Anyone with experience with UNC School of the Arts? Per their site they offer a conservatory style for Music, Drama etc… What about MT. It looks like the music is pure music and the drama is primarily acting, not necessarily MT acting. Wondering if students would get good training in MT as well as the other disciplines.
@bfahopeful has a kid there 
UNCSA is one of the top acting programs in the country, along with Juilliard and Carnegie Mellon. They do not offer an MT major. However, the acting program incorporates some singing and dance training in the curriculum, and they do put on musicals.
@rickle1 the drama program at UNCSA offers a BFA in drama (not acting or MT specifically). The focus is acting for sure but kids are required to take voice and dance and both are a big part of
the curriculum. They also do a lot of movement and stage combat - it is a very physical program. There are many “MT” kids who turn down MT programs to attend UNCSA and alumni are cast in musicals frequently (currently several on broadway, in national tours and in regional musicals). The dance is not leveled as it may be at a very specific MT school. However the “musical theater dance” professor is excellent and the students adore her. She was on broadway herself. Voice training is quite personalized through the curricular classes and also private voice if you wish to take that. They do vocal showcases and do musicals at times but obviously do many “straight” plays.
Feel free to PM with with any questions.
^ Thanks for that information. Very helpful.
We recently toured the school, and were told that they do a musical every 4 years. That means that each class will have the opportunity to do ONE musical during their four years of attendance. That wasn’t enough for my d, so she took it off her list.
^^ that is the all-school musical once every four years. The drama school also does musicals but it isn’t a guarantee they will have one each year as the focus is acting. But they do musicals and there are a lot of drama students who definitely consider themselves “MT” kids so to speak. They also have vocal showcases a couple times a year.
It isnt for everyone. The focus is obviously different than an MT specific major. But they do have many alumni currently in broadway musicals and in leading roles in them.
It is very different than many “straight” acting programs as there is emphasis on singing and dance as well. The training is very intense and versatile.
It won’t let me edit above to add this. So forgive the 2nd post…
This past year the school of drama at UNCSA did the musical “Company”. The year prior they did “side show.” Three years ago the drama school did two musicals including Guys and Dolls. The year before that, “She loves me.”
Again- not several a year. More like one a year between either the drama school or the all school musical. Maybe two a year. (They do many regular plays as well).
Hope that helps clarify. Best to all starting out on this process.
^ Thanks for all the information. It’s truly appreciated as we start to put together a working list of programs. This is so different than our previous situation. S was an academic student so IDing Reach / Match / Safety was pretty easy. In this case, it would appear that every audition in program (including BAs) are Reaches just by the sheer numbers involved. Kind of like the 4.0 / 1600 kid who applies to Harvard. There are thousands of him/her applying that don’t get in.
@rickle1 - you have that exactly right. No audition program is a safety and most are reaches. That said, if you read the final decisions thread you’ll see that most of the MT applicants cast a wide net, eventually found a “match” and are thrilled with their final choice.