I went to the Youth Performing Arts School in Louisville, Kentucky. It's been awhile, so my feelings are colored by a fair bit of nostalgia. Let's see, it was attached to a magnet high school with a math/science magnet, a communications major etc. so everyone at my school had a major. I had seven periods a day (they've gone to block scheduling), two hours of theatre classes, one hour of playwrighting/directing, and usually one hour of some elective relevant to my major (dance class instead of gym, for example). The seventh period was extra, most people didn't have one, and I had to take foreign language classes at night at UofL on my own dime (I couldn't fit them in and they were a graduation requirement). Other than that I had normal high school classes. A lot of my teachers were crazy (that will continue on if you study the arts.  ), but it was great being in classes with people who really loved what they were doing, and doing shows all of the time. Mostly I just remember being SO BUSY. It seemed like we were always in rehearsal, a lot of times late at night. During the New Works Festival I'd be involved in three-four shows at a time. We were also very cliche, in that we were angsty drama geeks who smoked. I don't recommend you do that. I did give me a focus that a lot of high school kids didn't have, and surely helped a great deal when I was auditioning/applying for colleges. The down side was that there are only so many days in a row you want to rehearse Trojan Women scenes in class before you need to start screaming.
You live in Indiana right? Have you checked out Butler? That's where I did my undergraduate degree. They have awesome theatre and vocal departments, and great access to study abroad. They're doing a lot of very cool, very interesting shows there. Let me know if you want more info.
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Re: P.A. Schools
