Hi! I’m a junior who wants to major in music education. I’m looking at colleges such as Ithaca, University of Hartford, Baldwin Wallace, and SUNY Potsdam. I have participated in musicals ever since I could walk, and i would love to continue that in college, but I don’t want to major in MT. I plan to do community theatre as an adult because it is one of my passions. I live in the northeast so I would really like to stay in that vicinity. If anyone knows of a college that I would be able to perform at please let me know! I would hate to stop performing for four years.
Many schools will say that you can try out for parts in school productions. Ask how many non-majors are selected for parts… I think you’ll find the answer is ‘not many.’
If you do become a music teacher, chances are you will end up in charge of at least some of the musicals in the school where you work. So there is a good argument to be made for participating in musicals while in college. What the best role for you would be is something to discuss with both your own department and the various directors of the college musicals. Getting technical, conducting, stage managing, or even directing experience might be more important at that stage of your pre-teacher preparation. If you have room in your college schedule, formal classwork in theatre and/or MT might well be in order.
If you go on to the website of each school you applied to, you can see if they have any student run productions - most schools do. The student run productions are not part of the academic theater department and anyone can get involved.
I strongly advise you to attend a school that has no musical theater major. Theoretically non-majors can audition, at big MT schools, but virtually never get the good roles.
Oberlin. The college, not the conservatory. There are several student-run groups that put on musicals.
If you live in NY, I highly suggest you consider Crane at SUNY Potsdam. Many, many current music teachers in NYS attended there and report good things about it. You also won’t end up with a lot of debt which you won’t want to have starting a career as a music teacher. I’m not sure about MT there, but definitely check it out.
And I second @happymomof1’s comments: you want to get as many different experiences as you can. You might find you love a variety of roles in putting together a production.
If you live in NY, I highly suggest you consider Crane at SUNY Potsdam. Many, many current music teachers in NYS attended there and report good things about it. You also won’t end up with a lot of debt which you won’t want to have starting a career as a music teacher. I’m not sure about MT there, but definitely check it out.
And I second @happymomof1’s comments: you want to get as many different experiences as you can. You might find you love a variety of roles in putting together a production.
I can verify that North Central College, in Naperville IL - right outside Chicago - has a great theater dept. My son - who was not a Theater Major - got a lot of starring roles, and they were invited 2 years in a row to a National Performance Contest. However, that was @ 10 years ago now, so new dept heads have different approaches… But worth a look I think. https://www.northcentralcollege.edu/college-arts-sciences/theatre Good Luck - and break a leg…