Would a double major in theatre arts & vocal performance be equivalent to a musical theatre degree?

College Majors Musical Theater Major
1

<p>So I'm interested in musical theatre, but I like acting a lot too. And what I think I'm going to do is get a BA in theatre arts with emphasis in performance at a decent college near me (UNI) and then go on to get an MFA somewhere else. Then I realized that I wanted some kind of musical training, but the college I'd like to go to doesn't offer anything like musical theatre. They do, however, offer a BM in vocal performance. So if I were to double major in theatre arts and vocal performance, how closely would that be to the training I would get with a musical theatre major.</p>

<p>Also, is it even possible to double major in both of those? I don't know how challenging it would be to do a BM.</p>

<p>And then how much training do you have to have to even get into the program (vocal performance)? It's audition based (but it's not a big music college) but I haven't been in chorus in high school at all because my schedule didn't have room. I'm going to try to do it next year but that'd be it. I've also had professional vocal lessons for the last year and plan to continue those. Would that be sufficient to get into a BM program? </p>

<p>Sorry this question kind of diverted from the original intent, but if you could answer any of them, that'd be great! Thank you!</p>

2

<p>Many/most BM curricula are conservatory-based with 80 or so hours required in the major, making it difficult to double major in anything outside of music. Even if you could pull off double-majoring in VP and Acting, you would still miss the dance component and musical theater workshop/studio classes in most musical theatre programs.</p>

<p>Most BM VP programs require two or more art songs in 2 or more languages in their auditions, UNI requires two classically-based songs (no MT). Most programs also do aural and keyboard skills assessments - UNI assesses sight-reading, pitch pattern matching, keyboard skills,and does an interview. There is typically an expectation of several years of vocal and some musical instrument/music theory study prior to admission (basic keyboard, sight reading and theory skills), although these are not a universal requirements and talented individuals usually always have a chance (however, those with limited musical training may find it a tough slog during the first two years in a BM - Theory I is usually “a study of the harmonic, melodic, rhythmic and contrapuntal materials in diatonic tonal music”). </p>

<p>What you may want to consider is applying to create your own degree program. UNI permits the creation of Individual Studies majors so perhaps you could build your own MT major combining acting, dance, and music that mimics the curriculum of MT majors at other schools. You may meet resistance from one or more of these departments, however, as sometimes they prefer to restrict their major sequence class seats to students who are going to complete all of their major requirements instead of just some of them. But it never hurts to ask.</p>

<p>Another option would be to do an Acting Major with a Dance Minor, take voice private lessons (like you are doing now) and maybe take class voice and class piano through the Music Department if they will let you.</p>

<p>Do some research by studying the department catalogs of your school and schools that offer MT majors.</p>

3

<p>I earned a BM (although long ago and instrumental, not vocal) and I can confirm from experience what EmsDad said - many units are required and a double major is difficult. It would likely require more than 4 years to complete. The vocal requirements are also different, as he stated. </p>

<p>You might want to research other programs to see options, unless you are really committed to that school. The individual studies option might be your best bet in that case. </p>

4

<p>I’m not really committed to the school, it’s just really close to home for me. I’m also looking at Iowa. They have a theatre arts/music double major program and the music part would be a BA in vocal. So my thing is, I’m interested in the entire vocal thing, not just musical theatre if that makes sense, so that’s kind of why I’m leaning towards a double major. </p>

<p>And with the dance thing, I’ve never taken any sort of dance class before. I’ve been in a couple musicals, but the dancing there was very minimal and simple. So would I even be able to do a minor (I’m not even sure if that would be allowed or if that would be too much)? Could I take classes at the least?</p>

<p>Also, I wasn’t aware that a BM was so much so I definitely wouldn’t double major with that. </p>

5

<p>I think an important question to ask here is what do you want to do with your degree? These fields are very, very competitive and there are a lot of things that are built into degree programs to help their grads get jobs or in the case of VP (and some Drama majors) into grad school. You seem to be interested in singing in general, but getting into a good VP BM program is difficult, especially for girls (because there are so many applicants) and you will need to be prepared for the auditions by a decent voice teacher. We can tell you about the application process but we can’t choose rep for you. There are classes in music theory (which will also include ear training & sight singing), keyboard training, music history, languages (Italian, French and German) as well as Diction (and that also includes English Diction), voice lessons, opera workshop, various seminars and, depending upon your school, a number of academic classes.You’ll also have requirements to attend performances, such as recitals of fellow students and your own requirements for performances, even if you are acting as stage crew or chorus. MT has it’s own set of “musts” and among those will be different types of dance classes, acting, voice lessons and performance classes.
If you can narrow your focus and tell us what you could envision yourself doing, type of school you’d like, location, etc, I’m sure that you’ll get some good advice.</p>

6

<p>My goal is to become an actor. I’d really like to get musical training as well because I feel like it would help me a lot and would not necessarily be something to fall back on, but more as something to supplement acting. And if acting doesn’t work out, I could always get a teaching certificate and become a teacher. Basically both acting and music interest me a lot and I feel that they could fit nicely together. </p>

<p>That being said, I don’t want to spend a huge amount of money on an undergrad degree. That’s why I’m looking at state colleges, and there’s only four (that I am aware of) that I can qualify for in-state tuition. I’d be saving up my money to get a MFA in acting at a good school. </p>

7

<p>Paying for college is a whole different subject and there are probably several threads that deal with that. If your grades and test scores are good then there are a lot of academic scholarships to be had. These can make out of state and private schools comparable to in-state. </p>

<p>Regarding the degree, you might want to look at acting degrees that also offer singing and dance training. For example, my D is auditioning tomorrow for Wright State for both BFA in MT and Acting. Their acting degree includes singing and dance classes, just not as much as the MT degree. It is intended for just what you mentioned - acting first, but at least some exposure to song & dance. That is a BFA degree (lots of classes like the BM, but focused on theatre) but there are probably BA degrees that do that too. </p>

8

<p>octavian133, an option would be to major in acting and then take voice (and dance) lessons. You can take voice lessons both in BFA programs and BA programs. My D takes voice lessons as an art major at a LAC–she’s giving her senior voice recital soon! You can also enhance your acting with classes outside the university. There are many very fine conservatory programs and theatre programs that offer classes during the summer or during winter semester, all across the US and also in the UK. If you live close to LA or NYC or a large regional theatre, you can take such classes during the school year as well if your schedule permits. Depending on the program, your college can even offer you credit for these courses, and possibly financial aid. You can also audition for summer stock and apply for internships. There are many possibilities and paths.</p>

9

<p>My son is in a MT program that is essentially a double major of Acting and VP with a minor in dance. I’ll fill you in about his experience because it might help you formulate questions to ask.</p>

<p>Most of my son’s auditions were for Acting, but he auditioned for MT at Ithaca simply because they didn’t have a dance element to their audition (he had never studied dance) and he is a strong singer, so he thought, “Why not?” As it turned out he was admitted there for MT, and was given the choice of Acting or MT. </p>

<p>That was when he realized that what he really wanted was to double major in Acting and Voice. The Ithaca people said “Well, that’s what our MT major is, with a minor in Dance.” We looked at the curriculum and saw that the Acting and MT majors are all taking acting courses together for the first two years. Some schools have separate acting classes for MT majors, and my son’s teacher had cautioned against that because they might not be as intensive.</p>

<p>So, he’s a MT major. He is working very hard and enjoying it, even the dance classes, which during the first semester were very focused on preventing injury and undoing bad habits, of which he had none because he hadn’t been dancing. I think he hurt every day as his muscles developed. In that way he was behind many of the others, but he says it was OK.</p>

<p>He also found that most of the other MT majors had been living and breathing MT MT MT since they were very young, and he doesn’t really have the same level of knowledge and passion for musical theatre as many of his classmates. I asked if he was considering changing to an Acting major, but he says not, and he loves his voice teacher. I don’t think the MTs interact with the VPs much, but they are commingled with Acting majors in many of their classes. It might be different this semester with more music classes in my son’s course schedule.</p>

<p>The MTs have so much required coursework, they have almost no time for anything else, including eating and sleeping. The Acting majors have time to participate in student films and sometimes other extracurriculars, but not the MTs. This semester my son has 11 classes! Some are ostensibly 1 credit, but the number of credits doesn’t necessarily correlate with the amount of time required. </p>

<p>It’s working out. Anyway, although it really is a double major in Acting and VP, the vibe is 100% MT.</p>

<p>Hope this helps.</p>

10

<p>Thanks that helped a lot! There are a couple BFA musical theatre programs around here that I would be interested in. The only thing is they all have “A movement audition (come prepared to move)”. What does this mean exactly. Are they just going to have a dance class there and see who can do what? Will I be fine if I’ve never danced before?</p>

11

<p>That can mean a lot of things, so your best bet is simply to ask. Break a leg!</p>

12

<p>If you are planning on “getting a teaching certificate”, your best bet would be to attend school in the state in which you would teach. Also, be aware that now, teachers are expected- and in some states, required- to have a Masters degree in education to continue employment.
My D was a VP major at a conservatory affiliated with a university; took 18-24 credits until her senior year, when she was able to lighten up a bit because of opera commitments and senior recital prep (and let’s not talk about those grad school auditions that had to be crammed in the schedule!).</p>