How do you spell SUCCESS?

College Majors Musical Theater Majors
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This is a thread to celebrate the successes of those kids already in college and who have graduated from college. If you have a student who has booked a summer stock job, regional theater, internships, or has obtained any post-grad professional theater employment or other noteworthy accomplishments, please share here! Thanks to @ManVan for inspiring this thread after reading about his son’s next steps and thanks to @jekyllnhyde20 for suggesting we start a new thread! No rules about format – just perhaps some background (S or D, year in school or year graduated, school attended and whatever achievements you wish to note).

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Oops - I should have said @jkellynh17. Sorry!

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Ok I’ll go. My son is doing a staged reading at the Shakespeare Project of Chicago this weekend and will be Guiderius in Lakeside Shakepeare’s Cymbeline this summer. Both badly paid or unpaid but with equity actors and directors, not sure about points.

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He’s a sophomore at CCPA Roosevelt.

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Great opportunities ! Congrats to you and S. @ jekyllnh17!

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Thanks but let’s hear some more!

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My daughter is a freshman and auditioned for a 7 week acting intensive program at a renowned theater company. (Will Farrell and Allison Case are former participants) and was admitted! At the end of the program there will be an industry/agent showcase. (This could lead to her getting her equity card) So proud and excited for her.

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I hope @ManVan doesn’t mind if I copy his S’s recent success timeline here as well…

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Saw this post and thought…
S-U-C-C-E-S-S
That is correct.
My oh my! That word’s so moronic.
I could cry! I want words as lame
Etc.

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^^^^
When I saw the heading, “How Do You Spell SUCCESS?,” two things immediately came to my mind…

First was the Aretha Franklin song, R-E-S-P-E-C-T and how we could substitute S-U-C-C-E-S-S and come up with new lyrics to that song!

Second, I thought of that old commercial that asks, “How Do You Spell Relief?” With that, I was thinking, hmmmm, for parents, once the MT graduate finds some success, the parents then spell “relief” or at least, sigh it!

Now, back to our regularly scheduled program…

:))

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I hope that as people share their kids’ experiences (or that of their friends) you’ll also feel free to share non-performing or even non-theatre paths that MT kids are led to during and/or after college. In my experience, success can be spelled MANY different ways. For example one of D’s school mates graduated with a Theatre BA and went straight to work in the White House in public arts policy, while others moved directly to roles as Producers of a Broadway play. I call that success as surely as any Broadway contract.

I’ll also bring @soozievt’s response to a question about her D’'s post-graduation experiences to this thread…

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@MomCares great point…I’d love to hear what any graduates of MT/Theater programs are doing and this is beyond being cast in shows. It will be interesting and informative to share about the many paths that such graduates take soon after graduation and down the road.

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Absolutely @MomCares … there is often so much discussion from parents as to whether they should even let their children get a degree in the arts. Hearing about fantastic opportunities such as you’ve described is wonderful so parents can see their are many paths you can take after graduation.

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Just a clarification so people in similar situations have the correct information … @bisouu, those acting and/or MT intensives don’t typically lead to your child getting their equity card. Some of them, like Barrington, Berkshire, Powerhouse, Weathervane and Williamstown, give the actors points for their work in the summer (anywhere from about 6 to 10 points), so when they leave they are EMC. Others will hold an industry showcase at the end of the intensive, and then IF the kid gets cast from the showcase, they MAY be eligible for points, depending on whether they get cast in an EMC theatre. In other words, they become membership candidates (EMC). I have never heard of one of the acting or MT intensives, where you pay to take classes, leading to an equity card. If I’m wrong, please tell me…b/c I’m sure we’d all love to know where this is happening! :wink:

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My D last summer was accepted into Music Theater Bavaria and spent a month training there. This summer she will make her professional debut in Jesus Christ Superstar in Indianapolis,

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@monkey13 I guess I should have been more explicit …when I said this “COULD lead to getting her equity card” I meant that some of the students in the past have been cast in the theater’s productions after completion of the program which then would provide her a card. I try and keep my post short and sweet so not to overwhelm the reader. So now you have heard of an acting intensive with an industry showcase that can lead to casting and equity card :wink:
p.s. I feel like you think I was being misleading but I have reread my post several times and do not see where I said she would get her card from attending this intensive. Trying not to be defensive and hope I clarified things. I was afraid of even posting anything because I know how this forum can be. I knew if I mentioned a “success” (and there are so few in this business) that someone was going to find fault somewhere with something . Was hoping to get a nice "congrats’ or acknowledgement of a great accomplishment. But alas, time for me to move on from CC. Such a shame that so many of us old timers are being run off. Good luck to you all.

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This is a happy thread!

S is a Freshman at Otterbein and will be spending the summer at Cortland Repertory theatre in NY as one of 6 performing interns. He recently received the schedule and all I can say is O M G. Lots of my experienced "mom mafia " friends told me how crazy summer stock gets but until I saw the calendar I don’t think I truly believed it. S has the following roles/ensemble- Mowgli – “The Jungle Book”, Leather Apron/Painter – “1776”; Ensemble/Ancestor – “The Addams Family”; Player – “Sherlock Holmes/West End Horror”

Sadly he’ll only be home 16 days this summer but he’s beyond excited to do this. I was fortunate enough to find a lake house near the theater where I’ll get to stay for a week. And VERY fortunate that same week I’ll get to see 3 of the shows…1 closes and 2 open while I’m there.

I love the idea of sharing non performing/theatre related experiences. One of my friends S has a BFA MT from PPU, graduated about 5 years ago I think. He ended up landing some really cool job in NYC as a stylist on a popular TV show. Now he’s assisting Andrew Lippa.

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@mtmajorcook one of my students will also be performing at Cortland Rep. this summer. Please PM or email me if you would like me to help link them up via email or facebook.

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I will! Cool!

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@bisouu, I never said you were misleading! I was trying to clarify, b/c there are many new people on here, and I didn’t want them under them to misunderstand. My comment was not intended as a slam on you or the program your daughter is doing or anything of that sort. I was not finding fault…just trying to clarify.