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Musical Theatre, B.F.A.
Undergraduate Degree
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Program Overview

Music, singing, acting, dance: Musical theatre has it all. From classics like Carousel to the recent blockbuster Hamilton, musical theatre entertains, engages and excites audiences and performers worldwide. If you hope to be Broadway-bound someday, Marshall University can help to prepare you.

Get in-depth training and experience with the unique Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degree in Musical Theatre at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. Just launched in 2020, the Musical Theatre BFA degree program brings together the expertise of two outstanding Marshall schools: The School of Music and the School of Theatre and Dance which jointly offer this bachelor’s degree in Musical Theatre.

Musical Theatre majors complete a comprehensive, professional degree program, balancing study in music, theatre and dance, to build future careers as musical theatre performers.

Marshall University has a long history in the performing arts and has produced stage shows continually since the early 1920s.

Marshall’s distinctive Musical Theatre degree program is designed for students who want to pursue professional work in musical theatre. Success in this competitive field requires proficiency in singing, acting and dance, and the BFA in Musical Theatre provides excellent instruction and mentorship as well as numerous opportunities for performance experience.

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Program Highlights
Solid Foundation

Success in this competitive field requires proficiency in singing, acting and dance, and the BFA in Musical Theatre provides excellent instruction and mentorship as well as numerous opportunities for performance experience.

The Musical Theatre degree program offers a diverse array of courses. Majors in the Musical Theatre program receive focused and intensive study and performance to grow as actors, dancers, singers and musicians.

Dedicated Faculty

The School of Music and the School of Theatre and Dance both have outstanding faculty who are committed to student success and to delivering the personalized instruction that performing artists need. Professors in the BFA in Musical Theatre program, all of whom are experienced performers and practitioners in the theatre and entertainment world, are able to effectively mentor students in shaping their talents.

Unique Support

Marshall’s Center for Wellness in the Arts, based in Huntington, WV, is one of the few programs of its kind nationally. This specialized center is staffed by licensed and skilled professionals to provide educational, preventive and therapeutic services relating to wellness and injury prevention in the performing arts.

Featured Courses
DAN 305 - Dance for Musical Theatre
Various dance forms and styles necessary for musical theatre. Training in rhythm and coordination with emphasis on classic and modern techniques and routines.
MUS 310 - Perf Arts Entrepreneurship
Skills required to create careers as entrepreneurial performing artists or to supplement an arts career in entrepreneurial pursuits, including planning, self-promotion, networking, audience building, and marketing.
MUS 496 - Musical Theatre Capstone
A culminating Musical Theatre performance and critical self-reflection. Students develop proposals with input from faculty mentor.
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Career Opportunities
The BFA in Musical Theatre degree program, which offers extensive training in singing, acting and dance, prepares students for entry into professional musical theatre careers or for graduate studies in Musical Theatre. Actors face intense competition for jobs. As the BLS reports, most roles, no matter how minor, have many actors auditioning for them: “For stage roles, actors with a bachelor’s degree in theater may have a better chance of landing a part than those without one.”
  • Choreographer
  • Dancer
  • Musician or singer
  • Music director and composer
  • Producer
  • Director