Drama vs musical theatre?

[Watermelon999]

My daughter is looking to study either drama or musical theatre/performing arts. We have looked around a few places and understand that there is usually an audition process for the more practical courses. Are there any pros and cons or anything else to think about (eg future career options) when comparing a more traditional drama course, albeit with a large amount of practical content at a traditional university compared to a more practical musical theatre type course at a less traditional uni? Obviously the drama courses have a higher theoretical content and don’t include dance or singing etc but presumably these could still be persued in a society? Would a drama degree lead to more career options in the future outside of the arts industry?

There is a huge difference between a university based degree course and a drama school (especially those within the Federation of Drama Schools) not least the industry liaison that the drama schools have. If your daughter wants to be an actor I would seriously suggest she applies to drama school. In her third year she will be seen by casting directors, agents, producers, directors none of whom usually come to see a university show (with the exception sometimes of Oxford or Cambridge).

Does she want to do Musical Theatre? Her singing and musicianship will already have to be of a pretty high standard to get in to one of the Musical Theatre courses at a good drama school. I'm tagging in Comefromaway because they have a huge wealth of experience on this and much as I'm an agent of many years standing, their advice is great on drama school applications.