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Tulsa, OK, United States
This blog is a record of the Senior Class from the University of Tulsa's Musical Theatre Program as we develop a Showcase to perform in New York. For more information, including how to donate, click on 'Who We Are' under the Pages sidebar!

Sunday, May 1, 2011

THIS IS IT! HEADING TO NYC!



Hi everyone! My name is Jonathan W. Gilland and I am a musical theatre major at the University of Tulsa…or at least I am for the next week! The rest of the seniors and I graduate this coming Saturday and are excited to be moving forward to bigger and better things. While we of course will miss our TU Family that we will leave behind, we look forward to what is to come! But before we can graduate, we have to go to NYC and perform our Senior Musical Theatre Showcase!

The past few weeks of showcase have been filled with making sure we had everything ready for our showcase. From fixing our audition notebooks with some final touches to actually packing our bags, we have been running nonstop to keep up with the end of this crazy semester. Our showcase with Actors Connection is only 3 days way! On Tuesday we will finally perform our songs that we have thinking about and preparing to perform for at least a year now! I just can’t believe it is all about to happen.

I know that while we are excited to do the showcase, not everyone is dependant on finding immediate work from this. I know Kirsten has an internship with a company in New York that starts two days after graduation and I have to been in Dallas three days after graduation to start rehearsals for Next to Normal with Uptown Players. We are still very excited to see what the showcase has in store for us and hope that the casting agents and directors love us! J

No matter what happens in NYC and who gets callbacks from whatever agents, I am so proud of my class. Four years together have finally come down to this trip. It is a culmination of a lot of blood, sweat, tears, and at lot of alcohol. But seriously, I can’t imagine going on this trip without my 7 best friends, my fellow senior musical theatre majors. Are we all perfect? No. Are we all going to get jobs from this? Probably not. But that doesn’t mean that I’m not excited to spend our last few days together making great memories. I have watched each and every one of them struggle and overcome challenges during their four years that have made them stronger and better performers and people. There have been good times and bad. There has been a lot of drama but we have always made it through it. Sometimes we have to go through rough patches in order to truly enjoy what is to come. We have betrayed and hurt each other but we have always praised and loved each other through it all. A true family like this knows how to help and how to hurt. With all of this, I like to quote the following from Wicked:

“I've heard it said
That people come into our lives for a reason
Bringing something we must learn
And we are led
To those who help us most to grow
If we let them
And we help them in return
Well, I don't know if I believe that's true
But I know I'm who I am today
Because I knew you...

So much of me
Is made of what I learned from you
You'll be with me
Like a handprint on my heart
And now whatever way our stories end
I know you have re-written mine
By being my friend...

And just to clear the air
I ask forgiveness
For the things I've done you blame me for
But then, I guess we know
There's blame to share
And none of it seems to matter anymore

Because I knew you...
I have been changed for good..."

(yes I know how cheesy that is but it truly is how I feel.)

Machele: We love you and are thankful for all that you have done for us in the past 4 years. We will never truly be able to express our gratitude. Thank you for seeing us through. Thank you for never giving up on us and believing in us.
Jim: Thank you for always being there. Thank you for always loving us even when you could have killed us.
To the Senior MT Class of 2011: Thank you for an incredible 4 years! Now lets go kick but in NYC!


I love every single one of them and will miss them dearly.

This is my TU family.