Aubrey Berg

Sometimes people have to travel the world to follow their dreams. CCM Musical Theatre Chair, Aubrey Berg began the journey for his education in Cape Town, South Africa, where he was born and raised. After getting his undergrad, he moved to England to get a master’s degree at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and then started his professional career as a director and teacher. He directed in England until he felt the need to get an advanced degree. In 1975 he finally moved to the states and attended The University of Illinois to get a masters and a PhD in Theatre.

There’s nothing like your first. Upon asking about Aubrey’s first directing project, he was filled with giggles and smirks. The project was at 16 years old and it was an experimental piece called Corks for the Brownings. He remembers it being edgy and contemporary for the time and if he knew then what he knows now, he probably wouldn’t have done it.  A poet who does most of the talking in the piece sets the scene of the play. The main character, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, is in the middle of a battlefield in Vietnam where she is then saved by the swans of Swan Lake. Aubrey said, “There must have been a deeper meaning, I’m sure, but I don’t remember it.” It was entered in a theatre competition and actually won first prize. Aubrey, or Bubba as we call him in school, said this project really gave him the experience to think outside the box at a young age. He doesn’t think it was a very good piece by today’s standards but he is thankful for the lessons he learned while working on it.

It was this lesson that he had to bring with him to the States to bring the musical theatre program of CCM to life. His predecessor left two years before Bubba got the job as chair of the musical theatre program. So for two years the theatre department went without a head. As imagined, there was chaos. It was basically a voice program with requirements like one year of Ballet and two years of Acting. It was in no way the triple threat program it is today. His interview for the job included a few questions and a teaching assessment. Before Corbett Auditorium there was Wilson Auditorium. It was in the basement of Wilson that he directed students in two separate scenes: one dramatic and one comedic. He was hired and then he had the crazy responsibility to reshape a shapeless program.

His first decree as head of the program was appointing a resident choreographer/dance teacher. He insisted that the program be better rounded. He could see that Broadway was evolving and that the program had to get with the times. Bubba actually made equal emphasis on voice, acting, and dance, which is what the students desperately needed. Now students take a healthy mix of classes including: 4 years of acting, 4 years of jazz technique, 4 years of vocal training,, Pilates, audition techniques, musical theatre history, and music theory. Although his curriculum has changed over the years, it’s not due to lack of success. Rather because of the changing times in the Broadway scene. Whereas 25 years ago they focused theatre around an amazing voice or excellent dance technique, nowadays the emphasis is on acting. “Although a student may be a brilliant dancer and singer, without strong acting training the student will not be as successful in today’s theatre.”

When I asked Aubrey when he became aware that CCM had turned into a triple threat program, he replied, “You know, I just woke up one morning and decided it was.” This really shows his positive thinking approach to his teaching style. If someone sees himself or herself as a great actor, director, or person, eventually it will happen. He went on by saying that the success of the program is evident in it’s alumni. There is a CCM grad in almost every show on Broadway and in Tours around America. And since our school is very selective, only accepting about every 1 in 80 students when hundreds audition, we are able to provide the individual attention that a student needs to perfect their skills. Other top musical theatre schools such as Boston Conservatory and University of Michigan accept about 80 freshmen a year compared to our 20. With so many students it’s easy to get lost in the crowd. Bubba really wanted to make an elite program with many opportunities for his “babies”.

This selective, small group nature is also brought into his directing work. Ironically, he really loves very small casts of people. I say ironically because he’s normally set up to direct the Corbett Main stage shows. Bubba said, “When I have a huge cast of people, I feel more like a traffic cop.” This makes so much sense because when you’re trying to make formations onstage with 40 people having separate conversations, you just need to be almost militaristic to get to the desired goal. Another one of his directing tips includes looking at visual images or art of the period that the play or musical takes place. He’s really moved and inspired by the artwork of the time. He says it informs a lot about what was going on socially and it can be great inspiration for a scenic designer as well.

When asked about his favorite show to direct since coming to CCM, he didn’t give a straight answer. He talked about having the amazing opportunity to direct shows twice in his career. Evita was the first show he directed at CCM and my freshman year he revived it in Corbett Auditorium. Along with Evita he’s done Into the Woods and Hair twice. Bubba is really looking forward to directing Les Miserables in Patricia Corbett Theatre this spring. He’s waited a long time to do this show.

Directing is definitely a perk of the job but there are also some parts that aren’t all sunshine and rainbows. He isn’t very fond of the paperwork that comes along with the job. Also sitting through hundreds of auditions a year has its ups and downs as well. Sometimes a prospective student will give a questionable audition and then their mother will find Aubrey in the lobby, send him an email, mail him a gift, or a combination of all three. This gets to be overwhelming when it comes to the amount of people seen in one day of auditioning. Most of the auditions are videotaped for further viewing by other faculty not present at the audition. These videos are also a teaching tool in Bubba’s audition techniques class. Some of the tapes go back as much as 20 years and are excellent bases for hysterical horror stories in the class. Bubba lists them as some of his favorite memories at the school.

The school and its students have been his family for so many years. He refers to his students as his babies because they really are. He is truly our wise old grandfather her at school. His wisdom and advice are so precious to us as students because he has lived through so many eras of theatre. Not many instructors have so many years under their belt. Although sometimes this wisdom is stubborn when it comes to adjusting with the ever-changing times, it’s ultimately an asset. He is retiring soon and it will be interesting to see how CCM with react to a different director once he’s gone. Maybe the program will undergo another transformation like with Aubrey’s entrance. Only time will tell.