<p>how are the 5-C's in the theater dept?</p>
<p>Excellent! The theater program is 5-C, meaning anyone from all five schools can take it. I think it is run through Pomona, which would make sense because Pomona has some really great auditoriums for performances. Don't quote me on this, however, because I am not a theater student. I do know many people majoring in theather though.</p>
<p>Yep, theatre is a Pomona program and is open to all 5Cs (this has been debated and clarified in another fairly recent Claremont thread).</p>
<p>There are a lot of extra-curricular theatre programs on all of the campuses, ranging from "24 Hour One Acts" to Rocky Horror to various student directed plays and musicals, on top of department offerings. I know numerous theatre majors who love the department, but the vast majority of those I know who participate in shows aren't actually majors (meaning that it's very easy to get involved in the department). There's also a VERY active theatre club (The Druids). Off-campus trips are very common through both The Druids and the schools in general.</p>
<p>I've personally been very impressed by the performances I've seen. I hear good things about the department, but like MissLovelyRita, my knowledge is all second-hand. </p>
<p>Do you have more specific questions? How is the department for musical theatre, specifically? How easy is it for non-theatre students to get involved? How are the course offerings? How popular is the major? Your original post is pretty broad :)</p>
<p>hmm, specifics:</p>
<ol>
<li>how many theater majors do you think are interested in pursuing careers as actors?</li>
<li>musical theater?</li>
<li>i guess its hard to answer this if you're not in the dept, but i just wanted a sense of like how 'professional' it is. i know its easy to be in productions if you're not a major, but if you are, is the training good? lots of acting classes?</li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li><p>No idea, but I know of a few personally (stage acting, specifically).</p></li>
<li><p>Not as big as non-musical theatre, but it's here. I believe there's one major musical production a year. Don't quote me on this.</p></li>
<li><p>You might try calling admissions and seeing if you could talk to a theatre student. They're usually good about accomodating specific interests, especially if you come to spend a night or something (and can then ask your host if she has any theatre friends, etc.). Also, definitely try to sit in on a theatre class when visiting the campus. Try to time your campus visit so you can attend a performance...lots of pre-planning will give you a very good personal picture of the department. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>Sorry I can't offer more first-hand knowledge. Good luck!</p>
<ol>
<li>The department puts on one musical every three years. Last year (2005-2006) they did Into the Woods.</li>
<li>That's a hard question. In my opinion, there aren't very many acting classes (beginning is always offered, intermediate is offered almost every semester depending on interest and there is an "acting for tv and movies" class that comes up occasionally). Check the Pomona course catalog (slightly hard to find on the Pomona website) and pay attention to how often the courses are offered.</li>
</ol>
<p>As a note of caution (speaking from experience and word of mouth), the acting professors are not... stellar. Very nice, but the classes vary greatly depending on the professor. Horowitz is fantastic, but he mainly teaches the theater history courses, Bernhard is supposed to be really good for acting, Martinez is kind and scattered, but keep your distance from her if you hate Method acting (actually, keep your distance from the whole department if you're not a fan of Method), and Thomas-Sala is so-so. Of course, there are people who love Martinez and do fine, but she's teaching almost all of the acting courses next year.</p>
<p>Finally, it is easy to be in productions if you're not a major, but make sure you have plenty of audition material (multiple monologues, song, sonnet) because they ask for a lot, especially for female roles.</p>