<p>Hello everyone!</p>
<p>I am Tyler. I am a freshmen in the Dept of Drama and the Setnor School of Music. I would love to answer any questions you have or talk to you about anything SU related. If there is something I don’t know I can easily find the information for you!</p>
<p>I hope I can be of help,
Tyler</p>
<p>Being from the Cuse myself I love your name, Broadwayorange!</p>
<p>Hey Tyler!
I have made my final decision and I am going to Syracuse for musical theatre in the fall! I do have a few questions:</p>
<p>1) Is it an intense program? This is the kind of program I want: a very demanding one.</p>
<p>2) What dance classes do you take your first year?</p>
<p>3) What gen ed classes do you have to take freshman year?</p>
<p>4) How many shows does the department do every year? How many musicals?</p>
<p>5) How big is your class size? Do you know how many people they accepted for the class of 2015 freshman year?</p>
<p>6) Is there a cut program? If so, how many?</p>
<p>7) Do you feel like you are getting individual attention in all areas? This is something that is very important to me and I just want to know if you get this feeling.</p>
<p>8) What kinds of scholarships are offered to musical theatre students?</p>
<p>Thank you very much! This will be a tremendous help!</p>
<p>Tyler – it is very kind of you to offer help to prospective students. I would like to do the same – my D graduated from the BFA MT program last spring, and I’m always available to answer questions from the perspective of someone who has (vicariously) experienced all four years of the program. My D has been working steadily since graduating, and we are very happy with the education she’s received.</p>
<p>Your comment about the Setnor School of Music was a bit confusing to me – are you a double major?</p>
<p>broadwayorange-Thank you for wishing to help new students! Info from current students is SO great to have!!</p>
<p>If you wouldn’t mind, it would be GREAT if you could post your experiences and your schedule here in the “Freshman Experience” thread!
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/1067706-freshman-experience-4.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/1067706-freshman-experience-4.html</a></p>
<p>@ BeeJe2011</p>
<p>Great questions! I am so glad to be able to help.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>All programs in the department of drama are very intense. If it is a demanding program you want then this is a good place to be. As an MT you will probably have a full schedule your first semester unless you can test out of theory. A huge plus; all the classes you take are theatre/performance classes. The program is very good about challenging and motivating its students to have great technique and practical skills that will help you succeed. Freshmen year can get stressful because so much is thrown at you but truly, it makes you into a better person and artist. I have learned more in the last year than I did in any other training I have had.</p></li>
<li><p>As far as dance classes go You will be put in ballet 1 or ballet 2. (Occasionally people will test into the higher levels as well.) This meets 3 times a week and is an hour and twenty minutes per class. The dance faculty here is very good and will make you work. If you are able to test out of theory you might be able to get into a tap or jazz class depending on the schedule for next fall.</p></li>
<li><p>Unless you can test out of Music Theory or Writing 105 (AP Eng Cred) and use those credits for other academic electives the only academic class you will take is WRT105 and WRT 205 (in the second semester) for your freshmen year.</p></li>
<li><p>There is not really a set number of shows I don’t believe, but they always have a full season and it is always joined with the Syracuse Stage season (The Professional company that SU Drama is housed in). In addition to the “Mainstage” season there is also a student run organization called “Black Box Players” That does about 3-4 fully produced shows a semester and smaller shows and readings. Also there are many faculty projects that happen in other performance spaces such as smaller musicals (“Little By Little” was done this past year), one-acts, ect. Plus, as a student you can propose your own project and do a show you want to do or one you’ve written. There is incredible support for students who wish to make there own work.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>There is usually one play a year and one musical a year that is put on by Syracuse Stage and The Drama Dept. if you get cast you can work with Professional Equity members from NY, faculty, and professional directors, as well as earn EMC points.</p>
<p>(ps. we also get to see every Syracuse Stage and drama show for free as many times as we want!!!)</p>
<ol>
<li><p>I have been told that the incoming class is expected to be 40 kids. They may go over by a few. There are a little over twenty in each MT and Acting in my class but we are the biggest class they have accpeted and this year they are decreasing the number of acceptances.</p></li>
<li><p>There is not really a Cut program. We have Sophomore evaluations which is a system that determines weather you can move on to take advanced acting courses and get your BFA or is you stay in the department and switch to the B.S. degree which does not allow advanced acting courses. There is no number of people they have to fail, everyone in individually evaluated by the faculty.</p></li>
<li><p>I feel like all areas of the training are equally met your first year. If you want to take more theory classes or music classes that are not performance and Musical Theatre based that can be difficult to schedule but it is never impossible.</p></li>
<li><p>There are not Merit Based scholarships you can get from the Drama Dept. There are scholarships you can apply for once you are in the department (alot of them for traveling abroad) and you get Academic scholarship and financial aid from the university but unfortunately there are not many Performance Scholarships.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I hoped this helped and I hope if you have further questions I can answer those too!</p>
<p>Great Questions,
Tyler!</p>
<p>@ Onstage</p>
<p>I am so pleased that your daughter has been getting work. It is so great to hear.</p>
<p>I am indeed a double major. I started as an MT but now I am pursuing the BFA Acting degree and a seperate BA in Music. Im doing this so I can be more involved with Music Direction and Voice Teaching. </p>
<p>Thanks for the feedback on the post and best wishes to you and your D!</p>
<p>Tyler</p>
<p>Tyler,
Thanks for al the detail. My D is on the waitlist for the BFA MT program so I will pass this on to her. Do the MT kids also take piano?
Thanks.</p>
<p>MT students don’t take piano their first year apart from the basics they learn in Music Theory. You mat be able to register for lessons at the music school if the studios are open and if not you can most likely find someone to pay out of pocket for lessons. MT students do take piano their sophomore year.</p>
<p>Thanks Tyler! Your answers are awesome!</p>
<p>I am still confused about one thing though. By 40 the class, do you mean in both MT and acting combined? How many do you think auditioned for the MT class this year?</p>
<p>Also, do you feel like you are getting individual attention and not just becoming a “manufactured” performer? Do you feel like the professors take special care with you specifically to see that you grow in your skills? Also, in a few sentences, do you love being at Syracuse? Like, what are the very best things about it to you? Thanks!</p>
<p>40 is the total class. Out of that They probably are shooting for 15 MT and 15 acting plus 10 Design tech and SM. That is an assumption but that seems to be the ratio for most classes. But often the classes yield 20 acting and 20 mt.</p>
<p>I honestly think that SU does a phenomenal job of catering to your learning style and finding techniques that work for you. There are several different acting teachers and each one approaches acting differently. You get exposed to most of the teachers your freshmen year and gain understanding of how they operate and the following years you get to pick which teachers you take. SU encourages its students to find out what works for them and what doesnt and to take what they can and create their own eclectic approach to performance.
Any of the faculty will go out of their way to help you, as will the students. If there is something you dont understand they can rephrase something and explain it a thousand different ways. I have never felt like I was expected to pledge loyalty to one teacher and expect that everything they say is fact. We are taught that as artists who will be developing for a lifetime we need to ask question and gain clarity. Not meeting the unknown with judgement and dismissal but with imagination and question.
I could go on, but I think you get the idea. SU really is an incredible place to learn. Both faculty and students are talented and supportive.</p>
<p>Oh, and SU typically has 800 to 1000 applcants. That includes Acting/MT/Design Tech together. The majority are performance majors auditioning for Acting and MT I do believe though.</p>
<p>For my daughter, one of the very best things about the Syracuse experience was the Tepper Semester. Seniors have the opportunity to spend their last semester living and studying in New York City. This is an incredibly valuable chance to learn from working professionals in the industry; and not just for a short workshop, but an entire semester.</p>
<p>Also available to seniors is the Aaron Sorkin week in Los Angeles; it takes place during spring break, and is similar to the Tepper Semester in NYC. Completely free of charge to students who are accepted to the program, it’s a week of making the rounds in LA, taking workshops, and actually meeting with Aaron Sorkin who funds the program. (He is a Syracuse grad; just won Golden Globes and Oscars for screenwriting the movie Social Network.)</p>
<p>Also there is the London Program which is a semester in London spent doing Shakespeare with the teachers at the globe.</p>
<p>And the newest program is a summer long film-acting and casting internship which is headed up by Timothy Davis-Reed who is was on The West Wing and teaches at SU. This is another valuable opportunity for people who wish to make their career in LA or become directors/producers/writers/agents ect…</p>
<p>Just to clarify, are the teachers at the London program actually Globe faculty/Londoners? I’ve seen some programs where students and their current teachers go abroad, but then the current teacher (not the abroad teachers) does the teaching. You are just in a different location with the same folks.
It sounds blissful, to study theatre in London!</p>
<p>No, the teachers are from London/Globe, not Syracuse.</p>
<p>That new summer program sounds great; I’m guessing Aaron Sorkin will be involved in some way – he’s Tim’s former college roommate, and they still are very close, as is evidenced by Tim’s recurring role on West Wing.</p>
<p>Does anyone know how many kids auditioned for the MT program fro the class of 2015?</p>
<p>My D is a junior MT at Syracuse and she did the London program this past semester. As onstage said, it is all Globe faculty and it was an outstanding acting program and overall experience. She had an incredible time at the Globe where almost all of her classes took place – the students actually get to perform scenes from a Shakespeare play as part of a showcase on the Globe stage at the end of the semester. Of course, a total thrill. </p>
<p>About 15 students from SU Drama went; 11 or so were acting BFAs; 4 were MT BFAs. The classes at the Globe were exclusively for them – no other schools could participate in their specific program and classes. </p>
<p>As part of the program, you go to see London theatre about 2-3 times a week. She saw about 30 shows while there and it was incredible theatre, including all the Globe plays (including in the pouring rain). You learn so much from that alone.</p>
<p>Amazing, amazing opportunity for the drama students who participate.</p>
<p>I have a question about the dept. director.
When I went to audition, I asked where he saw the program going and where he wanted to take it, and he really had no answer, but sort of danced around the question.
This made me feel very uncomfortable, but I know there are many who adore him. I’m wondering if anyone can give me some insight there.
Thanks!</p>
<p>@ Dancergirl92</p>
<p>This is an excellent question and is something that worried me as well. Ralph Zito is the chair of our department and this is his first year here. I asked him this question personally at one point and I too was worried but having been in conversation with him throughout the year this is what I can confidently say to you. </p>
<p>Ralph’s philosophy is one of a true artist. “Face the unknown with questions and a thirst for clarity, not with judgement and stubbornness.” Ralph came into the program chair position and told us all that he did not have a specific vision for SU because he did not want to come in and make everyone there submit to his will. He told us that he wanted to talk to us and see where WE and the Faculty wanted our program to go and that he would offer his opinions and try to improve the program in this manner. </p>
<p>I will tell you that Ralph had been making good on his promise. Every week he has had open dialogues with students at our Weds Lab, keeping us informed on his decisions. He also has town hall meetings with individual classes and majors. He talks to the casts of shows and asks them how their experience could be changed. He listens to the students voices. I have never felt like I had so much power as a student in my life. I genuinely feel like I can speak and be heard.</p>
<p>He has taken many actions that have positively effected the program. He has increased funding for masterclasses. Begun the process of introducing a IPA Dialect class into the curriculum that was sorely needed. He had changed logistical things about auditions and casting that benefit the students and our pre-professional experience.</p>
<p>So I know that he may not have given you a concrete answer to your question and I know that that can be troubling but I am not at all ********ting you when I say he is an administrator with experience in his art, who cares about the development of students as students and professionals, and cares about us personally. He makes sure that every voice is heard and that positive changes are made in the program. His philosophy of “Questioning the unknown…” is one that makes him successful at his administrative job, but is also something we take from him to become success in our professional careers.</p>
<p>If you have any other questions about him or anything else don’t hesitate to ask!</p>