famcruisefun

Hello all!
We are new to this board - finding the info so interesting. My D is a junior - very involved in theater since age 6 - both on and off stage - MT. drama, stage management, directing. She is interested in stage management as a major or possibly theater education, but would like a school that will allow occasional performance opportunities. She's looking in the Northeast - Wagner, Muhlenberg, Skidmore, Ithaca, Vassar(?), BU. Recently she stumbled across University of New Hampshire's theater site and they look as if they have a great program. Is this the work of a great web page designer - or is this something she should explore? Would love any advise you can give!
Thank you

Mary Anna

Skidmore, Vassar, BU and Ithaca all have good reputations.

Do you want a BA or BFA?

Good luck,
xxx Mary Anna

famcruisefun

I'm pretty sure she's looking for a BA program. I know some of the schools I listed are BFA -as she's at the begining of her looking she's exploring both for now.
Thanks!

hollyert

From what I've heard from the folks at the MT forum (most of which are also regulars on this thread) about BAs in Theater, this is a list of respectable programs:

Brown
Yale
Vassar
Northwestern
Middlebury
USC
Cornell
Emory
Bennington
Connecticut College
Kenyon College
Lawrence University
Macalester College
Princeton
Rollins College
Sarah Lawrence College
Skidmore College
Whitman College
Indiana University
UNC-Chapel Hill
Cal State Fullerton
U of Alabama
Arizona State
U of Nebraska
UC, Irvine
Fordham
College of Charleston
Brandeis University
Boston College
UCLA
Catholic University

What about Oxy (Occidental)? I live literally down the street and am fascinated about the school.

Are there others? I am particularly interested in Directing, and love learning about most everything so I think that I'm not all that suited to a BFA.

Thanks, guys! BTW: grades aren't an issue (yet); I'm only a freshman.

Mary Anna

that's a great list.
You have UCLA twice, maybe you meant USC because they should be on this list they have a TERRIFIC BA and a BFA actually one of the top 5, as does Call State Fullerton , it has both a BA and BFA in theatre
Also, i would add Occidental

xxx,Mary Anna

ckp

famcruisefan- Is your daughter planning on majoring in general theatre studies, or stage managment? I know DePaul has a great stage man prog (only 5 get in a year) but there are no performance ops.

Holly-I have a friend that goes to Oxy and he thinks it's great, but he isn't in the theatre program. I have a few future director friends that have told me about their school plans. They say that getting a BFA in directing isn't the smartest thing to do, they all decided to get a general theatre BA and then get an MFA in directing. They say that there aren't many good ba or bfa directing programs and it is more respected if you get the mfa in directing. This is all second hand, and I'm sure that since you are only a frosh you will find the way that suites you best. Hope that helps!

Oh and just a little advice since you are about to start this long and crazy journy-keep up the grades!!! I have two friends from high school that are also going into theatre and one had a 4.0 and the other has a 3.2. I was in the middle with a 3.8, but needless to say the one with the 4.0 had a few more prospects and a lot less stress! Good luck!!

Prof. Himmelheber

CSU Fullerton has a BA for stage management, a BA (soon to be BFA) for acting, and a BFA for Musical Theatre (the only CA state school to have this).

Auditions for mainstage productions are limited to theatre majors. And there is a new rule about no first-time freshmen auditioning for the first fall semester (but spring auditions are open to them).

Our stage management program is small, but excellent. You will get lots of hands-on experience (shadowing a SM, ASMing, then SMing). Our kids are in popular demand - who doesn't want a fabulous SM? - and are getting jobs once they graduate.

Hope this helps,

eve

famcruisefun

My D is back and forth about her major. She loves being on stage - esp love musical theater. However, she is a practical, very organized, planner type of kid. Also an all around good student (mostly A's thoughout high school). She's done some of everything during high school. She's been on stage, she's stage managed, she's directed. Her small private high school has a wonderful arts program that really offers the kids a lot of opportunities in their art form and other art forms.
Her practical side is pushing her toward stage management or theater education. Her less practical side (her heart) is reminding her that she wants to be somewhere that she can still perform once in awhile.
Her college counselor and the arts person at school will help her with which schools she should look at - but, again, she's an organized planner (a bit type A) and she's wanting to start looking now. I really appreciate everyone's help. Any suggestions are welcome.
Thank you!

Prof. Himmelheber

Go for stage managment or theatre education - make a living, get a home, a family, a nice car, and all those things that most grown ups want. And then do theatre when you can and want to. You'll have enough money saved to do this; whereas 95% of the professional actors (in the union) are not even making a poverty-level income from acting... The odds are stacked against performing for a living - you'd have better odds of making a living as a professional gambler!!

That's just my two cents,

eve

alwaysamom

As per DrJohn's request in the MT forum, I'm also posting this here:

A friend (who is quoted in the article) sent me this today so I thought I'd share.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/07/a...UiZU9YU7NLXzTKQ

mackinaw

There has already been some discussion of this on the Parents' Forum, so anyone interested might want to look there as well: So Many Acting B.A.'s, So Few Paying Gigs

WallyWorld

Take Whitman off that list!

Respectable academics but theater program is weak. Used to be good but that's been a decade.

notarebel

as a postscript to last year ... TISCH ROCKS MY SOCKS!!!

shame shame shame @ this thread falling to page 2.

doctorjohn

Notarebel: Good to hear from you. You could keep the thread up at the top if you were willing to share some stories about Tisch. Which studio are you in, what are you studying, how is it different than your high school experience? And how's Thesbo doing, if you know?

WallyWorld

To raise my knowledge base and not bore others with basic or redundant questions I printed out all these threads. I have learned a great deal. Thanks to all of you for that.
I agree with Dr. John, I would be nice to hear how Thesbo is doing and if she feels at this point that she made the right choice.

In several earlier pages the notion of how to select your list of schools was bandied about. To keep things going I will share our process so far. Daughter is a junior this year so in some ways we are just getting started.

First we needed to solve the BA vs BFA issue. Info on this site helped with that and ours is definitely BFA. This seemed to us to be a very important step. For example a local university (University of Washington) has a reasonably strong theater program. Yet if you look closely at it you would discover that its not a bad place to get a MFA but would be an awful place for an undergrad that is a BFA at heart.

Next, we live in small town America pretty much a long way away from everywhere. Our search had to begin on the web. So this is what we looked for;

How may clicks did it take to get to the Theater/drama departments web site. Huge variances in this. 3-4 is ideal, 5-6 is okay, much more than that seems like a hunt for something hidden.

Next, what does the department call itself. I like to see words like “acting”, “music theater” and “theater” in the department or major directory. There seems to be a correlation between top schools that do this and others that use “department of dramatic and performing arts”. Or, department of dramatic arts and music (or dance). If I cannot find “acting” or “theater” in the directory it’s an instant turn off because I think it is a good indicator of what’s important to them and how clearly the thinking is within their walls.

Next, how logical is the layout and info on the departments web site. I want to be able to find information about admission to the program, auditions and so on easily. Then I want to be able to easily find information about the facilities and faculty. Many schools are lame at this. Even good programs with no information about facilities. Do they not think that serious candidates want to know if there is one theater or four? Why would it not occur to them that this is important info?

Then I want to see photos, lots of them preferably of performances. Why? Looking very closely at sets, props and costumes. I have built many sets and know the work entailed. I think it is a good indication of the program if the sets and stuff are lame in every performance.

I won’t go into the results of my methods of discernment but will give a couple of examples. The best I have found so far is Otterbien. Easy to get to, lots of good helpful info and plenty of pictures. Obviously a top program. Gorgeous sets. Julliard’s site is pretty good but was turned off by several things including the lamest sets. Our high school sets are much more elaborate. Lastly NYU has a pretty good site but after 20 clicks and not a picture to be found I gave up.

In "The Importance of Being Earnest" Lady Bracknel says to Jack, "to loose one parent is misfourtune, to loose both seems like carelessness". I realize that my process is not scientific but schools who want me to send my daughter and more than $100,000 who carelessly hold themselves out to the public raise flags with me regardless of thier reputation.