2013/2014 Theatre/Drama Audition Stories

<p>My daughter brought along copies of a play she’d written to all her auditions. Auditors at Mason Gross and BU took them. It can’t hurt to bring them along.</p>

<p>I’m currently studying for my psychology test in the lobby at the Palmer. Fun stuff.
I finished my Ball State audition this morning- it went well, everyone was very nice.
I decided against doing walkins since I’m content with the schools I already have. Plus I don’t think id end up attending a walk in school because of money concerns.
I’m patiently waiting for my Webster audition. Except not very patiently because Webster is my favorite and I just want to go perform for them!
So, if anyone is bored and wants to come do homework for me in the lobby, you are more than welcome. </p>

<p>Break a Leg at Webster Nomester7!</p>

<p>Break a leg, nomester…it’s a beautiful lobby, isn’t it? </p>

<p>My D auditioned for Northern Illinois this afternoon. It went very well. She was in the room a long time and did three monos and two adjustments to the monos. Stanton Davis the undergrad department head and Anthony - didn’t catch his name - were the panel. They are both very warm and friendly; really nice guys. NIU has a very solid program that for some reason remains less competitive than others, but they do have some excellent faculty. It is an hour west of Chicago and NIU as a state school is financially a great deal.
They still have walk-ins available Wednesday afternoon!</p>

<p>Those who auditioned for straight acting for Hartt, was there an information session as well? My daughter has a slotted time for the audition, but nothing else was said.</p>

<p>^Do you mean at Unifieds or on campus at Hartt? On campus, there’s an info session before the auditions.</p>

<p>At Unifieds…</p>

<p>Thought I’d share the story of my Pace audition about a week ago! I did my BA Acting audition first. The auditor did a couple of fun adjustments with both my monologues. I was asked “why Pace?” and I think almost everyone else was asked the same question. I was also asked how I found out about the school. Then came the movement call. The auditor was quite forward and strict in his direction, but I liked it. We did some basic movement activities and played a couple games. Afterward there was an opportunity to ask questions. The BFA Acting audition consisted of one monologue, and the reading of a scene with a partner. It seemed very impersonal–just in and out, no questions; for the monologue they cut me off after 90 seconds and that was it. Because it was so quick I did not have high hopes for a callback, so I was SO happy and surprised that I did get one! There were a very small amount of people called back that day. They also asked me to audition for the Film & TV program which was really enjoyable. The head of that program was very engaged and personal–he asked me questions about things on my resume and he was really kind and lovely to chat with. The audition consisted of one monologue and a screen test. Overall, I felt good about all 3 of the auditions!</p>

<p>One down 6 to go…BU audition was wonderful. The auditors were so welcoming and warm. They took the kids alphabetically. My daughter said the experience was great and she had a lot of fun. Now on to the next one in the morning. Heading out for a nice dinner and some WINE!</p>

<p>Asha11, that sounds very hopeful! Congrats on getting the callback. Keep us posted!</p>

<p>I’m behind on our audition stories because I woke up in Chicago in Wednesday, sick! By the afternoon I was an achy, feverish, coughing mess and I am still in bed today. (Did stumble home on the airplane Thursday though because Southwest was going to charge me $300 to change dates. No thanks)</p>

<p>Anyway, Tuesday in Chicago D had SUNY Purchase audition which was held at the Hyatt Regency. They were very organized and running right on time. D had to fill out some kind of form when we got there and they called her in right at her assigned time. She said she auditioned for the dean and one other person. She felt it went really well. She did two monos and then they asked her to do an adjustment and they filmed the third one. (I think that is a good sign with Purchase?) They had a nice chat after the third mono about some of her experiences and she felt good about it.</p>

<p>Wednesday morning we had Carnegie mellon. I will say they are a very nice and personable group. They spoke to the parents and students for about a half hour. Then we waited while they rotated groups through. D auditioned for Barbara Mackenzie-Wood right off the bat so there was no “passing around” as is mentioned with CMU. She did her two monos and then Barbara asked her for an adjustment, and then they talked for a few minutes. D came out glowing because Barbara said she was “very talented and beautiful.” And that was that. So extremely competitive there… not holding my breath.</p>

<p>The last audition was Wednesday afternoon at DePaul. I was feeling basically craptastic by then and was hoping I wasn’t going to lose the little lunch I ate. Unfortunately, D started to feel badly too. First she said “I don’t like it here,” which was odd because previously she liked DePaul. Abut 20 minutes later she said “I don’t feel good.” She was flushed and glassy-eyed looking. Great, I thought. It couldn’t wait another three hours to hit her?
DePaul is done in a callback so everyone does one mono and then there is a callback round. I was not surprised to see D coming downstairs 2 hours later after the list was announced with no callback saying “I don’t feel good.” So, of 11 auditions, 1 did not go well. Pretty good odds overall. We said “oh well” and went to CVS for some ginger ale and animal crackers.</p>

<p>My son got kind of a bad vibe from DePaul, too. (Even before he didn’t get a callback.) I guess they asked him what his interests were, and he said he really liked Shakespeare and they said, “We don’t really do Shakespeare here.” Which may be true, but seems a little abrupt. Also we did their net cost calculator and it looked like we couldn’t have afforded it anyway. But it sounds like you had good experiences otherwise. It’s a pretty amazing process, isn’t it? </p>

<p>My D’s dream school was DePaul. She auditioned on campus while we were in Chicago for Unifieds. Unfortunately, she got the crud that is going around and wasn’t feeling great. We thought DePaul was a bit cold (not just the weather) as well even before the callbacks were announced. She didn’t get a callback (only 5 kids did - boys and 1 girl). She was heartbroken. But in hindsight, it was probably for the best as we’ve talked to many other schools that are probably a better fit. </p>

<p>The weird thing about my D saying “I don’t like it here” is that they literally hadn’t done anything yet. We just went in and did the check in. Later she said the feeling got stronger and she didn’t feel like the kids were her type either. But I am not sure she was herself that afternoon so not a reliable measure. DePaul does offer merit scholarships I believe for academics and current students can earn additional scholarship money as they go through the program. Which is a nice feature.
Yes, it is quite a process. I asked my D if she would ever like to be a professor on the other side of the table some day and she said “sure.” Now that would be interesting to hear about!</p>

<p>Okay…DONE!!! I want to post these recaps quickly while they are fresh. Friday S auditioned at Chapman. We arrived really early because…well…because I’m so afraid of being late because of traffic or some unforeseen incident that we are usually really early. S doesn’t like it…but not old enough to drive the rental car yet…LOL! Anyway…had time to walk around Chapman and I love the neighborhood and the campus. The theatre department was just back to school from a break and just getting out of a meeting, so lots of theatre students and faculty walking through, saying hi, asking if we had any questions, etc. Just a really upbeat vibe. S did his two monologues, they asked for an adjustment on his Shakespeare, asked him a few questions and that was it. He had already taken a tour a year ago…so we went down the street to eat. He felt really good about it.</p>

<p>Saturday was CalArts and S is still in love with this school. We got to meet milkshakespeare and a few other BFA students…all delightful. There was a short introduction, then the students went to do their auditions and the parents waited. S said they had him do a few adjustments and suggested he should come back and shadow for a day. He was excited about that and we will make it happen. Then milkshakespeare was awesome enough to show us a little more of the campus than S had seen at his previous visit. She’s adorable…THANKS again!!! </p>

<p>Sunday was USC at a Doubletree not too far from campus. I loved the USC energy…they spent some time telling us a lot about the differences between their BFA and BA programs (and they had coffee and juice and pastries for everyone while we waited). S auditioned…did an adjustment (seeing a pattern here?) then had quite a long break before he interviewed with Ms. Lemon. It was a good experience. </p>

<p>Monday morning was CMU and our (I mean his) LAST audition!. There was an introduction, then actors were taken out in groups to wait for their audition. He only auditioned with Kaf…he said they did several adjustments and she did not send him to Barbara. They then had a short “interview”. He said she was super nice and he felt great about it. </p>

<p>Again, if anyone has any specific questions, feel free to ask. All in all it has been a terrific experience, especially for someone like my son who has a lot of theatre experience, but not so much audition experience. I saw his confidence grow as these past few weeks passed…I felt I got to see him mature right before my eyes. So it has been amazing to spend the time with him. And now…back to being a Senior for a few more months. I hope he is better than I am at relaxing until the decisions start to arrive! Deep breath! </p>

<p>There was something about DePaul that didn’t seem friendly. We felt that people at Unifieds were generally so friendly, and when we got to DePaul on Wednesday afternoon, it felt cold. My D, also, was perfectly fine about being cut, even though one of her best friends is a freshman Acting major there.</p>

<pre><code>Sorry this is so late, but today we had a snow day from school, so I thought I would write up some of my experiences at Chicago Unifieds.

First off, I have to say the travel getting to and from Chicago was SO MUCH smoother than getting to and from New York. My planes were on time, no delays, I was in and out of O’Hare in 20 minutes. I took a shuttle to the hotel for $21 and it was all very stress free. The funny thing was running into the same auditoner and parents on the plane to Chicago that were on my train coming home from New York. I also ran into the auditors from BU at Penn Station and at my UNCSA audition.

Something I noticed, looking back on my auditions at both Unifieds was that I would generally get really nervous before my first morning audition. I’m not someone who gets crazy nervous often, but those auditions were always a little bit wonky. 

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<p>
 UNCSA: It was my early morning audition. It started off with an info session, which really sold me on the program. It was very in depth and went though the training year by year. For the audition itself, I was the third to go. I walked in the room, started with a brief interview, and went back to the line on the floor where I was supposed to do my pieces. I did my pieces which all went fairly well, although I grabbed the interview chair for one of my monologues instead of the chair sitting next to the line. They laughed at my comedic, which was a relief because it’s a bit of a risky piece. I did the interview which went well, mostly consisted of questions about my program at Guildhall, classes at the Shakespeare Theatre Company, and how I felt working with older students and actors.
And then I walked into the wall.
In the audition room there were two alcoves that looked alike, one with a door and one without and needless to say I walked into the one without and straight into the wall. The auditors laughed and said that I wasn’t the first to do that. I think they were just trying to make me feel better. </p>

<pre><code>BostonU: Started with a long info session but was informative. I was about the fifth to go and was with McCaela. I did my pieces which went well and then we talked for awhile about BU, the program, and my goals in life and in art. I had done BUSTI in 2012 so we talked a bit about that and then about what learning accommodations I could get there and the academics. (I have ADHD and some slight processing problems.) Overall, it was a super positive audition and I thought McCaela was super nice! It was also great to see J-sav and Paulo again. I’d be very surprised if I got in the program due to my grades and the competitiveness of the school but if nothing else, it was a great audition experience.
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<p>University of Northern Colorado: After BU, I did a walk-in for UNC which was very brief but fun. Just went in and did my pieces and went out. No questions and was filmed. </p>

<pre><code>Royal Conservatoire of Scotland: This was at the end of the day, it was another super fun audition experience. I talked with the auditor for a bit before we went into the audition room (the MT auditions were just finishing up in the room). I did two of my pieces and then we had a 15-20 minute long interview which was really nice. He talked a bit about the program which, to me, seemed like if UNCSA and CalArts had a baby, this would be the program. Been refreshing my email and Cukas like a madman because I have heard they (in the past) gave results within a week or two of the audition.

Because of the impending storm, I had to leave Chicago a day early on Tuesday, so I had to cancel my DePaul audition on Wednesday. I did my CCM audition tuesday morning and got on a flight. Chicago was a great experience and much less of a roller coaster of emotions than New York was, it was very much smooth sailing (except for the whole walking into the wall thing). Just have LAMDA and perhaps Central in March and then the waiting, which is the worst part. 


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<p>Thanks again, Josh. Always love hearing other people’s experiences. Any word from Rutgers? Of course we are hoping for a callback…and would need to book a flight. Are really hoping we hear something soon.</p>