Actor/Singer, but what Major?

MichaelNKat
Sat, 21 Aug 2010 08:40:11 +0000

There are east coast BFA MT programs that offer very strong acting training. There are BFA acting programs that also offer opportunities for solid training as a singer. Some east coast schools to look at, off the top of my head, that are known for strong acting training in the context of a MT program are CMU, UArts, Ithaca, Syracuse and NYU Tisch. There are others. In BA programs that offer good acting training combined with good training in voice, examples are Northwestern and Muhlenberg. Again, there are others. This question has also been discussed a lot on the Musical Theater forum.

My daughter is a senior at UArts, so I can provide you some more details about its programs. The school offers a BFA in either MT or acting. For the first 6 semester, both acting and MT students take the same core acting studio classes together that serve as the backbone of the acting curriculum for both majors. Acting students take additional courses in acting styles, mask, stage combat etc while MT students take additional courses in acting a song, singing, dance and MT performance and repertoire. Both acting and MT students audition for all the same school shows and are routinely cross cast between straight drama and musicals. Acting majors can also audition for a minor in MT. There are also electives in acting for the camera.

On the MT forum, in addition to the discussion threads on the main page, there is a list of schools at the top of the main page that have their own sub-forums. The is also a thread pegged to the top of the main page that has the “Big List” of schools with MT programs. These could be good places to dig in and start perusing different schools to get a handle on schools that interest you for further investigation. As you go through the process, go to each school’s website and pull up the curriculum for the acting and MT programs. Each school has its own balance and focus within its acting and MT programs and looking at the curriculum is a good way to start to get an understanding of that.