Why go to a university to learn to act, design, direct, or write for the theatre as opposed to simply making the rounds? A slew of faculty members, who are also theatrical artists with extensive, topflight credits in their areas, each came up with pretty much the same answer to this question: "To really learn your craft." Each elaborated on the ways their respective institutions guide students to this goal.
At the graduate level and in B.A. programs—undergraduate courses of study which focus intensively on producing professional actors, directors, playwrights or designers—acting students are selected via an audition process and design students through the presentation of portfolios. Many schools conduct their searches nationally, with faculty members traveling to several cities to conduct auditions.
At many colleges, theatre is a major within an overall B.A. liberal arts program. "There is controversy as to which is the better approach," notes Sam Leiter, chairman of Brooklyn College's Department of Theatre. "Some people feel the concentrated focus of the B.F.A. is preferable. Others feel it adds to an artist's growth to also acquire a broader liberal arts education within a B.A. program." Many schools offer both B.A. and B.F.A. routes for theatre arts majors.
An increasing number of actors, designers, stage managers, playwrights, and directors work for a few years after college and then return for an M.F.A. "In today's competitive theatrical world, having an M.F.A. is a sign of serious, intensive training," says Michael Murray, head of Brandeis University's Theatre Arts Department near Boston.
"M.F.A. studies are in an environment that let you focus completely on sharpening your skills; text analysis, voice, movement, and so on," says Kyle Donnelly, head of acting at the University of California at San Diego. Lavinia Moyer, head of acting at Wayne State University in Detroit, recalls that in her early acting years, when she was a member of the Cleveland Playhouse, "The people who had M.F.A.s had a handle on things and were able to draw on their skills in a way the rest of us did not. The intensity of their studies had become a part of them. It was clear they had really benefited from the process."
Many Approaches
In the Northeast, New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, Juilliard, Columbia and Yale's School of Drama are well known as the aristocracy of university drama schools. But there are many other reputable institutions in the area (we'll get to examples in other parts of the country) which have very different approaches. And since, "theatre is above all a collaborative art but also a highly personalized art," as Karl Eigsti, head of Brandeis University's M.F.A. program in design, commented, it is important for students to look over a program and its faculty to see if this is a "match."
Brooklyn College offers both a B.A. in theatre and B.F.A.s in acting and in design/tech, as well as M.F.A. degrees in acting, directing, design/tech, dramaturgy, or performing arts management. The college also offers a Master of Arts degree in history and criticism. At the M.F.A. level, there are about 60 students accepted each year (around 12 in acting). They and B.F.A. students must audition. B.A. students enter as general students with those in other majors.
Because of its New York City location, Brooklyn's students work as interns (often paid) in many of the city's theatre companies, such as the Roundabout and the Brooklyn Academy of Music, as well as in talent agencies. The college's Gershwin Theatre, which seats over 500, is the venue for many faculty and graduate student-directed works.
Every year, Brooklyn students appear at the Jose Quintero Theatre in a showcase attended by agents. "We have almost a 100 percent placement record in terms of jobs working within the theatre world in some capacity," says Leiter. Since Brooklyn is part of the City University, its tuition is lower than most schools—$1,600 per semester for New York State resident undergraduates and $3,400 for nonresidents. For M.F.A. students, the tuition is $2,175 per semester for state residents and $3,800 for nonresidents. There are many opportunities for financial aid.
At most colleges, an alumni feeling persists. Agent Don Buchwald, a Brooklyn alumnus, pays particular attention to fellow Brooklyn grads. Actors Jimmy Smits and Dominic Chianese, as well as director Paul Mazursky, are among those on the long list.
Theatrical publicist Joe Trentacosta of Springer-Chicoine Public Relations is an alumnus of the widely respected theatre program at Marymount Manhattan College, a four-year (undergrad only) liberal arts school. "I started as an acting student but realized after a while that that wasn't going to work," says Trentacosta. "I got a lot of personal attention from the faculty and found that publicity is the area of theatre that worked best for me. There's no doubt that I notice it if someone I encounter went to Marymount. A lot of us—performers, professors, and others in the business—stay in touch."
Mary Fleischer, chair of Marymount's Division of Fine and Performing Arts, says the college "eschews the conservatory approach. We believe in educating the whole person and giving students an eclectic base to draw on" within a broader liberal arts education. Faculty mentoring and the sort of personal attention Trentacosta recalled is a key part of Marymount's philosophy. Full-time faculty meet regularly with adjunct (part-time) instructors in order to maintain cohesive goals and compare notes.
Marymount does also offer a B.F.A. in acting—an intensive 60-credit program in which students are evaluated every year by the acting faculty, all of whom are working professionals, connected with top theatre companies. All theatre students at Marymount do independent study projects, ranging from interning for theatre companies to study in London. There are four fully produced mainstage performances every year at the 249-seat Marymount Manhattan Theatre.
The Repertory Approach
Wayne State University in Detroit is generally a local, commuter school, but its theatre department has a national reputation and draws students from everywhere. Alumni include actors Ruben Santiago-Hudson ("Seven Guitars"), S. Epatha Merkerson ("Law & Order"); Jeffrey Tambor ("The Larry Sanders Show"); and Tony-winning costume designer Martin Pakledinaz.
Wayne State is home to the nation's only graduate student repertory theatre, the 532-seat Hilberry, which is viewed as a professional-level regional theatre and has a subscription-based general audience in the Detroit area. The Hilberry just celebrated its 40th birthday.
The repertory aspect is key to the program's philosophy. "To learn your craft, you've got to practice it," says Theatre Department Chair Blair Anderson, who has been a director in regional theatre for many years as well as a designer. At Hilberry, that means involvement in some 120 performances of some seven productions per season. For the acting program, auditions are held in New York and Chicago, as well as in Detroit, and roughly eight actors per year are picked from the 400-600 who try out. Graduate students can receive financial aid, including health insurance and waiving of fees.
"Working in repertory, you may be playing the lead one day and a spear carrier the next in completely different plays," says Lavinia Moyer.
Wayne State has an even larger 1173-seat proscenium house, the Bonstelle Theatre, where undergraduates often perform. There is also a small, black box, Studio Theatre for experimental, classroom productions. The university offers a Ph.D. program in directing, as well as M.F.A. programs in design and in theatre management. Moyer noted that Larry Kaushansky, head of the scenic design M.F.A. program, has taken students with him to work on productions at the Academy Theatre of Opera and Ballet, where he was principle designer, in Kishinev, Russia.
Blair Anderson points out Wayne State's proximity to the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Ontario. Guest artists such as Shakespearean actor, director, and teacher Barry MacGregor have traveled from Stratford to Detroit to work with Wayne State students on many occasions. Theatre management students actively work at the university's theatres. For instance, Meghan Clark is handling public relations for the program. She did an expert job at guiding Back Stage through Wayne State's many offerings.
One of these is the Black Theatre Program, headed by Jerry Cleveland, who is assistant professor of performance and African-American Studies. The program's most recent production is "No Place to be Somebody," performed at the Bonstelle.
One on One
At Brandeis University in the Boston area, "We believe in the concentration on the human," says Michael Murray, director of the Theater Arts Program. Every faculty member Back Stage spoke with emphasized the importance of paying attention to the individual student above all else in each of the university's M.F.A. programs—acting, design or playwriting. There is great pride in and frequent mention of the University's conservatory approach.
"The one-on-one tutorial nature of everything we do here leads to very personal learning relationships. We look for talent. We look for people who have an ability to grow." He points out that while many other schools' M.F.A. students work as teaching assistants, "here we expect total dedication to their craft." It is expensive for the school and often for the student alike, but the end result is worth it in his view. Murray was producing director of the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, an off-Broadway director and a founder of the Charles Playhouse in Boston.
Karl Eigsti, head of the design, and a longtime scenic designer on Broadway and in regional theatre, believes that design students must be aware of the verbal text. "They must learn to listen to the director and the actors. Design provides a visible narrative and context to the production." His students often work with the New Repertory Theatre in Boston. In addition to Brandeis' full-time faculty, there are working adjuncts such as Jennifer von Mayrhauser, the costume designer for "Law & Order," and head of costume design for Brandeis. She flies to Boston once a week to teach and has brought students back to the show to work with her. Broadway and off-Broadway costume designer Candice Donnelly is an artist-in-residence.
Faculty meet frequently to compare notes on their students. "We work as a group," says Janet Morrison, Brandeis Head of Acting. She has performed and directed in New York and in regional theatre. "At all times, we are concerned with the student as a whole person, not only in terms of our own separate subject areas. That is essential for the student's artistic development."
The university's theatre arts undergraduate program, is part of a more general liberal arts program. However, Morrison notes proudly that the same faculty members teach the undergraduates as teach the small group of carefully chosen M.F.A. students. The Spingold Theatre Complex contains several theatres, including the 750-seat Mainstage, and the smaller David Merrick and Laurie Theatres. Both students and faculty are continually involved in productions.
Murray points out that one of the seven annual productions is put together by undergraduates. This year's undergraduate production was "The Laramie Project," which received excellent reviews. Subscribers from the Boston area regularly attend the theatre's offerings.
While Morrison focuses on the M.F.A. program at Brandeis, she has worked with both the B.F.A. and B.A./liberal arts approaches to undergraduate theatre education. She taught in Carnegie-Mellon's B.F.A. program in Pittsburgh for six years and describes that program as particularly intense. "The students are focused on their careers from the moment they arrive." Many of these students, such as Patrick Wilson of "Oklahoma" fame, continue directly on the path to topflight roles.
At Brandeis, undergraduates integrate their theatre studies with general liberal arts studies. They take acting technique, voice and movement classes, but also do a great deal of work on their own. The Undergraduate Theatre Collective is largely extracurricular, "but I've seen them do wonderful work," says Morrison.
Intensity Combines with Flexibility
At the University of California at San Diego, Walt Jones, chairman of Department of Theatre and Dance, notes, "Being in a setting where you can devote yourself to your art full-time is a lot better than waiting on tables when you're learning or taking your work to its next level." Jones holds an M.F.A. from the Yale School of Drama. He has directed world premieres on Broadway, off-Broadway, in Los Angeles, and in top regional theatres.
He finds that UCSD offers faculty and students enormous opportunities to combine their studies with the working theatrical world. The department has long had a close tie to the La Jolla Playhouse, one of the nation's top regional theatres. Graduate students in acting, design, directing and stage management are guaranteed at least one paid professional a residency at the Playhouse, usually in the second year of the three-year M.F.A. program.
Playhouse Associate Artistic Director Shirley Fishman notes, "We often develop lasting relationships with people who started out as M.F.A. residents. Alumni are often hired here. Michael Grief, for instance, went from M.F.A. student to eventually becoming the Playhouse's artistic director and the director of 'Rent.' Set designer Robert Brill did much of his early work here as a UCSD student."
Jones explains that under UCSD rules, artistic faculty receive as much time and money to do research as do members of the science faculty. In fact, such research is required. Taking time off to perform, direct, design, or take part in a theatrical production in some other fashion is considered to be research. And so, faculty members receive their UCSD salaries while involved with their outside artistic endeavors.
Kyle Donnelly, UCSD Head of Acting, became well-known as an acting teacher in Chicago at her studio the Actor's Center and has directed at leading regional theatres throughout the country. She was associate artistic director at Washington D.C.'s Arena Stage for six years.
"We are considered to be a national level school," she says of UCSD. Graduating acting students appear in a New York showcase and in a Los Angeles showcase, which is hosted jointly with the Yale School of Drama. Design students take part in a New York portfolio review hosted by designer Ming Cho Lee. Professionals are invited to see thesis productions of the work of directing and playwriting students.
The playwriting faculty is headed by Adele Shank and includes famed South African playwright Athol Fugard. The Head of Design is Andrei Both, well-known for stage and opera set designs in Europe and in his country. Tony-winning costume designer Judith Dolan is also a member of the design faculty.
Shirley Fishman points out that while L.A. is, of course, known as the center of the film industry, the San Diego area has a vibrant theatrical community. "In addition to UCSD, the LaJolla Playhouse works with San Diego State University, which has a strong musical theatre department. SDSU students work for us as readers, helping us pick musicals we'd consider producing."
The University of San Diego's M.F.A. program is planned jointly with that city's Old Globe Theatre, which specializes in Shakespeare and classical theatre.
"If you love the theatre, every show is exciting," says Wayne State's Jerry Cleveland. "The connection with the people you've worked with before always continues. You run into people. You observe their work. The university setting lets you make learning your central focus but those of us who are in the theatre are always learning no matter where we're working. The arts are about exploring and so is university life. The two go hand in hand."