<p>Josh, so glad to hear you had a good experience at Unifieds and with Otterbein/Dr. John–and best of luck with your remaining three auditions! You’ve had quite a winter. I’ll be so interested to see where you end up!</p>
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<p>josh, if you don’t mind my asking…what was said? Great audition reviews, folks!</p>
<p>Josh, it’s so generous of you to share your experiences in such great detail. Thank you! </p>
<p>So far my son has auditioned for three schools. He went to BUSTI this summer and was allowed to audition for BU in the summer. It was a very relaxed way to get this process started because he was told if the audition didn’t go well he’d have the chance to re-audition with the regular pool of students in the winter. </p>
<p>Chapman University was a regular sort of audition. It was very quick, ten minutes tops, but he enjoyed himself and made the auditors laugh. He did both his monologues, they asked him a few questions, and that was that. He ended up getting in early action, which he was thrilled about because it takes some of the pressure off for the rest of his auditions.</p>
<p>He also sent a prescreen into UArts, and ended up getting an acceptance about two weeks later (before his in-person audition). This surprised both of us, and I thought I’d mention it in case anyone else was looking to audition for a school that makes quick decisions. (We all know the waiting is the hardest part.) </p>
<p>That’s all for now, but I’ll let you know what happens at Chicago Unifieds next week. Good luck to everyone! I have loved collecting information on these boards for a while now, and I decided it’s time to give back.</p>
<p>I think that Dr. John from Otterbein lives in a world where he can fit in 30 minutes for everyone else’s one minute, because he seems to find a way to spend time with lots of kids in their auditions. He did it with my son at the end of a very long day at unifieds, and I’ve read lots of posts like that here. He is a real asset to Otterbein. </p>
<p>Way back in the day, Dr. John posted quite a bit here. His posts are among the finest you will read in the forum. </p>
<p>A mistake from my post…Fordham does offer some nice merit scholarships…and full tuition for NMF. I was confused ;P</p>
<p>Also…shows…we saw The Glass Menagerie, Richard III and Waiting for Godot. All my son’s choices. All AMAZING!!! Glad we squeezed them in.</p>
<p>Anyone else with stories yet? NYC, Chicago?</p>
<p>Ms Mommy, we saw No Man’s Land, the other show in repertory with Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart. Amazing. We wanted to see Richard III or Twelfth Night but they were booked and we only had one night! Very envious of your choices! Glad you got to see them all! </p>
<p>We were told to absolutely NOT miss Mark Rylance in Twelfth Night (by a Shakespeare professor S auditioned for), but we couldn’t work that into the schedule, so Richard it was. But I can’t imagine loving Twelfth Night more than we loved that. We went to stretch during intermission and my S said, “Mom…this just makes me KNOW that this is what I want to do…there is no doubt in my mind that this is what I want.” Nice to know since there’s no turning back now. Well…you know…we could switch paths…but it wouldn’t be very convenient. LOL!</p>
<p>And we loved Ian and Patrick. Would have liked to fit in No Man’s Land. Glad to hear you liked it. We may have to make one more trip to NYC…so all show reviews are appreciated.</p>
<p>I guess I should post the rest of my D’s audition reports from NY Unifieds before the Chicago ones start coming in.
She did her other auditions last Sunday and it was a much shorter and more relaxed day than the one she’d had at Pace the day before. She said each audition took about 5-10 minutes, fifteen at the most.</p>
<p>Roosevelt - This was the first one of the morning. D did her two monologues and then she and the gentleman, whose name was Sean Kelley I believe, talked for a few minutes. They talked about Colorado, as he used to be a professor at CU Boulder, and about Chicago and the improv scene there, which is something my D is very interested in. She said he was very pleasant and Roosevelt is high on her list.</p>
<p>University of the Arts - Her next appointment wasn’t until the afternoon, so she did a walk-in for UArts. After doing both her monologues, the lady told her she didn’t care for her first monologue and asked her to make an adjustment to the second. She put her water bottle on the table and asked D to focus on it and do the monologue again as if she was having a conversation with it. This was the only adjustment she was asked to make over the course of the weekend, so I’m glad she was given a chance to try that.</p>
<p>Cornish College of the Arts - Also a walk-in. She performed both monologues and was asked to sing 16 bars of any song, so she did one from the musical she’s currently working on. About halfway through, she remembered they were more interested in how she acted the song than in how she was singing it, so she tried to concentrate on doing that. They were the only ones to ask her to sing. Then she was asked a few questions, such as what she was looking for in a college and about who she considered her hero. She said she rambled on for a bit about Tom Hanks, which surprised me. He is one of her favorite actors, but I would have thought she would have chosen one of her comedy idols, like Kristen Wiig or Melissa McCarthy instead.</p>
<p>Montclair - This was her last scheduled audition, but when she got there they said they had her on the list for Saturday, not Sunday. Oops. She had received an email with both dates on it, but the one for the 25th had said “February” instead of “January,” so she had assumed the 26th was the correct one. Fortunately, they took her anyway. She did both monologues, plus one more. Montclair was the only one to ask her for a third monologue.</p>
<p>She would have had time to do more walk-ins, but decided she was happy with what she had. She really enjoyed her time at Unifieds. She said she saw only one or two stressed or cranky parents the entire time. Most of the adults she encountered were wonderful, and all the kids she met were nice. No one was cut-throat or egotistical or seemed to think they were better than everyone else. Break a leg to everyone auditioning at Chicago Unifieds this week! I hope all your experiences are positive as well.</p>
<p>MomofTheatreGirl, break a leg to your D; sounds like she had a positive experience at Unifieds.(Wasn’t it <em>so</em> cold though?) We had the same impression at Unifieds. My S did only one school that happened to be there, Royal Welsh. I wanted him to do walk-ins, but he wasn’t interested as he wanted to stay focused on Royal Welsh. While we were waiting and then later, for his callback, I walked around to stretch my legs. I saw many nervous students – it’s just so nerve-racking, so that’s not surprising! And there were many parents simply trying to stay calm. Most were pleasant and supportive; no one we encountered was cutthroat. I did see several poor girls crying on their way out, and parents struggling to be supportive. There were a couple of MT auditions that were mobbed in our building and a handful of the parents there did seem much more hovering–Emerson and U of Mich. But I don’t know how most were as we didn’t go in. MOstly though, it seemed to be full of supportive parents and kids, which was great considering it is such a stressful experience! Break a leg to those going to Chicago Unifieds! </p>
<p>Thanks connections, same to your S. I’m glad he had a good experience as well. Oh yes, my D said it was extremely cold! She said they didn’t venture out anywhere without layered clothing, down parkas, boots, hats, and gloves. Sounds like it’s much warmer now that the auditioners are gone. Those who are there for the Super Bowl right now are lucky in more ways than one!</p>
<p>If your kids wrote any pieces were they asked to give them to the auditors?</p>
<p>I am starting to pack up for LA Unifieds and wondered if there were ever more than 4 auditors in the room at one time…trying to figure out how many head shots and resumes to bring. Thanks</p>
<p>I really think more than 4 would be unusual. Actually, it would be unusual to give one to each auditor wouldn’t it? But, more is better.</p>
<p>Ok thanks :)</p>
<p>At my trip to LA Unifieds last year, the most auditors I ever had in a room at one time was 3. </p>
<p>I think you just give one headshot to the panel, not a headshot apiece. </p>
<p>My son had two auditions yesterday… USC in the morning and NYU in the afternoon. My advice to anyone scheduling a week of auditions at Unifieds in the future is to schedule the first one for a school that is not one of your top choices because the nerves can really get you. My son doesn’t get very nervous for anything, but he definitely felt his nerves get in the way at USC. NYU was much better. At USC, there was an orientation meeting with parents. All the chairs were lined up in rows in a long room. There were thirty kids, divided into three groups. After the orientation, one group went to do monologues, one group had prep time, and one group did interviews. And you rotated through. The interviews were held in the same room where everyone was waiting, which was kind of odd. The waiting kids were in the back, and the interviews were in the front at a long table with two interviews going on at the same time. That seems like an awkward set up to me, but that’s what it was. At NYU, in contrast, the chairs were set up in a huge circle for the orientation portion of the day, and the interview was conducted right after the monologue in the same room with the one reviewer there. A much more comfortable situation. Also at NYU, they led the kids in a physical warm up before the monologues got started, so that helped tremendously. All in all, NYU felt like a more laid back, positive experience, partly because of the way they organized it and partly because it wasn’t my son’s first audition. Hope this info is helpful!</p>
<p>Bisouu what do you mean pieces? Her essay?</p>
<p>She wrote two scenes for a show…and it’s listed on her resume. I wondered if the auditors would ask for copies.</p>