<p>I have been in touch with my cousin’s girlfriend, who went to Otterbein for acting, and she has mentioned to me that they are casting adult actors increasingly in their season. She mentioned there would be three shows this year starring outside adult professional actors.</p>
<p>Has anyone else heard of this situation at Otterbein? Is it because there aren’t students to play the roles? My friend said they’d used students to play older roles in the past. Why don’t they pick different shows? Apparently, students were called back for Richard in Richard III and they cast an outside professional?</p>
<p>And, just curious, do these adult actors get paid?</p>
<p>Interesting - I would be curious to hear an explanation on this or the philosophy as well. Our oldest is an Otterbein alum - 2010, and we attended a few shows from '06 - '10 where students were cast in “older” type roles. Any feedback from current students/ faculty would be appreciated.</p>
<p>I am the parent of a current Otterbein student and know that Dr. John usually responds to posts on this forum in a timely manner. I know he is in the midst of tech week for the current production he is directing (Carnival), so my guess is he hasn’t seen this post yet. I’m sure he will respond when he is able to. Carnival is cast entirely with students.</p>
<p>My son was in a show last year (not at Otterbein) where a faculty member played one of the lead roles. I wondered why that opportunity to perform was taken from a student, but then my son told me he learned so much from watching that experienced person work and from working with a faculty member as a peer in a production.</p>
<p>I am a current Otterbein student and the occasional guest artist playing a role isn’t necessarily a bad thing. However, in the last production that we did, there were 5 roles out of 11 played by guest artists. And now another one will be playing the part of Richard III. There has been a guest artist in a show every single year since I’ve been here. I want to put this on this website so that potential students understand the amount of guest artists used in our productions, because it was not something that I was informed of coming into the program.</p>
<p>The Show where 5/11 roles were cast out was August Osage County by Tracy Letts. You cannot obtain the rights to this show without having a minimum of 5 equity artists working with students. (Wright State did this last year in conjunction with Human Race Theatre) As a student at Otterbein I will say that I learn so much from observing Professional Adult actors in shows, it out weighs the negatives of a student not getting the role.</p>
<p>Thanks for the information. Something that sounds a little wonky often has a reasonable explanation. I knew that WSU did it in conjunction with Human Race - did not know it was a contractual requirement to include 5 Equity actors, but that would be a show that definitely would call for using actors “of a certain age”</p>
<p>I still don’t see how it could be justified to choose a show that requires so many outside actors. I understand it was necessary in order to produce the show, however why couldn’t they have chosen a different show and instead used guest artists in a directing/choreography/vocal direction position? I am extremely interested in Otterbein since it has a small program and offers students plentiful onstage opportunities but this is certainly alarming information. It also does not harmonize well with the department’s mission statement:</p>
<p>Otterbein’s theatre and dance program provides a select number of undergraduate students with the training, education and experience necessary to pursue careers in the American professional theatre. In all that we do, we strive to create and maintain the supportive professional environment necessary for the continued growth and development of our students.</p>
<p>With a mission statement as “student-focused” as this, I can’t see how the department can justify this choice. I understand the value of guest artists; however I cannot understand what the students wouldn’t gain from a guest director that they would from a guest performer. I welcome any and all feedback from current Otterein students, faculty, or supporters!</p>
<p>It sounds like you should take Otterbein off your list. You have stated facts about the program (ones that have apparently been verified by current/past students) that you find unsettling. You state that you like the program because it is small… most every BFA program is just as small (8-10 students) and the students get the individual attention both on stage and in the classroom. I certainly agree that 5 guests artists out of a cast of 11 seems way out of line. I understand the advantages of “observing” the professionals and learning from them, but your faculty are the professionals and you are learning from them in every class.</p>
<p>My D is a freshman at Otterbein, and to my knowledge there are no adult actors cast in any shows this year. I’m not privy to any inside information, but maybe there was feedback to the faculty regarding the August Osage casting? I know from my daughter that the faculty does encourage student input and participation in the selection of the season. In fact, each class (freshman, sophomore, etc.) just submitted their show ideas for next year to the department. </p>
<p>I think that before you take Otterbein off of your list, a phone call or email to ask what their policy is regarding adult actors might be a good idea. </p>
<p>As for our family, you can see that in the end for us it was the quality of the program and training that mattered the most to us and my daughter is EXTREMELY happy at Otterbein.</p>
<p>One of the reasons I am so interested in Otterbein is because of just that- the constant student input and the fact that the faculty gives it so much consideration. However, we just got wind that they are considering doing Sweeney Todd next year with a guest performer. Granted nothing’s set in stone, but it still seems disheartening that the faculty would even think of using a guest performer after receiving such a negative reaction from the students last year. I realize that this year has been better, but based off of this information, it doesn’t seem like the faculty is as considerate as I always regarded Otterbein to be. Personally, I feel like any school’s job is not to hire/employ actors, but to train actors.</p>
<p>As a current otterbein sophomore male acting major…oops did that single me out. I think its important to note that the majority of students understand why it is important to cast professionals in roles. While yes, last year got heavy with the guest performers, the six students cast and (equally as important) the students on the production staff have had glowing reviews of how much they learned from the process. If this is a dealbreaker for your college decision, I understand however, if you can’t see the outstanding benefits of working with professional performers I’m sorry.</p>
<p>spoonfedkyle, I realize that there is something to be learned from working with an outside professional, however I only expressed my hesitance because my friend spoke to someone on the faculty last year who said this would not happen again in the future. I see where you’re coming from, though.</p>