Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for June 12, 2012

We want the Brad, Toni & TJ show !

Although none of us thinks she will make it to juilliard, it is great that Luann is thinking big for a start. Maybe this will motivate her to work as hard as she can. She can adjust her expectations later, as needed. And if this is prelude to Quill reappearing to help her with her singing, even better.

I bet that no one here would notice that Frank just came home from his day job.

He probably thinks it’s a fancy store at the mall!

Wow, it’s been a long time since I’ve had an Orange Julliard.

This is from a very recent press account of a high school graduation: “Louwagie received the Herbert V. Kohler Scholarship of $80,000 for a private school education.” If you’re good enough…

I have had that look before.

LOL!Nancy: My daughter’s going to Juilliard!Frank’s pants: * fill. *.My thought was that Frank’s wallet was about to commit suicide… just about the same time he started praying that before he met her Nancy had a daughter – who was adopted by a nice wealthy couple.

This theme is tired and cliche filled and should have ended yesterday. Let’s get back to Brad and TJ and their circle. Enough of this shallow airhead girl.

What, you don’t want a career in money laundering? ;D

A. No, you are not “cream” enough. B. I think your father just had a stroke!

julliard is a tough school, even if you get in. many famous alums like robin williams, val kilmer, william hurt, kevin kline, kevin spacey, jane adams, yo yo ma, etc…they have a selection process for who gets to stay for the second year, and the third year, and the 4th year. and, each year they have fewer and fewer slots. you have to have thick skin for their brutal comments, and have your A game on for 4 years.

tick tick tick… oh man, this will be interesting.

Cartoonists like Greg know something about dreaming big and signing up for the years of toil it takes to make it as a syndicated cartoonist. Of the several thousand annual submissions the major syndicates see (there were more of them 30 years ago and the newsprint biz was a far healthier animal), only small handful get serious consideration and even less get a development deal. And of those, most fail over the long run or do not earn enough for the artist to quit their day job(s) …. So allegorically, this is a home turf topic for Greg.

Nancy is looking good in the “not so mom” slacks in panel one. She’s over 18, ok to say that.

Don’t live in the past. The reality is that over 50% of students take 5 years or more to complete an undergraduate degree now. That is the first statistic you will be hit with during parent orientation at a major university.

The only reason why Luann wants to go to Juillard is so she can one-up Tiffany – nothing more.

Dream big; think small = the Volkswagen Beetle, a success story.

Join Summer Stock. You’ll learn everything you nee to know there.

Luann can get a job modelling. No thats been done. What happened to the cash from EYES of ZYE? Didn’t she sell “Hey Boy” online? Maybe her Aussie “friend” can help her out.

Impulse vs. reality. Luann doesn’t understand Juilliard any more than she does the financial picture. Tomorrow she may put a bandage on Bernice’s cut finger and decide to apply to the Univ. of Michigan’s medical school. This is all normal high school lack of direction.

Julliard is for prodigies. They want students who display rare talent, not those who rarely display talent.

This is still putting the car before the horse. It’s a matter of getting in first, then paying. And you wouldn’t really want to wish Elwood on Luann, would you?

I’m just glad that Luann is finally finishing high school. She’s been in it long enough!

Julliard is really high level, and I wouldn’t criticize Luann for dreaming big if she’s willing to work hard enough to acheive it. Money really isn’t the place to start – if Luann really is good enough to get into Juilliard in the first place, then maybe they could work the money out with student loans and scholarships. Her mother should say, you need to work hard to get in – you need to get a job instead of hanging out with your friends to raise at least a little of the money and spend all the rest of your time practicing. Dreaming big without realistic effort is wasteful. But dreaming big with a real way of gaining goals is how you acheive!

Um…did YOUR piano teacher provide you with “background for future enrollment in a performing arts school”, or did they just keep on training you until the money ran out or you grew tired of it?.You do realize that not all “PROFESSIONAL” voice teachers may be 100% honest in assessing Luann’s skills and prospects? Forget Luann – she had no idea what the hell Juilliard is prior to today – but what are the odds that either Nancy or Frank would be able to tell who’s a decent voice coach or not, let alone someone who would put brutal honesty above two years of training fees?

Maybe Luann should earn a Julliard scholarship instead.

YAAAAAWWWWNNNNN!!!!! Is this story line over yet?

FYI, about OPM…when you “go to work, get your paycheck”, you DO actually work for that check, right? $80K academic scholarships aren’t lottery tickets, you can’t just scratch and win one. Nor are they handed out to slackers; the competition to get one is about as fierce, if not more so, than any other high paying job.

B-O-I-N-G !!!

We all know these are fictional characters but for writers and readers of stories, imaginary characters somehow, mysteriously take on a kind of reality (a philosophical puzzle that has been written about actually.) But let me tell you another story. When the eminent English novelist, John Fowles, had a stroke in his later years he found that he could no longer write fiction, precisely because he could no longer put himself inside his characters to know what kinds of decisions they might make or in what directions their admittedly fictional lives might go. He was only able to write essays instead. So, as it happens, we care about Greg’s characters, flawed, even ridiculous as some of them are. Imaginary as they are, they have a kind of reality just the same.

Maybe Elwood will cosign her student loan.

As with most top schools, Julliard will see to it that, if you’re good enough to get in, you’ll get what you need to be capable of going. It may mean loading you down with debt, but that’s Luann’s problem later, not her parents’. Her parents would be expected, via the FAFSA evaluation, to contribute the same amount toward Julliard as toward any other school whose total cost is past their means to simply write a check for — and since that’s practically all of them, including state schools these days, it doesn’t make a lot of difference to their pocketbook whether Luann gets into Julliard or not.

@Mojitobaby et alI am leaving Luann commenting to you who are more devoted to the cause (whatever it is) than I am. Reading and commenting on this strip has become too laborious and time consuming. I may drop in from time to time for a pot shot. MJ, don’t be too heartbroken there will be others. Maybe you and Levi can learn to ….never mind.

Mom should not only say that they can’t afford it, but that: “Luann, sweetheart, you’re a flake that we wouldn’t even consider wasting $46,000 annually on.”

This was just like that classic episode of “Three’s Company” where Jack & Janet were talking & Chrissy only heard part of the conversation……oops, that was every episode of “Three’s Company”.

Ok this line is realy dumb: first of all you have to audition to get in, second it’s really competitive and third let’s get back to the interesting stuff: Brad and Toni!

You drew a great look on Dad’s face. I hope he has a strong heart.

TUT TUT..Everybody keeps acting like the only hope Luann has is scholarship, loveless marriage, or deeeeeep debt..Alternative solution:Luann releases a number of hit records (don’t know why people keep releasing non hit records, but that’s up to them)..The vast wealth she earns makes Julliard tuition peanuts in comparison. Even though they offer full scholarship just for the increase in prestige of having her as a student there, she pays her own way..With the larnin’ she gets at Julliard, she goes on to be the greatest actress the world has ever known and everyone looks back in wonder at how they could have ever doubted her.

Apologies for lumping you with those annoying comments, but I was looking for a tag for what I have been wanting to say for a while.

I am confident that Louwagie is going to be just fine.

Ahhh….. – you’re a chick!.Well now THAT certainly explains a lot.

Good golly, folks, yesterday, in the comic strip "Luann"’ she said “ok, here’s one called Julliard”.

Not exactly a heart set on going to the school of her dreams exclamation. Is it???

“super-micro-analyzing the strip”!!!!! What a perfect description, mojitobaby. You are to the soap box what Lady Gaga is to platform shoes. You belong in Hyde Park, London on a Sunday morning.

It is too bad that the U.S. system is not like Germany where if you pass the exam at the end of Gymnasium studies, university tuition is free—although living expenses are still on you.

She needs to go to a school that concentrates on stage, like the Actor’s Studio, as I did. Thanks to them I’ve had an outstanding career, as a systems analyst. But I’m a star.

The first time I heard about Juilliard was when the local paper printed “9 Chickweed Lane” for a brief time a few years ago. Could there be a crossover thing coming in the near future? I just hope Bernice gets that great summer job as a librarian in the Old Shoreline Lodge in West Central Minnesota!

Really enjoying this storyline!

Ahhh, you’re all forgetting that Quill’s mother is a Juilliard graduate and is a professional. Quill even offered to have his mother help Luann improve her voice. Make way for the debutante!

My youngest grand daughter is doing community theatre now for years and very good for her age, I have no idea just what plans when she finishes HS. I’ll be visiting with whole family next month.

OMG! This is exactly how it played out when I decided to apply to Julliard! Exactly!!!

Getting into Juilliard isn’t the half of it; you also have to be able to afford living in Manhattan, when your studies give you basically no time to hold down a job.

Me either – I hated to practice. Mom insisted on my sticking with it, so either she was a total masochist or she had a set of earplugs I didn’t know about – because anyone in their right mind who had to endure those practice sessions would have paid me to quit..Hmm…about the “experts”. There’s a terrifying reality show called “Dance Moms”which should make any parent question the credentails of every “expert” or “professional” performing arts instructor..I’ve been at a client’s when their kid was getting a voice lesson, and that kid could NOT sing. The kid didn’t want to be the next Xtina or anything – her parents had the idea that the lessons would somehow boost her self esteem. Mind boggling, because I don’t think people wincing when you perform is all that ego-boosting.

I think Luann taking music lessons could actually be funny. But that is not what this is about is it? It is about the fact that college is expensive.

Geez Mojitobaby, It’s just a damn comic strip!

If this story arc had involved Tiffany instead of Luann, you all know it would be about one thing and one thing only: Tiffany’s overweening ambition compared to her actual talent. She would be roundly mocked.But since it is about Luann, the last time we heard her talent called into question was on 6/8, by Frank, of course. Since then it has been about the expense of top-tier schools, Nancy and Luann fantasizing about things that don’t even exist; it has been about boys playing in bands, trying to emulate Hendrix (who is supposedly unknown by teenagers) just to meet girls, and today it is about what a doofus Frank is, (really, exactly like Gunther, a clueless male who imagines that in some universe what he is would be considered “glamorous.”)My only consolation lies in my belief that after Saturday, Julliard will never be mentioned again. If Evans takes this in an unexpected direction, e.g. actually having Luann seriously pursue her interest in the performing arts – I vow to print out this comment and eat it.

Get a job, Nancy.

It’s nice ambition but it takes more than one high school play to go to Juilliard