Updates from Boston!
Hey all!
Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! It’s been snowing here like crazy! We’ve had 4 days off of school in the past 3 weeks because of this blizzard, and today is one of those snow days, so I’m finally writing this log awaited update!!
I apologize for literally taking FOREVER to post this! Sorry!! Last semester at The Boston Conservatory has been really intense, and the intensity continues this semester! Life as a grad school student is definitely not easy, but I am having a blast and enjoying every moment here!
I really wanna thank each and everyone of you for making this possible, for pledging on my crowd-funding site, buying my cupcakes, coming to my show and for all your very generous donations and support. Words cannot express how thankful I am, and because of all your help, I have raised enough money to complete at least one year of my two year grad school program. Being a student at The Boston Conservatory is definitely a dream come true!
The school itself is ridiculously beautiful. It’s got this gothic/Victorian charm, sometimes I feel like I’m at Hogwarts!
This is the Seully Hall (I like to call it “The GreatHall”) where I had my singing recital, which was also my first performance at BoCo! I had to do my Portrait of a Princess number 
The school facilities are just amazing. I came at a really good time coz this year, BoCo opened up a new building along Ipswich St (which is right by my apartment!). Here’s the new Ipswich building:
There are a lot more studios, and even sound proof private practice rooms! I love that I can just hope over in a 30 seconds walk, and practice my singing and piano for as long as I want in these rooms!
Unfortunately, as an “international” student, I am not allowed to work outside of school, do gigs, or even busk! But we are allowed to work within the campus, which is perfect because they are very flexible with your work hours, and they usually work around your school schedule. So I applied for a job at the school’s costume shop department as a costume shop assistance!
Here is my cozy little workshop where I stitch and alter costume for all the main stage productions at BoCo. I work there for only 5 hours a week, because our schedule is so intense!
So here’s a little breakdown of my time table. you start 9, and usually you will have all your acting, voice, and music, and then in the afternoon you have all your performance classes like script and score analysis and musical styles, and a history class on thursdays. Dance classes are in the evenings, we do two ballet classes and two jazz classes a week from 5.30 pm to 7pm. And if you get cast in a main stage show, you will rehearse on weekday evenings from 7.30pm- 10.30pm, and on Saturdays. On top of that you have a gazzlion research to do and papers to write!
Speaking of main stage shows at BoCo…. Unlike Lasalle where you’re so lucky to be given a show to do with your classmates, rehearse your show in the afternoons, and end your day at 6pm, here you have to audition for everything get cast in a BoCo show there are people a BoCo who go through their whole undergrad and graduate program without getting a chance to be in a main stage production! It sucks, but it does prepare you for the real world even though you are only auditioning with 650 other students at BoCo.
On that note, here’s some really exciting news……. I got cast in a main stage show!! It’s a musical concert in the spring called, COOLSVILLE, and we’ll be singing the tunes of Ricky Lee Jones!
This will be my first main stage show at The Boston Conservatory , AND my Boston theatre debut! If you live in the east coast, come see this!! We open April 24th!
Being immersed into this glorious Broadway school has been so rewarding. The training here is exceptional and it’s really helping me solidify all the technique I have learned at Lasalle, as well as pushing my boundaries to explore other areas of performance! At the moment, I am not sure if I will be able to afford to continue my second year, hoping a miracle would happen!
Thanks for reading, and once again, thank you for your tremendous support! Be sure to check back for more updates, or like my page on facebook for more updates on my American theatre adventure! www.facebook.com/MinaEllenKaye
Love,
Mina