<p>I visited NCSA two years ago and i saw a musical there, i forget what it was called but it was spectacular. The singing, acting, and dancing was great. I also was talking to my friend who is an alum of CCM and i asked her which schools CCM considers to be there competition for musical theater and she said NCSA. So even though they don't have a musical theater major it is definatly part of the curriculum.</p>
<p>Operanoodlemantra,</p>
<p>Yes, they do have musicals there but they are rare compared to the list of straight theater they regularly perform. There are top students at U MIch, CCM, etc. from the drama program who have gone into MT...absolutely. But I disagree that their MT training came from NCSA. The drama is fantastic. My D knows quite a few people there in the HS and College programs. All the college program students we know take private voice and dance outside of NCSA. They do not get enough in any way as part of the program. My younger d's teacher's son is there now in the college program. He also went there for the HS program as well. LOVES IT. He was always a big MT person. Actually got into 2 of the top MT programs and some other great programs but chose to stay at NCSA. (Financially it is a Godsend for a NC resident!!!!) He is extremely happy there but he also takes outside voice and dance. </p>
<p>So there definitely is some serious drama training to be had at NCSA. One of the tops for sure. But if you are not looking to pay for extra lessons to enhance your training, It may not be the perfect fit.</p>
<p>I am brand new here, but i have been reading the posts for few months- thank you everyone for your wisdom, generous advice and help. thought it was my turn to offer a little information.</p>
<p>The High School Drama program at NCSA is stricly drama, no 'shows' .As they say ," we don't do 'GREASE"", but they do do small performance projects . My son is currently in the HS program. ( It is only a one year program) He was not happy at his regular HS which had a poor theater program-So he does NOT miss the football games, clubs, public school hoops he felt he had to jump through. But someone who loves all those aspects of HS really might.</p>
<p>He LOVES IT, loves it, loves it-----but it is an intense program. The director of the program has been there forever and he forges quite a bond with the kids- They believe everything he says!! They take tai Chi, Stage combat, Circus,Alexander technique, Modern Dance, Voice Training( which is NOT singing- but breath support, control, etc) and Singing( which is not individual but an absolutely amazing class-) and of course Acting. They are always bringing in adjunct profs from NY to do mini sessions with the HS kids. The regular teachers are almost all from the college program ( so the level of training is up to NCSA'a college standards) and the voice teacher is really unbelievable- The teachers are now working with the kids to choose audition materials, really individually selecting the pieces for each student.The director of the program said he felt like the HS kids get more in this senior year than almost all the 1st year college programs he can think of--</p>
<p>The kids often are going from 8 in the am(academic classes) to 10 at night( acting etc)- it is a real taste of what a college level program would be like.</p>
<p>The 20 or so kids that are in the troupe are together all the time which is both good and bad, but certainly it makes them learn to give and take and learn to compromise and address conflict. The intensity of the group can be overwhelming for some kids</p>
<p>They finished their academic classes last Tuesday for the trimester. For the next two weeks they do Intensive Arts( just theater related classes- or for dancers Nutcracker performances) and then they are out on the 9th!</p>
<p>As regards how many make it, etc. I think about 200 tried out nationwide- they took 23 or so- a few decided not to enroll, then a few came from New Orleans after Katrina.</p>
<p>My son was one of three they took from the same High School , so don't despair about too many kids from one school. Last year there wer 8 girls, 12 boys- This year more girls.</p>
<p>and as regards him getting into the college program- It will be extremely hard- They are absolutley not guaranteed anything- Its even harder for them I think</p>
<p>MS THEATER note; I know that one college accepted their whole mens MT theater class out of the boys from NCSA- not all went.</p>
<p>Hope this helps some of you! We've been thrilled with the program for our son-</p>
<p>jbrown,</p>
<p>Wow...thanks for all your information! I am so glad it has been a wonderful experience for your son!! As I mentioned earlier, my d has been "on the fence" about applying for the high school program. So much to consider.... Could you tell me if the HS students are all expected to audition at the Chicago unifieds and other auditions are frowed upon? That is what I have heard from MANY kids who have been through the program. My d wants to visit each school in person and audition with them. It's important to her so that could be a huge issue. (Besides my husband travels out of state every week for work and it's about time those hotel and frequent flyer miles were used for something!!!)</p>
<p>I also think my d wants to keep up with her focus areas to help w/ MT auditions. Private voice lessons, ballet, piano, etc. Are you from close to NCSA? I wonder if we have seen your son in something?</p>
<p>I would say that Chicago Unifieds are not optional, but that kids are auditioning at other places as well. I think preparing for Unifieds is seen as an important process in learning about the audition process as a whole. Most of the kids are auditioning/applying to 10-12 schools so that for most folks, including us, visiting that many schools would be prohibitive. Chicago unifieds are appealing in that it is more of a one stop shot. We have visited 4 schools and it was all we could do to fit it in! They do not many college visit days and since most of the schools are in not in our area- (We live in Winston-Salem) it was practically impossible to arange.</p>
<p>Our plan is to visit a few schools to get a sense of ' could he see himself in this TYPE of school?" and then wait to see where he gets in/what the FINANCIAL offer is before we make and serious visits. It will be SO hard to get your heart seton/ fall in love with a school and then NOT get in - especially if you have personally visited.</p>
<p>If your daughter is junior now, GO AHEAD AND VIST SCHOOLS THIS SPRING- don't wait- It is really very hard to do it and juggle the program at the same time. If your daughter is still interested in maintaining all those private lessons I think it would be hard for her to keep that up and the HS program , too. I will say that the amazing opportunity that the program provides has been worth it for my son not being able to 'perform' this year-</p>
<p>to answer your question, my son has been in community theater productions here in WS- Big River (at the Little Theater) as Tom Sawyer to name one.</p>
<p>Our kids probably know each other!</p>