<p>GSOMTMom - I do believe it is but I was a little far away from the tour guide so I didn’t hear exactly.</p>
<p>No parents behaving badly at BW either. I sat with 3 other parents really had their stuff together. 2 of the 3 already had performing arts major children so they knew the drill. S did say some of the kids didn’t have the appropriate bars ready and he saw one girl carrying her Anthology book into the audition room versus having her songs in a binder.</p>
<p>We are back at the hotel after an extremely long day at Elon. Check in on campus this am was at 10:30. They divided 66 of them into 3 groups and rotated them from one audition to the next with a lot of down time and waiting in between. The current Elon MT students and faculty couldn’t have been any nicer. The students were very involved in the audition process and we’re open with the kids who were auditioning. The schedule included sitting in on an acting class, an informational meeting with the students and parents, as well as a quick song sung by 2 seniors. My D had her acting audition first then dance then vocal. We spoke with a current junior who said they anticipated admitting 16 MT kids overall. There was A LOT of solid talent there, and I don’t say that lightly. I’m typically a cynic and not very easily impressed but today was an exception because there were many strong singer/actor/dancers. The fact that they’re all vying for 16 spots made me a little uneasy. My D felt very good after the acting and vocal auditions but the dance audition, she says, was just “okay.” They did ask her to tap, and she was happy about that because tap is her strength in dance. As a side note, I was surprised at the number of girls I saw wearing 5-6 inch heels. Also… I was pleasantly pleased by the number of parents who were so nice. D had little feedback other than “that was really great” and “excellent job!” from the auditors. If you have any specific questions, ask away. :)</p>
<p>Thanks MTMajorCook and DoReMiMom for the updates! D sent me pictures of the Cleveland Skyline tonight as they drove in to BW…I doubt she will send many pics tomorrow. Hopefully she will sleep well tonight. I will post her experience tomorrow night.</p>
<p>MTMajorCook and DoReMiMom, Can you estimate how many students were auditioning at BW and Elon, and how many were girls/boys? I’m enjoying all of the detailed posts, they are very helpful.</p>
<p>We were at Elon Friday
66 total.
I would say about 2 girls to every 1 girl.
I too noted the 5-6" heels. </p>
<p>My D was also surprised of the lack of ANY conversation at the actual voice & acting portion. Although very friendly and welcoming it was a very different experience than CMU, where there was definite feedback and conversation. At Elon, you got in did your thing and got out.
At the Elon Dance portion, my D really felt you were only judged on the taught portion “Bugle Boy” which was Taught very fast. And then you were then broken into levels for ballet- as an assement only- with a group going all the way to jumps and leaps</p>
<p>Meant 2 girls to every 1 boy!</p>
<p>S and I just talked about how many people were at BW. They were in and out, I never really got to see them all in one place. They were all at the dance call together he said there were about 30 people auditioning for MT only on Friday. It was an fairly even split between boys/girls, which surprised me.</p>
<p>Just got a little more info out of my D about the dance portion…she said they asked if anyone could tap. A bunch of kids raised their hands. Then they asked “okay, now how many of you can REALLY tap?” That narrowed it down a bit. They asked them to do some combos and she said she fell somewhere in the middle skill wise. One boy stepped right up and said “I’ll be doing a few steps from Singing in the Rain.” And she said he was amazing and absolutely killed it. She told me later she wished she had known they “could do that.” I told her to remember anything goes (pardon the MT pun) and that they have to set themselves apart. Another thing I just remembered… The Elon junior we spoke with said that when she auditioned in November a few yes back, they only accepted 2 boys and either denied or deferred everyone else (including her) from the November auditions until all auditionees had been seen in Dec, Jan and Feb.</p>
<p>We were at the BW auditions on Friday also. Very professional, well run. My s was surprised at the number boys- I think I counted 8- versus 3 for PPU. I agree- maybe 30 kids total? The dance call was a jazz combo and ballet tech. S felt good after- but no feedback and none was expected. We know several that are auditioning on Saturday and I believe there will be a big group. BW will let the kids know in Mid December.</p>
<p>Only 8 boys? I think they all look so much alike I thought there were more LOL</p>
<p>Broadwaybrando - did I miss anything in my review? I gotta start taking a notebook with me, I tried to type on my phone but I think I’m missing some details.</p>
<p>I would guess 40-50 today at BW. Just based on the number of slots on the check in sheet. I couldn’t tell you mix, as my D picked to sit in the front row! Lots of other non MT here too, so it’s hard to give a mix.</p>
<p>I love this thread! Thank you to everyone contributing. I won’t be able to contribute until January. It will be very interesting to compare notes with everyone.</p>
<p>wow! Thanks for all the audition re-caps folks. Will try to pay it forward when it’s our turn.</p>
<p>Ok…Here goes with the BW recap which was relayed by D and her Dad. The actual flow of the day was quite similar as MTMajorCook had posted yesterday. Her group did song/monologue first, then Theory (I believe that is what she said). She did well with all the aural and theory skills until the piano audition(as she thought) she tested at level 1 for her piano.</p>
<p>She told me Vicky was lovely and welcoming when she met her at the door for the audition, she was made to feel at home. Her one regret is that they chose her two belt numbers instead of the legit piece, so she didn’t get to show off her classic soprano. Actually, one is a big belt song and one is a contemporary sort of country feel with one huge belt note. That being said, she was really happy with how both the songs and monologue went.</p>
<p>The dance audition went very fast she said it was four eight counts/many of the kids in the room were at a similar level as her (some training). She did not feel the dance was beyond her ability. </p>
<p>The thing that impressed her and Dad the most was how welcoming the environment is. You have heard this before from other parents. The student helpers are wonderful ambassadors for the school and not only help “sell” the program, but calm the nerves of those auditioning, and make the day truly fun! She mentioned she felt like it was a day of theatre camp and not a high pressure audition day.</p>
<p>Now they have the sad realization that there are hundreds of kids auditioning for 18 slots…</p>
<p>BTW-Dad saw one example of PBB (parents behaving badly). “I” meaning parent, “have worked long and hard to get my kid here and they better get in…My kid goes to a private performing arts school and that should count for something”. I am slightly paraphrasing this to keep it gender neutral. This was said to the BW staff fairly loudly in front of other parents…sigh.</p>
<p>All in all a wonderful day. D wants me to pass on the following advice to those with upcoming BW auditions. Make sure that the 3 pieces you are taking are three pieces that you will be happy singing no matter what combination is picked. She went in assuming they would choose the legit and a belt/which didn’t happen. She is happy with how she sounded with the two they chose, but wanted me to pass the info along. I am sure KATEGRIZZ will be posting soon with her own recap!</p>
<p>This is a very generous idea! I love reading these posts. My own son is auditioning in only straight theatre–I think I may copy this idea over at the theatre/drama thread :-)</p>
<p>Frazzled - PBB…yikes right to the staff. I wish I could be a fly on the wall for the conversations that occur between the faculty after we all leave LOL</p>
<p>MTMajorCook - Your comment reminded me of a post Ken Martin made in the spring in another thread. Thought I would add it in here as a reminder about all the many things that go into the process of putting together an incoming class.
</p>
<p>Wishing everyone many broken legs and lots of positive experiences throughout this crazy process.</p>
<p>BW - I don’t have much to add to what has already been said. My D was not happy with her own audition. She’s coming down with something, and said she had issues with vocal control that she normally doesn’t have. She also said that the dance combo was easy - but she still managed to mess it up. So - not a great day for her - but she is already on to the next thing - so I’m trying to get there too. She did relay a funny story about the Piano placement. She plays French Horn - but not piano - so she sat down at the keyboard - and started to pick out the melody line with her left hand. The person/faculty? in the room asked her to use both hands - to which D hovered her hands above the keyboard, and looked at the woman as if to say “Where?” and the woman laughed and smiled and said “Piano 1!!” and it was done!</p>
<p>She did like the school - and I suppose anything can happen - but doesn’t seem promising if she feels like she didn’t give her best performance. Oh - and on the note of song choice - D was surprised that they picked both her up-tempo selections and not her ballad. - so Frazzled’s D’s advice is sound.</p>
<p>I think I spoke to the same PBB - name dropper/schmoozer - I ended up keeping to myself after speaking to this person- because that dang devil on my shoulder came out after PBB told me all about their D’s PA school, and other child’s success, etc. etc. and then PBB asked me where else my D was auditioning and before I could stop myself, I blurted out - “Well, she just passed the pre-screen for UMich yesterday” all smugly. But the icing on the cake? PBB looks at me and says “What’s a prescreen?” I was pretty much stunned into silence at that point! </p>
<p>I talked to a few people… but mostly I stuck to myself and eavesdropped, afraid I’d be goaded into saying something else I’d regret (and make me a PBB!).</p>
<p>LOL Kategrizz on the prescreen thing! As for your D, I hope she is not being hard on herself about her audition, we have all heard stories about how a kid thinks they blew it-only to find out they got in! The piano story is adorable!</p>
<p>She’s fine… as usual - Mom takes these things harder than kid! </p>
<p>I thought of another story - this was more a story of clueless Dad/semantics - but I had a Dad tell me yesterday that his D was accepted to UMich on Friday… I looked at him confusedly and said “You mean she passed the prescreen?” and he thought for a second and said “Oh yes - her audition is in February”… but he was not a PBB - he was just a proud Dad who clearly wasn’t versed in the vernacular!</p>