NYU cuts CAP21, Strasberg

The Tisch drama department has parted ways with two of its external studios, Collaborative Arts Project 21 and the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute.

The decision not to renew the CAP21 and Strasberg contracts was in part a financial one, according to Elizabeth Bradley, chair of the drama department.

"During ongoing extended negotiations with the external studios, it eventually became clear that in the current economic environment, we could no longer sustain six external studios simultaneously," Bradley said in an e-mail.

CAP21, a non-profit theater company and conservatory that has trained NYU's musical theater students for the past 15 years, will be replaced next year by a new internal musical theater studio: the Tisch School of the Arts New Studio on Broadway: Music Theater and Acting. Kent Gash will direct the new program.

In addition to being more cost-effective, the New Studio will allow for more collaboration among the Tisch departments, Bradley said.

Frank Ventura, executive artistic director and founder of CAP21, thought CAP21 would work with NYU this year to continue to make the studio system functional for Tisch. He said he was shocked by the split.

"In the midst of our negotiations, [Tisch] made the announcement that they were going in another direction," Ventura said. He added: "It's the biggest mistake they ever made."

Negotiations between CAP21 and Tisch are ongoing, and it is currently unclear whether students in the class of 2013 will be able to finish their training with CAP21. The contract allows CAP21 to continue working with NYU for two more years, so the classes of 2010 and 2011 will finish their training in the program.

This means that current CAP21 sophomores will not be able to complete their industry practice, and that freshmen CAP21 students will not be able to continue the program past their sophomore year. Ventura does not think this is ideal.

"Our commitment is to the students and enabling them to complete their training with CAP21 or in the CAP21 methodology," Ventura said.

CAP21 students were informed of the studio's separation from NYU over the summer, after the class of 2013 had already committed to the program.

Daniel Angeles is a Tisch junior who studied with CAP21 for two years and is now taking an academic semester off.

"I think the freshman class should have the opportunity to finish all four years because that's why they came here," Angeles said.

Despite the ambiguity of the current situation, Angeles believes the expiration of NYU's contracts with Strasberg and CAP21 will ultimately be positive for each institution.

"I think this was a long time coming," he said. "CAP21 and Tisch just wanted different things."

Ventura said the split will allow CAP21 to branch out to a more varied client base. While the old contract with Tisch excluded CAP21 from collaborating with other universities, the studio is now free to establish relationships with outside institutions. "It's actually a great thing for us," Ventura said. "Other colleges and universities are knocking at our doors and saying, 'Hi, what's up, we want to work with you.' "

Anna Strasberg, the artistic director and widow of the Strasberg Institute's founder, Lee Strasberg, said her institute's separation from NYU was a mutual decision.

"We've been engaged for about 40 years, and it was a wonderful experience for both of us," Strasberg said. "One day [NYU and Strasberg] might come back together again, but right now we are on different paths."

Current Strasberg students will have the opportunity to complete four years at the Institute.

Katie Vincent, a sophomore in Strasberg, said NYU could lose credibility by letting go of these programs.

"Having so many different studios is what makes NYU unique," Vincent said. "Strasberg and CAP21 are two of the more prominent ones."

Bradley said she has mixed feelings about the separation.

"Obviously, given our long and successful history with Strasberg and CAP21, it's bittersweet," she said. "But we are also excited by the future."