Theatre Arts

Interested students should apply academically via  Common App or on our  website and submit their official high school transcripts. Official SAT/ACT scores may also be submitted, if desired (Molloy University is TEST OPTIONAL).

UPDATES FOR 2024-2025 AUDITION PROCESS:

1) We WILL be requiring prescreen videos for 2024-2025 and will follow the Musical Theatre Common Prescreen Guidelines (OPTION A for songs, monologue and dance; ballet and wild card videos optional) which can be viewed here:

https://getacceptd.com/musical-theater-common-prescreen

2) Prescreen videos should be uploaded to the Molloy/CAP21 Accept'd page (opens September 10th). While there is no firm deadline (Molloy University offers rolling admissions), we STRONGLY recommend that BFA students apply academically to the college AND submit their prescreen videos by DECEMBER 15th for priority consideration:

https://app.getacceptd.com/molloycap21

3) Our auditions will be run both IN-PERSON and VIRTUALLY this year. Audition slots will be offered on several dates from mid-December through the end of February.

**Upon academic AND artistic prescreen clearance, selected students will receive a link to set up their live departmental audition. We plan to notify all complete applicants of their prescreen decision by the first week of December.**

For questions or information contact:

Rebecca Overton
Theatre Arts Recruitment Coordinator
516-323-4405 or roverton@molloy.edu

Molloy University/CAP21 2024-2025 AUDITIONS

Upon academic AND prescreen clearance, selected students will receive a link to set up their live departmental audition. Both IN-PERSON and VIRTUAL audition slots will be offered on several dates from mid-December through the end of February.

In addition to our on-campus Manhattan Center auditions (one date of which will coincide with NY Unifieds specifically for out-of-state students), we will also be auditioning at Pittsburgh Unifieds, Drewnifieds, CAP United, Moonifieds, Colorado Thespians, Chicago Unifieds and Los Angeles Unifieds.

We plan to notify all complete applicants of their prescreen decision by the first week of December.

Rebecca Overton

CAP21/Theatre Arts Recruitment Coordinator

roverton@molloy.edu

Purchase Cry Baby The Musical Tickets

Chris O'Connor

Chair, Molloy University Theatre Arts

Associate Professor

Chris is an Associate Professor and the Chair of the Molloy University/CAP21 BFA program. Recent professional directing projects include Billy Bishop Goes to War and Two Gentlemen of Verona at Franklin Stage Company. As Founding Artistic Director of the New Jersey regional theatre Mile Square Theatre, he received an Award of Excellence from the New Jersey Theatre Alliance. Chris produced 19 seasons for MST, including the Off-Broadway transfer of Erin Mallon’s The Net Will Appear. He directed over 30 plays at MST and has directed at theatres and universities across the country.

As an actor he has performed Off-Broadway and regionally in such theatres as Seattle’s A Contemporary Theatre, The Culture Project, Soho Rep, The Ahmanson, Gloucester Stage, Provisional Theatre of Los Angeles, Maltz Jupiter Theatre, The Ohio Theatre, The Bathhouse Theatre, Seattle Children's Theatre, and at City Theatre in Pittsburgh. TV credits include Magic City and Burn Notice, and he appears in the indie thriller Depraved. Upcoming projects; He will direct Yuppies Invade My House at Dinnertime at MST and Good People at FSC. He will also perform in the solo physical comedy piece Balloonacy at MST this April and May.

Chris holds a BFA from Carnegie-Mellon University and an MFA from Rutgers University.

Choreographer: Can-Can, Bye, Bye Birdie, Oklahoma!, Oliver!, Bawdy: Off-Broadway's Biggest Little Vaudeville (Triad Theatre, NYC – 10 year run), The Boys from Syracuse, 1776, Annie, Kiss Me Kate, Fiddler on the Roof, The Pajama Game, the ballet Prelude A L'apres-Midi D'un Faune .

Assistant Director/Choreographer: Hello, Dolly!, Evita, West Side Story, The New York Idea (Off-Broadway, Lucille Lortel Theatre; Atlantic Theatre Company), Working (Atlas Theater, NYC), the Bulova Birthday Celebration (Macy's 34th Street, NYC), Evita, City of Angels, The Golden Books National Tour & Read-In, The Save the Children Benefit (Bellagio, Las Vegas), Tisch Gala’s (Lincoln Center, Avery Fisher Hall, Broadway-St. James Theatre, NYC's Town Hall, Madison Square Garden, The Plaza Hotel).

Performance: National/International Tours: Hello, Dolly!; Crazy for You; The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas; Regional (over 60, including): A Chorus Line, West Side Story, Cats, Cinderella (Paper Mill Playhouse), The Music Man, Anything Goes, Chicago, The Fantastics, Peter Pan, Mame, Gypsy, She Loves Me, Annie, Fiddler on the Roof, Beauty and the Beast, Seussical, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Oklahoma!, The Most Happy Fella, Carousel, The Secret Garden, Will Rogers Follies, My Fair Lady, The Sound of Music, Singing in the Rain, Jesus Christ Superstar, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Footloose, Guys and Dolls, Joseph..., South Pacific, Jaques Briel..., A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Mousetrap. Ballets: Little Women, The Nutcracker.

TV: The Quest; and various voice-overs;  National Public Radio.

Dance Faculty: New York University, Tisch School of the Arts, Undergraduate Drama; Molloy University; New York University, Tisch School of the Arts, Graduate Acting Program; Pittsburgh Musical Theater.

Education: Interlochen Arts Academy; B.F.A., NYU, Tisch School of the Arts.

Proud member of AEA.

Director of Curriculum and Conservatory Affairs for the Molloy/CAP21 BFA Program. She has been with CAP21 since 1998. She is also a Co-Founder and Artistic Director for Dirty Minds Theatre Company, a not-for-profit theatre dedicated to raising funds for NYC based LGBTQ charitable organizations. (www.dirtymindstheatrecompany.com) 

Aimee hails from Michigan and is an alum of Western Michigan University where she studied Directing and Theatre Administration. Aimée has worn a variety of hats including Director, Teacher, Actress, Tour Manager and Administrator with such companies as The Augusta Barn Theatre (MI), Top Hat Productions (MI), Kidstuff Touring Musical Theatre (MI), Pennsylvania Stage Company (PA) and Jean Cocteau Repertory (NYC).

As a teacher for CAP21, courses have included Musical Scene Study, Acting Scene Study, Vocal Performance and Script Analysis. Some favorite past directing experiences include Head Over Heels, Andrew Lippa's, The Wild Party, Cry-Baby, CABARET, Into the Woods, Children of Eden, A Quiet End, The Frog Prince and Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune. Aimée also directed and co-authored an original musical piece entitled Hardback Fantasies and Paperback Secrets.

NYC-based actor, singer, and voice teacher. As a performer, he has appeared in concert at Feinstein’s/54 Below, (le) poisson rouge, The Metropolitan Room, and The Astor Room. He received his graduate degree in vocal pedagogy and music education from Teachers College, Columbia University. He graduated from Ithaca College, summa cum laude with a bachelors of music degree in voice and acting, a specialized degree requiring advanced coursework in acting technique, literature, and movement in addition to the complete curriculum required to receive a vocal performance degree. He has also trained extensively in theater, film, and tv techniques at the Michael Howard Studios and The Barrow Group. Additionally, he holds a Distinguished Voice Professional Certificate through the New York Singing Teachers Association (NYSTA) for the successful completion of their Professional Development Program. He is currently pursuing an advanced Masters of Education (Ed.M) from Teachers College, Columbia University in music and music education, focusing on adult education and educational leadership. He is also on the Board of Directors for the NYC Chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing.  

In addition to maintaining a private studio of professional singers, Chris currently serves as the Head of Voice and Music in the BFA Theatre Arts program at Molloy University/CAP21 and is an Adjunct Professor of Voice in the BFA Musical Theater program at Pace University and in the Vocal Performance program at NYU, teaching musical theater, contemporary music, and graduate vocal pedagogy students. He was an associate teacher for Mike Ruckles Voice Studio from 2016-2021.  

As a passionate advocate for training voices of developmental age, from 2018-2021 Chris also served as the Assistant Director of the Singers’ Workshops @ Teachers College, a group designed to help young singers build confidence and vocal technique as they navigate their developing voices to prepare for a lifetime of singing. He is also part of the core faculty teaching private voice and vocal pedagogy at BroadwayEvolved, a training intensive for college-bound students, founded by Broadway star, Betsy Wolfe.  

A lifelong learner and self-professed voice “nerd,” Chris continues to be mentored and supervised by singing voice specialists, Dr. Jeanne Goffi-Fynn and Richard Lissemore at Columbia University. He has also participated in the NATS NYC Mentor Teacher Program, where he had the opportunity to work with and learn from notable musical theater pedagogues, such as Mary Saunders-Barton. He has continued his education at the Singing Voice Science and Pedagogy Workshop, The Vocal Pedagogy Professional Workshop (Boston Conservatory), and The New CCM Vocal Pedagogy Institute (Shenandoah University). His research interests include comparative vocal pedagogy, voice teacher preparation and mentorship, assessment in the applied voice studio, and perception of aesthetics and vocal quality.  

As an educator, Chris believes in a student-centered approach to teaching and strives to honor the diversity that each student brings into the voice studio by prioritizing critical thinking, student agency, and creativity and problem-solving in the voice studio. Above all, Chris strives to learn something new about the voice every day.  

Additional details: chriscitera.com

Helen Farmer (she/her) regional credits include: Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, The Stratford Festival, Crossroads Theater, The Classical Theatre Lab, Shakespeare in the Rough, Theatre and Co, Dorset Theatre, and Co-Lab Arts. New York theatre includes work with Ensemble Studio Theatre, Project Y Theatre, Boundless Theatre Project. Recent projects include: the US premiere of Kotryna Gesait’s Cocoon and the audio pod cast series "The Lovely Dark". Originally Canadian, Helen was trained as an improviser at Keith Johnstone’s Loose Moose Theater, worked at Toronto’s Second City and is a veteran of several Fringe Festival shows. A Meisner trained actor Helen received an MFA in acting from Rutgers University’s MGSA.  Helen is also a trained Meisner teacher. Helen comes to CAP after 9 years at Rutgers teaching in both the BFA and MFA programs. In addition to teaching acting Helen is a certified Alexander technique teacher and has taught privately as well as at NYU and MGSA.

Melissa Firlit (director) is a director, actor, producer and educator. Previous performance projects for Molloy/Cap21 are the Devising Project, Cabaret, 9 to 5, An Axemas Story and others. In 2022, she directed and produced Marrow, with her theatre company Resolve Productions. Marrow ran at 59E59 in NYC, followed by a month-long engagement at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival where it received many rave reviews and accolades. 

In 2019 her production of Jekyll & Hyde was nominated for 3 Henry Awards by the Colorado Theatre Guild. She directed the Ireland National Tour of Misterman by Enda Walsh. Melissa’s work has been seen nationally at 59East59, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Mile Square Theater, New Light Theatre Project, The Princeton Festival, Creede Repertory Theatre, Pagosa Springs Center for the Arts and more.

As part of her personal commitment to collaboration with playwrights, Melissa is the Artistic Director for the Thingamajig Playwrights Festival which provides a workshop residency to two playwrights. Melissa’s work is strongly influenced by Uta Hagen and Frantic Method.

She is currently on faculty at Molloy University/Cap 21 Theatre Arts Program. Training: MFA Directing Rutgers University, BA Theater The University of Hartford and National Theater Institute. Member SDC. www.melissafirlit.com At Molloy/Cap21 she teaches Devising, Directing, Comedy and mainstage.

Michelle is an actress, director, writer, and teaching artist based in Brooklyn, NY. She is a proud summa cum laude graduate of the SUNY Purchase Acting Conservatory as well as the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities Acting Conservatory program.

As an actress, she has worked on Broadway in the Tony award-winning production of A Raisin in the Sun with Denzel Washington, off-Broadway in Hurricane Diane (New York Theater Workshop); Richard III, Love’s Labour’s Lost (Public Theater); A Kid Like Jake (LCT3); Richard and Jane and Dick and Sally (Playwright’s Realm/Baltimore Center Stage); Much Ado About Nothing (Theater for a New Audience); Measure for Measure (Epic Theatre Ensemble); Uncle Vanya (Pearl Theater); The Changeling (Red Bull Theater); The Sentinels (59E59), and many more. She also performed in As You Like It and The Tempest for The Bridge Project, directed by Sam Mendes. The company performed at BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music) in NYC before an international tour, including Hong Kong, Singapore, Paris, Madrid, Germany, Amsterdam, Aviles, and concluding with a run at The Old Vic Theater in London.

Regionally, she has performed in Top Girls (ACT); The Wanderers (The Old Globe); King Charles III (ACT, Seattle Rep, Shakespeare Theatre DC); Tartuffe (McCarter/ Yale Rep); Hamlet (Shakespeare Theatre); Proof (TheatreWorks Palo Alto - BATCC award); Winter’s Tale, Cyrano de Bergerac (Oregon Shakespeare Festival).

On screen, she has had recurring roles on Starz’s Power, Book II: Ghost and Marvel’s Luke Cage. She can also be seen on Fleischman is in Trouble; The Good Fight; Manifest; Homeland; Claws; and Madam Secretary. Film credits include the award-winning sci-fi film Ovum; American Black Film Festival’s Best Narrative Ambition’s Debt; Sam & Julia; Death of a Prince; Spinning Into Butter.

Her film, THE SNAKES, which she wrote, directed, and produced, is currently streaming on HBO and HBO Max. It is set in a parallel future where an isolated, young Black woman responds to a culture of fear with violent fantasies that spiral out of control. THE SNAKES played at the Pan African Film Festival, Martha's Vineyard African American Film Festival, Brooklyn Film Festival, and the American Black Film Festival where it was a finalist in the HBO Film Competition. It was also nominated for a Black Reel Award.  She is currently in pre-production for her next project, DISPATCHMENT. 

As a teacher, Michelle is the Director of Film at Epic Theater Ensemble, a professional theater company generating original content focused on social justice issues with students from Title 1 schools. She has taught in-school residencies, lead after school Shakespeare Remix programs, mentored in the Epic Next Summer Intensive, and runs the Virtual Epic Film School. She has taught Shakespeare, Acting, and Devised Theater with The Public Theater, DreamYard, Hunt’s Point Children’s Shakespeare Ensemble, Shakespeare Theater in DC, American Conservatory Theater, Baltimore Center Stage, Shakespeare Theater, and TheatreWorks Palo Alto. She also coaches professional actors’ auditions through her business, An Actor Tapes.

Shannon Michael Wamser is a New York City based Actor/Writer/Fight Director. As an actor he
has been seen on some exceptional stages around the US including The Public Theatre,
Orlando Shakespeare Theatre, Arkansas Repertory Theatre, Playhouse on Park, Northern Stage
and several Shakespeare festivals. Recent credits include Fight Directing and playing the role of
Thomas Collymore in The Play That Goes Wrong at Theatre Raleigh (Nominated for best
choreography and best supporting performer, Broadway World Raleigh Awards). Film/TV
credits include "Interior," CBS's "Blue Bloods," "The Thing Before the Thing" (co-writer/actor/executive producer) available on Amazon Prime, and several award-winning short
films.

As a producer/director he co-founded two theatre companies in the New York City area,
Stages on the Sound and tax-deductible theatre, and in Los Angeles he founded an
independent media production company, Some Assembly Required. His work as a director and
writer has been seen in New York City, the Edinburgh Fringe and with Teatre Polski in Poznan,
Poland. He is a recognized stage combat instructor and Advanced Actor Combatant with
Dueling Arts, International. Fight directing credits include Theatre Raleigh, The Secret Theatre,
59E59, Playhouse on Park, Laguna Playhouse, Flux Theatre Ensemble, New York Theatre
Workshop.

As an arts educator he has worked Center Theatre Group, A Noise Within, Laguna
Playhouse, The Pasadena Playhouse, BAM, The Shakespeare Society, The Professional
Performing Arts School, Stevens College, University of Hartford and The University of Miami. He
holds a B.A. from DeSales University and MFA from Ohio University. He has continued his
training with Padova Arts in Padua, Italy, with Movement Theatre Studio (NYC), Upright Citizens
Brigade, the SITI Company, and with Grotowski experts Erica Fae and David Prete. He is a
member of The National Alliance of Acting Teachers, SAG-AFTRA, and AEA

Raife is the head of voice and speech at Molloy/CAP 21.  He also teaches voice, speech, and dialects at NYU Tisch, as well as doing extensive private coaching and instruction. Raife has an MFA in acting from The American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, as well as a BA in Theater Studies and Philosophy from Emory University in Atlanta. He has been teaching, performing, directing, producing, and LIVING in New York since 2008.