Elon University

College Majors Musical Theater Major
361

<p>WOW everyone, Elon sounds absolutely fantastic!!! I have a couple questions, and I scoured all 24 pages of this thread, so I really hope I'm not repeating anything!!</p>

<p>What do you think of the faculty at Elon? How are your lessons, especially private voice? How large of a component is dance, especially to get into the program? Are there other opportunities available outside of MT- acting,directing,crew, anything?!</p>

<p>Thank you all so much! Good luck this school year.</p>

<p>p.s. I really think I'd ought to come down and see Cabaret... And then down again for Phantom of the Opera :D</p>

362

<p>LesMiz - Great to hear from you. I do think you should get to Elon for a visit and especially to see one of their productions, which are always fabulous!</p>

<p>I am just a mom of a son in MT at Elon. From reading your note, I went back to page 1 of the thread myself, as I was the one who started the thread way back in my son's junior year of high school. Re-reading that first page absolutely brought tears to my eyes. I started the thread because in the big CC discussions about 3 different times, I had read people asking if anyone had ever heard of Elon. I compared it in that first posting to a couple of schools that were getting heavy discussion on CC back then. We had, at the time, finished about 2 years of visiting a whole bunch of schools with MT programs and seeing shows and meeting faculty whenever we could. From our first visit to Elon, I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that it was the right school for my son. He liked and auditioned for many schools and had a great selection of schools where he was accepted. Miracle of miracles, he has now started his second year at Elon, and the school has probably surpassed our expectations! I'll try to answer your questions below, but feel free to send me an e-mail (not a PM) - get to e-mail from the drop-down menu on my name.</p>

<p>I looked back at that first page of the thread to find names of some of my now-best real life friends whom we've gotten to know through CC along the way (kaysmom, the second post-er, and my mom contact and friend close to Elon! 2DsnMT and Mtmommy who became my close friends when our kids did OCU camp together and are still my close e-mail correspondents and friends! southernvoice, who may not post much anymore, but whose beautiful and talented daughter at Elon was a dance partner of my son's in a show last year). </p>

<p>The one that really made me cry was Elonactress who jumped in right away on page 1 with a student perspective. I am so proud of that talented young woman who has now graduated (a year ago) and is in the national equity tour of High School Musical, which is coming to our city in a few months! I hope she doesn't mind me sharing this.</p>

<p>Now, I haven't answered a single of your questions. There are others who can do a better job than me on most of them. I can't imagine a more talented group of faculty members anywhere (including all areas of acting, singing, and dance). Everyone raves about their various voice teachers - all of them seem to be great. The students are so very talented, I think as a result of the great training. Many dance classes are available, with quite a few excellent teachers (who also started a dance BFA this year). There is an acting BFA and there are plenty of stage crew opportunities. We've known people in the past who have specialized in stage management and technical theatre areas. Yes, many opportunities exist. All freshmen are required to tech / crew a show.</p>

<p>The dance audition was new last year, and I don't know how large that component is for getting into the program.</p>

<p>To conclude, I think Elon is a jewel of a school for many reasons.</p>

363

<p>While I was writing my reply, I see my friend Ericsmom has also posted. We are probably Elon's biggest fans! </p>

<p>Well I’m not an Elon student, but my daughter is a freshman in the MT program. I’ll just begin by saying she has been there for three weeks of classes so far, and I can’t even begin to tell you how much she loves Elon! To answer your specific questions: She loves the faculty, both in the performing arts department and in her academic classes. She loves Cathy McNeela, the head of MT, she lives on the Arts Community floor (had to apply for that, write an essay, and be chosen for it) which is headed by Richard Gang, one of the acting professors. She loves him too and has him for Acting I this semester. Tons of work, she goes non stop most days with 20 credits hours this semester, but I honestly haven’t heard a single negative comment about any of her professors, classes, or anything else! The professors all seem to be supportive of the students and Cathy tries very hard to create a “family” in the MT department. If the students want something, they ask and if it can be accommodated, seems like they will try. My D, for example, is a dancer. She was worried about continuing her pointe skills, which is not something that most MT kids care about, but she feels it might help her in certain auditions (Phantom for example) so wanted to maintain the skills. She asked her ballet teacher if she could take class on pointe, and the teacher actually seemed pleased that she had asked and encouraged her to do that! I think that response is fairly typical of Elon faculty.
Voice lessons are one hour per week, taught by faculty or adjunct faculty. The day before classes started (the freshmen moved in four days earlier) all freshmen sang for Cathy McNeela and the head of the voice department. Voice studios were then assigned. My D already loves her voice teacher and feels she is a very good fit for her and very knowledgeable. Her previous voice teacher was a faculty member at Syracuse University (where we are from) and she feels she is receiving voice training in a similar style and which she is very comfortable with. They are required to prepare ¾ classical selections and ¼ MT selections each semester.
Dance is a great component of Elon’s program, and can be a large component if you want it to be. As a dancer, that is one of the things my D loves about Elon. First semester freshmen are required to take Dance for the Musical Stage, and generally take one other dance class-either ballet or modern this year (not sure if that is always the case). The freshmen are all in the same Dance for MT class, but were leveled through their audition for the other dance classes. Most are in Ballet I or Modern I. However, some are in higher levels. My D was assigned to Ballet III. To increase her dance classes, she was allowed to add Jazz III and Modern III this semester also. She is dancing 12 ½ hours per week in addition to her other classes! I don’t believe other freshmen are taking this many dance classes, although I know a few are taking three. But again, the Elon faculty were supportive of her scheduling needs. As for the importance in admission, I think Elon looks for dance ability, but I don't think it is necessary to be a lifelong dancer by any means. Move well, follow directions well, try hard, be enthusiastic. That would be my advice, but that is only from the parent perspective. I don't actually know what the faculty at Elon think!
Yes there are other opportunities outside of MT. As a matter of fact, all students in MT are required to audition for both the musical productions (fall and spring) and the straight plays ( three per year I think) and also are able to audition for the fall and spring dance ensembles if they choose to. My d was very fortunate to be the only freshman girl cast in the fall musical, Cabaret. She is beyond ecstatic about that! And is busier than ever, since rehearsals started last Sunday! One of the current sophomore students is assistant choreographer. One of the current juniors is assistant director. There is a class in directing offered to upperclassmen I believe, taught by Fred Rubeck, head of the performing arts department. There are tech requirements, but I don’t know what they are yet!
Elon also has master classes with theater professionals. This week Allison Spratt who is an Elon graduate, currently in Curtains on Broadway, came to campus and taught a Tango from Guys and Dolls one evening, as well as the Dance for MT class the next day. My D says she is amazingly talented, yet one of the nicest people she has ever worked with! Olympia Dukakis is coming to campus in October. Hal Prince is coming in the spring. I’m sure there will be others.
If anyone has any other questions about Elon, just ask and I’ll try to answer, or find out the answer. I can’t say enough about the quality of the education my D is receiving there!
Oh, and LesMiz08, it’s great to see a production at Elon. We actually saw Urinetown on our first visit during my D’s junior year, Carousel during my D’s audition weekend, went back in February to see A Day in Hollywood, A Night in the Ukraine, and went again in May to see the spring dance production. We have never failed to be incredibly impressed!</p>

364

<p>Ditto.........I second and third all of the above!!!</p>

<p>My daughter is a Junior MT(transferred from elsewhere second semester Freshman Year). She absolutely LOVES it there also! </p>

<p>Loves her voice teacher! Hers went to the audition to tell her how she did, I suspect others do also. Loves ALL the dance teachers...is taking 4 dance classes this semester! Dance is emphasized so non or not so strong dancers improve greatly while there!! Good dancers get even better due to the quality and variety of instruction. She too, loves Richard Gang, especially his speech and dialect class. She is busy morning, noon and night also, 8 classes in all. Kids in the program are very supportive of each other and many become great friends. There is much interaction between Fr-So-Jr-Sr and they end up knowing each other fairly well! I know this all sounds too good to be true but this honestly how it is there!</p>

<p>She is excited about Cabaret, will be a Kit Kat Girl named Texas!</p>

<p>I too, will be happy to answer any questions about the program or school. Email is best! Take care!</p>

365

<p>Hi to my Elon mom friends above (and my son is great friends with both daughters, also!). Ironic how I knew you ladies from CC before our kids knew each other!</p>

<p>Showmom points out how close the kids are to one another. My son was so anxious to get back there to see all his friends this fall, even after a wonderful summer of making many new friends and doing some fabulous summerstock work! It's really great to see the relationships they build at Elon and how much they do support and cheer for each other in their various successes. Nydancemom mentioned the "family" - yes, I think very true.</p>

<p>FYI - both of the above girls went into Elon already very advanced talented dancers, among other skills. I wanted to point out that not everyone goes in as advanced dancers and not everyone becomes advanced, although all take dance. Elon's requirements are flexible enough to allow one to take various classes within the major, concentrating on one or another area as much as they want. The above girls and my son have elected to take more than the required dance classes. Others might take more acting or music. My son went into Elon as an intermediate dancer at best, but he has improved tremendously in his time there. He has also grown in acting and voice skills and has enjoyed getting back into piano, among other academic subjects. The flexibility in scheduling at Elon is one of the really neat things about the program!</p>

366

<p>Hi Ericsmom and showmom!</p>

<p>Just wanted to say that I agree with both moms above that Elon is a terrific MT program for dancers and those who don't consider themselves dancers alike. The requirements are somewhat flexible and can be geared to the individual. The academics are excellent, there are many gen. ed. requirements which need to be met over the course of four years. The MT requirements are fairly balanced between the voice, acting, and dance areas. Some kids choose more in one area than another. Some try to keep it fairly balanced. Most overload and try to do everything from what I can see! They just want to do it all!This semester my D is taking Global Experience (required freshman core course), Acting I, Private Voice, and Dance for MT (three required courses for MT freshman this semester), Ballet (one extra dance class suggested), Piano class (required at some point for MT but not necessarily this semester--she will then continue with piano as it is an interest of hers--she was not a pianist until two years ago, so wants to really develop proficiency), psychology (gen ed. class chosen from certain areas required to be completed before graduation), Modern and Jazz (extra dance classes she wanted to take), and she gets 1 credit for being cast in Cabaret. She would have had at least one other academic subject, but went into the program with AP credit for Calculus, French and two semesters of Syracuse University English taken in high school, so she was able to waive the required freshman core math and English courses, as well as the foreign language requirement for the university. So as you can see, a very full, yet balanced schedule--skewed slightly towards dance.</p>

367

<p>My D is a freshman at Elon in MT and absolutely loves it!! She loves all the teachers and feels she is improving in all areas! She wanted to take more classes but thought she should start out slow because she is also a leadership fellow and that is demanding too. She says all the faculty are very supportive and the kids very nice. She says the best thing about it is that she feels the fit is so good that she can be herself at all times so she opens up, takes chances, and feels she is growing because of it. She is excited about improving her dance skills and all skills! She says the great thing about Elon is that it seems to meet her every need..it is a good fit for her personality. She says the teachers challenge and push the students but she always feels they have their best interests in mind.
Good luck to everyone during the most difficult year ever....</p>

368

<p>Ok, Elon veterans, a question about applying:</p>

<p>On the Elon Web site, it says that kids only have to send their application, SAT/ACT scores, secondary school transcripts/guidance counselor eval and the application fee $$ in to admissions. Nothing about any teacher recs, etc. Is that right?</p>

<p>I also couldn't find anything on the Theater Dept web site about sending in teacher recommendations. </p>

<p>Is this correct? My D is supposed to meet with her GC soon and wants to be able to hand over <em>all</em> the forms that that woman is to fill out. Her school has one counselor for all 70 kids in the senior class in all arts areas. </p>

<p>Forgive me in advance if it's right there and I am not seeing it. We've been looking at all these applications so much it's all running together. (I can hardly wait until the auditions start, she says sarcastically! :))</p>

<p>Speaking of auditions one more ?: on the audition app, it asks kids what they are going to sing and what monologues they will do. Though my D has an idea at this point, she is not 100% committed to her material. How should she handle this?
NMR</p>

369

<p>Well I applied last year and will be again this year as a transfer...Last year there were no teacher recs for regular admissions or theatre. </p>

<p>As far as the audition form- I believe on the sheet they said if you change it just announce it before you perform them at auditions. It shouldn't be a problem...and you don't have to turn them in until two weeks before the audition so there is still time but I know people like to get things in early. Not that I'm going to wait until the very last minute to send in my stuff!!</p>

<p>When is she auditioning?</p>

370

<p>well, I haven't posted on here in a really long time, but thought I would put my two cents worth in! My S is now a VERY happy freshman MT at Elon, and while I totally agree with everything my good friends have said above I would also like to comment on another subject!</p>

<p>My son had a little accident while dancing two weeks before school started and dislocated his knee cap. Because of some other medical issues he has, it was not an easy recovery. He actually started school in a wheel chair. I cannot begin to tell you how kind and accommodating EVERYONE at Elon has been to help make this transition as easy as possible for him!</p>

<p>He was honestly so scared when this happened that he thought he may not be allowed to attend this year, since he was told that he cannot dance for the first semester. Catherine McNeela was so kind and thoughtful to call him and let him know that he absolutely still had a place there for the fall and that they would work with him to accomodate any schedule changes he needed to make for the first semester. My S was so relieved.....I can't even tell you! They have all been great and he is so very happy there! Loves all his classes, teachers, voice instructor....it is really a dream come true for him!</p>

<p>S has been very impressed with all aspects of the program and is so excited about the opportunities that are waiting there for him! He has met up with old friends while he's there and made many new ones. The MT group is very close and supportive of each other.</p>

<p>You should definately visit Elon and see a show if you have the opportunity!</p>

371

<p>NMR
Elon does not require teacher recommendations, at least they didn't last year. We sent them anyway, since our guidance office keeps the letters and makes copies for each application and sends a packet to each school. So we figured it couldn't hurt to have them sent.<br>
Changing the audition material is not a problem. My D actually did that. She did notify Elon before she arrived that she had changed her songs, although I think she also announced it at her actual audition. It was not a problem.
Txmtmom
Glad to hear your S is so happy at Elon--although I certainly had that impression from my D! They are a very close and supportive group already, even though I know my D has said she doesn't have as much time to spend with your S as she'd like. So busy and dorms on opposite sides of the campus!
See you next week at parent's weekend!</p>

372

<p>Hi! This is my first posting, although I have been skimming these threads for a year or so! Now that my daughter is applying, it is so wonderful to hear all your opinions on things. More specifically, what did you think of the audition procedure while you and your daughter were there--and do you have any tips for a newbie?</p>

373

<p>nydancemom, did your D send academic teacher recs, or ones from drama teachers/dance teachers/directors and the like?</p>

374

<p>NMR
I looked back in our Elon file, and I know we sent one letter of recommendation from an academic teacher (her AP French teacher who she had for French sophomore, junior and senior year, so knew D very well). I am pretty sure we also sent her "arts" letter of recommendation which was from her chorus teacher, who is also the director of the school musicals, so he also was quite familiar with D after four years. I think we sent the "arts" letter of recommendation with the audition request form, directly to the performing arts department. We did not send that to the admissions department. I'm not entirely sure we sent the "arts" letter at all, can't figure that out from our file, but if I sent it, it was to the performing arts department, not admissions.</p>

375

<p>Hope2bELONmom
Not sure if you were asking me, but I’ll answer you from our experience. Our D auditioned at the second fall audition day. We arrived the night before. On the morning of the audition, we went to the performing arts building for registration. Our daughter was given the name and location of a class to observe. In her case, it was Dance for the Musical Stage which is a required freshman level dance class (which she is now taking this semester—yay!). We had observed an acting class with Richard Gang (Miesner technique) when we visited during junior year. Many kids on audition day were sent to observe that class, but apparently they remembered that D had already seen it. Parents waited in the performing arts building (which also has the dance rooms) for their kids to finish. Next we had time to relax until D had her assigned time with the accompanist. Each auditioning student is given a specific time to meet with the accompanist that morning, to go over their music and practice with accompanist. Very cool! Next we went to lunch (on our own to the Octagon café which is one of the on campus dining options). At 1:00 (I think—it was a year ago in a couple of weeks so the memory is fading a bit) all parents and auditioning students met in the Yeager auditorium which is the smaller of Elon’s auditoriums (there is also a black box theater). Cathy McNeela gave a little welcoming speech and introduced a few students, who then performed songs for us and answered questions. When that was over, the kids went to the dance audition, which is a class. There were three or four current students helping with the class. My D is a dancer, and loved it. She (and a few others) also had to stay after the class for a few minutes to tap. Next the songs/monologues portion started. They had student helpers (Elon has very nice, friendly, encouraging students throughout their program) and they were assigned to a student helper and told what number they would be. Unfortunately, our D was first to go. Having had to stay late for the dance audition, and it ran longer than anticipated anyway, she had about 5 minutes to change into her audition outfit, re-do her hair and try to warm up vocally in the bathroom with all the other girls running around frantically. She almost lost her composure at that point because she wanted Elon so badly and wanted to do so well. But her student helper, and two friends who were also helping and are current sophomores, calmed her down and gave her words of encouragement and then she went into the auditorium to perform her audition material. The student helper assigned to you goes in and stays in the room with you. There is a panel of faculty watching the audition. Not sure how many, but quite a few. She felt her audition went well, but wasn’t her best vocally since she really didn’t feel she was warmed up properly. So that was the audition. We then stayed, watched their production of Carousel which was truly outstanding, and stayed for the rest of the weekend to visit with her friends. Everyone couldn’t have been nicer, more helpful, friendlier, or more interested in trying to make sure the kids had a good audition experience and that they learned something about the program too. Parents could also take tours and do admission stuff on the day we were there (I think it was a fall open house day) and some did that. We had already done that during junior year, so opted to just hang out in the performing arts building and be there for D whenever she needed us.
I think if there are more kids auditioning, they split the group into two and some dance while others are doing their songs/monologues, and vice versa. But the day we were there, only about 20 kids auditioned, so they did only one dance audition.
Sorry this is so long. Just wanted to give you an idea of the whole process. Any more questions, just ask!</p>

376

<p>nydancemom, thanks so much for all that info. I appreciate it!</p>

377

<p>there are also some older posts about audition day...i think i wrote about my day with some specific times and i think i remember some other guy writing about it too...buy nydancemom was really thorough and pretty much covered everything! they are all so nice!! it's contagious!! i can't wait to go back! it was a very pleasant experience</p>

378

<p>HopetobELONmom
I forgot to give Elon audition day tips, so here are some I can think of for Elon (and in general). I think there’s a thread somewhere that gives tips in general, but I’m sure I’d never be able to find it, so I sort of combined Elon and others in this post.
1. Wear nice clothes in the morning, but casual, because you will be able to change before your dance audition and songs/monologues. My D wore new black jeans and a nice top for the morning, and then we carried a garment bag with her audition outfit. She chose to wear pants rather than a dress or skirt to all her auditions. She felt more comfortable. She wore dressy black pants, with a burgundy tank under a matching sheer burgundy blouse. For the dance classes, she wore a purple cami-style leotard with black tights. She is a dancer, so wanted to stand out, thus the purple. There’s been much discussion on audition outfits, but I think looking professional is the key, not whether it’s a dress or pants.
2. Warm up vocally whenever you have a chance before the actual audition. As I said, our D didn’t have time, and wished she had warmed up at least somewhat before the dance audition, so she would have been ready. We learned our lesson at Elon, which was only her second audition, and at all her others she warmed up in the car on the way to the audition, or in a stairwell before the dance audition or whatever it took. She might then have a chance to warm up more right before she actually went into the audition room, but if she didn’t, she felt more ready than she did at Elon. She had recorded a warm-up and the accompaniment for her songs into her IPod and used that.
3. We found a rolling carry-on bag very helpful for auditions. We brought her dance clothes, water, small bottle of o.j., an apple, granola bar, fruit breezers, the file for the particular school, extra headshots and resumes, etc. in the rolling bag, and carried a garment bag with her audition clothes (some schools she wore her dance clothes under her audition clothes instead. Depended on the school. But at Elon, there was time to change more than once.
4. I made an Audition Packing List on the computer. This saved us having to think too much and made sure we never forgot anything. It was very detailed, and saved a lot of aggravation.
5. Don’t forget to prepare the music for the accompanist exactly the way you want it played. And make sure you bring the sheet music! We also had burned a CD of her music, and carried that with us just in case it was ever needed (and of course NYU and maybe some others schools require this).
6. Be prepared. Have your monologues down cold. Songs too. Be prepared to do an extra monologue or an extra song, or a whole song instead of a cut. You never know what might happen at any one audition, so prepare for as many possibilities and then whatever they throw at you, you’ll be prepared.
7. Try not to be nervous. I know that must sound impossible, but we found the audition committees to be generally very nice. At Elon they are very nice! Everyone at Elon has always been very nice—and we’ve visited four times before our D actually moved in, and spent three days there for move-in weekend (parent orientation, convocation, etc.) and feel so at home there. And we’re from NY! I had never even been to NC before our first visit to Elon!
8. If at all possible, see a production while you are there. You will learn so much about the quality of the program! And Elon’s is first rate all the way!
9. We found being supportive, and staying out of our daughter’s way worked best for us. If she needed anything, we were there. We carried things, I helped her with her clothes if needed, we offered her a snack, etc. but mostly just let her focus on the work she had to do to prepare and to stay calm.
10. Try to enjoy the time together. We have wonderful memories of all our audition trips. And that is great, because now she’s loving life at Elon, and I miss her! But couldn’t be happier with how it all turned out.</p>

379

<p>Wow - Hope2bElonmom - I'm impressed with your chosen screen name, and I hope so, too, for you. I'd recommend auditioning for a wide variety of schools, though, as they all seem so competitive these days. Much luck with Elon, and you've gotten some very good advice above from my CC and Elon mom friend. They weren't doing dance auditions when my son auditioned for Elon. It was new last year.</p>

380

<p>NYDM thank you so much for your thorough reply! That really helps give us an idea of what to expect. Is it true that Elon only accepts 16 people into their MT program out of 350 applicants? Sounds pretty competitive. Does everyone have to wait until March 15 to find out if they have made it into the MT program or do some of the students find out earlier?</p>