<p>My daughter is trying to decide netween NCSA and UMinn for straight acting. Any thoughts or info that might help would be greatly appreciated…</p>
<p>They are both very good programs. In the end if its possible to visit, I think the <em>feel</em> she gets would be very important in the decision. </p>
<p>NCSA is a top tier <em>IVY</em> among straight acting conservatories UM is not. One advantage that brings to NCSA is that they do a senior showcase and its taken seriously. Some schools fail at put together a showcase because the directors and casting agents have little interest in seeing what their school has to offer. UM has not in the past done a showcase but they have stated that they will in the future. So thats score one for NCSA. </p>
<p>Neither, to my knowledge, has any study abroad opportunities so thats score none for either. </p>
<p>Many schools claim affiliations with professional acting companies. Sometimes you find out that while on paper there is one in reality the dont work well together or at times there are strained relationships. I believe the relationship that UM has with The Guthrie is the largest selling point of their program. My research is that it is a very good relationship (they spend one day a week physically at the Guthrie) between the ATP and the theater. The Guthrie being arguably one of the top five regional companies in the country. In fact the ATP program web site can be accessed through the Guthrie web site. Score one for UM.</p>
<p>I have talked to students at both programs who love it but I discount those testimonials pretty heavily. Whats not to love? As my D put it <em>who wouldnt rather be playing with broadswords than doing math?</em> And since you can only attend one program, most students dont have anything to compare it to. I visit a supposed lets say top 20 school that looked pretty lame to me but the students loved it. None of their graduates in the last 10 years has found work yet but the kids loved it!!!</p>
<p>I have met or talked to theater program management type people at both schools and found them to be responsive and helpful. I think you D could do worse than to be at either program. But then I do know a student on the UM waitlist who would probably be pretty up for her going to NCSA about now. 
But then I am sure it goes the other way also. Good luck.</p>
<p>Thanks WallyWorld. This is really good information. </p>
<p>We have had the same concern that students aren’t the best source of information because they all love their schools. It’s hard to find an independent opinion. </p>
<p>I do think the junior year is abroad at UM.</p>
<p>We may not be able to visit either school because we are in the middle of the Texas one act play competition. If we keep moving on, we won’t have a free weekend until mid-May. </p>
<p>My D has a lot to consider.</p>
<p>Another thing to consider, though it may sound superficial, is where the programs are located. Minnesota’s is in a city in a cold climate :), and NCSA is in a more rural/suburban area, and in a warmer, or more temperate, climate. As someone else said, it might come down to a “gut level/feel” thing. Oh, just thought of one more thing: UM is part of a larger, comprehensive university, which matters to some kids, and not to others. (Some like the idea of access to non-drama or non arts kids.) NCSA is all arts, all the time. (Some like that.) What’s fabulous is that your daughter must be incredibly talented and that she has these amazing choices. Good luck. Honestly, she would be hard pressed to go wrong with either choice!!</p>
<p>Tex,</p>
<p>So your daughter didnt go to callback weekend at UM?</p>
<p>We couldn’t go because of a conflict.</p>
<p>Im impressed! They must have really liked her to give an acceptance to someone who passed on callback weekend.</p>
<p>UM says their callback weekend is preferred but not mandatory. We had to send in a video since we couldn’t attend…</p>
<p>What was the video of?</p>
<p>They wanted two monologues to share with the faculty that didn’t see her at the first round of auditions.</p>
<p>a few clarifications about the UM/Guthrie program.</p>
<p>We don’t have a student showcase because the program doesn’t want to impose the idea that we all have to be actors. They are more about cultivating us as artists. Of course we are in acting training, but acting training feeds different parts of different people, and some want other things. At least this is my understanding. </p>
<p>However, we do have our own version of it, held at the Guthrie at the end of our senior year. The program invites agents and casting directors to fly in (NY, LA, and then usually one of a city that the class is interested in) plus the people around town. But this is a show that is open to the public as a performance as well. New plays are commisioned for each class and those plays run in rep with “classic scenes”. </p>
<p>Our program is also getting stronger and stronger and growing a better reputation every year that our students are released (or graduate, hah.). So, basing your decision soley on NCSA being an “Ivy” of drama schools (which is all subjective, because i’ve heard the same thing said about my program) shouldn’t be a HUGE consideration.</p>
<p>You also are guarenteed casting all your years with the BFA. There is no auditioning for your roles (excpet maybe if there is a guest director for your senior mainstage) and everything is considered a project, and the casting is based on what will cause you to grow as an actor. You will do a American Realism, a Shakespeare, a Greek, a Hightened Comedy (ex. Moliere), a fully produced Mainstage at the U, Chekov and Shaw one-acts, a collaberation with the BA department, a free period to create your own work, and finally your new plays and classic scenes. I can’t speak to NCSA, I don’t know what their casting policy is there. I do know that I have a dear friend there who loves it.</p>
<p>Not to mention the most amazing time of your life - 1st semester Junior year in London! So much work, but so much fun! We worked with the most wonderful instructors, and got to work with some real legends too - John Barton, Michael Langham…</p>
<p>You also get the opprotunity to audition for the Guthrie while you are in the program. Each year there are 5 student contracts allowed for the Guthrie to use to cast students in their shows, as roles or understudies. They don’t have to use them all, but it is a cool synergy. Over our four years we get to know the theater and the people inside the theater (staff and actors) pretty well. It’s a special experiance, and new Guthrie is something else.</p>
<p>Minneapolis is also a theater town, as opposed the Salem (is that where NCSA is?) being quite small. So that’s a consideration too.</p>
<p>Your daughter will make the right decision, but I think everyone is right. Visit if you can! They are both great schools. Visiting will make a huge difference.</p>
<p>Thanks nikilick!</p>
<p>Niklick</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Do you have many fellow students who are enrolled in a 4 year intensive acting conservatory who have no intention of trying to become professional actors? </p>
<p>Didnt I read that starting next year that you will be taking a showcase to NY and LA?</p>
<p>As I said before, not just any program can pull off a showcase that meets with any success. I agree that your school has an up and comer reputation and maybe now is the time for you to begin doing a showcase. </p>
<p>When I refer to an acting program as an <em>Ivy</em>, to me thats not subjective at all. I am a results kind of guy so thats the angle of research that I have done on various programs. To be elite in my book you have to be turning out students who are trained and prepared to work professionally. I have researched the biographies of actors who are members of the companies of 8 of the best theater companies in the country. They range from Oregon to Massachusetts and from Chicago to La Jojja. I dont know, maybe I have reviewed 500 bios. I have also reviewed the alumni kudos given to programs former students. There is a constant theme of schools that have above average representation at these acting companies. Those to me are <em>Ivies</em> and at this point U of M is not among them other than the representation at the Guthrie.</p>
<p>I agree that at this moment in time NCSA is the more established program but my sense is that Guthrie is definitely on the rise and I don’t think she can go wrong with the actual training at either. I’m not so sure it’s fair to compare the numbers of current actors at the big regionals since the Guthrie program has only been around five years or so and the oldest crop of grads are just now getting their careers underway. Very few from any school start at the top, ya know. If she has aspirations towards screen acting, maybe NCSA would be the better choice because of the excellent School of Filmmaking, the opportunities for collaboration and a decent starter reel if nothing else. I also always find it a little funny when people speak of Winston-Salem being such a tiny place. It’s no frozen metropolis, but it has a population of around 200,000. Beyond that, it really is a shame that she can’t visit because they are suuuuuuch different places. She just needs to evaluate who she is and exactly what kind of surroundings she wants for the next four years. Then again, she will be more than busy at either and maybe all these externals don’t matter so much to her. In that case … Golden Gophers vs. Fighting Pickles … There you have it … Gophers are cute and all, but what could be cooler than being a Fighting Pickle? ;)</p>
<p>There are no plans to take the “showcase” (not a showcase! they even called it the senior showcase on the Guthrie website, and our program manager sent them an email to change it).</p>
<p>You really can’t “review” bios of actors in the country, because we only have three graduating classes. Less the 50 actors have graduated from our program. They are all still in their early twenties. </p>
<p>This is a semicomplied list of where grads have worked at so far:</p>
<p>American Players Theatre ? Spring Green, WI
Chautauqua Theater Company ? Chautauqua, NY
Chicago Center for Performing Arts ? Chicago, IL
Children’s Theatre Company ? Minneapolis, MN
Coterie Theatre ? Kansas City, MO
Door Shakespeare ? Baileys Harbor, WI
Emigrant Theater ? Minneapolis, MN
Everyman Theatre - Baltimore, MD
Georgia Shakespeare ? Atlanta, GA
Great River Shakespeare Festival ? Winona, MN
Guthrie Theater ? Minneapolis, MN
History Theater ? St. Paul, MN
Hope Summer Repertory Theatre ? Hope, MI
Illusion Theater ? Minneapolis, MN
Imagination Theater Company ? Chicago, IL
Jungle Theatre ? Minneapolis, MN
LiveWire Theater Chicago - Chicago, IL
Milwaukee Repertory Theater - Milwaukee, WI
Milwaukee Shakespeare Company ? Milwaukee, WI
Minnesota Centennial Showboat ? St. Paul, MN
Minnesota Fringe Festival ? Minneapolis, MN
Minnesota Jewish Theater ? St. Paul, MN
Mixed Blood Theater ? Minneapolis, MN
Nebraska Shakespeare Festival ? Omaha, NE
Nevermore Theatre - Milwaukee, WI
New York International Fringe Festival ? New York, NY
Oregon Shakespeare Festival ? Ashland, OR
Outward Spiral Theater ? Minneapolis, MN
Park Square Theater ? St. Paul, MN
Penumbra Theatre ? St. Paul, MN
Pillsbury House Theater ? Minneapolis, MN
Pioneer Place on Fifth Theatre ? St. Cloud, MN
Pittsburgh Public Theater ? Pittsburgh, PA
Playwrights? Center ? Minneapolis, MN
Playwrights Horizons ? New York, NY
Portland Center Stage ? Portland, OR
Provincetown Tennessee Williams Fesitval - Provincetown, MA
Seattle Repertory Theatre - Seattle, WA
Shakespeare on the Cape ? Provincetown, MA
Skylight Opera Theatre ? Milwaukee, WI
Snapple Theater Center ? New York, NY
Steppenwolf Theatre Company - Chicago, IL
Texas Shakespeare Festival ? Kilgore, TX
Theatre de la Jeune Lune ? Minneapolis, MN
Theatre du Mississippi ? Winona, MN
Theatre l’Homme Dieu ? Alexandria, MN
Thirst Theater ? Minneapolis, MN
Torch Theater ? Minneapolis, MN
Tricklock Theatre Company - Albuquerque, NM
Twin Cities Theater Company ? Minneapolis, MN
Utah Shakespearean Festival - Cedar City, UT</p>
<p>One of last years grads just got Boq in Chicago’s Wicked, and another just got a role in the Nat’l tour of Jersey Boys. </p>
<p>Like I said, both schools are great, and both offer very different opportunities. Good luck!</p>
<p>Haha. About Winston-Salem being a small town. I know it’s not, it’s actually about the size of my home town. So, I don’t really think it’s small. It’s just that Minneapolis gives you the opportunity to be exposed to a lot more theater (i think. correct me if i’m wrong!)</p>
<p>Winston-Salem is a cool town with much history. I was just through there last week. North Carolina is a beautiful state.</p>
<p>
It’s about ten times bigger than my hometown! LOL It seems to be big enough to attract the likes of Maya Angelou and Rosemary Harris to the area. No. There’s no Guthrie Theatre in Winston-Salem, but there is a good up-and-comer about thirty minutes down the road in Greensboro called The Triad Stage which just happens to have been started by NCSA alums. The NC Shakespeare Festival is nearby as well so it’s not a total theatrical wasteland. Here’s a list of what some of the more recent NCSA alums have done although it’s very incomplete and over a year out-of-date. <a href=“http://www.ncarts.edu/drama/dramaalumninews.htm[/url]”>http://www.ncarts.edu/drama/dramaalumninews.htm</a> And here are some of the older alums <a href=“http://www.ncarts.edu/drama/alumni.htm[/url]”>http://www.ncarts.edu/drama/alumni.htm</a> There’s also supposedly something of a alumni “Mafia” that’ll help a grad get his/her cards.</p>
<p>I don’t know this to be fact since I’m not in the “real world,” but I keep hearing that a current trend with agents and casting directors is that they like to see some Meisner training on a young actor’s resume. I don’t know if they do that at Guthrie or not, but NCSA has a Meisner teacher who was trained by the man himself and approved to teach his system. There is also a Russian Stanislavski teacher who is “second generation.” There is also an Uta Hagen influence among other things, so students get a pretty good mix of influences to draw from with no particular “stamp” of a single master. Voice is Alexander and Linklater and Movement is all kinds of things. I believe Guthrie also enjoys a fairly eclectic mix of influences in the training.</p>
<p>Casting shouldn’t be a concern, either. NCSA is on the studio system and the plays - like at Guthrie - are also considered projects that are selected for the growth of the individuals in each studio. Students are often required to be prepared to play multiple roles in the same play as well. </p>
<p>Just to make sure everything is out there on the table, I’m not sure what the retention rate is at Guthrie, but around a third of the drama kids who matriculate at NCSA generally don’t finish the program although it’s more through dropouts than cuts. No. There is no numbers-based cut, but it can happen although a student will usually be warned in time to change whatever the problem is before it does. Everything I’ve seen and heard is that around a two-thirds graduation rate is pretty much the norm at most BFA conservatory programs or really any kind of intensive, professional training type major for that matter so I don’t think that should be any cause for alarm. I would, however, expect that Guthrie would have a somewhat lower or at least more varied dropout rate due to their smaller entering class and more intensive audition process. </p>
<p>Oh yeah … The freshman drama class at NCSA is typically around twenty boys and ten girls who divide into two groups of around fifteen for acting class. Freshman year, there are twenty-five contact hours (in professional training classes) per week and that goes up, up, up later since rehearsals themselves are considered class time. She’ll spend her evenings doing lots of crew freshman year at either place, I believe.</p>
<p>But … Like I said, I don’t think she could go wrong with the training at either, so congrats on whichever she decides on. And … potentially good news for the kids on the waitlists at both … I heard from a kid from my old h/s that two spots for girls will be opening up if they haven’t already. They be goin’ to Jule-yaaad! Funny how some of these schools seem to be going for the same small group of kids …</p>
<p>fishbowlfreshman…do you have any information or tidbits on the acting program at Calarts? Would greatly appreciate it!</p>
<p>Our foundation training is very similar I suppose. It’s steeped in Meisner work, what I suppose people would call Uta Hagan, and of course actions-objective Stanislavski training. We never really get told what “method” we are doing (ie: this is Uta Hagan, learn it, live by it) and are taught from the begining that learning everything as tool, and what may work for some may not work for others, ect. So, we do learn an “ecclectic” mix, especially over our four years here. Our freshman year acting teachers is an amazing, amazing man and teacher.</p>
<p>I’m not sure what our drop-out rate would be with such small classes. Each year is different. My class has never lost anyone (well, besides the boy who never showed up for the first day of school) so we still have 19, and the class above me has 12 right. The class above them had 17. The two classes below me are 17 and 18 respectively. There is no cut system.</p>
<p>Talltex, if you have any specific questions about the program, you can email me @ <a href=“mailto:rode0091@umn.edu”>rode0091@umn.edu</a>. I’ll do my best to answer, as it must be difficult to make a decision if you can’t visit the schools.</p>
<p>Fisbowl,</p>
<p>A third dont make it to graduate and you think thats the norm. Interesting, my sense was that the dropout rate was not that high. Maybe the people I have asked that question to just had low dropout classes. </p>
<p>Also, I think it is fair, even at the young age of thier program to point out that thier graduates dont have much of a representation at the major regional theater companies other than Guthrie (or atleast I presume that because the Guthrie does not post thier companies bios. According to a person I spoke with there last week they will be putting up a new web site soon that will contain bios which I am looking forward to reviewing.) There is a big difference between hiring somone who <em>has</em> done it as apposed to somone you believe has the <em>potential</em> to do it. Especially when <em>it</em> is what you want to do when you grow up. </p>
<p>Niklick, </p>
<p>I really did not want to find myself pointing out the negatives of your program because I do think it has a lot going for it. I have spoken to your department chair several times and found her to be a very nice and helpful woman. She certainly does not give you the impression that this is just a job for her. Yet, when you are competing for anything (in this case actors) and you are the new guy and competing against seasoned entities it is just an obstical that has to be over come. And while it is clear that your gradutes are working, the top regional theater companies and NY credits are noticably absent from that list with the exception of Oregon Shakespeare Festival. I dont recal any one from UM at OSF do you happen to know who that person is?</p>