<p>Hi!
I need some help. I really want to major in musical theatre, but I feel like it is necessary to go to an expensive school like NYU or Ithaca or something, but I just cannot afford that, even with my parents helping me out. My current plan is to go to a cheaper school and get a Bachelor’s degree in music specializing in vocal performance (while staying in state), and then going to get my Master’s in Music with a MT concentration, or a MFA with an MT concentration ( by that time i could afford to go to a masters program at a prestigious school for one to two years). Is this a feasible goal? Everyone tells me that I cannot just get a BFA in Musical theatre because I won’t be able to work, so I thought a music major would be a good compromise. Anyways, any help would be appreciated! Thank you so much!
Also I’m from Colorado and am looking at University of Colorado at Denver to get a music major</p>
<p>There are some great schools that are much lesser cost than NYU where you can get great training. I am not sure what state you are from? That would help guide you. But in general some suggestions for low cost alternatives are: Texas State, Coastal Carolina, Utah, . State schools can be less expensive if you are in state but can be pricey out of state. Some schools that seem pricey can actually give great scholarship $ including Baldwin Wallace, Otterbein, Indiana, OCU, CCM, Ohio Northern and many others. OCU and Baldwin Wallace are a Bachelor of Music degree.<br>
It is absolutely possible to achieve success in the field from many different schools. For example, our D goes to OCU. There are kids who recently graduated from there performing as leads in several different national tours, several more are in shows on Broadway, others have landed jobs on cruise ships, as Rockettes and with the USO and still more have gotten great regional jobs in both MT and opera. I’m sure many other schools have similar success stories. You do not have to go to NYU or Ithaca to be successful, although those are both great schools.
You are wise to find a school that is affordable as you don’t want to leave school with a lot of debt. Making a living will be hard enough on an actor.s salary! Good luck to you. And if you can say what state you’re from we might be able to chime in with a few more suggestions!</p>
<p>Thanks for answering! I’m from Colorado</p>
<p>Actually, the University of Northern Colorado has an excellent Musical Theatre program. It is as good, or possibly even better, than some of the ones already mentioned. Since you are a resident it shouldn’t be too expensive for you, but it is a very competitive program to gain admission to. They have several alums currently on Broadway, including Andy Kelso playing the role of Charlie Price in Kinky Boots. It is an audition only BA program, but is run more like a BFA. They have tried to change to BFA, but Colorado law will not allow another state university to have a BFA program, so they remain a BA with the curriculum of a BFA. Metro State has a BFA in musical theatre, but their program is not as good as UNC.</p>
<p>@endlesswonder - I am not sure who has been telling you “you can’t get work with a BFA in MT” - I know lots of people who do. (read playbills for proof!) There are also lots of people working with MFAs, BAs, BMs, and no degree at all. Are these people talking about performing jobs or other employment?</p>
<p>You can get any kind of job you want with a BFA. There are many threads on here that discuss this. But a BM is a great degree too if thats what you really want. the training is whats important. not the letters of the degree. UNC is a fabulous program and a BA. It is competitive to get in, but could be the best solution for you.<br>
If you have decent grades/test scores don’t discount some of these other schools though. They dont jave to be sky high. We found with scholarship, many private schools became as affordable or more so than state schools. It may be worth applying to see what your options are. You won’t really know your costs until you are accepted and receive a financial award letter. Some may also give talent scholarships as well. </p>
<p>I think that they generally mean you can’t really make a living off performing unless you are “famous”. My only career goal is to be a working actor. </p>
<p>If money is your main concern, there are a few good programs in CO that could serve you well and set you up as a strong MFA candidate at a more top-tier school. These schools all are very affordable with in-state tuition and are varying degrees of selectivity. </p>
<p>I’m of the mind that if you are driven, you are going to succeed. Not that there might not be small failures along the way–but if you have the chops, you can create your own reality–even as a working actor. Whether you are super famous or doing local/regional theatre who knows. But if you WANT to do this and you DO the work that is required, you’ll get there (that’s a serious Team Mom Pep Talk).</p>
<p>The MT program at UNC. I know many graduates from there working and teaching in Denver in the performing arts. If you are in-state, UNC is also ridiculously affordable. </p>
<p>Another up-and-coming program is at Mesa University in Grand Junction. Here is the info: <a href=“Department of Theatre Arts | Colorado Mesa University”>http://www.coloradomesa.edu/theatre/index.html</a>. There is an Acting and MT track. </p>
<p>Metro State University also has a BFA in theatre in Denver. I’m not sure what that audition process is like because I can’t seem to access the website at the moment, and I also don’t know if they have an MT track or if it is just acting.</p>
<p>A school that might be a reach but hasgreat tuition for even out of state students is Texas State (not sure if it’s too late for the prescreen if you are a Senior). They offer in-state tuition to anyone accepted to the BFA program. </p>
<p>Good luck with your search! </p>
<p>Colorado is part of the WUE system, so if you are eligible your tuition would be 150% of the in-state tuition in the reciprocal states, including California, Arizona and Utah all of which have MT programs. My daughter attends Utah and although we paid out-of-state tuition Freshman year, we are now paying in-state tuition. If your goal is to be a working MT actor there is no reason you can’t get a BFA (or BA) in MT. There are different paths of course, but why avoid the most easily apparent option?</p>
<p>My state is also a part of WUE so I’ve looked at it before. Getting a school and program approved through WUE isn’t always simple. Not all public schools in any particular state participate and those that do sometimes limit which programs they open up to out of state through WUE. For example, I don’t see any schools from California on the WUE list that have BFA MT programs. (I admit, I don’t know all of the California schools perfectly but quick look, I don’t see any with programs I have heard about.) </p>
<p>I remember looking at UNC (U of Northern Colorado) which does have a well regarded BA in Musical Theatre that plenty of students from my state attend. I sort of remember that WUE didn’t work for that program at least not from Washington State. That might be because Washington State did have a school that is part of WUE (Central Washington University) which offers a BFA in MT. Maybe I’m not remembering it entirely correctly but in any event, you aren’t looking at UNC through WUE because you already live in Colorado. My point is be sure to look at which schools participate in WUE and whether or not the program you want is an eligible program because sometimes, it’s very specific about what’s in and what’s out.</p>
<p>@endlesswonder, if you are already from Colorado, why aren’t you thinking about UNC? Even paying out of state for us to attend UNC (with automatic academic scholarships which are based on your stats and you can see what that is right on the website), it was a financial bargain and by far the cheapest school my daughter was accepted at. And we are not from Colorado and it didn’t look like WUE would work for that program. </p>
<p>I think @shaun0203 may be giving you a good tip about U of Utah if you want to go out of state. It is a WUE member though I don’t know if it is program limited but it looks like after year 1, you are instate. That’s kind of amazing.</p>
<p>FYI, if you are interested in U of Utah, any time spent on WUE does not count toward the 1 year residency requirement. Overall, it would be cheaper to go as an out-of-state student for 1 year, then as in-state for 3 years.</p>