Questions?

<p>My D is a junior BFA-MT (dance concentration) major at SHSU. I’d be happy to answer questions about the program if anyone needs help.</p>

<p>How does she like it? D is considering auditioning in April. I hear the school itself is wonderful.</p>

<p>My D was a junior transfer last semester and as such it was slow going in the fall....difficult to find a group to hang with. But, she did....just took patience. This semester she is involved in more things; more kids know her; she has a lead role in the spring musical....so life is good. She transferred from a BM program; SHSU is a BFA.....so some difference in the requirements...she'll likely have to stay an extra semester to complete the degree. But, that is okay as she is a 'young' junior with a summer bday. If your D auditions, let me know....I'll be there that weekend as that is the weekend of the spring musical. We live in TX so the price is right, too!</p>

<p>Thanks! I will let you know if she goes. It would be great to see a musical while we are there.</p>

<p>My daughter won't be able to do the audition in April due to extracurricular conflicts. She will go for BFA-Acting/Directing and then audition for MT in November.</p>

<p>How many kids are in the MT program at SHSU?</p>

<p>Roughly how many are offered and accepted each year?</p>

<p>I think I read where they have 2 mainstage musicals per year. How about other performance opportunities?</p>

<p>Are the facilities decent?</p>

<p>arrdad,
Their stated goal is to have 60 or less total kids in the MT program. Last fall, they had 57 total. I don’t know how many graduated in Dec or May of this year and I have no idea how many are coming in for the fall…but my belief is that they will keep it at 60 or less. Unfortunately, I don’t know how many audition and how many are accepted…but I would say that the acceptance percentage is higher than at a lot of programs. SHSU is not that well known…doesn’t get the PR and exposure that other programs get resulting in fewer auditioners than you would see at a lot of programs. Having said that, I do know of kids who have not been accepted…it isn’t an automatic admittance by any means. I also have heard of several kids who after not being accepted into MT, started out in acting and have re-auditioned for the program…some have now been accepted, some have not.<br>
Next year’s musicals are: Mainstage - Millie and Rent; Showcase - The Fantastiks
All MTers are required to audition for straight plays (4 a year) and there is considerable cross-over in casting, too…MTers doing straight plays and acting majors cast in musicals. Also, MTers who are in the dance concentration are required to audition for the big Dance show every semester and must be cast in at least 2 dance shows to fulfill their MT requirement.
The facilities are older but decent…they are building a brand new 3.8 million dollar performing arts structure with all new state of the art rehearsal rooms, theaters, concert hall, etc…the pictures and floorplan are amazing. Slated to be finished in late 2010.</p>

<p>Actually, it is a $38M performing arts center…they used to have pics online but I’m not finding it now…</p>

<p>Thanks to 2DsnMT for the thorough reply to my questions. It sounds like SHSU has a good MT program. The new performing arts center can only help.</p>

<p>It bugs me that more schools in Texas don’t have MT programs. Our state has three great metropolitan areas with good to excellent support for the arts. (Just guessing, but I bet SHSU gets a nice talent pool being located so close to Houston.)</p>

<p>Thanks to help from TXKatsMom, I have come up with a very small list of schools in Texas that offer MT as a degree plan:</p>

<p>TCU
SHSU
UTEP
Abilene Christian
Texas State
West Texas A&M</p>

<p>Does anyone know if there are other MT programs in Texas?</p>

<p>I live in Austin and had no idea West Texas A&M had an MT degree…and I’ve been down this road with 2 daughters for the past 7 years!<br>
UT-Austin has an MT certificate program…fairly new…in the theater and dance department. I don’t have any details about the program, just that it exists.
It is such a shame that the great big state of Texas has so little to choose from for MT degree programs…but my D is super happy at SHSU (after spending two years at an out-of-state program)…and the price is VERY right!</p>

<p>The price thing is something most of us have to consider (or should consider). </p>

<p>In our case, we purchased the Texas Tomorrow Plan when our D was a toddler. Basically, that plan guarantees to cover tuition at any public school in Texas that our D gets admitted to. It would be nice to be able to actually use it at full value by attending a public school in Texas.</p>

<p>Unfortunately, we are learning that the college MT world seems to be heavily concentrated in the Northeast and upper Midwest portions of the country. Plus, many of those better known programs are at expensive private colleges.</p>

<p>We are willing to bite the bullet and send our D to her school of choice, if accepted in MT. Just wish there were more choices in Texas.</p>

<p>arrdad,
I wish much luck as you go thru this process. If I can be of any assistance, please ask. Between my two Ds, we visited/auditioned at 16 schools and had 11 acceptances between them. What I’ve learned is there is NO perfect program and no program can guarantee your child a successful career after graduation. Also, cost of the program does not equal quality of the program in most cases. Please don’t discount SHSU just because it doesn’t have the ‘reputation’…we did early on, and I’m sorry it took us 7years to realize it is a worthy program. Hopefully, you’ll get a chance to see their fall production of Millie…it is always a good idea to see a show at each program although I would caution about making an absolute opinion one way or another based on one show.<br>
Good Luck! What part of Texas are you in?</p>

<p>I love seeing so many people interested in Sam! I’m a major there and love it. I’d also be happy to answer any questions about the program.</p>

<p>I’m sure most of you from Texas already know this, but Katie Rose Clarke - who debuted as Clara in The Light in the Piazza on Broadway (Lincoln Center) before she even graduated - is an alum of Sam Houston State University. Katie has gone on to have a successful career in both dramatic acting and musicals, and I believe she just finished touring as Glinda in the 1st national tour of Wicked.</p>

<p>Light in the Piazza was one of my all-time favorite musicals so I saw it several times on Broadway (including one of KRC’s debut performances!); and I even had the opportunity to meet and speak with Katie Rose and her co-star, Victoria Clark after one of the shows.</p>

<p>Undoubtedly, Katie Rose Clarke is an amazing natural talent, but she had nothing but WONDERFUL things to say about the training and experience she received at SHSU … and Victoria Clark (a veteran B’dway performer and vocalist, for those who don’t know her), seconded the fact that Katie received excellent college-level training which enabled her to make her B’dway debut in such a vocally complex role … </p>

<p>I understand that Kim Grigsby - - who is a well-known Musical Director in NY and who served as original Musical Director for Spring Awakening on B’dway, and for many other Lincoln Center productions - - may have been the one to actually ‘discover’ Katie Rose Clarke. </p>

<p>Ms. Grigsby is a Texas native and SMU graduate, and I believe it was the ‘Texas connection’ that caused Ms. Grigsby to first audition Katie Rose Clarke (in New York), and then go on to recommend Katie to Adam Guettel and others for Light in the Piazza, knowing that the Piazza CDs were having difficulty finding someone to replace Kelli O’Hara in lead role.</p>

<p>Point of story: While there is no guaranteed outcome of success from any BFA school or program, there’s really no need to discount Texas roots and/or training when considering programs for your child. And if studying in Texas means graduating with less debt and makes things easier on the family, then by all means go for it, because having less debt on the back-end can only help the student & family after graduation, when the student may continue to need some financial support for a while before becoming established in the profession … </p>

<p>Another Southern school that often comes to mind for those considering MT or BM programs that reportedly offer great vocal training + acting skills is Oklahoma City University. While OCU is obviously not in Texas, OCU has its share of well-noted alum (think: Kelli O’Hara) and wonderful connections; and I believe OCU is fairly generous with scholarships and financial assistance. </p>

<p>Hope this helps. Please realize it’s written by someone from the northeast who has no connections to the great State of Texas, other than consistently being amazed by some of the talent that comes out of that State!</p>

<p>Thanks BrownEyes. My oldest D graduated from OCU and what you say about their program is true…she got very good training and very good scholarships. But, she still has student loans to deal with as it cost more than an in-state public university like SHSU. D#2, at SHSU, is very happy and getting very good training, too. We are very pleased to have ‘discovered’ SHSU’s program.<br>
I heard, but can’t verify, that one of the May graduates was recently cast in the Dreamgirls tour and that one MTer has taken a leave of absence to do the Spamalot tour (Lady of the Lake u/s). So, yes, SHSU has some connections and kids from the program do go on to do good things.</p>

<p>My D is a senior and doing lots of research on MT programs. Sam Houston was not originally on her list but has been added as she has been hearing great things about the program.<br>
If you are looking at Texas schools, you may also want to look at Texas State University. TSU just hired Kaitlin Hopkins to be their new Head of the Musical Theatre Department. She has a great background and should bring wonderful things to that program. There is some great info on the TSU Department of Theatre and Dance website. My D went to drama camp there last summer and loved it.</p>

<p>Anyone here auditioning Friday?</p>