Uncovering Elon’s Mysterious Major: Musical Theater

Elon University’s Musical Theater program is one of the best in the country. It holds a top 10 ranking and a less than two percent acceptance rate, making it a highly competitive and nationally recognized program.

Over the years, the department’s alumni have taken the professional stage by storm, appearing in Broadway performances of Wicked, The Book of Mormon, Dear Evan Hansen, Mean Girls, and plenty more. Despite the program’s never ending list of accolades, few people on Elon’s campus know much about the department or its members—making it one of Elon’s most mysterious majors. 

The mystery of the department does not originate from its desire to be secretive but rather from the lack of time musical theater students have to do anything but focus on their craft. Unlike many “normal” Elon students who can get involved on campus through various activities, musical theater majors must go one step further to reach success. This reality has been experienced by musical theater major Audrey Trullinger ‘22 firsthand.

“We have classes like everyone else. But in addition to that, we have voice lessons, rehearsals, homework, meetings, auditions, and so many other things that a normal student does not,” Trullinger said. 

Musical theater student Andrey Vdevenko ‘21 has also experienced the high stakes of being a member of the program. 

“You definitely miss out on the college experience a bit,” he said. “There is an aggressive time schedule and the requirement of being healthy for performances all the time—something that most students don’t always have to think about.”  

While the lack of free time may be difficult, the intense focus on musical theater has fostered a community unlike many others, according to Vdevenko.

“The program is a small collective of close-knit passionate weirdos, led by a smaller collective of close-knit passionate weirdos,” he said. 

This community of “passionate weirdos” is not just connected through their love for the stage but also through their communal understanding of the harsh reality that is musical theater. 

“We are extreme overachievers,” Trullinger said. “You have to have motivation and grit because the average actor is rejected more times in a year than most people are their entire lives. We go above and beyond so that we can be the best we can be by the time we graduate.” 

But before they graduate, the two believe a greater awareness and appreciation for the program is necessary.

“I wish people knew how hard our program is to get into and how hard it is to be a musical theater major,” Trullinger said. “I wish people knew how much talent was right at their own school.” 

If you are interested in witnessing this talent yourself, the musical theater program will be bracing the stage February 13 to 16, with the Queen inspired show, We Will Rock You. 

Tickets for the show are available at the Elon box office, located in the Center for Performing Arts.