Fall 2025 will usher in a new program at the Conservatory: Music Theater. Faculty from Baldwin Wallace University’s  Conservatory of Performing Arts will collaborate on this program. Professor of Theatre and Director of Music Theater at Baldwin Wallace Victoria Bussert will lead the program. She has directed over 400 plays on prominent stages, including national tours of Into the Woods, The Secret Garden, Guys and Dolls, and The Who’s Tommy, as well as the Danish premiere of Avenue Q and [title of show]. New faculty joining the Conservatory will also include Laura Welsh Berg, who brings experience with Shakespeare and music theater acting, alongside Matthew Webb, a distinguished performer, music director, sound designer, and composer for the stage. The team will be completed by Lauren Marousek, whose career is focused on dance and choreography. 

“We are extraordinarily thrilled to welcome the faculty,” Dean of the Conservatory William Quillen said. “And we’re greatly looking forward to launching and to welcoming our inaugural students of the program in fall 2025.”

The program will culminate in a showcase for fourth-years in New York City, with additional performance opportunities in Cleveland. 

Nova Gomez, a fourth-year Theater major and aspiring Broadway star, has performed professionally in both areas while at Oberlin. Without institutional support, Gomez has auditioned for many professional shows, most recently booking a role in The Wolves with Dobama Theatre for this upcoming spring. Gomez has also performed in two showcases at 54 Below, a famous cabaret in New York City. Gomez explained how performing in each city brought a different, invaluable experience.

“Cleveland stuff is really helpful because it’s getting acclimated to professional theater in a familiar space, which is nice,” Gomez said. “There’s a sense of safety. The New York stuff has been really, really integral to me in building connections right now.”

Gomez emphasized the importance of building a wide network of fellow performers and theater personalities. 

“I think a lot of really valuable connections happen … from your fellow performers because a lot of performers are also producers and directors,” Gomez said. “And with a showcase, I think it’s a little different because your peers are going to be the ones who are performing, so you’re not really making those same connections. … But you are résumé-building, and the audience is probably going to be a lot of agents.”

While on campus, the Music Theater program will be housed in the retail space on the ground floor of The Hotel at Oberlin across the street from Apollo Theater. The space, which is being converted into rehearsal studios, is conveniently located between the Conservatory and theater buildings.

“Oberlin’s investment in the space and specialized faculty for music theater is remarkable,” Bussert said. “To me, it demonstrates an unwavering commitment to both the field and the next generation of music theater professionals. I couldn’t be more excited to be a part of it.”

The Oberlin community has expressed an excitement and interest in musical theater, too. 

“There’s long been an interest within the Conservatory, and really within the institution more broadly … in launching a music theater program,” Quillen said. “Of course, we’ve had a lot of music theater taking place on campus, in general — in the Theater department, things that are in the genre of music theater in the Conservatory, certainly student activity and interest. Many of our [alumni] have gone on to very, very, very distinguished careers from both the Conservatory and the College. … A lot of the comments we have heard from people go something like, ‘What took so long?’” 

Quillen referenced alumni including Julie Taymor, OC ’74, famous for directing the stage adaptation of The Lion King; John Kander, OC ’51, of the songwriting team Kander and Ebb, known for Cabaret and Chicago; and Natasha Katz, OC ’81, eight-time Tony Award-winning lighting designer, who most recently worked on the 2023 revival of Sweeney Todd.

In the last semester alone, there were at least four student-led musicals on campus, demonstrating clear demand for more music theater spaces. The Oberlin Musical Theater Association and Oberlin Student Theater Association have been growing quickly the last few years, and so has the number of Theater majors. 

“[OMTA/OSTA] is very specifically a place where students can … come and try anything that they’ve never tried before, from acting to directing to stage managing to design,” OMTA/OSTA Co-Chair and College second-year Sarah Storace Nelson said. “We welcome people who have never done anything but acting into various roles of tech, various roles of production management, a lot of different things. And I think that is a very valuable resource for students to have on campus, no matter who they are, whether they are in an intense musical theater program, or whether they’re a bio major and have never done a production before, which I think is fantastic.”

Considering how many students have an undeclared major, this opportunity to try new things falls right in line with Oberlin’s values.

“It’s been a lot of student-led shows, and the sense of community is really cool because you know the director, you know the stage manager, you can be friends with them outside of class,” College third-year Isaac Slater said.

While there is certainly an active and passionate musical theater community on campus, there is also a deficit of instruction in the field. Gomez noted that students need opportunities for faculty-led musicals to set themselves up for success in the industry.

“I think the biggest thing that this is offering is a space for faculty to advise students,” Gomez said. “Because, as someone who’s done professional, faculty-led, and student theater, there’s big differences, and I would say faculty-led theater is a really happy middle ground that is really important.”

College third-year Katie Priscott also noticed a lack of musical theater-style dance in the curriculum offered.

 “Outside of the student groups, there [aren’t] a lot of jazz classes,” she said. “I think there could be a demand because it’s an important skill. Even if you’re a dancer looking to primarily work in dance spaces, it’s good for versatility.”

Some students also worry that the extra-musical aspects of the program may be overlooked in a music conservatory environment, especially considering the use of the terminology “Music Theater” as opposed to “Musical Theater.” Dean Quillen explains that this is to put music and theater on equal levels of importance, as opposed to using music as a modifier for theater. However, he assured that there will be dedicated faculty for acting and dance in the program.

“If you look at what the students are doing, we clearly want musicals,” Gomez concluded. “So I think this is going to be a great, great thing.”