<p>I'm getting ready to take my older daughter who goes to Brown to NH for her three week training camp with the ski team and she is yelling to me that her younger sister left a voice mail for her as she is in Florida right now visiting with lots of her theater camp friends who all go to various BFA programs now and the message she left was that younger D's friend from theater camp, who is also friends with older D because he is a senior at Brown, older D's college, just got cast as Mark in the National Tour of Rent! Older D just called the boy up and it's true, he is leaving to rehearse and tour. He has one semester left at Brown, not sure if he is taking a leave but imagine that to be the case. Pretty cool for him! He is involved in musical theater at Brown, in a male a capella group there (I've seen a few times) and also majors in classics and my D saw a musical he wrote on campus too. I've seen him in shows at my D's camp and that D was in a cabaret with him for years. Really happy for him! So, all you theater hopefuls, anything is possible! And remember, he is in a BA degree college, so there are many routes to this field. </p>
<p>Wow CONGRATS to him! Scarily enough one of my voice coach's students just got cast as Maureen on the national tour, and has left to rehearse as well. Weird that these two will be touring together. She has tried out 4 times and each time got called back and never made it and she finally made it.</p>
<p>Defying Gravity...that's cool too for your voice teacher's student getting Maureen....great! Obviously these two will get to know one another. How old is she? This friend is a senior in college. He is from NYC, like you, and used to go to Stagedoor.</p>
<p>Freelance, I was hoping you'd read this news as the kids were all friends and performed together. Your D likely got this news already. I've been away for ten days, recently returned. Of course, my D has not called me since we parted in CA a few days ago and she's in FL now, but THIS news she was sure to send a voice mail to her sister! I'll be in touch.
Susan</p>
<p>I have a friend who is a freshman MT at SUNY Buffalo who was cast in the Asian tour of Grease as the understudy of Kinikee/ensemble. He leaves in two weeks for Korea to learn the show, then back home for a couple weeks and then off to Hong Kong, Singapore and etc....Supposedly they are planning a 2007 Broadway revival of the show as well. We are all so exciting for him.</p>
<p>He's coming to Korea???? Give him my info! I will hook him up with all the cool places to hang out!!! :)</p>
<p>PM me if you think he'd be interested. I'm SURE they'll be in Seoul - there isn't really anywhere else to go to rehearse a musical. So I could totally show them around! And how fun for me!</p>
<p>A good friend of my daughter's also just got cast in the Rent tour. My daughter had dinner with her one night after rehearsals and she said it's a really talented group. I can't wait to see the show when it comes thru town.</p>
<p>cbs....that is so great for that person too....which role will she play? She is not the girl from CAP, right? </p>
<p>This tour is not coming to my state, though frankly I have seen RENT lots of times as have my girls. There is a possibility of going to New Haven to see it but just figuring out logistics and schedules if that would work, because it would be nice to see my kids' friend in it. Let us know what role your daughter's friend will be playing in case we see it.
Susan</p>
<p>Thanks alwaysamom! I checked it out and saw that a recent PSU MT grad is U/S and swing for Mark and Roger. I think I scooped this news even before my D heard about it!</p>
<p>HAHAHAHA - wow, such a SMALL theatre world! I read the RENT program linked above, and not only do I have a personal connection to the PSU grad (I did a show with his girlfriend - mentioned in his bio and also a PSU MT grad - waaay back in the day when she was still in high school and we have stayed in touch and have planned for her to teach for me several times, but she always gets performance gigs in the meantime ;) ) - BUT I saw the CAP girl's name and was so thrilled for her, because I taught her when she was a VERY young elementary schooler in a theatre training program, probably when she was first getting into theatre! That was a long time ago and we have since lost touch - but still pretty neat to see! This always shows me how "old" I am, when students from long ago resurface and are working professionals.:)</p>
<p>As the current crop of kids (and parents) go through the auditioning process, I thought I'd comment that it's important to remember that there are many ways to achieve your goals to pursue theatre as a career. This was brought home to me last night while visiting with a friend who just returned from spending last week with the new Rent tour. She's a writer and will be following a couple of the castmembers (via occasional visits, email and phone) for the duration of the tour, to get their observations and experiences not only from touring but also about their first professional jobs.</p>
<p>She saw the cast perform the show three times last week and was very impressed by the talent onstage. Most of this cast is VERY young and, all but one are new to the tour. They come from a variety of backgrounds and experiences which I thought some of you kids here might find interesting. </p>
<p>Experience ranges from lots of regional theatre, to tv appearances, national tours, work on cruise lines, with with groups who perform at cultural events. Three castmembers are still in college and have taken leaves of absence from West Chester University, Tisch, and Brown. Graduates from PSU (BFA MT), Stetson University (BM in Vocal Perf.) and BoCo (MM in MT), BU (Theatre Studies) and SUNY Purchase (Studio Production), USC (Business), AMDA, as well as one who is 18 and graduated from high school last year, are represented in the cast.</p>
<p>I think it's interesting to see the variety in backgrounds and I also think it's important for kids who are just starting in the college process to realize that if they do not get in to their favorite program, or if they are shut out of several programs, it does not necessarily mean that they should give up! I can't wait to see this tour after hearing about it from my friend. She sees more theatre than anyone I know so positive reviews from her mean a lot! Here's hoping they have a great tour! Three sold-out shows at PSU York over the weekend were a great start. :)</p>