musicman6887

I recently have been taking a summer theatre course at Columbia with one of the associate professors of Acting @ Marymount Manhattan. After class, I told him I was auditioning for BFA programs (specifically in MT) and he had the opinion after seeing my perform a short working piece that I would benefit more from a BFA in acting than one in MT. I am going to further discuss the matter with him sometime this week, but his points revolved around the fact that MT represents such a small fraction of employment opurtunites. He described my proficiency in singing and dancing as merely icing on the cake.

I haven't thought a whole lot of whether I want to apply to Marymount (where he teaches during the school year), but many schools such as Tisch and CMU will let you audition for both their acting and MT programs since both require monologues. I have always considered MT my first choice admissions wise, but the teacher had a compelling arguement. I assume I am not the first to ponder this subject and wonder what others think.

Consider the following hypothetical situation:

You have been accepted to Tisch, but not CAP21 and perhaps a much less prestigious MT program elsewhere. What do you do? (Don't think about the money.)

P.S. Light in the Piazza is GREAT go see it!

hayhayden

"You have been accepted to Tisch, but not CAP21 and perhaps a much less prestigious MT program elsewhere. What do you do? (Don't think about the money.)"

I guess in that scenario (very prestigious Acting program vs. not very prestigious MT program) I'd take Tisch Acting - but that's just my OPINION.

For the initial anecdote - If it's a top BFA MT program, you will get the training in Acting that you would in a top BFA Acting program - plus more! So in fact, it makes you more versatile. If it's a really great Acting BFA vs. a really great MT BFA, take the MT, because not only will you be able to do musical theatre, but you will also be able to do film and straight drama as well. An MT BFA is really a double major of sorts between voice and acting (with some dance thrown in as well, obviously - triple major? lol).

And, I've heard that most of the CMU Acting majors take voice lessons (for an extra fee) as well, to get an extra edge on their marketability. No one will think less of you because you got a BFA in Acting over a BFA in MT (or vice-versa) at CMU, or Tisch, or CCM, or Michigan - no matter which BFA it is, it will indicate good training. But, if you're willing to "go the extra mile" the BFA MT will make you a more marketable and versatile performer.

wct

musicman6887-

You need to do what is best for you. What my s did was look at the four years of study, (curriculum) and compared the BFA acting track to the BFA MT track. There are differences between the two at CMU. He decided he wanted the type of classes that the acting track had to offer. He has been happy with his choice. But everyone has different needs, wants, and desires. Thus you need to do what is best for YOU. And yes he still has opportunities to do musical theater in the summer.

notarebel

i exactly chose tisch acting over some mt programs. it is what i wanted anyway. i can do mt and have been singing and dancing my whole life but where i need to grow the most is in the acting area where i have less experience. i dont want to train as an opera singer anyway because it will mess up my pop voice! just kidding. haha! you need to be able to sing properly and protect your voice but i have already had lots of training for that and can sightsing and know some music theory. i also dont have the right body type to be a featured dancer so i will be okay there as long as i dont get too rusty. remember that idina menzel trained at tisch but NOT in cap21. i mostly only applied to mt programs because that is where i thought i had the best chance of getting in somewhere good and i also asked to be considered for acting. i will get singing and dance at adler so i wont get too rusty. i will also be making party money in the subways with my guitar when i have time.