<p>Greg Kunesh, the musical theatre chair at OU, retired last year, although he might still be doing recruiting–I am not sure. Since the program has only been a department for six years, he had been the only chair. A new chair will be taking over the department this year. He is Rich Taylor, who just retired this spring from his position as a vice president of entertainment at Disney. Taylor had worked at Disney for 26 years. The students are excited to be working with him!</p>
<p>mtmommy - </p>
<p>My D is vsiting OU and OCU next week and the change in the OU leadership makes it all very interesting. Do you have any info on how the program might be changing, or then again maybe it will not change at all, under the new leadership?</p>
<p>Hi Davislcab,
I believe Taylor officially joins the department as of August 1, so actually nothing has been said about if there will be any changes. The students are SO excited about Taylor coming on. You will actually be visiting right before he has taken over, so I don't even know if he will be there yet. The fall musical information packet that was sent out, I think, was written by Interim Chair Paul Christman. The fall musical is going to be The Scarlet Pimpernel, guest directed by Gabriel Barre (and they are also excited about this!)--and if I remember right and read correctly, he will be in residency this fall. Feel free to email or PM me if you have questions later on.</p>
<p>Thanks mymommy - I just realized that when I said next week I was incorrect they will tour Aug 2nd which is could be good or bad if the new boss shows up on the 1st. My D is really excited about the possibility of a program that has all of the college experience, including football, in the BFA environment and a program that may have an enhanced relationship with Disney would not hurt. Now that relationship may not actually exist but if it did it would be a plus.</p>
<p>You are right that OU is a "full-service" school with all the college experience, including a lot of school spirit for that team. It's offers all that a big school should offer, but it isn't overwhelmingly large--and the campus is lovely and the town safe. I sent you an email.</p>