<p>Thanks so much. I will contact you privately. I am just uncertain as to what to place an emphasis on and don't want to get hung up on showcases, if that not the end all be all. My son has his heart set on NY and I've looked at CUNY, Hunter as an example as an alternative to NYU, Fordham, etc. I'll follow your suggestion and drill down on "Musical Theatre Major." I had only been looking at "theatre" majors, however. Though my son has been a featured singer, I don't know that he primarily views himself that way.</p>
<p>The FAQ link has lots of good tips that also apply to theater majors; and in many of the MT schools the Acting department is very closely affiliated. At UArts and Syracuse, for example, the acting and MT students share acting classes for the first several years. There will be other schools, however, which do NOT have MT specialties, so be sure to check the Theater Major threads as well.</p>
<p>My daughter has been very happy with the training she is getting at Marymount Manhattan College. It's on the Upper East Side-very close to Hunter</p>
<p>I want to return to the original discussion on summer theme park work and questions. D was hired for a local and pretty small theme park for the summer. She is thrilled and it seems much more manageable than the summer stock option she/we was/were considering. It also pays considerably (3x) more than the summer stock, plus the bonus at the end.
reading past post has been great and I have a few questions.
Dad wants D to take voice lessons in the summer to make sure she is at least reminded of singing healthily. D says "I know how to do it" and doesn't feel she needs them. What do others thinks, would lessons that focused on vocal health be useful, too much, or nuetral? (D has dropped coice lessons this year so it would be over a year since she has had any).</p>
<p>The performances are only 20 minutes but they do 6-8 a day, and she is the dance captain. Does anyone have any suggestions about keeping her body healthy? </p>
<p>D also has the opportunity to teach/assist in dance classes in a kids summer theatre program in the mornings. Opinions on whether this would just be too much?</p>
<p>The park doesn't open until noon each day, so she would have mornings free to teach or take voice lessons or just sleep.</p>
<p>Keepingcalm,
I'll give my $0.02 as my daughter worked at a theme park this summer. I wouldn't have her teach/assist in dance classes in the morning. Because she is doing 6-8 20minute shows a day plus being dance captain, she will be physically working very hard and burning a lot of calories. I'd let her have that downtime to sleep (she will need a fair amount) and just to have unstructured time. Not sure how many days a week she performs but my daughter only had one full day off so those mornings came in handy just to read, hang out, talk with friends, etc. I'm sure your daughter follows a healthy diet (don't most performing students these days) but encourage lots of water and enough protein/calories for all the physical work she is doing. </p>
<p>Regarding the voice lessons, my daughter took a lesson once a week while performing and actually thought it did keep her focused on singing properly. That being said, she was scoped just after Christmas and, while there was no damage to her vocal cords, she did have swelling of the vocal folds that the voice specialist thought could have been due to her work over the summer. For that reason, she is not considering theme park work this year (plus its time to try out for summer stock and make a lot less money :)
PM me if you have any questions; I'd be happy to try to help.</p>
<p>This sounds very much like a summer show I did myself when I was in college. It was an extremely valuable experience, and also extremely grueling. I strongly recommend that your daughter get back to the voice lessons, just to insure that she doesn't develop any bad habits. Teaching the additional classes might just be a bit too much -- she should allow herself a little time off somewhere in that busy schedule! Although if she's anything like my D, she thrives on being busy. It's really a personal call.</p>
<p>I would agree with the above. I'm assuming like most parks, these shows would be outside? That is an additional physical stressor, and I think teaching in the AM's might be overkill -- plus, even if the park doesn't open till noon, would there be the possibility of being called in for rehearsals during the mornings? Especially if she is dance captain - if someone goes out of the show, I imagine she might be involved in working around absences, or putting new people in.</p>
<p>As for knowing how to sing healthily, and not needing lessons - ah, the optimism of youth! I'm sure we can all name several top performers who, after years or decades of performing healthily, developed vocal difficulties, some career threatening. Taking lessons from someone who would catch something out of the norm quickly would be invaluable.</p>
<p>As I recall, your daughter was weighing MT vs. dance, vs. related majors -- unless she has unequivocably decided not to audition for any MT programs, she should be in voice lessons for the upcoming year as well.</p>
<p>Thank you all. I will pass the information on. D does NOT like voice lessons, but she is still young enough that "because we said so" has some sway. Unfortunately her dad is a terrible example because he has returned to MT and refuses to take lessons and he gives basically the same reason - I know how to sing. This is true but the do as I say, not as I do, works against us.
I am not sure she was very serious about the teaching in the mornings but it was a job offered to her (by the same company mentioned previously in the facebook post) with no work on her part.</p>
<p>And musThCC she is dithering about what she wants to do and now is sort of hedging her bets. Not a BFA but maybe a BA and double major, so we keep telling her she should keep up on her singing. But she doesn't really get it. I am not looking forward to next year if she does decide to do the BFA and audition route, but dang I wish she would just decide!</p>