SDA’s new musical theatre major to debut in Fall 2019

The School of Dramatic Arts is auditioning the first class of students for its new Bachelor of Fine Arts program in contemporary musical theatre, which will launch in Fall 2019. The major is a collaboration between three schools: SDA, the Thornton School of Music and the Kaufman School of Dance.

Even though the new program falls under multiple schools, SDA will be solely responsible for admissions.

“[It’s] really exciting that three schools are coming together and they are world-class in each of their disciplines,” said Kenneth Noel Mitchell, SDA’s head of musical theatre.

The major is expected to accept 14 to 16 students in its first year, but this number may change in following years. The program will feature a cohort-based, conservatory style curriculum, so students will take the same classes together throughout the program.

This year, prospective students submitted a pre-screen audition with two acting monologues, two contemporary songs and two dance videos, along with a general submission through the Common Application system. Then, a small number of students were invited to next month’s Callback Weekend, where they will audition for the program in person.

Some SDA students expressed excitement for the new major, saying they felt their peers previously had to sacrifice their passion in musical theatre to pursue another discipline.

“I have a lot of friends who are from musical theater backgrounds and felt like they had to focus in on one thing but couldn’t really study musical theatre to the best of their ability,” said Sabrina Sawyer, a junior majoring in theatre. “They had to give up that opportunity.”

While the new program had been an idea between the schools for years, it was brought into fruition when Kenneth Noel Mitchell was hired as the head for the program. Mitchell created the curriculum for the major.

The curriculum will focus on comprehensive, separate training in each art form for the first three semesters. Afterward, students will learn interdisciplinary in all three subjects for the remainder of their time at USC.

“For the first year and a half, when you’re in the School of Dance, you’re learning to express yourself physically through dance; when you’re in the School of Music, you’re given the tools to sing in a healthy, expressive manner; when you’re in the School of [Dramatic Arts], you’re given the skills to act,” Mitchell said.  

The major will also allow functional training to be enriched with classes focusing on modern applications of musical theater, such as a digital entrepreneurship class or a class about on-screen musicals,  Mitchell said.

The program arrives at a time of increased accessibility of musical theater to the public, according to Mitchell and Sawyer. Musicals are touching on current social issues, creating a sense of global connection, especially with the ease of access due to technology, Sawyer said.

“People across cultures fall in love with music, have fallen in love with ‘Hamilton,’” Sawyer said. “Musicals in modern society do an incredible job of connecting people and bringing people into the theatre.”

The final years of the program focus on creative growth by offering specific classes for not only performers, but also composers, lyricists, writers, directors and choreographers. The culmination of these courses will allow for the creation of original musicals by the members of the cohort.

“We are in a new golden age of musical theatre in America,” SDA Dean David Bridel said when the major was announced in 2017 on the SDA website. “This new degree, created in partnership with our colleagues here at USC, reflects the full range of what’s possible for the art form and will develop new generations of artists fully prepared to contribute their talents and move their field forward.”