Part three in my series exploring the different modalities of some of the most popular college musical theater programs brings us to the Cincinnati Conservatory Of Music. I spoke with Aubrey Berg, chairman of the department of musical theater, to get his take on student training.
When and why did there become a demand for a musical theater degree?The musical theater program at CCM is the oldest in the country and was the first of its kind. It was the brainchild of a professor of voice, Helen Laird, who saw that simple voice-based training was not sufficiently preparing her graduates for the new kind of musical prevalent on Broadway in the mid-sixties. Professor Laird began to work on a curriculum that would combine vocal, dance, and actor training in equal measure. The CCM program was used by the National Association of Schools of Theatre in formulating its guidelines for the accreditation of musical theater programs nationwide. In a way, then, it is the granddaddy of all other Musical Theatre programs.
What is the CCM Philosophy about how to best educate young MT artists?At CCM, we practice a “triple threat” approach to training with classes divided evenly among voice, dance, and acting. In
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