<p>Josh Gad is an exception. If your kid sings and acts like Josh Gad, by all means, hold out hope for CMU. Here’s the class of 2013 (I hope CC lets me post YouTube clips? If not, go to YouTube and search for “CMU Drama Showcase 2013.” I rest my case.</p>
<p>BTW, SpotConlon, I wasn’t saying the kids were cookie cutter. I wasn’t saying they aren’t unique. I was saying they are all beautiful and commercial. B/c I thought that the OP and following posters weren’t really asking about schools who put out “cookie cutter” kids…they wanted to know if their kid, who doesn’t look like a model or an ingenue, can really be considered at certain schools. And I maintain, despite the occasional Josh Gad, that almost always, schools like CMU take the gorgeous kids. If your kid is different looking, not your classical beauty, but has an incredible voice and acting ability, yeah, of course you have a chance. But that chance is a lot less than the 5’8" 125 pound gorgeous girl. Just sayin’… again, it is NOT a slam on CMU. I think CMU is arguably the best program out there. Props to them for being able to attract such applicants that they can afford to take all the gorgeous ones. They’re still talented kids. Their kids get work. </p>
<p>I think people are talking on this thread of two different things. The OP seems to be asking if certain programs mold their students to be “cookie cutter” types…possibly future chorus casts, etc. Others are talking about who is ACCEPTED and if a certain look is necessary at certain programs. </p>
<p>First, I really get sick of the use of the term “cookie cutter,” and I feel no program really wants to put out cookie cutter actors. I just don’t think they do. And I also think some programs use this term to put down other programs or say that they “don’t put out cookie cutter actors like X program does!” For example, when my kid was applying to college, I recall students at another highly regarded program saying, “don’t go to NYU…they put out cookie cutter chorus members!” Well, my kid did go to NYU/Tisch. The students in the program were hugely diverse and unique by ethnicity, height, weight, looks, including character types. Looking at my own D and her peers, many have gone onto successful careers and been cast in parts, not ensemble (though nothing wrong with ensemble). My own kid never auditions for chorus in shows and doesn’t think she’ll ever be in one as she is not really the chorus type and is also just 5’3". My kid is not an ingenue type either. She is thin, however. Having visited many other programs, I saw unique diverse types at many of them. One that comes to mind is BOCO. And graduates from many of the well known programs are working professionals and many are being cast in parts, not chorus, and are not “cookie cutter.”</p>
<p>In terms of who is accepted, sure, each program differs in what they are looking for. I would agree that at some programs, and CCM comes to mind as an example, the students are typically good looking and not character types and none appear to be overweight much. However, there are exceptions, as my D’s close friend went to CCM and she was just 4’10". I don’t totally agree with someone else about CMU…I do think the students are generally very good looking, but are unique and there is a lot of diversity in their looks. Even my own kid who was Priority Waitlisted at CMU would not be described as the gorgeous ingenue girl. </p>
<p>To the OP, there are many photos of graduating seniors or showcases at various schools and that may give you an idea of physical types and whether there is some diversity or not. I know you say you are not really a chorus type and are more of a character actress, and many schools accept that type. Do you have NYU on your list? They surely accept that type. There is a place for you.</p>
<p>Thanks for coming out and saying it, VeritasMT! I guess that basically is what I was asking xD And oh my gosh, I just realized one of the kids in that video graduated from my high school! (My mom is friends with his mom.) Also, can someone explain “ethnically ambiguous?” Does that just mean non-Caucasian or does it mean someone who could play a variety of ethnicities? I’m technically white but I’ve been told I look Hispanic, Asian, Inuit, Hawaiian, and many others. I guess it’s the Eastern European Jew thing!</p>
<p>Ethnically ambiguous means that someone can’t tell your ethnicity jusy by looking at you. When a person sees you, they might say, “Hmm, I wonder if she’s half black, half white, or is she Hispanic, or maybe hslf Asian?” etc. If you look in Backstage Magazine, there’s a lot of casting for that type right now.</p>
<p>Also, thanks for the advice SoozieVT. I’ve looked at some of those showcase photos, and I found that Webster and BW had very diverse types. Also, like I said in the original post, a lot of schools say they like odd or unconventional types. I read an article where Vicky Bussert said she likes to put square pegs in round holes or something like that…I believe it’s on the BW website. Also, I did a workshop with one of the Texas State faculty and he said “we like the oddballs.” It seems like a lot of the schools just want kids to come in as themselves, though some take the marketability thing into account.</p>
<p>MTVT…I know you live in my state and have the same voice teacher as my D had here before college. Do you go to a public school here in the state or an arts boarding school out of state? I ask because the CMU grad in that showcase from our state (I’ve met their dad before) went to an arts boarding school. If you do go to that arts boarding school, they should be able to advise you on which programs where you may be a good fit. But even your voice teacher (yay B.R.!) has worked with some many people in this field and may have some input on this for you too.</p>
<p>Yeah, I changed my name on here because I realized how stupid it was to literally have my full name as my username! Anyway, I don’t go to a boarding school (unfortunately, that is not in the budget). My teacher and I have talked about this a tad before, we are currently working on summer program things, but I will ask him about it specifically. I have a lesson tonight I’m also going to ask about the ethnic ambiguity thing, because I’m not sure if that will work in my favor or not.</p>
<p>MTVT…on the ethnic ambiguity thing, I agree with what Bethsmom posted in post #24. It is typically someone with an ethnic look where one can’t quite tell which ethnicity they are but they are not 100% Caucasian, and in some cases, are mixed race due to a mixed marriage of their parents. If you are truly fully Caucasian, I doubt this applies to you. For instance, you seem to be saying that you have the appearance of East European Jewish, and that really isn’t ethnically ambiguous, in my opinion. My own daughter falls under that description, but is 100% Caucasian.</p>
<p>In any case, say hi to your voice teacher from Susan in Vermont, a mom of his former student (from a ski area in the mountains) who is a Tisch/NYU MT 2009 grad…if you say that, it may be enough, but could also mention the girl who sang “Life is a Bowl of Cherries” on crutches at his presentation at the Flynn prior to the Audra McDonald concert. :D</p>
<p>bisouu, sorry but I can’t keep up with CC’s PM box as another message center. If you click on my member name, and then go to “send an email,” I prefer that method. Thanks.</p>
<p>My take-away from our CCM experience has been: The program faculty expects their graduates to be fully prepared to step into a Broadway-level show or tour the moment they step off their senior showcase stage. That gives CCM four years to take a talented high school student from kid to professional adult. Ive been analyzing the class makeups since 2009. Some classes have had a wide variety of looks (like the class of 14 & 16) some classes have very similar looks (13 & 15.) I perceive that CCM staff looks at that 4-year window and asks the question, Do we think this person will be employable in 4-years? I believe that is the very practical, over-arching philosophy of assembling classes, rather than purely on looks. Remember: Our kids are going into an industry where, initially, they only have a few minutes to convince someone to give them a shot at a job. Industry expectations are for highly talented, specifically skilled, and in some cases photogenic performers.</p>
<p>ManVan is correct. Different schools look for different things and talent level and looks are among them. Talent level is not the same as talent. It’s the process of developing talent and where the student is in terms of preparation. The high school musical lead is not the same as a highly-trained national award winning kid. Sometimes, there are exceptions and random things that happen, of course. But after watching kids from our area get accepted and rejected from various schools for a coupe of years now it looks to me like this is all part of fit and really hard to predict without a lot of information that so many auditioners just don’t have.
CC readers are very lucky!</p>
<p>soozievt…I honestly don’t think I am but other people seem to? Eastern European Jew is what I actually am, but I don’t think I particularly look that way. All that ethnicity stuff is based on what I’ve been told by others. So I’m not really going to think about it, but if colleges think I look that way, fine. I will say hi for you :)</p>
<p>I think the senior class at all the top MT colleges is going to have a very glossy appearance, compared with the high school students who will be auditioning to get in. They will have spent four years in rigorous training, dancing every day, subjecting every aspect of their bodies to severe review. </p>
<p>My kid says that all the students in his MT program are good looking in their various ways. “At least,” he amended, “they are capable of being good looking. Most days we all look a mess.”</p>
<p>I’m with prodesse. “Glossy appearance” is going to be aided by great lighting, and a need to put one’s best foot forward as a senior. I’m fairly sure most MTs are a hot mess most of the time because they are likely living on zero sleep. But they clean up beautifully no matter what their size and shape because true talent makes one’s pre-existing biases about physical perfection, melt away. </p>
<p>Not an MT but Matthew McConaghey anyone? 2005 Sexiest Man Alive? Have you seen Dallas Buyer’s Club? Would you turn around if that Matthew walked by you on the street? Goes to show you how looks can be deceiving. So I seriously have my doubts that schools that seem look for that sort of thing in barely 18 year olds are creating a competitive edge worth chasing and also… I seriously doubt that even if it works in the short run, it means anything for the long run.</p>
<p>One needs to only attend their 20th or 30th high school reunion to get my point. Sorry for the prospective students that don’t get what I mean by that but ask your parents… :)</p>
<p>Everyone grows in 4 years. If you compare what my class looked like when we came in as freshmen and what we look like now… almost completely different people in a couple of cases. There are many people who actually came in more unique looking and now are more “cookie cutter” after 4 years of training. I think I came in trying to be sort of “cookie cutter” during my auditions for BFA programs and have instead become more unique and figured out who I am during these 4 years.</p>
<p>Some schools are more likely to take people who are “diamonds in the rough”, looks and talent wise, and some schools want more polish. Even from high school seniors who haven’t fully blossomed into themselves yet.</p>
<p>SpotConlon said, regarding CMU: “Their faculty has even said, ‘[they’ll] take whoever comes in and gives them the auditions that click the most and forget the rest.’ I guess it’s worth mentioning that their is one white student in their junior musical theatre class.” </p>
<p>Here is the rub: What constitutes “what clicks” in a given year? By that I mean, what criteria are they looking for in a given year that makes it “click?” Their junior class is a statistical improbability, and actually a statistical near-impossibility given the MT audition pool. Great for the kids who were accepted. But it doesn’t hold weight statistically.</p>
<p>What does that mean about the junior CMU class, exactly ? I am totally confused…</p>
<p>I am convinced there is a significant difference in the students coming out of the some of the top programs but I attribute that to the kids accepted in the first place rather than any magic that happens at the school.</p>
I’m also going to ask about the ethnic ambiguity thing, because I’m not sure if that will work in my favor or not.</p>