<p>@HeatherG
"Cary Libkin is passionate about the program and his students. He is retiring next December and they will have the new program chair selected by this spring. They will have a one semester overlap in which Cary will help train the new chair. "</p>
<p>CINCINNATI CONSERVATORY of MUSIC (CCM)</p>
<p>We got home last night after our trip to CCM. We had a fun and interesting weekend.</p>
<p>We stayed on campus at the Marriott, which offered a free shuttle to the audition venue. Parking at the hotel was an additional $10 (above our room rate) and parking at the audition site was also $10. So, to save a few dollars and avoid having to navigate an unfamiliar campus (in the rain), we opted for the shuttle. It was really nice to have door to door service.</p>
<p>The letter stated that the dance call was first and to come dressed for that. We arrived at CCM a few minutes before 7:45am and checked in. There were supposed to be 50 auditioners, but evidently 2 were no-shows. We met in a small auditorium and someone from admissions (sorry… missed her name) gave the kids an overview of the day, answered a few questions, and generally tried to loosen everyone up. She also stated that they will see around 650 auditions for 18-20 spots. They do not do a M/F 50/50 split. They just want the best 18-20 kids they see. </p>
<p>From there, the kids left to attend the dance call, which was to begin at 8:30am. Parents were told we could just “hang out” in the hallways (chairs and benches aplenty) and that there was a Starbucks on site, but sadly, it didn’t open until 10am. I met a nice mom from VA and we settled in a couple of chairs, accessed the free wifi, chatted and waited. It was nice.</p>
<p>The dance call consisted of a jazz/trad musical theatre combination from Cabaret. The students were divided into two groups and learned the dance in different rooms. They then performed for the faculty in groups of 4. They also had a talk back from “Bubba” and three performances from current CCM MT students. S said the dance was easier than what he encountered at BW and that he was pretty confident in his execution, but clearly in the middle of skill sets. </p>
<p>So, at 10am we reconnected and he had nearly 5 hours until his singing/acting audition. We decided to explore campus a bit and find lunch, since breakfast had been pretty early. We walked through campus (which he loved) and admired the mix of old and new architecture. They are currently renovating the football stadium, which is integrated right into the center of campus. It is very cool. Everything is very close, and CCM seems to be its own little pod within the campus. We found a buffet style place to eat (Center Court) which had brunch starting at 10:30am. Perfect. The food was good and we were about 2/3 of the way through our meal when the police came through the building yelling for everyone to grab their things and evacuate the building IMMEDIATELY! It was a bit unnerving. We headed out with the crowd to find the building surrounded by several police vehicles and yellow tape! It was raining, so we headed back towards one of the student centers. No one seemed to know why we were evacuated and we never did find out what happened. But, I had to supplement S’s lunch with a stop at Subway… LOL. Exciting times at the city college! We checked out the bookstore and I returned to the (now open) Starbucks before heading back to the auditions about 45 minutes before his call time. </p>
<p>We waited outside the audition area with a few other student/parent combos and there were a few current CCM freshmen there, ready to chat and answer questions. They were delightful, helpful, funny, friendly and very welcoming. They were very encouraging to all the auditioners and seemed genuinely in love with their CCM family and program. The audition ran a few minutes behind, so S didn’t go in until about 3:10pm. He did the monologue first, and then his two songs. Then they asked him why he wants to attend CCM. He came out feeling like he did well. 
After that, we chatted a bit more with the students and then they asked us (and the VA mom from earlier and her son) if we wanted a quick tour of the CCM facilities. Of course we did!!! It was really nice… we felt like we got the VIP treatment. They certainly didn’t have to offer to show us around, but seemed very excited to do so. It was fun to have a spontaneous tour which was peppered with the students’ (a group of 4) personalities, personal experiences and perspectives.</p>
<p>All-in-all, a great experience… except for missing out on dessert at the restaurant… :(</p>
<p>Thank you so much for sharing @Divamamacita and @MTmom2015 … Such great and valuable information… I hope to be able to share something beneficial with you all soon!</p>
<p>December 5th & 6th</p>
<p>Otterbein University</p>
<p>We decided to travel into town on Thursday night, so on Wednesday I called the theatre department to see if I could set up a tour on Friday for my D. The guy that I spoke with came up with my daughter’s name right after I introduced myself on the phone. That made a great first impression! I felt like they were interested in her personally and didn’t consider her just another number. He offered a full day or half day tour. Since we hadn’t visited prior to the audition season, I signed her up for the full day. They set her up to shadow a current freshman. My D met up with her at 7:45am so they could head out to the 8am dance class. I didn’t hear from her again until 4pm! She had a fantastic day! All of the kids were genuinely excited to meet her and were unbelievably welcoming! She even got to meet @mtmajorcook’s S! She absolutely loved the new acting director Lenny Leibowitz. Apparently the current students even had a hand in hiring him! She texted me at 4 to have me meet her at the arts center so I could see a dress rehearsal of the senior showcase. That was an unexpected surprise! Otterbein’s program combines their BFA Theatre and BFA MT kids. So, even the theatre kids sang! Loved seeing that. As we left my D must have gotten hugged by at least 10 of the kids she had met that day in all of the classes.</p>
<p>Audition Day</p>
<p>We arrived at the Battelle Fine Arts Center around 7:45 for an 8am check in. My D came dressed in her dance clothes as that was listed as the first event of the day. They did have the locker rooms available to change in for those who needed to. We checked in and received a packet of information, including a schedule for the day. She filled out an information sheet and then turned that in with her headshot, resume and music. (They bring in an accompanist for the auditions and this gives her time to go over the music ahead of time.)</p>
<p>All of the kids do the dance call together. My D said it was the hardest dance call yet…a jazz/ballet combo. They all learned it together and then went up in groups of 4 for evaluation. Afterwards, there was ample time to change and then the kids are split into 2 groups. 1 group goes into the theatre for the audition and the others go for a music theory eval/placement. The kids audition in front of their group. This was a little daunting! During all of the this, the parents just waited in the lobby. There was ample seating and they provided coffee. It was a really rainy, cold day, so none of us opted for a tour. There were several current students that mingled with us to answer questions and give us information. They were really great! Even if no one asked a question, they would just start talking about some aspect of the program. </p>
<p>After both groups were done with their auditions, there was a break for lunch. A map with some options was included in the packet they handed out. Many of the restaurants were in the quaint uptown area of Westerville. It is really picturesque. We enjoyed walking through some of the shops after lunch. After lunch interviews were schedule. Kids were grouped in time segments so some had a lot more of a break than others. The interviews are about 10-15 minutes for each student to be alone with the faculty. They are asked to bring in a music binder with other choices than their audition pieces. D was asked to sing a song and the musical director did an exercise with her that she said was helpful. They asked what else she would study at Otterbein if she couldn’t do musical theatre (students told her ahead of time that that was a standard question and to not read anything into it). My D said it was very casual and it wasn’t as nerve wracking as it might sound. </p>
<p>Here are a few take-aways from what I learned:</p>
<p>They are a program flush with money from alums and the community. So, therefore they are very generous with their scholarship money. A gal from San Antonio said that with the money she received she is able to attend Otterbein for less than she could attend a Texas state school! That definitely got my attention!</p>
<ol>
<li><p>They consider acting the foundation and there is a heavy emphasis. I liked how the theatre and MT kids work as an ensemble and that they audition for everything.</p></li>
<li><p>My D LOVES that there is no math requirement! </p></li>
<li><p>Seniors do a 10 week internship at a casting agency in NYC (sometimes Chicago or LA) during their last semester. So, basically, they move to NYC at the beginning of the year. They meet monthly with faculty members and they also meet to rehearse their showcase which they perform in March. This is a great opportunity and gets them a head start on the next step in their lives.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I really can’t say enough about how informative and helpful all of the current students were…they were wonderful ambassadors of their school. Overall, it was a great audition experience!</p>
<p>@MTRaleighmom - glad your D had a great visit! What did you think of the showcase? My S said “the Seniors were stunning”. They are as nice as they are talented. The Seniors have hosted pizza parties for the Freshman, just to bond and support them. Last night was their final pizza party, my S will miss them. I can say with all honestly the atmosphere you experienced is not put on for recruiting efforts, its genuinely the environment they work/live in every day. The current students really do all love Lenny, I’ve never heard one negative word. The dancers all love Stella, she’s pretty much my S’s hero. Some of the community theatre supporters you mentioned actually know the students. One of them hugged me after the dance concert because she was so excited, I was surprised by that! It will be a long wait now until March, on to the next stop! </p>
<p>What a great audition review MTRaleighmom. As MTMC said, the warmth and friendliness of the students is genuine. I couldn’t be happier for son, and it feels good to know he is surrounded by such wonderful people in addition to receiving great training. BAL to your daughter!!!</p>
<p>Thanks all! Still haven’t heard anything, but there are planty of other schools i applied for (18). So i’m not really worried!</p>
Bumping. I know some had auditions this weekend, so hoping for some new reviews.
Bump would love to hear too.
Okay, I’ll jump in…my D had Carnegie Mellon auditions in Atlanta on Saturday. Check-in was between 9-9:30am. I didn’t do an official count, but my best guess is there were about 18-20 auditioning for MT and about the same for Acting. It looked to be about 50/50 boy/girl, it may have even skewed towards more boys. They took a picture of each student and then Barbara Mackenzie-Wood, Gary Kline and Kaf (do not remember her last name) all spoke a few minutes to the group. Then they took kids back in groups of four, while the rest waited in the auditorium. I believe all MT students did their songs first with Gary and then went on to do monologues with Barbara or Kaf.
D’s very big lesson learned on this audition…have a plan for vocal warm-ups! It took quite awhile before her name was called so she had almost 3 hours between warming up (in the car on the way) and when she went back to sing her songs, with very little talking (mostly whispering) in between. As a result she wasn’t happy with her song audition. She felt much better about her monologues. She did the monologues with Kaf who asked her to do a third monologue but was not asked to do them for Barbara.
Everyone representing CMU was extremely kind and did everything possible to make D feel comfortable. It was a pretty long day especially since there was no dance call (we were there from 9am-2pm), but she came away meeting some new people and a few lessons learned for the next one!
Que Sera, Sera…
Thank you Bogeyw… Well, so far we’ve only done Marymount… And it was a very positive experience… But more like a classroom/workshop type setting…
The call was at 1pm… All applicants and there parents gathered in an auditorium… There was a 45 minute presentation and Q&A about the programs… Why the BA in MT is not a BFA ,and an explanation of credits and the training hours, and opportunities… They pointed out the pros of the smaller school setting, and how they make it all work in Manhattan, in there limited space… The two directors were really warm, intelligent, and seemed to have a nice chemistry and worked well together…
The parents were dismissed and told to return around 5:30…and I walked away thinking ‘this could be a great option’
My daughter isn’t one for sharing too much… But this is what I gathered from her audition experience…
All the kids (25 capped) stayed in auditorium… And watched everyone audition… They did monologues first, and then dismissed acting only students. Then everyone did there song(s)… You could choose one or two (16bars) and myD was surprised how many kids opted for just one. The instructors made some corrections and tweeks to some of the work… But were very fun and gentle… there was no dance call…
Con.- it was a very dry atmosphere… And the kids had to sit quietly for several hours before singing… Not the best set up for singers… Definitely need to figure out a plan to sneak off and re-warm up… Risk to reward? Follow the rules and be a nice young lady and quietly sit until they call your name and then go up and not show you best work? Or sneak off to the bathroom and pull it together, with risk of disturbing the group…? Hmmmm
Best course of action is when you check in, have your child ask, “Where can I do my vocal warm up?” Every school my D auditioned for on campus had warm up rooms available. Every single one. If a school is going to make your kid sit quietly for hours and hours without giving them a place to warm up, I don’t think I would want to send my kid there. Take the initiative and ask…I would be shocked if they did not provide warm up rooms and expect kids to use them.
That is a great suggestion @monkey13. As we were driving to the CM audition, I asked my daughter if they’d have warm-up rooms and she said she “hoped so”. We did an audition on campus at Belmont and one of the first things they did was tell the students where the warm-up rooms were. The CM audition was in a high school. so maybe they didn’t have the access to extra rooms? But you’re right, she should have asked.
D auditioned at Texas State on 1/18. Our flight arrived Saturday and we made it to Texas State in time for their master class. This is a free program put on Saturday night for both the parents and kids who auditioned on Saturday and would audition on Sunday. This took about an hour and a half and Caitlin (head of program) and Michael (head of voice) worked with three students. The only condition was that the students could not use any material they were using to audition with that weekend. This was an interesting session as it showed a little what it would be like to work in the program. I thought it was mildly interesting but my D really enjoyed it.
One think I should mention because it amazed me: Caitlin Hopkins has memorized the faces of every kid who is auditioning and goes up to them, calls them by name and gives them a very big hug. This is why all the kids love Caitlin. She is just a wonderful person. Of course, this leads to my D loving Caitlin and could certainly increase the disappointment factor if no offer is given but nonetheless - kudos to Caitlin. It is nice to see that she really cares about her program and the kids auditioning.
Sunday started with a 8:30 registration followed by a 1 hour campus tour led by some MT students. We toured the new Performing Arts Center and it was beautiful. Quite a facility! After the tour there was a one hour program overview and a chance for the parents and auditioneers to ask questions of the faculty and current students.
After the program overview came the dance call and then the individual singing and dancing auditions that lasted from about 1:00 to past 6:00. Students are scheduled in 10 minute increments but these sessions frequently go longer as the faculty will work with students on different things. My daughter was asked to sing another song and some kids say they were asked for a 3rd monolugue so be prepared!
All in all a good day. My D thought the audition went well so now we will just wait and see. We really liked the campus and San Marcos around the campus.
Thanks for sharing MTParents2015! Just wondering if they shared any info with you about how many students they will be auditioning in total (in other words…passed prescreens)?
No, we didn’t get that information but we were told they were shooting for a class of 14. 25 kids auditioned on Sunday and my impression was that about 40 auditioned on Saturday, so 65 total. If that number holds for their February auditions and then add 2 days of auditions at Unifieds - my guess is about 250-300 passed the prescreen. That’s obviously just a guess.
I’ve missed doing some audition reviews out of sheer craziness of my life, but I walked in the door literally 15 minutes ago and wanted to review Ball State …
Ball State
We got to Muncie last night (we’re 3 hrs away) and stayed at the Holiday Inn in town - which is in serious need of refurbishing, but it did it’s job. I dropped off D on campus as she has friends there and they went out to dinner.
Our email said to arrive at Ball Gym between 8 & 9 … we got there at around 8:10am and had absolutely no trouble parking right in front. All the spots (including the meters) are only monitored Monday thru Friday so no passes or quarters needed.
D had a friend coming so we dawdled outside waiting for her to get there - and then they both checked in at the registration table downstairs, filled out their form, turned in resumes & headshots and got their pin on number. (I should say that they were told to arrive in dance wear.)
And then TONS of MT kids, theatre kids & I believe dance kids were walking around w/ nametags on welcoming everyone and asking if they had any questions. Hands down, this was awesome! The girls (which now are a group of 3 since my D ran into someone else she knew) asked TONS of questions.
At 9am the kids & parents went upstairs and they did some improv work and were told about the program. They said that because they know how intense auditioning is, and how everyone is auditioning at multiple schools, that they would tell them that day if they were a definite “no”. And they have one more audition on 2/21 and everyone should hear back the first or second week of March.
Dance portion … (obviously, this is all second hand now!) … I had heard this was an intense (but fun) audition. I had also heard that it was supposed to start w/ barre exercises and then do jazz. (The website and email all said to bring all your dance shoes and if you were proficient w/ tap, that there would be a time for you to do that after the main dance audition.)
Here’s what was true: it was intense - and fun! D described it like a Fosse routine … some difficult steps, but really fun to do. There was no ballet. There was no one who stayed after to tap - though some did bring tap shoes. (D brought character shoes, jazz & ballet - only jazz was needed.) I believe they went in groups of 3 or 4 and they had current MT kids do the routine w/ the kids.
They were all assigned times to audition w/ their monologue & song afterwards and most everyone was told to come an hour earlier than they were assigned. And … then they started running long and D ended up going in her originally assigned time! lol! (FYI - I believe there were about 25 MT kids total auditioning today … acting & dance were at the same time in the morning but then they split.)
D felt really good about her audition - and wasn’t told no, and nor did she break her foot again. So today was a huge success! lol! She said that in the earlier auditions, the Ball State profs did a lot of talking to the auditioners, but as it went on, the kids were in and out much quicker and there was less to no chatting.
Also, the website says that you need to send in your sheet music at least 2 wks before to ensure the accompanist was familiar. When I re-read and saw that THURSDAY NIGHT and realized I didn’t do that, I freaked the &**^^@# out. (It never said to do it in any of the confirmation emails, but it does on the web.) It was not a big deal … we asked around and didn’t find anyone who did.
Any questions, just ask.
KaMaMom: Gald to hear the Ball State audition went so well. My D Amanda was assigned to the parent forum to answer questions for all the anxious moms and dads. Wonder if you saw her there?
@jeffandann … I beat feet and got out of there and went back to the hotel! I do not do well in holding patterns at auditions - I believe I’m much more nervous than my D.
It’s a lovely school and a great program - but to be honest, it’s a lottery school as are most of them for my D. She is ready to love whatever school she ends up at.
"She is ready to love whatever school she ends up at. "
@KaMaMom - That is a great attititude! It sounds like your D is ready to find success wherever she lands. Good for her!