<p>Anyone have any insight into Boston College’s theatre program or the performing arts in general??</p>
<p>Thanks:)</p>
<p>i went to their showing of Angels in America last fall. It was pretty good, however my theater professor did not like how they did the final scene. It was not epic enough for her, but it seems like they put a lot of work into their shows. I don’t have much else to add other than that. Seems like a good program, but I’m not a theater major so I don’t really know.</p>
<p>It’s fine, really, about what you can expect out of a school that isn’t known for such a field. I’ve never taken an actual acting class, but I’ve heard they’re solid. Same for stagework and directing and such. As far as criticism and analysis go, there’s definitely room for improvement.</p>
<p>In any case, I planned on switching my major to Theater this year, and I chose to transfer. The Angels in America production was quite good though, and I do believe their theater majors come out very well rounded. It’s just hardly a point of strength for BC.</p>
<p>I am a Theatre major…any specific questions?</p>
<p>And for the record…Angels was directed by a professor who has a very specific style and point of view, and I wouldn’t judge the entire theatre dept. based on one production in any case.</p>
<p>I’m wondering what you think the strengths of the department are. Do students get direction about opportunities outside the department. How is the acting training. And, last (lots of questions!) are theatre students supportive of each other. Thanks!</p>
<p>Strengths of the dept: many performance opportunities (both in shows and with design, directing, tech, etc.), number of shows produced per year, VERY strong student/faculty relationships.</p>
<p>Opportunities outside…that answer is sort of yes and no. Basically, if you make it known that you want to hear about stuff, you will. The Theatre listserv frequently sends out notices about local theatres casting/looking for tech people/etc. They also bring in people for informal discussions about life after BC (they’ll bring in recent BC grads in the business), Grad Schools, and stuff like that. So that’s really helpful. Also, though, if you’re looking to be a working actor, you need to get REALLY good at doing this stuff for yourself, so it’s good to not rely on outside help for that too much. But if you need help and you ASK for it, you will get it.</p>
<p>The Acting training at BC is definitely not what you would get at a top-level conservatory. BC is no Carnegie Mellon, Juilliard, etc. If you’re looking into performing I would highly recommend doing a summer conservatory program during your time at BC. That way you will get some of the conservatory-style training on top of your top-level liberal arts education at BC.</p>
<p>Theatre students at BC are VERY VERY supportive of each other. Naturally when audition time comes around it’s a more competitive atmosphere, but overall it’s an incredibly supportive environment. Almost to a fault. It’s definitely not a super-competitive environment in terms of a theatre dept. Obviously there are individuals who are more competitive than others, but the dept as a whole is incredibly supportive.</p>
<p>Thanks for the great info! One more question…does the campus support theatre productions?</p>
<p>Not as much as I would hope. There are always Intro to Theatre kids who HAVE to come see the shows, but they frequently leave at intermission when they think they’ll have enough info to write their papers. But attendance is definitely growing.</p>
<p>It also depends on the kind of show being produced. The musicals get a LOT more attendance than the straight plays. Shows that are in the Bonn (a small blackbox theatre) always sell out, but they have about 1/5th the capacity of the mainstage theatre. When they advertise well and have a show with a good amount of student interest, people show up.</p>