devron

hmm, after reading Carnegie Mellon's visting brochure that I received in the mail today it says that there is no early decision for drama. It that because they want to see everyone's auditions? Also, is this the same for all schools?

notarebel

chrism -- BU is one of my choices. It is great except that you don't get into the meat of the BFA until sophomore year.

Devron -- Most schools do that I think.

Doctorjohn -- Do you know which UK programs other than LIPA will be auditioning at the same time as the unifieds this year? Are LAMDA or Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama going to be there?

doctorjohn

notarebel: Don't know the answer to that question. I don't think LAMDA has ever been there, but possibly Scotland has. Let me see if I can find out.

dcmom3

Chrism, My d is a freshman in the BFA acting program at BU. She loves it, it's challenging and even though they can't audition till soph year, they work on 2-3 shows freshman year, have multiple performance opportunities in classes, and are PLENTY busy freshman year. I'm not sure with all the transition to college issues, that handling a show would be possible for many freshmen. Although she is taking 16 credits, she is in class for 23 hours a week. Please ask if you have any specific questions.

alwaysamom

thesbo, I've been away for a few days (and in mourning as many are as a result of the election) so I've just seen your question about Canadian schools for drama. You are right that York has a very good BFA program. Many Canadian schools, however, have terrific drama programs which are integrated with liberal arts. My D3 has been researching and visiting those for the past few months and will likely apply to University of Toronto as her #1 choice. In the course of our research, we've realized that in addition to the classroom experience in drama, the extra-curricular drama opportunities at U of T are second to none. Keep in mind that my D2 is at Tisch and that we looked at many of the top U.S. programs in her search so are familiar with those as well.

U of T is set up on the college system and each college has a drama society which has a slate of plays listed for the entire year. Any U of T student may audition for any of these plays. During one visit for an interview a couple of weeks ago, my D and I saw a production of Macbeth which was quite possibly one of the best Shakespearian productions I've seen and I visit Stratford every year, so that should tell you something. This was a college-sponsored, student directed and run show which was quite simply amazing. There are currently auditions ongoing for more than 5 plays and the total slate for the university over the course of the year is approximately 25-30 plays! This is, of course, in addition to ANY that the drama program itself is putting on.

In your circumstances, where you are looking for an excellent academic program as well, this is one which you may want to look into a little further. It's probably the top rated school in Canada for academics and is in a beautiful city. If I can help answer any questions, please let me know!

thesbohemian

Alwaysamom
A student run, non-theatre major Shakespeare production that could compare to Stratford? Whoa! Who's teaching those engineers voice? Actually, I'm the one who'd prefer to be bothered with regular academics as little as possible once I hit college with just a few interesting humanities-type courses of my choosing. I've flirted with the idea of learning Russian, but it looks like scheduling it would be a real problem in the BFA programs at the colleges I'm looking at. So, that's probably out. I really liked what I saw in looking at some of the British academies where you train for three years with no outside academic distractions. You get to immediately live off-campus, too; and, they don't have Puritanical issues with an 18 year old sitting down in a pub and having a glass of wine with friends. They were smart to kick those people out. I might do a walk-in or two at the unifieds if any of them show up and figure out a way to pay for it later if accepted.

chrism

Does anyone know anything about the Fordham theater program? I've checked the website, but I mean has anyone heard anything good or bad about the program from either students in the program or elsewhere?

klri

Chrism

My daughter has two friends there, one is a senior and one is a freshman. Both are very happy. The program is small. They only take 20 students. Plus, it is an audition school. Also, the program is a BA so you would be taking a liberal arts curriculum. My daughter's friend who is a freshman is only taking one theater course at the moment.

We had gone to the open house, and the student tour guide mentioned that the liberal arts courses were very basic and even the math that you had to take was not too difficult.

The campus is right at the Lincoln Center and pretty much enclosed. By that, I mean you can go from your dorm to your classroom via tunnels. You would never even have to wear boots or a coat for that matter. The dorm rooms are the best we have seen out of all the schools we visited.

wct

Just found this info on a HS drama site and thought it might be of interest to you all.

AMDA The American Musical and Dramatic Academy
Conservatory Program

AMDA offers professional conservatory training in Musical Theatre and Acting for Stage, Film and Television. A degree completion option for a BA and BFA is available through the New School University.

Auditions for admission and scholarships are held on the Los Angeles campus in Hollywood once a month year round. You may schedule an audition or tour of the school by contacting AMDA at 1-866-374-5300 or ethompson@amda.edu.
Contact

Eric Thompson, Dir. of Admission

ethompson@amda.edu

1-866-374-5300

6305 Yucca Street

Los Angeles, CA 90028



Cal Lutheran University


University

BA in Drama

Minor: Drama

Scholarship Information:
http://ww2.clunet.edu/financial_aid/...holarships.php
Admission Information: http://ww2.clunet.edu/index_2/admission.php
Contact

Michael Arndt, Theatre Arts Chair

Theatre Arts Department

Mail Code: 3900
California Lutheran University

60 West Olsen Road

Thousand Oaks, CA 91360

Tel: 805-493-3416
Fax: 805-493-3013

e-mail: arndt@clunet.edu



Concordia University

Concordia University website: http://www.cui.edu/

Concordia's Fine Arts webpage: http://www.cui.edu/cui_shell.aspx?id=4

University

BA in Theatre

BA in Music

Minors: Theatre, Music
Contact

Peter Senkbeil, Ph.D.

Dir.of Theatre Activities


Concordia University
1530 Concordia Drive West

Irvine, CA 92612

phone: 949/854-8002, ext. 1513

fax: 949/854-6893
email: peter.senkbeil@cui.edu


CSU Chico
University

BA in Theatre Arts

BA in Musical Theatre

Minor: Theatre Arts, Musical Theatre Dance

CSU Fullerton
University

BA in Theatre

(Concentrations: Liberal Arts, Production/Performance, Teaching)

BA in Dance

BFA in Musical Theatre

MFA Theatre

(Concentrations: Acting, Directing, Design and Technical Production)

CSU Hayward
University

BA in Theatre

CSU Los Angeles
University

BA in Theatre

MA in Theatre

CSU Sacramento
University

BA in Theatre

BA in Dance

MA in Theatre

Minors: Theatre, Dance

Fullerton College
Community College

They offer: an active award-winning production program; a playwrights festival; a directing festival; involvement in the American College Theatre Festival; more theatre classes offered every semester than you will find at any community college in the country; current state of the arts technology and instruction; student advisement, scholarships, and alumni support; a proven record of transfer success to Julliard, North Carolina School of the Arts, UCLA, UCI, UCSB, UCSD, Carnegie Melon, and many other fine schools; special student outreach programs, designed to introduce you to Fullerton College.

Irvine Valley College
Community College

Students have the opportunity to take classes from as well as be in productions guided by industry professionals who can guide the student toward discovering a new career path or enriching an existing goal of continued training and experience in the theatre arts.

Pacifica Conservatory of the Performing Arts (PCPA)
Conservatory Program

A 2-year program in conjunction with Alan Han**** Community College.

(Concentrations: Acting, Technical Theatre)

Pepperdine University
University

BA in Theatre

BA in Theatre and Television

BA in Music

Secondary Teaching Credential (English/Drama)

Saddleback College
Community College

Acting, directing, production, design and dramatic literature are all important facets of the Theatre Arts program.

San Jose State University
University

BA in Theatre

BA in Radio, TV, and Film

MA in Theatre

Minors: Theatre; Radio, TV, and Film

University of Arizona

www.uatheatre.org

University

BFA in Theatre

(Concentrations: Acting, Musical Theatre, Design/ Technical Production, Theatre Education, Theatre History and Dramaturgy)

MFA in Theatre

(Concentrations: Acting, Design Technical Production)

BA in Dance

BA in Music

BM in Music Education

BM (in various performance disciplines)

Minors: Theatre, Music
Audition Info

Actors should present one realistic monologue.

Musical theatre majors should also sing 1 song (32 bars) from a musical; no accompaniment will be provided, so bring your own recorded accompaniment and boom box.



University of LaVerne
University

BA in Theatre

Minors: Theatre

UCLA

www.tft.ucla.edu/auditiontour
University

BA in Theatre

(Concentrations: Acting, Design and Production, Directing, Musical Theatre, History and Criticism, Playwriting)

BA in Film and Television

(Concentrations: Film Production, TV and Video Production, Screen Writing, Animation, Critical Studies)

MFA in Theatre

(Concentrations: Acting, Design and Production, Directing, Playwriting)

MA in Film and Television

(Concentrations: Critical Studies, Animation, Production/Directing, Producers Program, Screenwriting)

PhD in Theatre

PhD in Film and Television

(Concentration: Critical Studies)

UC Santa Barbara
University

BA in Theatre

BFA in Theatre

(Concentration: Acting) – Program Information

MA/PhD in Theatre

University of Southern California (USC)
University

BA in Theatre

BFA in Theatre

(Concentrations: Acting, Design, Technical Theatre, State Management)

MFA in Theatre

(Concentrations: Dramatic Writing, Theatrical Design)

Minors: Theatre, Dance

thesbohemian

Okay. I've made no secret of the fact that a major consideration for me in narrowing down my college choices is the possibility of receiving a full academic scholarship. When the inevitable question of "Why are you interested in us?" comes up in the interview section of auditions, will it be appropriate to mention this? There's a good chance I'll have some academic offers sitting on my desk by the time I do my auditions.

doctorjohn

Thesbo:

It certainly would be honest of you to talk about your need for financial aid. But I don't think you should lead with it, nor should you say that you're looking for a full ride. You could end up putting yourself in an all-or-nothing situation with the colleges. Either they have to offer you their top prize, or they have to not make you an offer. Also, if you lead with money, you imply that money is the most important reason you want to attend this or that college. It sends the wrong message.

A better approach might be to lead with the non-financial reasons that this particular school interested you--a reputation for excellent training, the good experiences of previous students from your high school, the kind of theatre they produce, the track record of their graduates, and so on. The more specific you can be, the better. (A parenthetical story here: some years ago, when I asked a prospect that question, she replied "Because you're a conservatory program, and I wouldn't have to do any of those liberal arts courses." Not a good thing to say to the chair of a conservatory program inside a liberal arts college.) Then go on to say something like, "And it doesn't hurt that you offer good financial aid--I come from a single parent family, and my mother and I just don't have the resources to send me to college without a lot of help." That puts the financial issue on the table, opens the door to discussion, lets the admissions reps know what they're going to have to do to get you, but doesn't put them in a bind.

Hope this helps.

thesbohemian

Doctorjohn,
Thanks! It’s always great to know what the people on the other side of the tables will be thinking. A couple of my friends have already received scholarship offers from various schools. Hopefully, I have a few on the way (knock on wood) and I suppose it will be good to mention it AFTER I outline why I like a particular department. Shouldn’t they know if I’ve already been offered an all-school type academic scholarship or a big private one? Oh, Lord … I feel a lame attempt at satire coming on …

AUDITOR
So, Miss Thesbohemian, why are you interested in our department?

THESBO
Well, Sir, my mother and I decided that I should carefully research all the good BFA Acting programs in the country to find the ones located in second and third tier state universities and liberal arts colleges which will most likely offer a student of my Ivy League academic potential the opportunity to attend for free while only being required to waste myself on a maximum of five boring non-theatre related Gen Ed classes over the entire four years. That way, I can join a sorority and enjoy a four-year kegger while my mom’s financial advisor/boyfriend reinvests my college trust and tries to grow it to a size where I can draw enough interest to keep me in rent, Ramen noodles, and Budweiser for years after graduation. This will negate any need for a sugar daddy or a menial job while I try to become the next Cameron Diaz. Your school meets those qualifications. And ... Oh, yeah ... I've heard your department rocks. Do you cast freshmen in leads?

doctorjohn

Ah, Thesbo, you do make me smile Have you ever thought about writing/acting for Saturday Night Live? After college, of course...

proactor

Thesbohemian, I have read all of this thread and have to say your obvious intelligence and wit will serve you well in this business. All of the college acting programs you are applying to are very good. I don't know how much of your audition satire is true though i hope you are'nt serious about the beer. However, if what you said about your college trust fund is true and there is enough in it for you to reinvest it and draw enough interest to keep you in "rent, Ramen noodles, and Budweiser for years after graduation," you should absolutely bow down and kiss your mother's feet. She is a very smart woman with alot of foresight and I think she truly does have your best interests at heart. If you get offered a full scholarship to any one of the colleges you say you are applying to, TAKE IT! Starting out in this business is tough enough without trying to break in with a load of debt. I have seen far to many exquisitely talented actors come to LA with fancy degrees from prestigious institutions who become frustrated and leave the business because they do not have the resources to pay off college loans. Still more leave because they do not have the life skills to be able to hold a job and support themselves financially (and pay union dues) in the first years of their careers. You, my dear, obviously already have that and if you add an interest income to it you will be in a truly amazing position to make things work out for yourself. If you are anywhere near as talented and passionate about it as I think you must be, you will. Prestigious training looks good on a resume but financial staying power will serve you much more in the long run as long as the training you do get is good. Break a leg! I'm pulling for you!

thesbohemian

Doctorjohn,
I so wish I had that comic look! Maybe I'll host SNL one day after I become the next Cameron Diaz.

Proactor,
Thanks! I'd bow down and kiss my mother's feet if she'd just quit being a Mach and tell me how much is actually in the fund. I doubt it's enough to live off interest; but, there should be plenty to last for several years on a shoestring budget if it's enough to pay for a halfway-decent college.

Everyone,
Don't get stressed out at school and spill coffee on your computer. It'll mess it up BAD! I speak from experience ...