What Musical Theatre Colleges Should I consider?

College Majors Musical Theater Major
21

@cloewater - To offer an experience closer to yours, my daughter got the acting/MT bug in her freshman year of HS. Had no voice lessons (but was in choir since 5th grade) or dance experience (other than a very little pre-K and a middle school showchoir group). We got her into voice lessons and dance during her sophomore year. She took a lot of dance and was lucky to find a local teacher who gave her private lessons in addition to class to get her up to speed (take lots of ballet, then get into jazz and tap). Voice lessons had some challenges along the way, but she made considerable progress. Took acting classes through HS. Late in the game we worked with a coaching agency.

After all this she was NOT accepted into any BFA/BM programs. However, she got into a school that offered BA theater in addition to BFA and could take similar classes. She had opportunity to audition again for BFA and didn’t get in, but has continued to study theatre and dance and is happy with the BA program.

All that to say:

  1. It is incredibly hard to get in, especially when starting late on voice, dance, etc.
  2. Yes some people do defy the odds and get in, but recognize that the odds are NOT in your favor. Be ready for that and have other options in the mix (i.e., a non-audition BA school)
  3. Even if you don't get into BFA program, there are other ways to study and get there. With her BA in theatre my D will also get a minor in dance and has taken vouce lessons most semesters.
  4. She is also in her second local community theater show this month (not part of school). So there are other options for getting experience as well.

I am not saying this to discourage you. Work hard and give it your best shot. You might get in. But have your back-up plan in place in case you fall into the category like my D. Good luck!

22

Thanks for even more responses!

@EmsDad This is extremely useful and I am so glad that you replied to my post. I will most likely study basic ballet and jazz on youtube and ask my mom if she could possible get me dance lessons. I will also start preparing audition music and monologues, along with looking at the colleges you suggested ^^.

@MReader I believe you are correct and I will look into BA programs and develop my skills in MT with community theatre and school :), thank you for not sugarcoating reality, I am glad to know how difficult the road to MT is so I can be sure this is my dream. Thanks again :slight_smile:

@NewJeffCT I am from Norcal and I female, I just realized I never stated my gender XD but honestly, I gone to New York and I have a love/hate relationship with the weather there. I’m still deciding on whether I should apply to Ithaca and colleges with a more mile weather is appreciated but I am honestly open to all states, all colleges no matter where XD but thank you for thinking about how comfortable I may feel at colleges where weather is harsh.

@raellis123 Glad to know I’m not the only one a little late to board the MT train. I doubt I can get dance lessons due to money and BFA does seem incredibly difficult for me in my current state, so I believe you are right and I should propably look to BA schools first. I will still apply to one or two BFA but look for top colleges I would love to apply with a BA program. This isn’t discouraging at all! Thank you for sharing your daughter’s experience, this actually makes me hopeful, knowing that there are people out there who started late but can still pursue their passion.

Thanks a lot to everyone again! Everyone has been extremely helpful and clear, I’m glad that people here are ready to help other unsure students such as myself. :slight_smile:

23

@cloewater it is SO GOOD to finally see someone in a similar position to myself on here. Of course, I live on the opposite side of the country, but I’m a junior who discovered musical theatre mid-sophomore year and therefore have limited theatre and dance experience as well. For me, I’ve joined my schools Color Guard and originated in their new Winter Guard team, which gave me some basics in ballet. I’ve also developed my own system of coming home about three days a week to practice and learn ballet on YouTube. I’ve been in chorus all three years, and have taken all the drama classes my school offers (which is unfortunately only two).

My school didn’t have a drama club or produce plays, so I started one on my own. I’m hoping that’ll count for something. I’ve done a small summer program at a public school in my town where I did a parody-musical and am currently planning to go to an acting summer program at Kean University.

Many people on here say to attend a summer program for acting or musical theatre or dance, but as far as I’ve found, those programs cost thousands of dollars and only offer partial scholarships. The one I’m going to is only about $300 but it offers a full scholarship, so if you cant afford a huge program, I’m thinking a small-ish program such as this could be very helpful.

Also - and I’ve got to pick up the pace on this as well - you’re going to need to do intensive research on all the colleges your applying to. If you only plan to apply two one or two audition-based programs, make sure you know each step of the audition process and the requirements. You can probably find some information about the audition process if you search your colleges mt program on here. I’m thinking you can also increase your admission chances by emailing the musical theatre admissions counselor at a specific college and asking meaningful questions; the kind of stuff you cant exactly find on their website. And if you can connect with this admissions counselor that’s even better. Don’t make the emails too formal, let them get to know your sense of humor.

There’s a lot that goes in to prepping for an audition. What I’m finding hard for me right now is getting pieces that I can relate to from the Golden Age and that are for a mezzo/belter. I have almost no classical training, so these old songs are a bit of a challenge for me. Hopefully you have more of a classical voice, but if not, I would suggest Shenandoah Conservatory. I’m at least applying to there because they specialize in pop/rock styles, which I can totally get on board with.

Another thing I’ve found extremely helpful is the #BwayBootCamp from Broadway spotted on Youtube. It’s these videos of actual classes from their program. What I’m doing is taking the vocal and acting tips and applying them to myself, and also teaching myself the dance combinations as they are supposed to be similar to what would be taught in an audition room. (Note: you don’t need to know tap. Most schools have an optional tap dance audition and you will learn more in college).

I think I’ve already said entirely too much - possibly irrelevant - stuff already, so some final words: if you want to do it, DO IT. I sort of have to believe this, but I think if you work hard enough and train and it shows during an audition or you get the chance to bring it up in an interview, you can get in wherever. Show them what you’ve managed to accomplish on your own, with limited resources, and maybe they’ll realize what you could be with the proper training.

24

@lorknee good luck with your passion for theater. My D is only a freshman and is a mezzo and has struggled to find a lot of “Golden Age” songs and musicals that she likes and can relate to as well. The songs she worked on at school were all from contemporary musicals like Dogfight, In the Heights, Smash, Chaplin and a few others. (Her private voice teacher has been training her on some classical music this past year, though, which should help her in the long run - classical like Italian stuff, not classical musical theater…)

However, on golden age musicals, a pretty good local summer theater company here in Connecticut is doing “42nd Street” this summer and she had no interest in even trying to audition. But, another local program is doing “Loserville”, a modern rock musical, and she’s going to audition for that, even though she would miss the first week of rehearsals because her choir is going to Disney. So, by missing that first week of rehearsals, she will be lucky to make the ensemble.