Program Spotlight: University of Central Florida

UCF's production of Titanic Photo Credit: UCF Marketing and Communications.

I can't say enough about the program at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, FL. Great faculty doing great work in a great city to be a performer. It also doesn't hurt that my husband is a Knight. Thanks to Tara Snyder for sharing about UCF's program.

How long has your BFA program been around? Since 1998

How many students, in general, does your program accept every year? 16--per NAST accreditation standards How many students, in total, are in your program? At most 64 musical theatre majors. It's housed in a department that has closer to 400 majors/minors with the other programs offered at the UCF School of Performing Arts.

What's unique about your program? Theatre UCF seeks to develop theatre artists of the highest quality. We provide our students with the training, education, and experiences necessary for the successful pursuit of professional theatre careers. Our goal is to develop and graduate student artists who are sensitive, aware, and total human beings by providing our students with conservatory training within the context of a Liberal Arts education. Our program is designed to give our students a competitive edge by:

• Providing intensive classroom work in theatre theory and practice, along with personal experiences designed to develop theatre skills of the highest quality.

• Providing extensive practical production opportunities that develop student skills in performance, design/technology, stage management and theatre administration.

• Developing high artistic standards in our students, faculty, and staff through production and classroom work utilizing professional guest artists and teachers. The use of professional guest artists and teachers is also essential to the establishment of a student's "professional theatre network."

• Creating and maintaining a professional environment necessary for the continued growth and development of our students, faculty, and staff.

Throughout four years of study, the faculty seeks to instill within its students the necessity for an in-depth understanding of the musical theatre performance process and upon the development of personal working methodologies. The senior year is highlighted by the professional internship. Tell us a little bit about the musical theatre faculty at your school. You can check out our full bios on our department website! Look for the Musical Theatre heading! 

Are there any recent productions you're particularly proud of?  We are always proud of all the work that goes into our departmental productions from all the areas of our program. One big highlight is when we do the joint production between Theatre & Music as part of the UCF Celebrates the Arts festival which performs at the downtown Orlando Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts on the Walt Disney Theater Stage (a 2700+ seat Broadway touring stage). We've done "Titanic," Bernstein's "Mass" and "Oklahoma!" through this partnership and it allows our students to perform on an incredible professional stage with a full 70+ piece orchestra and production values akin to Broadway!

How about alumni? We have alumni being successful in many areas of the business/educational/professional realms. Some recent alums who've done master classes for our current students include Jerusha Cavazos '14 (Broadway: The Prom, Off Broadway: Between the Lines, TV: Atlanta, FBI), Cornelius Davis '13 (National Tour: Aladdin), Abby Jaros '14 (National Tour: Hamilton, Joseph.. .Dreamcoat). You can also look at a more in-depth alumni list list here: http://theatre.cah.ucf.edu/alumnilist.php What is your program's "best-kept secret"? We really create a family environment that helps our students develop their individual potential. Whether it be through the Audition Buddies, the Mentor/Mentee program or direct access to MT faculty on a regular basis, our graduates are ready to take the world by storm in whatever their chosen path after graduation is, be it Broadway, regional theatre, TV/film/recording, higher education, shaping the next generation of artists as an educator, or finding their own unique way of utilizing their musical theatre training. 

Anything else? Feel free to e-mail any of the UCF faculty with questions or to set up a visit! All of their emails are on the faculty page!

To learn more about UCF's Musical Theatre program, visit UCF's Theatre, Musical Theatre Track page.