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Department of Musical Theatre

Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre

Combining the focus and rigor of a conservatory with the academic breadth and depth of a major public research university, an SMTD Musical Theatre education is a transformative experience. The Musical Theatre curriculum is robust and interrogative. By investigating the musical theatre canon, students explore the many aspects of the art form that are integral to the training while innovating to ensure our students are adapting to an ever-changing creative field.

Musical Theatre alumni are accomplished professionals and passionately committed to the Department. Graduates routinely return to Ann Arbor to work with current students and a robust alumni family provides incomparable support and connections in New York City and beyond.

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Curriculum

The Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre requires a minimum of 124 credits: coursework is 75% within SMTD and 25% within the liberal arts.
SMTD coursework to include:

  • Musical Theatre (first year introduction, performance, musical theatre history)
  • Theatre (acting, theatre history, technical theatre)
  • Dance (ballet, tap, musical theatre styles; jazz, hip hop, modern electives)
  • Private voice lessons
  • Music Theory
  • Piano

Liberal Arts coursework to include:

  • Freshman Writing
  • Upper-level writing
  • Foreign language or tested proficiency
  • History
  • Academic electives from across the U-M
  • Race & Ethnicity
View Audition/Interview Dates
View Pre-screening & Audition/Interview Requirements

Silent Advisor

Degree requirements and term-by-term layout for current students.

Go to Silent Advisor

Faculty


Raja Benz

Lecturer; Resident Intimacy Choreographer and Cultural Consultant

Ron De Jesús

Clinical Assistant Professor of Music
Musical Theatre

Linda Goodrich

Professor Emerita of Music, Interim Chair of Musical Theatre

Eiji Miura

Clinical Assistant Professor
Musical Theatre, Voice

Lynne Shankel

Assistant Professor of Music and Carole Caplan Lonner Professor of Musical Theatre Writing

Brent Wagner

Arthur Thurnau Emeritus Chair, Robertson Emeritus Professor of Musical Theatre
Musical Theatre

Performance Opportunities

Michigan offers extraordinary performance opportunities. Revues, Broadway musicals, operettas, new and experimental works — all of these are part of the daily life of a Musical Theatre student.

Hair

Hair

One Hit Wonder

One Hit Wonder
Written by Hunter Foster

The Wild Party

Andrew Lippa's The Wild Party
by Andrew Lippa

Passing Strange

Passing Strange
by Stew

Senior Showcase

Senior Showcase

The annual Senior Showcase is an unforgettable revue featuring the wide range of talent of the Musical Theatre Department’s graduating seniors. An essential element in launching students into their professional careers, the Showcase previews in Ann Arbor before making its way to New York where it is performed for agents and casting directors.

Questions?

Contact Admissions