MFA Directing Programs?

[Necromancer07707]

Posted: 11/1/07 at 12:35am

Hey I'm in search of a comprehensive list of MFA Directing programs. Any idea of where I might find this other than by doing a google search? Anyone out there with an MFA in Directing that might be able to guide me a bit in the search?

Updated On: 11/1/07 at 12:35 AM

[BoTheMusical]

Posted: 9/17/08 at 2:32pm

I've found American Theatre Magazine to be a good source for programs that offer MFAs. There are ads for the good programs in there. I'm mainly looking at schools with good BFA Musical Theatre programs, since that is mainly what I will want to direct.

Here's a SMALL list that I've compiled up.

East Coast:
Columbia
Boston U
Yale
Brown
New School
Penn State (eastish)
U NC Greensboro


Midwest:
U of Illinois
CCM
UMichigan (Ann Arbor)
Northwestern
Illinois State
Indiana University

West Coast:
UC Irvine
UCLA
U of Washington

South/Other:
Florida State
U of Texas
U Arizona
Baylor


I don't know terribly TOO much about these programs, but I'm mainly looking into the East Coast ones and a few of the Midwest. I also heard that MOST MFA programs want/require 3-5 years of professional experience/assisting in the real world before you can even apply (i.e. yale, columbia), but I'm not one that wants to move to NYC then go BACK to school. Blah. If anyone else has any insight on that, it would be helpful.

[Brick]

Posted: 9/17/08 at 3:30pm

For West Coast, you can add UCSD

[BruceWayne5148]

Posted: 9/17/08 at 3:37pm

University of Alabama.

[xxdrewboy85xx]

Posted: 9/17/08 at 4:15pm

BotheMusica, You mentioned some great schools with MFA programs. I myself am going to be applying for an MFA in Directing in 3 years or so ( I just graduated and most programs prefer at least 3 years of work in professional theatre for admissions).

Correct me if Im wrong but I don't think that U of M has an MFA in directing unless it is extremely new?

IMHO, the top school is Yale. Penn State is a close second for myself because I want to specialize in musical theatre and choreography ( not to mention summers are spent at the guildhall school in London and your final semester is an apprenticeship and assistant director at Goodspeed).

Other top choices would be Columbia, Florida State, Boston U, and CCM.

I have heard Catholic University of America and PACE have really good programs, but I no nothing about them.... yet.

[thesondhead]

Posted: 9/17/08 at 5:39pm

I'm currently an undergrad actor in the UCLA Theatre school, and one of my really good friends is an MFA Director and he hates the program. UCLA is very biased towards experimental theatre, and you are not given very many opportunities at all to direct a standard closed plot play, or something more traditional. And you may as well forget about ever getting the chance to direct a musical. UCLA does one a year and it is always directed by a staff member.

[wickedmenzel318]

Posted: 9/17/08 at 6:04pm

I would love to learn about this more as well. I am very interested in getting my MFA in directing. Which one of these schools is more focused towards musicals cause that is what I plan on gearing my career towards.

[xxdrewboy85xx]

Posted: 9/17/08 at 6:49pm

Wickedmenzel- definitely Penn State. The degree is actually "Directing for the Musical Theatre Stage"
Updated On: 9/17/08 at 06:49 PM

[Act4ever]

Posted: 9/17/08 at 7:56pm

The Theatre School at DePaul University

[njohn]

Posted: 9/17/08 at 8:34pm

I second The Theatre School at DePaul.

[wickedmenzel318]

Posted: 9/17/08 at 8:56pm

How is the program at CMM?

[broadwaybelter]

Posted: 9/18/08 at 1:05am

I believe American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco has an MFA Directing program.

[aklemp]

Posted: 11/18/09 at 3:19pm

There is no MFA directing program at the U of Arizona. There is an MFA program for technical production, though.

[Yero my Hero]

Posted: 11/18/09 at 4:25pm

Add Brooklyn College to the list.

I'm getting my MFA from there right now. It's not in Directing, but many of my friends in the directing program are quite happy with it. And it's a city school, so it's cheap.

[matineeidol2013]

Posted: 11/18/09 at 5:14pm

https://www.theatre.psu.edu/programs/mfa_directing.html

more about penn state...i am a musical theatre student here right now. the mfa directing program seems phenominal. and as mentioned before, its a mfa in directing concentrated in directing specifically for musical theatre.

take a look at the bottom of the link i posted...see who the head of the program is? yup that is THE susan schulman, tony award nominated director susan schulman (ya know, secret garden, little women, and sweeney todd all on bway).

[tommigyrl5]

Posted: 11/20/09 at 12:55am

I went to the MFA acting program at Brown U/Trinity Rep Consortium and the Directing program is quite good, in my opinion. Its a little different now than it was when I was there (a few years ago) because Kevin Moriarty - now AD of Dallas Theater Center- was the head of the program. Now it is Beth Milles (who directed Ducan Sheik/Steven Sater's Nero)

All in all, its a great program, with great teachers and a great group of actors to work with.

[emg_sound]

Posted: 11/20/09 at 3:12am

California Institute of the Arts. It's a school where you can go off into the deep end of experimentation, and 70% of our "season" is student generated (either as an MFA 2 or 3 directing project, or an MFA 3 playwrights or puppetry thesis).

Links to youtube excerpts from some CalArts-y shows...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oixla3JcB0E (Under Polaris Directed by Chi-Wang Yang)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0j_KCcD-Fuk (As Far As Thought Can Reach [George Bernard Shaw], directed by Lars Jan)