fishbowlfreshman

Oops. Correction. I meant under 200,000 for Winston-Salem. Not tiny, but definitely not a big city.

eatanimalcrakers

fishbowlfreshman,
Thanks for the reply! The BA/BFA quiz was interesting... my answers strongly favored BFA, though it might be nice to be at a college where I had the option of other courses. Purchase is definitly one I should visit. I've heard that Rutgers strongly favors its graduate program from several sources, but Pace is another one I should look at... I live fairly close to the University of the Arts and haven't been terribly impressed with their acting program, it seems to favor visual arts. I've been thinking a lot about North Carolina recently -- the NCSA acting program seems to have a good reputation, but it's difficult to tell anything from their website. Any thoughts on the Theatre School at DePaul?
~Katie

WallyWorld

Crackers,

"though it might be nice to be at a college where I had the option of other courses".

Depending upon how seriously you meant that statement; its not a statement that I would expect to hear from a hard core BFA/ATP person. For our D those “other classes” are nothing but an annoyance taking time away from doing what she loves. Except for maybe a ballet class, etc for fun and exercise.

Depaul is a private Catholic school (if you didn’t know that) with what looks to me like a strong program. I like that their theater school is its own separate school (not part of the college of liberal arts for example) Last I checked they have an affiliation with (or own?) The Goodman Theater in Chicago. A couple of years ago Time magazine did a piece rating regional theaters and ranked the Goodman best in the country.

Their actor-training program has what looks like a different approach to what you are actually doing. Might want to read about that on their web site.

fishbowlfreshman

I’m personally one who would prefer to not be bothered much with random gen eds and am glad I'll have them out of the way, but I wouldn’t mind taking some other outside courses that interest me if they are scheduled at a good time, taught by good profs, and there's a pass/fail option. But, you can be darn straight I’d drop them like hot coals if they started eating up my nights and taking me away from what I'm there for. If you want lots of options for good outside classes, places like NYU, Boston U, SMU, and Emerson would be good. If that's what you want, you might want to stay away from the conservatories where those options will be very limited. There's no time for them at those places, anyway. I think I saw someone say that people can and do double major at NYU. Where they get the extra hours in the day to do all that and still grow as an actor I'll never know!

I'm sure the training at DePaul is amazing, but I personally can't get my mind past that gratuitous 50% cut after first year that happens at a time when it's too late to audition for other programs. I suppose they must lose a few to dropouts before the cut, but it still seems pretty brutal to me. Maybe I'm just wimpy that way!

lynnjclh

just visited depaul with our son. really liked the theatre admission counselor and tour of the theatre school very much. the fact that it
is a catholic college does no play out in any choices of productions, required chapels etc. you are required to take one religion class of your choice and they offer everything. they accept 26 males and 26 females as incoming freshman and housing for theatre students is guarenteed. at the end of the first year they general have 40-42 students due to students dropping out realizing they did not want such an intense program. at the end of the year the theatre school reviews the remaining students and based on grades, work ethic, class involvement and your ability they create a class of 22 (number i wrote down on the sheet) to invite back to complete the 4 year b.f.a. program. they only do the one cut now, apparently they use to have two cuts. the training, the professionals that they bring in, the opportunity to work in the chicago area and the connections you make for a life in theatre are truly amazing if you continue past the first cut.... really liked what we were exposed to and the one on one student interaction our son was able to have.

the program at suny @ purchase is also wonderful; however, is that not also a cut program very similar to depauls?

know a student who is a creative writing and film double major at nyu right now! she loves it, only has moments to breath and could not imagine it any other way!!

fishbowlfreshman

No. They're very similar to NCSA in that they do sometimes cut, but there's no set number and you get put on probation first. They admit between 24 and 28 as freshmen. This year, they have 17 about to graduate. Here is the catalogue for the School of the Arts. The Acting BFA info starts on page 184.

eatanimalcrakers

What I meant by "it might be nice to take outside classes" is not that I'm particularly pleased with core requirements. I'd be in heaven taking acting all day, every day, followed by rehearsal and sleep and nothing else. I meant that the option of the occasional writing class would be nice to keep in mind, not to mention calm my parents down a bit. WallyWorld started to get me worried about the religion at DePaul deal (not a big fan of religious institutions, esp. not all mixed up with eduaction) but the Theatre School does seem to be its own entity and therefore not hugely influenced by any religious affiliations DePaul might have. Thanks for the Purchase info fishbowl!
One school I'm having difficulty getting a grasp on is the North Carolina School of the Arts -- I haven't seen them mentioned on any lists of strong drama programs, and their website isn't exactly amazing, but they seemed to be mentioned on this website as an incredible program. Any thoughts?
Thanks,
Katie

fishbowlfreshman

Wowsers … NCSA has always been one of the “goes without saying” programs in my world. You can tell something about a school by the company it keeps and they are one of the four members of the “Consortium of Conservatory Theatre Training Programs” along with Carnegie Mellon, Purchase, and Boston University. According to Purchase, those are the only schools that meet the standards for the consortium – whatever they are. At any rate, there must be some amount of mutual respect between them which should tell you something. The actor training itself is eclectic and starts with text work, but expect a good dose of Stanislavski, Meisner, and Hagen. Movement is eclectic and voice is mostly Alexander and Linklater. They also have an excellent Film school and drama students have lots of opportunities to participate in student film though it is on their own time. Selectivity-wise, they have around a 6% admit rate though that’s gonna be a good bit lower for girls considering that they admit twice as many boys and more girls audition. Also, look closely at the faculty bios. Pretty impressive, IMHO. Beyond that, check out the News and Alumni pages and notice the working actors they list that have graduated this decade. If you want an intense conservatory, it’s one of the American schools that should probably be on your short list unless the training methods or location aren’t what you want.

eatanimalcrakers

Oh wow... thanks fishbowl, I for sure will have to go visit. Don't know how I missed them for so long.

WallyWorld

It seems pretty common that schools want to see a classic and a contemporary piece. I am not sure exactly where that line is though.

Any thoughts on Wilde's "The Importance of Being Earnest" Contemporary or classic?

jbrown

I read your post in the MT thread drama school # 1 vs #2 etc -and I think you decided on one. If you don't mind my asking, where ARE you going next year? I've enjoyed your insights esp on NCSA
My son will be a freshman there in the fall. Sounds like you had an amazing audition season.

Prof. Himmelheber

I consider it classical, though schools might be interested in Shakespeare, Greeks, Renaissance, French Neoclassicism, or English Restoration (or even the less represented Spanish works). You can't go wrong to ask the school.

eve

fishbowlfreshman

I think of Wilde as sort of a "tweener." Could go either way, so yeah ... ask the school. In general,though, when a school asks for classical, they usually want to hear how you handle verse. Also, other than as an "extra" piece, I've been taught that it's generally best to stay away from farce.

I'm going to ... the ... BEACH!!! (After exams are over tomorrow.)

ckp

Ah, DePaul discussion. I'm a first year at DePaul(only one month left) so if any one has any specific questions feel free to ask here or pm me. Yeah, the dark cloud over DePaul (and possibly why people don't talk about it very much) is because the cut. It seems terrible and awful and at first is frightening, but after a little while you come to understand and even agree (yikes) with it. Haha, my own personal journy through it was played out on these boards! It is super-intense and extremly challenging, but it is hard not to be amazed by what the incredible faculty teaches you about yourself and the work in just a short life/world changing year. I love it. It has made me positive that I will be an actor no matter what. And I think that that's worth the risk...especially with all the tools I have gained. But there will be tears and heartbreak even if I do get asked back because, hey, half of my friends are going to be gone. But that is the reality of this career.

Also, other that the cross on the sign of the building, when you are in the theatre school, you cannot tell that the school is religious at all. It is the largest catholic unniversity in the country, but even in the regular liberal arts program you can't tell. There are a lot of groups for it and opportunities if you want to take advantage, but it is definatly not that big of a deal with most of the students.

eatanimalcrakers

I think the generally accepted cutoff for classic monologues is before 1910 -- though I agree the classical requirement is partially to see how you handle verse. So Wilde would be acceptable, though perhaps not ideal.