Hi there,
I was hoping that a current student/parent or recent graduate would be willing to share info about performance opportunities at Hartt.
Specifically, the number of musicals and plays… along with any other opportunities through the local theater scene. (annual Christmas Story production?)
Also, if anyone would like to share details on past productions… trying to get a feel for the types of shows they gravitate towards? Classic, Contemporary, anything edgy, etc?
Thanks in advance CC’ers!
I believe they do 6 plays and 6 musicals per year. I just checked the performance calendar, and this semester the musicals are “All Shook Up,” “The Belle of Tombstone,” and “The Rocky Horror Show.” The plays this semester are “Twelfth Night”, “Medea,” and “The Taming of the Shrew.”
Last semester’s performance calendar is gone now, so I’ll have to ask my daughter what the shows were. I know “Sweet Charity” was one.
Freshman year, you don’t perform, but you have crew assignments, so you’re in rehearsal at night. Sophomore year, you perform both semesters, but only for faculty and students. Junior and senior year, you perform in shows open to the public.
One thing I like about Hartt is that you’re GUARANTEED to be in multiple shows. Rehearsal and performance are considered part of the training.
As for professional opportunities: senior year, the acting majors are cast in “A Christmas Carol” at Hartford Stage, and the MT students are cast in the “New Musical Festival” at Goodspeed. They can also audition for other shows at those theaters and other local theaters like Capitol Classics and Theatreworks.
I will ask my daughter what the shows were last semester!
@actorparent1 thank you for this incredibly useful info. Interesting about the sophomore performance not being for the general pubic. I wonder how my daughter will take that. She’s at a performing arts High School and has been doing theater all her life. Might be weird to have two full years of barely performing. The guaranteed casting once you get to Junior year is nice though.
Anyone out there know how much the MT’s dance?
Thanks!
@El-Cee i hopefully answered your question about dance in the other thread, but did want to add…my freshman D was asked by a sophomore to dance in a project she’s working on. So there might be some opportunities to be in student-led projects. Honestly, these kids are so busy…my D performed all her life too and honestly has been completely fine with not performing this year. I was concerned about it too. Also, I believe MTs can audition for Acting performances… and I don’t think students from an outside majors can audition for shows. Theatre is for the theatre students.
My daughter went to a performing arts high school too, but her school took the same approach of not performing publicly till junior year, so she’s used to that.
To be clear, it’s not “two full years of barely performing.” You’re constantly doing scenes in class, and then sophomore year you ARE doing full shows in front of an audience - it’s just that the audience is made up of faculty members and other students, not outside people. But it’s still acting and performing.
The reason for not performing publicly sophomore year is that the purpose of these rehearsals and performances is to learn and grow as an actor - it’s an integral part of the training. So they want you to be free to take risks and make mistakes without worrying about whether the audience will like it or not. It’s meant to be a time of exploring and taking chances and trying different things, without the pressure of a public audience. And then junior and senior year you DO get to perform publicly, and even perform on a professional stage senior year. So IMO it’s a good balance.
Having said that: my daughter did audition for and get cast in a student-run production that’s happening in May, so she IS actually going to perform freshman year, and that IS open to the public. But it’s a student-run production that’s being directed by senior acting students.
But of course, everyone has different priorities and qualities that they want in a program! My daughter is focused on the training, so it wasn’t important to her to perform publicly right away. But other people DO want the opportunity to perform publicly right from the beginning. So it’s definitely a factor that you need to weigh and consider when choosing a program.
My daughter just got back to me. The fall musicals were “Nunsense” and “Sweet Charity.” The plays were “Our Country’s Good,” “The Rimers of Eldritch”, and “The Cherry Orchard”. So in total, there were five musicals for the year and six plays. (That’s just the junior and senior productions, not the in-house sophomore ones.)
thank you @actorparent1 & @MThopeful2022 for your insights, they are greatly appreciated. Do either of you care to comment on Hartt’s reputation for sharing merit money? (grades/talent grants, not FA or loans).
Previously Hartt students were only eligible performing arts scholarships (in varying amounts) and were not eligible for academic scholarships. However, I understand from others that this has changed, and students are now eligible for both. (Note: their website still indicates that Hartt students are not eligible for both, but perhaps they haven’t updated it for 2019 info…)