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January 2006 College Close-Up
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"In theatre you're in a constant state of unemployment," says Ball State's Department of Theatre and Dance Chairman Bill Jenkins. "That's the reality of the world." Perfecting performance skills is a key to attaining employment as an actor or musician. With that in mind, the Department of Theatre and Dance decided to make stage performance a major part of its curriculum. Nearly four years ago, the department expanded its already nationally recognized program to offer its students liberal arts education with what Jenkins calls a conservatory approach. After giving students the chance to present their work in country-wide showcases, the department increased its enrollment nearly 200 percent and made its mark as one of the fastest-growing theatre and dance programs in the U.S.
"Students won't go to a school unless they feel like they're going to have that possibility of the next step," Jenkins says. "We thought we could be ahead of the curve as an undergraduate liberal arts school, and supply students with an opportunity to perform. The showcases, I think, are the next step to having not only bigger numbers, but better students."
The showcases, developed in 2001 by Jenkins and Associate Professor of Theatre Rodger Smith, give senior theatre and dance majors the opportunity to perform in front of industry professionals in New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago.
Eight to 12 students are selected for each showcase. They prepare material and select the showcase for which they would like to audition. They are then chosen by one of three industry professionals who partner with seven of the department's faculty during the auditioning process. After six to eight months of preparation, students go to their city of choice and perform in front of agents, casting directors, graduate schools, and other professionals in the theatre, film, and television industries. "It's a huge undertaking for the faculty, but what we've found is the quality of our students has risen exponentially," Jenkins says.
According to Jenkins, between 25 and 75 theatre professionals attend each of the showcases in the three cities. But, for the department and its students, industry representation is more about quality than quantity. "For us, it's less about how many professionals show up for the showcases and more about who. If we get the best people at each showcase, we don't care if only ten attend," he says. "We want people who can help our kids."
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Intially established for audiences in New York and Los Angeles, the program recently added Chicago to its list of showcase locations. "We added the Chicago showcase this year because we have a lot of students who have careers in Chicago, and it is a great stepping stone," Jenkins says. "We're now the only undergraduate program in the country that has showcases in all three cities.
"Of the students who have participated in the showcases in the last four years, 85 percent of them are living in one of those cities and working in the industry," Jenkins continues.
Erica Daniels, a casting director for Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago, works with Assistant Professor of Theatre Karen Kessler on the Chicago showcases. Daniels says the program is advantageous to Ball State students for a number of reasons. "The showcase introduces students to many agents and casting directors in the Chicagoland area that they might not otherwise get a chance to meet at this early stage in their careers," Daniels says. "It also introduces new, young, and exciting actors to theatre, film, TV, and commercial agents in the Chicago industry. There is always a need for young, new talent."
Jenkins agrees and says that with each year, students become stronger and the showcases become better. "I feel that each group is as strong as it can be, and the students are using each other's experiences to build upon it," he says. "What the showcases do is motivate the students to complete their education so they don't feel like at the end of the line they'll be thrown to the wolves without any direction. Not only are they getting a good, solid education, but they're also getting a potential lead into the real world."
Jeb Burris, a 2005 Ball State graduate who participated in both the Los Angeles and New York showcases, says the opportunity to perform as an undergraduate was the most influential part of his post-graduate career. "The showcases gave me the opportunity and the tools to begin my life in Los Angeles. I was able to get representation out of the showcases, which is a major step in any actor's career," Burris says. "I have met so many other actors in Los Angeles that are astounded and envious of the fact that I was able to perform in showcases as a senior in college."
The showcases, presented in New York in March, Los Angeles in May, and Chicago in December, have greatly infl uenced the department's recruitment, according to Jenkins.
"We recently collected surveys from our students about the program, and more than 50 percent of them said the reason they chose Ball State was because of the showcases," he says. "Obviously what we're doing is highly beneficial and something other undergraduate schools do not offer."
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