I almost wept. This is their proscenium. Their other stage is a 3/4 where they are doing Picasso at the Lapin Agile. They also have a black box. Three working spaces. Three.
Things I Learned In Oklahoma City:
-It's actually a real city. Just like Houston, I was unaware that cities exist outside of Denver, Chicago,NYC and California. Yes, I am an incurable SNOB.
-They proudly call themselves "Recession Proof", and all evidence points to this being true.
-Oklahoma City University is a real school. Like...A conservatory within a university that still makes you take Gen Eds.
-The highway system is just as stupid as Houston.
-It seems flat until you are leaving, and then it is downhill.
-The OCU school of Music and Dance is one of the top ten in the country.
-The OCU Theatre has degrees in both Acting and Production and Design and the 60 students in both programs are hand picked.
-90% of OCU D&P grads are working in their field after graduation.
So I've wandered from Oklahoma City to OCU. Clearly. We chose not to see much of OKC as the highway system stymied us and there were margaritas just around the corner from the hotel. And after spending a day on the campus, I was ready to write a check. Speaking with the authority of a high school theatre teacher (Limited Authority), who did most of her training at UH (Excellent Training) and finished at CU Denver (Minimal Training) and has guided many students through their college choices ( from Rich Kids to Poor Kids to "I Wouldn't Be In College If Not For My Theatre Scholarship), I say: There Is NO school in Colorado that promise and deliver what OCU can.
The kids must do an internship to graduate. The culture dictates they do one every summer.
They are awarded internships in NYC, Chicago, Cirque du Solei in Vegas, professional companies in OKC...there is a long list.
Summer NYC is mostly for the performance majors, but nothing says a techie can't go perform for the summer in NYC and meet agents, network and take workshops.
I must say that most schools with big price tags (which OCU has, make no mistake) ride largely on Their Name On Your Diploma. "Shmah Shmah look at where I went to school I Paid A Lot". But those schools, in general, do not have profs who make personal phone calls to get their kids jobs. Which is much easier to do when you have only 35 kids in your program.
Did I mention they are all hand picked?
I was ready to write a check right there.
The space where Picasso at the Lapin Agile , all student designed and acted, will perform in April.
The D&P prof, Jeff, is my new best friend.
He said these things:
-This is hard. This is really hard. We're like a conservatory but you have to take Gen Eds.
- You are going to hate me. And when you are homesick you will be in my office.
-I know each kids' name, their history, where they went to high school. I know what they did over spring break and where to find them if they don't come to class.
-This is a small school, we have 3000 students total. If you want the big school experience, that's great, do not come here.
-This is hard. We do not have a wash out rate. You will succeed and you will graduate in four years. I have had one kid who had to leave for family reasons. That's it.
- This is hard.
-We prefer that you do internships in other cities. I had a girl who really wanted to move to Chicago, so she did an internship in Chicago this summer. She decided that Chicago was not what she expected it to be. Good thing to know before you move your life out there.
Jim liked the words: "jobs", "employment", "this is hard" and "we don't train you to just do theater for theatre people, there is a world out there."
The lighting prof, Aaron, is from NYC.
He makes phone calls regularly to get the kids internships---paid and unpaid---and jobs.
He asked Andy and Genoa what they worried about the most for college. They said "Money". He took it in stride. "It's expensive, but you'll work." His attitude was "Whatever, want a good education? Pay for it."
AHHH!!!!!!
I am a monetarily poor teacher, no raise in last three years, furlough days and no chance for a "hey you're cool" raise. With a husband who has been either unemployed or underemployed for years. And our daughter was given a scholarship to this Oasis. Not enough to cover everything, and maybe not enough to not require student loans.
But guess what? WHO CARES about student loans if you are working in your field after graduation????? My fear is she'd go ...anywhere else...and get her degree and work as a barista at Starbucks.
NO WAY that is happening at OCU.
Thom Uhl tells Genoa to Follow Her Bliss. He says Take Out Student Loans! Go!!! Follow!
Usually I like to mock Thom, but know what?
Follow Your Bliss! Take Out Student Loans!!
(it'll be okay if you can get a job!!!)
A Moment in History: I have only been taking kids to ThesCon for five years. In that time we have had some crazy success. This year they received 130 callbacks between the 9 of them. I have kids who have received money to attend Pepperdine, SMU, Evansville, Stephens, St. Marys...but none at OCU. OCU was always unattainable. The rumor was that they only called back DSA kids. So I was kinda snarky toward them. Then two years ago, I met Ashleigh. She is the costume designer at OCU. She was headed to the auditions and was early. So she and I sat outside of the meeting rooms waiting for the acting auditions to end so she could start the tech portion. I sat and listened to her for about an hour. She is magnificent. A Set designer by trade, she switched to costumes when she wanted a Better Job and moved to OCU. She said they hadn't had any Colorado kids in a while and were considering not returning next year (which would be 2013). I spoke little, just listened because she was clearly My New Best Friend and more talented and magnificent than I. I did have an actor called back last year, but since she was tech I kept it to myself. However I did my best to market OCU to that actor, but she was not ready to leave the state. Which is fine.
Then the tech auditions began and she got up and left. She had firey red hair and a stunning blue ensemble with excellent shoes I could never wear. A Costumer who knew how to market herself. AH! Such Bliss!
I had said nothing because A) Possible conflict of interest, I am a theatre teacher after all and B) I wanted her to talk and I wanted to learn. I had no hard core tech kids auditioning that year, but still didn't want to be all "Hey, pick my kids!" So I never really introduced myself. She got I was somebody's theatre teacher, somewhere, what other adult would be hanging out at ThesCon?
Anyway, I took everything she said and put it into prepping the tech kids for this year...and three of them were called back to OCU.
And one of them was my daughter.
If you were paying attention at all, you know I have had NO TECH kids ever called back to OCU. And only one actor.
So.
The moral of the story:
Oklahoma City is a real City.
Oklahoma City University is a school on par with SMU, Pepperdine and Evansville.
Shut up and listen.
And this is one part of their shop.
And now I have to go. Carol Burnett is on the Big Interview.
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