backstage.com: Training is important. As an actor, even if you disagree with the teachings of your professor, at least you know what won’t work for you. But as any struggling thespian will tell you, experience counts for a lot too. For enterprising, driven students looking to climb the ladder in double time, consider attending one of these five colleges. Each has excellent theater programs, and each is near (and often works with) important local theater companies and renowned talent.
15 comments:
I'm confused by this article. The article discusses how it is important for any actor to get good "training" if they want to land jobs after graduating with a college degree. However, most of the colleges represented in this article are B.A programs. While B.A programs can provide training, they do not provide nearly as much training as a B.F.A does. Also, as someone who applied to both B.A and B.F.A programs, I know that it was important for me to be at a program with a strong Design/Production component and, more importantly, a Design/Production major in the first place. This article is titled "5 Top College Theater Programs Outside of NY," yet it seems to only focus on the performance aspect of theatre. I know that Northwestern doesn't even have a Design/Production major, although they do have classes you can take in Design and Management. I wonder how this article received its information for which schools are considered "the best."
Georgetown, almost more than any of the other four schools listed here, surprises me the most. The university is renown for teaching and training lawyers and other law-related professions [that i can't really fathom] so to hear it ALSO has a purportedly awesome theatre program is fantastic.
I just hope the law-makers of the future attending Georgetown University will take at least a FEW theatre classes so they will know how important the Arts are and can help defend their funding.
This article surprises me as well. First off, Im confused by the criteria. I believe it should have been narrowed down to either BFA or MFA. The combination of both makes the article less concrete. If MFA's are included why wasn't Yale on the list? It makes me curious as to what the actual criteria of the study was. Maybe these schools all have something that is becoming strong in their programs that push them above others who have yet to add that certain feature. Its curious that none of these "top theatre program" results ever have the same schools on the list.
I am of the mindset that it is almost impossible to rank theatre programs. People have been trying and failing at this for years. It is, simply, because every theatre program in this country is vastly different. There are countless philosophies on how one show be instructed in this art form. There are so many departments, so many things to know. Every college I've ever seen or heard about believes a different set of these things to be the most important. So really, the search for the "top theatre program" should only be a search for each individual candidate to find what best suits their needs.
For example, I have a friend who is very skilled in a completely different way than I am. He didn't come to CMU not because it isn't a great program, but because it didn't suit his needs. Northwestern was much more suited to the flexibility he wanted to float in between departments. Me, on the other hand, I came here knowing I would not be happy in a program like Northwestern's. Again, that's not because it isn't a great program, but because I was looking for a more in depth education in one area of theatre rather than a broader interdisciplinary education.
I dont really know what the criteria was for this ranking as some other people have stated. Ranking colleges is very subjective and must be done more analytically. The type of degree, and level of degree should be considered more. As Jess points out, ranking the school overall or on performance also seems to be an issue. I dont think I have seen many articles that include the school as a whole rather then focus heavily on performance. Actually I dont think Ive seen a technical or design only ranking for a drama school and would love to see one! Getting a bigger picture of all the drama schools seems like something we really need. A comparison more or less, rather than a ranking.
OH HEY, GEORGETOWN!!!! HOYA SAXA!!
On a more serious note, though, I think that some of what people have said here makes a lot of sense: maybe it would be better to divide BA and BFA programs, since they may not be comparable in the most useful ways. However, I think that this article is refreshing in the sense that it does have schools that I wouldn't usually think of when I think "theatre programs." Yes, it's very hard to rank theatre programs, because everyone is looking for something different. But I think that this list is a good indicator of that... These five schools are all very different and each have their own focus and intention, and so it's nice to have non-conservatory, non-BFA programs represented in a list like this. The training that people receive doesn't have to be dialect work and stage combat and dance; training in civiv engagement and social change also has its place in the arts world, and I think it's important that students looking for colleges recognize that.
Also, in answer to Jake, there are totally some business school kids and the occasional political science student who take classes in the theatre building at Georgetown, and they all enjoy them a lot, which is another reason that I think sometimes a non-BFA program is important, because it enables others to take theatre classes and see them within a larger context, and get exposure to the arts.
Also, YAY GEORGETOWN! (I stage managed the show that the picture is from... those mirrors had to be cleaned every night and it was awful)
Im on Kassondra's side for this it is impossible to just state that these are the top 5 theatre programs outside of New York. Every theatre program has its specialty and its upsides so what determines that these particular 5 are the top. Now i may be speaking out of bias, but I personally think that starting a top 5 chart of theatre college programs is based off of not being in New york they are already limitiing it to a strange category. What about depaul, or i dont know CMU?
As many have already stated, it is almost impossible to rank theatre programs. Many people argue that B.A.'s are more useful than B.F.A.'s, but it truly depends on the student. It is also difficult to rank these programs because the performance programs are quite different from any design, production, dramaturgical or directing program. Of course many of us are already put off because CMU is not on this list, yet there are many other schools I am surprised to not see, such as Yale, University of Michigan, or NCSA. Congratulations to these schools, though!
I would like to see the criteria used when creating this list. It's curious to me how varied the lists are if you search for "top drama schools" on google. There are a few that are consistent across the lists, but not many. Also, a school that may be a great fit and great environment for one person may not be for someone else. I know that some of the schools I looked at when applying last year were highly regarded, but just not did have the atmosphere or type of training that I was looking for. As with many other things, this is a rather subjective list.
One thing that this article/photo slideshow seems to focus on is college programs that have a relationship with a nearby theatre company. I, like many others, were surprised by the ones they chose. Rutgers and Northwestern seemed appropriate, but what about CMU? Columbia? Yale? UNCSA? Depaul? Florida State? Delaware? Perhaps the connection with a professional theatre company seemed to be the top priority in making the list? Or perhaps they aimed to illuminate some other theatre programs overlooked by most students?
I agree that they should have distinguished between undergraduate and graduate programs, and perhaps restricted the list to only one. But I don't think that the BA/BFA argument is valid. We all might be a little biased because of our BFA/MFA conservatory setting, but you can't argue that the BA/MA at Northwestern is effective and great training. It's an individual thing. Like all theatre degrees, the degree itself doesn't matter -- it's what you learned and how you can approach the industry. If a BA does it for you, then great.
WHAT? So where is CMU? Why am I here if it is not in the top 5? Just kidding, but on a series note, I don't know these schools, but I think that sometimes what you get out of a program says more than the hype surrounding the programs. You may go to one of the top 5 schools and be an awful actor or director and go to a lesser ranked school and be amazing. I learned a long time ago that sometimes the school, reputation and the name is 30% and the effort, professors and skill that you put in is 70%. The school will help with an initial job, but your talent, appearance, personality and determination will keep them coming.
What was even more amazing about each university was their tuition!
NAHHHHHHH CARNEGIE DA BEST. CMU REPPIN.
....and also i dont think that these people took into consideration the type of degree being offered, a many people have pointed out we are a BFA program. there for were learning more than the majority of and BA program out there.
I think this article is not exactly correct. If a person is going into a fully devoted degree in acting than those other classes simply don't matter. I like Kassondra think it is impossible to truly rank top theatre schools every school is going to be for a different path. If someone wants to go into theatre in Chicago then a university around there would be most beneficial. I think for a theatre program to be truly effective it is based on the individual and their goals. A theatre program can't be ranked by a survey but an individual.
I have always thought that ranking any college programs as “The Best” is not totally accurate or legitimate. I think if the article ranked colleges by things like “number of graduates with tony awards,” numerical, factual ways to rank schools against each other, that would be a legitimate ranking, but I do not think any school can be “better” than another. When I was applying to college, I cared so little about prestigiousness and name. I knew that the best place for me would not be so because of its ranking. There is a “best” school out there, but that school is different for each individual. Certain theatre students would not get the best training for them no matter how high that school was on the list. It all depends on the student and what they need to succeed, which is not always what most people thinks makes up the best school.
Post a Comment