Carefully Taught: Teaching Musical Theatre with Matty and Kikau

Matty and Kikau began the podcast August 15th, 2021. The past four years have been a total blast, but the time has come to move on to other projects...for the time being. Thank you for being a part of our MT educator community and audience. Our recommendations include going back to check out some of our previous episodes and the Apple TV+ show, The Studio.

Carefully Taught: Teaching MT with Matty and Kikau is a podcast to discuss Musical Theatre Pedagogy and to create a community of sharing amongst Musical Theatre Educators. 

We have recorded 75 episodes, with a total of over 13,000  plays.

A huge thank you to all of our listers and guests.

Our guests have included Amanda Wansa Morgan (Kennesaw State University), Rick Edinger (CMU), Shavana Calder (Arts in Color), Tim Espinosa, Lauren Haughton-Gillis (Florida State University), Nikki Snelson (Legally Blonde), Khalia Davis (Coterie Theater), David Coolidge, Jacob Brent (Elon University), Katie O’Halloran (Hadestown), Marty Austin Lamar (Cal State Fullerton), Chris Peterson (On Stage Blog), Aaron J. Albano (Newsies, Hamilton, Aladdin), Kaitlin Hopkins (Texas State University), Laura Rikard (Theatrical Intimacy Education), Jodie Picoult, Timothy Allen McDonald, Kate Anderson, and Elyssa Samsel (Between the Lines), Sally Cade Holmes (Cowboy Bob), Amanda Flynn (Pace University), Kristy Cates (The New York Film Academy), Daniel Mertzlufft (The Thanksgiving Musical, Ratatouille), Jessica Humphrey (Texas Christian University and President of MTEA), Broadway Bob (@broadwaybob), Kate Reinking (@theatreislife on TikTok), Alisa Hauser (Florida State University College of Music), Van Angelo (San Diego Music Theatre), Rose Van Dyne (Pace University), Victoria Bussert (Oberlin Conservatory), Making Light Productions, Tiernan Tunnicliffe and Matt Raffy (& Juliet), Ben Cherington, Eden Mau, and Christopher James Tamayo (Les Miserables), Sarah Kay and Nathan Angelo (Here Lies Love), Erin Farrell Speer (The University of Utah), Aaron Lazar (The Light in the Piazza), Lara Teeter (Webster University), Jami Witt Miller (Chico State), Chelsea Pace (Open Intimacy Creatives), Tommy Iafrete (Binghamton University), Drew Boudreau (@collegeauditionpro), Laura Enstall (@auditionwell), Leo Ash Evens (@musicaltheatrecollegeauditions), Josh Young (Missouri State), Aaron Brown, Cassie Abate, and Tom Delbello (Co-Heads of Texas State University), Scott Susong (Ohio Northern University), Andre Garner (Michigan University), Ben Lundy (Wallace Community College), Michael E. Mckelvey (Carnegie Mellon), RJ Magee (Midwestern State University), Adam Moxness (Viterbo University), Lisa Hermanson (New Mexico State), Valerie Acetta (University of Alabama at Birmingham), Aaron Galligan-Stierle (Slippery Rock University), Kelly Todd (Pepperdine University), Ryan Scoble (West Virginia University), Shorey Walker (The Growing Studio), Josh Grisetti (Cal State Fullerton), and Steven Gross (Temple University).

Matty and Kikau chat with Steven Gross who is currently the program head of The Abbott MFA in Musical Theater Collaboration Program at Temple University. Steven is the founder and CEO of MusicalTheatreSongs.com. His recommendation for today is the television show Hacks.

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Steven Gross has worked on Broadway, Off-Broadway, the West End and internationally as a music director, conductor, pianist, sub and vacation conductor. He is a Lortel Award nominee for Best Musical for his adaption of The Pirates of Penzance at the South Street Seaport. He has conducted the European premieres of The Life, Urinetown, Falsettos, Beehive, Forever Plaid, Closer Than Ever, Flora the Red Menace and other works. He also works extensively as a classical conductor and has appeared with many national and international opera companies, symphony orchestras and festivals. He is as an orchestrator and arranger for many symphony orchestras, theatrical, digital and online productions. His musical Nijinsky has been performed in Berlin, Zurich and Monte Carlo.

Steven has collaborated on new musicals with Award-winning composers and lyricists including Benny Andersson & Bjorn Ulvaeus, Sam Carner & Derek Gregor, Douglas Cohen and Zoe Samuel, Cy Coleman, David Friedman, Zina Goldrich & Marcy Heisler, Mark Hollmann & Greg Kotis, Brett Macias, Lauren Taslitz & Danny Ursetti. Steven holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in Conducting from Yale University and is a Fulbright and Rotary Scholar. He has extensive experience working in academia as a clinician, guest artist and professor. 

Matty and Kikau connect with Josh Grisetti (Cal State Fullerton) about the question he posed on TikTok...Are there too many MT BFAs? They all weigh in on the conversation and it makes for a great episode! Let us know what you think about this topic!

Josh recommends some of his favorite TikTokkers to follow: Michael Reilly Burke (@michaelreillyburke), Sam Stiglitz (@auditionprola), and The Musical Dealer (@themusicaldealer)!

Kikau, Matty, and special guest Shorey Walker talk all things SENIOR SHOWCASE! We have been talking about showcases for the last couple years and Shorey is a true expert. In this episode, we talk about how to prepare for a New York showcase experience and what you might look for when talking about showcasing with a prospective program.

Shorey’s recommendation is the website UpToDateActor.com and for listeners of our podcast you can type in SM2P5 to receive a FREE month of membership benefits.

If you would like to reach out to Shorey directly, contact her at [email protected]. 

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Shorey Walker is a working actor in Theatre, Commercials, Hosting, Industrials, TV & Film. Pursuing a career in New York City since 1992, Shorey performed in 8 Broadway National Tours, 13 years in a row of summer stock, 20+ regional theatre productions, 10+ Off-Broadway credits including the 2018 production of Tchaikovsky: None But the Lonely Heart at the Signature Theatre and can be heard as The Cat In the Hat on the revival recording of Seussical. Recent TV appearances include White Collar, Diabolical, Redrum, One Life To Live, The Eric Andrew Show, Sprout TV and Deadly Sins.

Matty and Kikau interview the Musical Theatre Educators’ Alliance (MTEA) nominees for the office of the president. If you are a member in good standing you are eligible to vote right now! The deadline to vote is Monday, April 28th @ 11:59pm EST. If you are not a member, you can follow this LINK to get more information about joining. MTEA is an amazing organization and we are both excited about these incredible candidates, Ryan Scoble (Assistant Professor Musical Theatre at West Virginia University)  and Lauren Haughton-Gillis (Assistant Professor, Music Theatre and Director of the BFA Music Theatre Program at Florida State University).

Today Kikau talks to Kelly Todd from Pepperdine University in Malibu, CA. We have a fantastic conversation about her program, how her and her students survived two fires in the past few months, and hard work! Her recommendation is Brené Brown's podcast Dare to Lead.

Kelly Todd received her MEd in mathematics education from UCLA in 1999 and her BA in theater arts also from UCLA in 1997. She has taught as a professor in the theater department at Pepperdine University for four years and has choreographed their recent musicals Big Fish, Crazy for You, and South Pacific. She is the 2014 Ovation Award Winner for Best Choreography for her work on Lysistrata Jones at the Chance Theater, where she is a resident artist. Some of her favorite credits there have been West Side Story, for which she received the LA Drama Critics Circle 2012 Special Award for Fight Choreography, and Triassic Parq, in 2013 and Jerry Springer: The Opera, in 2011 which both won the Ovation Award for Best Musical in an Intimate Theater and garnered her Ovation Award Nominations for Best Choreography. She was named Southern California's Choreographer of the Year in 2011 and 2012 by Stage Scene LA. Other credits include Once (Regional Premiere after Broadway), Light in the Piazza, Ivy and Bean, The Musical, Peter Pan and Seussical at South Coast Repertory, and The Who's Tommy at Segerstrom Center for the Arts.

Matty and Kikau discuss hanging out in New York for the Chico State Showcase, seeing some Broadway shows, Disney cruises, and moving to California! Please like, comment, and subscribe. Your comments will help others find our podcast!

Kikau and Matty chat with Aaron Galligan-Stierle, who is an Assistant Professor and Head of Musical Theatre at Slippery Rock University. This episode has some great gems! Hear about this up and coming program and how Aaron goes above and beyond! Aaron has a request from YOU: He is looking for recommendations on two topics: How do I become a better fund raiser? and Can we find a better way to recruit? Aaron's recommendation is an app called Things 3.

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Aaron Galligan-Stierle, Assistant Professor and Head of Musical Theatre, is an accomplished actor, director and producer with critically acclaimed work that ranges from Broadway musicals to Shakespeare. He is also a highly sought after audition coach providing exclusive workshops and one-on-one training for professionals in the Broadway community and at top universities across the country.

Aaron performed on Broadway as Papa Who in Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Henry Ford in the Tony-nominated revival of Ragtime, and was selected by Harold Prince to replace the longest-running actor in a Broadway show, taking over the role of Monsieur Andre in The Phantom of the Opera. Aaron’s touring credits include Mike Nulty in the national tour of White Christmas and Hark the Herald in the international tour of Cinderella, starring Lea Salonga.

Kikau and Matty chat with the remarkable Valeria Accetta, who is the Head of Musical Theatre at The University of Alabama at Birmingham. Her recommendation is an app called the Healthy Minds App and a book called Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma by Claire Dederer.

Valerie is a member of Actor’s Equity Association, an Associate Member of Stage Directors and Choreographers, and an Estill Master Trainer in Estill Voice Training. As an Equity actress, Valerie played Margy Frake in the First National Tour of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s State Fair, starring John Davidson. She has performed in numerous other musicals including the title role in Cinderella, Maria in The Sound of Music, and Lady Larkin in Once Upon a Mattress, and she performs regularly in concerts and cabarets.

She first began her studies in musical theatre at the University of Miami and received a BA in Musical Theatre Pedagogy from Otterbein University and an MFA in Theatre Pedagogy from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Matty and Kikau discuss all things A.I. (Artificial Intelligence) related when it comes to teaching MT with Lisa Hermanson who is an Assistant Professor of Musical Theatre in the New Mexico State Department of Theatre. At the end of the episode, Lisa recommends a podcast called Normal Gossip, which "delivers juicy, strange, funny, and utterly banal gossip about people you’ll never know and never meet. Host Kelsey McKinney discusses reader-submitted comedic gossip with guests, diving into the lives and decisions of complete strangers. "

Lisa is originally from Seattle, Washington. She holds her MFA in Theatre Pedagogy/Performance from Virginia Commonwealth University, where she was also adjunct faculty in Theatre and Speech, and her BA in Theatre and Music from Seattle Pacific University. Lisa is a music director, director, pianist, vocalist, and composer/playwright. She has worked in theatres in both the Seattle and Richmond areas, including Virginia Repertory Theatre (Richmond, VA) and the 5th Avenue Theatre (Seattle, WA), as well as multiple years in theatre education in Seattle.