Advice for HS Juniors thinking about auditioning for Musical Theatre/Acting Colleges

College Majors Musical Theater Major
1

<p>Hey guys,
As college auditions start to wrap up, I thought it would be a great idea for us HS Seniors/Transfers to make a thread giving a big list of advice to HS Juniors who will be going through the same thing next year. I know that I had no idea what to expect, and I hope this will be helpful to anyone who feels overwhelmed at the thought of college auditions!</p>

<p>Some tips:</p>

<p>-Know the difference between a BA and BFA. There have been multiple threads on this in the past. Feel free to apply or visit both types of programs, but know that there is a large difference in philosophy. Essentially, a BA student wants a normal college education centered around theatre while a BFA student wants to receive training to become a professional at the end of the 4 years. A BA student will have more options at the end of the 4 years than the BFA student, who will most likely start trying to get jobs upon graduation.</p>

<p>-Know the difference between university and conservatory. It's a great idea to visit both types and get a sense of which feels right to you. Personally, I feel that a university offers a more enhanced, enriched educational experience with more opportunity to experience and grow from diversity. The university gives you a more complete growing experience in my opinion. Other people feel that academic classes and an academic setting pulls away their focus from their craft. They might have hated taking academics in high school and can't wait to get out. You decide which is right for you.</p>

<p>-Prepare, Prepare, Prepare. ALWAYS bring more material than is written on the audition guidelines list. If they ask you to prepare 2 monologues, bring 4 choices. If they want two 16 bar cuts, bring the 32 bar cuts as well, in addition to 2 other song choices. Double the requirements at every school and you will feel much safer. In total, I prepared 5 monologues (2 shakespeare, 2 contemporary dramatic (contrasting), 1 contemporary comedic), and 6 songs (One pop uptempo, one traditional ballad, two traditional uptempo, one contemporary ballad). PREPARE and when the auditor says "Do you have anything else in your book? Let me take a look" you will feel confident and gratified.</p>

<p>-Try to audition on campus if possible. Even if you have visited before, auditioning on campus gives you a better opportunity to meet the faculty, current students, and to get a sense of the atmosphere. The setting is more relaxed on campus. At least for me, Unifieds threw me off a bit. The worst was the dance auditions. I had to warm up for dance with barely any room in the corner of the lobby, and for the auditions, there were no mirrors and I did significantly worse than I would have if there had been mirrors there. Also, you don't take into consideration the stress of auditioning for many schools in one short period, or the intimidation of seeing hundreds of MTs walking around in spandex, or the idea of being sick during Unifieds (which I was). It wasn't such a wonderful experience and I wouldn't do it for any school that I was seriously considering if I were you.</p>

<p>-If you're doing MT, don't neglect the fact that DANCE is a major component of most of the audition processes. You may not be accepted to a school simply because they didn't see enough dance skill. You can't really fake a dance audition, you need to be in classes multiple times per week. Yes, a school may say that "potential" is enough, but they might also be neglecting to say that "you need to have Aretha Franklin's voice if you aren't a dancer." Don't let it slide. Schools often will accept one person over another because of their dance training alone, and that is a fact.</p>

<p>The two most important words of advice:
FIRST:
You will probably not get into every college you audition for. I don't care if you're Bernadette Peters, Kristin Chenoweth, or Patti Lupone herself. It's almost a complete crap shoot. I know many people who were denied admission to mediocre schools, while accepted to top schools. I know talented people who weren't accepted anywhere. I know people who I consider to be lesser singers, actors, dancers, but they were accepted to some schools over other talented people I know. Don't get yourself worked up and thinking you will get in everywhere only to realize that when they say 3% get accepted, it means that no matter how talented you are, it probably won't be you. And if you are one of the people who aren't accepted anywhere, DON'T GIVE UP unless your heart isn't in it anymore. Get training and re-audition the next year if you still want it. Don't gauge your talent on these schools' answers. While they may claim that they accept based on "potential," the majority of the criteria is based on product. Accept that you may need to work on your skills and creating a better product before you are acceptable at some schools.</p>

<p>SECOND:
You will end up where you need to be. The school that sees your potential and accepts you will train you best. A school that says "no" is not right for you at that time. Don't try to take control of the process - do the work and let your path be chosen for you by the schools' answers.</p>

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<p>I think the words of advice you have offered are great! Coming from a student who has just gone through the process makes them particularly worthwhile. I don’t know if you noticed that there is a pegged thread at the top of the MT forum page titled “Preparing to Apply - Information for High School Juniors and Seniors”. You may want to copy your comments there. That thread is a chronicle of insights and information from students, parents who have gone through the process with their kids, educators, college reps etc. It provides a “one stop” place to get a good orientation to the college selection, application and audition process and your comments would be a great addition. Because that thread is pegged to the top of the forum, it won’t get lost over time and buried under other threads.</p>

3

<p>Well you have done an awesome job of summing up about 500 threads on this forum…very well-stated and clear…and RIGHT ON. (Maybe you should consider being a script WRITER!) :)</p>

<p>I would add to your second point at the bottom…you will end up where you need to be IF you do a good job of choosing your audition schools. You need a broad range of choices, both audition and non-audition, both dream schools/challenges/reaches for you and some that you feel will train your “type” and that are a little less exclusive. Then let the process guide you to your “spot.”</p>

<p>I would further add that your on-campus visit should include seeing a production (so you get a feel for their quality and whether it matches your expectations) and a class-room visit, if possible. This was invaluable to my son’s decision.</p>

<p>I second the motion that you copy this info into MichaelNKat’s thread at the top of the forum…that is where my son started and he understood the process sooo much better by doing so. The info that you have summarized here is discussed in depth in lots of threads, but sometimes a “newbie” has trouble digesting it and narrowing down the important things…thanks for helping!</p>

4

<p>Great work, collegesearch! I’ll add:</p>

<p>If you’re auditioning for MT, you MUST either have solid vocal technique training or a TRUE natural gift (and VERY few people have that gift without training)! No matter how interesting/dynamic you are as a performer, if people are eventually going to pay you to SING (as well as act and dance), you must having true singing chops - and schools need that to be more and more developed in their auditionees with every passing audition year. I am entering my 20th year of coaching (oy, I’m old! :slight_smile: ), and this truly has changed over the past 5-7 years especially. It’s no longer enough to “show potential” at an audition as a singer but be raw. It used to be true that VERY advanced dancers could be weaker singers - but this definitely is not true anymore, especially for top programs. You have to bring SOMETHING developed to the table as a singer. As a favorite director of mine used to say: “it’s a musical, not a dance-ical” - meaning singing still dominates this process from an MT program audition perspective. Being a great singer is not ENOUGH - you must also ACT very well, including your songs! - and dance is important too! But being a great singer is the fundamental MINIMUM expectation for most programs.</p>

<p>The great news for juniors is that if you are reading this now, you have TIME to develop good-to-great singing technique!! Singing is an activity of muscular coordination (activating some muscles systems, releasing others that want to get in the way, and then adding musicality). Like any activity that requires muscle memory, you need time to instill good habits and really solidify them. So make sure you ARE taking voice lessons, and that you are working on TECHNICAL EXERCISES to allow you to sing comfortably in all areas of your range - especially those breaks! And use your summer to really focus on this - fall is too late to really get as strong as you need to be. Underclassmen - start now - how wonderful to have more than a year of solid vocal technique work!!</p>

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<p>Another suggestion I would like to make is to invest in coaching if it is at all possible. While your high school drama teacher might know some things and your guidance counselor might know other things, it is rare that either have their pulse on what is currently preferred/expected by college auditors. Additionally, if you are a parent, it is rare that any of us can see our kids as objectively as an outsider can, and they can be invaluable in giving guidance in selection of material, ways to improve areas of weakness and how to highlight areas of strength. Coach C happens to be my daugther’s coach and she and her crew are amazing, but whomever you decide to work with, ask for references. I know that it can be daunting to spend hundereds of dollars on coaching, but this is an investment in a process that costs tens of thousands (or even hundreds of thousands) of dollars to complete, not to mention 4 years of your life, it is well worth it. With easy access to Skype (we live 3,000 miles from Coach C!) even those of us who are not geographically accessible to coaching, can get the coaching they need. For juniors out there reading this now, kuddos to you for being ahead of the curve! Get moving now on finding material and then you won’t be stressing out a month before auditions trying to find the right material!</p>

6

<p>There is some great insight on this thread, and I wanted to add my two cents. I am finishing up audition season and I think the most surprising thing for me was how fun it has been, especially Unifieds. I did auditions both in NYC and Chicago and I can not tell you how fun it was to go from audition to audition (especially in Ny) feeling like you’re are “in the business.” It confirmed every feeling I have ever had about wanting to pursue this career, and felt so at home. Also, I think it is important to remember that we are auditioning for college, and as one auditor I auditioned for put it, you are supposed to have weaknesses and that is what college is for. No matter where we end up, as long as you have passion and a strong work ethic you will grow and get better and hopefully be prepared to work in the professional world after 4 years.</p>

7

<p>Great post collegsearch26!</p>

<p>only thing to add… depending on the program students graduating from BA programs may also plan on and be ready to pursue professional opportunities directly after graduation. However, often BA programs will require more general education courses outside of your major than BFA programs (although there are a few exceptions either way), so it is important to research the required and AVAILABLE curriculum and opportunities at all schools on your list. :)</p>

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<p>Although we didn’t get coaching for our daughter, some of her friends have used the author of I GOT IN! The Ultimate College Audition Guide For Acting And Musical Theatre (a book which the colleges recommended we get, and we are so glad we did)
The book was plenty of help for us. (my daughter’s list of audition schools was short) But her friends who used that coach have already gotten a lot of acceptances and are on hold for some of the big schools already, so it makes you think it might have helped.
But lots of kids do just fine with no coaching, and sometimes it is just an expense that cannot be afforded. But I’ll tell you what, this CC site has really been a free helpful resource!</p>

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<p>I want to endorse this thread. :slight_smile: We also are many many miles from anyone who even knows what BFA MT means - so we skyped my daughter’s coaching and while I know it’s always preferable in person, I feel her coaches were able to do a wonderful job with D anyway and while we are still waiting to hear on a couple programs, she has gotten a couple of acceptances. Which is wonderful. But even at the rejections, we know it was because it wasn’t the school for her: not because she bombed or was clearly unprepared. Because she really was. I would like to really really REALLY emphasize what CoachC (who is great - hi there!!!) says about not waiting to start developing your vocals. My daughter had been taking singing lessons for a couple years but she didn’t realize just exactly what it was she needed to accomplish and it was very late in summer before a certain incident and sudden epiphany made it clear what had to be done and how much work she needed to do. Her local voice teacher, once she understood what she had to get done, was great about going into overtime with my D, and my D threw herself into it and made amazing progress and I think surprised us with how much she improved. But, I wonder, had she started working like she did earlier, how much more confident she would have felt for that first audition, (which was NTDA for heaven’s sake and wow, that was rough)</p>

<p>There are still a few schools around that do actually look for potential - they may not be the big named schools, but that isn’t because they don’t have a good program. That doesn’t mean you can show up without any training at all, but the feeling I got after going to schools all over the spectrum is that a few schools (thank God not all of them or we would clearly haven’t gotten in ANYWHERE lol) are wanting kids who could just about hop on a bus to Broadway this very day and start working already - they want someone who is pretty darn polished up. And you know what? When you get thousands and thousands of applicants, you can probably find a dozen kids who ARE almost that polished. So yeah, I think it’s also very very true what CoachC says that it’s not enough to just show potential without any training at all. </p>

<p>I realize coaching is expensive and it’s a sacrifice and it might be that there really isn’t a budget at all for it for some people, but if that’s really the case, then research it and find people who are credible and knowledgable about it who might be able to help you and work on it yourself. There are vocal exercises and that I Got In book is good. Try to get good coaching but if that’s simply not an option, then prepare anyway. Though I would say if you aren’t getting a coach, then throw yourself on the mercy of your high school choir teacher or church choir director or someone with a degree in voice to help and make sure you are doing it right so you don’t destroy your vocal chords, especially if you are trying to belt. That’s really important. What a coach can do, that a regular voice teacher can’t, is help find material, and that is a huge huge deal - they just know in their heads, a huge catalog of stuff to suggest, and they are good about knowing if it fits. Not saying you couldn’t do this on your own, but it’s wonderful to get help.</p>

<p>I felt (and in retrospect I was right) that because I had a set amount of money with which to accomplish her auditions, that we would research the schools closer to us - hey, it’s just as easy to get rejected here in Texas as it is out on the East Coast, haha - and instead of spending so much money traveling, we would invest it in preparation for the auditions that we could afford to go to. (even Unifieds is horribly expensive for us on account of the distance - that is the one thing I regret that we couldn’t afford to do, but that’s only because it sounded like so much fun. The truth is that it wasn’t necessary to go to them because she had opportunity to visit the schools she wanted without going. We couldn’t afford to send her to a school so far off, even if she did get in - the travel cost added to attendance is a deal breaker.) Would she have been better of with us going across the country to give a bad audition, or stay closer to home and give very well prepared auditions that show her at the best of her current ability? We chose the latter and it was absolutely the right choice for us.</p>

<p>Keep this in mind when preparing the school list. Oh, I would like to also emphasize that the advice about getting a good school list is absolutely key. Must have at least one safety that you love. More than one is good. It takes some looking to find them, though.</p>

<p>I sometimes feel as if I’d like to consult the local MT wannabe kids as to where the resources for this endeavor are to be found! Because it was just absolute dumb luck that I ran across this board. Otherwise there is just no telling what would have happened…she might have walked into her auditions this year with that break still in her voice, doing “Maybe This Time” and “I’m Not That Girl”! HAHA!! Badly!!</p>

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<p>Lots of great advice here! I want to amend/clarify one thing snapdragonfly said (hi sdf!) - as a degreed and certified medical voice therapist, I do NOT recommend using vocal exercises from the internet, CD’s, DVD’s, or books. The reason is because there is no one to monitor what you’re actually doing, and it’s nearly impossible for even very experienced singers to catch their own subtle singing tensions and other bad habits - major ones, yes, but not subtle ones. So instead of using DVD’s or YouTube instruction videos, find SOMEONE who can teach you in real-time, either live or via webcam (yes, webcam vocal technique teaching is becoming more and more standard, allowing performers and students who are far away from their favorite expert to stay connected to them). I’m obviously a coach, but I’m NOT an expert vocal technique teacher - and so you’ll know how much it means when I say if you have very limited funds, the MOST IMPORTANT type of instruction/coaching to invest in is good vocal technique teaching. The rest can be cobbled together from many available resources for little to no money, if you’re google-happy :slight_smile: - but there simply is no replacement for expert, MT-savvy vocal instruction. “Classical” (bel canto training), while fantastic and important, needs to be TRANSLATED into MT song rep and the vocal expectations of MT material, so make sure your teacher can truly do that.</p>

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<p>Thanks for clarifying, CoachC :slight_smile: There is a big diff between singing ability, including not doing it to damage your voice (something I worry about) and the specifics of MT auditioning, for sure, and it’s obvious from your advice and actions that you put the welfare of the kids first and foremost. :slight_smile: We were lucky enough to be able to get BOTH the pure vocal technique (local teacher) and the MT specific training (skyped through the coach) If we could not have done both we would have, I hope, realized the best course of action would have been to do just as you said. I’m so glad we were able to do both. Our local coach was wonderful about understanding what the difference between her role and that of the MT coaches was, and what she did completely supported the process even though they never spoke to each other. They didn’t need to, though, they were all expert enough to be able to tell exactly what D needed and what the other party would be working on so it really worked out great and I am extremely grateful and pleased with the whole experience. We were so lucky.</p>

<p>(when you have one coach telling your kid something and the vocal instructor telling them the very same thing it does give you a feeling of confidence that you are in good hands! Every once in a while it was necessary for the MT coach to mention something about vocal technique and it always just confirmed what her vocal teacher was telling her.) </p>

<p>One nice thing about doing it by Skype - we know how busy our kids are, but a good coach is also very much in demand and during the fall it’s really hectic to schedule. Because we always Skyped anyway, we could schedule lessons no matter where we were going to be ~ we did lessons from my parent’s house, while on vacation, from friend’s houses all over town if she didn’t have the 15 minutes it took to drive home, lol! I don’t RECOMMEND having to jump all over like that if you don’t have to but for us, it was do it that way or not at all so it ended up being kind of a Godsend really!</p>

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<p>Great advice and tips. Thank you all . . . keep it coming!</p>

13

<p>I have also been reading the other thread, but as it’s been going for few years now, there have been a lot of “digressions” and tangents along the way and it’s easy to get bogged down. Because this one is new, it is still very fresh and on-topic! </p>

<p>So, in that vein, I have a couple of questions for those who have gone before:</p>

<p>What “surprised” you during the audition and application process? Were there an misconceptions you had going in that you now realize were wrong, either about a particular school or about the process itself or even about yourself?</p>

<p>I’d really love to hear what you learned that surprised you.</p>

<p>~Tracy</p>

14

<p>My S has been applying to MT programs. I think what surprised me is that acceptance to a program is a multistage process. If you get a “yes” based on the audition, that goes as a recommendation to the “Admissions Dept”, which is doing their own assessment based on academics. Some of the college admission offices remove all your High School FA credits and grades (there go all those A’s on your GPA) to look at your GPA without the choir, drama, dance courses. What we heard is that if your academics are on the low side but they loved you in your audition, that can sometimes hold a little more sway. This seems to vary quite a bit from school to school, and is different for the Conservatory programs (academics is less a factor) Vs the University programs.</p>

15

<p>I probably wont get it all in one post but this advice is coming from my personal experiences:</p>

<p>The most important thing about your audition (yes, even over singing and acting and dancing) is that you bring your UNIQUE self into the room. Ask your friends what they think makes you unique and then enhance that. Make it clear to your auditors that there is NO ONE like you (even if they look very very similar) because your personality is so different. Brent Wagner hits the nail on the head when he says in his info session, “The world already has a Kristen Chenoweth, we just need you.”</p>

<p>MONOLOGUES:
Choose a monologue that is literally YOU. Age 17 or 18 - for example: a character who is having trouble with a classmate in school or has traits similar to yours. It will be easier for you to love the monologue (because you will NATURALLY be good at it) and auditors will thank you for bringing in what they asked for: yourself in all its unique fabulousness! :slight_smile:
There are so many new playwrights out there with such amazing material that NO ONE does because they stop when they find a monologue from “Night, Mother”. If there are more than 3 Youtube videos of your monologue, I can guarantee you, it’s overdone. If you keep current with the NY theatre scene (read Backstage and Playbill), you will find some amazing material out there. Brooke Berman and Theresa Rebeck are two playwrights I can think of at the moment but there are SO MANY! </p>

<p>WHAT TO WEAR:
Everyone at these auditions wears cocktail dresses and heels and I’m never quite sure why because it completely undermines your uniqueness. You are probably aged 17-19 going into these auditions! Wear to your audition what you would wear shopping with your girlfriends – whom you’d like to impress (and have other people thinking what you are wearing is fabulous). Be comfortable in what you wear but show off your shape. If you’ve got legs that go for miles, wear a shorter (tasteful of course) dress or skirt, etc.</p>

<p>HEELS:
If you do decide to wear heels, practice practice PRACTICE in them months before you audition in them. Wearing heels makes you less grounded, and will affect how you sing and how you deal with your nerves so just be prepared. It you’ve been working with a coach or working by yourself for 6 months to prepare, wouldn’t it would be silly to throw it all away by not practicing simply walking into the room with your 4 inch heels?</p>

<p>HOW TO ACT IN THE ROOM:
Be yourself (your most mature and grounded self I might add). Just remember that you are over prepared (you should be) for your audition and you have NOTHING to worry about. You have all your lyrics and lines memorized and know them backwards and forwards…all you have to do is be you and speak/sing. It is that easy. You must remember that you can NOT control what happens after the audition. You can not control if you get into the program. All you can do is present your best work. If they don’t like you, then clearly they aren’t the right program for you and it is their loss. Know that you are a unique, interesting and talented performer and you deserve to go where you are appreciated.</p>

<p>I’m sure I’ll think of something else later – but for now this is what I can contribute :)</p>

16

<p>“What “surprised” you during the audition and application process? Were there an misconceptions you had going in that you now realize were wrong, either about a particular school or about the process itself or even about yourself?”</p>

<p>I was surprised by how intense the dance auditions were - they were much harder overall than I predicted. Some schools were easy, but some were much harder than I was prepared for (I’ve only had 2 years of on and off dance training).</p>

17

<p>Collegesearch - adding on to your point…</p>

<p>I think what surprised me the most about auditions is that dance REALLY matters. I know in more recent years, when choosing between an actor/singer or a singer/dancer, the school when with the dancer (in one case they went with the actor/dancer). Fact is, dancers, in the long run, book more jobs professionally. They also have more luck with agents because they can be ensemble until they get something big – which means steady commission for an agent.</p>

<p>But if you aren’t a dancer now, you won’t be in a year. Dance is an incredible skill and takes years to learn – that said, you can still learn to do a pirouette or get your double. You can still practice your coordination and you can learn how to act your way through a dance (which may ultimately save you in the end).</p>

18

<p>All MT programs prefer triple threats, but if schools have the choice between singer-actors, singer-dancers, and actor-dancers, they’ll almost always want the combo that includes dancer AND singer for MT programs. There are many examples of great dancers not getting into top programs when their singing isn’t up to par, both already this year and in past years, especially if the vocal health of the singer is at all a concern. (As a vocal health professional, I have had specific conversations about this with college faculty: about the need for vocal technique, no matter how great a dancer is, and the further concern about vocal health.) Juniors, the point is - don’t relax about training because “I’m an advanced dancer, so I don’t need singing training” or “I’m an advanced singer, so I can get away without much dance.” Neither is true. And it’s not true that those of you who aren’t dancers with many years of training are doomed - you simply must work your butts off NOW to absorb basic ballet technique, as in barre work (it CAN be done), and jazz performance. You will not become an advanced dancer, true - but already this year, fabulous singers who are good but not great dancers have been accepted to top MT programs. (They can also act, too!) Remember, too, each program wants somewhat different things - and most of all, they want interesting INDIVIDUALS - this has to be true above and beyond all skill sets.</p>

<p>What YOU can control is TRAIN, TRAIN, TRAIN!</p>

19

<p>I believe that this is especially true for boys. Being able to dance almost always tips the balance in your favor. My S is a HS sophomore who has been dancing since he was 3. Right now, he is rarely cast as a lead in musicals (at school or in community theater) because he is a baritone who looks like he is 12! But he is always cast in the ensemble because it is so rare to have boys who dance well. We call him our “front and center boy” because in any dance number they put him front and center. He is often up for parts against kids who can sing and act as well as he can, but it is his dancing that gets him jobs. (BTW, he was also a Billy Eliott finalist when he was 11. He was surprised that the boys who were ultimately cast did not have any vocal experience to speak of. It was all on the dance!)</p>

20

<p>I have heard it expressed before also, that being a really solid dancer will get you more work even though they might not be leads. </p>

<p>I think the thing to do is to keep training at all three and try to be your best at them all, obviously. My daughter had plenty of dance chops - 14 years of very solid ballet, tap and jazz, she is not a prima ballerina because she’s not got that swanlike body but she’s great for jazz and tap and her ballet is good enough for a very solid foundation so that wasn’t a worry - but she was way behind on vocals. At the beginning of the year we decided to drop tap (everyone was shocked as she has a reputation of being a great tap dancer and they couldn’t imagine her not taking tap!) but we did it so she’d have the time and we’d have the money to double up her voice lessons. This turned out to be an extremely good decision.</p>

<p>So I think you have to analyze what is best to use your strengths and fix your weaknesses and maybe do something you didn’t expect to do. We never thought she wouldn’t take tap right up till the last minute but it was totally the right thing to do.</p>