Applying to College? Thinking about a Theatre Major? Find the Perfect College Theatre Program for You
by Katie Lupica
04/02/12 09:52
Editorial Associate Katie Lupica had a chance to sit down with Chelsea Cipolla, co-author of ADMIT ONE, a new book that provides a comprehensive guide designed to help students with the often daunting experience of choosing an Acting or Musical Theatre program that best suits them.
So you’re applying to college. Now more than ever, there are hundreds of articles, books, and websites that think they know where you should be setting your hopes and ambitions. Sometimes college can seem like the end-goal in itself – and colleges can seem non-distinct apart from how they are ranked by magazines, test-prep companies, or your parents. Maybe you’ve heard this advice: Go to the highest-ranked school that will take you, and whatever you do, don’t major in the arts. But what a lot of the college-admission industry isn’t telling you is that college is a great place to get training for a possible career in the arts, and there are countless, highly varied programs, staffed by accomplished academics and industry professionals who can help you get an advanced degree while also pursuing your dreams!
With some guidance and the right preparation, the college application and selection process can actually be a great opportunity to start thinking about what you really want to do with your time and how you can expose yourself to appropriate training and potential new directions as an artist and a person. A new book on this topic, Admit One, is perhaps the first comprehensive guide designed exclusively for choosing the Acting or Musical Theatre program that best fits you and as individual.
Authors Chelsea Cipolla and John West take you step-by-step through making the decision, choosing the degree, and getting the most out of your college experience. The book has in-depth profiles and interviews from 40 of the nation’s top programs and gives you not only the basics, but insight into the unique feel and spirit of each department, showcases, scholarships, and more. Each chapter features recaps, space for notes, and equal doses of humor and the harder facts. Whether you’re a high school student dreaming of a professional acting career, or you’re that student’s concerned parent, teacher, local youth theatre director, or college counselor, this book is an incredible new resource for making an informed decision.
Chelsea Cipolla, one of the book’s authors, is a New York-based actress, acting coach, and career consultant. After graduating from EmersonCollege in Boston, MA, with a BA in acting and theatre education, Chelsea began her acting career in New York, returning to Boston in the summers to help teach at Emerson’s Summer Arts Academy for three years. She has performed at Hartford Stage, Kentucky Repertory Theatre, and other regional stages, as well as notable New York theatres such as Theatre for a New Audience,Primary Stages, and La MaMa ETC. Chelsea is also the founder of My College Audition, though which she coaches classes and private lessons on audition material for high school juniors and seniors.
In her professional success and passion for teaching, Chelsea has become an expert not simply on the college audition process itself but on how to help students use this decision to start seeing a bigger picture of how theatrical talent and passion can realistically fit into a professional life. Though only beginning, Chelsea’s career is a testament to the importance of knowing yourself, knowing what you want out of life in the theatre, and not only seeking but making your own opportunities to do exactly that. I was fortunate to sit down with this talented and driven young woman to hear a bit about her own career path, what she has learned since she herself was staring down college applications, and the down-to-earth realities of what life as a working actor in New York can be.
KL: How did you first get started in theatre? What big turning points led to others as you began your acting and teaching careers?
CC: My mom owned a children’s theatre [in Hartford], so that’s the biggest step, I think. I always knew I wanted to do this. I went to a boarding school that had nothing to do with performing arts. I was the biggest fish in a non-existent pond, which was great at the time; but when it came time for auditioning for schools I had no – absolutely no – clue what I was doing. I didn’t know how to pick a monologue. I didn’t know what they wanted.
By some grace, I got into Emerson. I have no idea how. And when I went to Emerson, I quickly realized I wasn’t going to be satisfied with just going to class. So I started [auditioning and] performing within Boston and starting to fill up my resume. I’d go to class all day and then perform at night. Then one of my acting teachers, Courtney O’Connor started this SummerArtsAcademy at Emerson, and I didn’t know if I wanted to do it. But I went to the interview, got the job, and that’s when I fell in love with monologues. So EmersonSummerArtsAcademy was a big turning point where I realized, “Oh I don’t have to, you know, do a terrible job I don’t want to do when I graduate. I can actually pursue this alongside performing.”
I went on tour for a year after college, but then I settled in New York, and I was thinking, “Now. What.” I took care of the basics, but I had a lot of free time in unemployment after the tour, and that’s when I started the business. I’d sit in Starbucks every day. I’d work on the website, and I’d spend a ton of time in the Drama Book Shop. No one was really doing [audition coaching] where the students could really come up with their own curriculum of what they needed help with.
KL: How did you get established as an actor as well as a teacher in New York?
CC: This is really rare, but I got an agent when I was performing in an Off-Broadway play, downtown, and my agent saw me in the show. I say audition for anything and everything, and then make the decision once you get the part.
KL: You said you worked on building your business during your time off right when you came to New York. What keeps you a creative artist in times when you aren’t working on any productions?
CC: I focus heavily on the other thing that fuels me. I always say this to my students – “You have to be a human before you can be an actor” – and I can’t imagine not having another thing besides acting in my life. It doesn’t make you less passionate. It doesn’t make you less serious about acting. I just love teaching, I learn more about myself teaching, and when there are dry spells I throw myself into my other passion full-force. I’m coming up with classes and working on my next book, whatever that’s going to be.
KL: That’s a great example for aspiring performers to keep in mind. This is also something you address in Admit One. Could you talk a bit about how students might factor the reality of this future free time into their college thinking?
CC: When looking at a school, it’s important to consider your other interests. Are you an avid chess player? Do you find yourself dividing your time between the sports field and the theatre? Make sure you find a school that allows you to have time for both. Being able to pursue all areas that interest you can help inform you as a performer. But on the negative side, spreading yourself to thin can weaken your abilities inside the classroom and theatre. Decide what things in your life you simply can’t live without, and then eliminate the programs that don’t offer options to meet your needs. When you leave your acting class for the day, you want to make sure you are happy with the rest of your college experience.
Deciding on what makes you happy as a human, along with your theatrical needs, will inform your decision greatly. If there’s anything else you like to do, do it alongside of acting. I don’t care who you are – there’s going to be downtime. You need to fill it with something that fuels you and inspires you. And don’t let anyone use that to say “don’t pursue this,” because they’re idiots. Pursue it, but also get the most out of that education that you can.
KL: So what are some other “realities of the business” you’ve come to know post-college that you may not have anticipated as a high school performer?
CC: Well first of all I think I had this idea that I had to be in New York, and now, living in New York, I don’t know if that’s true anymore. There’s a huge scene in Chicago, there’s a great small one in Boston, and Philadelphia is definitely in there. I always encourage [my students] to look outside the box now. I wish I had thought of that. I think my biggest false impression was that moving to New York was like where people “made it” and I don’t think that’s true. It depends what you want to do.
I have also learned that it’s not all talent. It’s about 50/50. You have to be talented, but you also have to be business-minded. You have to have a strong work ethic. I thought, because I had been told I was talented, that this was going to be a breeze walking into it, but I had a lot to learn – both about myself and about the business.
KL: So what if I’m a high school drama teacher trying to include some audition preparation into class work? How do you take into account the wide range of students’ natural ability, experience, and interest? How can I be a resource in the college application and selection process?
CC: Everyone’s at a different level when they’re applying to colleges. I have some students, where after two lessons I can say they are good to go. But with most students I would say it’s all about feeling comfortable in the audition room. It’s about confidence. It’s about repetition, the more you do it the better. There are three parts of a typical college audition – audition, adjustments, and questions. The point of adjustments isn’t to see how talented you are or where you take it. They just want somebody who will take direction for the next four years.
Teachers can really help their students by being heavily involved in the material choices. I have a whole rule set for monologues – there has to be a clear beginning, a clear ending, and you have to know who you’re talking to. I call it quilting and sometimes pull different lines from other parts of the play to make that happen even if it’s not clear in the piece.
A drama teacher at a high school can also be reading what’s new. There is something I started doing a long time ago – it’s really ridiculous, and I don’t expect everyone to do this, but it’s a way to become well-versed in what’s happening. If I go to [a bookstore looking for plays], I’ll pick a letter, like a last name, like B – which is how I found my most recent favorite, Bekah Brunstetter’s Be A Good Little Widow – and I’ll try to pick out 5 or 6 plays that I’ve never read, and then I’ll begin a B section at the studio in my house and read them all within the next month.
KL: Having good audition material and being comfortable in an audition environment are good training for life after college as well as college auditions, right? How are college auditions different? How do you feel about auditioning now as you move forward with your career?
CC: The important thing in college auditions is to enjoy yourself and have fun, because the big thing that [college theatre programs] are looking for is just someone they want to hang out with for four years. If you come in and you know everything, what are they going to teach you? They don’t expect the most polished kid, but they do expect someone who is eager to learn, who has raw talent, and who is prepared and followed the directions specific for their program. If I could do anything over it would be to have fun, go in with a smile on my face, and be ready for anything.
Now I love auditioning. Love it. I love meeting new people, and it’s a chance to make somebody listen to you for two minutes and to have somebody watch your work. If that’s the only creative thing you get to do in a day then you should have the most fun doing it.