Webster Update

College Majors Musical Theater Major
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<p>Hey there…I got several PM’s this week asking about our daughter’s continuing experience at Webster this year and why she chose it. For some reason I was having problems responding to PM’s…Laura I hope you are seeing this…and the others too. I will give a rundown….</p>

<p>When D was a sophomore, and we were just starting to think about this whole process, a friend who is a current senior MT at UMich, and whom got into all the “big names”…literally all of them…… told her that if he hadn’t gotten into Michigan, he would have gone to Webster. That comment put Webster on the radar instantly, as it was high praises from someone who could have chosen widely.</p>

<p>D has always been a strong actor and has always loved doing MT as well as straight theater. Most of the schools that she applied to were known for having strong acting programs as well as MT programs……and in instances where you could apply to both, she did. In the end, the fact that she is also a fairly trained dancer, pushed MT to the forefront, in her mind anyway.</p>

<p>She was particularly interested in Michigan (not known particularly for having a super strong acting base as part of MT…but she attended MPulse and is a huge fan of Brent Wagner and the UM program.), Elon, Syracuse, Ithaca,CMU and Webster along with a couple of straight theater programs. She applied to several others that she liked for other reasons….</p>

<p>She auditioned at the Chicago Unifieds and came out of the Webster audition very, very impressed with the faculty who were there……Lara Teeter, Bruce Longworth and Neal Richardson. She felt very much like it was a place where she might feel at home for 4 years. Webster became more and more intriguing to her, as she learned more about it and we visited….and the faculty continue to be very supportive and have created a very warm, nurturing environment for the students.</p>

<p>The campus is very small and is in a very sweet suburb of St Louis……it definitely did not have the “big school” vibe of some of her other choices…….but she was really taken with the kids she met on the visit….and then upon close investigation into the curriculum, she really started to feel like it might be a great place to be. She was eventually denied at UMich…….which in all honesty, would likely have been the place she would be at, if she had gotten in…….and that caused her to focus in on the other schools on her list, more closely.</p>

<p>The curriculum at Webster is much like a double major in my opinion. The 10 Mt’s and 10 acting BFA’s in each class, take their “conservatory block” together……the “conservatory block” is the 1-5pm block M-F during which the Conservatory kids take their acting, movement, voice and speech, musical theatre, etc, classes. The mornings hold jazz, ballet, private voice, piano, music theory, musicianship for MT’s, as well as an academic class of their choosing. The BFA Acting students can opt for dance and music, etc, but also have other requirements to fulfill as well That all to say, that the program is very acting heavy……i don’t really know the exact time that the MT’s and Acting majors split up, but my guess is its sometime Junior year. </p>

<p>My daughter LOVES it, despite the fact that it is a HUGE amount of work. Her voice teacher is fantastic and I was simply shocked by the progress she had made in one semester, vocally. I studied acting in college, myself and the “conservatory block” is reminiscent of the kind of things that are normal for acting programs………providing what I would call a “toolbox” of technique, philosophies, experiences for actors.</p>

<p>One of the things that I don’t think either of us was aware of, was the level of academic work that would be required in the “conservatory” program……and although its challenging at times for the kids, this mother is glad that her “conservatory kid” is researching and writing to the degree that she is. Every play/scene they work in is heavily researched and written about on a variety of levels……making for a heavy academic load along with the singin’, actin’ and dancin’, one would expect in a conservatory for Musical Theatre.</p>

<p>D has had lots of dance in her life…. ……… Webster offers a full compliment of classes in ballet, jazz, tap and musical theatre styles and she feels like she is in classes that challenge her, and hopefully that will continue!</p>

<p>One thing that may be different at Webster is that all students in the conservatory work on crew for the various shows. The Loretto-Hilton Center…the theater houses the Webster Conservatory shows as well as the St. Louis Rep and an Opera company. Freshman do 2 crews per semester (1 longer/1 shorter)……it seems to lessen slightly per year, as kids advance in tenure in the program. The crews have been highly educational, but a lot of work. D was on a paint crew that met from 12am – 3am during tech week….but boy was she ever proud of her “wood graining” something I never expected to hear from my “onstage” girl!</p>

<p>The year has gone very, very well for her. Freshmen do not audition at Webster and I know she has been grateful for that, despite her initial disappointment. There has been so much else to do……….she has worked hard, met very good friends, gotten good grades and is exhausted in the way that one always seems to be in college.</p>

<p>The social scene at Webster is not that of a “BIG” school, that is for sure…….and many students do come from nearby and some do go home, but because the conservatory has a national draw, those kids are largely around all of the time and spend lots of time together outside of class as well. But it is definitely not the classic party, football game, sorority/fraternity type experience that some kids long for.</p>

<p>All in all, I think our family would consider the year successful…the only downside to Webster for us, is that she is 2000 miles away!</p>

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<p>Thanks for this really nice snapshot. :0) BTW, I recently read that scientists are much closer to “teleportation”! haha!</p>

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<p>What a great overview…Thanks so much for the insight.</p>

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<p>Webster is one of the schools my D is considering for MT. She is a junior this year, so we are researching various schools of interest. Thank you for posting your D’s experience there so far. Good to know she is being challenged in all areas. D is looking for a school especially strong in acting and dance. We’ll keep our eyes on this program! Lara Teeter was a judge in a recent online MT competition that our D entered, and his feedback emailed to her was very insightful, helpful and encouraging! Have heard great things about him elsewhere.</p>

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<p>Thank you ATLAST, Broadway95 and KKsMom!</p>

<p>You are right ATLAST, Lara really is something special. In fact the faculty at Webster overall have been really wonderful, even outside the Conservatory. For instance D’s music theory professor for both semesters has invited his classes to his home for dinner more than once…</p>

<p>I was never a believer in the idea that there was only one person out there that i could marry (and be happy with), although i feel pretty strongly that i ended up with the right one…i feel the same way about this process for my daughter. I think there are a number of programs that would have worked for her, but i think she happily ended up at a good one! Webster is definitely worth having under consideration, along with lots of others!</p>

<p>One of the best things we did in determining whether a program was a good fit for D’s interests and needs (aside from determining academic and perceived talent “fit”) was to track down the catalog on-line (not always an easy thing to uncover) and go through the particular course requirements for each school she was considering. I think you will find that you get tons of information by doing that. When programs are compared side by side from a curricular standpoint, one can better asses what the everyday experience will be like. You see exactly how many general ed courses are required, how many (and which) dance classes are required. Do private voice lessons begin the first year or first semester? Does everyone take piano? Its all really helpful information in the process, both at the very beginning when you are trying to narrow down the school list, as well as at the end, when you are trying to make a final choice.</p>

<p>Good luck to you and your kiddos!</p>

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<p>Good advice. I’ve been researching potential schools (2 per week is my goal) and making comparison spreadsheets, so I have been looking at the various curriculums in the process. My daughter is a student at Interlochen, so we have thousands of miles separating us and I realized she is kept so busy there that she will NOT have time to adequately research these schools on her own. We have a long list and by summer I hope to have researched ALL so when she comes home she can weed out the ones that don’t appeal when compared side-by-side, and can shorten the list! Do all parents spend this many hours digging up info or am I the only crazy one? I was surprised to find one school on our list that listed only studio voice in their required courses, no mention of private voice lessons anywhere on their website - that doesn’t make sense to me…but that’s the kind of info we need to know, which is why this process has turned into my second job - so many details to sort out!</p>

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<p>Haha! Well i think there you will find lots of “crazy” moms and dads on this forum! Of course there are varying degrees of “craziness”, but rest assured that you are not alone!</p>

<p>My husband had a good observation about this process last year, he likened looking at BFA MT/Acting programs as much more like his experience in looking at Grad Schools than undergraduate programs. One is much more concerned with things like the very specifics of the classes and who the faculty are, and how many are in the program, etc. There is some room for geographic location and size and such, but a lot less than for “normal” kids.</p>

<p>Sometimes it pays to email someone at the programs you are interested in, just asking those kinds of questions about voice lessons, can you really study abroad?, are there juries/boards every semester?</p>

<p>You are on the right track and your girl will be grateful for all the legwork you are putting in!!!</p>

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<p>So true! The one thing we care least about is geographic location. Being born and raised in Alaska, our D can live happily anywhere, and most likely will be too busy with school to even notice the surroundings much! Also doesn’t care much about whether there are any big college sports programs, Greek Clubs, etc. We are looking very critically at the specific BFA MT programs, and YES, at their faculty! Thankfully, D has already had opportunity through summer programs to meet and work with faculty from SOME of the schools she is interested in. That has been really helpful. If only we had enough summers left to do more of that, but time is running out quickly. I think it’s important to land at a school where the faculty have ties in the industry and haven’t lost touch with what’s going on out there. Already it’s become apparent that networking is a big part of the process! Building those relationships seems to be as important as getting quality training, and we are also looking at schools that provide some type of opportunity to work in the field during those college years, building experience through connections with professional summer theatres, internships, etc. The size of the MT program and classes are more important than the size of the school itself or of the town/city.</p>

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<p>I absolutely LOVE this post and thought I’d give a quick update on my first eight weeks at Webster Conservatory as a MT major! I came to Webster as transfer student! I spent my first year at Columbia College Chicago as a Musical Theatre major. Although having to be in college for five years instead of four is not what I expected, it is TOTALLY worth it! I am able to compare the acting, voice, movement classes to Columbia’s and the difference is like night and day! WebCo’s classes all sync together, meaning that whatever you learn in one class you can definitely use in the other! It all makes sense! They treat you like you are already a professional actor here. Like mentioned earlier, conservatory block is everyday from 1-5pm, Freshmen have acting 4 days a week, voice 3 days, and movement 3 days. We also have an AMAZING intro to Musical theatre class once a week which is required for both MT and Acting majors. Just to be clear there is not real difference between majors in the conservatory until about Junior year. The actors are required to take more acting courses like Improv, and the MT’s take more MT singing courses like MT scene study. I take two dance classes twice a week, Jazz I and Ballet There is nothing better than going back to the basics. There are some experienced dancers in both my classes and the teachers are STILL finding things that they can work on. I have voice lessons once a week for an hour AND a MT coaching session for about 20 minutes once every two weeks! I have a piano class and Musicianship class (It’s pretty much sight singing). The thing that I love most about this program is how much the faculty care about you. You can meet with them at anytime and talk about ANYTHING. They really get to know YOU! I have a friend who is a MT major, she had vocal health problems prior to coming to webster. She notified them of that and they added sessions with a vocal health specialist into her schedule! </p>

<p>What drew me to Webster was it’s strong emphasis on acting! A strong actor will always work in this business, and out of the three disciplines that is a skill that you would probably never lose, unlike singing and dancing. This program is far from a the cookie cutter programs. They embrace your uniqueness and enhances it.The faculty are all working actors and directors so they know exactly what the industry is looking for, on top of that Webster has a strong relationship with two of the most well respected theatres in country, St. Louis Repertory Theatre (Which is housed on Webster’s Campus) and the Muny. In fact when the conservatory students enter the casting pool during auditions they are automatcally considered for roles at the St. Louis Repertory Theatre, and a huge amount of current students have worked with BOTH theatres in the past. </p>

<p>i can honestly say I’ve never worked this hard in my life and I LOVE it! I’m so proud of myself and progress! My teachers and classmates are AMAZING and I love them so much. Webster Conservatory definitely teaches you how to work in an ensemble and to me is one of the most important things to know how to do in this business. After the first eight weeks I am thorougly enjoying my fall break, but CANNOT wait to see my school family again! If any prospectives having any questions please don’t hesitate to message me!</p>

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<p>Since i started this thread with an early update as my daughter began at Webster, i thought i would continue on with a “sophomore year” update, for those that are still deciding and those that are making lists for next year’s season!</p>

<p>Year number two has been VERY different than year one! Sophomore year is often considered the “hardest” year at Webster for MT’s and Acting majors alike. I believe it is largely based on the fact that 2nd year students are now in the casting pool for the conservatory season,can be cast in Senior projects (called ET’s), still have a heavier tech load, but also still have some of the heavy academic work associated with text analysis, etc. Each Sophomore is assigned a secret “angel” that is their cheerleader, rally person, encourager throughout the year…its a sweet little student-inspried piece that is part of what makes Webster such a warm and communal place, i believe.</p>

<p>My D’s class load has included the following:</p>

<p>Voice and speech
Acting-contemporary scenes
Yoga
Pilates/movement
Ballet<br>
Musical Theater
Tap
Musicianship
Piano
Private Voice Lesson
Design for actors
master class per week (1 -2 per week)
musical theater song study
voice and Speech: Shakespeare
acting: physical scenes
neutral mask
jazz 1
MT dance
acting (Ibsen and Chekhov) 4 days per week</p>

<p>Sophomore year is the first time Acting and MT students enter the casting pool at Webster. They audition on the first day of the semester (literally) for the whole semester. There seem to be about 4 main productions per semester. This semester was Legally Blonde, The Children’s Hour, Eurydice and The Pig Iron People. So one musical and three plays. MT’s and Actors can and are cast across the board…I did get to see The Children’s Hour and it was really amazingly well done. Very impressive. I will have a chance to see Legally Blonde in a couple of weeks, which will be the first musical i will see at Webster. I will report back on that as well. My impressions of the folks i have seen in shows so far this year is that they are getting really sturdy training…they seem to have gravitas that i would normally expect from older people. Besides the main productions, sophomores are also cast in what are called, ET’s…these are productions(they seem like they are along the lines of one-acts) are directed by seniors and have a limited rehearsal allotment (maybe 12 or 15 hours?). They are very popular and students really hope to be cast in them.</p>

<p>The academic work for MT’s varies depending on what they need to take, what they want to take. My D had some AP credits that are allowing her to have some extra options. The one thing that seems to be unique at Webster is the emphasis on text analysis for the acting classes. I for one think it is wonderful. It is an incredible amount of work…and honestly as someone who has been in the acting world since early childhood, i can’t imagine anyone would do this level of analysis for a role in really life, however it is really great training…and it adds that “academic/research/writing” piece that can be absent from BFA programs. Everyone wants to work with a smart actor, whether in a musical, a play or a movie. This piece of the curriculum at Webster helps keep that piece alive!</p>

<p>The tech requirement seems to have lessened for sophomores…</p>

<p>D lives in an on-campus apartment this year and is off the meal plan completely. She LOVES that and it has helped her everyday life a lot! She really didn’t like the food on campus and is much better off making her own meals. She is moving into an off campus apartment next year and is even more thrilled about that. The “conservatory” apartments/houses around campus seem to be “passed down” in the same way they do at other schools.</p>

<p>There are lots of summer stock auditions in STL every winter, with many of them happening on campus at Webster. The MUNY auditions on campus as does the Midwest Theatre Auditions…there were Webster students cast at both!</p>

<p>I know ever so slightly more about the showcase this year, than i did last year! The seniors begin preparing for the showcase early on. From what i understand they limit the whole show to about 1 hour, because no one wants to sit there for more than that, i would imagine. This year’s class seems to have done well…i don’t think they publish (it would be odd to) who ended up with what after showcase, but it seems there were plenty of agent offers and call backs for shows, etc. They have a second showcase in Los Angeles in May.</p>

<p>All in all i can say that from our family’s point of view, its been a very good year. It’s been a very busy, sometimes stressful, year for our D, but its been good. She is learning so much. I am amazed when i see her in a show or hear her sing, how much she has grown. That’s the piece that really is so relevant to me. Anyway, i hope this gives seekers another peek into the world at Webster.</p>

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I have just left Webster University conservatory program in my junior year, due to the university’s inability to address and handle issues of sexual assault. My safety was put at risk, and I encourage parents and students to highly consider the issues I faced before considering Webster University and its conservatory program. Here is my story: http://itsonyouwebsteruniversity.blogspot.com/2015/01/webster-university-celebrating-100.html

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This is upsetting. Was it ever addressed?

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I have really limited information about this whole thing, However, what i do know from my extremely limited conversation with faculty at Webster, is that as is typical, there are 2 sides to this story and that it is not as simple as it seems. I can tell you that my D’s experience at this school has been phenomenal in every way. If your student is accepted, i would contact Peter Sargeant and talk to him about it.

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My S got an email today with acceptance to the BFA Acting program (he auditioned for both MT and Acting). He was told that the official letter would “come shortly.” Yay!

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@FoxinSocks‌ Congrats!! Do you happen to know if there’s been a change in his online portal for Webster?

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@attheballet - just checked and portal has not changed - still says “Musical Theater Major” and does not show artistic acceptance yet (only academic, which has been there since November).

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From what i understand, acting acceptances went out today, but most MT acceptances will come via snail mail….they are being mailed tomorrow! My son was accepted for Acting too! Congratulations @attheballet and @foxinSocks

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Congratulations to you, too, @mybroadwaybaby! I read some of your previous posts and it looks like you already have a kid at Webster who is very happy there? Just wondering if you have any advice for us as we are trying to make a decision in the next few weeks. We hope to schedule a campus visit but is there anything else we should be thinking about at this point? Thanks much!

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Thank you! My D is about to graduate and has had a very good experience………we know kids at BFA programs all over the country, in part because my kids attended a high school that sends lots of kids onto BFA programs and in part because my D attended Mpulse…………and i would say this first, i think many of the schools out there have a lot to recommend them……….they all have strengths and weaknesses, pluses and minuses. The real strength at Webster is the acting training……i have seen shows since the beginning and have been duly impressed by the trajectory the kids take……i mean honestly the students come in with strong stage ability, but the changes over the 4 years are notable and amazing. My D is an MT……but her classwork has been virtually the same as the Acting BFA’s, save for a couple of classes…with the addition of lots of dance and voice lessons and voice coaching. Acting majors can and do sing, and many of them are very talented singers as well. All the casting is done on the first day of school for the semester (freshman do not audition) and acting and MT are cast in both shows…….

Webster Groves is a cute town/suburb of STL……not very far from StL itself. Though my D gets into the city now and again for various things, they are so busy at school, that its not all that frequent……Kids live on campus for the first 2 years….my D has lived a few blocks off campus for the last 2 and has enjoyed it very much.

I didn’t know this when my D started at Webster, but the technical/design programs are very strong and notable as well……so the shows are pretty amazing from a tech/design perspective as well as from a performance view……

I have been impressed with the faculty as a whole and their care and understanding of our D. They have gone out of their way to help her with a number of things that were out of the ordinary. She is very far from home, but has been invited (along with others) for holidays and events, etc….

The Senior Showcase was a couple of weeks ago and i know that it was successful…… very well known CD’s and Agents attended…….our D felt it was very successful in a number of ways. If you would like more on that you can PM me.

They have a showcase in LA as well…later this spring. Recent graduates are working in both LA and NYC and regionally……the school seems to have plenty of connections in the professional world on both coasts.

It has been a breast place for our D……let me know if there is anything else i can answer for you.

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This is so helpful, thanks so much for writing such a detailed response! Sounds like the program really provided a great experience for your daughter!

Webster had been among the top choices for my S and it really helps to hear such positive feedback from a parent who has known the program for 4 years! We will plan a visit soon to check it out. I will probably PM you as I think of more questions - thanks again!