<p>Is it true that you can also get 1 semester of voice lessons with a Steinhardt grad student for only 90 bucks the entire semester?
Also, I’ve heard from some people that straight acting and musical theater are 2 totally different things that require different routes. But I’m thinking that If i go to strasberg and somehow keep up with my musical theater stuff, then I would have skills for both?</p>
<p>I would also really like to do summerstock, but isn’t most summerstock work for college students being in the ensemble? I’m worried that I won’t have the dance training necessary to get cast in a summerstock show if I go to strasberg.</p>
<p>Clay, I dunno anything about the Steinhardt voice lessons, but I think I can address summerstock in a general way.</p>
<p>College students can and do audition for summerstock shows, either at individual auditions for theaters or for one of the larger, unified auditions such as the Midwest Theatre Auditions (held in the Midwest, natch!) or Strawhats, held at Pace University in New York City. (There are others, too, but we will use those as an example.) Reps from the various theaters come to those auditions looking for talent. Some hire a whole company of all college-aged students and some hire only a few. That means that some college students, yes, will get leading and supporting roles at summer theaters and other college students will be ensemble. Most college students I know who go to summerstock auditions would be THRILLED to be hired an ensemble, even at the smaller summer theaters, but especially at the bigger, better ones (I say “better” because they are better known and pay better) such as PCLO, MUNY, Music Theatre of Wichita, etc. </p>
<p>This year, because the economy is so bad and so many actors are struggling to find work, college students who did get jobs for the summer are particularly happy about it and feel quite lucky to have been given contracts to be in ensemble roles. </p>
<p>Re: the comment that straight acting and MT are completely different routes, well, tell that to all the enormously talented MT kids who are now in the various acting studios at Tisch drama! Many of these kids are cast in musicals and as soozievt told you before in a previous post, she knows of kids coming out of the various acting studios who were cast in various musical tours and such. </p>
<p>Some would disagree, but I think that <em>acting</em> is the cornerstone of a good actor/musical theater performer. It is <em>the</em> foundational skill (and I should add here that we are assuming the person is also a talented singer.) I would far rather watch on stage an actor who is a good singer but can really act the song in a believable and convincing way (no small feat to convince an audience that bursting into song is a natural and organic thing to do) than I would a fabulously trained singer who seems to be reciting his or her lines in an unrealistic way in between bursting into song. (You can just see those people thinking “Ok, NOW it’s my turn to sing. Finally!”)</p>
<p>Just my four cents. :)</p>
<p>Can anyone please tell me summer stock theatre companies that do straight shows?</p>
<p>ThtrGeek, </p>
<p>The best way to find that out is to look on each summer theater’s website and examine their production season.</p>
<p>I don’t think anyone here can post a complete list of summer stock companies. But such information is available via the Internet: just noodle around and you will find various companies across the US and their listed seasons.</p>