Elon University

[MUSIC] Welcome to the College Audition Pro's podcast, where we help you get ready, get set, get accepted. My name is Drew Boudreau, the founder of College Audition Pro's, and let's get going. [MUSIC] >> Wow, Fred, what a great story about how you work with Elaine Stritch. I couldn't believe it. >> I know. I wish I could remember all the details so I could recreate it for you. So does that speak to anybody here, the idea that you, that your student could potentially work in a more detailed way in the realm of musical theater, but have more of a focus on dance and choreography? Is there anybody that's like, that's really like up my alley. I'm a dancer first in the world of musical theater, or even I'm an actor, but I'm a physical actor, and I like that kind of connection to the body. As we go, please ask your questions for me or for Fred. We'll go be more for Fred here in the chat so that we can get those answered for you. How big is the ideal incoming freshman class across those seven degrees? >> Sure. Well, the three BFA's have auditioned gateways, so we're really trying to control how many come in. And the ideal is right around 16, and that's because our class caps are 16 for, say, an individual acting class or dance, family stage. So if we have them at that number, it helps us regulate that we don't need extra sections or people get spread thin. So somewhere in the neighborhood of 16, maybe 18, and it depends maybe there was a smaller class last year, so we're bringing in a couple extra just to kind of even things out. The other degrees don't have any sort of gate, so they can be as big as they want to be. Drama and theater studies, arts, admin is huge. It grew huge in the first couple of years we had it. It's very popular. So 16 is kind of our benchmark. >> Okay, I actually do want to dive into the arts administration because that sounds really cool. Can you talk more about that? >> Sure, well, it's become very popular as a double major in our department because we structured it with that in mind. One third of it is business classes. One third of it is specific courses to arts admin. So things like public policy and legal issues in arts admin, those kinds of things in internships and senior seminar. And then the third corner of that is that you have to have a major or minor in one of the arts. So it makes it much easier for our students to be able to double and the dance majors in particular have been huge, but a constant growth in acting and music theater taking it as well. I have a graduate from just a couple of years ago in acting who is now doing more arts admin work in New York. And he really gets it because he was a performer. So he knows what he's dealing with. One of our students, Matt Maston, he graduated before the program was actually initiated, but he took some of the classes when we were building it as a Broadway producer. So it's really, we're kind of getting our tendrils in everywhere we can. And would you rather be a producer or a front of house manager or a plumber? You're right. Right. So it keeps you in the game and you're a really viable member of that team because you really know it from a performers point of view as well as administrators. I've got one who runs all of the audience assistant. I forget the term she used. I talked to her just a few weeks ago. But she was at the Goodman running the front of house in bar in Chicago. And now she just is applying for other jobs to try and move up in that world. And I think it has to do with the fact that she figured out she had a passion for the arts, but not as much a passion for the rigors of auditioning. Yes. Some folks do very easily. And that kind of crossover is much more possible a place like Elon. I've got an acting major from several years ago. He did more dance concerts at Elon than he did plays. And he's up doing music videos now. Really been interesting. And one of our really high profile music theater folks is in film and TV. Constantly he was super girl's boyfriend. I'll remember him just a minute. But you know, it allows folks to be able to do that. We've got camera classes. They can cross over a lot more easily. That is really neat. You know, no shade to any other program, of course. But there are, you know, everything is designed a little bit different, depending on where you go. And that's based on teaching philosophy. It is really nice to see that there is not a big firewall between concentrations. That it's all under the umbrella of performing arts, which I think is very, very healthy. Not just like for a career trajectory, but also I, again, this comes from me. I think just being an extrovert and coming from the world of improvisation, where, you know, you, you, it's a collaborative art form. And it's also nice to get away from potentially the other 14, 15 members of just that one class to have a much bigger pool of friends who are all collaborating in this art form. I think socially that's a real, a real net positive. Well, and when you get out there, they're not going to check your major when you audition for something. You just watch what you do and decide. Or you interview for a job somewhere. It doesn't, it doesn't change that. Right. Right. Just broadens it. Julia and Lisa are both asking kind of the same question. Is that a major you can choose after one is in the BFA, Acting or BFA MT program? Can you choose to do the arts admin? Yeah, it's pretty flexible because of the number of courses involved. I wouldn't wait too long because there are other things coming down the road for you as an upper class BFA student that might prohibit your ability to complete it. So, and something you might want to think about coming in, I'm sorry. And so does that mean that, you know, the arts admin, it seems like it's if and deliberately designed for a BFA to do. But let's say that you have someone who comes in and they're like, I want a double major in calculus or whatever. What are the opportunities realistically to do a double major outside of the department? It determined we don't restrict it. But we also don't go out of our way to facilitate it if it compromises the home degree. Meaning, you know, you may have a class that's only this one semester. You've got to get it with us and the other department has something similar. What you're going to choose. Right. Depending on the circumstances, that can vary. It can depend on, are you coming in with a lot of advanced credits from high school? Did you take the baccalaureate programs? Did you take honors? And did you get the credits transferred in? So, that can give you more flexibility. And the earlier you decided, the more flexible you are. So, now, more opportunity to have choices down the road. Now, who's coming in here with APs and IBS and stuff? Who's coming in potentially with some college credit? Layton says, yes, absolutely awesome. Right, I love it. So, if you're coming in with APs and IBS, know that it doesn't just look good on your transcript, it also frees you up. Like, you get a lot more time back. Tom and Nancy are asking, we know Elon has an emphasis in study abroad. What does that look like for a musical theater major? What are the benefits? And I guess I'm asking, like, can you take advantage of that with it being such a rigorous degree? Well, first off, we have a summer and a winter term as well as the fall and spring. You could go every winter if you wanted to on one of the study abroad courses and just enrich yourself. You'll miss out on a show that we're doing in that time period. If you do that, any given semester, but we encourage it. Because I see everybody who comes back from study abroad has changed. There's a confidence, there's an experience level and independence that they didn't have when they went. And we launched about seven years ago, I think it was, through the acting program, a fall semester for juniors in London at Theater Academy of London. So it's built in for the acting majors that it meets every, everything they take there counts as something to check in the major. So they don't lose ground and they plan for it ahead of time. And a lot of the music theater majors have started going on that journey with the acting majors and we're glad to have them. We've had some of the beats do the same thing. Because there are so many different kinds of courses that you could take. The acting majors take Shakespeare and combat and then they have two other selection courses, but those fill something, whether it's an upper level acting elect, sort of elective choice or that's what those primarily do. There's also a class that you can take and a devising class and a playwriting, screenwriting class, high comedy. It's just really, and these are all people who are working in London Theater. It's just so neat. And what's cool about that for everybody who's kind of, this is your first time doing this, it's rare with BFA's to have a built-in full semester, spring or fall semester, where you can study abroad and so graduate in four years. This is really, really cool for the students who want to have that rigorous training in a liberal arts school, but also explore the world. This is very cool. And it's required, well, softly required, of the BFA acting majors. Occasionally we have somebody just can't do it for some reason, especially with international students. We've had some who fear their visa won't work if they try to come back, and they're advised against that. And there are a number of study abroad, what we call them study USA. There's a summer program in LA, for example, that you can go to and similarly works the credits. It's a separate course. It doesn't count in the same way, but if we make it work, that is so neat. So with all these opportunities, how many performances are we looking at per year? When we're talking about plays and musicals and whatever else falls in that category? Well, first off, you've got the main season, which takes place as faculty directed and supported by design and production. And there are three plays, comedy dramas, three musicals, and three dance concerts that fit into that category. And that's in a year, but that's not all. Because we've also got two music theater reviews, an improv company that operates, this is my baby, operates all through the year, actually, and you can get credit for all of these. There's a number of student productions. We've got renegade productions and new works, so they produce a season of their own among that and a dance organization, but there's a couple. One of them's not sanctioned, but operates anyway. And one is a department production with a faculty advisor. So it's a really busy time, and you are required to audition for the things in your major, and you're encouraged to audition for all of them if you wish. So that's how we get acting majors in musicals and music theater majors in plays. Wow, we-- I mean, three plays and three musicals. I mean, that's a lot on its own and then add everything else in. Now, you mentioned supported by production and design, are those students or are those faculty? Yes, both. Wow. OK, we do a lot of designers with mentors on the faculty, and then we have faculty designers who do productions throughout the year as well. Wow. OK, so as a BA student, if I'm like, I'm a BA theater student, but I want to focus on design and production, I can absolutely do that, right? You can take as many classes as you can fit in, you can become an assistant designer, you can petition to be a designer on one of the shows. You'd have to have demonstrated yourself as a qualified candidate for that, like, starting one of the little theaters and do this, and then your way up. But yeah, we have student designer, student stage managers throughout the whole process. Wow. Lately, why don't you unmute yourself and ask this question? OK, hello. I-- So I was just curious about what potential talent in merit aid, like scholarships or things you can acquire for those who are applying to Elon who may or may not need it. Just-- Couple of categories I'll fill you in on. There's need-based and there's talent-based. And the need-based stuff tends to go through the university and the federal government and your FAFSA do your FAFSA. Get it done. It's better this year, but we look at those. We really do. And we'll even make you a promise offer based off of the information on your FAFSA before the government tells us what to give you. So please make sure you do that. Includes work study, things like that, OK? The talent-based stuff lives in each program. And not all the programs have-- the BFA's do and the design and production program does. The others do not. But they have work study opportunities, so that kind of balances out differently. So the acting program in about February will get its budget. And it's all based off investments and how much money we get spit out every year. The university just built for us in the acting program a $5,000 recurring scholarship that we're trying to engineer that it goes to the people who show up. So we're going to make everybody an offer who's at a top scoring. And then when somebody doesn't accept, we move down to the next person who we've made an offer to. And then we also have talent scholarships that we pile on top of that for other purposes. Music theater has a variety of its scholarship funding as does dance and design. So you might get a package from us that will include the university. They will tell you what your FAFSA merit sort of thing are. And there's also academic merit. So you might get an honors or a fellows program. Hardly anybody pays the whole price ticket when they come to Elon. It's just, hardly happens unless you're coming from Elon Musk's house, right? You're not going to-- You're not going to be able to pay that. And we understand that. It's kind of a tricky balance to express it and talk about it. Hardly anybody pays full price. And some of that is need-based, but some of it is also like your GPA was this. So we're going to give you $4,000 a year, or an involvement grant. So we're going to give you this. And there are special programs you can audition an interview for, like honors and fellows, and the music scholar program, which everybody who sings should be trying out for that. I don't know why they don't yet. Word is not getting out as fast about that one, because it's a strange program that was created by somebody who didn't understand but supported us. So at the beginning, they said, here it is. OK, we'll work on that. Let's see what we can make happen. So any student on campus can apply for that if they sing, even if they're not a major. And then, yeah, it's just an odd bug. But it comes from a place of genuine care in the heart that they want students who love music, even if they aren't majoring in one of the areas that focus on music, to be able to be honored for it, and participate in select events, not a musical, probably, but like singing at commencement or at a convocation. So there's a lot of different ways in for scholarships, both need-based, talent-based, academic-based. Wow. I mean, that-- That answer your question, Layton. Oh, yeah, that definitely. Thank you. That's what we call back in the office, Fred, a triple threat school. Academic talent, need-based aid. This school has everything. Hey, Tom and Nancy, I like your question. I don't know that I fully understand it. Would you mind unmuting and asking, right about that? Nancy, Tom. Hey there. Sorry. Well, our son is actually already academically accepted. And so our questions might be a little bit more specific. We're wondering about the housing situation, because this is our first time going through this type of thing. And I know academic acceptances aren't out yet. But with students not making commitments until May, this housing usually full by then is their housing that's reserved for your performing art students. I know you have different communities. And we'd love to just hear more about that. Sure. I'll tell you what I know. I don't get too involved in the housing angle, because it's kind of outside of my influence in purview. We do have a special interest hall that you can apply to get into that is for creative arts. And that includes if you're a writer, you can hear there are sometimes communications students apply for that. But you'd be in a cohort of people in that hall that are all creatively involved, so they kind of get each other. And they get the schedules weird. You shouldn't hate me because I have rehearsal. So there's a bit of an understanding that exists in a hall like that. I'm not sure how they handle the deadlines and other things about the acceptance versus well, will put you down for this. There's so many housing options. And I mean, a lot of different options-- suites and traditional dorms, bathrooms that go just for this cluster and traditional old hall bathrooms that I lived in when I was a college student. I think you could reach out to the housing office and find out what they're dead like. You probably find it online, actually. There are some benefits with some of the scholarships that we offer talent-wise to accepting early. Because if anything you received said, you need to tell us by this date if you're still considering us. And if you are, we'll leave your money sit there. Please let us know if you're not, because we're going to give it to somebody else who's qualified and worthy and might help them make it possible. And I don't know how that fits in with the housing options. Is that help, Nancy? Great. And congratulations to your son, man. That's awesome. The program did your son get into. So it was a theater. Very good. Yeah, we're really excited for them. I tell you, we finished our fall auditions early November. And wanted to get those decisions out. We didn't tell everybody a yes or a no. We have a lot of people who are in contention. That's not a bad thing if it applies to any of you. It just means we need to see more people first. And we gave it up very few yeses initially. So that is a good sign for you that you're one of the higher scoring sought after candidates at this point in the process. Fred, I also submitted my pre-screen at the same time. And I have not heard back yet, but I'm so across my fingers. Lisa wants to know does academic and pre-screen review come back at the same time they haven't heard back from either yet. I'm surprised you haven't heard back from us because we send everybody from the fall a yes-no or a maybe or a deferred. Everybody should have gotten that. If you haven't you should reach out to Kimberly Ripy in our office I don't want to unleash the herd on her but she would have all the answers about communication from us and we do operate separately from the university but in strong cooperation we have to vet everybody who we want to send an offer to to make sure that they have the base qualifications that the there was one year early early on when we just started doing the pre-screens that we said yes and Elon said no and we have since really worked hard to make sure that confusion wouldn't happen and the the role that you would be on so we've met with them first and they have a code they put into their system that says almost like the football theme that you're a recruit. They get flagged and double checked in both directions. You may get a yes from I don't mean I haven't looked at your file I don't know I'm not saying this is the case but you can get a yes from Elon and a no from us. That is absolutely possible and some people have done that and they've been very happy or they joined one of the non audition programs like Arts Agna because they love the school enough and what we're doing in the department so it allows them an in even though it isn't the same one and you know what you can always audition a second time but no more than two. So on that Kelly is asking does Elon give this is this is a loaded tricky question does Elon give more focus to dancing singing or acting for auditions that I presume that Kelly is referring to the musical theater auditions here. Yeah they primarily are looking that you have at least high qualifications in two of the three areas and that you're not I how to say this without just saying it that you're not a disaster in the other right you know so we understand that everybody may not be full triple threat and maybe never will be but there's plenty of opportunity out there for folks who are strong actors and sing well or a great dancer who act you know right right and I you know I I talk about this all the time that like you know I've been to enough professional auditions and been behind the table too enough that like you know for it I'm not a dancer like any stretch the imagination but I'm an actor who can sing and I can look like I'm having a good time at a dance call but I know that you're not looking at me to be a dancer anyway you're looking at the person next to me so I'm not going so I just want to put that in everybody's head who may not be a dancer like Fred will be looking for dancers and if it's not you that's okay you're not the dancer he's looking for he's looking for you as the actor singer who can move without looking like they're going to throw up during a dance call is that about right Fred there's a lot of accuracy or we wouldn't have called you in the first place because it wasn't it wasn't part of what we initially saw on your resume or maybe it was on your resume and we wanted to see yeah what was it gonna ask you oh about that what is is there a particular school of acting technique that you teach in the acting and the empty be a face yeah they share classes this is that part where the great acting program helps the empties yeah so you start out with a course that's centers in Myzner and then it opens up the second semester into Stanislauski and then it pulls them together in the third semester and then you're off to special topics that are in your area your selection so you might then you would then go into for empties performance and music theater and the acting majors are taking voice and movement classes that are just for them and they then end up in Shakespeare and other special topics okay that's all sure and they work together it's not like the acting section and the empty section they're together the whole we we go out of our way to make sure that doesn't happen because we saw it happen once and it was really troubling oh yeah I mean it's a fact they didn't get to know each other in the same way gosh and especially like out there in the in the professional world like financially as performers we just can't afford to be precious about that like you know if somebody wants to pay us to do a commercial for Trappocana like who cares if I have my degree in musical theater you know what I mean like I want to be Chris Wood and get a great TV career you know right right exactly when it comes to things like guest directors I'm kind of pivoting over to like the connections outside of the university with guest directors or masterclasses what does that look like for the the audition based students sure it is exhausting how much each major has its own central like professional business sorts of people to come at agents talent you know right teachers that sort of thing that focus on the areas sometimes even alums who come in and do that and they might be dropping in for a day or two workshop sometimes really excited folks who are just really doing exciting things and we've also opened up we were talking about zoom just before we start this it's made it easy for them to drop into a class and that's cool last answer questions so some of its Q&A and some of it's like when we'll limp before Olympia to Kakostide she'd been down to Elan a few times we had all the original Glenda and Wicked her name just flew out of my head she came here and did a performance but did a very brief workshop with about six students who auditioned for that in front of 500 people who were watching it so it was a real shibrad and it was to raise money for arts education she was doing this tour through the area and reached out to us so she did about three colleges in two days in the area and just sweetheart real sweetheart so we also have people who who teach very specific specific kinds of skills like the acting program has a guy is coming in this spring to do voice over work with all the acting majors and we've had ensemble building workshops we also are still very interested in DEI so we bring in we're committed just set up a budget for that for every year that the new students were joining the program get a group experience and workshop and discussion and we're doing it with the faculty as well this spring because we've had a lot of change over in a lot of staff so it's a it's a good time for us to redo that effort with the faculty that committee that chooses all those has a combination of faculty staff and students on the committee to talk about who do we need what do we need to talk about what would be helpful and then they vet candidates we pay them to come in so a real wide variety of different kinds of master classes and workshops it's exhausting for the folks in the front office we have to bring on contracts and that's everything we are bringing in a sound designer for the winter play in the winter musical and he's a union sound designer so that'll be a really cool experience for everybody to get to work with like the his method of body miking for example on the musical and the level of environmental design that he will create for the play and you know everybody learn the faculty learned from that as well as the students because it keeps us helps keep us more on edge and just a sounds like a great guy that I it took months to find and finally we got him so there's guest designers we brought in as part of our DEI initiative because if you go to our webpage you'll see it you know we're not as far as we would like to be but we're growing but one way to diversify and do material that is more diverse is to bring in somebody from the area we brought in a a director from UN CG and did a play that was centered around race in the 70s and misogyny of the 70s and I had no business directing that you know that that would be a let's kind of icky for me to be the director that so it opened up the kind of material we could do and bring our students to and it was written by a terrible hill playwright of color so it allowed us to really meet a couple of goals there and you know you don't need to be directed by me every time you turn around or the other directors in the so it's kind of nice to freshen that up and get some new perspective and I tell you what happened we lost a local professional theater in the past couple years which is really sad trying to say in Greensboro but the director one of the directors we brought in actually got one of our students the job as an understudy on their last production that we didn't know it was their last but she was an understudy and actually went on for the last week of the run because somebody got sick and that's something else we teach her is how to be an understudy how to be a swing so that when those opportunities come up you are much more ready to take take command of it but that's something somebody did that we've had some of these master classes Port of Dear John Basel who was a Shakespeare expert out of New York he was down here every year for many many years and there were three or four students when they moved to New York John gave them their first job oh wow so it's really it's not everybody and some of the agents we bring in, we sign our students within either right on the spot. Music theater has a bigger need for young performers to go on the road. You know, when you find people to go out in June, you got to have it. Whereas it's harder with the play. Yeah. Bringing it in stars from LA and maybe there is a good understudy opportunity, but it's going to take longer for that relationship. Right. Trying to teach those different qualities of professionalism is really important to us. And what is the role of media? So we're trying to bring in experts to help us do voiceover and camera work and how to put together a written series, many series almost that you put online and how do you do that? Because that's how people can see you and get to know you no matter what or this year in. That's the future of auditioning. That's your call. Absolutely. And that that kind of like networking and laying the groundwork for, you know, being seen as as much as you can, as often as you can. You know, that's the business of show business. So like how do you have a New York senior showcase or do you do everything on campus? We abandoned that effort long ago and are so glad we did. Okay. We would hear stories from colleagues we knew at other big schools. Unless you were Yale or SMU with a graduate program, you third assistant who came and took notes to give to their boss at the agency. And they hardly even stayed to have some rubber shrimp afterwards to talk to unless they were super interested. And that costs a lot of money to do that to get that level of result. One of the big universities down the road takes their graduate program. And buddy of mine said, yeah, we felt really lucky. Two people got appointments to talk. Yeah. So unless you're a powerhouse like an NYU or you know, some carries its own cash, you're probably not getting it. And then COVID hit. And guess what we've been doing. We'd already been doing things remotely. We've been bringing guests in instead of sending up. And we were already training people to get their reels and demos. All that was already in place here. And we had hired a few years earlier an LA expert who was already teaching people that before COVID hit. So we pivoted and have been doing our entire showcase for acting online. And we do a big premiere party so they feel especially friends and family can see it. But then it lives online forever. And our acting showcase online has been the highest viewed in the last five years almost every year. So something's going right there. Now MT brings down they ship down probably eight or 10 casting directors, talent agents. And we do showcase in front of their eyes here. And they're asked now, can I bring my colleague? Can I bring my wife? Can I bring my boyfriend? Yeah. So we modeled that in acting for a while. Wasn't quite as successful. So we pivoted to the online version. And it suits camera work. It suits all sorts of things that are going on in the industry right now. So trying to be specific to what each major needs. The dance program still does a self-choreographed event. They get people to come down for and they film and post. So they're doing a kind of hybrid of the two. Yeah. Okay. An hour and a half show that they choreographed and conceived. Entirely from beginning to end. Wow. And that suits them so well because they're going to go out there and be in some little company at first and apply for grants, you know, and start performing at festivals. It trains them to do exactly what they need to do and they're getting out. So okay. So I have to ask I have been to North Carolina one time when I was hiking the Appalachian Trail. And so like all I've seen in North Carolina is the woods are beautiful and it's cold at night. So tell me about the town of Elon and the greater area. Elon University is a suburb of sorts of the town of Burlington. Okay. So Burlington is about 60,000 people. It's a well-appointed little town kind of conservative but Elon is a bubble on the side of it. So it's it looks like if you imagine a beautiful college campus that's what Elon looks like and you can see the pictures online I'm not exaggerating. It's just it's always comes in as number two most beautiful campus after Pepperdine and they got the Pacific Ocean and Palm Tree. That's not fair. No, we can't we can't battle that very well and we're a botanical garden. So you walk around and there's always a little of what the trees and bushes are and shrubs. So it's a beautiful campus experience and you're walking all over the place, brick sidewalks and beautiful landscape and building. So it's a it's why I think we've always done well from the beginning up and down the eastern seaboard because you get that campus experience and now we're drawing people all over the country. You know we've got Seattle Audition Forest and LA. Texas has become really big for us and the Midwest is opening up. We are 20, 25 minutes away from the Greensboro area and their airport and that's an international airport and about 40, 45 minutes away from Raleigh, Juro in opposite directions. So you can go online really easily and check you know which airport is going to give me the better schedule, the better price and easy to get back and forth now because thanks to Uber and Lyft and all those things. You know everybody is driving students back and forth. My big question for Ed is like for parents coming in like oh my god it's going to be a three hour drive from you know Charlotte. No I would advise against Charlotte because the traffic is hellacious. I hope nobody's from Charlotte and I didn't just defend anyone but if I could avoid that one I do just because of the drive over becomes much construction so much growth but Greensboro you know I can get a lift at five in the morning to get over there for a 730 flight in plenty of time. Greensboro is the lighter airport as far as ease of TSA, ease of you know getting on and quite often the cheaper flights but not as many so you may need to look at Raleigh Durham and kind of play that game especially if you're really focused on I'm an American guy because I get points like crazy. So I'm always looking check in the American flights. He needs American airline everybody. Oh yes yes sorry Shorthand. B.C. with a beach and the mountains are equally distant from where we're at. So you can be up in Asheville we had a terrible tragedy here you've heard about there the hurricane. Just heartbreaking to see people up there who are suffering still two months later and the aid effort is just slow and it was such a mess and sometimes these towns only have one road in and you know it's just awful. So sections of it have been closed. I was up luckily this summer I'm wanting it back up and kind of see for myself what's going on but the beach in the mountains are two to three hours either direction. Some of the most beautiful beaches I've ever seen. D.C. in Atlanta are both five hours away. Great both Raleigh Durham and Greensboro have big touring houses so you get the big performances that go through the Broadway series. Wicked was here Hamilton's here now. It was a very new facility so it's set up to do the Broadway tours. There's nobody can do them now except the theaters that have been retrofitted for that. They also have you know singing groups and speakers notable you know politicians whoever it might be coming through. So there's going on a lot of clubs a lot of music venues. Universities so there's so many universities here you throw a stone and hit them from anywhere. I've never seen so many educational institutions in such a dense area especially one that is much more rural than urban. There's so many different kinds of universities and I hear our students talking about going to visit their friends over at Chapel Hill or Wake Forest or any number of places and very different universities as well. Well I was going to say you you're surrounded by basketball colleges. Oh my god yes. And I have to say like as a man who loves sports and works in musical theater this is a very small crossover for Ed. I know it's it's very unique isn't it? No one else around you though would know the other world that you like to go to it's like you have my own my own secret world. So I want to encourage everybody when you go onto Elon's website use their net price calculator and you can actually get a rough idea of what your price will be. Now I'm not talking about talent scholarships that won't be included but when we talk about like academics and what your income is and that kind of stuff you can get a rough idea and this is for any school. Go to their net price calculator and it'll give you a pretty pretty good rough idea of what your expected contribution is going to be. So the last thing I want to ask you is you know you've you've stayed at this this school for a long time. What has kept you there? What do you love so much about Elon? Well it was a surprise that I stayed here as long I kind of woke up one day and went wow I've been here a long time. First off to find an institution that truly supports the arts not just saying it but they get behind it. You'll see the president the provost at our shows and sometimes it even comes to the dress rehearsal if they're going to be out of town. So They mean it, you know, it's it's really important. So that was one thing. It's also as an institution, not just about the arts, but it is nimble. It is not afraid of change. It is not stuck in the past and when they decide to do something, they ask, what's in the way? What resources do we need? Now let's set it up and then they go up and do it. So whether it's salary compression issues and they're trying to figure out how to pay people more equitably, they do it. And that meant when we got raises for three years, the lowest paid amongst us got the highest amount first. And then it jumped up. So they really are strategic. They plan like nobody ever met. We're about to start a new plan and our building, a new building for us is in it. And it's phenomenal. We've gotten under my time a major renovation, about two major renovations, a new building and we're about to get a monster new building. We're still learning what it will be and when if anyone would like to make a donation, please talk to me later. Because that's part of what we're kind of looking toward now as they'll be raising money and then when they've got enough, they'll tip the scale and start, you know, planning and more earnest. So it's a place that really says what it means against behind it. They understand that everything isn't cut and paste and you know that we have to really think through things and what would it take to be a success. Substance and image and I can appreciate that because in the theater, we do the same thing and perform. I mean, that is so it's so wonderful like I'm like heartwarming via because so often you hear artistic professors say, I would, but the admin dot dot dot. It's so nice to hear the admin has our back. That's really great for the students. Well, we did. We've done a couple shows over the years where a few cranky people complained about the shows. And I always make sure that administrators know anything that might be thought of as controversial. They have the answers like we did the shadow box. You know, the shadow box. It was 70s. Wasn't it when they wrote it? And there's a there's a gay character, a bi character and you know, a range of society represented. And I armed them with the information about the prizes. The play had won and what it was really about so that when they got phone calls, they had answers and they were able to, you know, to support us and shut it down. The only one that caught us off guard was love letters, which is the most innocuous play. And well, there's a few things in the South that you'll learn if you come here in a general way. Some words resonate more in the South than they would anywhere else in the world. And that was peppered through that that that very sweet play and people sending back their tickets and play bills torn and shreds saying, I don't want this. I'll see you in hell. Somebody who thinks you should do cats exactly the way it was on Broadway and shame on you for not doing it that way. Thank you. Where's your degree in directing? University had our back every time. Wonderful. President's wife mentioned shadow box. And she's not an academia. You know, she was the president at the time. So it's really nice to have that kind of support and encourage and. And that's the level of students we attract now is just amazing. You know, the whole hard work that everyone puts in has been notable, particularly, particularly in the last 10 or 15 years. And I say this having seen 37 years. It took a lot to get us started. And you know, that first kid who got a professional job at SCTC, you know, 35 years ago. It's like, everybody celebrated. And now we're on the top 10 list for Broadway. And then it includes majors who've been there recently. So it's really. And we've got to rock. We had a rock at there as well for a while. They got to do me a favor and say hi to George Zemla for me. George was one of our kids at the Drupal Fides a few years ago. Fantastic. So before we let Fred go, I want to remind everybody, hey, if you're a senior and you're headed to the Unifieds and you're shaking your boots a little bit and you haven't yet signed up for coaching and help and mental and emotional support at the Unifieds with us. We have a big ole suite that we take out at the Chicago Unifieds and one right across the street in New York. Just to help you out, make it a little bit easier and just reduce that anxiety, make you feel a little better before you go into each room. And that you know you're taking care of. So if you want to talk about that, I just put the link in the zoom chat, copy that, put it into your browser. And if you are a sophomore junior and you're going, go, Elon sounds really awesome. How do I get my legs underneath me to be ready to audition for them? We're doing a summer intensive this year in Orange County, California. We got nine amazing colleges coming in. You're going to film your dance pre screen, take new headshots and meet nine wonderful, wonderful colleges. And best of all, make, you know, 20 best friends who are going to be with you for the next year or so. Why you go to this process as Fred can tell you and latent can tell you this process can be big. And so having that kind of networking of friends around you really makes it a lot, a lot, a lot easier. If you have any more questions for Fred and you're watching this in the replay or you just thought of it right now, message me. I will pass those on to Fred and make sure that I get those answers. Thank you again, Fred. I really, really appreciate your time, man. My pleasure. I'm glad we finally got to do this. Me too. All right. Take care. I Bye.