<p>I am loving the “like” button. Such a great story! Can’t wait til everyone knows where their kids are going. And just so you know, I always pictured you MTMajorCook as a woman. Thanks for a great chuckle…again. :)</p>
<p>Took us 7 hours to get home from CCM, normally a 5 hr drive tops…roads were still awful. We got in around 3PM…I am still exhausted from the drive. Hoping our trip to Otterbein next weekend is uneventful!</p>
<p>Glad you got home safely! BAL and safe travels next weekend!</p>
<p>NY unifieds - U of Buffalo MT: This was the only MT audition I did at Unifieds. It started with a dance call, which was a medium-difficulty jazz combination to Timber by Ke$ha and Pitbull (haha!) Then they also had us go across the floor and freestyle, which threw me a little, but it ended up being really fun. After that, we had a super helpful information session with Nathan Matthews, the program director. Their program is smaller than I thought - about 40 MT undergrads in total. After that, we did our songs and monologue portion in the order of who had to leave for another audition. I ended up going 7th. I did my monologue first (the audition requirements said two monologues, but I think they changed it to one because of time constraints), and my two songs second. The accompanist didn’t show up or something, so Mr. Matthews played the piano and another professor watched. After I was done, Mr. Matthews said I had a lovely voice and asked me if I had any questions about the program. Then he told me I was free to go. I felt really really good about this one, but I’m trying not to get my hopes up. </p>
<p>Syracuse I did for BFA acting, so I won’t write about my experience here, but some of what I experienced applies to MTs too. I was really, really, REALLY impressed with the program: the Tepper semester, the Syracuse Stage partnership, and the faculty’s emphasis on teaching kids on how to transition from college to the real world. Also their general attitude toward theatre made me want to stand up and scream “YES!!!” because it’s exactly how I feel, too - I think the program director’s exact words were “The purpose of theatre is to tell stories about the human condition, what it means to be alive.” Syracuse definitely moved up on my list because of today.</p>
<p>I saw a LOT of the “a-line dress and nude pumps” ensemble for the MT girls at Syracuse. And almost every dress was red or blue. It’s amazing how much they all looked alike. I hope everyone else who went to Unifieds this weekend enjoyed their experience - I personally had SO much fun and met so many great people :)</p>
<p>MTMajorCook, we may have crossed paths in the Columbus area; I waited to leave till the snow eased up a bit, but it was rough going till I got to the West Virginia border. Took till 10 PM (11 hours including a 1-hr stop) to get home–unprecedented in my 10 years of taking kids to college in Ohio! Good news, though–the Westerville plows were out in force and other than some slippery intersections the town was quite drivable. Will keep fingers crossed that you have a great trip and audition at O’bein next weekend. :)</p>
<p>Times…OH MY, that was quite the trip! Since you are such a pro would you mind picking up my S this weekend? LOL</p>
<p>My Unifieds audition review will be wanting. Combine an over-stimulated mom and an excited son and you get bits and pieces of information. Son auditioned for Ball State, Montclair and Pace, and one walk-in which shall remain nameless (I’ll explain later). First of all, Pearl Studios has space in two buildings. My son’s first audition was in the 500 8th Ave. building and the different school auditions were held on two floors. Both floors were packed with kids and parents. We went in and out of the building throughout the day, and the space came warmer and warmer as the day wore on. Ball State - Audition was first. As I sat outside, some of the kids joked that they didn’t know which state Ball State U resided. There was one auditor and my son said she was very pleasant and he enjoyed the experience. There were two dance calls each day and students had their choice of which one they wanted to attend. Son, who is a novice dancer, said the dance call was fun. The kids were encouraged to show their personality, and like all the subsequent dance calls, no numbers were pinned to the students. I don’t have exact figures, but I would say 1/4 were men. Montclair was on Sunday with a 8:00 dance call. This was a much more relaxing day, mostly because there were fewer folks around at the early hour. Again son said the dance call was fun and that the leaders seemed to know the student’s names. the male to female ratio was about the same as BSU. Son was one of the first to audition after the dance call. They were given ample time to towel off and change. I heard a lot of laughter during son’s audition and he said he had a great time. Pace was Sunday afternoon. We made our way downtown via subway without any major incidents. Pace was auditioning for multiple programs and all groups originally congregated in one large room. This time it seemed there were more males, but it was hard to tell because some men were there for the BFA program. The MT group was split into two groups, one half doing the audition piece while the other half did the dance call. Amy Rogers spoke before the groups went their separate ways and explained that student’s may not be asked to do their monologue and it would because the auditors could gauge their acting during the songs. Most students in my son’s group were not asked to do their monologues. The dance call seemed to be the most intense of son’s three. It included ballet, jazz and tap if you were a tap dancer. Again son said it was fun and he felt he kept up, but as with the others, it would be clear to anyone he was not a “dancer-dancer”. Son said he felt good about his effort, and again the kids were encouraged to “Show their personality”.
Now to the walk-in. A local school had their students roaming the halls of Pearl Studio recruiting kids to do a walk-in. They said they only needed one song and one monologue and there would not be a dance call. They assured son he would be in and out quickly…not! We had a block of time between Montclair and the Pace audition. Son and a group of other kids waited while some auditions took 15 min. or more. I was seated at the other end of the hall, but gave son the bugged look of “Hurry up!”. Finally he went in and because he told the auditor he needed to get going, had a fairly short audition. We he came over to me after the audition he said they wanted him to go back in for an interview. We were running out of time, and not being a local I had no idea how long it would take us to get to Pace. I told son we had to get going, so he never did the interview and I’m quite happy with the fact. My take was the school was hustling students and it reeked of desperation, though that may not have been at all what the program intended. It left a sour taste in my mouth. As it turned out, when we arrived at Pace, the room was packed, and we arrived 15 mins. early.
Now the fashion report. On the first day son wore a dark lavender dress shirt. I saw many dark lavender shirts that day. The next day my son wore an edgy lemon yellow shirt. My son wasn’t keen on the shirt and said he looked like a bumble bee. He quickly changed his tune when a lovely young lady told him how much she liked his shirt and that the color really “popped”! A few more compliments came his way and viola, a new favorite audition shirt! I saw many A-line dresses, many patent leather nude high heels, but I also saw a few ladies wearing very unique ensembles. I also noticed many of the ladies had long hair, often softly curled into ringlets. One young lady truly stood out (and she may be a CCer’s D!) She had curly red hair, wore patterned tights, red Chuck high-tops, a skirt, stripped blouse and a short red jacket. She was adorable and I’m sure not easily forgotten.</p>
<p>Great review entertainersmom! I especially love the fashion report! CCM had some purple dress shirt guys. It was such a blur I barely remember what they were wearing but I do remember no one else had on a bright blue shirt like my S. I didn’t see as many girls in boots as I did at PPU. dorimemom’s D was the cutest in her dress and shoes, I loved it. She’s adorable.</p>
<p>Aww thank you MTMajorCook! I’ll be sure to pass on your kind words to my D. 
I loved the color of your S’s shirt. It was unique and he looked sharp! I did see a lot of patent nude heels and solid color dresses on a lot of the girls there, and there were a lot of boys in white and tan. </p>
<p>Boys in white and tan?! Sounds like a school uniform! LOL</p>
<p>Prep school’ish for sure. </p>
<p>After we read all the CC admonishments not to wear jeans at auditions, my son went to his first one in khakis and felt exactly like he was wearing his school uniform (yech). He wore jeans to every audition after that–looked and felt like himself, and was definitely not the only guy in jeans, btw. ;)</p>
<p>I saw some boys looking great in jeans! They all paired them with a cool shirt. </p>
<p>I guess I was too busy looking for donuts and diet pepsi to notice all this at CCM. I will be more prepared at Otterbein lol!</p>
<p>Just bring your own donuts so that you can focus!!</p>
<p>MTMC, once your son’s Otterbein audition starts (they audition as a group, so it takes awhile), walk the 3 blocks down to State Street in Westerville and look across the street to your right. Schneider’s Bakery is the donut source of choice and the late-night destination for Otterbein kids (yep, it’s not manhattan, but there are donuts <em>and</em> Graeter’s ice cream just a short walk away). Oh, and when he’s done, we recommend the Westerville Grill for lunch! :)</p>
<p>I saw some boys looking great in jeans! They all paired them with a cool shirt. </p>
<p>Great recommendations, Times3! Schneiders has the best donuts I’ve ever tasted (the chocolate iced with white cream center is my favorite), and this ice cream lover loves Graeters! (Mocha chip with hot fudge is my current go-to choice.) Both would be great ways to celebrate a completed audition, but, if you’re going for the donuts, pick them up early because they close around 3, and donuts often are slim picking in those last hours!</p>
<p>Did any CC’ers at Pace auditions last weekend find out when the decisions would be sent out for BFA MT? Will they send via mail, or will it be a change on the Pace Portal? Any info would be appreciated. </p>
<p>I don’t recall them saying. I’ll ask my son, but he is somewhat oblivious to information I think is important :)</p>