doctorjohn

Don't exist. What many of us do instead is to visit various state Thespian conferences, especially in Florida and Texas. The auditions, like those at Internationals in June, are mass auditions and very brief, too brief for our school to make offers on the basis of what we see. But it does help us identify candidates to invite to campus or to the February Unifieds.

Most schools won't start taking reservations for auditions at the Unifieds or on-campus until later in the fall. Parents, can you help nytheatermom with dates?

noccadad

Dr. John,
Do you have any knowledge or experience with the New World School of the Arts in Miami, D is wanting to attend for her senior year of high school in MT.

doctorjohn

noccadad:

Well, they must be doing something right. We took a student from there last year, and he's doing outstanding work as a freshman, particularly in dance. And when I went to the Florida Thespian Conference last fall, I called back several students from their program. If you or your d. would like to correspond with our current major who's from there, write to me privately, and I'll give you his contact information.

mtfan

doctorjohn, when do you expect to send out decision letters now that auditions are over?

doctorjohn

Tim:

Assuming no problems with printers and xerox machines, we'll be mailing the letters on Monday afternoon, March 21.

Nawlinsmom

Dr. John
Noccadad's wife here, that is fantastic news and we will have our daughter take you up on the offer for additional info from your student in the near future as they have opening night of Starmites tonight at Nocca. Our D is doing tech work for this show, which we think helps a rounded performer, as we had auditions at NWSA 2/5&6, Cap21summer 2/12 and NWSA callbacks 2/19 as well as SAT and ACT. On another note, did you see any of the NOCCA contingent at Chicago unifieds and what were your general thoughts on their preparedness. This has been a good year for her there and/but our D feels she can really gain from NWSA and new instructors. Your thoughts are appreciated and my husband has commented often about what a tremendous contribution you make to the kids and parents which I know is also very appreciated. Thanks in advance! Lori Stephan

doctorjohn

Lori:

I started this response a couple of times, but had reservations about posting it. I realized today that this is a very sensitive time in the admissions process, and I think it would not be appropriate to comment on either the NOCCA or the NWSA kids at this point. I didn't mind commenting on last year's class, but this year's is a different matter. Hope you understand.

Nawlinsmom

I apologize to you and all others for that lapse of sensitivity! I should have known better and I let my personal situation cloud my judgement. Thanks for all you do and I look forward to communicating with you in the future.

lynnm

Nawlinsmom - Don't stress it - you'll have enough of that next year!!!!!

doctorjohn

Indeed, Lori, no apology is necessary. It was a reasonable question, and I wish I could answer it. As I said, I started to a couple of times, then realized that I just couldn't. Lynnm is right, not to worry!

broadwayblondie1

In another thread, it was discussed that 'someone knew someone' who received a phone call of acceptance this past weekend from Otterbein. Is it safe to say that those people who did not receive a phone call were not accepted?

doctorjohn

broadwayblondie:

Sorry I couldn't write sooner. The process is delicate at this point. I may write more about it later. But for now, you should not assume that if you didn't receive a phone call that you are not receiving an offer of some kind. All letters (over 300) were delivered to the mail room at 3:00 p.m. this afternoon. Best wishes to everyone.

wct

I was asked a question today that I could not answer. At some colleges like CMU you audition for MT but could be offered a spot in the acting BFA instead. Does/can that also happen at Otterbein? If so can a student take voice/dance as an elective, or private lessons on campus for an extra fee?

doctorjohn

wct:

Yes, that happens at Otterbein. When students audition on campus, we go over this in detail during the information session. I realize now that I haven't always talked about the alternatives at the unifieds. I'll make sure to correct that in the future.

When you audition for the BFA in Musical Theatre with us, you are also auditioning for:

BFA Acting
BA Theatre
BA or BME Music
BM Vocal Performance
Dance Minor

Representatives from all of these areas view all the auditions, either in person or from videotapes. Then we meet as a committee to discuss the candidates, and I share what I've learned in the interview as well. If we don't have a place for a particular student in MT, but we think that he or she has talents in other areas, and that we would be a good fit for that student, we will make an offer to come in a different degree program.

BFA Acting students take virtually the same curriculum as the BFA Musical Theatre majors. The 8 MTs and 8 ACTs make up the same (single) acting class which progresses through the four years together. Acting majors take the same dance classes (although not as many are required), and may elect to take private voice lessons. (As on many campuses, fees are charged to all students for private music lessons, no matter the instrument.) Almost all of our Acting majors choose to take voice lessons. Acting majors are considered equally for roles in musicals, just as Musical Theatre majors are considered for roles in plays. Examples: the title role in VIOLET last fall was played by an Acting major; four of the six actors in THE DINNER PARTY were MT majors. We tend to offer the BFA in Acting to students whose voices may not be quite as strong as the MTs, but whose acting skills are superior. Those students still get to take as much dance and music as they wish.

Students with strong musical backgrounds may be offered a place in the BA or BME degree in the Music Department. Those with exceptional classical voices may be asked to come back and audition for the BM in Vocal Performance. It's the only program where we ask the student to reaudition, and that's because the audition requirements are, as one would expect, substantially different.

Students with strong dance backgrounds may be offered a place in the Dance Minor program. We do not have a Dance Major here. But the Minor is quite strong. We are able to offer the basic techniques at four different levels, and we do them in rotation: two days/week of ballet, one day of modern, one day of jazz, and one day of tap or MT styles. The dance minor is appropriate for students who are want to major in another field--Environmental Science, English, Elementary Education, for example--but who want to keep dancing while in college. Some students do go into the profession from this program.

Casting is open here, and our musicals almost invariably have music majors and dance minors in the casts.

Students who have been accepted to Otterbein, but not into MT, may still come in one of these other programs, or even as Undecided majors, take dance and voice, and prepare to reaudition for us and for other schools. I do know that two of our current freshmen, who reauditioned for us, have been accepted at other schools, including Wright State and Baldwin-Wallace.

Hope this helps.

MTnesters

I'd echo what Dr. John states above. When my D and I visited Otterbein for her audition, the parents spent a good hour in a question and answer session with about 10 current students of whom only 2 were BFA MT and the others BFA Acting. One of the two MT students auditioned the prior year for MT, was rejected but offered a slot in BM Vocal Performance which she accepted. She re-auditioned for MT after her Freshman year and was accepted into the MT program. The other MT said he'd been accepted at BW but chose Otterbein because of the friendliness of the faculty. The BFA Acting students seemed very pleased with the opportunities to take dance and voice and several had already auditioned for and appeared in the musicals.