MB
Molly Bogin
  • Neuroscience & Behavior
  • Class of 2018
  • Springfield, MA

Molly Bogin Scores Creative Residency at Goodspeed Musicals

2018 Feb 12

Molly Bogin '18 was one of two students to represent Wesleyan in the university's inaugural program with the Johnny Mercer Writers Colony at Goodspeed Musicals in East Haddam, Connecticut, last month. She joined 36 established and emerging composers and lyricists to participate in the two-week creative residency-the only one of its kind solely dedicated to the creation of new musicals. Kathleen Conlin, Theater Department chair, and Ellen Nerenberg, dean of the arts and humanities, initiated Wesleyan's involvement with the program.

"As a two-week creative residency, this project is very different from internships, apprenticeships and workshops our students may have been engaged in over the years," said Conlin. "This kind of work is vitally important for students in deepening their skill level but also in experiencing firsthand the realities of the creative process as evidenced by successful professionals."

Preparation for the pilot program began last semester, when student teams from visiting artist Greg Kotis's theater workshop class were encouraged to submit proposals for consideration for the residency program. Kotis, Nerenberg and Conlin reviewed and evaluated the proposals, and Bogin's project was among two chosen for submission to the Goodspeed Musicals staff and the Johnny Mercer Foundation for approval.

Once the proposal was approved, the real work began.

"It was mentorship through osmosis," said Bogin, a neuroscience and behavior major with a Writing Certificate. "Even more importantly, we formed wonderful friendships and connections that we will maintain moving forwards. As it turned out, we grew more than we could've imagined by simply being thrown into it!"

Read more here.