<p>I know there's a thread on Summer programs, but I was curious as to what the current juniors/Rising seniors were actually doing this summer. Most likely, they're all going to be prepping for auditions starting in the fall....that's a given! I would like to know what programs/camps they're attending, jobs, etc.</p>
<p>My D opted not to attend a summer program this year – even though I tried to talk her into it. She’s very stubborn and wants to do things her own way.
She is taking a summer school class to open up a class period next year so she can be a Peer Group Leader for freshmen. She is going to work with her MTCA coaches and continue voice lessons. She is going to take some private dance. She has applied for an internship with a casting company (still waiting to hear if they have a project for her to do) and she’s auditioning for a community theatre production. She also will be doing ACT tutoring.
It sounds like a lot – it would have been easier to send her away – but, as I said, she likes to do things her own way.</p>
<p>My son is attending the Governor’s School for the Arts in our state for three weeks. He’s also been asked by a local dance teacher to teach an acting class at her school, which quite amazes me.</p>
<p>In January, my S auditioned for 2 summer opportunities: a summer performing (singing) job at Busch Gardens and for VA Governor’s School-- vocal performance concentration (they don’t offer MT). </p>
<p>He made it through the first Busch Gardens cut, but no further. (No surprise, really… they do a lot of auditions at colleges, and he just doesn’t have their experience… But hopefully will in a few years!) We found out 10 days ago that he was accepted into Gov School. It’s highly competitive, with only 20-25 boys and girls, total, (and probably only 8-10 boys) selected state-wide, so we were thrilled! It’s a 4-week program at a university about 4.5 hours away. It’ll be a good experience for him-- living in a college dorm with a roommate, eating in the cafeteria, and doing his own laundry. Good college prep!</p>
<p>He’s going to try to find a regular job around Gov School, but it’ll be hard. He will continue to take private voice and dance lessons, in addition to working with his MTCA coaches via Skype. We briefly thought about trying to get him into a “big name” summer MT program, but it just wasn’t going to happen for us. Can’t do everything… All those private lessons add up, in addition to a life event/party happening with younger brother in June.</p>
<p>My D just auditioned and was accepted into a regional theatre’s summer program. This program runs for 8 weeks and consists of a morning acting program and an afternoon musical theatre and advanced acting program, 6 days a week from 9 to 4. She attended last year and absolutely loved it. She will also work with her MTCA coaches and continue voice lessons. Busy summer!</p>
<p>My S will be attending the CMU Pre-College program. He changed his focus from Jazz Studies (Drum Set) to Musical Theatre last December. I’ve been scrambling to find assorted lessons. We are in a large state with a small population and the pickings are slim. I knew I could never pull off a DVD for an auditioned program and felt that CMU would be a great opportunity for him to learn, be with others who have the same love of theatre, and for him to find out how he stacks up in comparison. He is a big fish in a very little pond. He is very excited and in Seventh Heaven. I’m on a crash course of learning about jazz pants and gasp…Dance Belts!</p>
<p>My daughter has quite the summer planned (she’s actually a sophomore, but wanted to really start getting ready for college auditions) first, she’s spending a week at Interlochen for their music theatre intensive, then she’s doing a week of ballet intensive. Next, she’s attending Oklahoma City University’s Music Theatre 3 week program, then a week at Michigan State for Take it from the Top Advance Workshop. She’s ending out her summer with 2 weeks at Boston Conservatory for Artsbridge. </p>
<p>It’s a busy summer, but figure she can start working with faculty from different colleges to get a feel for what will be a right fit (last summer, she did MPulse drama program).</p>
<p>Wow - that does sound like a lot, momma bear26. We could never afford to give our child a summer like that - I hope she enjoys every minute!</p>
<p>All of you using MTCA are EXTREMELY smart to start this early! I don’t know what I would’ve done without them. If you’re thinking of starting in the Fall I STRONGLY advise against it, you’ll be way behind.</p>
<p>yes, dreambelle-- We are very glad we started early with MTCA. (early fall of S’s junior year). We’ve gotten a lot accomplished so far. Decided to sign on with after a very good friend of my son’s didn’t get in anywhere last spring-- and this girl was talented! She just did the whole audition process wrong-- no back-up/safety schools, no monologue coaching, and few other things I shake my head at now. It was heartbreaking to watch unfold. We weren’t going to let that happen to our son.</p>
<p>As a high school senior, our daughter is still determining summer plans for this year , but I wanted to share with you a few thoughts. Over the last few years, she has been fortunate to attend summer programs at OCU and MPulse at Michigan. These were very eye opening as far as figuring out what type of school and campus she felt most comfortable with and also to get to know faculty, see what studying MT in college might be like, etc… I would highly recommend attending a college campus program at some point if possible for those reasons. Other suggestions:
Summer before senior year advice: She spent much of last summer working with her coach, on selecting monologues, doing script analysis and preparing for auditions. She also worked with another coach recommended by Mary Anna on song selection. She was able to attend a master class taught by the director of one of the top college programs in the country. And she also started working on applications and essays. Her goal, which she achieved, was to have all of her applications in by October - and she did! She also worked on preparing the material for her pre-screen auditions and made arrangements to get this filmed. Doing these things early enabled her to schedule auditions early so we did not have any issues with getting the audition dates she wanted. We even started looking for audition dresses and dance wear so that process was not rushed either. Don’t underestimate the time it could take to find just the right audition apparel! This was also a good time to take head shots, prepare her resume and get her book in order for the upcoming year
Summers before Sophomore and Junior Year:
During these summers (when she attended OCU and mPulse) these were also great times to take advantage of touring colleges in which she might be interested in applying in a casual way. On our drive to Michigan we drove through Ohio and did some official and some unofficial tours of CCM, Otterbein and Baldwin Wallace. On the way home we drove through Pennsylvania and toured Point Park and Carnegie Mellon. While in Chicago for a totally unrelated event, we took the opportunity to go visit CCPA and Northwestern. We just really tried to at least drive through campuses if they were nearby. I would just recommend you use these years to visit campuses if they are close to where you are traveling for any reason. We were able to take some schools off of her list based on these visits. It also made it much more clear to her what type of school she was looking for. These were very relaxed, informational visits. No pressure. What she discovered after these visits was that, much to our surprise, she decided not to audition for any big city schools. She decided she would be distracted by all that city living has to offer and thought a more remote campus would help her stay focused. After all, she says, her ultimate goal is to live and work in the city, not go to school there! Just a personal choice for her - but visiting campuses helped her arrive at that decision for herself. I’m sure others may realize that it is NYC or bust for themselves and that is good to know too! Just visit as many places as possible to see where you have the most comfort level.
Summer is a great time to learn and prepare. It is still hard for me to believe we are done with this process. And although quite relieved, in some strange way I envy those of you getting ready to audition this upcoming year. Now that we’ve been through it once, I think we would know so much more this time around! Best wishes to all of you! And remember to enjoy this time. As stressful as it can be, the time I spent with my daughter throughout this process is something I will always treasure.</p>
<p>Marbleheader - it sounds like a crazy/busy summer, and it is - but you have to realize that many programs do offer scholarships, especially if you apply early. My daughter spent many hours figuring all of that out, then spent countless hours preparing her audition videos/dvds and completing the applications by the deadlines (almost all by herself). Plus, where we live, through the community there are scholarships available to use on the summer training programs of your choice (after filling out long applications/writing essays) she spent many hours working on that too (as well as working part time when she was in rehearsals). None of it has been easy - she’s actually #2 of 6 kids, but she is very dedicated to making this happen, and knows that if she wants to really attend college/have a career in this, she needs to get as much training as possible now to prepare.</p>
<p>Mommabears26- It is amazing what our children can accomplish when they have a passion for something. It is beautiful to watch! Looking forward to seeing where she lands!</p>
<p>My D is attending BTP for 3 weeks, and then her PA Studio is doing a production over 3 weeks in August that she will participate in. Plus - continuing to work with MTCA coaches to prep for audition season.</p>
<p>My daughter is finishing her junior year in high school, and her plans are to attend a college for a major in musical theater after graduating in 2014. Her top school choices are (of course): NYU, Michigan, Boston Conservatory, CMU, Cincinnatti, and AMDA. She’s been accepted to BUSTI, CMU, and University of the Arts for their summer programs, and we don’t know which one to choose because we don’t know which will best prepare her for college auditions. Also, BUSTI isn’t primarily MT and they don’t offer a BFA in MT, so we’re leaning toward CMU or UArts. She already takes classes at Pittsburgh CLO, and although she’s a triple threat, her voice is the best of the 3 areas, with acting & dance not as strong. We’re really at a loss, so any input would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>For sure, BUSTI isn’t MT oriented, although the kids do sing (my son said last summer they had a group voice class every other day). If your daughter wants to challenge and expand her skills and identity as an actor, BUSTI would be fantastic, but if she specifically wants to be able to polish MT skills, it wouldn’t be the right choice. They do work intensively on monologues and audition (for acting) preparation at BUSTI and at CMU, too, I know. My son found the long time span and fairly realistic immersion in “BFA life” to be very valuable aspects of BUSTI. She has great choices; perhaps it’d help to talk to some students who attended the various programs to see if one school sounds like the best fit in terms of people.</p>
<p>Mommabear26 - your daughter sounds like a real go-getter! Good for her to do all that work, and I’m glad it allowed her to set up such a fun summer. I am jealous . . . S is more of a “see what drops in his lap” type of kid. The skills learned by your daughter will serve her well next year when she gets into the college search.</p>
<p>Well my S’s summer plans just changed dramatically - he had been cast in a regional professional production of Music Man which he was very excited about and was to have been basically his whole summer - 4 weeks of rehearsal and then a 6-week run - but he hurt his knee a few days ago in dance class. Just got the MRI results back - a tear of the ACL and the medial meniscus. So instead he will spend the summer in physical therapy. As they say, life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans! Hopefully he will heal well and won’t require surgery.</p>
<p>Oh, how disappointing for him, and painful!</p>
<p>Perhaps he can take an acting class during the summer instead.</p>
<p>Zebra runner, so sorry–we went through this last year with a succession of ankle injuries (including a fracture requiring surgery, hardware, etc.)–painful in every sense of the word. Hope he really can heal and rehab w/o surgery–please keep us posted!</p>