Northwestern News on the World Wide Web: http://www.nwu.edu/univ-relations/media/
CONTACT:
Wendy Leopold, (847) 491-4890
[email protected]
FOR RELEASE: Immediate
NORTHWESTERN MUSICAL THEATRE PROGRAM LAUNCHING BROADWAY CAREERS
EVANSTON, Ill. --- If musicals are back, as newspaper headlines are proclaiming, Northwestern theatre graduates are out there winning the roles that make these shows sing. "It's been another incredible year for Northwestern," says Dominic Missimi, the director of the music theatre program and an associate professor in Northwestern's legendary theatre department. Consider the following:
Northwestern music theatre student Kate Shindle was named Miss America last year after wowing the pageant's talent contest judges with a funky, very nineties rendition of "Don't Rain on My Parade."
Senior Heather Headley was snatched away from her Northwestern music theatre studies last year to perform in Frank Galati's musical adaptation of "Ragtime." Headley left Galati's highly acclaimed show before it reached New York to star as Nala in "Lion King," Disney's hot Broadway mega-musical. (Galati, of course, is Northwestern professor of performance studies).
Theatre graduate Brian d'Arcy James has a major role in the Broadway musical "Titanic" and is fast becoming something of a matinee idol.
Music theatre graduate Kate Fisher stars as Cosette in the national touring production of "Les Miserables" while former music theatre student Catherine Brunell performs in the play's Broadway production.
Jim Weitzman was singled out by Broadway legend Harold Prince who cast the Northwestern theatre graduate in a major role in the national tour of "Phantom of the Opera." Prince's national productions of "Show Boat" currently include nine Northwestern theatre graduates who are everything from the leads to ensemble members.
The list of Northwestern's musical theatre successes -- like its successes in the worlds of film and television -- goes on and on.
In the last seven years, a select number of students have participated in the music theatre certificate program which each year admits 15 students from Northwestern's School of Music and its School of Speech. Students audition in the spring of their freshman or sophomore year with a vocal selection, a monologue and a dance number. Students admitted to the program take the same acting classes as other Northwestern theatre majors and are given opportunities to participate behind the scenes and in front of the footlights in about a dozen musicals produced by the program.
"Northwestern's music theatre program is producing exactly what the market is demanding," says New York actor, director and choreographer Mark Hoebee. "What musical theatre looks for is the triple-threat -- someone who dances well, sings confidently and is a well rounded actor. If you look at the roster of graduates from Northwestern and compare it with the students of other programs, you'll find Northwestern theatre and music theatre grads dominating in just about every aspect of music theatre."
When the program presented "Sweet Charity" recently, Hoebee left New York for Northwestern's campus to direct the show. A veteran of five Broadway shows and five national tours, Hoebee is but one of the many working professionals that Missimi brings to Northwestern to teach master classes, direct and answer questions from and assess the talent of music theatre students. The program has ongoing ties with Broadway composer Larry Grossman and Dale Rieling, music director and supervisor of all "Les Miz" companies.
"The theatre business is about networking," says Hoebee. "It's who you know and who you work with and who recommends you that counts. Northwestern not only arms students with a terrific education, it connects them to working professionals who can help them out in an otherwise dog-eat-dog world." Recently theatre alumni in New York met to discuss creating a formal network of theatre professionals. A similar West Coast group -- the Northwestern Entertainment Alliance -- is helping Northwestern graduates in the entertainment industry make important professional connections.
Guest artist visits and residencies also provide important networking and learning opportunities. Veteran Broadway composer Stephen Sondheim and "Fiddler on the Roof" lyricist Sheldon Harnick have worked with students. This spring, Tony Award-winning actress Joanna Gleason will conduct two days of intensive workshops. And, as they did last year, Northwestern theatre students will take part in the New League Auditions, a prestigious New York audition showcase.
The Northwestern theatre department has always produced an impressive share of Broadway stars. "Even before the music theatre program, we had the Waa-Mu show spreading the Northwestern name in the world of musical theatre," says Missimi, who in May will direct the 67th edition of the annual all-original musical revue.
Once dubbed "the biggest and splashiest of all college shows" by Life magazine, the Waa-Mu show boasts an endless roster of famous theatre alumni, including Cloris Leachman, Ann-Margret, Carol Lawrence, Shelley Long, Tony Roberts and Broadway actor Gregg Edelman.
By providing training in acting, voice and dance, the music theatre certificate program gives today's students the edge they need to land parts in musical theatre. A look at stagebills across the country confirms that the Northwestern approach is working.
###
RSS