Finding “ease in the critical moments”

This is the first in a series of posts inspired by this year’s Musical Theater Educators Alliance conference. Every year for the past sixteen years, leading pedagogues from musical theater training programs around the world have gathered to share presentations on their most effective methods. This year, our meeting was hosted by New York University’s …

What Moving Day Can Teach You About the Art of Singing Acting

The boxes are piling up in my house, and every time I look at them, I feel a bit of dread in the pit of my stomach. Yes, it’s moving day, and the anxious, worried feelings I’ve been experiencing are familiar to many of you, I’m sure. When you’re settled in, everything is comfortable. You …

Video Clinic: In Search of the “Perfect 10”

The concept of the “perfect ten” is associated, at least for me, with Olympic gymnastics. A score of 10 was the highest possible score an Olympic gymnast could receive (at least it was until the rules were changed few years ago), and the Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci made history in 1976 when she became the …

CMU Students offer more Freshman survival tips

The Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama Class of 2017 got together to offer this friendly advice to students starting their freshman year in a BFA Theater Arts program. (Thanks to Ken Davenport for posting this on his excellent blog, “The Producer’s Perspective!” If you missed it, you should also check out this advice from …

Newly published: “The Vocal Athlete”

What?! You don’t have your copy of The Vocal Athlete yet? I mentioned to a couple of my colleagues that I had gotten a review copy of this new book by Wendy LaBorgne and Marci Rosenberg and suddenly I was barraged with requests to share it. It seems as though the word has already begun …

From Playbill.com: Top College Experts on What You Need to Know to Survive Your Performing Arts Freshman Year

Robert Viagas of Playbill.com posted these survival tips based on years of watching freshmen stumble–and succeed a little more than a week ago. The link I saved no longer works, but this is worthwhile information that deserves to hang around a little longer. All incoming freshman college students face a period of adjustment, but performing …

“My Heart Is In The Work”

What is the essential work of the singing actor-in-training? My alma mater, Carnegie Mellon University, uses these words of its founder, entrepreneur and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, as its motto, and what better day than Labor Day to recognize the importance of having one’s “heart in the work?” Today is a U.S. holiday established to pay …

The Most Common Mistake Singing Actors Make (And How You Can Fix It)

I love ballads, and I’ll bet you do too. A beautiful melody, gorgeous harmonies, poignant lyrics, delivered at a slow and soulful tempo. Every musical I’ve ever written, and nearly every musical I can think of, has a “big ballad,” and many of those big ballads have become so familiar to listeners and performers that …

Rattle Your Own Cage

Creative inspiration from Erik Wahl’s Unthink A successful creative life is one filled with disruption and provocation, and I’ve found this to be true on every level. That’s why an article about Erik Wahl and his book Unthink: Rediscover Your Creative Genius seemed especially resonant for me. Ekaterina Walter offered this summary in a recent …