Theatre Management/Producing MFA

[SHANNON5986]

Anyone else applying to Theatre Management/Producing or Arts Administration programs?

I'm applying to Yale for Theatre Management, Columbia for Theatre Management & Producing, NYU Steinhardt for Performing Arts Administration and American University for Arts Management.

I've had 4 years experience working for a professional non-profit theatre company and I have great letters of recommendation, which I'm hoping will outweigh my mediocre GPA and GRE scores. (3.52 GPA, 158 - Verbal, 154 - Quantitative, 4 - Writing) I also feel pretty good about my Personal Essays.

Any input, advice, experience, etc. would be appreciated!

Best of luck to everyone!

[cityjess84]

Hi Shannon,

I also applied to NYU Steinhardt's Performing Arts Administration program. No others, since I don't want to relocate and just fell in love with their program. I went to their open house discussion and the chair specifically said that recommendation letters are one of the most important parts of the application and could really sway your admissions decision.

Have you heard anything back yet?

Best of luck to you!

Jessica

[SHANNON5986]

Hi Jessica!

Thanks for your reply. That's really nice to hear in regards to letters of rec. So far I've been invited to American's open house in late March - though it sounds pretty general, like they probably invite everyone who applies - and I got an interview with Columbia next week. I'm really excited! (And a little nervous.) I have a friend in the Performing Arts Admin program at NYU Steinhardt and he email-introduced me to Brann Wry. I'm hoping to visit NYU as well next week. Did they say at the open house how many people they typically accept?

Thanks again for your reply and best of luck to you as well!

Shannon

[cityjess84]

Hi Shannon,

Congrats on your interview at Columbia! I met Brann Wry and spoke to him at the open house. It wound up being pretty small - only about a dozen people - because it had been rescheduled from the original date. One of the reasons I like the program as much as I do is because he was so nice. Very informative and interested in hearing about our backgrounds as much as talking about the program. It's obvious that he loves what he does.

If I remember correctly, each year they try to create a class of approximately 20-30 students. There is a wait list every year and looking at the stats on this site, it seems like at least a handful of people are admitted from it. They said that we'd get a decision by the end of March/ early April, so I think we still have a bit of waiting to do.

Would you mind telling me a bit about your background and why you decided to pursue an arts management degree? I'd be happy to share my experiences as well.

I live in the East Village, walking distance from Steinhardt. If you have any questions about the area or anything, just let me know. Enjoy your upcoming visit!

Jessica

[SHANNON5986]

Jessica,

Thank you for all the info and help!

I emailed Brann today in hopes of setting up a time to meet him while I'm in NY. I also noticed on NYU's website that he's conducting an event next Friday evening called "CEOs in the Arts" so I'm planning to attend that.

As far as my background goes, I live and work in Salt Lake City, UT. I have my BA in Musical Theatre from Weber State University. Right after graduating I started working for a non-profit theatre called Salt Lake Acting Company which produces new, challenging work that would otherwise never be done in Utah. For a while I still pursued performing, but over the years, my work at SLAC has become more interesting and more important to me than performing. I feel like this producing/management side of things really uses my whole brain. And while I've learned so much from working here, I'm really drawn to the idea of a formal education. So I started researching some programs and decided to just apply and see what happens.

I'd love to hear your background as well!

Thanks again,

Shannon

[cityjess84]

Shannon,

No problem! I'm happy to help. I actually didn't know about the CEOs in the Arts event. It sounds really interesting! I've added it to my calendar too, so I'll try to find you and say hello next week. Thanks for mentioning it!

Your work at SLAC sounds fantastic! I understand connecting more with the administrative aspects of theatre. While I love performing, I never wanted to pursue it as a career. I think it'd take a lot of the fun out of it for me. I graduated from Tulane University with a B.A. in theatre. I'd intended to go to law school and study entertainment law, but I realized after one semester at George Mason University in Virginia that the law really wasn't for me. I found a job at a non-profit in DC where I discovered that I really enjoyed working with technology. I was eventually promoted into a project management role in a technology-focused department. In my spare time, I participated in a number of community theatre productions - acting, singing, assistant directing, technical theatre work, a little bit of everything. I moved to NYC when my husband got a job with Google and I now work for a social media software company, implementing our software for non-profits and associations - including a number of arts organizations. I also sing in a rock choir that performs Off-Broadway. So much fun!

I decided to pursue a performing arts management degree in order combine my love of the arts and technology. After grad school, I hope to find a technology-related position at a performing arts organization.

I hope I have the opportunity to meet you at the event next week! Thanks again for telling me about it.

Jessica

[SHANNON5986]

Jessica,

I just messaged you my cell. I would love to meet you if you end up going to that event next Friday!

That's so great that you're interested in technology in the arts. Such a specific interest and something that's so needed. It sounds like you have a lot of great varied experience.

It's been so great chatting with you and I hope we can meet next week!

Shannon

[artsmgr]

Hi. I also applied to NYU's Performing Arts Administration program. Just checking in to see if anyone got any news as yet.

[ArtsyGirl]

I am bumping this thread up to see how everyone is doing?  I am new...I just submitted MBA apps to programs with good non-profit/social enterprise reputations and also arts admin programs.  I ultimately would like to manage a theater, but I would also like to get a non-profit start up and running successfully (it isn't arts related, but I'm one of the key players).  I'm applied to NYU, Berkeley, Wisconsin-Madison (MBA arts administration) and Yale (MBA/MFA theater management).  The latter two being my top choices, Yale #1.  I am keeping my fingers crossed!  Where did you guys who applied ultimately end up?

[ChaosBeef]

Any Theatre Management / Arts Management folks out there waiting to hear back and weighing options?

[thupham]

Hey, I am also waiting for the admission decisions. Have you heard anything back from Columbia MFA Theatre Management? 

[Avanti]

Hi guys, this seems like the most apt thread for me to continue.

Could any of you reply as to which courses you guys took, and why. Also, how are you liking them?

I'm a Fall 2014 applicant. I've applied to:

NYU Steinhardt's Performing Arts Administration

Columbia's Arts Administration

Carnegie Mellon Heinz College's Arts Management programmes.

 

I'm looking at specifically something that will enable me to be an arts curator/programmer of sorts.

Are these the apt courses? What are the other courses you guys applied to?

How much work experience did you guys have before you applied to the MA programmes?

 

Do let me know,

Thank you!