Good news!

CalMTMom
Wed, 20 Apr 2011 21:58:38 +0000

Ok…you can survive without a car although my daughter has one to get to her vocal lessons which are off campus. If you live in dorms it is fairly easy without a car—if you live in apartments off-campus there is a strong bus system that serves the university.

All drama majors CAN take MT1 but it is very impacted and you have to register early. MY D did not get into MT1 fall quarter because it was already closed when she registered. She registered for MT1 second quarter but successfully auditioned into MT2 so that opened a space for someone else as she moved up without taking MT1. Chose a very early SPOP session for summer and you will have better luck getting in to your classes before things start filling up. You have to audition for each new level and it is competitive but you can retake MT1 4 times I think (they just changed it from 6 to 4 to give more students a chance to take the courses)
Dance classes are available for level 1 and 2 for non-dance majors through the dance department …you must audition at start of year to get into level 2. They have no auditions for higher level dance courses during the year so don’t miss it! If you want more advanced classes than level 2 non-major then you must declare a dance major…my D is considering doing this to get into higher level classes—many theater majors double major in drama and dance. The dance program is very highly regarded and a bit impacted. There is also a MT dance class (My D has been a little disappointed in this course as it is a beginning level and she has been dancing since age 5, but for inexperienced dancers it is very helpful–and in fairness the normal teacher is not teaching it this quarter)
It is possible to take classes off campus -especially with a car-- OCC is very close and has a good dance and theater department as well. But drama majors must do production units at UCI before your junior year or they will not let you audition for parts in productions—these do take up a lot of clock hours, so be aware and schedule accordingly. Most students get these out of the way freshman year. It is kind of unfair that transfer students get to waive that requirement, so you end up paying lots of fees to help out backstage for shows–although there is definitely value in working on all aspects of production–it is basically a way for UCI to get manpower without paying for it:(
You can access almost all of the MT courses even if you don’t get into the BFA…MT4 and one other course (I think) are for BFA’s only. So, if you are successful in your audition, you can get as high as MT3 even without the BFA. A note here: Allison Case who was just in Hair on Broadway never matriculated past MT2. The drama program is very strong even without the BFA!
You can take private voice from Myrona Delaney (prof of MT2) but you have to pay extra for those. Also, there are some great voice teachers locally in Orange County but are not included in tuition. MT2 is basically group lessons. You have a large class of 30 for one session and then lab of 10 students in which you get more individual attention. I don’t know if it is MT3 or 4 which starts private instruction…sorry.

There are many student produced shows you can audition into in addition to the mainstage and university run shows. You can also apply for a grant to produce your own work.
Many students audition for shows outside of UCI or for Disney because there are lots of local professional and regional theaters as well as employers for performers locally. In fact, a lot of faculty direct or choreograph for local professional theaters and do cast UCI students in those productions. UCI encourages students to audition outside of school.

Keep in mind that UCI’s program is a BA really first—even the BFA students are required to take quite a lot of GE classes because of the philosophy of the UC system. You will be busy taking other courses in addition to your drama courses. Also remember that there is both the spring term Satellite program in NYC and study abroad options in Italy and England year round for drama …these are also amazing opportunities. UCI has much to offer—you must be proactive because it is a large university. There are about 400 students in the drama department including graduate students. Claire Trevor school of the arts in entirety has less than 1000 students…most are drama and dance majors. Those who are assertive and have a basic plan of what they want to pursue do well…they don’t really lead you by the hand and the program is extremely flexible to allow you to pursue multiple interests even outside of theater. Hope this is helpful.