As a senior in high school who is anxiously awaiting the beginning of her BFA musical theater journey, I'm trying to savor every last moment of high school.

Meet Maxwell 'Max' DeVivo, one of our new student bloggers! In this blog, he shares what theatrical projects he's currently working on, how he got into acting, singing & performing, as well as his experiences in joining a performing arts high school as an acting freshman major. Read the article to learn more!

2025, while proceeding achingly slowly and all-too-quickly all at once, is in full swing. It is proving to be a year of discovery and new opportunities. In the coming months, I am going to continue doing that work. I hope to slowly find my footing and gain more confidence. I want to continue finding my voice, both metaphorically and literally, and developing this craft which I hope to one day be able to call mine.

I'm a performer of 15+ years turned journalism major, and I love it. Come and hear about my journey: from LaDuca's to the limelight, and everything in between.

Meet Joe Shoen, One of our student bloggers for the Fall/Winter season! Read about his experience in the performing arts and learn about the newest production he has taken on.

As mentioned in my latest article, I’ve written a musical! I’ve written several chunks of musicals and more MT style songs than I can count, but for the first time I’m actually doing it! This is the one I want to be my first composer/songwriter debut, opposed to the several plays I’ve already put out– so the next big project I’m working on is going to be recording a demo of all the songs in the show. What this means though, is that I’m gonna be faced with a lot of new work and challenges I haven’t had to face before as I double down with getting this show into the eyes and ears of the public. Here’s a candid look at how I plan to do this as a beginner!

I can’t control my employers, honestly can I even control myself at this point?..... All jokes aside, as long as this summer I have my health, and my friends, I think I’ll be okay.

That is one reason I love new work so much is I love getting to help create something from scratch and be there right at the beginning of it and grow with it.

I am so blessed and privileged to get to do all that I do and I’m excited to see what the semester brings!

My first show of 2025 is Gone Missing by The Civilians and Michael Friedman. Aysan Celik, an original Civilians member and the wonderful director of this production, brought me aboard for this thrilling project as the assistant music director to musical superhuman Dr. Kyle Blair. At our first rehearsal, Kyle discussed his thoughts about why it is we sing in theater, connecting back to the principles of opera and the overflow of emotion that exceeds what dialogue can hold. I thought I would talk a little more about it. 

Are you single? Or taken? Do you yearn for the greatest night (or afternoon) of your life? Look no further than your local theatre. Thank me later.

Academic integrity is something I strive to maintain across my studies. With the rise of generative AI ominously impending upon us, I can’t help but wonder what the future of education will look like. 

Student blogger Piper Greisl looks back on the first four weeks of the 2025 Spring semester.

Student blogger Piper Greisl reflects on the connection between academic integrity and artistic integrity.

If I had to summarize my winter break in one word, I would say “relaxing.” While it was also unproductive for the most part, I finally had time to simply sit around and do nothing, which I consider a treat.

Having academic integrity to me doesn’t just mean doing your work or not using Chat GPT to write a paper. If you choose theatre for higher education, that means it is something you are passionate about and want to excel in. There would be many negative repercussions if I cut a corner in a class.

After 3 months in New Hampshire and 4 months in Austria, I’m finally back on my college campus in North Carolina! Immediately, I jumped back into the theatre department, full steam ahead. This semester, my goal was to be involved in as many shows as possible (without overextending myself), and stretch myself to try new positions! Here’s what my semester looks like:

In continuing my goal to have one new experience every day, I decided to get tickets to Théâtre du Lido 2's production of 'Hello Dolly!'.  It was such a blast of a night and it was so much fun to see a musical performed in Paris!

Rushing Broadway shows is just another activity for theatre lovers, except it also comes with the chance to see a Broadway show for affordable prices!

It’s easy to get caught up in the bubble of one’s college ecosystem: especially in a tight-knit theatre department like the one I’m a part of at the University of Michigan. Engaging in this regional conference opened up my mindset, introducing me to other artists and aspiring theatre practitioners with approaches of their own.

As is the first month of the new year, January 2025 is the perfect time to start up those positive changes, new projects, and artistic resolutions! Right now I’m on an aforementioned gap year, and one of the things I told myself I would do is make sure to make time for art and projects even while I’m out of school. Here are some of the things I’m committing myself to to keep my artist sharp in the new year! 

You can be a million things at once and still be a singular unique unit of a human on this planet. You are not Actor. Dancer. Theater Kid. You are you who contains all those things alongside an epic myriad of others unlike any other person on this earth.

Preserving the integrity of our training and professional opportunities is of the utmost importance in the arts. What’s the point of pursuing higher education in a field you’re passionate about if you aren’t willing to put in the work?

Finals week at the University of Connecticut has come and gone. My experience was still stressful, as it usually is, but more manageable than the semesters prior because of my lighter workload.

I start rehearsals for Pride and Prejudice this week and am swinging two tracks, each track consisting of two characters. I have been able to understudy before but have never been a swing. It’s a bit overwhelming but I am going to try to list some of the things that have already been extremely helpful to me.