KTsMom

Hi All! I have been reading these threads for over 2 years, but this is my first (and probably only) post! I want to give this thread something back, so here goes. We live in California, and my daughter will be attending UCLA this fall in the Theater Department with an emphasis in Musical Theater (yes, there really is such a thing, though fairly new!). I can empathize with kids and their parents looking for good MT programs, and wanting to stay in California, if possible, and finding a school that is affordable. I will share my impressions, and ask forgivness if I offend anyone who has chosen one of the schools that I mention not too positively. I know the right fit for a school is a very individual thing. Also, double check some of my facts if you are interested, because I was the tag-along mom, and it was my daughter who paid the most attention to details. If I got something wrong, I am sorry. Be that as it may, here are my musings and impressions. My daughter looked east coast, mid-west, and Calif. (Cal State Fullerton, UC Irvine, USC, and UCLA to name the west coast schools). She got into most of her choices. This forum is excellent for east coast and even mid-west schools, but I always found West Coast info. lacking. Let me tell you what we know about UCLA MT:

First of all, UCLA is a beautiful campus in Westwood (upscale neighborhood in LA), with dorms on campus, and an excellent food plan. Walking around the neighborhood at 11 pm at night, I saw in 1 hour 3 (seemingly harmless) homeless folks, and 3 police cars. Single women did not seem nervous to be walking around at night alone. The MT program accepts 14 MT students, expecting 10 to attend. Each year I believe there are about 40 Theater majors accepted (this includes directing, acting, ect.) per year. There were hundreds of applicants for MT, and only two auditions (2 weekends?) for students who were interested in MT (held in LA and Chicago!). In the audition she sang 2 contrasting songs,was taught a difficult/fast dance combination, and did 2 contrasting monologues. She was also interviewed by a professor in the theater department. The degree is a BA, but they describe it as a theater degree with an emphasis in MT. They also said " the program is so demanding that we consider it a BA program with a BFA program inside it". I am told by everyone I know that UCLA is a very academically demanding program, and very hard to get into. My daughter's GPA was 3.9, and the average admitted student's GPA is 4.2. I believe her audition helped her get in, because while in the low end of the ball park scholastically, if she did not apply to theater, she probably would not have been considered. They do not recomend double majors because the program is very demanding. You do not get voice lessons the first year in MT (a senior told me it was due to budget cuts), but if you continue in MT, you get private voice lessons from Soph year on as part of your course work. The senior we spoke with suggested paying for voice lessons the first year, so that when you audition the end of the second year, your skills are still up. He also suggested joining the choir to keep up your singing skills, and to meet other performers. First year students are encouraged to get involved in several of the opportunities for student productions, student films, and other projects. There are many opportunities to "work on your reel" which I am told is like a DVD version of an acting resume that you can shop around to places for jobs. Juniors and Seniors are cast in the larger productions put on by the school (the school feels they upper classmen are most ready). There are aparently many opportunities to meet with guest actors, directors, etc, and the school is very connected to the performing arts industry being close to Hollywood. UCLA is a much respected school in the LA area, and many alums come back to teack or do master classes. Students are encouraged to consider developing musical theater, television, and film acting skills there, though your degree will be in theater. My daughter was accepted as a MT student, and she will have to again audition in the end of her Soph year in order to continue in MT. If for some unlikely reason she did not pass this audition, she would remain a theater student, but would not be considered an MT student. I believe some classes would not be available to her (in MT), should she become a straight theater major. You are required to take dance every year, which includes Ballet, jazz, tap and modern (I am not sure how much of each, but Ballet seemed to be emphasized the most).
For what its worth, let me share with you my impressions of the other schools in Calif. that we visited:

CSUF- Very welcoming students met my daughter at the door as she observed their class doing scenes from various MT shows. The halls seemed teeming with excitement and energy, as you could hear someone belting "Suddenly Seymore" from "Little Shop", the next door we heard bongos while someone was working out a dance solo, and the next door 50 kids in a tap class! One thing that I found discouraging about the tap class- I'd say that practicly 2/3rds of the kids were taking this class in either tennis shoes, or stocking feet! I do not know how one can possibly know tap without wearing the tap shoes to see if they are making the correct sounds! Isn't tap shoes considered standard equipment for a tap class??? Later that night we sat through the Spring Dance Show, and again I was disappointed because you could tell that with a few exceptions, the dancers did not seem to have enough control to sustain and execute the dance movements (you know when a dancer has to move to the next step because if they don't they will fall?...) I know that these are students, and they are still learning their skills. Maybe I am too critical here, but I guess I expected better. Also, the dances did not seem to have much variety to the style of dance- looked like mostly modern. We were looking for more variety. We met with the head of the theater department, and he indicated that students must auditon for the musical theater program by the end of Soph year, and that they take about 10 students. Those 10 are treated extremly well, and many get side gigs. The rest are theater majors for the remainder of their time. He also thought it was the only/best MT BFA program on the west coast. I don't know, but this part did not sound right to me. The other thing that sticks out is that they have very limited dorms on campus (6 students share apt style housing, hard to get in to), and no formal food plan, though some of the campus vendors and places off campus will acknowledge some kind of affiliation with the school. It is a commuter school, and having a car seemed necessairy to us. It is a state school, and in Calif. the budget has cut some of the nicities out, like landscaping. I remember mounds of dusty dirt where in better times, they probably would have landscaped it. My daughter considered this school early on as a "deep back-up". State schools are a bargin fiscally.
USC- Beautiful campus in the middle of a very depressed area of LA- I would worry about my daughter being alone after dark, and having to go several blocks to her dorms. The campus clearly has lots of money, for sports anyway, and one is impressed by the elaborate sports complex. The theater department however, which aparently does not have a MT emphasis per se, is a small, dark bungalo in the back of construction, in back of the large sports complex. This made me think that the theater department is not as well funded as I would have hoped. My daughter sat in on a drama class, felt it was very basis- basic like her first year drama class in high school. The instructor was nice, and engaged her in conversations in between giving feedback to students who were working on scenes. If you are interested in singing, I believe you have to make contact with the music department, so there did not seem to be an integrated program for MT. My daughter was not terribly impressed by what she saw, but she auditioned anyway. They did not have her sing, or dance- just two monologues. She knew this was not the school for her even before the acceptance letters were sent out.

UCI- Pretty campus, smaller than UCLA, and appeared more suburban. Dorms were on campus. My daughter sat in on a MT class, the instructor was excellent, and was giving the students good tips on auditioning skills. No auditions were necessary, and I cannot tell you much about the program, except to say that my daughter was accepted, but did not seriously consider this school.

Other California Schools that various folks out here mentioned that had fairly good reputations for theater programs, but we did not check out: Chapman, and Loyola Merrimount(sp?).
Hope these musings help generate more folks talking about California Schools. Sorry for a long post! Best of Luck to you all!