“It’s not like Glee,” Instructor of Music Theater Jeremy Franklin said.

Music theater students at CMU can spend upwards of 12 hours a day on campus, rehearsing practicing and attending class, all for the love of performing and a degree that in no way promises a job in the future. Despite all this, about 30 of over 100 theater majors at CMU have chosen to concentrate in music theater.

“[Shows like Glee] don’t show the actual work that it takes to perform at the level that the characters display,” Franklin said. “They don’t show the hours of rehearsal. They just do it spontaneously, but they do it in 50 takes and they are all lip-syncing. Here, that’s not how it is.”

Music theater students take classes in a broad range of skills, cramming advanced knowledge of music, dance and acting into one degree. Instead of spending the day in a classroom, music theater students learn tap, ballet or jazz dance, study music theory, take private voice lessons and study acting and stage movement.

When a day of classes ends, rehearsal begins. Students audition for a multitude of performances and keep a busy schedule. Rehearsals run Monday through Saturday and go as late as 10 p.m. Sunday is the only day of rest, as it is a mandatory black out day for the theater department and no rehearsals may be held.

“It’s a huge time commitment, going to one rehearsal from 5-7, then the next rehearsal from 7:30-9.” music theater student Matt LaFrenierre said. It’s always something right after another, whether it is dance, one acts, main stage shows or just doing a practice for a class.”

Upon graduating, music theater alumni enter the professional theater world. Many graduates audition in cities such as New York and Los Angeles, while others stay closer to home in Denver.

“It’s tough out there, especially for the females,” Franklin said. “When they get to New York, they have three to five hundred girls standing in line behind them who all sing, dance and act, just like they do. The competition is steep, but we must be preparing them pretty well, because all six graduates from last May are working.”

Regardless of the long hours, the hard work and the competition for employment upon graduation, music theater students are not deterred from choosing the program. They go into it with such a love for the art that all of the difficulties are worth it.

“From a young age, I fell in love with theater, music, dancing, all the lights and just being up on stage,” LaFrenierre said. “It lets me express how I feel, and it’s a true passion of mine.”

akmaddox@mavs.co