collageIt’s a great time to get into Drama And Theatre Production and find the best school for your undergraduate Drama And Theatre Production degree on our list of the Best Drama And Theatre Production Colleges and Universities in America.
Bachelor degrees from accredited colleges and universities can be important stepping-stones toward a successful career.The most common type of undergraduate program is a bachelor’s degree, usually awarded after four years of successful study
Top 10 Reasons To Get A Theater Degree
If you want to start a career in the performing arts, an accredited theater degree can be your ticket to success. PennWest California’s bachelor’s degree in theater is one of the only programs in Pennsylvania that is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Theatre.
Our well-rounded program is designed to give you a mix of professional theater training, performance skills and classic liberal arts knowledge. Theater majors from PennWest California go on to a wide-rage of dynamic performing arts positions both on the stage and behind the scenes.
Here are the top 10 reasons to get a theater degree.
1. Diverse Career Options: There is so much more to the performing arts than acting, directing, dancing or designing. From technical roles to working in wardrobe, check out all the amazing jobs you can pursue with a theater degree. Moreover,many careers in theater are showing promising growth. Acting opportunities, particularly those in digital media, are growing faster than in most industries. Performing arts teachers are also in high demand, with job vacancies increasing by more that 36% since 2004.
2. Performance Opportunities: A theater degree program can give you access to amazing performance opportunities. At PennWest California, for example, we boast excellent facilities such as theaters, fully equipped scene and costume shops, and a design lab. As a first-year student and throughout your entire college experience, PennWest California theater majors perform, direct, manage, design and produce plays, musical theater and dance performances on campus. Our program also helps students find many off-campus internships and theater opportunities throughout Pennsylvania and beyond.
3. Comprehensive Theater Training: A good theater degree program provides instruction in a variety of disciplines, including performance, theater history, dramatic literature, design, technology, stage management, theater production and arts management. At PennWest California, we go above and beyond this standard curriculum, as our professors tailor their offerings to provide individualized learning opportunities. As a PennWest California theater major, you’ll receive a rigorous education in both the craft and art of the profession, with a firm foundation in the liberal arts. We also offer two specialized theater concentrations: Musical Theater and Design and Entertainment Technology.
4. Community: Of the top 10 reasons to get a theater degree, perhaps this one is the most rewarding. Through performing and collaborating with your peers in a university setting, you’ll become part of a close-knit community of people who are passionate about the performing arts. PennWest California performances, clubs and social gatherings foster camaraderie while emphasizing teamwork, collaboration and discipline.
5. The Opportunity to Work with Top Talent: When you enroll in a theater degree program, you’re signing up to train with some of the top talent in the field. PennWest California professors, for example, are not only accomplished scholars, they are also passionate artists with long histories as professionals. And the program regularly brings in top talent to engage with students as guest speakers and performing artists.
6. Creative Expression: It is said that creative expression helps us to better understand our world, and to become better at navigating life’s challenges. A bachelor’s degree in theater will teach you how to express yourself more effectively, develop your creativity, and share your vision with your peers and the public.
7. Life Skills: Studying performing arts at a university like PennWest California develops life skills that are immediately applicable in the real world. PennWest California theater majors build confidence and public speaking skills, learn how to collaborate effectively, hone study skills, and develop critical thinking abilities. These are degree benefits that can help you in all areas of your life.
8. Auditioning Practice: Knowing how to interview and audition is one of the most important skills in the performing arts and entertainment industry. Why take a trial-and-error approach when you can get professional guidance? Learn from the experts how to memorize scripts, exude confidence or display your design portfolio to get results. PennWest California’s theater degree program includes extensive auditioning and inerviewing practice, with the feedback you need to make your talents truly shine.
9. Open Up Your World: Studying the performing arts can help you understand people from other cultures and traditions. Also, careers in theater often include lots of travel — both throughout the United States and abroad. For example, PennWest California theater program graduate Mark Rockage ’10 landed a job as a theater technician for Norwegian Cruise Lines that enabled him to live and work in the Mediterranean for six months. Now he’s working his way up in the Disney organization. Where will your theater degree take you?
10. Social Change:Theater enables us to examine and reflect upon society, both as performers and audience members. As you will learn in PennWest California’s degree courses that focus on the history of theater, the performing arts have often played a major role in movements for social change. If you want to make a difference and express your vision of the world, a degree in theater is a great place to start.
Best Colleges For Theater Production
An advanced degree in theater production can prepare graduate students for work with the various creative aspects of theatrical management as well as offering coursework in the technical and financial aspects of mounting a theater production.
New York University, Tisch School of the Arts
Location: New York City, NY
Before even diving into the actual courses connected to this degree, this option belongs at the top of the list for a number of obvious reasons. New York University is one of the best schools in the country, and people come from all around the world to study there.
The same can easily be said for Tisch, the art school within NYU, which has a name almost as synonymous with greatness (if not more so) than the larger institution it is a part of.
When you’re studying something related to entertainment, if you can end up at a school in one of the major hubs in the country, such as New York City or Los Angeles, you will have a better shot at scoring internships, jobs, and finding other programs where you can study. Networking will be much, much easier.
It’s not necessarily a must, but where else will stage lighting design be more important than just down the road from Broadway and some of the nation’s most prestigious concert venues?
The lighting design option fits under the Department of Design for Stage and Film at the legendary school, and it is one of several options for those who are looking to work behind the scenes in a more technical manner.
Not all of the four options (Set Design, Costume Design, Lighting Design and Production Design) are used in equal measure when it comes to the music world, though some of the biggest names in the business will require all of them, so there may be opportunities!
New York University’s Lighting Design program may be one of the most comprehensive out there, and in order to secure a degree in this specific field, there are over 20 courses having to do with lighting that must be completed.
This may sound intimidating, but when you’re done with everything and you have your degree in hand, you’ll surely be glad you took the extra time to do well in classes like Computer Assisted Design, Composers, Choreographers, and Designers, and even Playreading.
Boston University
Location: Boston, MA
Among the many, many, many colleges in Boston, its namesake university still stands out as an excellent educational institution, and while many might not think of it first for the arts, it has many top-notch programs of study, including the stage lighting design field.
Unlike at New York University, Boston University’s lighting design major falls under the Theatre Department, so it’s more focused on helping students work behind the scenes on plays and musicals, as opposed to concerts…though this doesn’t mean a degree from this school will limit you to Broadway and the like.
The skills you can learn at BU will be applicable to many scenarios, and it is through networking, internships, and future jobs you can take your career in the direction you want.
If the idea of getting a degree with the word “theatre” on it (yes, spelled with an -re, not an -er) scares you, take comfort in knowing that within this diploma, students must choose a number of electives, and there are more music-focused options than any other.
While they won’t make up the majority of your courses, those participating in this program can opt to choose their extra classes from four groups: Architecture, Directing, Drama Literature, or Music Appreciation, and looking to this last item on the list can help when you begin looking for jobs in the music world.
Depending on your plans and what you end up working out with your advisor, you may be able to secure a minor in music, and if not, you can still select as many music-oriented classes as possible, talking them up later in cover letters and so on.
Filling elective spots with courses like Music and Culture, Popular Music & Culture, Interdisciplinary Topics in Music History, and even the more general Music & Society could all be helpful later.
Let us know which career you are most interested in. Start here
Carnegie Mellon University
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
While Pittsburgh might not be where you imagined your musical career would begin, it’s worth the move to put a name like Carnegie Mellon on your resume. The school is internationally renowned in pretty much everything at this point, including its lighting design program.
While other schools may focus their attention on getting their students real-world experience (such as New York University, where concert venues and Broadway are only a few minutes away), Carnegie Mellon’s attention is on the latest technology, which seems to help it stand out in the crowded field.
Stage lighting design is a healthy mix of instinct, old-school know-how and experience, and, now, more than ever, technology.
Those working behind the lights on theater shows and concerts can do more with computers than ever before when it comes to creating an unforgettable experience for the audience, and it’s important young people just getting into the field these days not only understand how important the role tech will play in their future employment will be, but also how to actually use the latest programs.
Often, many courses of study give students a fantastic look at history and teach them how to think conceptually, but it is only in real-world applications that people thrive and find incredible jobs. Carnegie Mellon makes it a point to highlight their big focus on the latest tech, which will absolutely be useful when going out into the world and working.
University of California, Irvine, Claire Trevor School of the Arts
Location: Irvine, CA
Since a college located in New York City, the center of the theater world, was highlighted above, it’s only fair that a university near Los Angeles, where most film and TV is created, should also end up on this list. Both cities are great for music as well, so earning a degree in lighting design and living in either of these places is a pretty good idea when it comes to your future career.
UC Irvine’s Claire Trevor School of Arts offers a Masters in Fine Arts in Design, and students have a number of options when it comes to where they’d like to hone their studies. They can go for Scene Design, Costume Design, Sound Design, or Lighting, which is obviously our focus.
While a three-year master’s program may sound intimidating (and justly so), a degree of this caliber can do amazing things for anyone, though you need to be sure it’s what you want to stick with before you jump into a commitment like this.
If you’re looking at undergraduate degrees for the first time, the idea of going to UC Irvine to secure this master’s can stay in the back of your mind but don’t worry about it just yet. If, however, you already have a related degree, or if you’ve been working behind the lights in theater, film, TV, or music, this could be just what you’re looking for.
A description of the UCI program states it focuses on the “creative, practical, theoretical, digital, scientific, philosophical, and psychological aspects of the nature of light.” That’s exactly what you want: a degree showing you ever side of your industry, and which lets you come away with a better understanding of every facet of the business.
Other Schools
While I may have only highlighted four schools above, I feel they all have something truly special to offer for those looking to make a living from stage lighting design.
Whether it’s location or name or even the curriculum (which should be the most important thing when it comes to a school), those options I shared above should be at the top of your list when you begin the search for where you’ll study and earn your stage lighting design degree, though they are by no means the only places from which you’d be lucky to earn a degree.
If those four schools don’t impress you, or if you’re simply looking for more, you should also check out stage lighting design programs at Rutgers’ Mason School of the Arts, CalArts’ School of Theater, Shenandoah University, and the University of Connecticut’s School of Fine Arts, all of which are definitely worthy of looking at.
Best Colleges For Lighting Design
are graduate level unless otherwise indicated.)
01
JUILLIARD
A seminar for on-camera acting taught by Bob Krakower (who’s coached everyone from Keanu Reeves to Scarlett Johansson), plus an audition boot camp from casting director David Caparelliotis (who casts NBC’s New Amsterdam), are two recent additions to a curriculum that has seen unprecedented success in minting working actors — Judy’s Finn Wittrock and Russian Doll’s Charlie Barnett among them. Tuition for the four-year BFA and MFA programs is $50,000 annually, but the final year of grad school is free.
02
Yale
The Ivy League school that trained The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’s Tony Shalhoub also was the incubator that developed 2019 grad Jeremy O. Harris’ award-winning Slave Play. Tuition is $33,000, but $7 million in financial aid was dispersed last year.
03
NYU Tisch School of the Arts
Students can now immerse themselves in a seven-week training program that covers filmmaking, acting for the camera and film history. Tuition for the graduate program is a hefty $63,000 a year, but remissions of up to 68 percent are available to MFA students who demonstrate need.
04
UC San Diego
Not many acting schools can boast a department chair who’s also a working TV actor — but UCSD’s Richard Robichaux now co-stars on David E. Kelley’s Big Shot for Disney+. UCSD accepts just eight students a year, but they receive free tuition and a chance to work at the La Jolla Playhouse.
05
LAMDA
Sarah Frankcom joined the London Academy of Dramatic Art in November as director, coming from the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester, where she served as artistic director for five years. Tuition is $26,000 a year, but that might be worth it to train where David Oyelowo and Benedict Cumberbatch once did.
06
University of North Carolina School of the Arts
Under new chancellor Brian Cole, the undergrad program that honed Last Black Man in San Francisco star Jonathan Majors offers practical training, with classes in motion-capture acting, voice-overs and video game performance. Tuition is $23,000 a year.
07
Carnegie Mellon
This undergraduate program remains a top choice for musical theater actors; the four-year program has trained such crossover Broadway stars as Megan Hilty and Leslie Odom Jr. Tuition is $54,000.
08
University of Tennessee
There are newly renovated classroom studios and lab space at this school, which offers some of the best financial support (a full ride for all accepted students, plus stipends of up to $18,000 a year) in addition to stage time at the affiliated Clarence Brown Theatre.
09
UCLA
While it won’t accept new master’s acting students for the 2020-21 school year because of COVID-19 concerns (design, directing and playwriting departments are not affected), this remains L.A.’s best acting degree program, boasting Michael Stuhlbarg and Billy Porter as alums. Tuition is $30,000 annually for California residents, $42,000 for those from out of state.
10
Brown University
The only Ivy League school on this list to offer full-ride scholarships for all attendees makes Brown’s program an enviable one. Its association with the first-rate Trinity Rep seals the deal, guaranteeing grads a union card and plenty of professional experience.
11
The Old Globe and University of San Diego
One year into Jesse Perez’s tenure as director, this program, with its emphasis on the classics, remains one of the finest places to earn an MFA. Just seven students are chosen; tuition is waived and a living stipend is provided.
12
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
Talk about lineage: Kenneth Branagh is the president — he took over from Richard Attenborough after Attenborough’s death in 2014 — and Queen Elizabeth II is the school’s patron. Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Ben Whishaw and Allison Janney all trained there. Tuition runs $11,000 per year.
13
Guildhall School of Music & Drama
The addition last year of vice principal Orla O’Loughlin, a veteran director with deep ties to the theater world, has led to an influx of some of Britain’s top talent as guest faculty, including Olivier Award winner Stef Smith, directors Ameera Conrad and Caroline Byrne and choreographer Vicki Igbokwe. Tuition is $24,000 a year.
14
American Conservatory Theater
This Bay Area conservatory, which trained Elizabeth Banks and Anika Noni Rose, offers classes on self-taping auditions — an industry must these days — while mounting new works from emerging playwrights. Tuition is $30,000 annually.
15
USC School of Dramatic Arts
Ahmed Best — yes, the man who played Jar Jar Binks (and also a respected acting teacher) — joined the faculty last year to give a class on filmmaking for actors. Third-year students mount three plays that are performed in repertory, with one new work among them. Tuition is $46,000 a year, but financial aid can cover as much as 75 percent.
16
Cal Arts
Proximity to Tinseltown has its perks for this program: David Hollander, showrunner of Ray Donovan, personally led a team of Hollywood casting directors in a workshop for all CalArts actors. Tuition is $53,000 a year.
17
Columbia University
The state-of-the-art Lenfest Theater and a push to diversify the faculty (Michele Shay and T. Oliver Reid are recent additions) have put this Ivy League program back on track. Class of 2019’s Tamera Tomakili has already signed with CAA and landed a role in Adam McKay’s upcoming Showtime. Tuition is $63,000.
18
Case Western Reserve University
Under new director Donald Carrier, this program has refocused its curriculum on developing skills to help grads make it as working actors — including a 15-week film-acting class. The MFA program is tuition-free and guarantees students an Equity card through its association with the famed Cleveland Playhouse.
19
Bristol Old Vic Theatre School
Fiona Francombe, previously the director of one of the U.K.’s biggest film and TV studios, has reinvigorated this small school in the west of England as its new principal. Three stars of Netflix’s The Crown — Olivia Colman (Queen Elizabeth), Josh O’Connor (Prince Charles) and Erin Doherty (Princess Anne) — are Old Vic grads. Annual tuition is $30,000.
20
University of Washington
A three-year program that has 40 years of theater training under its belt, it’s where Joel McHale earned his acting MFA. Tuition is $30,000 annually, with limited scholarships available.
21
Northwestern University
The school’s two-year, tuition-free MFA acting program launched in the 2019-20 school year, and the downtown performing-and-media-arts space being built to support it will be completed this summer. A $2 million gift from alum Greg Berlanti endowed a new dramatic writing professorship.
22
Florida State University
Another established school that waives tuition for its students, FSU offers annual stipends while allowing access to work at the affiliated Asolo Repertory Theatre. Moonlight star André Holland went here; it’s where he met Barry Jenkins, director of the 2016 Oscar best picture winner.
23
Southern Methodist University
All students get a full-ride scholarship and an annual $12,500 stipend and graduate with a professional voiceover reel. Using in-person and online classes and workshops, students receive advice regarding résumés, monologues and scene work.
24
University of Missouri
This year, UMKC brought its theater, music and dance departments under one roof: the UMKC Conservatory. Ken Martin, the newly appointed chair of the theater division, calls the various divisions “simpatico,” and the cross-pollination has already begun reaping dividends: Dance students were incorporated into a recent production of The Tempest. Tuition: $25,000 a year.
25
Savannah College of Art and Design
The school’s “Live From Studio A” program unites a cast and crew of more than 100 students to create pro-level content. Recent grads include Kayli Carter (Mrs. America) and DeRon Horton (Dear White People). Tuition is $38,475 a year.
This story first appeared in the June 3 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.
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