<p>If the reporter reads this forum, I get the feeling you can blame the editor for the missing details. Don't they typically chop this type of story all to pieces before it goes into print?</p>
<p>fish, I was a reporter for more than 25 years and reporters do like to blame their editors for chopping stuff for space!!! :) (We would sometimes say that, however, even when it wasn't true! One thing you cannot blame the reporter for is the headline, however.) As I said before, overall it was a very good job. I just could have done with a few less details about what happened in the CMU audition (though they were interesting) and maybe a few sentences more about how tough the odds are. That's all.</p>
<p>Also- I could swear they said Kiss me Kate is a musical version of Macbeth. That is something the editor should have caught, althiugh it is completely irrelevant to the story.</p>
<p>keepingcalm, please say it ain't so! Let me check .... if you all hear a very loud scream/screech coming from the Mid Atlantic region, you will know what kc said is true ..</p>
<p>Here is what the article said. I can see why keepingcalm read it the way she/he did. It would have been clearer had the reporter offered the title of the musical or play that is a "contemporary take on Macbeth."</p>
<p>"Confidence onstage grew slowly: a part in the school production of “M<em>A</em>S*H,” Otto Frank in “The Diary of Anne Frank,” a school trip to perform at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Last year he was cast in the ensemble of “Singin’ in the Rain”; this year, with voice lessons under his belt, he won the lead roles in “Kiss Me, Kate” and a contemporary take on “Macbeth.”</p>
<p>It may just be a production of Macbeth with a contemporary 'take'. This is often done with Shakespeare plays and the title of the show remains the same. One of my Ds was in such a production of Macbeth a couple of years ago, although it was not a musical. It was a 20th century 'take'. :)</p>
<p>I guess I need to improve my reading, since I skopped a word and changed another. It looks better now.</p>
<p>Kiss Me Kate was based on Taming of the Shrew</p>
<p>While that's sort of true, MomofAPrincess,(the play within the play is a musical version of Taming of the Shrew) I don't believe that that is what the article was trying to convey. It was two separate shows in which the boy won the lead role, Kiss Me Kate AND a contemporary take on Macbeth.</p>
<p>Loved the article. It did justice to one of the most difficult parts of the process that the kids go through.</p>
<p>Why aren't Mt and Theatre programs ranked? Business and law schools are. I know each school is a "personal" choice and fit but some of these schools are a better overall fit for most than others. There are also those schools that have more working actors than others, that have more connections, etc. I know a school or situation is what you make it but we know that some are better than others overall.</p>
<p>betty, I think trying to rank acting and MT programs would be an exercise in futility. What parameters, for instance, would you use: how many graduates are doing professional work one year out from graduation? how many are on Broadway? how many go on to advanced degrees (MFA)? I don't think it can be done in a way that really conveys important information, in the way law and business schools can rank their programs based on various parameters.</p>
<p>I actually know the kid who was the subject of the article slightly. The reporter called up the drama teacher at the high school and asked for the name of a student, and this kid was identified. I don't know all the details, but I think his application strategy was well-thought-out, but maybe not fully described in the article. As indicated, he is interested in drama, and not primarily musical theater. (I will note that the only time I've seen him perform was in "Kiss Me Kate," and he was excellent.)</p>
<p>Hunt, that's interesting. I don't think anyone on this thread questioned the student's plans or strategy; we were mostly just hoping that any future BFA-ers that read it wouldn't think it was a good idea to only audition for two schools if they (the future BFA students) were serious about getting into drama school.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, the kid whom they profiled, really is not the typical BFA applicant by virtue of the fact that he only auditioned at two schools. Hunt, now that you say the reporter called the school to get the name of a student, it so happens that one of my advisees attends that same high school. My student who has a signficant background in MT, has chosen to pursue acting. He applied to and auditioned at many more BFA schools than the student profiled, though also applied to some BA schools. He is heading to a BFA school in the fall. </p>
<p>While the article was very good in some ways, it really did not paint an accurate picture of those seeking audition based programs (ie., applying to many more than two, and also the very low rates of admissions at all the programs). On top of that, seeking MT has even more difficult odds overall than Acting (though some acting programs are just as low an admit rate) and it is also harder for girls than boys. None of that could be inferred from the article.</p>
<p>I think we have a reasonable wish that articles like this (and a couple of others being discussed elsewhere on CC) profiled students who were more representative of BFA applicants, homeschooled students, Harvard rejects, etc. The reporter, though, is primarily looking for an interesting story, as well as a student who will talk and, in this case, let the reporter come along to auditions.</p>
<p>Hunt, I think that is very true. And it was an interesting article. I just think that all of us here who are well versed on audition-based programs and admissions, realize that this particular article didn't necessarily depict the full picture of what BFA admissions is truly about. As a human interest article, it works. (he does sound like a neat kid too)</p>
<p>It would have been nice to follow an auditioning M/T as well as an auditioning Acting student to show the added stress(es) of singing and dancing (to acting).
Although, I doubt many M/T's (or parents) would have wanted that glory.</p>
<p>As I said earlier, we know the reporter, and my D and some other MT kids were interviewed at length for the article. The reporter began following these kids over the summer (my D also won the same state acting award as this boy). We had agreed that the reporter follow my D during her auditions. However, once my D got into college ED, the NYT editor would not let the reporter follow her and all her quotes (about MT and how hard the process is for MT students) were cut. I am pretty sure that the reporter was originally following another MT student as well, but there were reasons she stopped following him (I think he eventually chose not to audition at schools). I think in the end her editor wanted her to "focus" the article on this one boy and discuss his "journey". I think she just happened to have picked kids which turned out to be "dead ends"!</p>
<p>Alliesmom, your D is ending up at a great school though! My client from that HS was also admitted to Northwestern but preferred to go to a BFA school. Where did the boy in the article end up picking? I don't know the rest of his list but it was pretty unusual to have just two BFA schools and that one was on the most difficult end (CMU) of the spectrum in terms of selectivity and one wasn't (Marymount Manhattan). I'm assuming he may be going to a BA school?</p>
<p>The boy in the article does not go to our HS. My guess is that once his SATs went up, he decided to try for a mix of BA and BFA schools. The reporter was stuck with whatever he decided. She had to take whatever she was given especially since the other kids were not going to work anymore! Considering the circumstances, I think the article went very well. When she first started talking to the kids, I think she intended to tell an MT story. I will see if she knows where he is going.</p>