Graduate Acting Acting (M.F.A.) Judylee Vivier, Program Head Who are we? The MFA Acting program at Brooklyn College is intensive and demands a two-year full time residency committed to rigorous training in voice, movement, speech, acting, and theatrical analysis. Simultaneously, our students receive a myriad of performance opportunities in this professional environment that challenges them to apply the techniques and skills practiced in the studio. Guest directors and faculty direct four main-stage productions per year and the MFA directors direct five productions per year in the intimate New Workshop Theater. All the MFA and BFA actors work as a collaborative ensemble with the MFA directors, dramaturges, and designers. Professional workshops led by nationally and internationally acclaimed master teachers and guest artists support the training curriculum in this uniquely collaborative environment. What Makes Our Training Unique at Brooklyn College?
We look for a actors who are diverse, multicultural, and come from a variety of experiences: the more variety of study and experience our student body brings to the program, the more exciting the work that can be created, both in class and on stage. We are interested in the personal story of each individual as well developing an ensemble in each class. We seek individuals who are socially conscious, disciplined, and hungry for a new experience; individuals who desire a guided opportunity to look into themselves through the doors of varied techniques and skills that form the foundation for the acting craft; to acknowledge, confront, and release the physical, emotional, and psychological tensions and holding patterns that inhibit the full creative potential of 
the imagination, impulses, and truth of each actor. The emphasis of our training is therefore on the journey of the actor toward self-discovery: only then can they grow artistically and professionally. Our training is rooted in the work of Stanislavski and Michael Chekhov, but special attention is given to the development of a deep body-mind awareness in each actor. The approach to training is personal and nurtures each actor’s individual process, which demands the number of successful applicants be limited to 10 actors each fall. Therefore the selection and audition process is highly competitive. The first-year of study all the acting, voice, speech, movement, and improvisation studio classes emphasize the expansion and exploration of the actor’s imagination, the knowledge of the physical instrument and use of the self: the extension of the range of movement and the voice; power through full supported breath; greater awareness of body alignment and articulation. Most importantly, the program demands taking the risk to change and so heighten artistic and truthful expression. Second-year work extends and broadens the first-year with a focus on the demands of heightened language, elements of style, and modes of behavior in classical texts that require specific vocal and physical skills. Professional studio classes that prepare students for the “business of acting” are introduced: acting for the camera, audition techniques, and practical processes involved in becoming professionally employed, which includes the preparation for the actors’ showcase produced in Manhattan. Application and Admission to the MFA Program in Acting
Applicants must have or be about to receive a Bachelor's Degree (not necessarily in theatre) prior to applying for graduate admission. Previous acting experience is essential and the applicant must offer at least 18-21 credits in undergraduate theater, but equivalent professional experience is acceptable and will be evaluated by the Department. A 3.0 or better grade point average in the last two years of undergraduate or post-baccalaureate work is required. The GRE is NOT required for Acting applicants. Please note that due to the nature of our program, students may enter only in the fall quarter, we DO NOT accept transfer credits from other programs, and due to the intensive demands of the Acting Program, full-time commitment is essential on the part of every candidate. Because the focus of the training in the MFA acting Program is on the individual process, the class is small and only 10 graduate students can be accepted each fall. Candidates interested in applying should call (718-951-5666) or email Professor Judylee Vivier, Head of Graduate Acting at jvivier@brooklyn.cuny.edu for information about the program and/or an application packet. Stacey-Ann Foster in the Graduate Admissions Office will answer questions about the application process safoster@brooklyn.cuny.edu. Application Deadlines must be heeded: The applicant must submit their application materials to the Brooklyn College Graduate Admissions Office before the February 1st deadline. Copies of all the application materials must be submitted to Professor Judylee Vivier (Head of MFA Acting, Theatre Department, Brooklyn College, 2900 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11210-2889) to facilitate and expedite the application process. Application materials must include: 1.    A head shot and resume of previous theater training and experience. 2.    Three letters of recommendation. 3.    Official transcripts. 4.    A three page statement of intent explaining why you are applying to Brooklyn College for an MFA in acting. 5.    A description of the applicant’s current acting process: how do you approach the text and the development of the character? 6.    Be interviewed and present an audition. Please call Professor Vivier at 718-951-5000 ext. 2763 to arrange an audition/interview date and time immediately after the application has been submitted. This will expedite your application process. The Audition will typically consist of two two-minute monologues, one classic and one contemporary. It is important that your selections demonstrate your range. One monologue must be close to type. Applicants must audition in person unless travel is impossible, and only then will an audition on DVD or VHS videotape be accepted. International candidates must be fluent in spoken and written English, and must contact the International Student Office for further detailed information regarding the application process required for the international student at kforsh@brooklyn.cuny.edu or shirmac@brooklyn.cuny.edu. The selection and admission process is based on the candidate’s audition/interview held at the college in late February, undergraduate and/or professional experience, and letters of recommendations. Due to the intensive demands of the Acting Program, full-time commitment is essential on the part of every candidate. Evaluation and Continuation in the Program
Professional evaluation of the student's progress in the program is ongoing. Students are expected to meet a high standard of work and discipline, including maintaining a minimum 3.0 grade point average. Continuance in the program is dependent on the acting faculty's assessment of the individual's progress, commitment, and continuing professional promise. Participation in a thesis project is an essential part of the training. This is comprised of performing a major role in a department production during the second year of training and preparing a written MFA thesis on the development of the role and the actor’s process. The actor keeps a journal of the performance experience, which serves as a foundation for the written portion. Training
In the first-year the candidate, with the support and focused attention of the professional faculty, explores, expands, understands, and frees the body, voice, imagination, and emotions through the release of habitual tensions and holding patterns. In all the studio classes of acting, voice, speech, movement, and improvisation, the emphasis is on exploring the actor’s imagination, development of personal resources, and knowledge of the physical instrument, the use of the self, the extension of the vocal range, power through full breath, and greater awareness of body alignment and articulation, to encourage change and to enhance artistic and truthful expression. Second-year work extends and broadens the first-year with a focus on language demands, elements of style, and modes of behavior in classical texts that demand specific vocal and physical skills. Studio classes are also introduced to prepare students for the “business of acting”; professional auditioning and focus on the practical processes involved in becoming professionally employed. Our program is very intensive: from the very beginning students are cast in productions in the George Gershwin Theater and in our New Theater Workshop as well as in the MFA directors’ scene classes. At every stage we work with our students to open themselves up to new experiences and encourage them to take risks to grow and develop to their fullest potential. 
Required CORE of Courses First Semester (Fall) Theater 720.3X - Improvisation for the Actor I Theater 721.3X - Acting I Theater 725.3X - Movement for the Actor I Theater 727.3X - Voice Production for the Actor I Theater 734.3X - Diction and Dialects for the Actor I Theater U751X - Theater History up to 1642 Second Semester (Spring) Theater 729.3X - Improvisation for the Actor II Theater 722.3X - Acting II Theater 726.3X - Movement for the Actor II: Alexander Technique Theater 728.3X - Voice Production for the Actor II Theater U752X - Theater History from 1642 Theater 735.3X - Diction and Dialects for the Actor II Third Semester (Fall) Theater 723.3X - Acting III Theater 732.3X - Voice Production for the Actor III Theater 736.3X - Movement for the Actor III Theater U703X - Dramatic Structure I Theater 738.3X - Diction and Dialects for the Actor III Theater 777.12X - Practicum (a skill class) Fourth Semester (Spring) Theater 724.3X - Acting IV Theater 731.3X - Acting for the Camera Theater 733.3X - Voice Production for the Actor IV Theater 737.3X - Audition Techniques & the "Business of Acting" Theater 778X - Thesis Project Theater 777.10X - Practicum (Dictions and Dialects) Theater 777.11X - Practicum (Movement Skills)   
Faculty
All the Faculty members in the Acting Program at Brooklyn College, are experienced New York theater professionals who continue to work in their specific areas of expertise. Regularly, workshops and seminars are led by a variety of guest master teachers and artists. Productions
The Brooklyn College Graduate Acting Program offers the acting student abundant opportunities to be involved in production. The Department of Theater produces four mainstage productions a year in the 500-seat Gershwin Theater, directed by faculty and professional guest directors, as well as four to five MFA Directors' thesis productions in the flexible New Workshop Theater. MFA actors work on a continuing collaborative basis with their graduate-director colleagues in scene-study work for directing classes as well as on the directors' thesis productions. MFA directors are encouraged to plan for their own theater companies when they graduate, and their two-year collaboration with the MFA actors fosters valuable artistic relationships that endure well beyond graduation from Brooklyn College. The MFA dramaturges work on all the main stage and directors' thesis productions as well, as do the MFA designers who create and build the sets and costumes for all the productions. Besides providing an excellent experience of the collaborative effort that is fundamental to the creation of theater, we hope that this close cooperation between all the theater disciplines will help foster a network of theater professionals who will provide support and work for one another in the real world of professional theater, film, and television. Finances
A variety of Loans, Scholarships, Fellowships, and Graduate Assistantships are available by application to the Financial Aid Office and the Graduate Studies Office. They are awarded to First and Second year students based on need and achievement. The application deadline is February 1st. A number of Departmental Awards are also available by application after the student's first year of study. A Cerf Assistant is appointed to each program head and these are available to first year students who have extensive administration skills and experience.

We hope you have the information you need! 
If you have any further questions, you may contact Professor Judylee Vivier, Director of the MFA Acting program at jvivier@brooklyn.cuny.edu or 718-951-5000 ext. 2763, or the Theater Department at 718-951-5666, , or you may apply online.http://depthome.brooklyn.cuny.edu/theater/bio_vivier.htmBio%20Vivier.htmlhttp://depthome.brooklyn.cuny.edu/theater/bio_vivier.htmmailto:jvivier@brooklyn.cuny.edumailto:SAFoster@brooklyn.cuny.edumailto:KForsh@brooklyn.cuny.edumailto:ShirmaC@brooklyn.cuny.eduhttp://www.brooklyn.cuny.edu/bc/offices/finaid/http://www.brooklyn.cuny.edu/bc/depts/admin/deangrad.shtmlmailto:jvivier@brooklyn.cuny.eduhttp://applytograd.brooklyn.cuny.edushapeimage_2_link_0shapeimage_2_link_1shapeimage_2_link_2shapeimage_2_link_3shapeimage_2_link_4shapeimage_2_link_5shapeimage_2_link_6shapeimage_2_link_7shapeimage_2_link_8shapeimage_2_link_9shapeimage_2_link_10
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