Point Park vs UARts (Acting!)

MichaelNKat
Sun, 27 Feb 2011 20:46:39 +0000

At UArts, there is a close connection between the Acting and MT programs. Acting and MT majors take the same core Acting Studio classes together and both Acting and MT students audition together for all the shows - straight dramas and musicals. Acting and MT students regularly interact with each other whether it be as scene partners in class or or on stage. As a result, there is little condescension, if any, between the students in the 2 programs and far more collaborative partnering.

As to UArts being “looked down upon” in the “real world”, I would view such comments with a high degree of incredulity. Simply put, I would strongly suspect that anyone making that comment is not really in a position to know how UArts is viewed or is basing the opinion on misinformation. When my daughter was auditioning for schools, part of the due diligence in which I engaged was to question executive and artistic directors of a variety of performing arts companies in Philadelphia (with whom I deal professionally) about UArts’ quality and credibility in the performing community. I also spoke to a number of professional performers who knew the school and to a couple of New York based producers. The responses I received were uniform in crediting UArts as providing excellent training and enjoying a very positive reputation for turning out accomplished performers. UArts has turned out many successful graduates who work both regionally and in New York. There are graduates working in film and television as well as on stage. There are UArts graduates who have formed their own theater companies that have achieved critical acclaim. While there are those who probably have an opinion of UArts based on its early days up into the 1980’s, when the School of Theater was still in its formative years, those days are a far cry from the reality of today in which UArts has a very solid reputation.