Bridging the Gap with CAP

We were talking about, like what can we do to help make the sound better and more, you know, um, easy for everybody. So, and less intrusive maybe, you know? And so we were kind of talking about, well what about like trying out those lapel mics? So we were looking on, they had like a great, like, special for Black Friday, but we didn't end up pulling the trigger on it.

Cause I was like, how much are they? It's like you lose the feeling of the podcast when you get away from these kind of mics. Yeah. I feel like this thing is like right in my face. Its Scooby, dooby do, or whatever.

Thank you for opening this for me, by the way. It was just sitting and spinning. I was like, screw it. And I'm like, I'm telling a story and it's spin. I'm like sitting spin . Boom.

Oh God. It's like a chainsaw. My mouth just exploded. Oh, in a good way or a bad way? No, I don't know. That doesn't, look. I'm gonna drink it, but I'm not gonna like it. , are you gonna do that every time you take a sip? I might. What is it, margarita, is it Sweet Tar Rancho La Gloria Gloria, I don't know.

Pronounced perfect. Ready to drink strawberry margarita wine. Top table la. It's made have with my fajita ji Grassy grassy ass. It's got 13.9% alcohol per volume. That's probably why it takes, it's got like moonshine or something. I know. It's, it's, it smells like Kool-Aid. Oh, it does not taste like Kool.

It's like that pomegranate martini. That guy made me at co pin. There was no, it was just straight alcohol with a drop, A splash of pomegranate. It was nasty. I drank it. Yeah. Don't get me wrong. Well that, I mean, yeah, cuz you don't want go to waste. Especially when you're out and you buy alcohol. Drink. Yeah.

$38 for my little one drink cocktail. It's like, yeah, it's shitty, but I'm gonna drink it. I'm drinking it. I'm licking the glass for that and I'm gonna like it too. I'm licking the glass and salt all around it. High glass. Pinkies up

your Fiji. Drink my Fiji. God. It's like an after, like an aftertaste. Yeah. Look, there's three more in the fridge. Oh. I'm gonna try one just to see what it's all about. We can capture it on video. I won't be the only one making that face. We should get one. We should, Hey, producer Chris, can you grab us two of those please?

We can like, oh, spend time, drink and make faces. . Sorry, I, excuse me. Chris, chick producer. He's Oura. Chris, I need a drink. Look, you've gotta open it for you cuz otherwise just sit and spends and Services.

Thank you. Just remember that. That's a wine cocktail. Talking here the other day. He said he was okay. All right. Ready? Do it. Yeah. Oh, do it together. Okay.

Oh, good guy. It's like drinking a hand soap. It is a little like cleaner, isn't it? It's likely . Somebody scrubbed my tongue, please. . Where's the boil coming outta my mouth.

Wow.

It's uh, okay. It's, it's not a thing I'll buy again. Yeah, we'll put it in that category. That's, that's a good Gloria

It's like fake sweetener. It is, but it's certified colors. Some Clorox certified. What color is it certified to be watermelon. Something. No, I didn't get watermelon. This is strawberry. They have a watermelon. Agave might have been better. Maybe it's made in d There was, there was like four different flavors.

Mm-hmm. . There was like your traditional margarita, which is like just green. I don't know what like is that? Lime, lemon, lime. Then there was this and there was mango and. Watermelon. Mm-hmm. . I think that's the ones I remember. Wow. Um, yeah. It's maybe, maybe the other ones are better. Like the cans. Maybe the cans are better.

Yeah. Well you had one of the cans, didn't you? I'm gonna drink the can first. dull my taste buds. You sure? My eyes are watering? I know. It literally makes you do this every time you drink it. Well, it's such a small spout too. Like I can't just down it cuz it's like

It does, it does do that. It, yeah. It's all kinds of wrong. Mm-hmm. , we cannot, this product, I did

it hard. We're gonna turn it hard and fast and then call today. Ooh. It gets worse. I just, I just, oh girl. Took a big Yeah. Blood glu. Mm-hmm. . Y'all better not get drunk and make me do this whole thing by myself.

We might, you have all the questions, although they're printed big enough that I can read them from there. That's why I do it that way. I'd make it like 18 so I can actually see it. I love it. So you wanna hear, oh, there is Gabe there go. Hello. Hello everybody. Hello. Hello. Chris is getting you set. It's still on our monitor.

There we go. There we go. Perfect. Can you only see me or everybody? I don't know. I, I can see the lovely lady in the blue sweater. That's me, Andrew. There you go. So that answers your question. Okay. What? It's all, it's all you, it feels wrong. Well, I mean, we're just gonna sit for that part, like we have our cameras, so, all right.

So, um, uh, can I get introductions of everybody? Yes. Um, Chris, do you wanna like turn the monitor a little bit so everybody gets in frame? So that works. Now we have some hands that's Kristen's hand. So this is Kristen. And then, hi Kristen. I'm Drew. It's great to meet you. Um, you wanna turn it a little bit now back towards Angela, if you could just do that time.

Somebody's talking. I'm Angela. And then, and keep shifting. No, it's on you. I saw him, Angela. Oh, okay. And then turn it again so he can see. Kathy. Hi, Kathy . How are you And Chris's head. How's it going? Hey, really good. Really, really good. Thank you so much for having me. This is awesome. Oh, thank you for coming on.

Yeah, thank you so much for wanting to be a part of our craziness that we got going on. We very much appreciate that. Where are y'all located? How about I do that? We're in Lakeland, Florida. Okay. Yeah, it works. So we're kind of in between Tampa and Lakeland in between Tampa and Orlando. Oh, okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I, I. Think I've, I think I did a show in Lakeland. Oh, really? Um, I was on the, I was on the, the, the National Tour of Rudolph, the Red Noses reindeer. And we did a lot of stops in Florida. Nice. Oh my gosh. That's what our kids are doing right now. The junior version? Yes. Ah, cool. Yes. Very cool. So you probably came to the RP funding Center.

I would guess that's what's in Lakeland. Um, you know, I, I am the worst source of where I was because it was, um, all one nighters. Oh my gosh. And so like, everything just kind of like blah blended together. That makes sense. Yeah. How many tours have you done? Um, I've done that tour or three times. Okay. Um, and, uh, so each, each tour was only seven weeks and it was about 40 stops over seven weeks.

Wow. So it was just like show hotel, show hotel, show, hotel. Um, there are a few places that stood out to me because we had like two or three days. Mm-hmm. , um, uh, uh, not Bentonville. Um, what's the place by Bentonville? Um, Fayetteville, Arkansas. Oh boy. And I fall in love with Fayetteville, Arkansas. Really? Uh, loved it.

Loved it. Oh my gosh. Yeah. If I, if I ever, it, it's like a Hallmark movie. Like I could totally see myself like leaving my big corporate lawyer job and falling in love with a guy who runs a hardware store or something down there . Like it was just, just great. You help him put up his Christmas tree and before you know it, love, it's all Jingle blossom.

Say it there. Yeah. . My aunt lives in Fayetteville, North Carolina, though I didn't realize there were numerous Fayetteville. Yeah. You know what, f Fayetteville, North Carolina. Uh, my mother, my sister spent a good chunk of time there on a trip to the, uh, outer banks and they loved Fayetteville out there too.

Mm-hmm. . Yeah. It's a very military town, so lots of transient situations, but I mean, north Carolina's gorgeous, right? Mm-hmm. , so, and it's great cause it's right off 95, so, you know, it's really easy to get off and. Um, see the sites and, and do things from there. So, yeah. Yeah. So when you take, you're ru off, sorry, I just talked right over you.

No, when you did your ru off, was it adults and kids or how did that go for you guys? Uh, no, no, it was only an adult. Um, so the young, you had to be 18 to be in the cast, so our youngest performer was 18. Okay. Um, um, it's funny if you know a lady named Donna Ano, she was one of the s and she's a, she's a very famous cabaret singer, her younger sister, and Tony Ano was our youngest performer on the tour.

So it was a cast of maybe 20, um, mostly out of Southern California cuz that's where the production rehearsal was. Um, and um, boy, what a trip man. It was great. I, I, we, I did the. I did it three times. The first two times were, cuz like I just wanted to do a show and the last time, like I was, I was kind of getting busy with this stuff.

Mm-hmm. , um, with the college edit and stuff. But we had a Dungeons and Dragons game going from the, the previous two tours and I was like, gosh, I can't miss the d d game. I gotta, I, I gotta finish this campaign. I gotta go back. Tour . That's a long campaign. Yeah, it is. Three year campaign. Yeah. That's good.

Three year campaign. Yeah. That's great. . Wow. Oh, that's awesome. So you're in California right now? Uh, it's funny, I live in New York City, but um, I um, I'm in California right now because I'm on a contract doing a show in, uh, Northern California. Wow. So you keep pretty busy with a full-time, couple full-time jobs stuff.

So this is, so the college audition Pro is my full-time, full-time job. But as a creative artist, if I don't do a show. At least a couple times a year, I just go cuckoo bananas. Mm-hmm. . So, um, I try and do at least like one, one big summer musical and then like one, one holiday show. Got it. We understand that.

Cause our kids have depression anytime they're like in between shows as they get very sad kids. Yeah, we do. Whenever we're not doing something, it you just feel like there's a hole in your life, so you gotta get out there and do it. Even if we're not on stage, we still have that like adrenaline rush being backstage for everything.

Yeah. Yeah. It's addictive. I mean, totally put that out. Of course. Yeah. Uh, so how are your kids in college right now in high school? They're not even that far. Um, my, I mean, I have a daughter that's in high school now that's, um, but she's not theater. She plays tuba. Um, and she is, she's graduating in 2024.

And then my youngest is the theater nerd and she's just about to go into high school. She's auditioning for the high school here. That is all fine arts. Oh, good. Oh good. I'm, I'm, I'm crossing my fingers for her. Be awesome. Yeah. Yeah. And I have a 10th grader there at the performing arts school. It's called Harrison in the musical theater department.

That's awesome. Nice. Nice. Very nice. And then I, my other one is in seventh grade and we'll hope to go there at one point. Seventh grade you said? Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Awesome. Yep. And then my daughter Gabby. Um, I have two children. My son Max is 12, but he likes to do backstage stuff. He does lights and things like that.

Yeah. Um, but my daughter, Gabby is the one that really likes to be on stage and does her her whole life as theater. Um, but she's only 10 , so she's got some time . Yeah. She has some time. Yes. Yes. But it'll be here before we know it. I know, I know. I know these ladies. And we have a lot of friends getting ready to go through this process.

And a couple weeks ago we had one of our friends come on and talk. Um, she's helping her daughter go through the process. Now she's a junior. So it's gonna be great to hear your perspective and what you have to offer that I can't even imagine how helpful it would be for children. Yes. Yeah. So thank you so much for agreeing to, we have some help today.

Yeah. And so this podcast is perfect to come right after Cats, because cats talked about. Whole journey and, and everything she's doing with the screening processes. So that's where they're at right now. Um, they're getting ready to travel to do, um, oh gosh, what did she call them? When they're grouped together and there's a bunch of schools that show up together.

The unified, yes, yes, yes. Thank you. Yeah, so she's getting ready. She already has tickets for Chicago and there's, um, one here in Tampa. So they're doing that, and I think she mentioned like February, March-ish will be the time where they'll find out about the screenings and then, um, how she does, you know, of course, I think May Right.

Is commitment. I believe so, yeah. So then they'll start to get their offers coming in, and then they'll figure out what they wanna do money-wise. And so, yeah. So having you on is a perfect. So plan. Yeah. Thank you. Segue. So the timing is great. Yeah. So thank you and just Oh, awesome. Oppa, let's do this. We are, um, just so you know, we are complete amateurs.

We know nothing, but our goal is to help other parents get their children involved successfully and whatever tricks and tips along the way that we can offer that we've learned or that other people like you can help out with. Oh, great. Yeah. I'm, I'm, I'm sure that you'll also have a lot of moms who have done this before who will be able to contribute in, in the comments on your Instagram, uh, and your YouTube videos and stuff, to, to say, oh, yeah, I know exactly what Drew's talking about.

Here's what helped me and my kid. Mm-hmm. . So wanna get rolling? Yeah. Yeah. Let's do, all right, here we go. Welcome to the Drama Mamas. I'm Angela. I'm Kathy. I'm Kristin. And today we have with us. Oh, drew, sorry. A slight little sound time lapse. Sorry about that. And I'm pointing and you can't see me. So thank you so much for coming on.

Drew, um, I was doing a little research on you and then I got really overwhelmed because you have an incredible resume of things you have done. So , I started writing things down, like, why am I doing this? You could just tell us about yourself. So give us a little background about mm-hmm. , um, who you are, what you've done, and why you're here today.

Yeah, sure. Uh, so I am from, uh, originally Orange County, California. I grew up in the city of Orange. Um, and I went to El Medina High School, which in the nineties had just a killer theater program, so I was all theater all the time. Uh, musical theater and improv were my two jams growing up. And, uh, then I went to a college at a place called Stony Brook University.

Mm-hmm. . And, uh, it's about halfway down Long Island. Um, and it used to have a pretty good theater program. I went for a general theater degree that, that, that would be like a ba non audition. You get to do acting, directing, playwriting, dramaturgy, uh, light sound, welding, the whole shebang. So it's not like a pre-professional training program.

It's an all around general theater program. Um, and, um, I graduated from college and I came out as a stage manager. Um, I went in as an actor, came out as a stage manager because I got assigned. You know, when you're in, uh, college for theater, you have to do some tech stuff. You can't just do performing. So like one semester you have to be the head electrician.

Next semester you have to be like the person on lights and then you can do your, your shows. So I got to be stage manager one semester and I really, really liked it. Mm-hmm. and, um, , I was like, oh, I like this process. That this isn't like, like eating the cookie is fun, but baking the cookie is a lot more rewarding.

And so that's great. I said like, oh, I think I wanna do this for a living. And so I came out of college as a stage manager and I went to work at the Walt Disney Company in California on the Aladdin Show, um, at, uh, California Adventure. Um, but, uh, I realized once I started there that actually, no, I, I really do wanna be a performer and I think I took the stage management gig because it was, uh, an easier gig.

There are fewer stage managers out there. Um, it's better money, it's more consistent and uh, it's safer too, emotionally. I don't have to put myself out there. I don't have to walk in an audition room and have people judge me. Mm-hmm. . Um, and, uh, but I found that I was really unhappy being around all these people who were living my dream.

And I was like, oh gosh. This is worse than just not being around it at all. And so I decided to jump onto Disney Cruise Line thinking, oh, if I change where I am, my feelings will go away. Uh, spoiler. It didn't work that way. . Um, and I'm on the ship and, um, Uh, you know, it, it was just as bad watching people living my dream as I am doing the admin part of it.

Um, and on Disney Cruise line, for those of you who have ever been on a, uh, uh, Disney ship, uh, all the live shows are, uh, very, very thin plot to get from one hit song to the next hit song. Uh, cuz people want to hear a part of your world. They want to hear, um, uh, be a man from Mulan, blah, blah blah. Makes sense.

And so this show, the plot was about a stage manager character who's trying to hold this show together, but all she really wants to do is be a performer, but she's too afraid. , oh my God. And at, oh yeah. And so at the end of the show, The last act can't make it. And she goes on instead. And like, she's brilliant and she lives her dream.

And, uh, confetti falls from the ceiling and I'm in the back at the end of every show with this tear just rolling down my, my face and I suck back into my eyeball and be like, keep it together. Keep it together. Um, until, you know, one day I just couldn't take it anymore. It was either like, you know, lose my mind or quit.

And so I took my headset off and I walked in my boss's office and I said, Hey, the next American port that we get to, I'm getting off the boat. I gotta do what I gotta do. And he was like, yeah, go for it. And I got back to Los Angeles and I opened up a, a paper copy of Backstage back in the day. And, um, there was a, a casting notice for Oklahoma at a regional theater in California.

And I hadn't audition. 10, 12 years. And I was like, ah, what the heck? And I sent in my tape and about a day later they called me and said, we open two weeks. Can you be here tomorrow? Oh, that's amazing. Yeah. Like, that's when I knew like the hand of God, you know, the universe at work was like, yes, this is the right choice.

You are doing the thing that you should be doing. Um, and uh, I've been a performer ever since, uh, as my job doing a lot of improv comedy, um, doing, uh, improv comedy on for corporations and colleges, tours, uh, boats, uh, musical theater, everywhere. And then I started teaching at osha, which is the Orange County School of the Arts in Santa A.

It's where, um, Matt Morrison went, uh, Krista Rodriguez, Lindsay Mendez. And I started teaching there and then I was like, you know what? I had a pretty crummy college audition experience myself as a student. Um, it's partially the reason that I ended up at a non pre-professional training program cuz I just didn't know what I was doing.

And my mentor was of no help. He was of opposite help . I bet there are people who could use sub guidance with this. Mm-hmm. . And so that's when I started cap And um, we've had a 98% success rate with our students, um, in terms of getting them into one of their top schools. Um, and I think more than anything we've had, we've saved parents a lot of anxiety and a lot of emotional distress through the process.

When, when, you know, they parents talk about their kids being. Their heart walking around outside of their body and when you want to be able to help them desperately and you don't know how mm-hmm. , it's such a debilitating feeling. And so, you know, we, we have such a high success rate, but also, um, such a consistent track record with making parents feel like I helped do the thing.

I helped my kid achieve their dream. Mm-hmm. . Yeah. And for those of you, so that's me. Yeah. Well, amazing. I'm like little bit star, star care, but for real, CAP stands for College audition Pros. Correct. Okay. So how long have you been doing that? How many years? Uh, I founded the company in 2015. Okay. And so walk us through that's, you are helping parents and children navigate the whole college audition process and That's right.

Okay. Can you kind of walk us through how that all starts? Yeah. So let's say that, uh, Angela is, uh, helping, uh, uh, Kathy. Yes. Yes. Mm-hmm. . That's, that's me. You got it. You got it. . I know how, so Angela is helping Kathy get into college. Um, so first you have all of the, all the academic hoop law that you gotta do, um, that every student has to do.

If you're going into journalism or business or nursing, you gotta do all the applications. Uh, that's probably seven or eight schools if you're a typical college applicant. You know, uh, well, I wanna go to the school in my hometown if, and if not, I wanna go to the school that's like close to my industry, or the one that's cheapest.

Like, it's a pretty direct process if you're not going for a specialization. But then you also have the. Uh, layer on top of that. This is like a nightmare of a tear in masu. Normally it's all layers that are lovely, but for this process, it's like, and I gotta do this and I gotta do this and I gotta do this.

So, uh, Angela also, who may, if Angela is not a drama mama and she's just like a regular mama, uh, she's like, what do I do? What on earth do I do to help my kid? So I help, uh, students and parents find their schools to begin with. There's about 300 schools that have a musical theater or acting bfa. Well, we're certainly not applying to 300 schools.

And of those, how many are actually right for Cathy, you know, if Cathy wants an L G B T safe school versus like, A religious school versus one with a campus versus one that's in the city. There's all of these things that you gotta sift through to make sure that your four years are really satisfying for you.

Mm-hmm. and, and that you're not just following the trends in either Facebook groups or like US News and World Reports or Variety Magazine. Like you have to be informed. It's on you parents to be that proactive guide for your kid. So we help them find about 20 schools that are right for them and already off the bat, that is so much stress that just melts away from a parent because they go, ah, at least I know that we're going in the right direction.

Right? Mm-hmm. . Yes. And we'll help them find their audition materials. Some kids go to schools of fine art, so they already have like monologues and songs and stuff, but a lot of kids just know they love it and they do a lot of shows that at their community theater, but they don't have monologue, they don't have songs.

So we help them find all that. Um, And then on the back end for parents, we do a lot of the organizational stuff that again, takes a lot of the, uh, unappetizing stuff off their plate. Things like, well, how do I know when everything's due? How do I know, uh, how to film these pre-screen videos? How do I know if I have to go to Unified's?

Um, how our job is to help them keep organized and not spend money they don't have to have, and not spend money and not spend energy. They don't have to spend either. Um, we'll do all the coaching for them over the course of the summer. Uh, we'll film their pre-screen videos for them. So when I was applying to college, uh, you just walked to NYU and you went, hello, I'm Drew.

I wanna audition for this school. And they went, okay. But with the advent of the internet, um, accessibility has become so much greater. So now schools have to, uh, have these things called pre-screens where you sh where you submit a video to be considered to audition in person. , uh, since these are the first impressions that these schools are gonna get, we really take it very, very seriously.

You know, a kid's future is hanging in the balance. So we do all the filming ourselves. We come to their town, we, we do it, uh, onsite coach and film and edit and upload. So again, the parent doesn't feel like they're getting in the way because maybe they're not tech savvy. Instead, they're giving it all to someone who can make their child's process flow really smoothly.

Mm-hmm. . Um, and we're also big advocates. Big advocates of balance. So this, uh, there's already so much pressure around this, right? Your mom and dad are breathing down your neck. Are you hitting all these deadlines? Um, you're stressed out already because you're like, this is the fate of my future. We don't want to add to that.

Instead, we add a lot of like the butter and cream that goes into the. Right, you've already got the flour, the salt and the sugar. You got the dry stuff. We want to add the wet stuff and just like even in it out, so like, um, we don't, we don't take ourselves very seriously, but we take our job very seriously.

We wanna make sure that, you know, it's okay to take breaks. It's okay to take vacations. Uh, it's okay to tell me I don't wanna work today because I'm stressed. All right, great. Um, and we will hold those deadlines for you. And also when you get overwhelmed and you have self doubt, we will hold that faith for you because you can't hold it for yourself right now, and that's gonna be okay.

We also travel with students to those things that you were talking about before, the unified, where 50 schools are there at once and oh my God, I'm in a maze. Where do I go? Who do I talk to? Yeah. So we help our students navigate all that stuff as well. Um, and then we sort of serve as like you're on, like Batman, on uh, on remember how, on the old TV show, um, commissioner Gordon could just, just, um, Pick up the red phone and it would dial Batman.

Yeah. That's kind of what we do after auditions. Mm-hmm. all the way up until you decide on your school, cuz your life changes daily drastically depending on who takes you off the wait list and who says, oh actually we can match this offer this other school gave you. Now you're like, wait a minute. Now I have two final choices.

And so we just fueled a lot of phone calls. We play psychotherapist, we play coach, we play kind of everything that a family needs us to do until you, you know, really happily decide on the school. Oh my gosh, my head is, I don't even know what people did before you guys existed then. Yeah, . So do you guys, so when we just did our, um, episode with ka, like we jokingly were like, is there somebody we can hire to do this?

Apparently there is. Yeah. So this is fantastic. You're like a momager all put in what sort of Yeah. Momager. Well, and I'm just thinking, oh my God, you not only are you helping them get into a college, but you're helping, um, parent child relations, because I'm thinking of all the hardship that goes into, you know, helping your child.

And if you're making bad decisions or the stress, you're, you've got a deadline, you have to do this, and you're just taking that away from the families and just helping relationships on top of everything else. Yeah. That's crazy. Absolutely. When, when you're in high 10 situ. Like, it can be easy to forget gratitude and love.

Uh, when you've got these deadlines, you've got these high stakes. So one of the things that we talk about in our workshops is not just open communication about what you need, but open communication about gratitude. And thanks for from child to parent and parent to child. Mm-hmm. . Mm-hmm. . Um, we, you know, in, when you're, when you're putting up the Christmas lights and putting up the tree and you're baking the Turkey and you're baking the ham, doing mashed potatoes, patient swears thin.

And so you can forget that, like, oh, we're doing this because we love each other. Mm-hmm. . Um, and so it's the same thing with this process. It's really important for kids to say thanks to their parents, even if their parents don't really know what they're doing, and maybe they're not even that helpful. But if your parents try and they fall in their face, know that they're trying because they love you and they believe in you.

Right. And also for kids, , believe it or not, this is the hardest thing that a child will do until they plan a wedding or buy a house. Mm-hmm. , this is the hardest thing that they have done up till now in their life. So it's really important that parents recognize that, honor that and tell them, Hey, you're doing a really difficult thing and I'm very proud of you for how difficult this is.

And you're doing very well. Sometimes kids just need to hear that and parents need to hear the same thing. Absolutely. Cause it sets a tone for the rest of their life, depending on what school they get into. It kind of sets the tone, the course for everything. I think one of the most, um, wonderful things that you're bringing to the table here is that yes, it's the obvious, you know, organizational, making sure everything's where it needs to be, you know, helping the child, but you're taking that key piece of emotion out of the process, right?

Because you guys are more. Unbiased third party that can really help direct and not get involved emotionally with these really, really important decisions with Yes, you have to have a sense, you know, you have to feel in your heart that this is the right place for you to be. Yeah. But there's also those outside intrinsic factors that you guys are able to put on the table and say, well, hold on a second.

I know that you really think this campus is really, really pretty, but this school might offer you something a little bit better, or might hit one of your other marks. You know? So I think that that's a great thing, that a quality that you guys are bringing, um, you know. Oh, thank you. I, I, I like to think so.

You know, that's, that's one of the things that I pride myself on is, uh, students and parents are a wash in, um, the advertising that Dollars have bought a lot of schools, but, um, just a few, just a few schools that have their name out there. Everyone knows Michigan and Carnegie Mellon and nyu and Julia. And so you can begin to think, well, those are the only schools that I could really go to if I wanna make it.

And then all of a sudden you have parents and students who are freaking out because they've internalized that, oh shoot, if I don't go to these schools, I won't be on Broadway. If my child doesn't go to this school, they won't be on Broadway. Ah. So my job is to say, well, did you know there's actually a school out there that produces Broadway caliber training and it's in your state and you get in-state tuition and it has a great focus on mental health.

And they go, I'd never even heard of this school. So part of our job is to reveal and uncover incredible opportunities that, uh, can lower the stress, like you said, and the anxiety and the pressure that parents put on themselves. Mm-hmm. , is it about like a nine month process from start to finish? Or how does that work?

It's. Uh, in an ideal world it's about, uh, 14 months. Wow. So, I like to have students and parents come to me in, uh, February, March of junior year, and we wrap up usually around the middle of May. Wow. Um, now there are, you know, I I, I will say that typically the way that the cyclical season works is we have the early, early birds start in November, December, like right now of junior year.

Um, and then some folks sign up in spring, and then a lot of folks sign up in August because, uh, they know their students talented and they know how to do the Common app. That's fine. They had a, an older sibling who went to school, but it's not until they look at the additional requirements, they go, I didn't know about this part.

And then we, and then we really double down and we get them all in line to have their pre-screen still turned in by October. . Goodness. That's a long time to be. It is. Long time is 14 months. Oh my gosh. I'm starting to freak out. Yeah. Yeah. We're in seventh grade. I gotta start now. Well, so be your early birth, so it would be November of junior year.

Well, you know, I, I take a lot of, uh, a lot of my, uh, practice comes from feedback from parents. You know, when I started I just knew that I was an acting coach and like I knew that I could help kids. Um, over the years, everything that has improved from my business has improved because I've gotten feedback from parents who have said, boy, I wish I could have someone who helped me with X.

Or after they finish the process, they go, I wish I could have. And that's one of the reasons we start so early is cuz parents would tell us, if you only start when it's time to start, you're too late. So they say, you know, I, I had parents who started in May and they said, boy, I wish we would've started in February.

It would've made the summer so much easier for us. We could have taken that vacation, we could have had time off. We da da da da. So we space it out into 14 months so that it's never um, really a high pressure situation. Right. You've got like buffer time in between deadlines. Exactly. Yeah. That's nice, right?

Yeah. Slack time cuz you're probably gonna need it at some point. Well, and I was watching one of your videos and one of the things I loved you said was, um, okay, your pre-screens are in and now take a break until Thanksgiving's over it because you're gonna get sick of what you're doing. And I was like, oh my gosh.

We've been there where we have a song that we use for a lot of different things and if I ever hear that song again, I'm. You know, my ears are gonna bleed. So I love that you said that. Absolutely. It's okay. You, you do this part and then give yourself a little rest and, and, you know, recharge. I found that very interesting.

Oh, it's, it's so important. Mm-hmm. , even if it's something that you love, if you do it too much, you can get sick of it. Mm-hmm. , like if you love peanut butter sandwiches, but then you have it for three weeks straight, you're gonna hate peanut butter sandwiches. Right? Yes. And so the same goes for your monologue and your song.

Mm-hmm. . So after we're done with pre-screens, you have spent nine months preparing for these things. Time to take a breather, go to homecoming, do your fall show, uh, and, you know, eat some Turkey and then fall asleep for four days. Just , let's not see each other for a while. Mm-hmm. so that you can recharge and, uh, not get burnt out.

And for a theater kid, you know, we tend to be, you know, we, a lot of us tend to be adhd, be included, and we tend to be. Um, really results driven, like work, at work, at work, at work, at work at, but you can polish something so much that the shine comes off. Mm-hmm. Yes. And so we don't want to do that, and that's why it's so important to take breaks.

Yeah. We're seeing a little bit of that right now with Pinky as she's prepping for her auditions to get into the high school I was telling you about. And, um, she's already done, like, so she did this song and it was also for districts so she could kind of use it twofold. And that's a great thing. So she's not having to focus on too many, you know, too much blocking or too many, you know, pieces of, you know, song or whatever to memorize.

But yeah, so we're here, she's done districts. She, in January will do, she's gonna go on to. And at the same time be auditioning for Harrison with the same song. With the same song and the same blocking, the same performance of that piece. Yeah. And she's already at the point now where she's like, yeah, I really wish I could do something different.

And it's like, no, you're locked in now. Like, this is it. You gotta ride it out, girl. You can't change it now . You know, you gotta stay committed. Exactly. Exactly. I like what you said, the shine rubs off. Yeah. That's the real danger of being so married to a piece. Uh, and it's one of the reasons that we don't do material selection.

We don't do that in February or March, because then you're stuck with it for 14 months. You don't wanna be doing the same song monologue for over a year straight. So we, we put that off for a while, you know, that you can learn a song or a monologue in a couple weeks. So that's not something that, that we have to have you.

Ready to go, you know, 14 months before you audition for it. So, um, it makes you wonder how Broadway performers do it. Yes. It shows a week for several years. Yeah. Yeah. That's every time I see one, I think, oh my gosh, I couldn't do that. They must hate that music by the time , you know, you're in, they're like, just shoot me now.

Yeah. , switch this up a little bit. Can we, can I swap? Like, so how many students say in a year are you working with? I think you have about what, eight or 10 of your staff? Um, so we, uh, last year we, or this, this cycle, uh, we have about 30 and, um, we anticipate next year it's gonna be closer to 50, but they're not all working with me.

I have a team of coaches so that, um, a student is never competing with their peers for attention, uh, from. So we've got, uh, three or four additional coaches on top of myself. Um, and then we have a team of, uh, office admins to help keep everything straight as well. Nice. And so when they first come in, is it like you meet in person and you kind of do like an audition, basically like, let me hear your voice, let me see you act, let me like kind of get a gauge of who you are and where you are.

How does that work? So, uh, 99% of what we do is over Zoom. Mm-hmm. , um, because I'm based in New York, students are based all over the country and also students, teenager schedules, in case you weren't aware, are absolutely insane. Mm-hmm. . So it doesn't make sense for us to work in person anyway because like, they'll be like, I have exactly from 3 0 7 to 3 48 today on my break.

I'm like, well, I'm not driving to your school and you're not coming to New York City, so let's work online. Um, We, I don't do auditions. I don't do an audition requirement to work with me. And the reason is, um, college auditions is so much less about talent than it is about dedication and organization. Um, I do like seeing a sample of someone work.

Can you say that again, drew? Because I, that was an awesome bite. Can you just say that again , because it's, yeah. I love it. Absolutely. College auditions is less about talent and more about dedication and organization. Okay. That's awesome. Um, I just as a, as a microcosm of that, I had a student one time who already, uh, had done work on Broadway, um, at 1617.

And, um, I had another student who had only done show choir, um, never done a, a play or a musical before in their life. And, uh, Broadway student, very talented and also very sweet, was like, nah, I'm only gonna apply to these four or five schools. Um, and I was like, I think you should do this, and I think you should do this, and I think you should do this.

And they're like, nah. And, um, show choir kid was like, Hey, I'm a sponge. You tell me to jump and I'm gonna ask how high and Broadway kid didn't get into any of their schools. Broadway and show choir kid got into almost all their schools. Wow. Because show choir kid was like, yeah, I've never done a monologue, but I am really interested in learning and I'm gonna work really hard at it.

And they show up with that eagerness and that dedication and it translates in the room as well. Yeah. So typically about how many schools do your students apply to, like an average? So typically, um, in the first round, it comes out to about 18, 19. Um, my, my, my basement is 12. We cannot, uh, apply for fewer than 12.

And I put the cap at around 20 because at that point you may not have the mental bandwidth to be able to give your full attention to all of them. Um, but then once you get to Unified, by then you've, um, a lot of schools have said no to your pre-screen. So you're down to like, you know, maybe nine or 10.

And then we can do a bunch of walk-in auditions where I'll guide students into schools that are gonna be there at the unified that maybe they have an audition for or even applied to academically. And I can say, hello Fordham, this is Jake. Jake, meet Fordham. Go on in. And then they'll add sometimes nine or 10 schools that weekend on the fly.

Oh, you could do that. That's an amazing service, um, that you're able to give that personalized attention and almost be like an agent almost, Hey, come on in here. I mean, the, I think the surprising part is that they actually allow for that, that schools do. to kind of slide in on those auditions and, you know Yeah.

Figure out the rest of it on the, on the flip side of it. Flip side. Mm-hmm. . Yeah. Is that due, due to your relationship that you have with these schools that they're able to be like, oh, Drew's got somebody, they must be really willing and dedicated to this process, let's go ahead and see them. Or do you think that that's like a normal thing?

Like it's a normal thing. It's my unified, like schools, like schools show up and they say, all right, these spots are taken already by the students who have scheduled auditions. Mm-hmm. . But these spots remain unoccupied. So if you want to come audition, sign up. Um, and so there are some schools that I do have close relationships with and I can say, Hey, I know you're full, but there's a kid that I really think is gonna be a good fit for you.

Okay. And they can help get them in. Gotcha. Okay. I really enjoy, I really like unified because, Um, the, the child benefits and the parents benefit by us getting them signed up for all these extra schools that they didn't even know about. Mm-hmm. , uh, Russ and myself, we benefit from it. We get to live out our NFL draft day dreams by pretending that we're sports agents talking to general managers.

That's awesome. Nice . I love that. I gotta tell you, as a, as a male who works in musical theater and is also a sports fan, there's not a lot of crossover. No. Ever that not except for the unified experience. Right. That is your, that's right. Jerry McGuire moment, right? Like, that's it. Yeah. Right. , you got a mission.

That's right. Okay. So let's just talk about this cuz I know parents are gonna ask this question to me. I feel like this entire process, everything you're giving is priceless. Okay. But I'm sure that there's a price tag associated with this. Yeah. So what are we looking at as three parents that are gonna probably be highly interested in us utilizing your service?

Yeah. What is that gonna cost us as of right now? So if, if you, you know, we. We charge hourly rates and we also do packages. So it really kind of depends on what you're looking for. And I know that sounds like a smokey answer, but No, it's, um, I'm not gonna hook somebody up with a package if they go, you know what, I, I've done everything.

I need one monologue for one school because I forgot to do the Shakespeare. Okay, I'm gonna be like, cool, let's do three hours of Shakespeare, get you on your way. Okay. Um, but if you're gonna be like, I have no idea how to help my child, but I really want to, then I'm gonna say, um, it's gonna save you money by doing a package versus working hourly.

Okay? So if you want to, uh, do hourly rates, it's two 50 an hour for coaching. Mm-hmm. . Um, and then if you wanna do the whole package, which again is finding schools mm-hmm. your audition requirements, uh, which includes, and I didn't mention this before, What do you need for your pre-screens? What kinds of monologues and songs, what year do they have to be written from?

Mm-hmm. , how many bars can they be? What is the frame like? Is it full body? Is it, is it three quarters? Is it close up? Um, what are your personal video statements? When do they do by, when are the in person auditions? Like already as you're hearing this, as moms, I'm sure that you're like, I would pay the full rate just for that to know what do, yes.

We want the v i p full package, like Drew on the back. I want the show, the graduation. That's what I wanna do. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. So, and then that also includes, uh, song selection, Shakespeare selection. Mm-hmm. , um, monologue selection, uh, about 20, 25 hours of coaching over the course of the. Uh, flying to you for your pre-screens or you coming to the closest city that we're gonna be in, um, filming and editing, uh, uploading to a Dropbox.

And when you get it, my Dropbox link, you're gonna, uh, open it and find that there's a folder for every school that you're applying to. And that folder is preloaded just with the cuts that you need for that school, so that even if you're not a tech savvy person, you can just open the folder and drag the files into the upload site.

Nice. That's amazing. I think I need, we take you to Unified, we do mock auditions, and then we are your personal psychiatrist coach, uh, everything for the next three months. So that's 6,800 for the total of about 14 months or so. That sounds very reasonable to me. Yeah. Listen, I, I grabbed our little strawberry margarita because I thought I was gonna need to drink this right before you laid out that price.

The margarita slash cleaner. Yeah, it's not very good. I don't recommend it. But $6,800 is in the realm of college applications and cat just telling us how much everything costs and what you have to go through. Yeah. Right. Now, obviously that doesn't include all of the application fees for all of these 15 schools that we're applying to, so there is gonna be costs associated with that, but there will be Yes.

But $6,800. Well, I mean, what I mean for sure what you're getting and all of the, the prep and making sure that it's organized and you have the videos and all of that, like that's, I'm gonna drink anyway. But it's not because of your prep , it's to celebrate. We're celebrating that. It's not 10,000. And the thing that keeps coming back to me is I don't know a lot about anything and the whole selection of a monologue and selection of an audition.

you know, so much more about all those things and what is fitting for a voice or for a, the different schools. That to me is priceless. Yeah. Because I just don't, I know a few things. I know popular things well, but I know that we're not even talking about like, school stuff right now with our kids. We're talking about like, how do we get 'em into this show that we, you know, is happening locally.

Yeah. And we, we struggle sometimes with that. It's like, how do we, how do we get the right clip? How do we, you know, and so we get help with that now as it is mm-hmm. because we can't do it. I'm, it's just not my background, you know? No, we are not. And you wanna talk about like, upleveling your mindset. So you're helping your kids get into, let's say, Alice Wonderland.

Let's say that your kid wants to play Alice, okay? Mm-hmm. . So what can I pick that's gonna show the casting director or the, or the director or the comm or the drama teacher that I can play Alice? Well, I can pick a certain song, I can wear a certain outfit cause I'm going for that role. Right. Um, and the question's gonna be.

Is Jane right to play Alice? Yes or no? Pretty direct and pretty simple preparation. Um, college is not, do I want Angela to play? Uh, Carla Deville. The question is, do I want Angela, do I wanna hang out with Angela for four years? That's a much different set of parameters. I do that You're in the audition room for

Now, of course, that's very true. I would love to hang out with Angela for four years, but she only has a couple minutes in there with me. And her mindset cannot be, I want them to like me. I want them to like me because then I don't get to know Angela. Angela, mm-hmm. . So you have to do this dual reverse Jedi mind trick of absolute preparation.

All your i's are dotted, all your T's are crossed. And then let go of expectations and be full of gratitude. Doing both of those things at one time is difficult. And so it takes a process to be super prepared and also be able to let go and let the universe take it. Yeah, and that's an interesting point because just because you can get into a school does not mean it's the right school for you.

Just like That's right. Just cuz you get a job and you can work it doesn't mean you're happy in it. So it's such an important decision for the next four years of your life, like you're saying, to find one that is compatible with you and your needs. Absolutely. Yeah. Some kids get into their dream school, but there's only their dream school because it's got a big fancy name and they don't do enough research and they go, oh actually Ann Arbor's really cold.

I don't want to go to the University of Michigan. Or like, I don't even like sports. And this school's obsessed with sports. Um, I wish I was at a smaller college. And so part of our job is to open students' eyes to like, oh, there's actually, there's a dream school for you that you don't know about, but let me show it to you.

We had a kid at Unified's a few years ago and she was auditioning for all the big ones. And I was talking to the University of Utah, just, just chit chatting, being like, oh, tell me about your school. I've never heard of you before. And then I gestured her over and I was like, Hey, you should go audition for the school.

She's like, Utah. All right. And so she auditions and she comes outta there and her eyes are just the size of dinner plates. And she goes, this is my dream school. Wow, this is my dream school. And she's there now and she loves it cuz she can do everything she wanted. It has everything that she was hoping to accomplish.

The faculty absolutely jive with her. The cost is right. And she said, I never would've even known they existed if you hadn't introduced me to her. I'm sure you have students that join your program that come into this not really knowing what their criteria are. You have a way that you kind of help them flesh that out so they know they're going where they belong.

Yeah. Yeah, I actually do. Um, so this is the closest thing I do to an audition is I do an intake and I say, Hey, tell me about you tell me about, you know, what do you love about yourself? What do you have in your goals? What, what's important to you? How do you wanna change the world? Uh, and then asking mom and dad, okay, what is our budget?

Um, how important really is it that they're close to you? And how important, like, what my maximum mileage away from the house really if it's a school that they're in love with. Um, how important is religion to you? Is inclusivity, is double majoring, all that kind of stuff. You tell me that and I'll bring you 40 schools that have all those things you're looking for.

Okay. That makes a lot of sense. Yeah, I'm just thinking, you know, cuz we've got some time before we have to deal with it, with the musical theater child, but the other one, right. You know, she's hyper focused on, um, academia and, and she loves history and that kind of thing. And right now she's hyper focused on a school up in New York, and I don't even know where to begin to help her flesh out if that's really the thing for her or not, because, you know, up until now it's all been about tuba.

Right. And I could have helped with music because that was my background. Right. But, um, you know, trying to, to flesh out with her, is this really the direction that you're really interested in or are you just hyper focused for a particular reason? Right. Yeah. Sometimes you get attached to a name because you, you had one experience with one professor, or you had one friend who loves talking about it, and then you're like, that's it.

That's it. Yeah. And it's your dream school because that, that thought got implanted deep in your brain at an earlier age. Um, and then it's not until you really, um, have a come to Jesus moment and you lay out exactly what it is that you want. That your, your priorities begin to shift and you say, oh, actually, yeah, that was a cool moment with that professor, but I really want a campus, or I really want a place that has athletics or a place that I can double major.

That place doesn't actually have it. You know what I mean? Yeah, totally. Have you ever had an instance where someone has come to you and after intake and all that, you think, okay, this might not be the right track for you? Has that ever happened? Like maybe musical theater is not the direction you should be heading?

Um, I have, I have known students who have come in and they're like, well, I'm really thinking about, um, like, they'll say like, they'll have their whole life planned out. Like they'll have everything written down, like, yeah, I wanna do musical theater and then I wanna be on Broadway, and then I want be an attorney.

Um, and I'll, I'll be like, all right, great. I love this. Um, and some students are like, Yeah, I, I really love both and I'm gonna do both. And we're, and, uh, our team, one of our core values is, um, like obsessively supported about your varied interests. So if we have a student who's like, I'm really into theater and neurobiology, then I'm gonna be like, great, let's find you a school that does both really awesome.

So you're not feeling like you're having to choose one over the other. Mm-hmm. . But then there are some students who, um, I think maybe that are coming to the end of their love with theater. Um, and it's often schools who go, it's often students who go to performing arts high schools where they've done it for so long, they've kind of run it ragged and they go, yeah, I guess I wanna do theater.

Um, yeah. And I, I can kind of already tell that they don't actually want to do it. It's a dream they're hanging onto, but it was the dream of 14 year old them. And by 16, , they're having other priorities. Um, but I'm really big on not, not myself and not mom and dad. No one should tell a student, maybe you should think about something else.

Because all they're gonna remember is that person didn't believe in me. Now we're telling them that for their own, you know, parents stay to their kids. Um, you know, um, you know, if you don't succeed at this, what about a backup plan? Which is the worst thing you can say to a child because all they're gonna remember is my mom and dad didn't think I was good enough, or they didn't believe in me.

They didn't think that I had the skills and they wanted to steer me away from the thing that I love. That's not a great memory of your parents to have that lasts the rest of your life. But parents say those things because of course they wanna protect their child. They want their child to be able to feed themselves and, and pay the rent.

Um, so I. , you can have your child achieve all those things through a different manner. And that's just by promoting the accumulation of additional money earning skills. So instead of saying, don't be an actor because you'll fail at it, you say, great, do, uh, do what you love, but also, uh, pick up your, um, certification in video editing, fight choreography, get your real estate broker's license, um, become an HTML coder.

All those things can give you consistent income in the professional world while you're digging. And if they decide to quit, if they go into the business and then they're like, oh, you know what? Going to auditions at five o'clock in the morning for a national tour that pays $200 just is not the job that I want.

They're gonna make that. and you're not gonna say, I told you so you're gonna say, cool. Um, you have shifted careers. How can I help you now? Mm-hmm. , and they're gonna remember that mom and dad supported them. Wow. That's great advice. . Yeah. Is your whole team like as encouraging and supportive as you because there's like a warm blanket Yes.

Yes. Our, like a weighted, like, I'm happy and snugly, my team is a small hand selected group and we, it's funny, about two weeks ago we just had a meeting about our core values and everyone was like, by the end of it was like, yes, yes. This is great. I love it because our core value is just promoting theater and a, we never wanna speak negatively about it or anything like that.

We just want just positive, positive, uplifting. I love your energy. Yeah. Yeah. Um, what are things you've noticed that kids have done before they even get to you that is helpful? Like is, I'm not saying that very clearly, but. like lessons or acting classes or those kinds of things. Have you noticed that kids are coming in with that kind of experience, are um, having more success in the application process?

Yeah. Like what things should parents be doing to kind of give their kids a leg up, I guess is what I'm asking. I I think one of the biggest things that you can do to help your kid is encourage them to go outside your comfort zone and do shows at places or with organizations that they haven't done before.

Because one of the most debilitating things that happens to a student is they are like the big star in their community theater or their school. And then their parent internalizes that and sort of loses touch with reality and they say, well, my kid is really, really, really, really, really good. Um, and sometimes that's true and sometimes it's not true.

Sometimes they, the students haven't been challenged yet to know like what it's like out there. And that's when students get picky. And they say, I'm only applying to these seven or eight schools cause I'm really awesome. So I don't need to apply to 20 schools. Um, you can be Patty Laun, you're still only getting into about 30% of your schools

So, um, if you limit yourself to seven or eight schools, it's, you're gonna have a really, really tough time mentally through this process. So, uh, getting outta your comfort zone and being a small fish somewhere else too. Mm-hmm. to really learn. Um, what else is out there. Um, I think that getting into some kind of class for your skills that you're weaker at early on are really, really, really helpful.

Uh, schools are only looking for two outta three, so schools won't say we're looking for a triple threat because honest to goodness, they're not, uh, they're looking for two outta three. So if, if you rank your skills, let's say that, um, Angela is like dancer, actor, singer. Her. Um, so if she's dancer, then actor, then singer, I would start getting into some acting classes.

Um, so that, um, she's a fierce dancer and she's a fierce actress and shore up those two outta three for me. I'm an actor, singer, drill a mile into the earth, dancer, . And so I understand I'm not really gonna brush up my dancing skills. Please feel you because when I'm in a dance call, I'm not competing with you guys.

You guys are go, are gonna, you know, do laps around me, but I am gonna shore up my singing skills so that I'm a really powerful two out of three. Okay. Um, I think those two things, getting outta your comfort zone and getting some training and technique in your second skill is very helpful. That's excellent advice.

I love that about going out and doing different things. Cause you do, you get in your community theater and you're, and you, you know, you get all the roles but you're, like you said, the big fish thing, you gotta spread out and have some competition. And cuz there are incredibly talented people everywhere.

Yeah. And I think that's how they'll grow. Mm-hmm. , I mean, that's how they'll get better. Yeah. It's already kinda battling that now with, with the kids cuz they get so comfortable in the, the stuff that they're already doing and it's like, oh, okay, well this theater's doing this. Let's go audition over here.

Well I don't really know if I wanna go over there. And you're like, yes you do. Get in the car . Absolutely. At least give it a shot. That's exactly right. Exactly. And um, where we're located here in Lakeland, we are so fortunate, and we've talked about this several times on our show already, is that we do have several theaters in the area.

Not only community, but we have a couple regional as well. Um, we got the straws, we got the Tampa rep, we got Orlando rep, we got Dr. Phillip. So there's a lot here in the area, I think for, you know, for our kids to, to try to experience. That's so good. Yeah. We're not stuck. East Bumble, you know, with, with no options.

So. That's right, that's right. That's so fortunate that that students can, can, uh, perform and get experience at several different, um, theaters and several different groups. It's so, so important. And STRs, that's one of the theaters we stopped at, wasn't that? Yes. What was your role in Rudolph? I forgot to ask.

Uh, okay, so do you remember the, the 1968, uh, you know, the Claymation Oh, we've seen it multiple times in preparation for our musical. Yes, we know that. Well, . Okay, great. So, so I was the mean boss El Oh, Gabby, my daughter Gabby is the boss of Absolutely. And she, yes. And she nails it every time. What? You wanna be a dentist?

Yeah. Oh, it's hysterical. That's so funny. I love it. Were you that all three times that you did it on tour? . Oh, yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Awesome. Like, you know, again, they cast me actor first, a little bit of singing. How much dancing? None sir. Great. Drew, come on in. . Yeah. Yeah. There we go. Kinda like g knocking . No, she's good.

So, um, I'm totally gonna have to hook up with you and maybe you can do a little zoom thing with her, um, and help her with some characterization. Right. That would be great. Be the perfect boss self. Yeah. How to be the boss self. But yeah, it's, it's awesome. Our kids, they all have pretty good, you know, um, they're like, Hey, she's Claire's.

I mean, you know, great. And Pinky's Jack in the box, which is hysterical. Charlie in the box. Oh, Charlie in the box, not Jack. Yes, Charlie. I have Margarita, Charlie in the box. Yes. Yeah, we're doing puppets for those characters, so that'll be really cool. I'm excited cuz we could see those tomorrow. Mm-hmm. ? Oh, yes, we do.

All right. We wanna value your time. Is there any other fantastic, wonderful wisdom or advice you can pass on before we wrap it up? Yeah, start, start early y'all, even if it's not working on the process, start investigating early. Um, start, you know, just, uh, you know, hook up a, a, a consultation session with me.

Even if you're a sophomore, we can just talk about, you know, what you should be thinking about until you start, start working junior year. Um, start doing summer intensives. We're enrolling for hours right now in, uh, orange County, California in July. And, um, it's a great way as a freshman, sophomore, junior to really suss out.

What you do want in school, because you're gonna meet with the head of a program and work with them on your monologues and songs for a day. And you might say, whoa, that that lady or that guy really has the teaching style that I like a lot. I feel challenged, I feel supported. And maybe you'll meet the head of a program from your dream school and be like, oh, nevermind.

That dream school doesn't offer what I want. Uh, and you also create comrades and arms for both students and parents. And you have this really tight knit group to go through the entire process with, and you're surrounded by cheerleaders. Um, yeah. So start start as early as you can. Awesome. Yeah, for sure.

Well, thank you so, so very much for joining us. And yeah, thank you. I'm gonna sign up tomorrow. . Let's start early. Yes. We really appreciate you and thank you for your energy and your positivity. We, we just love it. Yeah. Oh my gosh. Thank you. Well, we hope you have a great holiday season. Yeah. And uh, hey, hopefully we'll be back in touch for Thank you much.

That's right. Yeah. Thank you.