My D was admitted to the MT program at JMU last week. We have visited the campus and the facilities are state of the art. Can anyone weigh in on any details about the program itself. Don't hear much chatter about this one. What is the quality of the dance curriculum in the MT program? Any info would be helpful.
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James Madison MT Program
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Drake University MT Program
I would love to hear from current students or parents of current students in the Drake University MT program. My D has just been offered a place in next year's program and I'm now on the hunt for more information and experiences with the program. Thank you!
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Syracuse University B.F.A. Musical Theatre Class of 2021 - Anyone hear anything yet?
Hello! I applied to the Syracuse University B.F.A. Musical Theatre program, and it is definitely one of my top choices. I have read rumors from past years that the program sends out decisions every Friday in March in random groups, but I still wasn't sure. I want to start this forum so you guys can post if you have received any decisions yet or if you have any information about when we will be hearing from them. Good luck to you all!
:-)
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What was your B.F.A. MT audition like at Syracuse University?
Syracuse is one of my top choices, and since I keep thinking about my audition so much I thought it would be fun to talk with you all about how yours went! I would also love to talk with you all about how mine went!! Share your experiences everyone!!
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Long Island university, NY - musical theatre program
I know they only except 16 to 22 BFA students each year but approximately how many students apply? Where do most of the students come from that attend the BFA program?
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Any News from Moonifieds??
For those of you who had kids audition last weekend, have any of you heard from schools yet...either about program acceptance or passing pre-screens?
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Sticker shock! Cost of attendance from financial award letters.
We're finding that a lot of college websites and search sites are incorrect when it comes to the cost of sending your kid to college. I know that there are many hidden costs and hidden savings, but the official "Financial Award Letter" is the closest thing that we have to a bill from a college.
What is the gross cost of attending each school, based on the most current information that comes from the financial award letters that you've received? Since every student is unique and every family financial situation is different, this would not include any scholarships, grants, awards, or loans.
Oklahoma City University = $49,256.00
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Song Cycles for auditions?
Are song cycles an option for auditions? I was told that it's part of the musical theatre genre, but am worried it won't be acceptable for auditions.
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The Performing Arts Project
My D just got an invite to apply through Acceptd and I wondered if they were just contacting everyone who signed up for the Be Discovered section. Also, does anyone have experience at this program?
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Summer Stock
Hey y'all! I'm a current MT freshman and everyone in my class is going crazy over summerstock auditions. I'm applying for Strawhats and I plan on auditioning at several open calls in NYC (I already attend school here). I'm also hoping to do video applications/auditions for a few. This process is 10000X more terrifying to me than the college audition process, so I wanted to start a forum where current college students/graduates/their parents share their personal experiences with auditioning for summerstock theatres! (There are a few older forums on this but I just wanted to make an updated one). So if anyone has any thoughts, stories, advice, etc. on this process PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE share!
I personally am wondering if anyone has attended any open calls in NYC, and what those were like? It's so intimidating to me because most of the open/non-equity calls are the day after EPA and ECC auditions and I feel like a baby. Hoping someone has some insight on this!
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Arizona State University - Musical Theatre
Greetings,
My name is Brian DeMaris. I am the new director of the MT program at Arizona State University in Tempe. I came here just last year from Ithaca College, where I used to be the music director of the opera and musical theatre programs.
ASU is not prominently featured on this site, so I'd like to take a moment to tell you all about our MT program.
Some things I think you should know about the ASU MT program:
As a B.M. MT degree, this is a place where the musical training is rigorous. But we have also recently DOUBLED our acting and dance training in the degree, and added crucial audition training and career entrepreneurship courses, as well as multiple technical theatre courses. Students can study either or both opera and musical theatre, yet still be involved in all areas of theatre, film and dance and digital media engineering, across our incredible Herberger Institute - the largest arts and design school in the country.
Along with the Theatre, Film an Dance main-stage season, ASU produces nearly 20 full productions of operas, musicals, dance performances and plays each year, with almost half of it being entirely new works. ASU Film Spark produces countless films annually, many of which involve our MT majors. In addition to our main-stage season, we also offer student lab productions, new works readings, scenes programs, and two showcases each year. Our program also features formal collaborations and professional performance and study/cover opportunities with Arizona Opera and the Phoenix Theatre. ASU was rated #1 in Innovation for the past two years in a row by U.S. New and World Report, ahead of MIT and Stanford.
We’re the country’s largest public research university, which means we have courses in pretty much anything at all levels.
It's pretty easy to double major here and several of our MTs are double majors, many with their other majors outside of the arts.
We have an amazing faculty and staff in addition to numerous faculty associates who are active professionals regionally and nationally. All of our MT faculty are professionally active performers.
We have an incredible facility with shops, warehouses, rehearsal studios, offices, and our own theatre - five full stories dedicated entirely to our opera and musical theatre program.
Dozens of national tours come through ASU each year, and cast members talk to our students and even take our classes while they’re here. Music direction students observe performances from the pit and meet the conductors and musicians involved with each production.
Our tuition is among the lowest in the nation, we have plenty of scholarship, and our class sizes are small (about 10-14 students in each MT class). The entire undergraduate musical theater program has about 50 students combined. This helps us stay focused on individual student learning and provide abundant performance opportunities, both of which are our pedagogical priorities.
While our students have plenty of opportunities to take dance and acting classes, our philosophy of integrated training is seen in our team-taught classes offered every semester in every degree, which are aimed at synthesizing acting, singing and movement skills from the very beginning.
Through our formal professional collaborations, students can receive credit to participate in productions with Phoenix Theatre (where they can also earn Equity points). Our class and production schedules actually work around local professional production schedules in order to help you take advantage of every opportunity.

We perform for dozens of elementary and secondary schools each year through our specially funded outreach performance program, which brings students from across the region to see our shows in our own theatre, many gaining exposure to opera and musical theatre for the very first time.
We have a 50-member Guild that directly supports opera and music theatre students by providing grants for additional study opportunities, summer programs, and emergency funding.
We bring in numerous professional conductors, directors, designers and other guest artists from around the world each year to work with our students on productions and in classes.
Phoenix is the nation's 5th largest city and still growing. It's incredibly diverse, and so is our student body. It also happens to be a vibrant theatre community, with a lucrative professional musical theatre scene. Phoenix Theatre (our educational producing partners), Arizona Theatre Company, Arizona Broadway Theatre, and Childsplay, are just some of the nationally recognized organizations nearby where many of our currently enrolled students and alumni have been able to take professional contracts, even while enrolled in the program. Many of ASU's alumni are founders and leaders of the incredible theater companies here in the Sun Valley.
This year we will be launching a Phoenix Industry/Alumni Night Showcase at the Phoenix Theatre, and we will also be taking our graduating students to NYC for our program's first New York Showcase.
Also this year we've launched a new works initiative, that will give our students the experience of being part of musicals in development from their first to final stages. We're partnering with nationally recognized composers, writers, producers and production companies to make this happen.
While the weather worsens throughout the year in many places, in Phoenix it gets better as the school year goes on. Just wait till you’re sitting outside memorizing your lines in January under the cacti and palm trees and 70-degree sun!
I endearingly refer to us as the "hottest MT program in the U.S." I'm referring to the temperature of course :)
We put students first in everything: season selection, casting, teaching, scheduling, guest artists, you name it.
Interested in stage direction, stage management, marketing and publicity, or something else outside of your normal course of study? You can expand your skills through the annual LAB productions. These are entirely student-proposed and student-led productions (up to 4 per year) that seek to reach beyond ordinary boundaries and explore new ways of opera and musical theatre art-making in our community.
ASU has modeled itself as the New American University, which you can learn about at newamericanuniversity.asu.edu. Lyric Opera Theatre is part of the School of Music in ASU’s Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts, the largest arts and design school in the world. This institute’s main purpose is to foster collaborations and interdisciplinary work between music, theatre, film, dance, design, digital media, visual arts, and more. We are as much about collaborating and thinking outside of the box as we are about individual artistry. No matter where you are on your personal and professional path, no matter how you envision the future of our art form and your role in it, you will find a place to start, explore, grow, and continue here.
See everything we have to offer at https://music.asu.edu/opera-musical-theatre. Call, write, or come visit us at anytime.
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LIU Post's MT Program?
I recently got accepted to LIU Post's musical theatre program after my walk-in audition at NYC Unifieds! It was my most enjoyable audition yet, and I felt like the students and admissions people who were there were all very close and very excited about the school! Many other kids that I talked to who had auditioned also commented that they felt like the auditor was very interested them as a unique individual, and I would agree with that. The auditor was actually the only one I have met who actually stood up and shook my hand before I started! I'm interested in the program, but I don't know much about it! Does anyone here feel like they could give an overview of the program or even share their opinions about it?
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School question LIU Post
Any opinions on LIU Post for MT?
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SETC Professional Audition Observations
I run a professional summer stock theater in addition to working with High School students, and for the past few years have attended SETC to hire my actors. I have been using those auditions as a "gauge" of where current MT schools/students are - what kind of working professional they are producing.
Granted - many of the big schools in the Northeast (Michigan, CCM, BW, Syracuse, PSU, etc) do not send many, if any, students to SETC but we see around 700 college students from various programs - so it is a fairly large sample size. I will share some observations at the end regarding auditions, but I want to share the schools that stood out:
1) BELMONT! This was the year of BELMONT. Their students blew EVERYONE out of the water. Vocally, acting-wise, professionalism. It really wasn't even close. I could have hired just about each Belmont student there was.
2) Elon - Every other year Elon is at the top of this list. The one thing I will say about Elon is that they are among the best and they know it. Vocally they are incredible - acting was weaker than I remember the past few years. I think the program is getting very voice/dance oriented - and in those two areas...it really isn't even close to any other school that sends a bunch of students.
3) Coastal Carolina - These kids are probably the best actors in the actor/singer category. Vocally far behind Elon and Belmont, but they make up for in other areas.
Some Surprises:
1) Northern Kentucky - I ended up with TWO NKU students. A non-auditioned program that produced some REAL talent. I was really impressed.
2) Marshall University - Never ends up high on the lists, but these kids had GREAT packages that were well suited to their types, and they were among the best at callbacks - they could make changes with ease.
A few overall impressions:
The first thing I will say is that each passing year more and more students are about the VOICE. Great singers who can't act a lick (or barely act). It is wonderful as a summer stock company needing ensemble members, but...there were not many leads there.
Also - dramatic monologues are completely wrong for unified auditions where you only have 90 seconds to sing and act. I don't understand schools that send their students to SETC with dramatic monologues - but I know that I am not the only one who tunes out after about 10 seconds of a dramatic monologue.
Lastly - remind your children that BEING YOUNG IS a BONUS. Know your type! I went to SETC looking to cast young looking actors - even a few short ones (5'ish) - and so many girls were in HUGE heels, and dressed and done up like 30 year olds! If I want to cast a 30 year old I will find one with the experience and look of a real one!
*Each year I make a list of overdone pieces and bad no-no's from SETC, and I will post it in the near future.
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2017 SETC
Anyone going to SETC in a few weeks in Lexington, KY? We are going with our son, a HS junior. He is thinking about a MT program for college so we thought this would be a good introduction so he could see the level of competition and get some feedback. Also doing some general college touring the same week. Never been to one of these large audition programs before, so should be interesting!
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Samford University in Birmingham
BFA in MT~Does anyone have any information on or know anyone in this program? My D is auditioning the 24/25 and that will be her last audition~
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Visits after Acceptance
We are hoping to plan visits to schools over spring break that my D has gotten offers from. I am trying to make sure that we get all the information that we need and was wondering if there are any specific questions or information that we should make sure that we get answered while we are on campuses, so that we can get a good comparison.
We've covered:
size of freshman MT class
age of program
MT curriculum - dance classes, private voice, etc.
location and work of alumni
senior showcase options
performance opportunities - freshman year and beyond
whether or not there is a grad program as well as undergrad
dorm options and meal plans
gen ed. requirements
I'm hoping people who have done some campus visits may know other information that was useful.
Thanks!
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I really can't choose between RADA and LAMDA shakespeare summer course 2017. Any advice??
Hi everyone! This is my first ever post! I applied to both LAMDA and RADA summer courses and got into both!! It is so hard to choose between the two!! Has anyone done the courses before or has visited the schools and knows the differences between them? Any insight is more than welcome :)
THANK YOU SO MUCH
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Utah acceptances?
Has anyone heard from Utah? How long after your audition did it take?
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Five Year Post Graduation Update
My daughter attended NYU Steinhardt and graduated with her BM degree in Vocal Performance with a musical theatre concentration in 2012. She was attracted to NYU because she was a strong student and wanted the academics that NYU offered and a chance to minor outside of MT. She ended up graduating with two minors--one in English lit and the other in the Business of Entertainment, Media and Technology.
As much as she enjoyed performing and studying voice, by the beginning of junior year, she was becoming unsure that she wanted to be a performer, having attended a bunch of open calls and seeing the life that those graduating before her lead. She didn't want to constantly audition or leave NYC to go on the road or on a cruise ship. She realized there was a big difference between being the star in her high school and pursuing acting full time. She didn't want to have survival jobs. At the same time, she began to see herself pursuing the business end of entertainment and was enjoying producing student shows and running the student run theatre group at Steinhardt. She began to intern in NYC. Upon graduation, she didn't audition, but instead took positions working in casting, entertainment marketing and as a coordinator in a very high level talent agency.
About a year or so ago, she was still frustrated by the lack of upward mobility in these coveted entertainment jobs. Her work colleagues were all stuck at the assistant/ coordinator level in an array of entertainment organizations. They were all high qualified, from top schools and vastly underpaid.
So in an effort to break from the crowd and gain access to higher level positions, she decided to start the process of applying for an MBA. She took accounting and statistics at a NYC community college to show colleges that she could do well in quantitative classes. She did a lot of GMAT practice and tutoring to get her scores up from abysmal to acceptable. And she worked hard to write strong essays that sold her unique background, experience as an MT major, performer and how she feels the entertainment industry needs more diversity and female representation.
Well, yesterday all that hard work paid off. She got a phone call from NYU Stern offering her a full tuition scholarship to their 2 year MBA program (worth $140,000!!) This evening, she came home from a show to find a package from the Kelley School of Business, also offering a full tuition scholarship.
So for all those parents wringing their hands, worrying about where MT will lead their children, rest assured that there are many paths to success!
Good luck to all those waiting for results. It wasn't any easier now, when I was waiting for MBA acceptances!!
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