Hello, all! My son is interested in pursuing degrees in both technical theater (his focus for now is lighting) and electrical engineering. Suggestions for schools that are strong in both the arts and sciences for these pursuits? Thanks!
Getting a BFA in any stage production specialty is highly time consuming as is a degree in engineering. I believe that CMU offers a combined program that is extremely competitive but I dont know of any others
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My electrical engineer husband was a professional theater techie in NYC specializing in lights and sound. He didn’t need a degree to do that (when he did it), but he had a ton of experience. His major in college started as chemistry, then physics, then EE. But his main fun thing to do was lights and sound.
I will say…at his first college, he spent a LOT of time doing theater techie things (as noted…it’s time consuming)…and that was not favorable for his actual classes. He actually left college for about 8 years to do only the theater techie stuff.
What does your son hope to do with a combined degree in these two fields? Does he want to design theaters (DH did that and loved it…once he had his EE). Does he want to work in theater doing lights, lighting design, sound, etc? That doesn’t require a degree AFAIK.
Honestly, I’m not sure he knows exactly what he wants to do with those degrees 
. He’s just a (mostly) STEM kid who has really thrown himself into theater and loves it. I think perhaps he’s hedging his bets and may end up pursuing one or the other but not both? He’s currently a junior so we have a little time to figure this out - just trying to expand our list!
It might take him longer than4 years to get technical theater degree and electrical engineering.
If you are on board with more than 4 years…check William and Mary. The school does not offer engineering but has a relationship with Columbia for a five year program. I only mention this because WM does welcome non-majors to work on their productions, and someone who knows lights and sound would likely be welcome.
I think he should look for programs where electrical engineering majors will be welcomed working on theater productions.
I will add! My husband had a few friends with technical theater degrees, and they never had difficulty finding work. DH says…if you are going to major in theater, get a lot of experience doing the behind the scenes work…there are jobs there.
It’s good your son is thinking about this. I love that he wants to continue to work on theater productions. I’m sure he will find a place where he will be welcome to do so.
My daughter was heavily involved in theater at Purdue. It seemed like 90% of the theater kids were engineers, and there were many different levels of performance groups, from the high involvement to the low. My sense is that it’s not going to be necessary for your son to double major to still stay very involved in technical theater.
My D’s last bf was an IT guy but did all the lighting and tech for his local community theater as a side gig.
That said, I believe you can double major in EE and lighting design and tech at UIUC.
Another program to look into is Northwestern. They have an MFA degree in lighting and tech but there are a host of related undergraduate offerings and the quarter system lends itself to taking classes outside of one’s primary major.
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I suspect getting degrees in both will be very, very hard as a practical matter. EE is an incredibly challenging major, and I can only assume technical theater major is very time-consuming with involvement in productions. (One of my kids is CompE, which is a lot of overlap with EE).
My instinct would be to be an EE major at a school where kid can work on productions, too, as an EC (which is probably many, many schools).
An example would be RIT - which actually has a big group (paid) that does some tech set-up for events:
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You’ll want to look at programs where the theatre degree is a BA rather than a BFA to allow for a double major in EE. Schools where this is the case and an ABET-accredited degree in EE include:
- Colorado State University (BA in Theatre, Lighting Design and Technology Concentration)
- University of Illinois at Chicago (BA in Technical Theatre Design, Production, and Technology)
- University of Evansville (BS in Design and Technology - the BS degree may make it easier to double major in EE?)
- LSU (BA in Design and Technology)
- Eastern Michigan University (BA in Entertainment Design and Technology, this program is also available as a minor which may be of interest)
- UMN (BA in Theatre Arts with a track in Design and Technology)
- NJIT (BA in Theatre Arts & Technology - this may be of particular interest as the website explicitly states that it “is designed as a stand-alone or as a double major with any other field of study offered at NJIT”)
- Rowan University (BA in Theatre Arts with a concentration in Design/Tech)
- It may be worth looking into Marymount Manhattan’s merger with Northeastern - MMC has Theatre and New Media concentration within its BA/BS in Theatre and I wonder if it can be combined with NE’s EE programs or if that program will be offered in the NE NYC campus
- There’s no EE specifically at Elon University (although they are ABET accredited in other disciplines), but there’s no question that this is one of the finest theatre departments in the country (with a BA in Theatrical Design and Technology) and I wonder if Elon’s Engineering Design minor might be of interest to your child (as well as their liberal arts approach to engineering in general that seems to allow for a lot of flexibility in pursuing other fields)
- Baldwin Wallace may also be worth a look (also no EE but ABET-accredited in other disciplines, but a historically powerhouse theatre department - some faculty departures recently may change this, you would likely want to visit and get to know the new theatre faculty, especially vis-a-vis high-octane MT production opportunities and how that affects the BA Theatre: Design and Technical students)
- James Madison (also no EE but ABET-accredited in other disciplines, with a BA in Theatre: Design/Technology)
- Western Washington University (BA in Theatre: Entertainment Design and Technology)
Just another thought…
Engineering majors often look for internships in the summer…for the experience.
Technical theater majors look for internships at summer theater or music festivals…for the experience.
Your son can’t do both…he would have to choose one or the other every summer.
CMU was my first thought. Pitt as well. They offer cross enrollment for some classes. There’s some cross pollination between the schools for arts. I can remember a few people at Pitt that participated in some CMU productions. Pittsburgh also has a decent film community.
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I would add for OP, even with a BA, given sequencing of classes, probably for both majors (but definitely for EE) check with each school about if this is practically possible.
Thanks so much for all of your input! I suspect he will end up majoring in EE with some theater on the side….but who knows? This kid has been blessed with so many amazing theater experiences and loves it SO MUCH. (In fact, his first paid gig was doing a show with Julie Andrews as the director!) We will take a deep dive into all of your suggestions here and hopefully he will have a firmer plan by this time next year. Thanks again!
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