<p>Just came back from a weekend at Syracuse, and wanted to rave about their just-finished production of “Lucky Stiff”. Yes, it was wonderful, and not only because my D was in the cast! The entire cast of 10 was terrific. I wasn’t familiar with the show – it’s a very fast-paced, wacky murder-mystery farce, totally silly and very entertaining. Director Nathan Hurwitz did an excellent job of casting. He was also the musical director, and the pit band was flawless. Choreography by David Lowenstein, a veteran of many Broadway shows; it’s not really a big dance show, but there was a hysterically funny tap number, and all sorts of cute little bits all through the show. Thoroughly enjoyed the whole evening!</p>
<p>I also had the opportunity to observe a master class by Jason Robert Brown. He spend 3 hours working with songs presented by a select group of MT students. What a knowledgable and interesting guy he is! Can’t wait to see his new show, “Thirteen”, which comes to B’way next spring.</p>
<p>I want to echo Onstage's tremendous review of "Lucky Stiff" performing at Syracuse this fall. My d and I attended last weekend while we were visiting Syracuse's MT program.
Not only is the talent pool impressive in this cast of 10 young musical theater artists, but we were equally blown away by the professionalism of the production as a whole. My d had an opportunity to meet with faculty, view 2 dance classes and speak directly with a sophmore student for quite a lengthy tour and talk.
We met with one of the faculty who spent 1 hr. and 1/2 with my d and 2 other prospective students, giving program overview and very specific info and help with auditioning process both for SU and in general for colleges. These had to be the nicest faculty and students around.
However, the highlight of our visit was having lunch with Onstage's daughter who is a sophomore in the MT program. She is a bundle of talent, as well as a mature, poised young woman who deeply impressed us both. She spoke with my d and myself about her experiences with auditioning, school choices, and how she decided on her best-fit program. I can't say enough about her performance in "Lucky Stiff", having been the only sophomore girl cast in the show, her ablilities abound!
We are beginning this process as my d is a jr. I can't recommend strongly enough how helpful it is to visit programs, research and discover if the program is going to match your style, personality and talent pool peers.
Thanks to this forum and wonderful posters such as Onstage and her d, we are making some headway early on in this daunting process.</p>