<p>Anyone know anything of the program? they offer a bfa in musical theatre. it is relatively cheap, and seems to be a good school. any comments?</p>
<p>The program is still very new…maybe 3 years old. It’s part of the Lionel Hampton School of Music. We checked it out last year as we’re from Idaho. Though it does offer a BFA, we got the impression, after talking with the heads of Vocal and Theater, that they were creating musical theater by patching students into the existing dance, vocal and acting departments. The professors were very interested in our comments and questions. I felt we were more informed about what’s out there in other schools. I think the school is great…beautiful campus and definately affordable. They were only accepting a few (under 5) students into the ‘department’ at that time as they are not set up for a competitive BFA offering as yet. The casting for shows is open to the entire school and local pros…since the department is so small. If you are very serious about a future in MT, this might not be a great send off as they aren’t networking or offering much more than the actual courses. Ask questions…it might be growing but as of last spring, they were still deciding on a MT course of study. We love what this school has to offer as a liberal arts school and the Lionel Hampton School of Music is well thought of…just not quite there for a MT major.</p>
<p>We visited the school and talked to Chris who I think is dept head - who told my daughter they would probably accept 3 students this fall (09). Seemed like a too small class / opportunity to go back to audition so she did not. When we asked for more information about the program and how many would be accepted no one called or emailed with more information. While there my daughter attended an acting class that she enjoyed. Observed a rehearsal that showed two young people with a lot of talent. People doing tours were nice. Aside: I was sad to find out that my sorority, Pi Phi, had had a fire in their house and it still looked pretty bad. But MT students do not seem interested in Greek life from what I gather - probably too busy!</p>
<p>thank you so much for your responses!</p>
<p>i called the school and found out that it has many theatre options: bfa acting, bfa musical theatre, ba theatre, bs theatre. students in the bfa program can double major which is a plus. the bfa seems very music focused, most of the teachers are opera teachers too.</p>
<p>Hey little mermaid…my D has a close friend who will be graduating this year from the theater department. I’ll check to see what her degree is…whether BFA or BA…and will try to get her in touch with you. She has done well there…and has summer stock lined up for the summer. I think you can do pretty much what you like to put together a degree program suited to your needs. I’ll PM you when I get her info…OK?</p>
<p>that is so sweet! thank you so much! i really appreciate it!</p>
<p>I visited the school, and I just wanted to give some information about it. Here is what I saw:
Lots of beautiful rolling hills, really pretty scenery. Moscow is a cute little town, restaurants were ok, cute community theater. There is nothing to do there, but Pullman is like ten minutes away, and there is another huge university there. Pretty campus, lots of trees, parklike, with red brick buildings. The people I met were down to earth and friendly. I noticed that most joined a sorority or fraternity, so i’m guessing drinking is big on campus. I spoke with a couple people in the department. There was a really nice voice teacher who had her voice masters from U Mich, so that is a plus. They accept 4 students, but those students take classes with the BFA acting majors, so it is more like 25. It is a new program, but looked like a quality one. The courses looked similar to any other BFA program. The cons are that there isn’t a showcase, however they have their own summer rep theater which a lot of students work at in the summer. The academics at the school looked strong, it is Idaho’s best university. I saw an opera production, which was great. They have a small theatre, but it was fine. The students were talented singers, but not so much on the acting. But that’s probably because they were voice majors and not mt. hope that helps!</p>