Playbill recognized OCU for being well represented by alumni on Broadway for the second year in a row.
Playbill is a company that publishes articles about what’s going on in the Broadway world. An article was published Aug. 26 ranking OCU tenth for the most represented colleges currently on Broadway, tied with the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.
OCU was also named in the top ten most represented colleges for last year’s season.
Dr. David Herendeen, director of opera and music theater at OCU, has been in his position since 1997 and has seen many of his students go on to have big careers.
Herendeen said seeing OCU on the list for the second year in a row came as no surprise.
“You constantly see universities’ sports teams quantified for being in the top ten. How does one decide the quality of a school; the rankings? There is no such thing as competitive art. This is one way to do it,” he said.
Herendeen said he believes this list is a simple way to rank training quality. OCU is unique because of its size compared to other schools, he said. The students and faculty across the performance schools at OCU are a family and they work together, he said.
Dr. Mark Parker, dean of the music and theater schools, said he was pleased that OCU has been named to Playbill’s list once again.
“It’s amazing; in the past, at any one time there was probably five or six OCU graduates on Broadway, but last year having 19 and then this year having a count of 24, our numbers are growing,” he said.
Parker also said OCU’s numbers aren’t just expanding onstage, but offstage as well, working on technical aspects of Broadway shows.
“This is not just a fluke or coincidence when you have that many people at what’s considered the top of the theatrical pyramid of the world, Broadway,” he said.
Parker said OCU is the only school west of the Mississippi on the list and is in many ways the smallest institution.
“OCU is very unique having almost 800 performing arts majors in comparison to the total population,” he said.
OCU was specifically listed for the School of Music as well as the School of Dance.
Kiera McGovern, sophomore dance major from New Jersey, said she often sees alumni performing in Broadway shows because of her proximity to New York City.
“One of the reasons I chose this school was because of its representation in the musical theater industry,” she said.
OCU is continuing to grow and become more well known, Herendeen said.
“OCU is the little engine that could, and does,” he said.
For more information, visit the Playbill website.
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