Summer Programs - Discussion

College Majors Musical Theater Major
881

<p>kardan/colegePLEASE - just wanted to contribute that my D participated in Tisch's CAP21 pre-college program this past summer. Somewhat contrary to colegePLEASE's experience, D's thought her acting teacher was fantastic (and in fact was cast to go on Broadway shortly after the program), and her vocal training was outstanding as well. She felt that the dancing faculty was also very knowledgeable (D has taken classes at A.C.T., did Broadway Theatre Project in 06 and I am always curious to hear her contrasting her experiences). All her studio teachers were CAP faculty. Her "regular class" Intro Into the Business instructor was on faculty at NYU as well. </p>

<p>Attending intensive summer programs have really reconfirmed that MT is what she wants to do; NYU's summer program actually helped my D decide that she wanted to apply ED for Tisch (please realize that it is not 'a must', and that attending the summer program does not give you a 'free pass' during audition season :)). It is definitely an intensive program, that includes research, homework assignments, along with studio work. At the same time, it is tough to beat a program where you have almost daily "field trips" at night to see shows :). For us parents it was also nice to know that the days were scheduled to the max and all outings were supervised (some other summer programs allow for a lot of free time).</p>

882

<p>How often do rising juniors get admitted to the CAP21 NYU Tisch summer program? Or Carnegie Mellon?</p>

883

<p>IHeartSondheim - It is my understanding that NYU CAP's summer program rarely admits rising juniors. This past summer (07) there were only rising seniors. The year before (06) I believe there was just one rising junior. My D (a rising junior that year) was wait-listed that year. Call me crazy :), because of course I have absolutely no proof, but I do believe that applying that first year helped her getting accepted the second time around (in her essay she mentioned she had been wait-listed the year before, and what she had learned since then).</p>

884

<p>CMU pre-college drama certainly accepts rising Juniors. My son was accepted after Sophomore year, but declined in order to attend a state-sponsored scholarship program in theater. He then attended the next summer, after Junior year. He had a number of rising Juniors in his classes. However, a huge focus of the CMU program is preparing for college auditions. It was very helpful to have that situated just before he actually applied to/auditioned for BFA programs.</p>

885

<p>Just to clarify what I wrote above (I received a couple of PM's :)), I meant to say that I believe applying two years in a row helped my D get accepted into the SUMMER PROGRAM at NYU CAP21; I am pretty sure that her acceptance into NYU for college had little to do with applying twice for the summer program :D. I did not mean to cause confusion.</p>

886

<p>In my year I remember no rising juniors in CAP, however there were a few in ETW and Strasberg. </p>

<p>MTgrlsmom- did your D attend the PRE-COLLEGE program or the TISCH HS SUMMER program? they are two completely different experiences. As well, I believe a few summer only staff teach at both programs, so you might be mistaken. This is not laid out during the information session. Yes, all of them work for NYU or CAP, but some only teach during the summer. I remember the head of the program explaining this to me and a few other students. It might have changed though, and I might be incorrect.</p>

887

<p>My D attended what is called the "TSOA CAP21 summer program", the college credit program that you have to apply for through NYU (and write essays for) as opposed to the one where you apply to CAP21 directly and audition. I know this tends to get confusing :).</p>

<p>I realize that from year to year teachers and instructors for programs can vary, but I just wanted to contrast your experience from my D's; she had faculty that happens to be on staff with CAP. I just checked again with my D and she mentioned that some of "her" summer teachers will not be teaching the incoming freshman class, one of them for example she knows teaches vocal performance sophomore year. </p>

<p>In any event, I know that in years past there also have been "master class type teachers", i.e. teachers who just teach classes over the summer. In fact, my D had a friend who attended the program in 06 whose jazz teacher if I remember correctly was in the cast of Wicked and came in to teach just for the summer. She had just as fabulous of an experience as my D did though.</p>

888

<p>MTglsmom - How did your D like the Broadway Theatre Project? Can you compare and constrast Tisch's CAP21 and BTP? As a rising senior would she recommend one or find certain strengths in each? My S has had the experience of NYC - we live in the suburbs - so he would be more interested in the "meat" of the program.</p>

<p>He is also very interested in looking into Northwestern's Cherub program.</p>

889

<p>I attended CAP21's Pre-College Program. All of the teachers that we had were top-notch and I can only think of about 3 that didn't teach at CAP during the regular school year.
If you have any questions about this one, feel free to ask. It really is a great, intensive program.</p>

890

<p>MTgrlsmom- oh yes, i welcome your D's experience. i just wanted to make sure we were talking about the same thing. i know everyone has a different experience, and it is good to get the whole picture from various perspectives. and referring to the gentleman who taught jazz during 06', he now works at CAP during the school year I believe, but at the time was not a full time faculty member.</p>

891

<p>kardan - D absolutely loved both programs; she felt she learned a great deal and had a great time, making friends for life in the process. The program are really difficult to compare, but I will give it a try :)</p>

<p>BTP accepts by live audition or video submission. Its age range is broader, you will find 16 - 24 yr olds in this program which changes the dynamics in general. The daily schedule offers all sorts of instruction (from actual dance instruction, vocal training, acting coaching, to ballroom, masterclass lectures, stage combat, vocal health workshops etc.) and at night participants first audition & subsequently practice for the showcase at the end of the program. </p>

<p>TSOA's CAP21 fills its program from written applications. What I found interesting however is that in spite of that the kids in the program were very, very talented (you sit in on one day of "open classes" the last day of the program). TSOA is more school like; students are typically the same age, and the daily schedule consists of regular classes (i.e. intro to theatre history) & conservatory type training(acting, voice and dance). </p>

<p>Something to may be think about is that BTP is bigger (about 150 participant), non-college credit & 3 weeks long, whereas at TSOA (only 32), you earn 6 cc's, and is 4 weeks. Also, BTP is considerably less expensive at $3,15. </p>

<p>Both programs place their participants in different level classes based upon the initial audition at BTP & the first day of placement classes at TSOA's CAP21. D felt that BTP was a bit more intensive, but this can easily be attributed to the fact that at BTP you also work on putting together the showcase at night, whereas at TSOA you typically go out and see shows or do homework.</p>

<p>Overall, I feel that you can't go wrong with either program. Your child definitely gets your money's worth. The faculty at both programs is outstanding, the contacts you make and the network you built lasts long after the program wraps. D had a great time auditioning everywhere this fall, running into "old buddies" she had not seen in a while. I think TSOA may be a bit more competitive to get into, but I could be wrong, and that could simply be due to the small size of the program vs. the amount of applicants.</p>

<p>One last thought, my husband and I were ok with her doing these programs as we felt that it would benefit D to see what other talent was out there prior to college auditions, and also, simply to get reassurance that after 3 or 4 intensive weeks of training she would indeed be still in love with theatre. As I have mentioned on some other threads, we are fairly newbie "theatre people" (I can clear a room if I would attempt to sing) and so going the BFA route was a bit scary at first :).</p>

892

<p>OK I ran away to answer a phone while I was editing and there is a 20 min. restriction </p>

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893

<p>Thanks so much for your thoughts about both programs. I am also fairly new to this process - and my son is not sure if he wants to go the BFA or conservatory route, so we have a lot of sorting out to do when the college application process begins. This summer process is a real eye-opener of what is to come...</p>

<p>It is great to have a community of people who happily share their experiences and insights into this world</p>

894

<p>i did tisch's summer HS program this past year (in ETW though, not cap, although we all spent a lot of time together). i'd thought about applying as a rising junior but after having been there, i'm glad i went as a rising senior. not to say it's college focused, but you know the kids around you are all in the same place, so it's nice to be able to compare notes with them and also have the faculty as such an amazing resource, who know various schools and the business so well.<br>
i'm more than happy to answer Q's from anyone about the program!</p>

895

<p>kardan: Have you looked at U of M's Mpulse program. It is top notch as well and is three weeks long.</p>

896

<p>kardan - You may want to also look at UArts 4 week summer program. It is open to rising juniors and seniors. All of the faculty are drawn from the BFA MT program so a student can get a good feel for the way the faculty relates to students and conducts studio classes. It also is situated right in the heart of Philadelphia's theater district which is a dynamic and exciting place for students. I've posted about my daughter's experiences there on the UArts sub-forum. In a nutshell, her experience there was the ultimate determining factor in selecting to attend UArts from among the schools to which she was accepted (which included another school whose summer program she attended the year after UArts).</p>

897

<p>llong39 - I have not looked at U of M's Mpulse program yet. I'll check out their website and get more info.</p>

<p>MichaelNKat - UArts - I assume that is the University of the Arts. I will look into this as well. </p>

<p>Thanks to everyone for being so generous with your time and suggestions. As a mom without a lot of information or experience about this process, I am so appreciative to everyone. I am hoping that the summer program my son ends up in will give him a glimpse into the world of MT.</p>

898

<p>Has anyone got a recommendation on a good summer program for opera for a rising HS junior? Looked at websites for Oberlin, CMU, Notre Dame and Catholic University/Washington Opera. I am particularly interested in the CMU program. Thanks</p>

899

<p>OCU has a summer program for opera in addition to their MT summer program. It is a two-week program. More info: Oklahoma</a> City University : Music : Performing Arts Academy</p>

900

<p>POTP Mom - A good friend of ours' son went to Northwestern Univ's Vocal Music program - different than MT program - and he loved it.</p>