Seton Hill University located 35 miles east of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. To make a long story short, one of my friends transferred from SHU's theater program to Chicago's, hated it, and was back within three weeks to SHU. Check out our website if you have any questions, we have a great theater program here and what's more we'd love to have you!</p>
<p>The above link will take you to our theater department's homepage.</p>
<p>Ah, I didn't mean a Theatre major, I just meant stuff to do for fun on the side. :)</p>
<p>As in, it'd be nice to have, but I can live without.</p>
<p>There's also improv:</p>
<p><a href="http://off-off.uchicago.edu/index.html%5B/url%5D">http://off-off.uchicago.edu/index.html</a></p>
<p>There is no UC theater major. Anyone who transferred to the UC to be a theater major didn't do her homework. Instead, the theater program is student run but with substantial input from local, working professionals. The Chicago regional theater scene is quite strong.</p>
<p>Sweet, that's really good to know. Thanks!</p>
<p>i feel a bit sheepish about asking this
but what if you've never ever had any theater/drama/acting experience before, but are considering getting involved in college? how hard would it be to join, having no previous experience? i saw an "interest form" on the UT website but am not sure exactly what it is.</p>
<p>cookiemonkey1004,</p>
<p>Fill out the intrest form if you're, well, interested in theatre. UT isn't a professional organization, so they're not expecting incoming first-years to have performance experience. There's all kinds of ways you can get involved, from doing technical work to actually auditioning for performances. You can see them listed on the interest form page.</p>
<p>thanks diocletian!</p>
<p>cookiemonkey, I have the same problem. No experience, but I love movies and theatre and I am very tempted!</p>
<p>:) glad to know someone's in the same boat as me! :)</p>
<p>Will that boat be a rockin'?</p>
<p>It depends if Eric is there to rock it . . .</p>
<p>There most certainly IS a theater major at the U of C; it's called Theater and Performance Studies, or TAPS, which is part of the Interdisciplinary Studies in the Humanities program. Do your homework before posting (and don't take anyone's word on anything said here, as it is often factually incorrect).</p>
<p>I don't know if you were talking to me or Tarhunt, but when people say "theatre major" they mean performance major. TAPS is not that no matter how you slice it, which is why I made the distinction between a "theatre major" and a "theatre studies major." It's similar to the music major. Sure, there's a performance component, but it's hardly the focus. Likewise with, say, Cinema and Media Studies. CMST is not a "film major" in the way that people mean when they say "I want to study film."</p>
<p>This is to be expected since the College, as a liberal arts institution, disavows the practica one would find at an art school or a film school. It's also why the College doesn't offer pre-professional degrees like business or pre-law.</p>
<p>Diocletian -- I was responding to Tarhunt, sorry for the confusion. Your post on the subject was completely correct and also helpful.</p>
<p>Right on, then. TAPS is relatively new, too, so many people don't know about it, even people attending the College. I only do because my girlfriend is/was heavily involved in UT.</p>
<p>maroonatic:</p>
<p>The University of Chicago does not have a theater major. It has a subset of "Interdisciplinary Studies in the Humanities" called the "Theater and Performing Arts Studies Option" that is almost all theory and history and analysis. I know this because I contacted the person who is nominally the head of the UT and we had a nice, long exchange about what getting involved in theater there would entail. </p>
<p>I come from a theater family. My wife has worked on Broadway, in London, for Tristar pictures, Universal, NBC, and many top regional theaters, including the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Guthrie, Goodman, Steppenwolf, ACT, ATL, and legion others. I quit theater to go back to school and earn a Ph.D. many years ago, so my own credits are much less impressive. Still, I have worked at such places as the Seattle Rep, Oregon Shakes, Folger, Alabama Shakes, Colorado Shakes, Alaska Rep, ACT, and Milwaukee Rep. </p>
<p>I don't claim to be the worlds greatest expert on theater, but I'm going to bet that I know more about it than you.</p>
<p>My latest soon-to-be college matriculant has 18 professional productions under his belt, six high school leads, voice overs on National Public Radio, three national commercials, and about a dozen industrial films on his resume. He has an agent who has profited quite nicely from his work.</p>
<p>I can assure you that I have been INTENSELY interested in theater offerings at a number of colleges throughout the country because I know that, even though he doesn't want to major in theater, performing is an integral part of his life. It will be the same for my daughter who is 11 years old and already has seven professional appearances on the stage.</p>
<p>The upshot is that I have been in contact with numerous theater departments exploring such things as casting chances for majors and non-majors, how they view entering students with substantial training and experience, behavioral norms in various departments, and the like. I had a VERY pleasant exchange with a professor from Chicago who made time to correspond with me even though he was out of the country. That was an impressive thing for him to do.</p>
<p>What he told me was very encouraging. Chicago uses a number of working professionals from the Chicago theater community as instructors and, apparently, as references for student produced events. I went to my wife's contacts in Chicago and got very good feedback on some of the people doing the actual instruction. I'm pleased that, should my son choose to do some theater while he is there, he will be working with pros.</p>
<p>A sort of cobbled-together theater studies program that is a subset of an interdisciplinary studies major is NOT a theater major. It is no more a theater major than cobbling together some courses on such topics as the effect of engineering on society, an intro to the history of concrete, the rise of Japanese bridge building, and an exploration of the simple machines constitutes an engineering degree.</p>
<p>And...we have a winner.</p>
<p>There are plenty of people who agree with you, Tarhunt, in and out of UT, but I'm not going to get involved in a turf war, here.</p>
<p>Fight, fight, fight!</p>