Welcome to the Performing Arts Division and the Theatre Arts Department!
In this video, Theatre Arts Chair David Krasner shares an overview of the program at Five Towns College.
Theatre Arts at Five Towns College
Overview
Five Towns College is an accredited institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Theatre (NAST). The Theatre Arts program at Five Towns College offer rigorous, conservatory-style training for students pursuing professional careers in acting, musical theatre, and the performing arts.
For the Fall 2026 semester, Five Towns College is proud to introduce two new, specialized Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.) degrees: Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting and Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre. Students can pursue focused pathways aligned with their artistic strengths and career goals. In addition, students may begin their studies through two-year Associate degree programs in Theatre Arts, providing a strong foundation and a pathway toward advanced training.
Students interested in professional careers in acting, singing, dancing, and performance will receive a conservatory education supported by experienced faculty, industry professionals, and extensive performance opportunities. Through hands-on training and individualized mentorship, Theatre Arts students develop their craft while building the skills and confidence necessary for long-term success.
Bachelor of Fine Arts Degrees
Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting (B.F.A. in Acting)
The B.F.A. in Acting is a rigorous, conservatory-style program designed to cultivate versatile and professionally employable actors for theater, film, and television. Students receive intensive, individualized instruction from industry professionals, with comprehensive training in core acting methodologies, stage combat, acting for film, musical theater, and improvisation. The curriculum is structured to develop the student’s individual artistic voice, support a disciplined creative process, and foster advanced levels of professional readiness for careers in performance, directing, or continued graduate study. All actors perform in the Senior Showcase for agents and casting directors.
1. Develop Advanced Performance Competencies
To cultivate a high level of proficiency in core acting methodologies—spanning theatre, film, and television—through sustained, intensive training that integrates voice, movement, character development, and text analysis within a conservatory-style curriculum. Specific training in Stanislavsky System, with additional training in Meisner, Adler, Strasberg, Hagen, and Michael Chekhov.
2. Foster Artistic Identity and Creative Inquiry
To support the emergence of each student’s distinct artistic voice by promoting reflective practice, disciplined creative processes, and critical engagement with the aesthetic, historical, and theoretical frameworks that inform contemporary performance. Specific training includes stage combat, accents and dialects, commercial voice over work, and other physical, dance, and vocal skills.
3. Prepare Students for Professional Integration and Lifelong Practice
To equip students with the knowledge, skills, and professional behaviors necessary to enter the acting profession, including an understanding of industry standards, union practices, collaborative production processes, and the expectations of Actors’ Equity, the Screen Actors Guild, and related professional communities. Students will prepare resumes and have experience in professional audition settings.
At the Five Towns College Theatre Arts Conservatory Acting Training Program, you will not only earn a prestigious Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.) degree but also will prepare for a career in performance with the following:
- Emphasis on acting for stage, screen, film, and television
- Emphasis on Voice-Over Acting (Voice and Diction 2)
- Freshman acting showcase at the end of the Freshman year
- Six fully mounted productions every year, half musicals, half plays
- All Freshman audition for every show immediately upon arrival
- Students are encouraged to find performing work even while at school
- Acting Training in the Stanislavsky Method for stage and screen
- Acting Training based on the great teachers: Michael Chekhov, Strasberg, Adler, Meisner, Hagan
- Movement Training in Suzuki, Laban, Circus Techniques
- Stage Combat
- Comedy Improvisation Class
- Voice and Diction, Accents and Dialects Classes
- Multiple opportunities to act in student films
- Show Business Career training, building your website
- A yearlong Senior Showcase training, culminating in performances in New York for agents and casting directors (we average 50% immediate signing with agents every year)
- You will be taught by graduates from Carnegie Mellon (CMU) and Cincinnati Conservatory of Music (CCM), receiving the same rigorous training at considerably less expense
Next Open House is Sat. August 10th!
Call Admissions at (631) 656-2110 or RSVP below!
Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre (B.F.A. in Musical Theatre)
The B.F.A. in Musical Theatre is an intensive, professional-track program providing comprehensive training in acting, singing, and dancing. The curriculum supports advanced creative development and prepares students for careers in the performing arts through staged productions directed by industry professionals and cabaret performances in New York City. Students also train through semester-based dance classes in ballet, jazz, tap, contemporary, and theatrical styles, as well as weekly private voice lessons and intensive acting instruction. As with the actors, musical theatre actors perform in a Senior Showcase.
1. Cultivate Advanced, Integrated Performance Competencies
To develop students’ mastery of acting in techniques such as Stanislavsky, singing styles from Golden Age through contemporary Broadway, and a variety of dance styles including ballet, jazz, tap, hip hop, and theatrical dance through comprehensive, sustained, and methodologically grounded training that reflects current professional standards in the musical theatre discipline.
2. Advance Artistic, Creative, and Aesthetic Literacy
To foster students’ individual creative development and aesthetic understanding by engaging them in diverse performance experiences, critical inquiry, and reflective artistic practice informed by established pedagogical and industry frameworks.
3. Prepare Students for Professional Entry and Industry Engagement
To equip students with the professional discipline, technical proficiency, and industry- specific knowledge required to compete successfully in regional, Off Broadway, and Broadway contexts, and to participate effectively in the artistic and institutional practices associated with Actors Equity and the broader entertainment community. Students will prepare resumes and have experience in professional audition settings.
At the Five Towns College Theatre Arts Conservatory Musical Theatre Training Program, you will prepare for a career in performance and musical theatre with the following:
- Emphasis on the triple threat of acting, singing, and dancing
- 19 Dance Classes, with public dance performances at the end of every year
- Yearlong Music Skills training in keyboard, sight singing, and music theory
- Yearlong Music Theatre class in Ensemble singing, dancing, and acting
- Freshman acting showcase at the end of the Freshman year
- Six fully mounted productions every year, half musicals, half plays
- All Freshman audition for every show immediately upon arrival
- Students are encouraged to find performing work even while attending school
- Private, one-on-one individual vocal coaching lessons for 1 hour per week, every week
- Two Concert Cabaret performances in New York City per year
- Acting Training in the Stanislavsky Method for stage and screen
- Business of Show Business Training, building your website
- A yearlong Senior Showcase training, culminating in performances in New York for agents and casting directors (we average 50% immediate signing with agents every year)
- Additional classes (electives) in Acting for Camera, Comedy Improvisation, Voiceover Training
- You will be taught by graduates from Carnegie Mellon (CMU) and Cincinnati Conservatory of Music (CCM), receiving the same rigorous training at considerably less expense
Performance Opportunities
Through coursework and practical application on stage, Theatre Arts students receive all the training aspects of a conservatory, with the added benefit of a small college environment that affords individualized and personalized attention.
The Five Towns College Performing Arts Center hosts mainstage productions of musicals, dramas, and comedies directed by experienced professionals. Students also perform in a Studio Theatre and participate in a wide range of community and New York City-based performance opportunities.
The focus is on hands-on training, wide-ranging performance experiences, and a Senior Showcase in the final year, where students perform before invited agents and casting directors in New York City.
On Stage at Five Towns College
Highlights from recent Theatre Arts productions at Five Towns College.
Hairspray! at the Five Towns College Performing Arts Center
Overview of dance training at Five Towns College
Two-Year Degrees in Theatre Arts
Five Towns College offers two types of Associate degrees for students interested in Theatre Arts.
The Associate of Occupational Studies (A.O.S.) degree educates students and prepares them to transfer with advanced standing to a baccalaureate program where additional professional training may be undertaken. With this degree, students benefit from the conservatory approach to training in Theatre Arts at Five Towns College, including exposure to Acting and Musical Theatre.
In addition, Five Towns College offers an Associate in Arts (A.A.) in Liberal Arts with a concentration in Theatre, providing a strong academic foundation combined with performance-based study.
FTC Alumni Productions
The FTC Theatre Arts experience extends beyond graduation through a vibrant network of alumni productions and professional collaborations. Graduates of the program continue to create, perform, and contribute to the performing arts industry across theatre, film, and television. During the summer of 2023, the FTC Alumni Productions performed – Almost Sunshine; in 2022, they performed Skirmishes. Follow @FTCTheatre on Instagram to see clips of all performances.
Podcasts & Media
Actors, musicians, music producers, engineers, filmmakers, educators, executives, broadcasters, and everything in between are featured in the Beneath the Bright Lights podcasts. Click here to stream other episodes via this website, or subscribe to this podcast via Spotify. Also, don’t miss our Theatre Arts Chair, David Krasner, in his latest podcast, offered via the FTC Sound Stream by clicking here.
Please visit the FTC Official YouTube Channel to view the Theatre Arts Division Playlist here.
Additional Information
- Learn more about Theatre Arts Division auditions
- For curriculum and faculty information, view the current Five Towns College Catalog
Your Path Starts Here
At Five Towns College, Theatre Arts training goes beyond the classroom. Students become part of a creative community where collaboration, discipline, and artistic exploration come together to shape the next generation of performers.
👉 Ready to take the next step?
Apply now or request more information using the form below to begin your journey in the performing arts:
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