Looking for an MFA program?

[where2go]

Hello all,
I know this has been addressed a few times, but I'm looking for an mfa program and have some specifics in mind that I haven't found in any other posts. I don't particularly care where it is, I'm more interested in the quality of the program.

So I'm a technical director looking for a program that covers rigging, pneumatics, hydraulics, motors but will also allow me to really hone my skills in fine woodworking, perhaps furniture making, thermoplastics, etc.
Ideally I'd love to study motors and mechanics as they apply to prop making.
I'd also love to have a better base knowledge of sound so I could do it if I had to. I've heard delaware PTTP is ideal, but they don't have a class until 2012.

I'd appreciate any input or thoughts. Thanks so much!

[gafftaper]

I think I remember reading that UNLV does some cool stuff with machinery, rigging, and automation that has tie ins with Cirque du Soleil in Vegas... not sure about that.

Ruinexplorer can you comment?

[ruinexplorer]

Well, I don't know specifically how the program at UNLV works, only what I have read. From what I know, many of the shows in Las Vegas are looking to build great technicians that they can pull into their shows. I guess it goes along with not being able to "teach an old dog new tricks." I have read about some of the projects that Cirque has done with some of the graduate students and know of a few of the students at UNLV that work part time on Cirque shows (not as interns, but on-call technicians). So, as to some of your other requests about fine woodworking and thermoplastics, I think many of these skills will come from internships. When I was down in Phoenix, one of the sceneshops was run by an old Englishman who turned his nose at powertools. He didn't consider anyone a craftsman if they didn't know how to use manual hand tools. On the other hand, some of the Vegas shows are becoming so technical that they don't exclusively hire theater people. Shows like O and La Reve will hire outside of theater to maintain their water systems. At KA, I believe Cirque even interviews military employees who have specific knowledge in hydraulics. I think that there have been some other threads here on CB that talk about combining theater and engineering degrees.

It sounds like you have two desires, one to be a technical director, and the other to be a quality props maker. I have heard about some fine schools for technical direction (I will have to look them up) and that is a very admirable direction to go. I can't say that those schools correspond to excellence in property construction. If you had a desire to go one direction, which would it be? Do you have a desired employer? Gilderfluke and company is a higly respected manufacturer of robotic/animatronic and sound systems for themed environments. Is that the type of company that you desire to work for? If so, I would advise you to contact them and see what they desire in future employees.

[dbthetd]

I'd be happy to talk to you about Carnegie Mellon's program. I think we could pu together something very attractive to you.

email me at dboevers AT cmu DOT edu

[where2go]

Thank you so much gafftaper, ruinexplorer and dbthetd. There's some good stuff here for me to consider and I'm investigating all your suggestions.
Cheers!