Friday, January 30, 1998
Major Decisions
THEATER: Some students majoring in theater feel confined, but
many determined actors find other ways to get onstage
By Vanessa VanderZanden
Daily Bruin Staff
UCLA’s School of Theater, Film & Television ranks No. 2 in
the nation, according to an annual government-funded survey. Former
graduates include Carol Burnett and Tim Robbins, not to mention
various Broadway and opera stars. Yet, despite these facts, many
theater students in recent years have become disgruntled with the
program.
"When I first got accepted, before I got here, I really thought
that it was going to focus on acting and building that up,"
explains theater student Ellen Eclamodfar. "And when I got here,
the first thing they said was, ‘this is not an acting school. We’re
going to learn about theater and not just how to act.’"
Though many have expressed the view that this form of education
serves students’ needs better, an element of unrest still arises
from those in the department. And now that the decision to begin a
musical theater minor has been reached, many more tensions have
arisen amongst students and teachers as well. However, not every
participant finds the program unwieldy.
"The thing about the theater major here is that it’s not a
conservatory," says third-year theater student Will Peligrini. "I
think a lot of people think it’s going to teach a lot of acting and
stuff, and that’s not the purpose of it. If you want to, you can do
that. There’s plenty of acting classes, but my emphasis is on
design and directing, so the classes I’ve had so far I’ve
enjoyed."
Being a four-year, academic-based university, UCLA demands that
theater majors take a variety of horizon-broadening classes. Beyond
the standard GEs required of any student, theater majors must take
a wide range of behind-the-scenes theater classes, focusing on the
technical side of theater production. For some, this proves
beneficial.
"The theater department allows us to actually do more on the
technical side, which I’m appreciative of. I came in here looking
for acting, but I suddenly am acknowledged at playwrighting and
directing and sound design and stuff like that," admits Sierra
Ryan, a third-year theater student. "I like the program because it
allows you to discover more of what you might want to do instead of
being so focused on acting that you might not appreciate some of
the other fields."
Yet, Ryan, like many students, would still like to see a greater
amount of interdisciplinary activity between the theater
department, and its music and dance counterparts. Despite recent
funding for a musical theater degree, what some see as the theater
department’s refusal to work together with the music department has
created quite a stir. Those involved in John Hall’s musical theater
workshop (course-listed in the music department) take particular
offense to the move.
"When you give money to a college for a music theory department,
John Hall is the one you want to talk to if you want to create a
program that incorporates all of what musical theater should be
about," claims Ryan. "One of my fears is that John’s class is going
to be overshadowed by the prestige that the theater department has
already had. And another one of my objections is that for 20 years,
John Hall has been in the theater department doing this thing and
he has had very limited funding. He’s not getting any recognition
for the work he’s already done in the field."
However, other instructors at UCLA also experience widespread
appeal among students. One such professor is Mel Shapiro, whom
former master’s-of-fine-arts student Kent Gash cites as his reason
for attending UCLA. Currently directing "Harriet’s Return" at the
Geffen Playhouse, Gash claims his experience as an undergrad at
Carnegie Mellon University veered only moderately from that of most
UCLA students.
"They don’t need to work while they’re taking classes. They need
to keep their ass in class!" Gash says in response to students’
complaints about the lack of out-of-class theater opportunities. "I
went to Carnegie Mellon for undergraduate school, and I’ll tell
you, you don’t do anything. For the first two years you can’t act
anywhere except in your acting class. And every class you take is
connected to the theater."
However, UCLA encourages outside performance. The masters of
fine arts program runs graduate, student-directed shows that offer
undergrads experience in both acting and behind-the-scenes work.
Beyond these mainstage performances, self-run undergrad shows can
gain campus support, which includes costume, set and stage
accessibility, through a board known as the Underground. Yet, even
this program leaves some students, such as sophomore theater
student Peter Smith, feeling isolated.
"It’s hard to do what you’re passionate about doing if you can’t
get the vote in the Underground, which is the only supported group
that the department recognizes," Smith explains. "And if you don’t
get into a show, or you don’t like any of the shows that are being
produced at the MFA level, then, there’s a lot of people that are
understandably frustrated when they can’t do their own things."
Still, UCLA offers over a hundred productions a year for
students to get involved in. Of course, if students find it
difficult to get cast in a show or produce their own material, then
perhaps they should begin consulting another field of study, as the
"real world" beyond UCLA’s walls will offer just that much more
competition for parts and show space. Yet Smith claims other less
scrupulous reasons exist for students being cast aside in the fight
for production experience.
"The last time the Underground voted, last quarter, for their
mainstage show, it fell apart on them," Smith continues. "First of
all, they lost control of the voting process. So many people showed
up (providing unbalanced support for their projects). And then they
couldn’t secure space for the mainstage show that they did vote on.
They told them one thing and did another, and the mainstage show
the Underground did ended up leaving the theater department
altogether and going up to the music department. My production left
the theater department, too, and went up to the Northwest campus
center to get away from all of the politics."
One suggestion for improvement would be to have more than one
channel, the president of the Underground, to go through for the
OKs on student-run shows. However, other students have decided to
opt completely for outside productions when looking for projects.
Ellen Eclamodfar and fellow theater student Michael Skolnik attempt
to begin a children’s theater for lack of campus options, while
others find their own means of dealing with the situation.
"I’m here basically to get my degree in theater and then go out
into the world and do what I have to do," offers Peligrini. "I’m
not disgruntled or upset or anything that I can’t get too much into
UCLA shows. It’s kind of like this little circle that you’re either
into or you’re not, over in the theater department, as far as shows
go over there, and I’m not. I go, take the classes that I have to
take, and that’s pretty much it. I’ll get my degree, thank you very
much, and go out into the real world. That’s where I’m at right
now."
And, despite the complaints circulating about UCLA’s program,
the degree appears to reflect, if not surpass, the quality of most
other major institutions. USC, for instance, offers only about 23
shows a year for a major which includes 380 undergraduates. While
offering a bachelor’s of fine arts conservatory-style program which
accepts only 15 to 18 students a year, the school also provides a
mainstream program which seems similar to that of UCLA.
"With the bachelor of arts in theater, you can emphasize it for
things like acting," says USC theater student John Srednicki. "You
take all these required classes which include acting and production
and stuff, but the B.A. allows you to do more. You can have a minor
or a double major, where with a BFA, your schedule’s made up for
the four years."
Some UCLA students, however, opt to major in fields other than
theater despite their goals of working in the field. Kelsey Ryan,
for instance, a third-year English student, is currently taking his
sixth quarter of the musical theater workshop even though he
stopped receiving credit after his second quarter. His denial from
the film school after two years of enrollment left little time to
complete the theater major, though his creative writing classes
have proven enjoyable.
"I wanted an academic major, something that I could have that no
one else could take away from me," says sophomore communications
student Jill Simonian of her decision to disregard a theater
degree. "One of the girls that graduated from UCLA, she plays Belle
in ‘Beauty and the Beast’ on Broadway now, told me ‘If you go to
UCLA, all you need is to take John Hall’s musical theater workshop
and you have it made.’ She regretted that she didn’t get an
academic degree, and for me, I think it’s right."
Others still stick by their theater degrees at UCLA, though they
admit that problems do surface. Thomas Lenk, a graduating senior in
the field, finds fault only with the fact that his past two years
of classes within the musical theater workshop, which have provided
him with four mainstage shows in the music department, don’t
qualify as performance credit within the theater department. And,
even with the emergence of the musical theater major, his plight
will not be solved.
"I like the theater major because I’ve taken some rally
interesting classes," Lenk says. "But I’ve done all my productions
in the music department, which says something. But that’s fine. I’m
glad I’m at a school where I’m not restricted."