B.F.A. in Musical Theatre

[beav]

Posted: 5/21/06 at 9:11am

Could I have some recomendations for colleges offering a B.F.A. in Musical Theatre?

[gustof777]

Posted: 5/21/06 at 10:12am

try the student board...theres lot of discussion about good theater schools and also before you get screamed at by other people on here (colleen_lee) if you type in BFA or college you'll get a bunch of great threads and also if you go the website Collegeconfidential.com you'll get all the information you'll need in the MT board. But if I can reccomend one it would be my school that i'm going to in the fall: The University of the Arts in Philadelphia...really great training!

[iheartamc10]

Posted: 5/21/06 at 7:09pm

I think it is a well known fact, the top tier schools for MT's are :

-NYU (CAP21), CCM, Carnegie Mellon, Michigan and Boston Conservatory...

-Others are Syracuse, Ithica, Point Park, FSU (although most of their grads are non-eq.)

[kaboodles041]

Posted: 5/21/06 at 7:24pm

iheartamc10--thanks for mentioning my school! (err, except one thing, it's spelled Ithaca)

[Mr. Tuttle]

Posted: 5/21/06 at 11:03pm

A well known fact to who?

Sorry to burst your ego bubble, but your supposed "well known" fact is hardly that.

Anyone who would include BoCo among the top schools certainly doesn't know the "well known" schools. Anyone in "the know" would know that.

Only thing better would have beeen if they had included AMDA. Hey..after all..it IS well know.

Updated On: 5/21/06 at 11:03 PM

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 5/21/06 at 11:09pm

I'm personally biased towards Emerson over BoCo...
Haha.

~Steven

[WhenURScrap]

Posted: 5/21/06 at 11:11pm

Equity status has nothing to do with how good a school is. In my opninion, who the instructors are has everything to do with it. Kent State University, where I go, has a great program for a lot of theatrical areas. We have actors that work in the field, grad students that have worked. Yes, we have equity instructors and grad students... and union affilates in Stage Managment, IATSA and other unions. We do have many undergrads that are equity and have worked on Broadway as well. Alice Ripley graduated from Kent State University. We are affiliated with a regional theatre Porthouse Theatre/Blossom Music Center.

Also, Baldwin Wallace College is a great musical theatre program. They recently had a student finish up the run of Fiddler on the Roof on Broadway. And they have had several Broadway students.

[CenterStage3]

Posted: 5/22/06 at 1:17am

The University of the Arts in Philadelphia has been gaining popularity lately.
Last week they had their graduation ceremony with William Hurt as their quest speaker. His son was in this years graduating class.

[batboy4692]

Posted: 5/22/06 at 8:35am

I think you'll do well graduating from AMDA....only if you were good to begin with. There's a reason it's called SCAMda among actors in the city.

But yes, the top musical theatre schools are CCM, U. of Michigan, Carnegie Mellon. After that, I'd say NYU, Northwestern, FSU, I've known some good people out of Boston Conservatory...

There's also Ithaca, Millikin, Syracuse, Webster U., Oklahoma (if you want a stronger dance base)...

But being a working actor in the city, those are really the schools I hear the most. I wouldn't recommend AMDA, unless you don't get in to any of those other schools, or don't get into NYU and HAVE to be in the city right away.

[broadwaybaby221]

Posted: 5/22/06 at 9:05am

I'm lucky considering I live in Pittsburgh where we have Point Park and CMU in the area.

In my opinion, Point Park is a very good school to go to if you can't get into CMU, NYU or any of the other fine schools with a theatre program. I've seen productions at Point Park and know people who have graduated from there who have gone on to bigger and better things.

[OrdinaryJukebox1]

Posted: 5/22/06 at 9:58am

Does anyone know anything about Manhattanville, as far as theater goes? I know it isn't like NYU or some of the others, but I've also read it isn't too bad either. Any info would be greatly appreciated.

-Vincent

[Phantom487]

Posted: 5/22/06 at 10:35am

Pace University in NYC just got their BFA in Musical Theatre passed by the state.

[WSS2]

Posted: 5/22/06 at 11:01am

There is no such leading schools lists. Anyone who says there is a liar.

Oklahoma City University is certainly one of the major musical theater universities. Just look at who the two leading female Broadway stars are...Kristin Chenoweth and Kelli O'Hara...both OUC graduates.

Good luck if you can get it. It's a harder program than Michigan or CMU.

[erinrebecca]

Posted: 5/22/06 at 1:32pm

wss2, I wouldn't say that Kelli and Kristin are THE two leading female Broadway stars. They are both talented, of course, but there are many successful Broadway stars.

I also disagree with your description of OCU being a 'harder program than Mich. or CMU'. That simply is not accurate.

[ACTlete676]

Posted: 5/22/06 at 3:00pm

I wonder if Pace's BFA musical theatre program will be ready for fall 07'

[WildhornFanatic]

Posted: 5/22/06 at 4:49pm

I go to Ithaca for musical theatre if anyone needs any info.

[flaemmchen]

Posted: 5/22/06 at 6:35pm

Also, I believe Kelli O'Hara and Kristen Chenoweth graduated with degrees in vocal performance, not musical theatre.

Posted: 5/22/06 at 6:37pm

Wright State University
Dayton, OH

[gustof777]

Posted: 5/22/06 at 6:39pm

I second Wright State I was very close to going and was very impressed with their program

[cooperross]

Posted: 5/22/06 at 8:04pm

'Also, I believe Kelli O'Hara and Kristen Chenoweth graduated with degrees in vocal performance, not musical theatre.'

I don't know about Kelli O'Hara, but Chenoweth always says that she has a Bachelor's in Musical Theatre and a Masters in Opera Performance...

[epiphany]

Posted: 5/22/06 at 10:28pm

Could someone explain to me why AMDA is so hated on this board?

Objectively speaking, since I am not associated with any of the aforementioned schools including AMDA, it seems that their alumni contain as many working (and to some degree successful) actors as the other schools. Why is the school not received well on this board?

(And I don't mean to start another AMDA thread like the 1000 others, so a few lines will be fine)
Updated On: 5/22/06 at 10:28 PM

[gustof777]

Posted: 5/22/06 at 10:31pm

for me the reason I am not a fan of AMDA was more the fact that you don't get a degree and it costs just as much. I am sure that the training at AMDA is great but why pay up to thirty grand per year to get a CERTIFICATE that says you're good??? I think a degree goes further.

[Chitty]

Posted: 5/22/06 at 11:11pm

Do you really think it matters what degree you have? Both Kristin and Kelli are successful Broadway performers. Who cares if one has a vocal performance degree or not?

Having friends who go there, Oklahoma City University is a very unique university and one other schools should follow. They train their students to do both classical and musical theater and musical theater majors appear in operas frequently. But the musical theater majors have the exact same voice teacher as vp's and do the exact same vocal technique studies.

It's what a school does with it's students that makes them who they are and judging by these two, OCU knows exactly what it's doing.

[epiphany]

Posted: 5/22/06 at 11:30pm

gustof777 point well made. thanks

Posted: 5/22/06 at 11:34pm

Here we go again. The same argument over whether OCU is a good music theatre school. It is. I consider it to be one of the best schools for music in the U.S. It also has it's flaws like every other school.
I have heard great things about all the schools that have been mentioned. Audition for them all. Whichever one you decide to go with, just give 100%. That's all you can do. It is really about how committed you are and what you choose to get out of the program. Having the amazing school of dance that we have is a definite bonus. The one thing I feel strongly about is the level of professionalism of OCU students. I am unsure of how other schools work, but our school requires extensive music theory, music history, conducting, English and foreign diction, etc. It really helps mold the students into more than just a performer. We are trained to be top-notch musicians who can hold our own in a variety of settings whether it be musicals, operas, symphony, choral groups, whatever. And if you are really lucky, you get into Florence Birdwell's studio which is a major bonus. She's the best of the best.

Just for the record:

Kelli O'Hara- Undergraduate Degree in Vocal Performance
Kristin Chenoweth- Undergraduate Degree in M.T.; Masters in Vocal Performance