I am new to this forum. It seems like there is a lot of information here, but I am having trouble finding what I am looking for, so hopefully this will work!
I see a thread with a long list of various summer intensive options. Is there some place I can go to better understand the differences between them? For example, are there any sort of rankings of the different programs? Any way to know which are more intensive / less intensive, or which focus more on acting vs. singing vs. dance, or which is better for learning vs. having fun, etc.? Advantage/disadvantage of one of the college programs vs. programs such as Artsbridge/BAA/TPAP? Which are harder/easier to get into? I try going to the specific websites of the programs themselves, but sometimes it is still hard to tell.
In my specific situation, my son is a high school sophomore who wants to go into MT. Trying to decide a good program for this summer. Ideally would want to get the following out of the program:
Exposure significant enough to help him decide - is this really the path he wants to go down or not? And if so, experience to understand his next steps, what he would look for in future programs, etc.
Feedback to help him decide - does he have what it takes to go down this path or not?
He has some dance training but not much (much stronger in singing and acting) - want dance training to be part of it but not an atmosphere where someone with minimal dance experience would be totally turned off and not be able to participate
Loves singing, so important that the program has singing and not just acting
Want something more on the intensive side - want to keep busy, minimize down time
Prefer northeast, but that is not a must
He would only be 15 (so I think that rules out some like CMU or Emerson)
Maybe with that background I can get some recommendations of what might fit best, or point me in the direction of where to best find the information I am looking for?
I hope you get a lot of responses to these great questions. My S is straight acting, not MT, but we did come across a similar problem last year because he turned 16 in the middle of the summer and a lot of programs require them to be 16 at the start of the program to live in the dorms. He ended up going to an in-state program, but take a look at the musical theatre track at Rutgers Summer Acting Conservatory/Mason Gross. Seems like it would fit your criteria pretty well.
Thanks for the Rutgers suggestion. Can you tell me what it is about that program that you think fits my criteria? Do you have any info on how it compares to or differs from other programs?
One of the best decisions my D made was to do an intensive during the summer before junior year. Her learning was immense, and helped her make decisions not just about her direction but about what she needed most to do to prepare for MT college auditions.
Although she applied to several other programs, she ended up attending Pace University Summer Scholars for Musical Theatre (2 weeks) followed by a week at BAA, which cost-wise added up to the lower end of the prices we saw for MT intensives at the time, and gave her a taste of New York as well. She did turn 16 in June, but BAA certainly works with younger students and Pace I believe is geared toward rising juniors without an age stipulation. Both are audtion-in programs, and D felt that both attracted highly talented students, with a variety of different strengths.
A few specifics: The credits Pace offers for Summer Scholars are only good at Pace, and they do not provide a transcript for other colleges. About half of D’s cohort are now in MT or acting programs around the country; none got into MT at Pace. She was one of two juniors in the group of about 20, which was fine with her. The Pace Summer faculty, at least at time, were not faculty around the year…they were wonderful, dedicated grads of the program, including a fabulous vocal coach that D continued to Skype with during the year, and who was able to give her support in finding repertoire that wasn’t overdone, as well as in moving from a classical sound to a more musical theatre sound. There was also a component of the program about different types of MT programs and questions the students should be asking.
For BAA, she was admitted as a vocal major, but took all of her elective classes in dance and loved them. (A student from our area who went for acting the summer before was not as thrilled with the instruction.) Pace had a very high level of supervision and keeping the group together (which was fine in its own way) but by week three D was happy to have more freedom.
Good luck in your search. I think an intensive before junior year is a great option to pursue!
You should check again, but last year Pace did have an age requirement coupled with the rising junior requirement. I emailed, and they told me: “My apologies, but we do ask that students are at least 16 years old at the time they attend the program.”
As for Rutgers, it just looked like a great overall program to me from the website. MT is not our focus, but they have a sample schedule online that seems to show it is pretty intense with daily singing and dancing. And there is no age requirement problem, and it’s in the Northeast.
Each program is probably different, however. My daughter went to SMTI at the Hartt School last year and was going into her freshman year of high school. The Preprofessional version is ages 14-20, while the Junior version is for kids going into Grades 4-8. My daughter is a young freshman, so was not 14 yet last summer. So, we had to get more info from the head of the program, who said that my daughter could apply to either, or both. She just applied to the Preprofessional intensive and got in.
Based on what you’ve shared BAA sounds like a great choice for your son. Plus if you’d like they offer a coaching option and lots of great information on the college process. I’m not sure if they have housing they haven’t in the past but I had a great week exploring NYC while my child was in classes.
Thanks for the advice so far! Applied to a few recommended above, and have received acceptances from both OCU and Penn State, now trying to figure out which would be the best match for my son. Can anyone comment on the two programs - are there any things that stand out to differentiate the two summer programs from one another to help us figure out the best match?
@junior72 I am not sure what the case is on Penn State’s intensive as I never looked into it, and having not done any summer programs, I could be totally wrong here but I think OCU is very unique in that you get college level training in voice, acting and dance, while also getting to do a show if you do the three week program. This year it’s Urinetown (which I highly recommend your son do at some point if not now, because it’s a blast of a show!). For me, it was very important that I did shows over my summers because I came to theater late in the game, freshman year, and wanted to get as much hands on on stage experience for my resume and overall competency before auditions came around, as I could. If your son is anything like me, he may be reluctant to go to a summer program as he will lose that ability to get on stage show experience. So OCU could be a great way to marry that need for experience as well as training! Food for thought.