<p>My son and I returned last evening from our much too short visit to Philly and UArts. We got home just in time for him to run in, grab clothes and head over to school where his Vocal Jazz group was opening for a concert given at our high school by the very excellent A’cappella group from University of Wisconsin. </p>
<p>We really loved what we saw and heard of the school and loved the city of Philadelphia. We arrived Wednesday evening and for ease we just took a hotel shuttle to our hotel. Through Priceline we had a room at the Hyatt at Penn’s Landing for an unbelievable rate. It was probably cheaper than the Americinn right down the road from us here in small town SE Wisconsin. We spent the evening just walking/exploring in that area. The hotel was just under 2 miles from UArts so we got up early the next morning and walked over to the Avenue of the Arts. We walked down Walnut St, so got to enjoy some sightseeing along the way. We stopped in the historic Walnut Street theatre and talked to someone working in the lobby. We cut up to Market Street and walked along there also and went to the Gallery to find a McDonalds for breakfast. The Hyatt breakfast was NOT in the budget!! We then enjoyed the magnificent view of City Hall and headed down the Avenue of the Arts. We were amazed at the Senior Art Exhibit at Hamilton Hall. We went on a dorm tour and then a sophomore acting student took us on a performing arts tour. We even got a sneak peek of the set for INTO THE WOODS. My son was so excited by all he saw and heard. He SOOOO wants to be done with high school and started in the next chapter of his life. He would have been perfectly happy to just be left there and let me come home alone. We walked up the Bellevue and had lunch in the food court in the lower level. We had done so much walking, that my old body needed a break. I didn’t want to walk the 2 miles back to the hotel and then 2 miles back for dinner and the play; so we figured out the bus back to Penn’s Landing and got to the transportation center and got tokens (a better deal) and I got some needed rest. We city bussed it back to the UArts area and met Sheerviolette and a friend of hers for dinner at the Fox and Hound. It was a delightful meal with equally delightful conversation. Thank you so much Sheerviolette. We did find the Naked Chocolate Cafe, by the way. We then had the pleasure of INTO THE WOODS. Ditto to all that has been said about it already. We thoroughly enjoyed it. The set was spectacular, as were the costumes and the singing/acting was very impressive. Sheerviolette, what a lovely voice you have. And we loved your friend’s portrayal of the stepmother. (Don’t know if I’m supposed to mention names, so she’s being referred to as “your friend”. Thank you again for all the good info. </p>
<p>Kimoki, where were you sitting? I saw a girl sitting near us that I thought looked familiar to me; now I realize it may have been your daughter that I saw on the Adelaide you tube from another thread.</p>
<p>After the show, we had the experience of a cab ride back to the hotel. Very reasonable. The next day, we again took a bus to the train station and caught a train to the airport and back to Wisconsin. My son learned a lot about the school and a little about how to get around the city and to and from the airport. We were impressed with how friendly the city was, from restaurant staff, bus drivers, locals at the bus stops, etc. If felt like a Midwestern city in that respect. All in all, my son can’t wait to get back. The only thing for us now is to figure it all out financially and see if we can swing it.</p>
<p>AZKMom, i'm so glad that you and your son had a positive visit at UArts. it sounds like you really saw how wonderful a city philadelphia is and how much art it has to often. that has definitely meant so much to me and i'm so grateful for those opportunities to go to museums and plays and everything! and everything is so close...i love that i can roll out of bed and everything is right here! i hope that your son ends up coming. we'd love to welcome him to the lovely UArts SOTA family :-)</p>
<p>AZKMom, We were in about the 4th row center. I am so glad you enoyed your trip. I am from the area so I am pretty familiar but isn't the Merriam a beauty?? My D just finished Godspell at Plays and Players (another theater)which is one of the oldest if not THE oldest in the US. It's so cool to have all this history, theater, and a great school too. Hope you can figure out all the financial stuff. We are working on that right now.</p>
<p>My D in on UARTS MT 2012 Facebook. Is your son? He can look for Tara-Elizabeth.</p>
<p>I bet it was her I saw. We were about 4th row back on the left side, right on the aisle. I even pointed her out to my son, knowing she looked familiar to me, and asked if he thought she was the girl from the UArts journals. My son would be coming in as an acting student. He auditioned for MT but asked to be also considered for BFA acting, as well. Still hoping he can get some voice while there. He's not sure about doing the MT minor. We'll see what happens.</p>
<p>"He SOOOO wants to be done with high school and started in the next chapter of his life. He would have been perfectly happy to just be left there and let me come home alone."</p>
<p>AZKMom, boy can I empathize with that! Last April, 6 weeks before her high school graduation, my daughter sat in on classes for 2 days at UArts. At the end of the first day, she announced that she was "done" with high school and intended to spend the rest of the year just hanging out down at UArts. She asked (with a grin) whether we thought anyone at her high school would object to her just mailing her assignments in. This can be a very interesting and often funny time as we watch our kids really "turn a corner" and transition to the next phase of their lives. You can really see a change as they no longer think of themselves as high school students.</p>
<p>I'm glad you enjoyed Phila so much. Sounds like you had an opportunity to see a lot. If you or your son have any questions in the aftermath of your visit (particularly from a parent's perspective), please do not hesitate to ask.</p>
<p>MichaelNKat,
How sooo very true. Once you're done with high school it's really hard to be in the mode. I, as a parent, had senioritis as well. ;-)
It's amazing how once in college all the past seems so in the past. It's as if they're starting all over again. That's a good thing otherwise why would they need all the (add.'l.) training. ;-)
AZKMom,
Sounds like a productive trip. Glad you/S enjoyed it! :-)</p>
<p>Your visit sounded SOOO great and I am VERY excited when we come in on Wednesday. BroadwayWannabe, we are looking forward to meeting you!! Thanks for helping us out.</p>
<p>It sounds like everyone had such a good time visiting UARTS, too bad I had to miss Into the Woods we had friends in it, but we are going this weekend to see The Dinner Party in the blackbox theater and we are so excited. This will be out first time seeing our daughter in a UARTS production and it's another landmark for both her and us. And yes just a year later High School seems so very long ago, when I pass her High School now it's almost hard to believe she went there. Philly has really become her home and she looks forward to the next 3 years and so do we!</p>
<p>It was a pleasure meeting you and your son! Thank you so much for taking the time to come to the show, and I'm so glad you enjoyed what I did and more. I will pass along your kind greetings to "my friend." :) </p>
<p>I'm so glad you finally found Naked Chocolate after my shoddy directions! If he has any questions about anything, you know where to reach me.</p>
<p>I've written quite a bit in the past half hour about how this whole graduating thing is going. It's sort of funny, because I remember having the whole lame duck senioritis thing going on when graduating from high school. Of course, I sort of still do as a senior in college, but where I'm going to is far less clear. It's one of those times where you start getting nostalgic about what the last four years have meant to you and how far you've come.</p>
<p>As one of my former studio teachers would say, "It's a scary and wonderful place to be." :)</p>
<p>As I get ready to graduate, I fluctuate from feeling highly confident in what I have to offer to feeling unprepared for what lies ahead. But what makes me know I'm at the right place is knowing that the fluctuation won't go away without taking the next step.</p>
<p>Thus ends the philosophical musings of an exhausted senior musical theater major. :)</p>
<p>My D and I came back from Philly about a week ago, and between my work (I'm a school teacher) and jet lag, I finally have the time to talk about our visit to U. of Arts. I want first of all to thank MichaelNKat, Sheerviolette and Broadwaywannabe for their invaluable help when I first joined this discussion board to getting the chance to meet with you Sheerviolette and have Broadwaywannabe take us around both on the tour, meet with us and see my D. visiting in on one of her classes and being SOOOOOO nice, introducing her to everyone, etc.<br>
Our visit was magical. I had rented a car from JFK because we had been to visit my D's other schools she had been admitted to, and drove down to Philly. From the time we crossed the bridge, turned onto Broad St. and then finally saw those U of Arts flags, we were at home.
We stayed at the Doubletree, at MichaelNKat's suggestion, which was affordable because they gave us a hugh U of Arts discount, and my husband was part of their Honors program, so it was fabulous and was a perfect place of us to stay.
We met first with broadwaywannabe and sat in Starbucks enjoying her conversation, all the info we could ask her, and think of her. We SOO appreciated her setting aside some of her precious time to talk with us. We then met with Sheerviolette, who was also fantastic. You both represent U of Arts so well and they would be proud of how helpful you were to us. By that night D was set on going to U. of Arts, just because she really felt you both had given her an honest, straightforward view of the university.
That night we went to the opera. D had never been to an opera before, so it wasn't her favorite, but we loved the opera house itself.
The next day we first met with Charles Gilbert who was really nice to my D. He seemed genuinely interested in her and tried to convince her to come to U of Arts. He also introduced her to Patty Raine, the musical theater prof, and she was also really nice. They both invited her to visit their classes which she arranged to do. Then we went to see a dorm tour and got to see Pine and Furness which was great. We were impressed with how large the rooms were. Then we met with Broadwaywannabe for her tour which, of course, was fabulous. We got to see where the musical theater classes and dance classes take
place, the Terra Building, and she also showed us the Merriam Theater,
Anderson Hall, and some other parts of U of Arts. It was great. THat night we went to see the Neil Simon Dinner party show at the Black Box Theater in the basement of the Arts Bank Theater. There my D met Michael's D. She recognized my D from facebook and introduced her to all her friends. They were so nice to her..it was awesome. The show the students put on was fabulous. We were very impressed. As we saw the Neil Simon "Odd Couple" at the Walnut Theater the next night, we felt that although they were also fabulous, the students were not far behind. We came away that night very excited.
The next day D sat in on the musical theater class and loved it. The students were really nice to her and made her feel really comfortable. After that we had a long talk and she made her final decision to go to U of Arts!!!! She felt that this was the best place for her, and I agreed with her. So, we walked over to Hamilton Hall and paid her tuition deposit and housing deposit, and went back to the hotel. We left the next day to go home, exhausted and exhilarated. Thanks again to all of you who helped us.</p>
<p>Congratulations to your D (and to you). I'm glad to hear that her visit to UArts was such a good experience. After a long and time consuming year, now your D (and you) can take a breath, sit back and bask in knowing that she has made a decision that will provide her with so much gratification over the next few years. Enjoy this time and welcome to UArts and Philly.</p>
<p>bktheater - CONGRATS and welcome to the M/T family (Gr8 choice!)-my D also chose Philly over NY choices as she had spent time at pre-college there (NY), and so as it turns out it was a better "fit" for so many personal reasons. I'm certain your D WILL be happy with her decision. ;-)<br>
I know the feeling of "exhaustion and exhilaration" all too well. I have a D in Philly, and one about to graduate college, and move to your neck of the woods - Cali (LA) for work prior to grad school...I tell people I'm going to be a bi(tri?)-coastal exhausted and excited mom!<br>
P.S. One of my D's close friends @ UArts is also from Cali! The next time you travel there it'll be MUCH easier to fly in to PHL rather than JFK. :-)
Now enjoy your D and dorm shopping!!!</p>
<p>HI, Shellipearl, which one of the cast was your daughter. We saw it last Thursday night and LOVED it. If your daughter was the freshman young lady we saw, she was great, very engaging and seemed to have a lot of fun with the 2 roles, especially the dinner party.</p>
<p>Yes my daughter was Yvonne, I was lucky enough to see the play twice and by Sunday the crowd and the cast were totally on. She misses being in it, she said she loved rehearsals, loved working with such a talented cast, and learned so much from the talented director. I too love Philly and I've been lucky enough to visit my daughter several times this year and see quite a few productions. Each time I'm so impressed with the level of professionalism. Glasd your daughter is going to UARTS. We had a hard decision last year at this time as well, as she had 5 really good choices. She has not regreted her decision to go to UARTS for one second. She feels she is getting the intense training in Voice, Acting and Dance that she really wanted. Congrats again and welcome.</p>