URTA continues its period of expansion, adding three high profile MFA programs to its membership, following the recent joining of both LSU and Wayne State. Effective July 2017, Boston University, Brooklyn College (CUNY), and the University of Georgia have joined URTA’s active ranks.

Boston University

Established in 1954, Boston University’s School of Theatre in the College of Fine Arts has long been a leading institution for theatre study, but recently the program has evolved toward the notion of “The New Conservatory”. The foundation of this idea are the collaborations that involve faculty, students, alumni, and guest artists in potent explorations of the art form that encourage working together as the best means of achieving artistic growth. Likewise, the belief that artists must be provided with a rigorous curriculum that allows for mastery of the skills in their area of interest, is central to “The New Conservatory” approach.

Mark Stanley, Head of MFA programs in Design and Production said, “A critical component of our mission is to expose students to the wide array of liberal arts study available at Boston University, which serves to form the building blocks of their creative voice. By creating a framework of art history, theater history, design and graphic application, play and source material analysis, and an understanding of basic theater tools, the student artist is provided with the background from which to explore their own personal expression.”

BU Faculty work frequently on Broadway, off-Broadway, at major opera and dance companies and at some of the most prestigious regional theaters around the country as well as most of the major theatres in the city of Boston. Students are often brought into the process of the faculties’ outside work, attending rehearsals, load-ins, fittings, shop visits, technical rehearsals and previews, as well as assisting on the designs themselves.

Students also have several opportunities during the school year to design for and collaborate with professional guest directors at the school. These collaborations are highly intensive and closely resemble the kind of experience they will encounter once they have graduated. In addition, students work with professional designers who are creating work for The Boston Center for American Performance, a professional extension of BU’s School of Theatre, as well as for designers working at many of the professional theatres that are found in the Boston area.

University of Georgia

“We’re incredibly excited to be members of URTA again!” said David Z. Saltz, Head of the Theatre Department at University of Georgia.

UGA’s program offers a uniquely broad scope, priding itself on giving students experience with a wide range of genres, aesthetics and approaches, from Shakespearean production and musical theatre to physical theatre and puppetry. Exposing students to this wide range allows them to discover their own unique artistic voices.

“Two members of our faculty have recently created solo performance pieces that have toured festivals internationally, and a number of MFA actors have followed in their footsteps,” explained Saltz, “Marlon Burnley, has created a powerful original performance called Black in the Box that earned him the top male performer award this summer at the Orlando Fringe Festival.”

The department is also notable for its incorporation of film and digital media into graduate curricula. “One of our MFA performance faculty has a MFA in film directing, and two of our design faculty have worked extensively in film and television as well as theatre,” said Saltz. Acting and design graduates are working successfully in live theatre, film, television, and theme park design.
UGA offers graduate programs in acting, design & technology, as well as a MFA in dramatic media—the first in the country to offer such a degree. Their experiments integrating digital media into theatre, including the first use of real-time motion capture in theatre (a 2000 production of The Tempest), are featured in major histories of digital performance (e.g. Steve Dixon’s Digital Performance, 2006), and have been the subject of multiple PhD dissertations. Recently the department has earned national recognition for its exploration of robotic theatre.

Brooklyn College CUNY

Brooklyn College is one of New York City’s leading institutions for the theater training. Producing a season of eight plays, including world premieres of new works by students of the celebrated Brooklyn College MFA Playwriting program, the department looks forward to The Leonard & Claire Tow Center for the Performing Arts opening in the fall of 2017. The facility will include rehearsal and performance space, set design and construction workshops, a double-height theater seating 200, grand lobby and arcade, as well as class, meeting and reception rooms.
The BC MFA in Acting is a two-year, full-time program with an emphasis on the actor’s journey toward self-discovery. It seeks curious, diverse, multicultural, socially conscious actors, hungry for new experiences offered through varied techniques and skills.
“Our partnership with URTA will allow us to recruit more experienced and skilled MFA acting candidates from all over the country. The more highly qualified the students, the more they challenge each other to grow, and reach their fullest potential,” said Judylee Vivier, head of MFA Acting. “Membership will also allow us to create collaborative relationships with colleagues from other member schools, offering opportunities to share teaching experiences, launch new ideas about training, bridging the gap to the profession as well as support in the industry showcase process.”
The MFA in Design and Technical Theater engages students in rigorous, professional training in scenic, costume and lighting design. Students design as part of the 8-show season, including world premieres, and work with well-known and emerging playwrights and directors.

“An early career designer needs to be working with directors, and our program infuses our design students into the lives of other theatrical leaders and directors from day one,” offered Justin Townsend, Head of Lighting Design.

The opening of the Tow Center adds to a collection of theaters where students create realized work, synergizing their theoretical design skills with practical application to on-campus productions.

“Our relationship with our world renowned playwriting program ensures that our designers are on the forefront of understanding what is new and inspiring,” added Townsend “Working with URTA, we hope to invite the world to join us in Brooklyn. Brooklyn is historically a place of diverse voices and we look to URTA to help us expand our outreach in creating homes for a plurality of points of views.”

Through the use of independent study opportunities, including professional internships with leading New York theater companies, MFA directing candidates may tailor their course of study to their unique needs and aspirations. The curriculum for graduate directors emphasizes the collaborative nature of theater making by co-mingling directors, actors, playwrights, designers and technicians in course work and on stage, in readings, workshops, and new plays.
The Performing Arts Management MFA offers three to four internships with professional New York-based organizations, while taking classes with New York commercial and nonprofit leaders in the performing arts field. The majority of the students are employed in industry related jobs prior to graduation.