Grad School Inquiries

vpd1981
#1Grad School Inquiries
Posted: 4/17/14 at 11:32pm

Hi there! So, auditioning, day jobs, writing, paying rent, etc. is thrilling and all, but it's also exhausting and disheartening. I've been considering grad school for theatre (musical theatre preferably). My husband is here, my family is here, so ideally, I'd love to stay in NYC.

I know NYU has a vocal performance (music theatre) program. I do plan on auditioning for it; however, I don't want to put all of my eggs in one over priced basket. Has anyone had any experience with the program at NYU or any other grad school programs in the NYC area?

Thanks! :)

bwaylvsong
#2Grad School Inquiries
Posted: 4/17/14 at 11:54pm

NYU actually has two grad programs for musical theatre- the one you are writing about is Steinhardt's MM program, and Tisch offers an MFA in musical theatre. There are also MFA (non-musical) acting programs at Columbia, Juilliard, Pace, New School, and Brooklyn College.
For what it's worth, I recently finished Steinhardt's MA program in Educational Theatre in Colleges and Communities and loved it, and everyone I know in the vocal performance program feels the same way!

vpd1981
#2Grad School Inquiries
Posted: 4/18/14 at 4:03pm

Thanks you! :) I'm reading up on the Educational Theatre in Colleges and Communities program; sounds quite interesting. Something else to consider!! :)

Tisch's program is for Musical Theatre Writers; though I'm a songwriter, I do not write musicals. :P

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GavestonPS
#3Grad School Inquiries
Posted: 4/18/14 at 7:19pm

Just a word to the wise: programs vary quite a bit over time, depending on who is chair, who is on the faculty, what major grants have been received, etc.

Columbia's theater department was in shambles when I was there (early 80s), but it's been completely overhauled since then.

So you might want to ask posters who reply how they got their info.

ohjustjake
#4Grad School Inquiries
Posted: 4/18/14 at 8:48pm

I'll be graduating from Steinhardt's MM program next month. I've absolutely loved my time here and have learned more than I had ever expected. There's definitely a "method" that most of the voice teachers stick to, so you should definitely take a lesson to see if it fits okay. Other than that, I have had so many performance opportunities through the program and the exposure into the industry has been great. The Grads also get a showcase just like the Undergrads do, and we had ours this past Tuesday at New World Stages and the turn out was great. If you're looking for a program here in the city, specifically a graduate program, I can't recommend this enough. Feel free to PM me if you have more questions.