talentseeker

Did anyone happen to see Grand Night last weekend? I heard it was amazing!

Californiapink

My daughter was not able to do the MT audition because of scheduling but did get accepted into the University. She can't decide if she should go in as a Theatre Arts major and ask to audition when school starts or audition later and try to transfer. Does anyone know if as a TA major can she take the same classes as the MT major? Elon especially appeals to her because of the stage time and experience right away. HELP!

Ericsmom

Californiapink - welcome. I saw your other post about the schools where your daughter auditioned. That list includes some extremely competitive schools with very tiny acceptance rates. Please tell her to hang in there.

At Elon, was your daughter offered the theatre arts BFA acting degree or the theatre studies degree (which the catalogue calls AB, I assume similar to BA degree at other schools)? From the course catalogue, it appears that some courses are specific to music theatre majors. In the acting series, theatre studies majors take different classes from BFA students. BFA acting and MT majors have a specific series of acting courses not open to the other majors. You would have to ask the school about how hard it is to get into voice and dance from a theatre major.

Good luck to your daughter.

noccadad

Wife and D have been there a few times but I was able to visit the campus for the first time yesterday during a biz trip and all I can say is, I was knocked out! Given the well documented quality of the MT program and the campus environment I saw yesterday and my very positive interaction with students (asking for directions) I am very pleased with my D's decision to attend ELON. For those of you who have not visited and have questions about the area, dorms, housing etc.. PM me

eliza'smom

Californiapink:
When we visited Elon, we were told that they give you one more chance to audition for MT (going into your sophomore year). One of the female student guides we met entered as a BA Theatre Studies major, was cast in a show when she was a freshman (and therefore must have gotten noticed), auditioned the next year for MT and was accepted.
I think if you can get past the awkwardness of feeling "left out" of the program, your chances of acceptance increase when people in the department get to know you and you show them what you can do.
I liked this very much about Elon. I don't know if this would be possible at other/bigger schools, because at other places, it might be harder to get cast in a show as a non-MT, particularly as a freshman. At some schools, we heard that if you didn't get into the MT program, but looked for some backdoor way in, you would be disappointed at the lack of performance opportunities. For what that's worth. :-)

Melsmom

Californiapink
Elon also has a minor in dance, which could supplement your D's BA in theatre, until the time comes that she can audition for the BFA. Good luck!

Californiapink

I appreciate all of the knowledge and ideas you all have. THANK YOU. Since my D didn't ever get to audition for Elon I doubt she would feel awkward or left out. She just wants the opportunity to learn and perform. And while talking with her she's very aware that she also needs an exellent education to go along with MT training. As we all know even the best MT performers rarely make a lifelong living on stage. I'm very proud of the way she's handled herself and with the perspective she has. Now if we can just arrange a visit before May 1st.

Melsmom

Anyone going to Spring Weekend this month? My D is so looking forward to it

Ericsmom

My son is going to Elon in the fall – final decision!!!

Below is the paragraph I put on the thread about why did you select the school that you did. Elon – Wow! It seems like a dream school – wonderful caring faculty, talented students who support each other, happy people that are having a blast, great academics, and all of this on a beautiful campus, in a great state, at a reasonable price, in a university that is moving up all the time in national rankings. What more could you ask for? It just seems to have that kind of specialness that is hard to explain until you’ve been there. To be honest, while I was personally impressed with many things at many schools, Elon to me from the first visit FELT like the right place for him to go. We’ve now been there 4 times! We’ve absolutely loved the shows we’ve seen and the people we’ve met. My son was very thankful to be accepted to their MT program. Lastly, he is going to get to work with some Elon people in the show he is in during June! I can’t say enough good things about Elon, so I’ll hush. Here is the duplicate from the other thread:

Why Elon (speaking from my perspective rather than my son’s): over a two year period, my son and I visited 24 colleges. Out of those, he carefully selected and applied for 2 schools with no audition and auditioned for 9 programs. My son chose Elon after really liking all the programs where he auditioned and where he was accepted (he could have been very happy at any of them). After being accepted into programs, he spent time evaluating the curriculum offerings and requirements and found them to be different. In this process, he determined that he preferred a BFA degree rather than a BM. He likes the course offerings and requirements in MT at Elon. He also likes the flexibility to have electives in each of the MT areas to the extent desired (so that not every course is specified for the whole 4 years). Elon also has a great visual art department, where he can continue this area of interest (he has won awards for his painting). He will also be part of the Elon College Fellows program, which will be a challenging academic path (he is blessed to have excelled academically). In addition, he decided he wants a campus experience and that he likes a smaller program with more individual attention. While all of the schools have excellent faculty that he likes very much, we are very fond of the people we’ve come to know at Elon. See the beginning of the Elon thread for my initial thoughts about Elon, from way before we started this crazy audition year. I’m a happy mom! He is a happy young man and is also glad the audition year is behind him.

Ericsmom

We are so pleased to have met so many CC contacts at Elon – students in the program and their parents, prospective students, and others at the scholarship weekend. What a great bunch of people! We thought in this year’s season that both Westside Story and Grand Night for Singing really showed off the talents of the students. We also appreciated how well the current students welcomed my son and the friends that were with us. In addition to knowing current students, my son already knows 6 or 7 people that will be joining him in the freshman class!

Lastly, on one of our weekends there, we got to see kaysmom’s D perform as Gertrude in a Suessical production at a nearby community theatre. Wow – that girl is going places! We really enjoyed seeing her perform in a leading role with a bunch of adults. She has commanding stage presence, great facial expressions, strong speaking and singing voice, and good movement. She’s also absolutely beautiful and very nice on top of everything! We are so happy to have found friends in a nearby city. I’m expecting next year at this time for her to have a long list of choices for college.

Melsmom

A very public congratulations to ya both

kaysmom

Ericsmom,

Thanks for the kind words about my d! We were so glad you got to see the show and loved spending time with you. We can't wait for our turn to see your S perform at Elon over the next few years! What a great choice! Many congratulations to you and your son on his decision! Best of luck from your friend in NC!

soozievt

Ericsmom, I replied to your post on another thread so won't repeat it here.

I also think kaysmom's D is someone who is going places! I look forward to her college journey stories that are next ! Congrats to her for that featured role in the adult production.

It is also fun for CCer's to meet up in person and also see one another's kids perform. I've met a bunch of folks from CC....not Kaysmom (yet). And I expect some time in the future, we'll see many of these kids on stage. There are so many kids represented on this forum that I can't wait to see in the future.

ElliottsMom

Great news Ericsmom. Elon does sound like a terrific place. I can feel the excitement in your voice as you've come to the climax of this exciting year.

Ericsmom

Thanks for everyone's nice comments. Yes, no doubt we've had very much fun meeting many CC friends this year.

We're so glad the process is behind us.

I may be off the computer for a few days, as we're switching Internet Service Providers tomorrow. I'll try to get my new e-mail address out once it is up and running.

In the meantime, we are moving on to doing graduation announcements, which my son wants to send out to every local actor and director he has ever worked with. I think he is sad to leave the people he's gotten to work with in our city, which have been people from ages 7 to 70!