@BroadwayK When you want no more than a 2 hour distance from NYC, it depends on how you want to travel, what time of day and with what frequency.
Are occasional trips into the city doable from Muhlenberg, Rider or Temple? Certainly. Occasional trips to see shows? Yes. But frequent auditions, or a regular internship? No. On paper according to train schedules, you can make it in or out of the city within 2 hours once you are on a train, but trains are subject to scheduling that might not be that frequent throughout the day and night–and you still need to get to the train each way and to your destination from Penn Station each way.
So obviously going to school in Manhattan makes going on auditions and having internships do-able, even on some days that you might have classes.
Schools like Molloy, Montclair, Wagner, Hofstra or LIU Post are a little more inconvenient, but definitely doable too.