Advice for High School Freshman

College Majors Musical Theater Major
1

<p>This is my first post here so a little bit of background. My daughter is a freshman in high school with a dream of pursuing a career in Musical Theatre. She has been singing since she was a tiny girl and is a soprano currently receiving classical training. When she was 9 she started performing with the local youth theatre and since then has performed in 17 productions. This is her absolute love and passion. She is likely considered a classic ingenue type in voice and appearance. This past year she has been cast as both Cosette in Les Mis and Belle in Beauty and the Beast. Vocally she excels and has a beautiful soprano voice with a very high range. She does not belt as it is discouraged by her voice teacher, especially for girls her age, but she is developing a good mix voice. She is developing some great acting skills and is taking ballet and tap to improve her dance skills. She is also a straight A student taking AP and Honors classes.</p>

<p>So I have found my way to this forum in an effort to begin planning ahead and be prepared to help support her dream of gaining acceptance into a Musical Theatre program. I have been reading through the threads here and have already learned so much but it all seems so daunting! Since she is just starting out her high school career I thought this might be a good time to ask for advice from the experienced parents and students here who have already been there - done that. Looking back, what tips and advice would you offer to a High School freshman in terms of planning and preparing?</p>

2

<p>Tell her to keep her grades up. Theater departments want smart kids, and it will help her with scholarships.</p>

3

<p>Look into some of the summer MT programs that are offered by universities. Many are very, very expensive and long, but there are also some that are cheaper, have scholarships and do provide excellent training and an opportunity to see how one’s talents and dedication match up with those of others. The 2 my daughter went to were at University of the Arts in Philadelphia and Oklahoma City University. Both also run very highly regarded and competitive MT BFA programs, so it’s also an opportunity to work with the college staff and get the flavor of the school. Both programs are excellent and students are very well monitored. I wouldn’t hesitate to send any high school student there. We live in Oregon, and I was impressed with the arrangements both schools made regarding my daughter traveling there on her own.</p>

4

<p>D began preparing when she was a Freshman in high school. I completely agree with jeffandann, good grades and test scores = $$$. D’s highest priority throughout high school has been good grades, although we recognize that her performance at auditions will be the most important factor for admission at most schools.</p>

<p>Here are some books that we found really helpful:</p>

<p>“I Got In” by Mary Anna Dennard</p>

<p>“Audition” by Michael Shurtleff (there are many good books on Auditioning)</p>

<p>"'Til the Fat Girl Sings: From an Overweight Nobody to a Broadway Somebody" by Sharon Wheatley</p>

<p>“Making It On Broadway” by Wienir, Langel, and Alexander</p>

<p>“Letters from Backstange” by Michale Kostroff</p>

<p>“Crazy U: One Dad’s Crash Course in Getting His Kid Into College” by Andrew Ferguson (this book is not about MT per se, but provides a great background that will help you cut through all the hype)</p>

<p>Lessons that help train your d in the many facets of MT are always good including (but not limited to):</p>

<ul>
<li>Voice</li>
<li>Acting</li>
<li>Acting the Song and Vocal Coaching</li>
<li>Piano and Music Theory</li>
<li>Dance: Ballet, Jazz, and Tap (in that order)</li>
<li>Audition Coaching</li>
</ul>

<p>My d has found that while she loves being in productions, her training has provided most of her growth and progress in the discipline. We have carefully balanced production work with training, avoiding “too many shows, not enough classes” as a potential pitfall over the long run (d played competitive sports for many years and learned that you develop more skills in practice than you do in games). We encouraged d to perform in more than just “mainstage” shows, including cabarets, improv, experimental theatre, one-acts, etc. in the mix.</p>

<p>Attending productions, especially professional productions, helps in many ways. Attending a broad spectrum of shows that includes Shakespeare, modern playwrights, cabarets, off-Broadway-type shows, etc. builds awareness of the many facets of the art. University productions are always good to attend. We found a program consisting of attending at least one production a month throughout high school has built a really strong foundation for d in theatre arts.</p>

<p>Attending at least one in-residence summer intensive, particularly one at a college or university, provides many benefits, including not only great theatre training, but the opportunity to meet students from around the country, live in a dorm, etc. D actually got the most out of attending a Shakespeare Festival Conservatory vs MT programs, so I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend broadening work beyond just MT.</p>

<p>Studying the Broadway Canon also helps when it comes time to select songs and prepare for college auditions. Likewise, becoming familiar with modern playwrights and their work also helps when it comes time to select monologues. Good books for this sort of effort include:</p>

<p>“Broadway: The American Musical” by Kantor and Maslon (written to accompany the PBS series, which I strongly recommend watching)</p>

<p>“The Art of the American Musical” by Davison and Bryer</p>

<p>Scott Miller’s series including “From Assassins to West Side Story,” “Rebels with Applause,” and “Deconstructing Harold Hill.”</p>

<p>Volunteering for a professional or community theatre company helps with your college resume while providing valuable insight into how the business really works. D has enjoyed teaching summer classes for elementary campers at a couple of the professional theatre companies around town.</p>

5

<p>Thank you all so much this is wonderfully helpful. As you know when you have a child with a talent and passion sometimes the hardest thing is just providing the right guidance and keeping them on a solid track but not allowing them to become stretched too thin and overwhelmed. My D is a real type A personality and sometimes my challenge is just slowing her down and making sure she isn’t pushing herself to exhaustion.</p>

6

<p>The other thing I would encourage is to let your kid be a kid. She will get one shot at being a high school student, one shot at going to proms and football games and dates and on and on and on. She’ll of course be in productions in high school (as mine was) and some of the summer programs mentioned are good, but let her be a high school student. She’ll never get that time back again.</p>

7

<p>My child, like yours, knew VERY EARLY that this was what she wanted. We started visiting schools her freshman year, one or two a year during her spring vacation. It helped her realize early how hard the process was and what was ahead. I think that was helpful.</p>

8

<p>Gosh! My daughter is so over being a high school student it’s crazy. She has been preparing for this for years and has been ready to move on for a good while now. If I told her to relax and enjoy high school she would look at me like I was nuts.</p>

9

<p>As both a coach and a medical voice therapist, I’d recommend getting a knowledgable outside source to hear her sing and gauge her vocal technique development and training path. There is so much confusion about singing terminology that sometimes students who tell me they are “mixing” are singing in a weak middle voice disconnected from their chest register, and sometimes they are singing with a mix that is very belty but also safe. I am wary of any teacher who discourages belting - that MAY indicate lack of knowledge of the many types of belting, lack of knowledge of the physiology of vocal damage, & a lack of understanding of the expectations of contemporary musical theatre, where vocal versatility is key for girls. Most girls who are wonderful sopranos, as it sounds like your D is, have a fabulous mix-belt just waiting to be freed. :)</p>

10

<p>actingmt: That’s your child. Mine wouldn’t have missed her high school experiences for the world.</p>

11

<p>Oh, and take ANY advice that CoachC gives. :wink:
She knows more about this than, truly, anyone.</p>

12

<p>Plays…read plays and go see plays. If I could change anything it would be my S would’ve taken one less dance class to make room for acting and he would’ve started searching for monologues much sooner.</p>

<p>The summer immersions he attended were also very valuable, not cheap, but valuable. He also made so many friends from all over the country at the summer intensives its likely he’ll already know somebody, should he be accepted, at the schools he’s applied to because of the summer programs he attended.</p>

<p>My S found a good balance between training and “being a kid”, he never missed a dance until this year’s homecoming but he’s taking a date from another schools to hers so he’s making up for it. I don’t think he’ll look back with regrets.</p>

<p>Keep those grades up! </p>

<p>On a parent note and I’m sure you are involved but I’m not sure what your school district is like, ours needs a ton of parent involvement. I lead all the other parent volunteers with coordinating lobby sales, publicity, the cast party etc. for our high school musical. Its a responsibility I am beyond thrilled I decided to take on and I will cherish those memories forever.</p>

13

<p>Jeffandann, my D, like yours, is treasuring her last year of high school. She has always been very involved with the different social activities and this year is no exception. She is very busy with other things outside of school, but doesn’t want to miss a thing. She is making it work!</p>

14

<p>It has been interesting for my wife and I, who both loved our comprehensive high school experiences, to have a d who was driven from day one of middle school theatre class to get admitted to our local, conservatory-style PA HS (which is extremely competitive for admission). And, once there, she has been driven with the same focus that is common among athletes, to be as prepared as possible for a “life upon the wicked stage.” The school describes their approach as a “pre-professional conservatory program” and d really loves it.</p>

<p>Her very favorite thing throughout HS has been her Saturday morning “Scene Work” class where she, and her hard-core theatre friends from around the city, analyze, discuss, and perform from the modern playwrights canon with local professionals. She has zero interest in football games and many of the social activities that her friends at comprehensive high schools typically enjoy. She and her PA friends most like to get together to attend museum exhibit openings, shop at retro/thrift clothing stores, see avant-garde theatre in a warehouse in a sketchy part of town, and proudly wear their, “Undefeated Since 1971” football jerseys (a sarcastic reference to the fact that their school has no sports teams of any kind). </p>

<p>D’s school does get really excited by the annual YoungArts competition, where they have routinely produced Presidential Scholars in the Arts, and the annual “Name That Book” area competition, which they usually win. A key highlight of their school year is Halloween, which celebrates diversity in all its forms, and usually features some costumes that many would find inappropriate (and would probably get you suspended from many comprehensive high schools). She and her friends spend weeks planning their costumes and associated “schtick.”</p>

<p>What I have found most interesting, is that last summer she opted out of attending a summer intensive in favor of a family trip to London (we could all go to London for the cost of one of these programs…). She explained that she felt she was getting enough training during the year, and wanted to spend time with us, see lots of museums and West End shows, and walk all over the city. Her absolutely favorite thing about the trip was attending a production of “The Tempest” at the Globe.</p>

<p>My wife and I are constantly amused and amazed by our theatre kid and how different she is from us, when we were in high school. Although, perhaps, maybe not all that different: I was a “gym rat” and d is a “theatre rat.”</p>

<p>She loves every minute of it. </p>

<p>It takes all kinds.</p>

15

<p>Yup, mine went to one football game in 4 years and came home upset that her friends wanted her to scream out there in the cold and she was worried that her voice teacher would be upset. Zero interest. </p>

<p>Interestingly, my non-theater son never attended a game. He’s very athletic but just thinks that’s a silly sport and often laughs about the football players crashing into each other for an hour and calling it practice.</p>

<p>I do think if kids do pre-professional or professional work during high school going back into the high school drama department can sometimes be a little frustrating.</p>

16

<p>Yes! For sure, Coach C knows of what she speaks! We had a local voice teacher that said the same thing about not belting . . . we educated ourselves and had great assistance in the form of the fabulous Coach C and her awesome MTCA coaches. I know for a fact that if we hadn’t taken the counsel of Coach C that my daughter wouldn’t have gotten into the programs that she did. Her type requires her to be a mixer/belter and we were certainly too green to have known that. Thank goodness we didn’t listen to the old-school-thinking voice teacher. </p>

<p>That brings me to the other point . . . you don’t know what you don’t know. Coaching is one way to enlighten yourselves, and, I agree with Christie2 and others who said a summer program is a great idea to see where your kid stacks up and what work she has to do to be on par with the fierce competitors she’ll face at auditions.</p>

<p>I don’t know your daughter’s type, but whatever it is, I highly suggest ramping up the dance lessons. My girl isn’t really an chorus/dancer type, but maybe she could have been had she started dance much earlier. </p>

<p>Best wishes!</p>

17

<p>This is all such valuable feedback. We are definitely encouraging her to enjoy her high school years and in fact she is at a Halloween event at the high school right now. She is attending a slightly non-traditional high school based at our local community college that allows her to take college classes and get dual credit. It is only available to a select group of students who meet the high academic criteria and it is a small school, but they go out of their way to make sure there are plenty of social activities including dances. </p>

<p>I really appreciate the vocal feedback Coach C. While I love her vocal teacher and appreciate her point of view which is more classically and operatically based, I do feel my daughter has the potential to develop her belt safely and we will look at opportunities for appropriate training. The fact she has such a lovely and strong lyric soprano voice is a blessing, but she doesn’t want to be limited. I know that her voice teacher would dearly love her to consider a future in opera, but that is just not where her heart is. But she has agreed not to rule it out either and will be taking Italian at the college next semester. I know there are some schools that have some crossover between their MT and Opera programs with a greater emphasis on classical vocal training, so depending on how her training evolves those might be good options for her. And I wouldn’t even have known about them if I hadn’t been reading here!</p>

<p>The advice about the summer programs is very helpful as well. We live in Southern CA and both Pepperdine and UCLA offer programs that we are reviewing. I think for her first one I would like her to be a little closer to home and then maybe she could venture further abroad before her Junior year. But these comments really enforced to me how important maintaining her training classes is. She does love the productions and they are very time consuming and she tends to let her dance slide when she is in a lead role as she has been twice this year. Right now she is really recommitting herself to her dance schedule and I will really encourage her to stick with it. Her theater company is going to be doing Pirates of Penzance next year and it is likely she will be cast as Mabel, but we will do what we need to do to keep the dance up. </p>

<p>And I appreciate the encouragement to attend lots of plays, cabaret, local and regional musical theatre. Thankfully living near Los Angeles we have many opportunites and in fact have tickets to see Audra McDonald in just a couple of weeks. And earlier this year we attended a concert featuring Bernadette Peters and another one with Patti Lupone and Mandy Patinkin. I love the idea of studying plays and I think I will try to encourage her to look into a couple of theatre classes at the college.</p>

<p>I just can’t thank all of you enough for such terrific guidance. I have a feeling this board will become my go to place while navigating the next few years!</p>

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<p>Mbjarvis64: It is awesome that your D has been studying classical voice and I would say from experience that it will definitely work in her favor for certain schools. For instance, my D (a coloratura soprano) has been taking voice lessons since middle school and has won as many awards/state competitions/ NATS competitions, etc. as she has won musical theatre awards. Fortunately her classical voice teacher has also been musical director for many area musical theatre productions and has a good handle on the MT style as well. When my D went through Unifieds in Chicago there were several schools (Boston, Carnegie Mellon and I think Ithaca if I remember right) that commented on the classical stuff on her resume. They were very complimentary to her about those experiences, and Carnegie even mentioned that they liked the fact that she was so well rounded. It appears that Carnegie was looking for a lyric soprano this year and my D was thrilled to get on the waiting list for Carnegie. Who knows what each school will be looking for this time around, but in my opinion your Ds classical training will serve her well through this crazy process!!! Best of luck to her :)</p>