Performance Opportunities

College Majors Musical Theater Major
1

Hi All,

My daughter just found out she was accepted to the BA in theater arts with the minor in MT! She is beyond excited and I’m so happy for her that she received an acceptance to a school she’s really excited about!! That being said, I do want to gather some information from those in the know. What can you tell me about performance opportunities? We were at BU yesterday and they have guaranteed casting. Marymount does not. Definitely pros and cons with both. What I worry about with Marymount is with such a large number of kids in the program, will she ever get cast? To me, the point of college is to practice and learn …how can you do that if one never gets cast or gets cast in very minor roles? Other questions are re: dance and voice lessons. While my daughter seems excited about the prospect of walking to her daily 8 AM dance class, I know that’ll get old on some days, especially when it’s raining or snowing and she’s been up late with tech rehearsals the night before. Lastly, what is the cafeteria situation like??? When my daughter was auditioning, the building we were in for the entire day had not one snippet of food available. Because the school is so small, I worry that the food is not available 24/7. NYC has great options, but too expensive to do that on a regular basis!! Any and all comments are so appreciated! Thank goodness I discovered this website- it’s been beyond helpful during this grueling audition process!

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my son is a freshman at MMC, he reports that student there can attend and train for 4 years and never be cast in a mainstage show. there are opportunites to appear in student directed pieces and faculty directing projects, but that is not the same. (BTW - disclaimer, my son has an A average and was cast in a faculty directing project and a student piece this year, and he is transferring out. Not because of the performance opprotunities, but it is a factor, though less than his other complaints.

3

Your comment scares me because that’s what I have heard from many people! I want her to perform on main stage…Logistics is another concern- 55th street dorms are 20 minute hike from the campus- dorms are a huge high rise/ and am concerned that main cafeteria is so small- and NOT open on weekends!!!
Have never heard of such a thing!! Yes, they can eat at a diner on weekends using their dining dollars- but so many things seem like a huge hassle! Lots of time being spent getting to and from school… Plus late night tech rehearsals in In places like Harlem until midnight… I know they would be all together, but having to take a cab home super late at times for weeks on end, then getting up early every day for an 8 am dance class, seems so daunting! Really wish there were cafeterias in the dorms!!!on the bright side, everyone we met yesterday was super friendly… And my daughter was super impressed yesterday when she sat in on a MT senior class-said the talent was incredible!! Lots of things to think about!

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@duxellen – sorry to further crap on MMC - but you hit the reasons my son is leaving on the head - the dorm is at 55th between 2nd and 3rd. Dance - 60th and 11th and 68th and 11th - across town - 25 minutes to get there, by subway and 10 block walk.The “dining hall” is a cafeteria, and doesn’t open early enough for the MTs to go up there (in itself another 20 min trek in teh wrong direction from the dorm to the school) and eat. so, grocery shopping and cooking/eating cereal or protein bars is breakfast. The voice studios can be anywhere in teh city (which includes all 5 boroughs - one coach allegedly teaches in Astoria, Queens). My son is lucky, his coach rents space at Ripley Grier for the lesson, but, that means another subway from the dorm to penn station and a walk up 8th ave (20 min each way.) and classes - at 71st street - 20 blocks from teh dorm, or just off the subway and 3 blocks walking if your kid is running from dance or voice. As to dinner - the dining hall has sandwiches, pasta, pizza…not much else, and if your kid doesnt have a class that runs into the dinner hour, it means a 20 min trek from dorm to school building. The school promises “restarurants” in the neighborhood that take the card, well, there was one, a diner specializing in greasy pizza, subs and pasta, at upper east side prices, but after kids got food poisioning, and the parents who monitor charges complained that they were double charging, there is no restaurant that takes the card. The store in the dorm lobby sells food, but at $6 for eggs and $9-12 for frozen dinners, not a great option. So, back to whole foods for groceries, or chipotle for the only inexpensive carryout (i have seen the charges for chinese or other carryout for my son, dinner runs $25-35, and he is not ordering fancy food - chicken wings, basic ravioli, lo mein…). in our analysis, the school costs 29k for tuition, 15,500 for the dorm and base “meal plan”. that’s 44.5k. add in the dance fee, because daily dance is an outside lab, with outside faculty, and voice fee, you hit 48k. add in $120 per 30 day period for the subway unlimited pass, and then add all those groceries and carryout meals…we are at $56,000+ for a $44,000 school. The training is very good, but, the grind to get it, the added responsibility of cooking all his meals - basically living as a commuter student in a “dorm” apartment was too much. - he will get his training at the school he had as his first choice tied with MMC and rejected last year only for cost reasons, since the otherschool, at 58,000, turns out to not really be any more expensive.

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My D graduated in 2013 from MMC musical theatre. She loved the training she received, but hated the fact the performance opportunities were not good to show off what you learn. She wasn’t bothered so much by the food as she was a vegetarian at the time (now eats chicken) and preferred to cook her own food. Dance was not as far away when she was at the school and her voice teacher was on the UWS. D moved to an apartment on the UWS after the first year and was close to dance and voice. She did have to take the bus across town to school, but didn’t mind. She did a lot of auditioning outside of school and was cast in things around the city during college. Learning to navigate the city on the subway and bus as well as shopping and cooking for herself were great to prepare her for real life after school.

My D was an AP, A student and found the academics lacking at MMC. She took as many extra classes as she could fit in, but most were not challenging. She lived in NYC when she finished college working and auditioning, but has since left the city and is returning to school to get her teaching credential.