2013/2014 Audition day review

College Majors Musical Theater Major
1

<p>WRIGHT STATE UNIVERSITY</p>

<p>Back from our great trip. Yesterday started with a day of Master Classes with the faculty at WSU and the head of the Acting dept. My S really enjoyed this experience and would encourage anyone to attend. There was approximately 40 kids- 30 females, 10 males. He had to prepare a song and monologue, that he wasn't using for his audition the next day. They were able to chose between doing the song or monologue, he chose a song. He received good feedback from the Professor of Voice and Speech "you have good vocal technique". Then they gave him another prospective on the song and asked him to sing it again. He liked this direction. They went through other acting and movement classes. Classes were from 10 to 5 and they had lunch at the school. He really felt very comfortable and at ease after this day.</p>

<p>That evening we were invited to see Oklahoma and it was a great show. Really good choreography and dancing, which my S was looking for.</p>

<p>This AM check in was 10AM. He checked in, went straight to dance. Parents were in a small 99 seat theatre where the faculty and current students spoke about the school and answered questions. COOL theatre, this is the student's theatre only. They write shows, cast them and put on shows in this theatre, have fund raisers, improve nights. It is theirs to use. My S really loved this about WSU. The current students were very friendly and answered all of our questions. The Creative Arts Center is starting to be completely renovated. S said the dance component was not difficult, it was a jazz combo led by a few Seniors. They were lined up in 4s, the first 4 were asked "can you tap?" they all said "yes". They were then asked to demonstrate a particular tap combo (can't remember it for the life of me right now!) anyways only 1 of the 4 could do it. My S said it was obvious the other 3 lied. Many of the prospective students returned to the theatre waiting for their audition. My S was 3rd. The requirements were 2 1 minute monologues and 2 contrasting 1 minute songs. There was a person with a stop watch and you were cut off if you went over. S was very prepared and timed his material well. He introduced himself and one of the auditors said "you scored very high on your dance portion", that put him at ease immediately. He said the auditors laughed in the right places for his monologue and felt they were engaged. He was asked a few questions about his resume and that was that. He was done by 11:30. Regardless of the outcome WSU has made ambassadors of us, especially S. </p>

<p>Meantime...in the waiting room. One lady told me Otterbein didn't have a MT program, it was for opera. Another told me leads in musicals don't need to know how to dance. You should ALWAYS audition on the first day because by March the faculty is sick of seeing the auditions. A few kids didn't have resumes or head shots with them. My S was surprised how unprepared some of them were, didn't even know they were to do 2 monologues and 2 songs. The one kid I spoke to said his monologue was 1 minute 20 seconds but he didn't think they'd mind, I didn't know about the stop watch at that point.</p>

<p>SO thankful I found this site. We would have read the requirements but without the knowledge shared by those on this site he may not have stuck to them like glue.</p>

2

<p>So glad you & S had such a great experience!</p>

<p>Thanks so much for sharing all of this w/the rest of us! We are headed there end of Jan, hope my D enjoys it as much as your S did! :-)</p>

3

<p>NYU - STEINHARDT</p>

<p>D attended the Open House today and combined it with an audition (she didn’t have to submit a prescreen first, something you have to do for later audition dates AND she didn’t have to apply ED or even apply at all before having the audition). They sent vocal performance auditioners (both classical and MT) their audition times in advance, musicians had to sign up that day.</p>

<p>Day started at 9:30am with an information session with the head of the department and an assistant dean from the NYU admissions office. MT was only mentioned in passing so D left the session wishing she had gotten a couple of extra hours of sleep. I found the talk very informative as I found out a lot of interesting information about Steinhardt that I was previously unaware of. The woman from Admissions was very nice and informative too. She actually told the group (with a straight face) that many families consider the $60,000 NYU charges as an investment in their children’s future, well yah, but…</p>

<p>A tour of NYU was offered at 12:30 which we passed on as we are very familiar with the city campus (totally appreciated that this audition only required a short drive to the metro train/a couple of stops on the #6 subway/a short walk to NYU building). D and I found some food instead and went back to the building at 2 so she could warm up before her 2:42pm audition time. The warm up rooms were plentiful and much appreciated. I think every one of them had a piano which was a plus. </p>

<p>D went to the waiting area outside of the audition room at 2:20 because she finished warming up early. Once there the student proctor gave her an information sheet to fill out (remember to bring a pen - fortunately D had one in her bag)!!! and a song/monologue list to fill out in triplicate for the three adjudicators.
The student told my daughter that the boy scheduled to audition before her notified them that he was lost in NYC and would be late so D got to audition 20 minutes early.</p>

<p>She sang 1 entire song with a very good piano accompanist and the adjudicators chose her second song from the list she filled out (you have to put down 3 songs you want to audition with). She sang the entire second song, then performed her 2 minute monologue (D really appreciated the extra time to develop her monologue, 1 minute is too short but what most school with their stop watches require). After that they had her sight sing a melody line and she was done.
We did the reverse walk/subway/metro train/drive and were home by 5:30! D said the adjudicators were very nice and encouraging, she was very happy with her audition and it was a pleasure of a day.
Hope everyone else who has an audition at NYU, Tisch or Steinhardt, have as good a day as we had!</p>

4

<p>RE-post from a different thread - seems like it would go here too</p>

<p>MUHLENBERG</p>

<p>D just went to Muhlenberg earlier this week for an audition (scholarship only, not required and I don’t think they have any pull with admissions but I could be wrong), tour, and got to sit in on an acting class. Charles Richter, head of the theater department is great. Very personable and enthusiastic about the program, put my daughter at ease, really seems to know everyone past and present and cares about the students.</p>

<p>There is no musical theater major per se but the way the school is structured it is possible to major in theater/acting, minor in dance and minor in music (which gives you the voice training a serious MT student would want). Muhlenberg has a very serious dance program with levels in all disciplines (ballet, jazz, tap, hip hop, modern, African dance) and allows kids with prior dance experience to test into a higher level.</p>

<p>Very pretty campus and the students D and I met were very friendly, answered all of our questions and truly love their college. D liked the acting class in which the students did scenes in pairs, She thought the acting teacher was great and someone she could learn a lot from.</p>

<p>We were there from 1-5pm so not a long day but D opted out of a dance audition. Her friend from camp was there the same day (total happy surprise) and she elected to do the dance portion. She had to arrive at 10am for a Level III ballet class which she said was very challenging (she’s a dancer, dance team, years of lessons, etc.) but she was glad she did it. After her dance class, she performed her own solo for the head of dance department.</p>

<p>Both D and her friend had to bring their own music (no accompanist provided) but they had it on their iPhones which their adjudicators were able to plug into the Muhlenberg sound system so no speakers were required, very easy. </p>

<p>For her audition D sang 32 bars from a song of her choice and did both of her contrasting 1 minute monologues. Then Mr. Richter had a nice talk with her about her resume and the types of shows she has performed in. It was very relaxed and D came away from her audition with a very positive view of the school and the people she met there.</p>

<p>Good first audition for this MT season!</p>

5

<p>POINT PARK</p>

<p>First audition for my D was today at PPU. the experience was great. Nerves had her pretty wound up the night before. Check in was 8:30 am. During check in period the showed a performance of Antigone. D was excited since she just read it for AP English. Followed by a brief talk from the conservatory. Very informative. Split us into groups and went on a brief tour (vertical of Lawrence hall) saw a tiny dorm room. </p>

<p>Then kids grabbed bags and went to a vocal warm up. Split into 3 groups, and my D had dance call first. She enjoyed the dance… Liked the energy - felt it was easy to pick up. Had a brief lunch break where I got to reconnect with her… And what a difference. Nerves were way more under control. Smiling. Laughing. </p>

<p>After lunch was the vocal/acting portion for her. ( others had the dance call). At the beginning of the day they told them just one song… But it seemed everyone sang two. My D was sent “downstairs” to repeat her audition for different faculty. She said not all were sent, but all were told it wasn’t significant. Current students confirmed that in past audition results both people who auditioned for just one faculty panel, and those who auditioned for two were both admitted. </p>

<p>Bottom line report was that the faculty were friendly, easy going and it was a fun day. They did a great job putting all those first time auditionees at ease. </p>

<p>24 acting and MT auditionees today, 3-4 male. The rest female.</p>

6

<p>Oh! Once kids split off, there was an optional additional tour for parents which I enjoyed since we had not been there before. I even took my D to see some stuff when she was done. Downtown area of campus seemed clean and nice and well patrolled.</p>

7

<p>Well, S had his first audition yesterday with Montclair. We drove in Friday night since his check in was at 9:30 am and it’s a 3 1/2 hour drive. All was going according to plan until he got dressed and realized he grabbed his brother’s dress pants when packing his audition clothes (mindful that his brother is 6 inches shorter than him!!!). I totally freaked out, and was completely prepared to run to the nearest store (Target as it turns out) to purchase off the rack dress pants. Surprisingly, he just shrugged his shoulders and said “I’m going with it, it could be a funny story if someone notices”. I took a breath and smiled and said, you’re right…not a big deal. </p>

<p>Breakfast at the hotel, where he said he thought he was going to be sick, didn’t eat very much…nerves had set in. Check in was easy (after we found the building). I’m not a very good map reader, thank goodness my husband was there to navigate the campus! There were 23 MT aduitionees (appr 19 girls/4 boys). Songs/Monologues were first for his 10:16 audition. He felt the monologues were good, missed an intro line to one of his songs (which he re-cut on the way in the car!!!). They had him sing it again (good or bad, not sure). About an hour of down time, he seemed a bit more relaxed at that point. Music Theory test which he said he aced, and then the dance call. Mindful, he is not a “trained” dancer, struggled at first with the ballet “bar”, but caught on pretty quickly. Jazz routine looked really good. We were able to observe as it was in the “fish bowl” with glass walls. I tried to stay out of sight so he didn’t know I was watching. Auditors came in at the end to observe.</p>

<p>MT students were all very nice and helpful. Did a good job of easing the nerves and answering any questions. Dad and I were approached by one of the boys and he made a point to tell us S has “great stage presence”…was nice to hear.</p>

<p>Looks like the campus is under a bit of construction, so maybe not as appealing as I thought it would be. </p>

<p>Spoke to a handful of parents (tried to stay as quiet as possible, and give as little information as possible), but many had quite a bit to say. Particularly, one parent went on about how this is a piece of cake for her D, she auditions all the time, blah, blah, blah…her D came out of her audition (which did go very well according to my S) and was a complete bundle of nerves. Anyhow, I learned from this site to keep to yourself and I think that is a very good idea.</p>

<p>All in all, a good first audition experience. And, very helpful for future auditions. My S took away a few things to work on and was glad we went. He’s pretty clueless, and I try not to be too intrusive with the audition part, this is his show and he needs to learn the ropes.</p>

8

<p>Double time step!! I remembered when I woke up lol!</p>

<p>Important to note - WSU accompanist was great for this audition</p>

<p>Preklbt - I hope so too! They are a really relaxed, approachable, funky, diverse group and we really enjoyed them.</p>

<p>MTMommaJAA - I agree about keeping to yourself, another thing I learned here. I did a whole lot of listening and very little talking. I’m sure by the end I’ll be tired of listening but for the first round it was fun. The moment one of the other parents found out I had a boy as well she immediately asked me what songs he was singing. I told her I stayed out of the artistic decisions so I really didn’t know. </p>

<p>My S was actually proud of me, he was so grateful for the questions I asked. Being nervous he sort of blank out on everything he really wanted to know.</p>

9

<p>MTM - How was the surrounding area of Montclair? My D will be doing her BFA acting audition at LA Unifieds. Won’t be able to visit until March.</p>

10

<p>bisouu I can answer that because my daughter goes there –
Montclair is a super wealthy bedroom community/suburb of NYC. Last time we were there we took a road parallel to the main road to get from campus to downtown, and it was one mansion after the next! Looked like movie star houses. The campus itself is in a residential neighborhood. There are 2 train stations on campus and a bus stop with trains/buses that go into NYC on week days. On weekends the kids usually take the bus into the City (24 minutes) from a stop a few blocks off campus. My daughter says she feels safe coming home on the bus, even late. There is a police station on campus that was established after 9/11. There is a small “downtown” area about a mile away within walking distance, and a larger bustling business area (with lots of restaurants, Urban Outfitters, etc) about 3-4 miles from the campus that the train and bus go to. There is some campus construction going on: a new science building and a new business school are going up. And the campus just went through a MASSIVE transition to totally “green” power.</p>

11

<p>Thanks Calliene! Looking forward to our visit in March! When did the acceptance letters go out?</p>

12

<p>Just looked. My daughter auditioned at NYC Unifieds and her acceptance letter is dated Feb. 20th.</p>

<p>FYI don’t know if it’s changed, but last year if you auditioned at Unifieds they didn’t have a dance portion, nor did you have to take the theory test. Those placement tests took place the beginning of the school year. My daughter took a bit of a risk auditioning at Unifieds because she is a dancer, but we just couldn’t fit in an on-campus audition at the time.</p>

13

<p>Great! Maybe we will be visiting with an acceptance letter in hand (if we are lucky) :)</p>

14

<p>Thanks everyone for these wonderful and informative posts…I promise to pay it forward starting next week when it is my daughter’s turn.</p>

15

<p>OH SNAP! A DOUBLE time step is the hardest one!! You all are awesome. I feel like I’m going to have to bring a notebook when the daughter starts auditioning so I can provide the level of detail you know we all crave!! LOL</p>

16

<p>Remember that thread about what parents do during auditions? I definitely recommend bringing your notebook and documenting the scene! One of last year’s parents laughed (cheerfully, not sarcastically) at my “live blogging” of a couple of auditions, but seriously it was so fun to report from the field on what kids were wearing, what the structure of the audition was like, etc.–although I DID draw the line at taking pictures of my fellow sufferers. :wink: If there’s wi-fi available, go ahead and be an embedded reporter!</p>

17

<p>CMU</p>

<p>Copied from CMU section from iammtmom:</p>

<p>Audition done!
Aprox. 25 students- only 5 boys. Arrive by 8 for 8:30am appt. - we were the first CMU alot offered. </p>

<p>I noted that all the girls looked VERY similar.
For the most part same hair, same style of dress, same shoes.</p>

<p>When we arrived- quick snapshot is taken along with 1 copy of headshot/resume. My d filled out a very short form. All these were put into a manila envelope. </p>

<p>MT and acting groups together.
It was all very pleasant and nice and VERY welcoming.</p>

<p>Welcoming remarks by- Barbara Wood, Senior Mitch MT student, Peter Cook and Gary Klein.</p>

<p>Groups were formed into groups of 7, seemed to go by alphabet. Manila envelope followed to monologue and song audition. </p>

<p>Parents were offered a tour of building.</p>

<p>My D was done by 10am.</p>

<p>D did monologues with Barbara - aprox 20 min.
Songs with Gary.</p>

<p>A very positive experience. Amazing that we have to wait until almost April for results.</p>

18

<p>Thanks MTMAJORCOOK - </p>

<p>also reposted below explaining the similar dress.</p>

<p>Me and my D are from the school of thought - “be your own person”.
and when I said “all the girls” I should have said the majority.
Long hair, clipped away from the face, nude character shoes, a-line solid color, “darkish” knit dress.
My daughter was not in the majority, she wore combat boots and a dress that was not in that category. There were a few other girls that looked individual too. a few pants.</p>

<p>I think the MOST IMPORTANT thing is for the student to be comfortable and be themselves.</p>

<p>There were a few girls in 5 inch stilettos, if that is their comfort level. More power to them. And a few girls in bejeweled dresses, more appropriate for evening. </p>

<p>In the end- it will be about the talent.</p>

19

<p>I noticed the “dress code” at WSU as well. I think 4 or 5 other males were wearing almost the exact same shade of blue dress shirt my S wore. I told him he needed to rethink his outfit but he feels so confident in it, I dunno what to do about that. Anyways…the girls were all in dresses, with the exception of one who wore jeans, some very short dresses with high heels others were very cute and tasteful.</p>

20

<p>WE saw one girl -in a very short dress- from the back it seemed awkward - like you might see something you should not, plus she was in 5 inch heels. It was my first introduction to “type” for girls and possibly not dressing for your type. </p>

<p>I had heard that in this process - that there are few boys and mostly non ethnic young girls. That is exactly what we saw. Being a female is not a benefit (there are so many), so the more you can be unique the better. </p>

<p>This process will be fun! Me and my D shared stories about what we saw, trying to figure out back stories. There was a student who was being very loud with conversation about her coach and what shows she had been in. What colleges she was going to etc…</p>

<p>One student- as they were waiting to enter monologue room, grabbed by daughters resume out of her hand and scrutinized it. - then offered her 2 page resume to my daughter “dont you want to see mine?”</p>

<p>Ah this process- we have to stay focused!!! Off to ELON on Thursday!</p>