Cal Arts

College Majors Theater/Drama Majors
1

<p>I’ve read all the posts in here and all the posts in the MT forum and nothing seems to be too recent. Anyone going to Cal Arts? Any thoughts on the school?</p>

2

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/theater-drama-majors/1482582-nyu-calarts-syracuse-research-pros-cons.html?highlight=calarts[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/theater-drama-majors/1482582-nyu-calarts-syracuse-research-pros-cons.html?highlight=calarts&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/theater-drama-majors/638659-calarts-audition.html?highlight=calarts[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/theater-drama-majors/638659-calarts-audition.html?highlight=calarts&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/theater-drama-majors/1456270-compare-contrast-bfa-acting-curricula-3.html?highlight=calarts[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/theater-drama-majors/1456270-compare-contrast-bfa-acting-curricula-3.html?highlight=calarts&lt;/a&gt; (see post 21)</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/theater-drama-majors/1160245-boston-university-vs-calarts.html?highlight=calarts[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/theater-drama-majors/1160245-boston-university-vs-calarts.html?highlight=calarts&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Cal Arts is one of the most discussed schools in this forum. Highly regarded, very into art creation, experimental, edgy.</p>

3

<p>Expensive and edgy.</p>

4

<p>I read the paragraph about it being more a film/tv school. Is the theater training lacking? And unless it’s a state school, they all seem pricey to me… :(</p>

5

<p>It’s very well known for animation because of all the Pixar stuff coming out of there but I wouldn’t say the theater training is lacking at all, from what I have been able to discern though it is different. In other words, they won’t be doing “The Crucible”. Edgy, whatever exactly that means. I’m pretty sure it’s on the high end of the costs scale, but yeah. None are cheap.</p>

6

<p>The theatre training is excellent but the school is not to everyone’s taste. I would suggest visiting and talking to students there if you are interested.</p>

<p>Probably you have seen the posts by Milkshakespeare. She is starting there as a freshman this fall and has been very eloquent on CC about her love for the school.</p>

<p>It is my impression that CalArts emphasizes devised theatre and that there is a lot of collaboration among departments.</p>

7

<p>My D will be visiting in November. The admissions office was a bit scattered and no one could tell us if she could sit in on a class but hopefully we will get more info when we go. Read a few reviews from students and they were pretty negative but she will have to form her own opinion. One poster did say that CAL Arts is no longer affiliated with Disney. Don’t know if that’s true or not.</p>

8

<p>Student reviews tend to be disgruntled kids or students who adamantly love their program. I wouldn’t worry about that. I have a friend just graduated and she is very much the edgy, artsy type.</p>

9

<p>Perfect thanks…my D isn’t edgy at all…so I will be curious to see what she thinks.</p>

10

<p>CalArts is a great school that was started by Walt Disney as the arts equivalent to CalTech. There are still Disney family members on the board and the school runs a theater at Disney Hall called RedCat. CalArts is a very avant garde school. If you are looking for traditional theater training, you won’t find it here. However, if you are looking to do cutting edge theater this is the place. My daughter (who is a high schooler and an actor) was invited to take part in a class taught by James Franco that was a collaboration between the theater department and the Film Directing Department. The directing students (MFAs) took several Tennessee Williams one acts, rewrote them and then combined film/music/theater for an amazing production. CalArts is not for everyone so definitely go and visit and see what your D thinks!</p>

11

<p>I love Cal Arts, but was disappointed to learn that their is no collaboration between music and theater. It seemed very movement oriented, not sure if that’s true. Just my impression. It seems like a very artsy “magical” place.</p>

12

<p>actingmt: actually I heard that the Schools of Music and Theater often collaborate and have even produced some operas in the past.
Bisouu, if you have any questions, I’m heading to CalArts next week. But the information you’ve been given is right: this school is not for everyone. While they’re very experimental, they also have their students work on Shakespeare, etc.
We have so many interesting acting, movement and voice techniques that it just seemed silly to me to go to a school that would teach me just Stella Adler, or Meisner or Strasberg.</p>

<p>Anyway, I can’t write much now, but PM me if you want.</p>

13

<p>Actually, I’ve been thinking about the comment “It’s not for everyone”. I don’t think there is a school that is “for everyone”. I think CalArts is actually “Not for every 18 year old.” It is not a school that will treat the students like kids, like they know nothing about theater. I believe that they look for students with a strong artistic vision (and not only in the Theater department). Their essay prompt is, after all, an “artistic statement”.</p>

<p>CalArts’s program is very intense (every day, sometimes including Saturdays from 9am to 11pm) and we even had a summer reading list and our first assignment to be brought to the first day of classes.</p>

14

<p>Are you in classes till 11pm or is that just working on things with partners and performance practice?</p>

15

<p>Many conservatory programs are in class or studio from 9 am to 6 pm with a break for lunch and then in rehearsal from 7 to 11 pm.</p>

16

<p>At my son’s conservatory program, the 7 - 11 p.m. rehearsal time for performances was blocked in as class time on their academic schedule. They didn’t rehearse on Saturdays, except during tech week though.</p>

<p>If they happened to be cast in a professional performance during the school year, they had Monday nights off as per Equity rules.</p>

17

<p>Nice to hear from you Milky. Keep us posted.</p>

18

<p>My experience as a theater undergrad was that I was at school for rehearsal every night until 11 pm. We used to say “why do I have an apartment, they should just put out cots right here in the theater department?”</p>

<p>When I directed, I gave my cast Fridays off, then held a rehearsal for a few hours on Saturday afternoon.</p>

19

<p>At my daughter’s program, scheduled rehearsals go until midnight. After that, the space is free for students to use for their collaboration lab. Yep, and they also have 8 AM classes. I think most theater programs are intense. :)</p>

20

<p>Are the rehearsals going all school year or do they only happen if the student is cast in a production?</p>