@EmTeeDad2016 Dad’s involved in the process are a minority. We are happy to give whatever advice we can. My husband was asked (by my son) to keep out of it. LOL. I learned before we even started that the best thing for a parent to do is be quiet support. Quiet is not my husband’s strong suit. Let your kid take the lead. They have to have some ownership of this crazy thing right from the start. I was the organizer & planner… stayed on the schedule of submitting applications and booking audiitons. My son was the artistic side, apparel, his own warm up process, etc. On the day, I held the bags and held my tongue. 
As a consequence, he was really open with me throughout and the experience brought us closer. Don’t let the stress get to you… at least outwardly… and be OK with how very little control you have over anything.
Lol. All I have control over is the checkbook. I’ve told S that I’ll do all I can to help but he doesn’t get to choose how broke I go.
Extremely surprised and impressed by WSU.
I have to say, going in I was a bit skeptical about the quality of this program. I thought to myself “…REALLY? A good MT program in DAYTON…?” I couldn’t have been more wrong.
Firstly, I must commend how accommodating they were. My mom and I blundered and forgot to call in advance to ask to sit in on a class. We called the morning of the visit, and they were able to arrange not only a class but also a meeting with Joe Deer.
The meeting with Joe Deer conflicted with my campus tour, so we cancelled the campus tour and had a quick visit with the admissions office, then walked around a bit ourselves. A student approached us as we were walking around campus and asked us if we needed any help finding anything, then talked to about the tunnel system (which we had no idea even existed…very cool!) I have only been on two other college visits, but at neither one did any student approach me and my mom and offer to assist us, which made this stand out to me.
After that, we headed to the CAC for the meeting with Joe Deer. Another girl and her mom were there, and Joe arrived and took us all into the theater to speak with us, instead of his office, which was awesome. He walked us up on stage and spoke to us about the set and about Chicago. He spoke to us about WSU’s program and answered our questions, and you could tell how invested he is in WSU and his students. He spent an hour with us, which I wasn’t expecting. As the head of MT I know he must be extremely busy, so the fact that he took a whole hour out of his day meant a lot.
He walked us up to an acting class for freshman (a mix of MT and Acting) and that was quite interesting. Joe kept telling how acting is the core and emphasis in WSU’s program, and you could tell. The instructor told us about the project the students were doing, and how it was the first glimpse of text they’d gotten all semester. They’d been focusing solely on action, and now were in the process of slowly introducing dialogue and making sure dialogue is meaningful. This really showed me how slowly and carefully they approach acting - and the payoff is very apparrent.
During this class, several kids came up and spoke to us about their experiences and WSU and gave sooo much great advice. They were so friendly and eager to help. After the class, two of those students spoke to my mom and I for about 30 minutes afterward, answering questions about WSU and the audition process in general. I was truly overwhelmed by the helpfulness and kindess of the MT/Acting kids.
We saw Chicago later, and it was spectacular. The singing and dancing was great, but you can really see that acting takes priority - it is stellar. Great performers, great set, great costumes, great choreography.
Long story short: WSU has something really special. I am seriously impressed and will definitely be auditioning
@gmo913 , glad you had such a great experience. My daughter felt the same way… she was sold after the in-person visit.
@gmo@913 - so glad you got a taste of the “WSU experience”. Joe is really something special. S loves being in his classes. Family is going to see Chicago next weekend. Can’t wait. The photos look awesome. Here’s a link: http://webapp2.wright.edu/web1/newsroom/2015/10/28/wright-state-theatre-presents-broadway-classic-chicago/
Also found these pics from Chicago set designer Adam Koch. Stunning. https://adamkoch.carbonmade.com/projects/5537463#9
While Mr. Koch works at the national level, I’m pretty sure the rest of the Chicago production team is WSU “in-house”. These kids are fortunate to work with the best.
My daughter said it was nice to have a fresh set of eyes come in and work with their space and to give them some other options of how it could be used.
@JAM113 - I take it your D is in the Chicago cast or on the crew?
@mom4bwayboy, yes, she is a D/T.
Is she part of the design team on Chicago? S is very impressed with all aspects of design on this one. Looks like tech and crew had their hands full, as well.
Same for my D - she said the design was absolutely fantastic!
S got his audition confirmation email today. Woo hoo!
Great. It’s getting close. . .
Congrats!!! Did Wright pre-screen this year? Someone on the prescreen thread said she got a ‘yes’ from Wright State??? Hadn’t heard that…
I think prescreens were optional - designed to save a student travel/audition costs if they wanted to find out if they were at least in the ballpark or not.
@mom4bwayboy, she has been a worker bee in the scene shop, so not part of the design planning, but has been helping to execute. She is also part of the SM team.
Though I haven’t seen it yet, by the looks of the photos I’m guessing the worker bees and SM team had/have lots to do. Can’t wait to take it all in. Three days. But who’s counting.
Seeing Chicago tomorrow!!! Woo! And A Very Potter Musical tonight… at 11pm? Will have to caffeine up for that one!
Haha @MTmom2015! We did 11PM Spelling Bee (and it didn’t start until almost 11:30 - some of the cast was in Chicago rehearsals). Good thing for us is that we are CST so felt like 10, which is still too late for me! Have a great time and tell your S to break legs!
@mom4bwayboy, me… I’m counting! Haven’t seen my daughter since move-in. Can’t wait to see her. Looking forward to seeing her and Chicago!