Theatre Degree

• What kind of theatre degrees do you offer? BFA, BA, BS, something else

  1. • A BFA typically requires the most amount of classes focused on your major or program, while a BA and BS are typically more generalized programs. Each school is different, even with the same type of degree, so ask for more information about how focused or general each degree program is.

• What does your degree program look like for a student in musical theatre, acting, dance, design, and/or tech?

  1. • This should give you an idea of how many electives you get to choose or how generalized or focused the program is. For example, if you're a performance student, do you have to take any design/tech classes and vice versa? 

• What kind of electives do you offer within said degree? 

  1. • Be sure to ask about special classes like Shakespeare or Hat Making that might be offered. This is what is going to make each one unique. If you know you are interested in choreographing or Shakespeare or event design, ask to see if they offer those types of classes.

• Can you work in all departments?

  1. • Some programs want you to focus on your area only, such as set design, while some encourage or require you to learn and experience other fields in theatre.

     • If you are interested in pursuing both performance and design/ tech, be sure to ask if that is an option and how many students they have that do that. It can be more difficult to pursue a dual focus at a school that doesn't already have a system in place for those students.

• Can you double major and what does that look like?

• Is there a graduate program? If so, what areas does the graduate degree(s) exist in?

  1. • Graduate programs offer another level of education but can also limit opportunities. For example, a graduate directing program might be beneficial in providing more opportunities but a graduate acting program might limit the number of roles that are available to undergraduate students. Ask how graduate and undergraduate students interact and if there is overlap and/ or a hierarchy of the roles or jobs available to each. 

Theatre Department and Program

• 1. • Describe the department/ program. 

     • What are some highlights? 

     • What's something current students get excited about? 

     • If there's a normal day for students, what does that look like? If not, what are some normal activities that students may be doing over the course of a week or month?

       1. • For example, going to rehearsal x times a week, being in a shop so many hours a week, having a monthly club meeting or guest speaker. 

     • What's unique about your department?

• How large is the faculty? How large is the overall department?

  1. • Compare faculty size with undergraduate student size and graduate student size if there's a graduate program.

• How many shows do you do per year?

• Are theatre majors required to audition? If so, do you have to accept the role?

• Are underclassmen typically cast/crew on main season shows? 

• Are there opportunities for performance or design/tech students to get experience outside of the main season? 

• Is there a theatre or drama club and what do they do? If so, do you have to be a theatre major to participate?

• What do the theatre facilities consist of?

  1. • Performance Spaces

     • Classrooms

     • Dance spaces

     • Areas to hang out

     • Areas to work on class projects like building a set model or practicing a scene

     • How old is the building?

     • How modern is the equipment?

• How do all of the fine arts programs work together?

• Do you have any graduate success stories?

Acceptance into the Program and Scholarships

• Do you have to audition into your theatre program or is it open to everyone? What is the audition process for those auditions?

  1. • Some colleges will use college auditions like All-State as your entry audition. If they require an audition, ask if you have to travel to them or if they count your All-State audition.

     • See if there's an audition process once you're in the program too. Some schools will have some sort of yearly audition to see how you've progressed.

• Are there department scholarships for Freshmen? How many of these scholarships do you have and what do they cover?

• What is the audition process for Freshmen scholarships?

• Do you stack scholarships?

  1. • Stacking scholarships means you can apply both academic and theatre scholarships to your tuition. Different colleges and theatre programs have different policies regarding scholarship stacking. 

• Do scholarships here only go towards tuition or do they go towards housing or meal plan, etc?

• If there is extra scholarship money after all school fees are paid, do I get it or does something else happen to it?

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Student Leadership and Production Team Roles

• What does student leadership like?

  1. • This is looking primarily at the responsibilities that students are expected or allowed to manage. It could be a role on the production team, leadership in a department club, or opportunities within shops or labs. What you're really trying to figure out with this question is how much students are allowed or expected to take on that responsibility and leadership to practice for the professional world. 

• Is there a system in place for students to become a designer, technical director, stage manager, choreographer, director, etc.?

  1. • Many schools will require you to work your way up to those roles by being an assistant first, for example.

Professional Exposure

• Has faculty worked professionally and do they still work professionally?

  1. • Faculty that work professionally may offer a more relevant and current perspective into the theatre world.

• Do you bring any outside professionals in for shows or workshops?

• Can you work in theatre around the community? Do you have any relationships with theatres in the community?

• Are students required to participate in an internship or summer stock? Is summer stock encouraged?

  1. • Many theatres have summer-specific seasons for which they hire performers, designers, and technicians. It's typically a professional gig and often you can travel to new places and work for a few months before returning. 

     • If summer stock is required, you might not get to return home over the summer every year. However, if you want to do more summer stock, a program that encourages that might have more relationships with theatres that they can reference you to. 

• Do you take students to SETC, USITT, or other similar conferences?

  1. • These are professional conferences where you can audition or interview for summer stock and attend theatre workshops.

• Is there assistance with audition prep for grad school/summer work/ conferences?

• Is there assistance with portfolio development for grad school/ summer work/ conferences?

Campus and College Life

• What’s the city like? 

  1. • Crime rate?

     • Urban or rural?

     • Walkable, drivable, public transportation?

• What's the campus like?

  1. • How spread out is it? How long would it take to get from one side to the other?

     • Can you walk to places on or near campus or do you have to drive?

     • Does it have a lot of older buildings or newer buildings?

     • What are the Rec Center and Student Center like?

     • What are the dorms like?

     • Is it well-lit to get to your dorm or your car at night?

• What is college life like in general on the campus?

College General

• What is the yearly tuition with and without housing? Out-of-state tuition?

• Can you double major and what does that look like?

• What general education classes do I have to take?

• How do classes transfer? Especially Dual Enrollment, Advance Placement (AP), and International Baccalaureate (IB) credits.

• Do you require freshmen to live on campus?

Non-Theatre Majors

• Do you offer a minor in theatre and what does that program or coursework look like?

• Do you have to be a theatre major to audition for shows?

• Do you have to be a theatre major to help with design/ tech like set building?

• Is there any sort of theatre or drama club? If so, do you have to be a theatre major to participate?

• Are there other ways I can be involved without being a theatre major?

Build Your Own Questions

Don't be afraid to ask very specific questions! See the two examples below followed by a list of things you can form questions around:

• Are vocal lessons offered and are they required?

• Is there stage movement training outside of dancing?

Use this list to develop more questions:

• Dance

• Stage Movement

• Choreography

• Directing

• Dramaturgy

• Stage Management

• Production Management

• Designing

• Lighting

• Sound

• Projections

• Scenic

• Props

• Costumes

• Sketching

• Digital Rendering

• Drafting

• Technical Work

• Electrician

• Technical Director

• Carpenter

• Props Artisan

• Seamstress

• Backstage crew

• Shakespeare

• Devising

• Meisner

• Stanislavski

• Vocal lessons

• Audition Prep