<p>Pretty self explanatory title. I'm looking at theatre either as a second major, a minor, or just something that I'm going to take a lot of classes in and I'm wondering how the program is at Smith? I definitely want to perform a lot and I know I can be in any of the shows at any of the other 5 colleges, but how easy is it actually to do that? Are there any Smith actresses who can give me a rundown of what their experience has been like?</p>
<p>Bump… I really am curious about this.</p>
<p>I can’t speak from direct experience, but I’ll offer some thoughts.</p>
<p>My dd and I attended the Fall Preview. She is interested in theater as a second major and we took a tour of the fine arts center. It is an excellent facility with anything an actor would want.</p>
<p>We got to speak with Ms. Kaplan, the chair of the Department. She was very friendly and informative. She told us that virtually all productions within the Five College network are open to all students to audition for, regardless of major.</p>
<p>The credentials of the faculty are excellent and they frequently bring in outside people such as actor Austin Pendleton who directed a play while in residence at the school.</p>
<p>There are both a major and minor available and many opportunities to perform throughout the Five Colleges.</p>
<p>Like I say, I don’t have direct knowledge, but I think Smith would be a good pick for you.</p>
<p>I’m not involved in the theater department itself, but I’m involved in other theatre things on-campus, including the musical theatre group, which I love, and this year’s production of The Vagina Monologues. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions about either of those.</p>
<p>I did theater for only one semester at Smith, but was close friend with people involved in the theater department/spent a lot of time around the department. I think the program is good, but of course, it’s not at a conservatory level. Which means that you have people of all levels participating and especially taking theater classes (in the actual productions there tends to be a higher level of actors just because those are by audition only). The classes themselves are great, but the actors (or directors or playwrights, depending on the class) are of a diverse quality: some of them are great, some of them are somewhat less so; some have a lot of training, some have only limited training.</p>
<p>I think because of this people who are really serious about doing theater professionally after Smith tend to seek out further training either during the summer or in graduate programs for theater that are more focused and have tougher standards for admittance. I know at least that’s what my friends who did theater at Smith did, however they also didn’t major in theater at Smith so I think they pursued graduate studies for an immersive experience. </p>
<p>One good thing about the classes is there is a lot of variety, so you’ll have a chance to experience many different aspects of theater. Acting of course, but also Voice for Actors, directing, acting for directing, playwriting/screenwriting, etc. </p>
<p>If you want to perform, there are lots of opportunities, both at Smith and at the 5 Colleges. Not just official college productions, but also graduate student projects, independent films, play readings, and other student produced work. You can also earn class credit for working in the scene shop or the costume shop, and I knew a few people who did their work study hours working the box office or in the music/theater library. </p>
<p>How easy it is do shows at the other colleges (or at Smith) depends on your personal committment. I only ever did one production at Smith because the commitment of just that one show was exhausting. There were a lot of rehearsals and a lot of language workshops (it was a Shakespeare show), and we had a long run (over two weeks) whereas in high school I was used to opening a show only for a few days (I did this Smith play my first year, so fresh out of high school). I enjoyed the experience overall, but it was just too much to balance that with my other committments (specifically with campaigning with the Smith Democrats). And that was just for a production on my own campus. Lots of people do participate in shows off campus and generally those productions are flexible with working rehearsals and things around people’s class schedules. But if you’re in an off campus show that’s going to eat up most of your free time, so you have to balance how much you want to perform with whatever else you might get interested in. Also, keep in mind that if you want to perform in musicals you will be mostly out of luck. There are few musicals produced every year, but not very many. The ones produced at Smith are done by the Leading Ladies, whcih is a student org, and not by the theater department. That means the production values are a lot lower and they do not use the theater spaces on campus, often they perform in the chapel instead. </p>
<p>The production values at Smith are really amazing, I was always consistently impressed by them. A very large scene shop that can produce almost anything (for the play that I did they built us a huge structure with multiple staircases, railings, doors and windows. I got to drive the crane that knocked it down during strike, which was also cool). The costume shop is really wonderful. They make beuatiful things out of nothing, and you can learn a lot of about set and costume design working there. </p>
<p>This got pretty long over the course of writing this, but hope its helpful.</p>
<p>I’ve attended a couple of the plays the theater department has sponsored and they’ve been outstanding–acting, costumes, sets, lighting (anything else?). Smith’s majors fall into thirds–one-third humanities/social sciences, one-third math/engineering/sciences and one-third performing/fine arts, so it’s a remarkably balanced school.</p>