@QballMom , yes, the acting program is very well respected. Alan Rust, the head of the theater department, was previously at UNCSA and SUNY Purchase, so he’s well known in the community. The acting curriculum is a toolbox approach, so they get to learn a lot of different acting methods and techniques (Method, Meisner, Stella Adler, Atlantic, Viewpoints, and others).
My daughter says that the biggest strength of the program is the movement curriculum. They do Suzuki, Alexander Technique, LeCoq, Laban, neutral mask, Drozin (sp?), and a lot of other things. She says that it has been truly transformative for her and that her movement is so much more spontaneous and free and she’s much stronger and much more “in her body” than before.
Students have guaranteed casting sophomore year and do two shows with their ensemble that year.
One big change is that going forward, during junior and senior year, the acting and MT students will be allowed to audition for ALL the junior and senior shows, meaning that the acting majors will be allowed to audition for musicals as well as plays and the MT students will be allowed to audition for plays as well as musicals. That’s a change from previously, when the two programs were kept separate. My daughter is happy about that, because even though she’s an acting major, she does like doing musicals too, so she’s glad she will have that opportunity.
Acting students get ballet and Music Theater Chorus freshman year, and can take additional dance classes as electives if they have time in their schedule. They can also take private singing lessons (for an extra cost) as well as an elective called Acting Through Song, which is a weekly singing master class.
Acting majors go to London second semester of junior year and study Shakespeare in London, and then come back and perform a Shakespeare play. Senior year they perform in “A Christmas Carol” at Hartford Stage, so they get a professional credit on their resume before they graduate.
West Hartford is a cute little suburb in Connecticut with a charming downtown area of shops and restaurants and movie theaters. It’s about 2 and 1/2 hours from New York city, so you can pop into New York for a weekend to see some Broadway shows, and even audition in NYC occasionally depending on your class schedule.
Feel free to ask me any other questions!