Musical Theater Requirements | 2024-2025 Academic Catalog | SIU

Administration of the Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theater at SIUC is jointly shared by the School of Music (SoM) and the School of Theater and Dance. This degree provides academic and professional training for a distinct population of students who possess exceptional skill and potential as multi-talented performers, and who desire a more specialized, intensive, performance-career training. Admissions are by auditions. Placing an equal importance on academic and artistic excellence while seeking a balance between theoretical and applied material, the BFA presents a curriculum and a performance season that combine to prepare students for success in the world of professional musical theater performance.

The curriculum for the degree is structured to follow a logical trajectory of training in ear training, singing, dance, acting and movement, and voice training for the actor. In addition, courses in directing, play analysis, theater and musical theater history and literature provide the student with a strong understanding of the development of the art form, and the critical and analytical skills with which to approach, interpret, and evaluate a musical theater work. Finally, a general core of courses in arts and sciences serves to engage the whole student, providing a liberal arts background that can be applied to the student's work in the art of performance.

Throughout the student's training, their progress is monitored and evaluated through public performances, end of semester juried performances, auditions, written and oral exams and projects, and other performance related projects. These are augmented by the extensive opportunities for formal performances provided in the School of Theater and Dance/School of Music subscription season productions and concerts, as well as in the university's affiliated professional summer company, The McLeod Summer Playhouse. Workshop performances are provided through showcases generated in the required Music Theater Workshops courses, and through student produced cabarets and productions sponsored and encouraged by the two units. Opportunities for developing repertory and audition techniques are specifically addressed in private voice lessons, Music Theater Workshop and THEA 424 Audition Technique classes. Theater students must complete all major coursework with a cumulative 2.0 GPA.

The units use a number of means of evaluating the progress and success of our students in the BFA program. In addition to the usual indicators of grades achieved by majors, and participation in the production program, the units conduct End of Semester Juries, Barrier Juries (after their third semester), and the Senior Project that entail large and small ensemble work as well as solo work in acting, dance, movement, and song.

Theater course credit earned at other institutions of higher learning, not used for University Core Curriculum requirements at the time of transfer, can be applied to the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree program with the approval of the faculty of the School of Theater and Dance and/or the School of Music.

Southern Illinois University Carbondale is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Theatre (NAST), 11250 Roger Bacon Drive, Suite 21, Reston, VA  20190-5248, (703) 437-0700.

Southern Illinois University Carbondale is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM), 11250 Roger Bacon Drive, Suite 21, Reston, VA  20190-5248, (703) 437-0700.

Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.) in Musical Theater

Degree Requirements			Credit Hours
University Core Curriculum Requirements				39
Including THEA 220 and Theater Insight as UCC substitutes. MUS 203, Diversity and Popular Music in American Culture is a recommended course for the multicultural requirement.
Requirements in Music				27
To include MUS 366E-F, MUS 030A, MUS 030B, MUS 104A Aural Skills, MUS 105A Basic Harmony, MUS 140X, MUS 240X, MUS 340X, MUS 440X, MUS 402, MUS 471, MUS 489
Requirements in Theater				34
To include THEA 203B, THEA 205, THEA 217, THEA 220, THEA 300, THEA 303A, THEA 403A, or THEA 417; THEA 303B, THEA 311A, THEA 317A, THEA 317B, THEA 322, THEA 354A, THEA 400, THEA 424
Requirements in Dance				14
THEA 103A, B, C, D Dance (2+2+2)			8
THEA 323 or THEA 423 Musical Theater Dance			(6)
Approved Performance Electives				6
which may include THEA 402 - Directing, MUS 401 - Opera Workshop, MUS 403 - Lyric Theater Ensemble
Total				120