THEATRE

MASTER OF FINE ARTS IN MUSICAL THEATRE

San Diego State University's MFA Degree in Musical Theatre is one of only four graduate programs in the nation and the only one on the West Coast to offer a course of study in America's only native performing art form: Musical Theatre. The SDSU program, which began accepting students in 1981, is unique in its integration of conservatory-style training with academic study and has served as a model for subsequent programs, a number of which are headed or staffed by SDSU graduates. Ours is the only two-year MFA Musical Theatre Program in the country, designed so that students can complete their 60 units of study in four consecutive 15-week semesters, with one summer break, during which time most students complete their theatre internship (Theatre 746) and/or begin work on their thesis or project report (Theatre 799A). The program is rigorous and demanding. Throughout their two years at SDSU, our graduate students undergo intensive training as performer-scholars in the field of Musical Theatre, in preparation for careers as performers, directors, choreographers, and educators.

Graduates of SDSU's MFA Musical Theatre Program have performed on and off-Broadway, in regional theatres, in national and international tours, and on local stages. Other alums write, produce, direct and serve on the faculties of schools and universities nationwide. Each semester, SDSU's School of Theatre, Television, and Film produces a musical as part of its performance season, featuring MFA Musical Theatre students, undergraduates from the School of Theatre, Television, and Film, and occasional guest artists. In addition, SDSU's Musical Theatre Program regularly presents smaller portfolio productions and projects, including staged readings, songwriter symposia, cabaret performances, and community events.

SDSU's MFA Musical Theatre Program has played a key role in the creation and development of several new musicals, including Steve Lutvak and Mitchell Ivers' First Star, Jeff Lunden and Art Perlman's Once on a Summer's Day, and the Harry Warren revue, Sing a Song of Hollywood. The university is part of a thriving arts community that includes two Tony Award-winning theatres-the Old Globe Theatre and La Jolla Playhouse-as well as a number of excellent smaller companies, including San Diego Repertory Theatre, Lamb's Players Theatre, North Coast Repertory Theatre, Starlight Musicals, Moonlight Amphitheatre, the Welk Resort Theatre, the Theatre in Old Town, Cygnet Theatre, and Diversionary Theatre. SDSU's MFA students are introduced to these organizations through annual All-City Auditions, and our students and alumni are regularly cast in their productions. As many of these theatres produce standard musical theatre and light opera repertoire, SDSU's Musical Theatre Program specializes in new and contemporary works, and occasional reconstructions of obscure, rarely-performed, or newly-revised musicals. SDSU presented the West Coast premieres of Stephen Sondheim's Assassins, Harold Prince's Diamonds, Robert Lindsey Nassif's Opal, Winnie Holzman & David Evans' Birds of Paradise, Deena Rosenberg & Mel Marvin's Somewhere Over the Rainbow and Peter Larson & Josh Rubins' Brownstone. Its regional premieres include Yours, Anne; Rags; Triumph of Love; A New Brain; Honk!, Bat Boy and A Man of No Importance. SDSU's Musical Theatre Program has also presented developmental readings of Hugh Martin's Maggie & Jiggs and Yip Harburg's The Happiest Girl in the World. Through songwriter symposia, which utilize rare archival footage in conjunction with student performances, SDSU's program has celebrated the lives and work of such noted musical-theatre writers and composers as Stephen Sondheim, Cole Porter, Leonard Bernstein, Yip Harburg, Hugh Martin, and Tom Jones & Harvey Schmidt.

Over its 20+ year history, SDSU's Musical Theatre Program has amassed a private collection of musical-theatre librettos, manuscripts, vocal scores and selections, songbooks, single song sheets, reference books, audio and video recordings, programs, playbills, posters, clipping files and memorabilia, much of which is unpublished, out-of-print, or otherwise unavailable. Our collection of musical theatre materials is one of the largest in the country and one of a very few on the West Coast. Through its collections, course work, productions, symposia, special projects, and community events, the SDSU MFA Musical Theatre Program plays a vital role in training the next generation of musical theatre artists and ensuring the future of the American musical theatre.

THE CURRICULUM

The foundation course for SDSU's MFA Musical Theatre Program is Theatre 627: Musical Theatre Studio-six hours per week of conservatory training that combines diagnostic and skill work in the synthesis of acting, singing and movement. The course is team taught by three full-time faculty members, each specializing in one of these three areas, assisted by a full-time staff accompanist/vocal coach. Also on staff is a voice instructor, a jazz/tap/musical theatre dance instructor, and a vocal health/communicative disorders specialist. SDSU's MFA Musical Program is committed to highly individualized instruction with a low faculty-to-student ratio, guaranteeing maximum one-on-one coaching per student.

COURSE OF STUDY

SDSU's MFA Musical Theatre Program is an intensive 60-unit curriculum designed to be completed in two years, over four consecutive semesters.

Theatre 555: Musical Theatre Movement/Dance (4 semesters)

Foundation brain-to-body work, relaxation, breathing, alignment, movement patterns, phrase development, jazz, tap, and musical theatre dance styles.

Theatre 600A: Research and Bibliography

Basic reference works, introduction to bibliographical techniques, exercises and methodology as they relate to theatre research.

Theatre 600B: Thesis/Project Preparation

Development and presentation of a thesis or project report, with focus on writing and stylistic parameters.

Theatre 620 A & B: History of Musical Theatre (2 semesters)

A chronological survey of the creation and development of American musical theatre from comic opera and operetta to contemporary Broadway, examining representative productions, practitioners, styles and genres.

Theatre 622 A & B: History of Musical Theatre Lab (2 semesters)

Reading, listening to, analyzing and discussing representative musical-theatre librettos and scores from The Black Crook (1866) to Rent (1995), and musical-theatre composers from Jerome Kern to Stephen Sondheim, in conjunction with Theatre 620 A & B.

Theatre 623: Musical Theatre Script and Score Analysis (Seminar)

Representative musical theatre works analyzed and discussed in terms of structure, content, environment, action, character, and style.

Theatre 627: Musical Theatre Studio (4 semesters)

Acting, singing, movement, skill synthesis, and repertoire expansion in relation to musical theatre performance.

Theatre 630: Private Voice Instruction (4 semesters)

Private voice instruction with an emphasis on healthy full-range vocal production for the musical theatre.

Theatre 650: Musical Theatre Dance History (Seminar)

The history of dance, choreography, dance directors, choreographers, and director-choreographers in American musical theatre and film.

Theatre 659: Musical Theatre Stage Direction

The art of directing for musical theatre, survey of musical-theatre directors, and exercises in directing musical theatre songs and scenes.

Theatre 746: Theatre Internship

Field experience in musical theatre.

Theatre 790: Directed Readings in Theatre

Preparation for the comprehensive examination for those students in the MFA program under plan B.

Theatre 795: Practicum in Theatre Arts

Faculty-supervised projects in performance, direction, musical direction, and/or choreography, culminating in public performance.

Theatre 799A: Thesis or Project Report

Preparation of a Master's thesis or project report.

FACULTY AND STAFF

Paula Kalustian, Program Director: Directing, Movement, Choreography

Dr. Terry O'Donnell: Music, History

Dr. Rick Simas: Acting, Directing, History, Repertoire

Wendy Thomson: Accompanist/Vocal Coach

Laurinda Nikkel: Voice

Steve Anthony: Dance

Application form for MFA Musical Theatre Program

Application Process

Musical Productions