Marymount Manhattan College — Theatre Arts

Marymount Manhattan College, located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, offers one of the most distinctive theatre training environments in the country — an intimate liberal arts college situated in the heart of the world's entertainment capital. The Theatre Arts Department offers three primary tracks: a BFA in Acting, a BFA in Musical Theatre (both requiring audition for admission), and a BA in Theatre Arts for students who want a broader theatre education without the conservatory-level performance focus. The college's small size — with approximately 2,000 total undergraduate students — ensures that theatre students are not competing with thousands of peers for stage time, faculty attention, and resources, as they might at a large university with a prominent theatre program. The Theresa Lang Theatre, a 249-seat proscenium house, serves as the primary production venue and provides an intimate space that is ideal for developing young performers who are learning to communicate with audiences in a professional setting. The Upper East Side location places students within easy reach of every Broadway and Off-Broadway theatre, casting office, and talent agency in New York City. This combination of small-college intimacy and big-city access creates a training environment that is uniquely suited to developing performers who are both artistically grounded and professionally connected.

The BFA in Acting at Marymount Manhattan provides a rigorous four-year training program that develops actors through a carefully structured curriculum of scene study, voice and speech work, movement, and specialized technique classes. Students study multiple acting methodologies, including Stanislavski-based approaches, Meisner technique, and viewpoints, developing a personal toolkit that they can draw upon throughout their careers. The program emphasizes the development of the whole actor — not just the performer who works from the neck up, but the physical, vocal, and emotional instrument that professional acting demands. Small class sizes, typically 12 to 16 students, ensure that each student receives meaningful individual attention and feedback from faculty who are themselves working professionals in the New York theatre, film, and television industries. The curriculum integrates on-camera technique alongside stage acting, reflecting the reality that most contemporary actors need to work effectively in both mediums. Senior year culminates in a showcase for industry professionals that introduces graduating students to agents, managers, and casting directors who can help launch their professional careers.

The BFA in Musical Theatre at Marymount Manhattan combines the acting training described above with intensive singing and dance instruction, producing graduates who are prepared for the demands of contemporary musical theatre performance. Students receive private voice instruction, group vocal coaching, and training in musical theatre repertoire that develops both their technical skill and their ability to tell stories through song. Dance training covers ballet, jazz, tap, and contemporary styles, taught by faculty who have performed and choreographed professionally on Broadway, in national tours, and in major regional theatres. The musical theatre curriculum is carefully integrated to ensure that students develop their acting, singing, and dance skills in concert with each other, rather than in isolated silos that must be artificially combined later. Performance opportunities are plentiful, with a full season of musicals, plays, and new works that give students stage experience in professional-quality productions. The program's location in New York City means that musical theatre students can attend Broadway and Off-Broadway performances regularly, building the repertoire knowledge and industry awareness that are essential for professional success.

The BA in Theatre Arts offers a more flexible approach for students who are passionate about theatre but want to explore the field broadly rather than committing to the intensive performance focus of the BFA programs. BA students can take courses across acting, directing, design, theatre history, dramatic literature, and arts management, creating a personalized curriculum that reflects their individual interests and career goals. This track is ideal for students who may be interested in directing, producing, playwriting, dramaturgy, arts education, or other theatre-adjacent careers that benefit from broad knowledge rather than specialized performance training. The BA also serves students who arrive at Marymount Manhattan without the performance background needed for the BFA audition but who develop significantly during their first year and may petition to transfer into the BFA program. The combination of BFA and BA tracks within the same department creates a diverse community of theatre students who learn from each other's different perspectives and aspirations. BA students participate in many of the same production and classroom activities as BFA students, ensuring that they receive substantial hands-on experience alongside their academic study.

Marymount Manhattan's greatest asset is arguably its New York City location, which provides theatre students with access to an unmatched concentration of professional resources, performance opportunities, and industry contacts. Students can attend professional productions several times per week, exposing themselves to the highest level of theatrical artistry and keeping current with industry trends and casting patterns. Open calls, EPA and ECC auditions, and film and television casting opportunities are all readily accessible to students who want to begin building their professional experience while still in school. Many faculty members are actively working in New York theatre, film, and television, bringing current industry knowledge and connections directly into the classroom and serving as advocates for their students in the professional world. Industry professionals regularly visit campus for masterclasses, panels, and workshops, giving students direct exposure to the people who will eventually be hiring them. The New York location also means that students build their professional network organically — the connections they make during four years of immersion in the city's theatre community become the foundation of their careers after graduation.

Tuition at Marymount Manhattan College is approximately $40,000 per year, a significant investment that should be evaluated in the context of the program's unique advantages and the cost of comparable programs in New York City. The college offers financial aid packages that include merit-based scholarships, need-based grants, and talent awards that can substantially reduce the net cost of attendance for qualifying students. Students should also factor in the cost of living in Manhattan, which represents a significant additional expense but which is also, in a sense, an investment in their professional development — four years of immersion in New York's theatre industry has a tangible career value that is difficult to quantify but very real. Compared to other New York-based theatre training options — NYU Tisch at over $60,000 per year or The New School at similar prices — Marymount Manhattan represents a relatively affordable way to train in the city that most theatre professionals will eventually call home. The small college environment means that students receive more individual attention and more stage time than they might at larger, more expensive institutions. Prospective students should request detailed financial aid information from the admissions office and carefully evaluate the total cost of attendance against the program's unique advantages.

The alumni network of Marymount Manhattan's Theatre Arts Department has grown significantly in recent years as the program has gained prominence in the New York theatre community. Graduates are working on Broadway, Off-Broadway, in national tours, in regional theatres, and in film and television, building a network that supports current students and recent graduates as they enter the profession. The college's alumni affairs office facilitates connections between current students and graduates, organizing networking events, panel discussions, and mentorship programs that keep the community connected. The intimate size of each graduating class means that alumni know each other well and are more likely to help fellow Marymount Manhattan graduates than they might be if they had graduated from a program with hundreds of theatre students. The program's growing reputation has also attracted the attention of casting professionals, agents, and managers who increasingly attend the annual showcase and seek out Marymount Manhattan graduates for professional opportunities. For students evaluating programs, the trajectory of the alumni network — a program that is rapidly growing in stature and industry recognition — is an encouraging indicator of the program's quality and future value.

Marymount Manhattan College is best suited for theatre students who want a small-college, personalized training experience in the heart of New York City — students who would feel lost at a large university but who want the industry access and cultural immersion that only New York can provide. The program rewards students who are self-motivated, curious, and willing to take advantage of the extraordinary opportunities that surround them in Manhattan, from attending professional productions to auditioning for student and independent films to building relationships with the industry professionals who populate every corner of the city. Students who want a traditional campus experience with sprawling grounds, Division I athletics, and a large social scene should look elsewhere — Marymount Manhattan is an urban college with a focused, intimate community that is oriented around the arts and the city. However, for students who thrive in New York's energy and who want to begin building their professional careers and networks from their very first semester of college, Marymount Manhattan offers a combination of quality training, personal attention, and unmatched location that larger and more expensive programs cannot replicate.