@rickle1 congrats!! I’m sure our kiddos are going to get to know each other very well ( if they don’t already!)
@rickle1 - Congratulations and welcome to the Molloy/CAP21 family! Make sure to tell your story on the Final Decisions thread!
@rickle1 - Congrats & Welcome. It is so nice to be able to move forward!
@2020MTMom , @EastchesterMom , @waitingforlife Thanks so much. It is great to be done and know where she’s headed. She’s super excited. Just popped her head in my den and said “I’m zooming with the Molloy kids in 5 minutes”. That’s a great start.
April 8 happens to be the 6th anniversary of my D’s acceptance to Molloy/CAP21… still a day of celebration in my house, because today is when the dream began to be realized.!
Congrats @rickle1 on surviving the journey and welcome to the Molloy/Cap21 Family!
^ Thanks!
Woo Hoo! Congratulations @rickle1 ! So happy for your D - and Welcome to the family!! 
Hi, I have three questions about Molloy’s BFA Theatre Arts (MT) program:
- Ave. "door-to-door" commute time from where Theatre Arts students live to:
(A) Molloy classes in Manhattan and
(B) Molloy classes in RVC
My understanding is 2X/week in Manhattan and 3X/week in RVC freshman year and then 3X/week in Manhattan and 2X/week in RVC for remaining three years.
If students are too disbursed, please provide a range and median values for the data set you know.
- Pros and cons from a professional preparation standpoint of the project-based approach at Molloy (as opposed to a traditional show-based approach at most other MT programs), and how many shows does a Molloy student do over the four years?
- What tech requirements are there over the four years from a coursework standpoint (I didn't see any in the curriculum) and from a project and / or show standpoint?
Thank you for your help in answering my questions.
Hi @Twelfthman I’ll try to answer what I can, but I think it would be great to hear from some of the parents of the graduates. @Eastchestermom always has good input.
The commute from RVC to the Manhattan Centre and back is around 75 min depending on which subway/train they catch. Most people move off campus in their Junior year. A few move off campus their sophomore year. It seems like most live in Ridgewood (Queens) or Bushwick (Brooklyn). Seems like the commute is about 30 min by subway to Manhattan from both locations. It’s about 45 min by train to RVC from Bushwick. You’re much better off having a car from Ridgewood and then I think it’s about 30 min. to RVC by car. The train commute is a little less convenient from there… A lot of the kids try to take their Molloy classes online starting their Junior year so they minimize or even eliminate the trip to campus.
In terms of professional preparation, from what I know - in a program that does traditional mainstage performances, you may or may not be cast the entire way through your program whereas everyone participates in the performance projects. The students in a particular class do everything for their projects. I suspect that there is a lot more collaboration. One of the projects is writing their own musical from start to finish. Another is work-shopping a brand new pop musical. Although they do everything for their performances, I would say that the lowest focus is in the technical side of theater. I think that there are possibly opportunities to do tech for the performing arts club or even the Madison theater, but S hasn’t looked into that.
@Twelfthman My D is a junior. She moved off campus her sophomore year. She lives in Ridgewood. It takes her about 40 min to get to CAP in Manhattan. Their apartment is about 8 min from the subway and they are one of the early stops so they are always able to get seats and it is not a bad trip. As for the trip to RVC, either she or one of her roommates has had a car since they moved to Ridgewood. It is about a 30 min drive. They all drive over together and occasionally coordinate with others that live near by if their schedules don’t line up. They do take some online classes but next Fall is the first semester that she will not have any classes that will require her to travel to RVC.
As for shows v projects, I will agree with @speezagmom in that the main benefit is that they all cast in each of the projects. I will also add that the projects are similar to doing shows in that they get to put what they are learning into a performance. But with the projects, they develop the material themselves rather that relying on well developed material. You asked how many shows they do over the 4 years, starting sophomore year they do a project each semester so that is the equivalent of 6 shows. But they also have the opportunity to audition for the Madison Theater shows. Most CAP students are in at least 1 Madison show each year, some more than 1. These shows are not always full musical projections, some are concert style or musical reviews. For example here are the shows that I know for sure had some CAP performers last year, along side of equity performers.
-Little Shop of Horrors - presented concert style with some choreo
-West Side Story - also concert style with some choreo
-A Dream is a Wish Princess Concert - this is a show with all the Disney princesses that the Madison Theater has developed
-A Chorus Line - this was a full production that brought in a director that has worked extensively with Baayork Lee from the original cast. They did all the original choreo.
- Give our Regards to Broadway- concert with choreo
- The Madison Theatre Christmas Celebration - this is another show that the Madison has developed that they usually do every year but starting this year they plan to alternate it with Elf: The Musical.
Having more of the concert style shows makes it easier to participate in the shows because if they were all full musicals they probably wouldn’t have time for rehearsals in addition to their projects.
Regarding Tech - they don’t have tech requirements in their curriculum but if that is something they are really interested in they do have opportunities at the Madison. My D has not done any of this so I don’t have a lot of details. I would imagine this is easier Freshman year when they aren’t rehearsing for projects and are living on campus.
Hope this helps, good luck to your D.
@Twelfthman - I agree with my colleagues, @waitingforlife and @speezagmom. Please understand that the Projects format does not deprive your student of performance opportunities… it enhances them. The CAP21 motto is: “ We don’t just perform the musical theatre canon; WE ADD TO IT.” The famed CAP21 curriculum is modeled on the Projects, which are original compositions. What will your child learn from doing Guys and Dolls over and over? Answer: not much, because it’s been done a thousand times. What will your child learn by putting on the stage an original composition that he or she created? Do I really have to answer? This is the CAP21 method, and not for nothing, IT WORKS. If you need further proof, just look at the success of Class One … these kids hit the ground running and have been booking consistently, on national tours, regional theater, and cruise ships. My D has worked nonstop since graduation, and I have to tell you, that’s more than I can say for many of her peers. For my money, there is no finer education or preparation anywhere that will prepare your child for the real world. And that includes the commute to and from campus. The trip is part of the learning experience… this is what it’s like to be a working professional in NYC. Hope this helps!
@twefthman - I happened to think of this reading the last post from @EastchesterMom. We’re from a mid-western “city”. Not sure you can call it a city - about 170,000 people. Although I have experience with trains and subways in many cities in the US and internationally due to work travel, I was a little nervous about my son doing that travel by himself. (Why - I’m not sure since I had to figure it out on my own for the first time at about 20.) NYC was one subway I didn’t have experience with - and it was intimidating. Paris, London, Dublin, DC, Chicago, Boston - piece of cake. NYC - Scary. After we visited and did the commute route together, I was far more comfortable. Now I think - he has commuted all over the city in a pack with his classmates. He will have an apartment starting this summer or next school year - whenever he can move back. What if he went to school in the middle of the country and wanted to move after graduation? It would be completely foreign. Because of this program and the commute, they learn the city and the transportation. By the time they graduate, they’ve got an apartment and can hit the ground running. I firmly believe as @EastchesterMom says - the commute is part of the curriculum.
Consider this, too… getting professional training in NYC has its advantages. My D and her classmates started auditioning while they were still in school. They got the jump on their peers who went to school elsewhere. I’m just sayin.’
I may not be the best person to chime in being that my D just committed to Molloy/Cap 21 sight unseen, but the commute is actually appealing to me. I love the opportunity she will be getting to train in NYC, that’s an advantage that was hard to ignore. But the neat thing about the commute is I know she won’t be doing it alone, she’ll be with her cohorts that she already knows and loves a lot of them, but she can retreat to a small school and recharge. She won’t have to be in the big City 24/7 that first year so I can rest a little knowing she has the dorm in the small college environment.
When Class One were freshmen, we parents were told that the dorms were for freshmen and sophomores only, and upperclassmen had to move off campus (this is the case at many colleges, including mine, back in the days of the dinosaurs). There was a ruckus from some parents who thought their Cappie would have the “small campus / big city” experience for four years. I can’t remember whether it was Frank Ventura or Henry Fonte, but one of them told us that living in NYC was part of the education of a NYC actor. Guess what, the kids loved it; it did wonders for boosting their confidence and independence. They need to spread their wings, and we need to let them fly.
@EastchesterMom - Can you please tell me how many graduating classes Molloy/Cap21 has had so far? Also can you talk about the success of the alumni? I’m having trouble piecing that info together. Thanks!!
@frisbee3 - The Class of 2020 is the third graduating class. As to alumni success, I can speak only to Class One, my D’s class, which graduated in 2018. As I have said, my D has worked steadily since graduation and currently is on her second contract with Celebrity Cruise Lines (she says a third contract is in the works). Of her cohort whom I know well: one is modeling and has had two national tours; one has done national tours, regional theater, and a TV show; two besides my D are on cruise ships; one has a recurring gig at a theme park and has done two regional tours; one has done Off-Broadway; one is a member of a NYC improv troupe; one moved to Washington, DC and has had three local acting jobs, she is also a model; one is a musician at Bach to Rock music school and has done regional theater. In a field where unemployment is the norm, I find these accomplishments to be phenomenal. I have friends with kids in this business who went to well-known schools who are still waiting for that first gig.
Don’t get me started on the CAP21 track record when it partnered with NYU and also ran a two-year independent program: Matthew Morrissey, Lady Gaga, Nikki James, Anne Hathaway, Kristen Bell, just to name a few. Are the current crop of Molloy/CAP21 alums going to be just as successful? You bet.
@EastchesterMom - thats incredible! Congrats to your D! Also could you talk about summer stock and success there? And how hard is it to get into the Molloy Theatre shows? Thanks again
@frisbee3 - I can’t remember how many worked in the biz while they were still in school. My D did summer stock after junior year and again after graduation. After sophomore year, she worked at the Madison Theatre. Many summer jobs are obtained via audition for collectives: A1 Conference, Straw Hats, UPTA, NETC, SETC, MWTA…there are quite a few.
Re the Molloy shows…do you mean the Projects or the shows at the Madison? The latter are sold online on the Madison Theatre website: https://madisontheatreny.org.