Our mission is to provide holistic and individualized training in musical theater performance, encouraging integrity and self-reliance, while preparing our artists for the current professional market.

Texas State’s innovative pre-professional training program is one of the only musical theatre programs in the country run exclusively by industry professionals. Helmed by award-winning Broadway, film and television actress and director Kaitlin Hopkins, our customized approach to artist development eschews the traditional “one size fits all” model of many other university training programs. The Texas State musical theatre experience concentrates on the specific needs of each individual student. Our curriculum is designed to prepare the students to enter today’s professional market by priming them for a comprehensive career in show business, not just in musical theatre.

Our program is a conservatory style, four-year, sequence-based program with the benefits of a liberal arts education in a beautiful university setting. The performance curriculum is designed to provide extensive training for the whole actor: voice, acting, dance, collaboration techniques and artist-entrepreneurial skills. Liberal arts classes expand your understanding of self, culture and society, helping the student to become an educated citizen-artist.

Theatrically, we strongly believe that what is unique about each student must be supported by the curriculum, not supplanted by it. At Texas State, each degree plan is tailored to fit individual student’s needs and interests. This approach allows for course substitutions and the creation of individualized tracks and opportunities. Many of our young artists benefit from internships which allow them to further explore their gifts as writers, choreographers, directors, producers, casting agents and more.

San Marcos, TX

Conservatory Style in Liberal Arts Environment

B.F.A. in Musical Theatre

Large (>25k Students)

20K-30K

Yes

Upload Pre-screen

Song

• DO NOT sing A cappella, use either pre-recorded tracks or a live accompanist
• Prepare two contrasting songs, one traditional musical theatre pre-1980 and one contemporary from 1980-present
• Your contemporary selection can be either a contemporary musical theatre song or a pop/rock son
• If you have both, include both and submit 3 song options total
• Each song must be no longer than 32 bars
• If is more important you sing music you love than adhere to the guidelines, sing songs you feel best represents your talent, especially on your pre-screen

Monologue

• Prepare a one-minute contemporary monologue
• The selection should be age appropriate and in contemporary realism
• The selection should not require dialect, costume or props
• If you receive a callback you will be required to do a second contrasting monologue

Dance

• Your audition materials should include a good quality video that shows some technique that you’ve learned in jazz, or ballet OR a musical theatre dance combo that you have in your repertoire
• If you are an experience tap dancer, feel free to include an additional dance video, this would be in addition to your ballet/jazz video
• You may also include a previous dance performance, as long as your technique is clearly visible, a one minute combination that you have prepared, OR a simple demonstration of your dance skills
• Multiple clips are accepted if needed to show your range of dance/movement ability
• If you show JAZZ, you must demonstrate any or all of the following:  triplets, jazz square, isolations, leaps, jumps, battements and/or turns
• If you show us BALLET, you must demonstrate any of all of the following: pirouettes, jete, pas de bourree, waltz, pique turn, battements, and/or fouettes
• If you show TAP, you must demonstrate any or all of the following: shuffles, flaps, buffalo, Irish, maxi-ford, time-steps, waltz, clog, riffs and/or drawbacks
• IMPORTANT:  If you send a TAP sample, you MUST ALSO include a ballet or jazz sample

You can change what material you do for callback, however, we would recommend you don’t do something else if your reasoning is “they already saw that song on the video, so I should show them something else.”  The material you did in your prescreen was why we called you back, and seeing it live is part of what we are interested in, and not all of the faculty who attend the callbacks, watched the original prescreen videos. We recommend you change your material if you have something new that you think shows you off better than the material you submitted on your prescreen, or is more contrasting. We don’t mind either way, it is about what serves you best. These are just guidelines.

On-campus Callbacks

January 13-14, 2018

February 17-18, 2018

New York

January 20-21, 2018

Chicago

February 4-7, 2018

We are committed to having the top talent in the country in our program, therefore, we offer out-of-state students scholarship money that qualifies them for in-state tuition. The result is students in our program pay a fraction of what the other top programs demand, whether they live in Texas or Tennessee, Dallas or Delaware, Pennsylvania or the Panhandle. As an out-of-state student, you need not apply for this particular scholarship as you are automatically considered for it. There are additional merit and need-based scholarship opportunities from the Department of Theatre and Dance for in and out-of-state students. These scholarships require an application that should be submitted with your initial application. Download the application to apply.

Visit the Financial Aid for academic-based scholarships.

Should you be a financial need based student and you meet the qualifications for a Terry Scholarship, we strongly suggest you apply for this scholarship opportunity. Terry Foundation Application Deadline is usually in December. For more information please visit the Terry Foundation Scholarship page.

Approx 56

Senior Showcase in NYC

Yes, beginning Spring Semester of Freshman year.

Mailing Address

Department of Theatre & Dance
601 University Drive
San Marcos, TX 78666

Physical Address

430 Moon Street
San Marcos, TX 78666

Main Office

512-245-2147

Application Questions

Sara Mitschke

Publicity Coordinator
512-245-3572
theatre@txstate.edu

Debbie R. Alley, MFA, chair, d_a143@txstate.edu

Lori Beth Smith, administrative assistant, ls52@txstate.edu
Phone: 512.245.2147

Texas State MT Home Page

Admissions

Tips

Pick monologues from plays, and read the whole play. Stay away from monologues from anthologies that are not from plays.

Keep your choices grounded and simple. Let us see who you are. Your monologues should be distinctly different in tone and character.

Stay away from dialects in your monologues.

Choose songs and monologues that are age appropriate.

We are looking for strong storytelling, a strong vocal instrument, and simple, honest work based in truth in your songs and monologues.

Make specific choices that communicate the stakes of the song or monologue.

We suggest working on your songs as a monologue first and focus on the punctuation and phrasing.

Your audition music should be in plastic sheet protectors in a binder so it is easy for the accompanist to read and turn the pages.

Make sure your music is in the correct key and is clearly marked with all cuts and repetitions. Before you begin, set a tempo for the accompanist.

Remember to thank the accompanist when you finish your audition.

Stay away from songs that are uniquely associated with particular artists: songs like “Defying Gravity”, “Somewhere Over The Rainbow”, and “Don’t Rain On My Parade”.

Choose an outfit that is flattering to your physique and makes you feel comfortable. Ladies, please do not wear extremely high heels or short dresses if you are going to sit in a chair for any of your material.

Rehearse your material in the shoes and the outfit you will be performing in before your auditions.