Living up to its Previous Standards?

College Majors Musical Theater Major
1

<p>Hello-</p>

<p>As a current junior in high school, I am intensely researching various MT programs. I am interested in Otterbein not only because of its training, but also because several friends of mine are in the program…</p>

<p>I’ve heard from a few current students that they are underwhelmed with the department since starting at Otterbein. I know there is another post about outside actors being cast over students, and while I understand the benefit to working with professionals I cannot understand how the positives outweigh the negatives. Have the students made lasting relationships with these professionals (that they could not make with a guest director) that are providing them with connections for auditions and even potential jobs? My friend was very hesitant about coming into the program for this reason, but was assured by faculty within the department that is was merely a fluke for casting that season and would not be the same in the future. Yesterday, my friend just told me that the school was considering doing their Spring musical with an outside actor for next year’s season. I am appalled by this apparent lack of honesty that I hear Otterbein is always the antithesis of. </p>

<p>I also heard that current BFA Acting freshmen have had to fight for voice lessons. Instead of given a private teacher, they have instead all been put in a class that meets twice a week and obviously does not give each student the attention that a private instructor would. Some of my friends feel very stifled in that class and others feel completely lost. I know that my friends were under the impression, when choosing Otterbein, that they would receive nearly the same education as the Musical Theatre majors (i.e. having a private teacher) and naturally feel misinformed coming into the program. </p>

<p>I am only inquiring about these issues because Otterbein is so high on my list, however if all of these stories proved to be true, it would be hard for me to justify applying there… Are all of these issues a result of the University switching over to semesters? I still don’t think that’s a valid reason, but I could see how the department would use that as an excuse. My friends said that the department lost four or five people in the department, going from last year to this year. Additionally, one of my friends said that a Freshmen MT left the program within the first month of the school year. Like I said in my other post- I welcome any and all feedback from any and all credible sources :)</p>

2

<p>“The lady doth protest too much, methinks.” I believe that if you were truly a person interested in attending Otterbein then you would have contacted the school to ask your questions and voice your concerns instead of just posting here. Odd that you have only made three posts, all to complain about Otterbein.</p>

<p>If you are a current student at Otterbein, which I believe is the case, then you need to realize that if I can figure out who you are, others probably have too. If you have a problem, then you need to get some gumption and speak to the powers that be to see if you can get voice lessons. In regards to Sweeney Todd, “hearing” something is called “rumors” and “gossip”. You also know why the freshman left in the beginning of the year. Coming on CC anonymously and trying to smear Otterbein is immature. A mature individual would try to solve her problem rather than just complain about it. And finally, if you are that unhappy, then Otterbein is not the place for you.</p>

3

<p>Hello, this is Risto himself posting via his mother’s account.</p>

<p>As a prior BFA acting student who will be easily identified as the one who left after his freshman year, I have to say that your concerns ring true. The acting program was heavily overshadowed by the Musical Theatre program, and as one of the few actors who didn’t want to go into musical theatre at all, this was an enormous problem. From what I know about Otterbein, broadwaybabeh is not “smearing” the program at all, this was the reality of the system, it constantly seemed to be tangled up in communication issues, morale was almost always low, and student faith in faculty was not very high.</p>

<p>That said, if you had contacted me anytime in freshman year I would have told you everything was fine and that Otterbein was a lovely place, because I know I wanted to believe. I wanted so badly to believe it was the place I visited as a HS Senior and not where I actually was. It was frankly an awful experience for me, and one people need to be aware of.</p>

<p>Is Otterbein the worst school for acting? No. I learned a lot there and I will carry it with me. Did I enjoy very much of the time I spent there? No, it was some of the worst few months of my life. That’s the kind of decision you’ll have to make for yourself, depending on what you really want. From personal experience, I highly recommend going for exactly what you want, not settling or compromising unless you feel you really have to.</p>

<p>The best thing, broadwaybabeh, is to talk to current students and stay informed of recent events. Best of luck!</p>

4

<p>Risto,</p>

<p>Since your story is different from what most of us have heard from Otterbein, can you tell us what you’re doing now? Did you continue training with a different school? How is your current situation going? Would you say there are pros and cons to that program?</p>

<p>I agree that the best a prospective can do is talk to as many current students as possible at any given school to get as clear and candid a picture of a program as possible. </p>

<p>Good luck to you as you develop your career!</p>

5

<p>At the moment I’m discovering the lovely world or the transfer student as I reapply to schools. I’m looking at Acting programs at schools with less structure and more widespread opportunities, like video game design, voice acting, etc. I’m also looking at schools much closer to home, and my current top pick I could even live at home and commute, which I see as a huge plus.</p>

<p>Currently things are going very well, I’ve decided to take a year off while I apply and refocus and I discovered things in my life that meant a lot more to me than I thought they did (artistic design in video games, sociological impact of media, etc.). Having all this time to think about my life is a godsend and I wish I had done it to begin with.</p>

<p>My time at Otterbein was very interesting, to say the least. I’d say the biggest plus of the Otterbein program is its musical theatre program. As an MT you will get a top of the line training in dance, singing and acting, with a chance to perform in dance concerts, voice recitals, musicals and plays. The kind of boys I saw at Otterbein were all well on their way to making truly excellent back up dancers and singers in any given musical, which is honestly really the only way to phrase it. It wasn’t that they lacked talent to be leads or somehow couldn’t, it’s that many were more interested in the Newsies background dancers who could do the splits in midair than they seemed to be in leading a show. Men who didn’t seem to fit into that category were more strictly actors, but that leads me to the cons.</p>

<p>The downside of the theatre program at Otterbein was glaring: no one really wanted to be an acting major. In the freshmen class, there were 3 acting boys, and 4 musical. In that same class are now 5 musical and one acting, and the one actor auditioned to be an MT student before the end of the year and was denied. As for the 4 acting girls, they all essentially wanted to be MT students, except for one. This (in my opinion) is because there were many classes that were totally unavailable to actors, and only one that was unavailable to MT’s. The system heavily, heavily favors MT’s, and they will essentially get whatever they want, either because they have a larger skill set, or because their MT status is simply seen as better. The one non-equity non-musical we did was Richard III, and it was substantially underfunded compared to the (now infamous) equity show and the season’s two musicals. Our costumes and artistic vision were compromised in favor of the dance show’s costume needs, the props were poorly made due to shop limitations imposed by the musicals directly proceeding and following Richard, and overall it just had an atmosphere of “whatever”. I did enjoy the acting experience, and it did challenge me as a performer, but the end result of the play really undercut the immense talent the actors had.</p>

<p>Overall I can’t remember a time at Otterbein where I didn’t feel frustrated, and ultimately, I think that’s the one word my experience there boiled down to: frustration. Now arguably, the theatre program at Otterbein just may not have been for me, and I believe that. I know almost everyone in the MT program seemed happy most of the time, and they all loved their time, so it boils down to what you want. Not being an MT at Otterbein is a huge disadvantage, but if I could sing better and was offered a slot in their MT program I would take it and never look back, because I do believe in the MT program’s ability to turn out great performers.</p>

<p>TL;DR: Otterbein is great for Musical Theatre, good luck as anything else in their theatre program.</p>

6

<p>To everyone reading this post. Please understand that these previous responses from both Risto and BroadwayBaybeh are the opinions of a limited, very biased few. As I am the afforementioned male Acting major who attempted to switch into the Musical Theatre program, I feel as though I can accurately speak to counter these viewpoints. While I would be lying to say that I haven’t had my complaints over the past two years I can say that both of the previous posters give an extremly inflated view of the “woes” of being a performance major at Otterbein. To speak to why I supposedly “ran away” from the acting program to become a musical theatre major, I can only say that while it was not my choice to be rejected from the MT program that I could NOT BE HAPPIER with the faculty’s decision to keep me in the acting program. The classes that I am taking as an acting major that I could not take as a musical theatre major include but are not limited to stage combat, tv/film acting, and a specialized class in 37 different styles of acting. The acting training is THE PRIMARY FOCUS of all performance majors at Otterbein and is well known to be one of the best in the country. In talking with close friends at other acting schools, they are limited in both quality and amount of time focused on acting skills.
While it would be simple to turn this message into a hate fest on the other two posters in this thread, I will instead merely state that Otterbein is not a school that will lay down and stroke your massive ego and that in order to attain a true understanding one must actually prove themself rather than just proclaim their talents. Likewise, Otterbein will not look fondly if you are late to nearly every class and or have a terrible attitude towards the professors that try and help you.
In my two years at Otterbein, I have been supported by an extremly caring and widely knowledgeable faculty who have taken time out of their personal lives to ensure that my education is heading in the right direction.
I too was at one point a transfer student, coming from another well renowned performance program I truly believe that I found my home at Otterbein.</p>

7

<p>I read the posts above and felt the need to post a reply. I am an Acting major sophomore at Otterbein and would like to clarify a false point made by “Ritsomom” a few posts above. He stated that three of the four acting major girls in my class wanted to be Musical Theater, but that is actually entirely false. None of us even auditioned for Musical Theater, nor have we ever expressed any interest in switching. One of us was offered to switch and declined because she found tremendous value in Otterbein’s acting program. </p>

<p>As a current student who is very involved in the school, I would also like to speak about my view of Otterbein’s program. I will start off by saying no program is perfect and I believe that. Every school has its issues, and every program can always get stronger and make improvements. The business is ever changing, therefore programs should be ever evolving in an effort to best prepare their students for the world. Otterbein has made tremendous growth in just the year and a half that I have been blessed enough to be a student here. The communication between the faculty and students is incredible, the opportunities for growth and performance have grown, and the (already high ) quality of the main stage shows have grown to be truly spectacular works of art this past semester.</p>

<p>I would also like to share that I was cast in last season’s production of “Richard the Third” and found great value in working with our guest artist. This year I have been challenged as a student and actress and look forward to going to every one of my classes. As for the training; I find it incredibly beneficial. For my finals week I got to perform scenes from Durang, Shakespeare, Ianesco, Euripedes, and Consgrove… all in one week! I got to sing songs from two Broadway musicals and be a tap, jazz, ballet, and modern dancer! To be challenged to be so diverse and play many roles against my type is incredible. I am growing so much as an actress and performer and am excited for the next semester where i will be taking script analysis and scene work, dialects, coreography, dance, voice, theater history II, and stage combat II, as well as two more condensed versions of special acting technique classes unique to Otterbein. I have a role in the upcoming play and also will be auditioning for Otterbein’s first play festival. Clearly the program offers a large amount of intensive trainging to the Acting major. </p>

<p>I am sharing this to show any students interested in applying for Otterbein’s program that the above posts from “BroadwayBaybayy” and “Ritsomom” are a very narrow perspective on the program and do not accurately reflect the amazing opportunities and training that Otterbein has to offer. I hope any incoming students or concerned parents would seek out multiple opinions and talk to our incredible faculty before forming an opinion on the school. Thank you.</p>

8

<p>Everyone has reservations about their schools. Schools and programs are constantly changing and evolving, and with this change there are naturally going to be kinks along the way. Obstinate people, actively LOOKING for a problem in their program are never going to be satisfied and are a lost cause. </p>

<p>Will you be happy at Otterbein? Who’s to say. Why should any one person’s (skewed, biased, jaded) observation of their time at Otterbein be any indication of how you’d spend your 4 years here? </p>

<p>As a Sophomore Musical Theatre Major, I’d like to speak for my school, one I am incredibly proud to attend and love.</p>

<p>What it boils down to is that, at its core, Otterbein offers an individualized, intense acting program that educates its students in not only various styles of acting, techniques and practices, but encourages and demands professionalism and respect from all of its students just as we demand (and receive) the same from the faculty in return. Whether MT or Acting, all of the students get the same training in acting, and then branch off to more specific training in music or acting styles. </p>

<p>Some obviously cannot handle the stress of the work and don’t possess the work ethic that is required to complete your work. If you make the choice to view the program as being more heavily weighted towards one major or the other, you’re obviously not going to try to open your eyes to see another perspective. </p>

<p>Though some may end up in ensembles of musicals (which is NOTHING to sneeze at), Otterbein trains its students how to be versatile actors who are unafraid of making unexpected, bold choices. Teachers make a point to challenge us and avoid putting their actors into a “type,” and instead give them many opportunities to play roles that are violently against anything that would be expected of them. Otterbein trains individual, unique actors, not cookie-cutter chorus boys/girls. </p>

<p>I don’t wish to speak on behalf of all of the Acting Majors at Otterbein, but I can tell you that they are all gifted artists and are just as highly respected as the Musical Theatre majors. Acting and Musical Theatre majors are given the same casting opportunities, whether it be a musical, play, dance concert or festival. The students are not limited by their major to what kind of show that can perform in, but allowed and encouraged to grow as artists in as many ways as possible. </p>

<p>Many of the malicious, accusatory posts made about Otterbein’s Theatre Program have seemed to make the faculty and staff out to be a group of monsters, out to destroy their students. Sorry, but this is no where near the truth. They are constantly asking for student input, meeting any and all students’ needs and truly want to see their students succeed. Why would they ever put any policy in place to hold their students back or intentionally try to shut out an entire major? That seems to be the opinion of a rigid, obstinate person, just trying to throw an entire school under the bus. </p>

<p>Personally, I’ve had my own struggles with the school and myself as an actor, but have had nothing but support from my phenomenal teachers, incredible classmates and peers. This semester, I’ve seen so much growth in myself as an actor and person and know that this new place I’ve found myself in, as an actor, could not have been found without, again, my phenomenal teachers, incredible classmates and peers.</p>

<p>Say what you will about Otterbein (even from an OUTSIDE perspective), but its students will fight right back, stand up for it and will not allow jaded opinions to affect an incoming student or anyone else’s view of the school.</p>

<p>If any incoming students (or ANYONE, in fact) has any questions about Otterbein, do not hesitate to ask!</p>

9

<p>I’m the mom of a daughter who has applied to Otterbein. Our situation is different in that she is technical theatre, specifically interested in lighting and stage management. I know you all are MT/Acting, but can anyone comment on the tech side of the program?</p>

10

<p>^^^ Most kids are on their way home for break ugadog . . . hope someone will reply to you soon though.</p>

11

<p>My daughter and I recently attended an audition weekend at Otterbein. We were so impressed by the faculty, the intense training in all three areas of MT, and the incredible sense of family within the department. We sat in on a class performance, watched a dance show and had the chance to meet and talk to many of the students in the department. All I can say is the FEW that get accepted into Otterbein MT or acting each year are not only very talented, but should count their blessings to be part of such an amazing program!! Believe me the theatre students we met LOVE being at Otterbein!!</p>

12

<p>Thanks for all of the feedback! I know HayJay mentioned it a little in their post, but can any or all of you speak to Otterbein’s Dance training/Department? Some of my friends who are freshmen in the program have commented on that, as well. I heard Otterbein just put on a spectacular Dance Concert! Thanks in advance :)</p>

13

<p>The dance concert was indeed wonderful. My son and I were there for auditions last weekend too (i think I spoke with you, mtgirl2013), and it overwhelmingly confirmed our already great impressions of Otterbein. So impressed with the people and the audition process. We have seen two main stage shows (including the bizarrely notorious “August: Osage County”–great production) and feel the quality of student work speaks for itself.</p>

14

<p>About the Dance Program:</p>

<p>We have an immensely talented, caring, challenging dance faculty that teaches in four levels of difficulty: Basic, Intermediate, Intermediate/Advanced and Advanced. At the beginning of the year students are placed (based on a placement routine) in varying levels of difficulty in the following styles: Ballet, Jazz, Modern and Tap. </p>

<p>Each class lasts an hour and a half, starting at 8:00 am. A typical week would be (it changes from semester to semester): Monday - Ballet, Tuesday - Modern, Wednesday - Jazz, Thursday - Ballet, Friday - Tap</p>

<p>We also have had great dance workshops with various local teachers (hip hop, jazz, etc.) and have also had Broadway choreographers do workshops and mock dance calls with us (Randy Skinner, Dan Knechtges, etc.).</p>

<p>I know some of the freshmen are upset that they weren’t allowed to be placed in another level other than Basic, but unless they are a Dance Concentration, they were scheduled for other classes that conflict with upper levels of dance. They’ll be allowed to move up in the future, maybe even next semester.</p>

<p>As for the technical side of things, I’m not quite sure that I’d be the best one to speak on behalf of that side of the program, but I’ll direct someone your way, ugadog99!</p>

15

<p>Thanks, herbie1492! I know you mentioned the freshmen non DC have classes that conflict with upper level dance times so they cannot take placements; was this the case last year? Because of these conflicting class, are their dance classes the same amount of time as the upper levels? Were they allowed to participate in the workshops you mentioned? That’s so wonderful that you were able to work with Mr. Knechtges. What a great way to showcase the school’s alumni!</p>

16

<p>Herbie, I’d love to hear anything about the tech program. Thanks!</p>

17

<p>Also, tagging on to what Herbie was saying about the dance program, in addition to the regular technique classes that you would take everyday, we have 2 choreography classes and 2 dance history classes offered. Also, we have a fall and spring student choreography workshop as well as the annual dance concert. Honestly, Otterbein’s dance training for MT’s is one of the best I’v ever found.</p>