Belmont University’s musical theater program has been named among the top 10 in the nation, according to OnStage Blog. Ranked at No. 5, Belmont’s Bachelor of Music in Musical Theater was included because of a variety of criteria including performance opportunities. The Bachelor of Music is set apart from a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree for musical theater because students are required to take more music focused class, according to OnStage Blog. Classes include conducting, piano and more extensive study of music theory, all of which Belmont offers.
The ranking’s features included Belmont’s annual New York taken during Fall Break. While traveling, students have the opportunity to see shows, attend a master class and meet with alumni at a networking event. Students also have the opportunity to focus on the business side of musical theater.
Belmont musical theater has a variety of alumni and former students that have starred on Broadway or in traveling shows. Alumni include Ben Laxton (’11) in “The Book of Mormon” on Broadway, Rebecca Covington (’05) in “Beautiful: A Carol King Musical” on Broadway, Katie Ladner (’13) in “Wicked” on Broadway, Deonte Warren (’10) in “Aladdin” on Broadway, Candace Quarrels (’17) in “Hamilton” in Chicago and Lissa de Guzman (’16) in “Aladdin” National Tour. Notable former students include Chris Lee who starred as Lafeyette/Jefferson in “Hamilton” in Chicago and has starred on the hit television show “Empire.”