A chorus line of brightly dressed Drake Musical Theatre students raise their arms and legs during a production number

Musical Theatre Major

As a Musical Theatre major, you’ll sing, dance, and act on stage multiple times throughout your four years at Drake while receiving an education that explores every aspect of a production.

Apply

College of Arts & Sciences | On-Campus

What You'll Learn

To build a career in musical theatre, you need to be adept at singing, dancing, movement, voice, piano, music theory, and various acting styles. You’ll take classes in each of those disciplines at Drake University, as we prepare you for a life on the stage. But we also go far beyond. Here, the Musical Theatre program includes deep experience in every aspect of a production that starts in the classroom and extends to experimental and Main Stage shows.

By the time you graduate, you’ll have honed your skills as a performer, as well as a director, designer, stage manager, and choreographer. You’ll not only develop respect for everything that goes into putting on a show—you’ll also have the résumé that qualifies you for jobs across the industry, even if they’re outside of musical theatre.

Audition Requirements

About the Musical Theatre Major

Balance is an integral part of our Theatre Arts programs, including in our curriculum, our majors, and our lives.
Learn how to act, sing, and dance, as well as build a network and audition.
Most Theatre students at Drake find paying roles before graduating, including in Des Moines and in various locations over the summer.
The Drake Curriculum, steeped in the liberal arts, delivers skills you’ll draw on in your personal and professional lives.
Participate in five to six productions per year in our black box space, the William S.E. Coleman Studio Theatre, and the 460-seat Performing Arts Hall.
Prospective Musical Theatre majors must prepare an audition for entry into the program and to be eligible for performance scholarships.

Program Facts

121-124 total credits; 90 credits in musical theatre
On campus
Full-time
Four years to completion

B.F.A. in Musical Theatre

Musical Theatre students practice routines, vocal lines, and character development with experimental productions, classroom performances, Main Stage shows, and opportunities to work professionally in the Des Moines community, as well as in summer performances and internships.

Musical Theatre Minor

Round out your talent toolkit with classes in singing, dancing, movement, voice, piano, music theory, and various acting styles. Then, bring them to life through participation in classroom, Main Stage, and experimental productions.

Musical Theatre Concentration

Students majoring in Vocal Performance can boost their artistic versatility by choosing this concentration, which includes additional courses in acting, movement, musical theatre history, and dance.

Vocal Music Concentration

Lean into your status as a singing actor and broaden your performance range in this concentration open solely to Musical Theatre majors. In it, you’ll study music theory, piano, vocal pedagogy, and vocal literature while participating in an ensemble (choir or opera).

Erin Degner

Associate Professor, Theatre

Dr. Michael Rothmayer

Associate Professor, Theatre Arts; Department Chair, Theatre Arts

Noah Files

Director, Theatre Design/Technology Program

Erik Meixelsperger

Assistant Professor, Theatre

John Pomeroy

Professor, Theatre Arts

Taylor Mayne

Teaching Artist, Voice

A Drake University Musical Theatre student wearing a silvery blue headwrap and purple velvet cape shrugs their shoulders and arms during a stage production

Student Productions

Put your talent to the test in any of the productions staged on campus every year by the Theatre Arts Department. Typically, you’ll participate in five or six of those, often working side-by-side with faculty designers and directors.

A student from Drake's Musical Theatre program holds a rig supporting a lighting setup from backstage

Summer Internships

Make insider connections and gain professional experience. In recent years, Drake students have interned for the Santa Fe Opera, the Utah Shakespeare Company, and the Goodman Theatre company.

Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center

Our partnership with the O’Neill Center in Connecticut gives you access to one of the country’s premier launchpads for new talent: O’Neill alums have won every major award in the theatre arts.

A Drake Musical Theatre student in a plaid skirt and double-breasted blazer sings a solo in front of a chorus for a local school production

Local School Productions

A theatre role model may have inspired you to perform. You can have that kind of influence at Drake: our students have been hired to teach, direct, and choreograph at local schools and theatre companies.

Two Drake Musical Theatre students in athleisure take direction from a faculty member in a black box setting

Industry Preparation

Drake students have acted, directed, stage-managed, designed, and served as crew members for every theatre in the area, including StageWest Theatre Company, Repertory Theatre of Iowa, and Des Moines Community Playhouse.

A group of Drake students pose among an old building's arches during a study abroad trip

Study Abroad and J-Term Seminars

Select students may study in Russia or London through the O’Neill Center. Every other year, Theatre faculty take Musical Theatre and Acting majors on a J-Term Travel Seminar trip to New York City. There, students work with theatre professionals on auditioning and performance technique and have the opportunity to see Broadway productions.

Careers & Skills

Drake isn’t a conservatory—it’s a liberal arts institution where you can train for a career in theatre. That means that, in addition to the classes in your major, you’ll also build skills in communication, scientific and quantitative literacy, historical consciousness, and seven other areas that are part of the Drake Curriculum. By the time you graduate, you’ll be prepared to be both a leader in your art, as well as in society.

With this background, Musical Theatre majors enter the field directly, pursuing opportunities in Chicago, Minneapolis, New York, Los Angeles, and other performance centers, or attend graduate school to develop their craft further.

Opportunities

Broadway productions
National tours
Regional theatre
Teaching
Radio/television
Graduate study

Skills

Voice classes focus on both musical theatre and classical techniques
Learn to move freely, dance, and apply the craft of acting to your performances
Learn music theory and how to play piano
Develop skills in communication, critical thinking, and problem solving
Get a wide-ranging education that prepares you to be a theatre artist, not just a performer

Go for it. That’s one thing Musical Theatre alum Molly Mayne, AS‘16, learned after her initial forays onto the stage post-graduation—and it’s a lesson she passes on now to her students at Patapsco (Md.) High School, where she has taught theatre since 2022. “With my first couple things, I was afraid to make big choices,” she said. “My first role didn’t have any lines, but it was all inner monologue, and that helped me grow. I had to make sure I was telling the story with my whole self, not just my words … I feel like I’ve opened up more and am able to not worry about what other people think. Now I just go for it!”

Take the Next Step

Work with faculty on productions that will bring out your best. Learn more about our Musical Theatre major.

Request Info Visit Apply

During a production's chorus number, Drake Musical Theatre majors squat and point forward while wearing various sweater and denim ensembles