Next Step Prep

All new applicants are asked to complete five short essay questions (150-300 words per topic). It is a good idea to think about your answers before beginning the application process. You could even answer the questions ahead of time and cut and paste your answers into the application form. The five questions are:

What inspired you to apply for Next Step Prep?

As a performer, what do you feel are your strengths?

As a performer, what do you feel are the areas in which you need the most improvement?

What do you hope to learn and accomplish during your time at Next Step Prep?

What are your current academic and professional goals for your life after high school?

New Applicants must submit a recorded video audition which includes a 2-3 minute accompanied musical theatre song and a 2-3 minute monologue. All performances should be memorized. Material should also be age appropriate.

If you are unsure if your selections are appropriate please feel free to contact us at nextstep@MCTinc.org for audition tips.

Audition videos may be submitted along with your digital application, or sent via email to nextstep@MCTinc.org, or alternatively, files can be transferred to media and mailed directly to MCT. All mailed submissions become the property of MCT and will not be returned.

New applicants to Next Step Prep are required to submit the names of both an Artistic Mentor and an Academic Mentor who can provide a basic recommendation for the prospective student. References will be contacted directly by Next Step Prep staff.

An artistic reference should be familiar with your abilities as a performer and artist. They should be able to address questions relating to your current abilities as well as your individual style of learning.

An academic reference should be familiar with your abilities as a classroom student. They should be able to address questions relating to your scholastic achievement as well as your individual style of learning.

For each of these references you will need to supply their name, job title/occupation, as well as an email address and phone number. You should always ask potential references if it is acceptable for you to list them on your application, and it is always good to follow up with a thank you.

Those listed as references will be sent a link to a recommendation form which will then be filled out electronically. All information supplied by your references will go directly to Next Step Prep staff and will not be shared with applicants.

Next Step Prep offers students the best educational experience possible. The parent/guardian plays a major role in the gathering of insight into the applicant’s strengths and background. We ask that you provide the following information to the faculty and staff at Next Step Prep to ensure the success of your student. All information will remain confidential and will assist us in maximizing his/her learning opportunities.

Please describe the benefits you believe Next Step Prep can offer your child.

Please describe your child’s greatest social, academic, and artistic strengths.

Please describe how your child reacts to stress related to schoolwork, peer relationships and/or new situations.

Please provide any other information you feel might be relevant to this application.

After submitting your electronic application, you will receive an email explaining how you can pay your application fee. Applications will not be processed until the application fee is paid.

Interested students should not think they need to already be strong in all three of the theatrical disciplines (acting, singing, and dancing) in order to attend MCT’s Next Step Prep. Next Step is triple threat training—to help students develop skills and confidence in all three areas. For example, if a student considers him or herself only an actor, then Next Step would be a great training program to develop singing and dancing skills that will help the student reach a higher performance level. We offer several different levels of classes in all three disciplines. That way, the beginning actor, singer, or dancer isn’t lost in a room full of more experienced performers. And the more experienced performer will definitely have his or her skills challenged daily while attaining a higher level of professionalism.

What will you gain?

• Five weeks of daily acting, singing, and dancing classes taught by certified teachers.
• Private voice lessons.
• Workshops and master classes with well-known working professionals from the performing arts.
• Training in practical audition skills.
• Career/school choice counseling.
• Three semester high school credits.
• Small classes with lots of individual attention.
• A learned understanding of what is needed to succeed in the “real world” of competitive musical theatre – at the collegiate level and the professional level.
• The chance to be around other kids from around the world who love theatre as much as you do while having fun and working hard doing what you absolutely love!

Next Step Prep: Staff

• Managing Director: Gregory Boris
• Administration:
• Dorm Resident Supervisors: Lynnae Giffin & Haley Wilson
• Acting Instructor: Megan Scalise
• Dance Instructor: Traci Traasdahl
• Dance Instructor: Heather Adams
• Music Instructor: Draylen Askvig
• Music Instructor: Ellen McKenzie
• Accompanist: Anne Bashor
• Private Voice Instructor: Arielle Nachtigal
• 2019 Next Step Prep Special Guest Workshop Leaders
• Greg White – Acting the Song, Audition Preparation
• Kevin Chamberlin – Theatre and TV Audition Techniques
• Bill Bowers – Mime Techniques for the Actor
• Leigh Zimmerman – Broadway Dance Styles / Acting for the Stage
• Suzanne Carey – Vocal Coaching
• Lynn Helding – The Physiology of Singing
• Mica Clarkson – Contemporary Dance: Hip Hop Dance
• Scott “Mr. Shuffles” Nichols – Tap Dancing
• Anne Basinski – Theatre Styles: Gilbert and Sullivan
• MCT Administration
• Executive Director: Mike Morelli
• Artistic Director: Joseph Martinez
• Education Director: Emily Morrison

Next Step Prep: Previous Guest Artists

• ALEX GEMIGNANI (2009, 2010, 2011) Alex has appeared on Broadway in The People in the Picture, Sweeney Todd, Avenue Q, Passion, Sunday In The Park With George, and portrayed Jean Valjean in the 2006 Broadway revival of Les Misérables. Off- Broadway: The Public Theatre’s production of Sondheim and Weidman’s Road Show.
• ERIN ORTMAN (2009, 2010, 2011) Erin currently serves on the Acting Faculty at CAP21 (Collaborative Arts Project) Musical Theatre Conservatory in New York City. She also serves as a teaching artist for Broadway Classroom and has a thriving private acting studio in Manhattan. Erin is also a member of the Lincoln Center Director’s Lab.
• MARNI NIXON (2011) A Broadway, film, and TV veteran, Marni was the winner of the 2011 George Peabody Award for “Significant Contribution to American Music.” She is the singing voice of Deborah Kerr, Natalie Wood and Audrey Hepburn in the Motion Pictures and on the Soundtracks of The King and I, An Affair to Remember, West Side Story, and My Fair Lady; and also provided the voice of Grandmather Fa in Disney’s Mulan.
• ANDY TAYLOR (2009, 2011, 2013) Andy can currently be seen on Broadway in the hit show Once. He also performed the role of Leo Bloom in the National Tour of The Producers and was seen on Broadway in Titanic and Moon Over Buffalo(with Carol Burnett).
• ALET TAYLOR (2009, 2011, 2013) Alet has appeared onstage in Mel Brooks’ The Producers (1st National Tour). New York: The Brain From Planet X, The Boys From Syracuse, Sweet Adeline, L’il Abner, One Touch of Venus (City Center Encores), Tip Toes, and Louisiana Purchase (Carnegie Hall). Alet is a current faculty member of the American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA)
• MARY ANNA DENNARD (2011) Mary Anna is a nationally recognized college audition coach and author of “I Got In—The Ultimate College Audition Guide for Acting and Musical Theatre.”
• LINDA MURPHY (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013) Linda is an adjunct professor of dance at The University of Montana. She holds a BFA in dance from Southern Methodist University, and has studied and performed in New York City and Los Angeles. She also teaches tap at On Center Performing Arts and Ballet Arts Academy in Missoula, and continues to attend major tap festivals around the world.
• LYNN HELDING (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013) Lynn Helding is Associate Professor of Voice and Performance Studies at Dickinson College, a recitalist specializing in recital and chamber music of our time, a trained vocologist and singing voice specialist, and an active presenter on current topics in vocal pedagogy.
• GEORGIA STITT (2011, 2012) Georgia is a Broadway composer and lyricist. Her musicals currently in development include: Big Red Sun (NAMT Festival winner in 2010); Hello! My Baby; The Water (winner of the 2008 ANMT Search for New Voices in American Musical Theatre); Sing Me A Happy Song (a musical revue); and Mosaic. In 2012 Georgia, together with fellow NSP guest artist Susan Egan, performed her two woman show Glamour and Goop as a fundraiser for the Next Step Prep scholarship fund.
• SETH RUDETSKY (2010) Seth is a prominent Broadway vocal coach who appeared regularly on the MTV-produced Legally Blonde reality show and is also host of Seth’s Big Fat Broadway on Sirius/XM Satellite Radio’s Broadway’s Best. In 2010, Seth was the featured performer in the first Next Step Prep scholarship fundraising event, An Evening With Seth Rudetsky.
• BILL BOWERS (2009, 2010, 2012, 2013) Actor/mime/educator on Broadway for Lion King, Scarlet Pimpernel; Mime: Under a Montana Moon, It Goes Without Saying; Film: Two Weeks Notice.
• JASON ROBERT BROWN (2009, 2010) Broadway composer: Parade (Tony Award winner), The Last 5 Years, Songs for a New World, 13.
• TERRY MCGONIGLE (2009) Instructor/department coordinator Las Vegas Academy, 2008 inductee Educational Theatre Association’s National Teacher Hall of Fame.
• JACK FAILLA (2009) Dancer/choreographer Siegfried and Roy, Las Vegas; Moulin Rouge, Paris; International tours with Suzanne Somers and Carol Channing.
• STEVE SMITH (2009, 2010) Artistic director: Big Apple Circus; past Dean of Ringling Bros. Clown College; 1993 inductee to the Clown Hall of Fame.
• MARCUS OLSON (2009, 2010) Broadway Performer: Passion, Assassins; National Tour: Into the Woods (Baker).
• ALAN CAMPBELL (2009) Performer/ Producer Broadway: Tony Award nominee for Sunset Boulevard (Joe Gillis); TV: Jake and the Fatman, Three’s a Crowd;Artistic Producer of Hot Summer Nights at the Kennedy Theater in Raleigh North Carolina; Film: Weekend Warriors, Bump in the Night, Tom, Dick and Harry, andUniversal’s Simple Wish.

Tuition & Fees: Tuition for the five week summer session is $4,450. This includes all classroom fees, required texts, private voice instruction, and lunches during the school day. This does not include room and board for students staying in the dormitories.

Financial Aid: We firmly believe that talent knows no economic or geographical boundaries and that all motivated students should have an opportunity to explore their talents and their passions. Therefore, Next Step Prep offers considerable financial aid for those who qualify. All students are eligible to apply for financial aid once they have been accepted into Next Step Prep. Financial aid is based on several criteria, including student need, ability, and current access to performing arts training. Financial need is determined by an independent organization, School and Student Services. Payment plans are also available.

Tuition Credit for Bringing a Friend: Students may earn an additional $250 credit for each new student they recruit who applies, is accepted and attends the summer session—up to 4 new students—for a total tuition credit of $1,000. In addition, all students qualifying for tuition credits will still be eligible to apply for financial aid.

Students for MCT’s Next Step Prep summer session will be provided housing in the dormitories on the University of Montana campus. Those students with relatives or family friends in Missoula are welcome to make their own living arrangements for the six week summer session.

Costs: Room and board are an additional $2500 for the session, separate from the tuition fee.

Housing: Students choosing to stay in the dorms will be housed in double occupancy rooms and supervised by Next Step Prep resident dorm directors. Housing will be provided from the Sunday evening before the first day of classes through Saturday morning following the last day of classes.

Meals: All students will be provided lunch each day, Monday – Friday. In addition, dorm students will be provided with all morning, evening and weekend meals as part of their housing arrangement.