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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."