Hi Everybody!

<p>I am a sophomore music theatre major at Elon. Since Elonactress graduated last semester, we decided that we needed somebody else to answer everybody’s questions about our amazing program! I just wanted to let everybody know that I would love to answer your questions or concerns about Elon.This weekend at Elon will be crazy with Carousel is opening tomorrow and our first set of auditions are on Friday and I can’t wait! I hope all is well with all of you all!</p>

<p>Oodles of MT love from Elon ~
ElonMT09 :)</p>

<p>Hey, its great to hear from people at Elon, its one of my first choice schools. </p>

<p>I have a question though, i know that at other schools they have a showcase, and a showcase seems to be what allows the graduating class to get exposure and recognition and even get jobs etc. The fact that Elon does not have a showcase, does that in any way hinder the graduating class from getting jobs in the business? Cause i know a showcase can help alot with getting the grads 'out there into the world'.</p>

<p>Thanks :-)
Bye
Kays</p>

<p>HI! I am interested in Elon..but I have heard that there are a lot of stuck up people there. Is this at all true?</p>

<p>Although we do not presently have a senior showcase, Elon grads do extremely well. Dave Clemmons, a huge major casting director from New York City, is absolutely in love with Elon. He comes once a year to give master classes and to audition all of our Music Theatre Seniors. In 2005, we had a girl go straight from graduation into the non-equity national tour of Thoroughly Modern Millie as Millie and just 2 weeks ago we had a 2004 graduate make his broadway debut as a swing in The Color Purple! SETC, the South Eastern Theatre Conference, is a place which colleges from all over the Southeast and beyond come to audition for Summerstock and year-round work and they absolutely love us too. One company that called me back this summer told me that they did so partially because they loved Elon's students so much. Our department is so very hardworking, determined, and just nice so people love hiring Eloners!</p>

<p>Oodles of Elon love ~
ElonMT09</p>

<p>Elon people are most definately not stuck up! Of all of the places where I auditioned, Elon was the most welcoming school of them all! I truly felt right from the start that they all were genuinely excited for me to be there and I was just a prospective! Now that I have been here over a year now, I know that this feeling was correct. Never once have a felt like or was treated like "a freshman." I felt like I was the member of a family right from the start. </p>

<p>The university as a whole may look "preppy," but the atmosphere at Elon is extremely welcoming. This may sound cheesy, but we all just love being here and we love to share that with people who are interested in the school. One of the top reasons why I ended up coming to school here was because both the students and the faculty were so crazy nice to me and crazy in love with Elon. And believe me, this is a rare feeling. I am doing this because people did this for me; it is that important to me. So no! Elon is not stuck up! </p>

<p>Oodles of Elon love ~
ElonMT09</p>

<p>One of the things we all liked on our visit to Elon was that everybody seemed to LOVE it there. I mentioned tonight at a community theater rehearsal that my D was auditioning for ELon. THe gentleman (who is my husband in our show) used to be an adjunct there and said " OH MY GOD - ELON IS the BEST!!" This man is a local artist who directs and is a very good actor(his name is Bill Mutimer ElonMT if you want to ask around) and he said- I wold go back there in a minute - it is such a GREAT program!! </p>

<p>Testimony indeed that you are right - it is a good place to be!</p>

<p>Look for my D in tomorrow's group of nervous auditioners. GIve them all our best wishes!!</p>

<p>MIkksMom</p>

<p>ElonMT09 - I can't wait to hear how Carousel went tonight. I have to wait another week to see it.</p>

<p>I'm so glad you've joined us and are sharing what I have believed to be true. The great positive attitudes in that MT program seem to be very unique. You have confirmed something I wrote on a different Elon thread just 4 days ago:</p>

<p>"The most impressive thing is that all students seem to be happy about everything." It really appears to be true! What more could you ask for in a college and a program?</p>

<p>We had a successful opening night of Carousel! It is such a beautiful show and it shows off so many sides of our wonderful department. I will definately ask about Bill Mutimer. Elon is truly a wonderful place to be and I am so glad that people are spreading that around! I hope everyone has a lovely day!</p>

<p>Oodles of Elon MT love ~
ElonMT09</p>

<p>I just wanted to comment on your post about Elon people being stuck up. My daughter spent 7 hours at Elon yesterday auditioning and observing a class and I can honestly say we have never met such wonderful, kind and caring people. The students were extremely helpful and really wanted each auditioner to succeed! They were true "cheerleaders" trying to ease everyone's nerves before the audition and they were the first ones to say good job on your way out! Thanks to Ericsmom's son for being one of those wonderful people!</p>

<p>The students really got along well with each other too. They seemed like a close little family that anyone would be thrilled to be a part of. Elon wanted each auditioner to succeed and even gave each person a practice time with their pianist. How fabulous is that???? From the minute we walked in until the minute we left, we felt that everyone around us was welcoming, caring and talented. What a great place!</p>

<p>aw thats great...i hope she did well :-)....im going to e-mail her now and ask her all about it :-)</p>

<p>oh, i also wanted to ask, how mnay black students do you have in your class? Im just asking cause im black...and it honestly does not matter if you have 4 or none, elon is still definetly one of my top choices....but imjust cruious.....thanks :-)</p>

<p>also kaysmom...does kay want to go to elon? cause i know you all live nearby...and i remember asking her at CMU what her first choice was, but she said she didnt have one...i acutally dont have one either, i dont want to get my hopes up and then not get in....</p>

<p>Hey,</p>

<p>I am wondering how exactly auditions go? To you sing in a private room in front of the judges (for lack of a better name), or is it a stage where everyone is their who also is auditioning? I am auditioning on the 17th and am freaking out! Any info that would help me sleep better at night would be great!</p>

<p>Bearbegr - Do not freak out. As has been said above, they are very nice at Elon and will make you feel comfortable. </p>

<p>Based on last year's audition, the other students that are auditioning do not watch. I think each auditioning student has one current college student monitor who takes them in and out and stays during the audition. Otherwise, you are in the smaller auditorium that is called a recital hall. I think quite a few of the teachers are watching as "judges".</p>

<p>The dance audition that was added this year is probably done in a group with other auditioning students, if it is like the dance auditions at other universities.</p>

<p>Bearbegr, while my post is not specific to Elon (as my kid did not audition there), I have been to 8 other BFA auditions. NONE of these auditions involved singing/acting in front of the other students who were auditioning. The singing and acting were done in front of faculty and/or directors, sometimes one person, sometimes several. Only the dance portion was done WITH the other students who were auditioning (in groups). So, I really think you are not going to run into auditioning as far as singing and acting goes in front of a crowd of fellow auditionees at any school. The only time my D auditioned in front of a bigger group beyond faculty, was at Penn State, where current BFA students were allowed to watch auditions.</p>

<p>Although my D is just starting her auditions---has Elon this coming Friday--yikes--I think if my memory serves me correctly (and that is asking a lot these days, lol) Otterbein might be a school at which the kids sing in front of the other auditioning kids. At Elon, I am pretty sure they do not. And yes, the new dance audition at Elon is done in a group (as it is at most schools that have a dance audition). Good luck to all at Elon. We LOVED it at our visit last year and our D can't wait to audition!</p>

<p>Hey everyone!
I just got back from my audtion tonight and I saw Carousel on Friday, AND I stayed for the open house the next day and I have to say... I'm in love! What an amazing school. I though CCM and CMU were really friendly but man, everybody was so wonderful. The students helping us out were really supportive and really seemed to take a lot of interest in us and what we did. Yeager Hall has awesome acoustics! It was great to sing in a space like that. The dance audition was really fun too. I have about 14 years of dance training so I was looking foward to that part anyway but lynne, the dance teacher, was so nice and we did such a fun, high energy dance which was arobic (sp?) but not that difficult. I thought the head of the program was really great. She was very funny and was so supportive of us all and you could tell she really loves what she's doing.
Carousel was superb. I was so surprised to see such a incredably high level of dancing among the entire cast and particularly in what some of the boys could do. Ericsmom, I did meet your son! He was so funny in the show and did a really great job with his part. He was also incredably supportive during the audition process and he made a point of making us all feel like they really wanted us hear. I particularly like the girl who played Louise in the show. She's a MT major but she could have easily been a dance major abd her expressions and the way she emoted on stage was just incredable. Plus I really appreciated that every cast member created a personality for their characters and everyone was able to stand out in one way or another. Plus the production quality was really top notch. The set was gorgeous and there were a number of times during the show when I got goosebumps and my mom was crying by the end. It was so fantastic I wish I could have stayed the rest of the week.
Also the singing done in both the show and during the info session they gave during the audtion process was some of the best sining I think I've ever heard. The quality of the singing was really top notch but the students at the info session were also singing songs with some really emotional story lines attatched to the songs and they were mesmerizing to watch perform their songs. I just can't say enough about the performing arts and don't even get me started on how wonderful everything was about the open house. If anyone has any specific questions about my day or any impressions I got about a particular thing (especially if you have questions about dance for MT majors because I asked a lot of questions about that) just pm me and I love to anwser anything about how my day went!</p>

<p>nydancemom: Your memory serves. On campus here at Otterbein, we divide the prospectives into two groups of 12-15. While one group takes the theory exam, the other group performs for the faculty. Students do get to see each other. We do private interviews later in the day. At the unifieds, students are seen individually.</p>

<p>I believe I heard that students auditioning at Millikin also watch each other audition.</p>

<p>Doctorjohn - I have had several different families tell me that Otterbein reminds them of Elon and that many of the same wonderful things are going on both places. In our travels, your school is the one I regret that we never worked out visiting. I often tell people that who are asking me about MT colleges. Keep up the good work!</p>

<p>Does Elon have a theory exam? How many auditioned that day Applegate13? Dancing is not my strong suite, and wish that was not part of the audition... lol... How was the actual audition? Can you spell it out for me step by step?</p>

<p>^I sent a response to your pm in case you don't see it. :)</p>