Webster University

<p>I think it's only "fair" that you attach this warning clause to all schools being researched and scrutinized then. I will leave it at that.</p>

<p>One other fact I would like to point out....almost every prospective student who comes to CC is urged to research the schools throughly by those of us who have frequented this board for years. That has been the godsend of this site....providing a forum for students who do their homework on interested theatre schools.</p>

<p>Dr. John who is the head of the MT program at Otterbein has an excellent and informative writing on this topic. Please go to: <a href="http://www.geocities.com/musicaltheatercolleges/cutpolicy.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.geocities.com/musicaltheatercolleges/cutpolicy.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Enough said. Personally, I am sticking a fork in this topic. I think it's done.</p>

<p>SUE aka 5pants</p>

<p>I'm planning on auditioning for Webster this year, but am considering auditioning at the Chicago Unifieds just to save the extra trip to St. louis, though I do live in Missouri. My first question is: Is it more beneficial to audition on-campus or off? My second: Off-campus auditoners are asked to provide a tape with two contrasting vocal selections to be reviewed by the musical theatre faculty. Now this is probably a stupid question, but should the tape contain my two audition songs or two different selections? Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks!</p>

<p>I think going to the campus to visit will give you more of a feel about how Webster's Conservatory works. You get to meet with the teachers and you can talk to the dean. I recommend it, BUT, I had a friend who did the Chicago thing and he still go accepted to Webster. So whether don't worry about losing your chances to get in. It's about talent, not where you audition. As for the tape question, you should submit a tape that shows your BEST qualities, whether or not they are your audtion songs or not doesn't matter. Show yourself off! That's my opinion.</p>

<p>oh yeah, missmillenium, do NOT forget to get ALL of the information on your schools and how they handle the end of your sophomore year. Knowledge is power when it comes to picking out the right school.</p>

<p>MissMellinium,</p>

<p>I think either way of auditioning is fine. My Ss preferred the on campus audition as it gave them a chance to visit the campus and sit in on classes. Certainly Unifieds does allow more bang for your buck so to speak.</p>

<p>The question you ask for the song selections for your audition tape is definitely not a stupid question, HOWEVER I am not going to attempt to answer it. I will allow someone of greater know-how to fill you in on that. ;) </p>

<p>Sounds as though you are organizing yourself well...you're off to a good start by checking out what exactly the school is looking for. Hopefully you are referring to the rest of MT CC for some great advice (i.e. how to prep music sheets for accompaniest, things to bring with you to Unifieds, etc.) Good luck with the rest of your prep work.</p>

<p>SUE aka5pants</p>

<p>missmillenium,</p>

<p>i agree that if you can make the on campus audition work, do it. there's something very special about the campus and the rehearsal spaces. you get a great feel for the close knit relationship webster shares with the Rep and Opera Theatre. definitely check it out and don't miss the acting classes. also reach out to current and former students of the conservatory regarding song/monologue choices if you are having trouble. they've seen the good and the bad and most likely have some great ideas, and some suggestions of things to stay away from. be yourself and show what you do well. best of luck!</p>

<p>-WebGrad</p>

<p>On campus auditions also allow you to converse with current first year students! You can also view Webster's campus first hand!... which I love... reminds me of a storybook!</p>

<p>I have spent a good deal of time on Webster’s web site and just read all 17 pages of this forum. Our D will be auditioning for BFA straight theater programs this fall/winter. I shared our short list with someone knowledgeable that suggested we look to add Webster. </p>

<p>I will share my observations on paper. </p>

<p>It seems to be a well above average program and facilities. </p>

<p>The perception of a “cuts” problem is out there, true or not. I know of a student who is exceptionally knowledgeable about this process and got a boatload of acceptances (straight drama) this year from the best of the best programs. I asked this person what there thoughts were of Webster and the response was “I would not apply to a school with a cut system like that”. 5pants you can call that topic over done if you want yet that perception is strong enough that is seems to be costing the school top-notch applicants. </p>

<p>I am somewhat (but not completely) comfortable with the school representative’s explanation of this on CC. I know a couple professional actor/directors that I have spoken with about this process. Both of them think that in general a 2 minute monologue is a waste of everyone’s time. “I can usually tell if they can act in about 10 seconds”, was one comment from a person who is a guest faculty at a top conservatory and is currently acting in NY. However there is the occasional student who auditions very well but is bad in a production. Does not improve, has “a passion” but is lazy, gets a boyfriend and puts acting second place in their life, has family or financial difficulties that get in the way of focus. Has an annoying personality that grates on everyone. He said that the hardest part of his job is to be in a position to not be honest with students. He works with kids that he knows will be famous in their own way one day but balancing being encouraging to kids who he knows will never make it in “the biz” is very difficult. There is a certain brutality to this business and as much as it hurts individuals who do not succeed there does have to be a reality check at times. If they have kids who are clearly not going to make it through the program or in the business, if done professionally with good intent and reason, I would rather the hard job be done sooner rather than not done at all. We visited supposedly top schools and saw performances by seniors who frankly stunk. That does not serve them or the school. </p>

<p>The two outstanding question for me at this point are;</p>

<p>1) Why for regional theater is the audition monologue requirement post 1930? That seemed odd.
2) I kept reading about the acting focus of the program. It sounded more like emphasizing acting as it helped/enhanced MT. Does the MT focus at the school come at the expense of anything for those interested in straight drama. Said another way is this a good place to go for straight drama? Why?</p>

<p>Thanks Wally</p>

<p>hey wally!</p>

<p>here's my two cents regarding your two questions. i think the post 1930 requirment is in place so that students stay away from strong "period" characterizations and dialects that can get in the way of going after a simple objective. staying age appropriate and relatively contemporary is, in my mind always in a young actors' best interest. great period training comes later in the program, once you have the technique to back it up. </p>

<p>as far as straight drama, i was a Regional Theatre major (straight acting) when i was at webster, and i would definitely say yes, webster is a great place for straight drama. as a regional theatre major, you have access to voice lessons and dance classes as electives, instead of them being part of your degree requirements. so the MT students have their own track and it is never intrusive. however both MT and "Reggies" take the same acting classes together, which i find brilliant. this is where Webster's great reputation for amazing actors (whether they be MT or straight theatre) comes from. the contemp. acting training is in-depth and spot-on but the classical training is where Webster really shines. Around junior year you really dive into Shakespeare, Restoration, Elizabethan, and Shaw. These period styles are tackled thru your voice and speech classes, your actual acting classes and your movement classes. by the end of each segment you really have an understanding for what these styles are all about, as well as what was going on in the world at that time that influenced the style of each period. I have found this training so useful now that i'm auditioning. i can't tell you how many times my friends and i have had to come up with a shakespeare or restoration piece on short notice, and people are always amazed to see young actors who really know what they are doing/talking about. i hope this is along the lines of what you were asking about. let me know if you have further questions. </p>

<p>-WebGrad</p>

<p>Hi Wally,
Thanks for posting. It is always good to see prospective students. </p>

<p>First of all in regards to the monologue length I can not give an official answer. When I auditioned, it was not only standard to have a monologue prepared, but also to have others prepared in the case that they asked for more. I am sure that Webster Representatives can clearly see if the auditioner has talent in 10 seconds. I suppose the monologue length was installed in the case that they want to see more than 10 seconds. </p>

<p>As for the audition process...I have no idea why they suggest auditioners should use a monologue post 1930. If I had to guess, I would say that prior to 1930, there is an abundance of language pieces (Oscar Wilde, Shakespeare). Often times, these pieces can be a bit distracting in that they may not reflect the actor's best capabilities...which is of course what Webster wants to see. Again, that is only a guess.</p>

<p>To answer your second question..."Yes!"...Webster is a great place to go for regional theatre majors. Number one, because every student is taught by professionals in the industry who are passionate about giving us the tools to succeed. Number two, because the training offered will prepare each student (both Musical and Regional) for the work force. Number three, each Regional Theatre Major have the ability to double major or take voice and dance classes. Musical Theatre majors could only dream of double majoring...schedules are practically booked to the max. </p>

<p>One thing you'll find about Webster is that we are one of a smallnumber of Conservatories that are connected to a professional Theatre (The Repertory Theatre of St.Louis, and Opera Theatre St.Louis). Last year alone we had numerous juniors and sophomores have performance opportunities with the Repertory Theatre in productions like 'Take Me Out,' 'Henry IV' and 'Witness for the Prosecution.' </p>

<p>I am sorry that you feel that the issue of "cuts" is misrepresented. I feel that most questions on this subject can be answered by 'Plaidman's post on page 14. Feel free to check it out.</p>

<p>In conclusion, I enjoy the program and people at Webster. I would advise your daughter to make a trip in the coming year (meet the teachers, students and get a feel for Webster life). I wish her the best of luck on her college hunt. Take care.</p>

<p>-mitch</p>

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>I happen to be one of 5pants sons, and just wanted to answer your questions for you... because they are good!</p>

<p>The post 1930 rule is so students don't pick a monol. that involves a great deal of style. Contemp. pieces are used throughout the first year and they are a much better place to start off with, at least with how this program funtions. As for the time limit of two mins, all the places I auditioned for had that time limit. It is a nice number for a student to make a cutting of, and the student can find a piece that has a nice arc to it. Sure, people may be able to tell in 10 secs, but I think what a lot of people forget is that you are auditioning for a school, not a role. Schools look for people who they think have the ability or the tools, very few looked for polished gems. I know for me, they worked on my audition with me and played around with the entire two mins of my piece.</p>

<p>Webster is great in straight theatre! I am a MT major, but Webster was the only one I auditioned for, all the others were Regional. The MTs work hand in hand with the RTs and as far as the "conservatory" part of the program all the classes are the same until the third and forth years when RTs take improv while the MTs are in Musical theatre. I had an opportunity to work even for the St. Louis rep during this past year in Henry IV as a sophomore! It was a wonderful experience, and so mitch was right when he stated how the Rep theatre helps out! I've grown so much more appreciative of plays... I used to be all about musicals, but lately... give me a play any day!</p>

<p>Hope this helps you out! If you have any questions, let me know!</p>

<p>~Nathan</p>

<p>Hey you guys, good answers and thanks. </p>

<p>I am not an actor. Theater fan big time, seen it in the best places all over the world but want to admit never spent a minute on stage. But look forward to one day seeing all of you on stage! That said I don’t get the post 1930 cause it avoids period characterizations idea. I just must not be at the right level. Will tell you that daughter has 5 monologues that are all strong. Two of them pre 1930 (Viola, Twelfth Night and Cecily, Importance of Being Earnest) are fabulously impressive not just to me but to several equity director actor types. It seems like period and maybe in dialect are harder than not. Our daughter will be a professional actor and will be accepted to top programs. Not bragging just very thankful of her incredible gifts in this area. She will be Juliet professionally probably more than a couple of times. For an apparently great program (and it does appear as such) to put that off limits does seem odd. Again, I am not an actor though.</p>

<p>What I like about this school potentially is that our D has focused on straight drama as her love. She will not hear of a “back up”. Yet, she loves dance and would love to further that and she has been a principal in a major MT production with rave reviews. But, voice is the weakest of her triple threat and MT is just not in her heart. Yet, her coach says she should pursue it because she is good enough to work summers in college and beyond in MT. Webster’s seems to have a good rounded offering to allow that multi discipline education.</p>

<p>The precipitation of my last question is based on a question previously that was not answered adequately in my opinion. It was said that in a recent class one student was admitted to the straight theater program. How does that work? It is a whole separate program as it appears on their web site. Maybe it was a bad year so the better question might be starting this September how may students will be in the Regional Actors program at the school (all 4 years).? We just must be missing the details since we are at a distance, Thanks again.
Wally</p>

<p>I recently saw a summer stock production with 2 Webster MT students in it. They did a fine job. But, the more surprising thing to me was that 4 of the tecnical people were Webster students/grads. And, at least one of them, as has been mentioned on this thread before, has Opera Theatre of St. Louis, and Rep. Theatre of St. Louis listed in his credits. So the tech portion of Webster's program must be very strong as well. </p>

<p>And, although the theatre was in the Midwest - it was at least 5 hours from St. Louis - so it wasn't just a geographical proximity that got these kids these jobs.</p>

<p>I had not been intending to jump into this sequence of Q's and A's since I thought they are being handled quite well by others. However, I was glad to see MusThCC's observations and Wally's questions are quite good. I did like Wally's observations about the opportunities for the RT's in terms of Voice and Dance experiences. They have the opportunity to delve in those areas as far as they choose as elective courses. All voice lessons are taught by Music faculty, not grad students.</p>

<p>The comments about the choices for audition pieces are good. We have found a very high percentage of students are not that well prepared to do dialects or text and they will show themselves much better with more contemporary choices. Classical pieces are ok, but it is far better for the students to do the modern choices and I do love the Gwendolyn/Cecily scene from EARNEST....</p>

<p>This upcoming Fall, we will anticipate the approximate numbers returning: Second Year, 9 Musical Theatre and 8 Regional Theatre; Third Year, 9 Musical Theatre and 9 Regional Theatre; Fourth Year 9 Musical Theatre and 5 Regional Theatre. We graduated 12 seniors and we had 6 MT and 6 RT. That class also had 10 women and 2 men.</p>

<p>Our season regularly produces two musicals, at least one classical production and three representing a wide variety of literature extant. We do not separate casting opportunities for MT and RT. All students in the Second through Fourth Year are casting potential for all productions.</p>

<p>Finally, I appreciate MusThCC's comment about our production program. We have equally outstanding training in all areas of theatre design and production and a stage management program that is quite significant. You will find Webster grads and students in production all over the country. </p>

<p>I hope this information helps. I thank the others that are providing information, they are doing a terrific job.</p>

<p>Plaidman</p>

<p>Plaidman,</p>

<p>Might you be able to advise MissMillenium on her question in posting #242 regarding taped auditions? Since we didn't go to Unifieds we are not able to help with an answer to this question. Thanks much.</p>

<p>SUE</p>

<p>i would just like to add that your daughter sounds a lot like me when i came to webster. i wanted to focus on straight drama, but was a decent dancer but not the best singer. i came to webster and just couldn't get enough of the dance classes. they are great! i also took voice lessons for a year but wish i would've pushed myself harder in that area too. but as a RT i was cast in the mainstage musical my senior year and a few other RT's in my class also did musicals while at webster. and actually one of my jobs since graduating i booked mainly because of dance training. so if you push yourself as a RT you can receive some excellent dance/voice training on top of the already amazing acting training she is sure to get. the program is structured extremely well and i think your daughter would really get a lot out of it. best of luck!</p>

<p>-WebGrad</p>

<p>I want to thank 5pants (Sue) for remind me to respond to post 242 and MsMillenium's question about the kind of tapes needed for off campus auditions. If you are planning to audition at the Unifieds in Chicago, tapes are not necessary. We will have an accompanist and we will hear you there.</p>

<p>If you are auditioning in New York, Las Vegas, San Francisco or Los Angles then we will need a tape/cd to take back to campus for our Musical Theatre faculty to hear. Also, you will need music to accompany your audition at those locations. Bring a cd and boom box (or other kind of thing) to play. I saw one really neat set up last year using some type of MP3 player with speakers and it all fit into a very small carrying case. It was pretty terrific.</p>

<p>Essentially, in locations other than Chicago, bring your own support system and a recording of songs to take back to St. Louis. The CD can contain any two songs, but we want the traditional contrast of up-tempo/ballad or head and belt voice.</p>

<p>I hope this helps.</p>

<p>Plaidman</p>

<p>MusThCC glad you mentioned summer stock jobs...my son is going to be a sophomore in the MT program next fall. His freshman year experience from the audition on down was nothing but stellar. In his words...amazing!</p>

<p>Another fringe benefit Webster has to offer is that Midwest Talent Auditions for summer stock work is held on the Webster campus in February. Numerous employers are present for the auditions. My son, having only completed his freshman year, was extremely pleased to have received 10 callbacks from the auditions. I think this speaks very favorably for the Conservatory program here at Webster. He ended up accepting a job with his "first choice" after callbacks. He is very far away from home, but couldn't be happier doing what he loves.</p>

<p>Hey guys! Alot has been going on here since I last checked. In case you're new, I am going to be a sophmore MT major in the conservatory this coming fall. I am so excited to meet the incoming freshman. It's such a fun time of the year! Hopefully you aren't discouraged by the talk of "cuts". Honestly, work your hardest at everything you do. Live each day here like it's your last. Words of a soon to be junior that I plan to live by next year! If you do your best and use the passion that you obviously have for this art to the FULLEST, then that's all you can do! The faculty will be honest with you-that's what we all need anyway, not someone to sugar coat for us right? Hope you have a fabulous summer and feel free to email me at <a href="mailto:Shayl18@hotmail.com">Shayl18@hotmail.com</a> if you have any questions about this upcoming year!
God bless
Shayla</p>

<p>School starts on Monday people!! Break a leg everyone!! Can hardly wait to come see you all perform.</p>

<p>Fondly,</p>

<p>SUE aka 5pants</p>