Are there any theatre tech people here?

College Majors Theater/Drama Majors
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So the reason I am asking about faculty connections is that there are two very similar programs at the top of my son’s list, but school A has faculty that are more well-connected than school B. But school A is also more expensive and would mean student loan debt, whereas he could graduate from school B debt free. My husband and I think debt free is pretty important when it comes to a career in theatre. But now I am wondering if those superior connections might be worth the debt if they allow him to land the type of jobs he really wants (like national tours) after graduation?

And, my son has fallen in love with school A and would have already committed to them if money were no object. I’ve been chatting with a tech theatre professional we know, and she says “good fit” trumps all, and that is where my son should go, even if it means debt. It just feels like the stakes are so high, and it is so hard to know what the right decision is.

So, does anyone have a “we let our theatre kid go into debt and it was so worth it” story for me?

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@RKmom - That’s a tough choice. I guess the question is - how much debt? Can he pay it off or will it be an albatross around his neck? I firmly believe that our kids will likely be underpaid, at least at first, and there’s no point in having someone get a great education if they can’t use it because they can’t afford to accept the starting salary offered. Having wonderful connections won’t help if you need to go become a wage slave somewhere just to make enough money to pay your rent and student loan bill.

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If you figure out the answer, @RKmom , please share! :smiley:

D19 has a clear favorite #1 OOS school, and although it is affordable, it is still $7K more than in-state #2 school. How do you weigh “Superior Connections” when comparing school 1 and 2?

No answer here. Yet I share @CaMom13’s thoughts about the heavy chain of student loan debt.

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We haven’t yet heard about scholarships - would be a maximum loan of $17,000 per year. So, a potentially $68,000 albatross by the time he is done. Hmmm. I’m thinking school A, barring an amazing scholarship, needs to come off the list. :-S

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@RKmom -

I am firmly in the camp of no students loans or as few as possible. To that end, my kids chose state schools. S17 just transferred from a Theater Tech and Production BFA to a general theater BA at his school. He will come out with no debt so he will have the ability to take lower paying jobs that may afford better experience. He is fortunate in that he can work in NYC, if he gets a job there and still live at home.

Another thing to consider is that the profs with connections may leave or your child may not become one of their favored students, in which case their connections may mean nothing for your child.

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@techmom99 said: He will come out with no debt so he will have the ability to take lower paying jobs that may afford better experience.

Example of the above: D just worked on a play at a festival at The Public. I suspect she wasn’t paid for it, but she was THRILLED to put it on her resume.

And, yeah, she came out of college debt-free. One day recently out of the blue she messaged me to say she hadn’t really deeply appreciated how that would impact life after college.

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I think the connections part is particularly important if a student doesn’t have low-cost (or FREE!) housing options near a theatre/entertainment hub.

We live less than 10 miles away from Washington DC (a strong theatre city) and it was part of the reason she did not apply to schools far-and-wide. Free housing allows for her to more easily participate in internships/apprenticeships at Wolf Trap Opera, the Kennedy Center, Arena Stage, etc.

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I was thinking about internships as they relate to school debt – spending the summer doing low-paying internships in locations far from home puts a crimp in saving up money for after-graduation living expenses. That can add to the money-stress after graduation – the students need to find a job to support themselves and their debt even more quickly because they have less money saved up to fall back on.

@OrangeFish , I don’t recall what part of tech your D is currently interested in, but D had a really great internship one summer in DC at the Smithsonian doing lighting which was eye-opening as to how much theatre tech can transfer into other venues. It would’ve been so very handy to have lived anywhere near there! She ended up renting a room at GWU.

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@“Jamieand Winthrop” – thanks for the heads up about the Smithsonian! D is interested in stage properties. We learned about internships with the FBI to develop crime scene houses, for training purposes. Talk about the wide range of theatre tech!

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Thought I’d pop in with a little update as it’s been a busy week. My D got rejected from UNCSA (Scenic Design) last week, but yesterday got yesses from both Otternbein (BFA Design/Production) and Webster (BFA Scene Design). She visited Otterbein twice and loves the program and the faculty, but is less familiar with Webster because we did a campus tour over a year ago without meeting any Theater students or faculty and she interviewed at the Chicago Unified. If there are any students or parents out there from either school who have any words of wisdom as she starts thinking about her final decision (and as we prepare for a return visit to Webster), I would love to hear them. Thanks!

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Congratulations @Bubblewrap666 ! Excellent schools to choose from!

You have probably done this already, but my D found it helpful comparing actual course listings/options between schools. We made yet another spreadsheet to compare courses/# of credits in major vs. # of core courses, vs. # of production credits, etc. Might be good to do that for Webster in advance of your visit. Might also want to ask if there are any anticipated new course offerings your D may be able to take advantage of.

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Good for your D @Bubblewrap666 - I don’t know either program to offier advice but congratulations to her!

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Congrats, @Bubblewrap666
My D liked Otterbein quite a lot - can’t give you any insight into Webster, though. Is there an accepted students day/event at either/both that might help with the decision?

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@OrangeFish Thank you, and excellent idea on the spreadsheet! I’m a big believer and laying all the facts out and staring at them until a decision is obvious. In this case, I think it may come down to pure, gut feel. Otterbein simply feels right to her – but she doesn’t know enough about Webster to know if it does too.

@CaMom13 Thank you!

@Gatormama She’s been to two events at Otterbein so feels good there, but doesn’t really have a sense of life at Webster. I don’t think they do any accepted students day, or at least one specific to the Conservatory, so we will try and see if we can create one ourselves. This way she can confirm the nuts and bolts of the program, and also see whether she can see herself being happy and successful in that environment. She feels very lucky!!!

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Hi, everyone! Have been lurking here for a while, and thought I should introduce myself. I went through this with two older DS (one graduated in film production from Chapman last year, one is a junior at Stanford in engineering with a minor in theatre). Now am in the Waiting Game (along with many of you) for two more DS (high school seniors), one looking to get a BA in playwriting and one a BFA in technical theatre.

My tech theatre DS is very torn about what to do. He has been accepted to UNCSA (BFA scenic technology), DePaul (BFA theatre technology), Pace (BFA prod/design for stage and screen), Chapman (BA theatre technology) and UNLV (BS pre-major in entertainment engineering), plus some Cal State schools. He is waiting to hear from USC, Emerson and BU, although none of those tops his list.

The catch here is that while his background has been theatrical production and design (five years in P&D conservatory at an arts high school and corresponding outside work), he doesn’t want to limit himself to traditional theatre tech. His ultimate goal is to build a career in experiential/experimental/live event technology production. He absolutely loved DePaul when we visited last summer. During his portfolio review, however, the interviewer seemed to indicate that DePaul was focused solely on traditional theatre tech (even emphasizing the name of The Theatre School at DePaul University). Yet their website seems to indicate that the theatre technology major prepares you for a career in theatre or “other entertainment” venues. Does anyone out there have insight into this?

We will be visiting UNCSA, Pace and Emerson (in case he gets in) in early April. We’ve heard great things about UNCSA but are a little worried about the location (so far away from home and not near a metro center). UNCSA and Chapman both seem to have good contacts in non-traditional-theatre (Cirque, Disney, TAIT). We are very familiar with Chapman, but not so much with UNCSA. Hopefully he will get a feel for the school when we visit. Still considering Emerson (if he gets in) and Pace, but worried that because of their locales they will be more “theatre-centric.”

I’ve read (many times) all the previous posts on here and some other threads, but would love thoughts on whether these schools would be a good fit. DS obviously loves technical theatre, having spent most of his waking hours engaged in this for the past five years, and he wants to pursue that in college as well, but his ultimate goals is to develop new technology skills for use outside mainstream theatre.

Sorry this turned into a novel!! Thanks for letting me be a part of all of your journeys thus far, congrats to all for the acceptances, and good luck to everyone!

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Hello all! I’ve been lurking here about a month, which is when D21 told us that she’s interested in majoring in theater. However, she’s also interested in a double major or at least picking up a minor or two. She currently goes to a college prep high school and has a 4.0 uw gpa and is in all advanced/AP/DC classes. She—and I—think probably the best thing would be for her to get into a BA program and try to get scholarships. Also, the BA program might help her nail down what she wants to do. Right now she’s on the costume crew but that’s mainly because nobody else seemed interested in doing it. She really likes it but also wonders if she’d like stage management or scenic design. She’s done some theater since 6th grade but it’s mostly been just ensemble acting. Right now she’s thinking of a strong BA theater school that’s also respected for its general academic majors, that allows you to easily explore or switch concentrations, that is affordable or offers nice merit packages, is east of the Mississippi and no further south than Tennessee (she loves cold weather). Any ideas?

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Congrats @Bubblewrap666! If your D chooses Otterbein, she and my S may be classmates. He is also accepted into their BFA design/technology program. He has his list narrowed down to three schools. I’m hoping he can make a final decision next week.

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@Cinemaparent Congrats on your DS’s great choices! As to your specific question, I can share my observations about UNCSA vs DePaul. Both are excellent schools and I don’t think that DePaul’s theater focus limits career opportunities in other forms of entertainment but it might be easier to get one’s foot in the non-theater door at UNCSA simply because of the relationships that UNCSA has with Cirque, Disney, etc. And as those relationships result in lots of students interning with those organizations, and some eventually getting full-time employment, I imagine a recent UNCSA grad has a different set of peer contacts than those at DePaul. Not better, not worse, just different.

@RKmom How exciting!! May I ask what other schools he is considering, and what he considers to be pros and cons?

@foolfortravel Welcome!! If you go way back on this thread, and do some searching elsewhere on CC, you will find some great schools to explore. Doing so was very very helpful to me when my D first started expressing interest in this path but was only aware of a small handful of conservatory programs, all of which were very competitive from an admissions perspective and some of which would not have been a good fit for her regardless of her prospects for admission.

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Sorry for the delayed reply @Cinemaparent ! Congratulations to your son for all of his acceptances – obviously you have an exceptionally talented family!

My D (accepted to UNCSA) is not in the scenic technology concentration but rather in stage properties. However, she has seen lots of various elements of the School of D&P. At some point along the way, we heard a presentation by Chancellor Bierman on the arts and innovation. This article kind of sums up what we heard:

https://www.uncsa.edu/chancellor/communication/metl.aspx

I will tell you from a stage properties perspective that the faculty, the Dean, and the Chancellor absolutely do NOT focus on properties as “theatrical properties”. Paraphrasing Bland Wade (Associate Dean), a coffee cup on the stage is the same as a coffee cup on the television screen which is the same as a coffee cup in the entertainment queue. D&P (and I would guess the other schools, too) absolutely view “all of this” as themed entertainment, and have sponsored a student chapter of THEA (Themed Entertainment Association).

Perhaps your son should talk more with the faculty (and maybe even the dean) of the respective programs he is considering, so he can get a better sense of what is “really” happening vs. what is strategic vision (and may or may not have hard funding and plans yet).

Best wishes and good luck!

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@foolfortravel – I echo @Bubblewrap666 's excellent suggestion to look at this thread, as well as other threads on CC. I will say for BA programs, Baldwin Wallace has a strong BA (non-audition) theatre tech program – and they have such talented actors/MT performers that it would be a great place to at least check out to see the tech options. They also give GREAT merit awards. (And Cleveland is cold!)

https://www.bw.edu/academics/undergraduate/theatre-design-technical/