<p>Now that you freshman MT students have a month, plus, behind you, what do you think of the program? The school? The towns?
Any advice for the upcoming auditoners?</p>
<p>About CAP21 </p>
<hr>
<p>"Hey, my mom told me to log in as her, so this is actually Austin speaking, not my mother.</p>
<p>I'm a freshman in CAP21 this year and I love it. I've been here a little over a month and it's great. Coming in I was afraid that it was going to be the same way, and I assumed it was going to be 60 cocky theatre people...and I was terribly mislead. </p>
<p>In my first month here I've already met so many great people, and the fact that you can't audition is a huge benefit. You don't know yourself until you start taking acting classes here. I've already become so much more comfortable with myself, and the other actors I'm working with around me. They don't want you to audition (not to say that it doesn't happen) because they want to get rid of your old acting habits and to bring in the new stuff.</p>
<p>This is as tight nit of a community as you're going to get. Sure, it's 63 people this year, but all the more to know. If you "want" a smaller program with 20 some, this isn't the place for you. But I know that I already know some of these people better than I knew some of the people in my high school theatre troupe, whom I'd been working with for four years.</p>
<p>I don't know anything about the other college, so I can't compare. But this is definetely my experience so far, and I have yet to find any cons. I hope this helps. Have a good evening!</p>
<p>Austin"</p>
<p>sarahlsmom - If you go to the University of the Arts page, there are a couple of threads that have detailed comments about freshmen experiences over the last month.</p>
<p>As to advice for seniors auditioning this year, here are some thoughts:
1. Put together a selection of schools carefully. Try to get a mix of schools that give weight to academics (and make sure you match the academic criteria), schools that don't weigh academics as much, schools that draw from a selective talent pool, schools that draw from a broader talent pool, schools with a small entering freshman class and those with a larger entering class. Throw in 1 or 2 non-audition BA programs for which you are a strong academic match. The key is to select a list of schools that you feel fall within the range of academics and talent that you bring to the table.
2. Related to this, don't substitute quantity for careful diligence in selecting a smaller list that is crafted for you as an individual. Traveling to and from auditions is a time consuming and stressful process. At the same time, you are trying to juggle all of your school and extracurricular activities. It is easy to run yourself ragged into exhaustion by over scheduling.
3. Don't get fixated on a "must have" school or location. That is a recipe for disappointment and increased anxiety. Statistically all of the BFA programs are extremely competitive. There are many, many very good programs out there in many locations near and far. While the "odds" are that you could be rejected from a particular school, the odds are also very good that if you select your list of schools to be a good match to you and work hard at preparing for your auditions, you will be accepted to at least one school at which you will feel very satisfied and gratified and at which you will thrive.
4. Remember to choose monologues and songs to which you can relate and whose characters match your persona and abilities. Remember to work on acting your songs.
5. Most important, as stressed out as you feel, remember to try to enjoy the process. Try to view each audition as an opportunity to do what you love most. Each audition is your own production and you are the star! </p>
<p>Good luck to all.</p>
<p>S is a frosh at Carnegie Mellon, as are the sons and daughters of some others who may want to post, too. His sense is that CMU is everything he anticipated in the way of an excellent fit for him--serious emphasis on acting with a focus on continuing his development as a singer/musician. From others already in the program, he went in aware of just how much commitment is required and he has found that advice to be accurate. He is in classes over 30 hours a week and will also have a required tech requirement starting soon for an upcoming show. This is exactly the program he wanted and was ready for but it may be more than some folks think is reasonable! MichaelNKat's advice is important because not all programs are for all talented kids, and fit is critical and can only be determined in the end by the student.</p>
<p>Glad to hear everyone is doing well!</p>
<p>About Baldwin-Wallace...</p>
<p>My freshman MT class has 6 guys and 6 girls. We are a very diverse but tight knit group and have most classes together. Everyone in the program has been extremely welcoming and supportive of us. </p>
<p>Even in this month that we've been here, we've had tons of neat opportunities. We went to a studio audience interview with Bob Martin (of Drowsy Chaperone), were invited to see The Drowsy Chaperone in Cleveland, given comp tickets to Forbidden Broadway in Cleveland, had two Saturday master classes (Freshmen don't perform in these until the end of the year though), had auditions for Phantom of the Opera, and this past weekend the girls had Showgirl Boot Camp.</p>
<p>A lot of classes that we have to take freshman year are part of the music-core since our degree is a BM... Like harmony, solfege, eurythmics, keyboard, choir etc. In the long run I'm sure it will be worth it. Next semester we start MT workshop with Vicky Bussert, head of the program.</p>
<p>5 Freshman MTs were cast in Phantom (which runs Nov 6-18 and is already sold out!), and rehearsals for that are amazing---very time consuming but they are run professionally---it's a great opportunity to work with Vicky and see what she expects out of her students.</p>
<p>I love it here. Although I am excited to get past this first semester of mostly music classes to get more MT-based classes. In short, B-W is a tight-knit but challenging program with lots of connections and opportunities. And it is amazing to have a class size of 12!!</p>
<p>I'm a freshman in NYU Steinhardt's program and am absolutley loving it so far. We have a freshman class of 17 MTs and have bonded pretty well. The program is very unified in their approach to teaching music theatre and is intense in healthy training, especially vocal. i feel so happy to be getting training from amazing proffessors who are actively involved with the industry here in the city. Like Baldwin Wallace, the program gives a B.M. degree and is obviously heavily concentrated on music. It's great though. If anyone has questions feel free to message me! I think each year the program is gaining more and more recognition!</p>
<p>I'm a freshman musical theatre major at Ithaca this year and I absolutely love it. I originally came because Ithaca gave me a lot of money, which is another good thing about the school (they are very generous with theatre scholarships), but I now am so greatful that I ended up here. The theatre school is a family here. Really, it's almost scary how much attention the upper classmen put on the freshman. From the first week of your arrival you are assigned a big brother or sister in the musical theatre program. It's really wonderful to have someone take you out to dinner and answer all your questions for you directly. In addition, there are parties held directly for the freshman by the upper classmen to welcome you into the program. Downtown ithaca is beautiful. I personally always wanted to end up in a city school, and Ithaca was the only school not located in a metropolis so I was weary about coming here in that respect, but it is wonderful to be able to live a "normal" college life before going to the city when I graduate. Our classes are challenging, and very concentrated in musical theatre. Freshman year you take Ballet I, Jazz I, Voice, Performance Rep. and Pedagogy (a class where you perform in front of everyone in your studio, being all voice majors, music ed majors, ba's, and mt's who take voice lessons with your teacher), Scene Study, Voice & Movement, Script Analysis, Into to Musical Styles, and Academic writing. It's a full schedule, but it certainly is well worth the effort. I feel like I've learned more about theatre in the last month and a half than I did all through high school. The level of talent is amazing, and the support of the faculty is just overwhelming. After my audition for the fall season I had a sit down with each of my professors about what I did well, what I need to work on, and how my overall audition went. I've been fortunate enough to be cast in "The Full Monty", our fall musical, and that show has really just proved to me how much people learn here about their future profession. The abundance of talent really leaves me speechless. </p>
<p>The only negative aspect I have about the program right now is that you rarely sing as an ensemble. If cast in a show, there is no time to participate in any of the magnificent choirs or ensembles on campus, and since Full Monty really lacks in harmonies, I feel as though I'm missing an aspect of singing that I've always had. Your freshman and Sophomore year here is very acting heavy training. Once junior year comes you do sing a lot more, but they are very concerned about training good actors. The dance program is something I have found to be phenomenal, despite what I was told before coming here. The teachers are incredible, and although they start you off at a beginner level, you still dance every day, and the training you are receiving is out of this world, whether you've danced for 12 years, 2, or none. I was told by one of my old dance teachers who danced for Alvin Ailey that when The dancers of the Ailey company come home to take classes, they more often than not take the lowest level of a class possible. How is one expected to execute a quadrouple if they can't do a single turn flawlessly. You can never master the plie, it's impossible, and working from the bottom up is the only way to truly progress. </p>
<p>That's my spiel, if you want to know more, feel free to PM me. It's amazing here, that's all I can really say.</p>
<p>WOW!!!!!! Lot's of info from kids at the places on our list. I can't wait to begin the process with my d.
Thanks to all who have offered to show us around Ithaca. I'll be in touch, and we'll be looking for some of you in Monty.
We'll also look for some of my CC friends at B-W. It will be good to put some faces with posts!</p>
<p>bdwaychic...congratulations in being cast as a freshman in Full Monty! That is quite an accomplishment. My daughter has a very good theater friend at Ithaca from our state, with whom she has done shows and been friends for a long time. He is a junior. HIs name begins with N. I wonder if he is in your show. I believe he played the young male lead in Fantastiks last year. If you know him, tell him a Vermont mom says break a leg along with you (if he is in it too). I saw Full Monty on Broadway. My D was the pianist for a production of Fully Monty at Tisch but I didn't get to see it. I'm glad to hear how much you are enjoying your program!</p>