liberal arts vs. conservatory

soozievt
Tue, 06 Jun 2006 01:15:55 +0000

Teri,

First, I applaud you for going back to school as an adult. I have taught both undergraduates and graduates in my field who are adult learners (not traditional aged students) and I really admire them. They juggle many things…school, family/kids, work. Usually they are highly motivated.

Anyway, there are many paths to a career in theater. A BFA is not the only path. I know some very talented theater kids going the BA route. Many who make it in this field have BAs (not always even in theater) and some have no college at all!

Your point about an MFA is a good one but I want to point something out to you. For a kid going into acting…I think there are two good paths to consider…a BFA in Acting or a BA degree (possibly in theater) followed by an MFA. However, for someone going into MUSICAL theater, there really are not MFA degree programs in this field. Of course someone can still do an acting based MFA program anyway. But for a MT person, the BA/MFA path isn’t quite the same option that comes to mind for an acting student.

I’m not sure what you mean about “cutting a deal” but my personal opinion is that whatever path your D chooses for her college selection, it really ought to be what she truly wants. IF she really really wants a BFA, I’d encourage you to let her pursue that. She could apply to some BFAs and some BAs. Remember, if she does a BFA in a university setting that has some liberal arts, she is still getting a college degree and if she doesn’t make it for some reason on stage (tough odds), she still will have her education and that will suit her well in life/career. A college degree still opens doors and someone’s major is not the only thing they can do. Many people work in fields that were not their college major. As well, there are many jobs in the arts that her background will be well suited to.

Speaking as a parent of someone who attends a BFA program in a university…my D’s friends are concentrated in Tisch but not all are in musical theater. She also knows kids not in Tisch and is looking forward, in particular, after this past year, to taking some courses with non-Tisch kids. A BFA student is not going to take as many liberal arts courses as a BA student, so that is a fact no matter where she goes. BUT, some BFA programs do have a nice variety and amount of academic courses with choices. If in a university setting, she’d have many academic courses to choose from and also would be living amongst non theater students as well.

The decision between a BA and BFA program is an important one and there is lots to consider. It sounds like your D is leaning toward the BFA route. If she feels academics are important to her, then she ought to select schools that have a liberal arts component, examine the curriculums, and find some programs where there is a higher academic standard of admissions if she prefers a certain level of selectivity/challenge.

As I mentioned before, there are some challenging BA colleges with active musical theater on campus. I listed you some earlier. As I have a kid at Brown, I can tell you that MT opportunities abound there. My girls are friends with a male student at Brown who is currently on leave and has the lead in the National Tour of RENT. A girl who is a graduate of Yale just got cast in the new Bdway cast of Les Mis. Examples of that sort abound.