Oberlin Conservatory and Great Lakes Theater Announce Academic Partnership

“Great Lakes Theater’s new partnership with Oberlin provides exciting opportunities to cast Oberlin students in our productions and nurture the next generation of theater artists alongside our professional company,” says Sara Bruner, Producing Artistic Director of Great Lakes Theater. 

Adds William Quillen, Dean of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music: “We are thrilled to announce this partnership with Great Lakes Theater, which will provide our students unparalleled opportunities to practice their craft in a professional setting and gain invaluable experience as they prepare to enter the industry. Great Lakes is a storied institution, and we are honored and proud to have the opportunity to work together, and we greatly look forward to the work ahead.”

Oberlin’s music theater program is led by veteran educator Victoria Bussert, a long-time Great Lakes Theater artist who has directed numerous productions for the company. Under her leadership, the new degree program integrates Oberlin’s rigorous conservatory curriculum with opportunities for students to rehearse and perform within Great Lakes Theater’s professional company.

“For more than three decades, Vicky has been a cornerstone of American musical theater training, shaping countless artists whose voices now define the field,” Bruner says. “Her connections, vision, and rigor have not only elevated our company but also the broader theater ecosystem. I look forward to our continued collaboration with Vicky and her team at Oberlin as we work together to cultivate the future of musical theater.”

Why this matters

The partnership bridges conservatory study and professional practice, reinforcing a mentorship-based model of training in which emerging artists learn directly from experienced actors and directors. Students gain firsthand insight into professional rehearsal behavior and the expectations that define a career on stage.

“The experience students get on a college campus is not the same as what happens in a regional theater,” Bussert says. “You’re working alongside seasoned professionals. Before higher education, our industry was built on mentorship—experienced performers teaching young artists. This partnership brings that model back. We’re not only teaching in the classroom; this allows teaching outside the classroom.”

For example, Great Lakes Theater productions tour throughout the summer to sister stages at the Idaho Shakespeare Festival and the Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival, exposing students to the traveling Broadway model where actors perform the same show in multiple cities. 

Talent manager Sarah Haber of New York’s Creative Talent Company, who will lead master classes at Oberlin this year, praised the program’s blend of training and real-world experience and notes this gives students an advantage.

“The training these Oberlin students get makes me more likely to want to represent them,” she says. “They arrive prepared, know how to hold themselves in the room, and have the thick skin this industry requires.”

“When you perform in a professional regional theater, you’re surrounded by people who’ve been performing for 20, 30, 40 years,” she continues. “You learn what an Equity contract is, how a rehearsal room works, and what’s expected of you. That’s an education in itself.” 

Early impact—students already onstage

Oberlin students performed with Great Lakes Theater in its fall production of Stephen Sondheim’s musical masterpiece Sunday in the Park with George at the Hanna Theatre in Cleveland’s Playhouse Square. With an age range from 18 to 68, the show vividly demonstrates the partnership’s value, where students shared the stage with long-tenured professionals. 

Oberlin music theater majors will get more time on a professional stage when they appear at the Beck Center for the Arts in Spring Awakening at the Senney Theater, February 13–March 1, 2026; more information at BeckCenter.org.