Top US Undergraduate Acting Programs
by Chad Gracia
"What are the best acting schools?"
You're right that if you truly want to succeed as an actor,
you'll need to get excellent training. There's nothing wrong with
getting a good liberal arts education at a school that also offers
acting classes, but if you really want to immerse yourself in
training, then you'll want to attend one of the leading drama
programs in the country.
I asked my acting coaches and some professional actors what they
think are the best schools. The results of this non-scientific poll
are below.
Top Undergraduate Acting Programs:
1. SUNY - Purchase
The Conservatory of Theatre Arts and Film at Purchase College is a
highly competitive and intensive program. The campus also contains
a great liberal arts and design program and is only 40 minutes from
New York City.
But you won't have much time to explore Manhattan: Classes
generally start at 8am and you'll be busy with rehearsals until 11
at night. Your first two years are considered a "trial" period. If
you don't have the required skills and professionalism, you won't
be asked back. This is a tough school - but it also has one of the
finest acting programs in the country.
2. Juilliard
Juilliard is one of the world-class acting schools in New York City
(the other is at NYU). Its Drama Division was founded in 1968 by
the American director and producer John Houseman and the French
director, teacher, and actor Michel Saint-Denis.
Over 1,000 candidates apply each year for just 20 freshman spots.
Like SUNY-Purchase, Rutgers and NYU, Julliard employs a
"conservatory training" approach. This means that you will work
closely over four years with the same students and professors,
deeply immersed within a rigorously prepared program.
3. Rutgers
Many of my coaches recommended the BFA at Rutger's Mason Gross
School of the Arts in New Jersey. This program, according to its
brochure, "offers a BFA designed for those students who are seeking
to integrate both a rigorous professional training program in a
liberal arts setting. The curricula of the school gives such
students a thorough and rigorous education as artists and, through
the required liberal arts courses, humanistic perspectives on both
their art and themselves. Junior students in Acting spend a year
abroad at the Rutgers Conservatory at Shakespeare's Globe in
London. This is the only BFA program which offers sequential
conservatory training in London."
A chance to study at the Globe alone makes this a program to
celebrate.
4. Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh offers a four-year
undergraduate acting program as well as the possibility of
double-majoring in musical theater. Both programs train actors by
immersing them in "sophisticated, verbally complex material with a
focus on the works of Chekhov and Shakespeare." Sounds fascinating.
In the junior year, the focus switches to Greek and Restoration
drama. In the senior year, students participate in public
performances on the school's main stage. Finally, for those
students "in good standing," showcase performances in New York City
and Los Angeles are arranged.
5. New York University - The Tisch School of Drama
NYU's Tisch School has given birth to scores of great theater
professionals. The undergraduate program in acting includes
standard conservatory training and theater study, and is
complemented with other liberal arts classes from New York
University.
According to Arthur Bartow, the Artistic Director of the Department
of Drama, "The extraordinary synergism created by placing committed
students with our professional conservatory faculty propels
students forward, formulating their own unique way of working.... We
are preparing people for a lifetime of creative output."
6. North Carolina School of the Arts
The School of Drama at the North Carolina School of the Arts boasts
such alumni as Mary-Louise Parker (Proof), Jada Pinkett Smith (The
Matrix), and Terrence Mann (Beauty and the Beast). The school
emphasizes "classical values in its training process to meet a
well-recognized demand for actors to be technically skilled and, at
the same time, creatively inspired."
7. Northwestern
Northwestern offers a versatile drama program that is good for
students who want flexibility in constructing their own curriculum.
It is an interdepartmental program, and students take courses in
the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Speech.
"The goal of the curriculum is to provide both historical breadth
and particular insight into the relationship between dramatic texts
and the performative dimensions and skills that have brought them
to life."
8. California Institute of the Arts (Cal Arts)
The Los Angeles based CalArts School of Theater's mission is to
"expose students to theater traditions from a global cultural
perspective and...to nurture non-mainstream voices and promote a
cultural and aesthetic diversity of viewpoint, experience and
expression."
A few things set the school apart (besides its great location for
people wanting to work in film or television). That includes a
requirement to take up to 40% of your classes in the School of
Critical Studies. These courses (some of which may be theater
related) are intended to provide "broad knowledge and cultural
sophistication needed for successful arts careers in today's world."
CalArts also has a great center for the study of puppetry and a new
theater (the REDCAT) in downtown Los Angeles. Alumni include Bill
Irwin, David Hasselhoff, and Ed Harris.
9. Yale
Yale is one of the world's great institutions of learning. It
offers an undergraduate Theater Studies major within the department
of humanities. This program differs from others in that it focuses
less on performance than on theory and the history of theater and
in immersing the student in liberal arts curricula.
Or, as their website puts it: "Students who major in Theater
Studies are encouraged to use the theater with a more fully
developed sense of context and purpose than is usual in a purely
technical course of study. Courses are distributed to help ensure
that students understand the theater as part of the intellectual
life of the culture it interprets and reflects." A degree from Yale
definitely opens doors in the theater world.
10. UC San Diego
The UCSD Department of Theatre and Dance offers both a major and
minor. You do not need to apply specifically to the Department of
Theatre and Dance or audition for the program - any student
accepted to UCSD can claim a theater major.
While it is mainly known for its graduate program (with ties to La
Jolla Playhouse), the UCSD undergraduate program provides a broad
base of knowledge in the fine arts, supplemented with practical
experience on the stage. Another advantage of studying at UCSD is
that it also has a noteworthy film studies center.
Honorable Mentions:
The following schools have strong acting programs: University of Miami (FL),
University of Indiana at Evansville, University of Minnesota (with ties to the
Guthrie Theater), UT - Austin, Hofstra University, UC Irvine,
Boston University, DePaul University, and Emerson College. I also
know several excellent actors who attended the theater arts program
at UC-Santa Cruz.
"Actor Tips" is copyright 2006 by Chad Gracia and ActorTips.com, Inc. All rights reserved.
For more articles on acting, as well as free monologues and acting supplies, visit
www.actortips.com.
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