Artistic Resume Question

[mamallovesllamas]

Quick question… D was cast in the musical at her high school, but performances won’t be until after auditions are over. Should she include it on her artistic resume, and if so how?

[speezagmom]

I think you include it as long as she is cast. I don’t know that you need to do anything special with it as you’re in rehearsals for the role already. If you feel like you need to call it out, you could put “upcoming” or something like that after the name of the show.

[mamallovesllamas]

Thanks,

[PrincessFiFi]

Absolutely acceptable to put on her resume! From my experience, putting “in progress” next to it would be perfectly fine

[MThopeful2022]

Last year, we added it for my D with month and year in parentheses, for example: Rosemary, How to Succeed (March 2019)

[janne006]

For a show she is cast in but has not yet performed, my daughter uses an asterisk – Tarzan the Musical* — and at the bottom of the resume, *upcoming.

[toystorymom]

My D is still a HS junior, but this question about artistic resumes made me wonder about a few other issues:

1. I know most programs want to see only roles listed from high school on, but would it be ok to include a show that D was in the summer right before her freshman year? This was her last show with a youth theater program she’d been involved with since early elementary school and was her biggest lead role. Is there somewhere else in the application process to mention that she’s been doing theater since age 9 or 10?

2. How important is it to list HS shows if the roles there were smaller and she has had bigger/more interesting roles outside of high school? Should she just include everything to fill in the timeline? Her HS does not have a drama department, and the HS shows have often been a bit disappointing, so she has been looking elsewhere for more performance experience.

3. Should she include non-theater singing experience, such as cabaret performances and singing the national anthem at sporting events?

We’re relatively new to this process and not working with a coach (though learning a ton from this forum!), so any input would be appreciated!

[EmsDad]

Here are some comments from faculty members from past threads about resumes. These are in answer to a slightly different question about putting clubs on resumes, but I think the advice is good in general.

Well. As a rep. As a person who looks at the resumes most intently. I can say from my singular perspective (and you are going to hate this.) It doesn’t matter. Sorry. Theatre people are ridiculously sure of their own opinions regarding talent and fit. If you handed me a piece of paper that said you have done 20 shows, been in every club, and worked at the homeless shelter I would take note. But if you weren’t a good fit, or what we were looking for, we wouldn’t much care. I suppose if two people are at some plausible “same level, same look” situation, we MAY look at the resume and make some decision. But it is rather unlikely.

I don’t see any issue placing that information there. No matter what, it will never be detrimental. There is absolutely no formula for a high school resume (there is barely one for a professional resume!) Stop sweating the small stuff. I can’t imagine a single school saying, “well, we liked him/her, but all this extra stuff on the resume rules them out.”

I wish you luck in your endeavors. This cannot be easy from a parent or student perspective. If it makes you feel any better, at least where I am, we spend hours discussing and debating the merits and fit of the potential incoming class. And we feel terrible when people we have connected with aren’t invited into the program. This is a very difficult process.

The resume does not carry a lot of weight in and of itself for us in the program admissions process. It does give us a sense of the kind of experiences in which an applicant has been involved, and we often use it as a jumping off point for the interview… asking questions about somethings on the resume in order to get the student to talk about their experiences.

Ultimately, at least for us, the audition itself (followed by the interview, essay, and academics) carry MUCH more weight than the resume.

It is such a difficult process for parents and students, and because it is subjective it is natural to “sweat the small stuff,” but in the end, I believe for the majority of programs it really comes down to the audition, interview, and perceived fit of a student for the program.

If someone sings incredibly well with no voice lessons on their resume I may get really excited - its raw talent. If someone sings ok but has 8 years of lessons on their resume, I may be turned off - not a rule, but sometimes its a concern. Same for number of shows - Super talented actor with no shows - OK!, middle of the pack actor with 30 shows - could make you wonder if this person is more interested in being on the stage or doing the hard disciplined work it will take to climb up the ladder.

When I walk into the audition room, I never know for sure what I am going to see, so I don’t really have a pre-determined idea of what I expect. In my mind, the resume is a conversation starter. If I look down the list and see the name of a colleague (which happens frequently) its a great topic for conversation. Those conversations can lead to other topics and help me get to know the student. To me personally, that is the most valuable bit of information I get in a live audition. If I’m reviewing a screening video, I usually only look for people I know and if they have dance experience. If they are ok in voice and acting but have more than 4 years of dance, it says something, more than 8 says something else, and less than 1 tells me something else I need to know.

Personally I am not concerned with clubs, community service, or anything non-theatre related. For me it just clutters up the page and gets in the way of the information I would like to see. In general, less is more.

Hope that helps.

These are from this thread: http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/1253689-looking-for-input-from-college-reps.html

[toystorymom]

Wow! This is incredibly helpful–and somewhat of a relief! I know it’s early in the process for us, but after sending one non-theater kid off to college, I guess I just figured the resume for theater students would be somewhat equivalent to the extracurriculars resume of other college-bound applicants. I’ll check out the thread for more info–thanks so much, EmsDad!

[CaMom13]

@EmsDad knows all! I always love reading his informative posts.

[Back2B4]

The thread referenced above is from 2011, so I’m wondering if given the increasing popularity of degrees in MT and the competitiveness of getting into any audition-based program, I wonder if anything has changed in 8 years since that thread was posted or if most of it still applies.

[TexasMTDad]

I can’t imagine that it has changed. Either you have the talent or you don’t. Doesn’t matter how many credits you have.

Think of it like this… your resume in whatever profession you’re in gets you an interview, then you’re on your own. The kids either prescreen for an audition or audition outright. Don’t think the resume has much effect.

[EmsDad]

Ok, here is a quote from Dr. John Stefano, the former head of MT at Otterbein, about what faculty are looking for during an audition. Even though its from 2010, I doubt the principles are any different now. Reading this, I think, puts worries about resumes in perspective:

Because we define ourselves as a school that trains actors and educates human beings, acting is the root of our training programs. Of course we are interested in students who can sing coloratura or do three pirouettes. But that’s not enough. We need students who want to use their acting, singing and dancing skills to tell stories to audiences hungry to hear them.

WHAT WE WANT TO SEE

We want to see you.

We can see you if you play:

• characters that you understand,
• caught in situations that you understand,
• who are demanding what they need from the other characters in the scene,
• using the words (and, in songs, the music) as tactics to achieve their objectives.

If you make all the characters’ desires your own, we will be able to see you.

We can’t see you if you:

• do a piece in an accent that isn't yours, in order to show us that you can do accents,
• yell or cry hysterically in order to show us that you can be emotional,
• sing very loudly to show us what a big voice you have,
• sing very high notes to show us what a great range you have,
• use props,
• choose a piece with words designed by the playwright to be shocking, or
• wear clothing that calls attention to parts of your body other than your face.

In other words, don’t push an image of yourself at us. Rather, share yourself and the pieces with us. It’s a subtle mental shift, but it has enormous positive consequences.

AUDITIONING: THE SONGS

We want to hear you.

The same guidelines apply to songs as to monologues. Do songs that you connect with. Choose songs written for younger characters. Choose songs about characters in situations that you understand in your gut. Choose at least one song or monologue that has some humor. **Remember: singing is acting with music, not just making beautiful sounds.

But musical values are still essential. Effective audition songs let us hear the range, quality, and size of your voice, your sense of style and command of technique, as well as your ability to act the song:**

• Range: It's better not to try to show us your very highest notes, or how loud you can sing. Again, it's about sharing, not showing. Songs should live within the range you are comfortable singing. But do make sure that the song has more than a five- or six-note range. We don't learn very much from such songs.
• Style and Technique: We listen for good diction, accuracy in pitch and rhythm, support and control of the breath, and the ability of the voice to "ring" throughout the vocal registers used by the singer. Many of you have worked diligently on these issues with your voice teacher. But don't do any of these things for their own sake. Practice the songs long enough so that your technique becomes a part of the way you sing. That way you will be able to focus on acting the song. The best way to think about technique is to view it as part of the constellation of tactics that your characters are using to achieve their objectives.
• Quality: Some singers have a legitimate sound, as in the kinds of voices heard on the original cast recording of Oklahoma! This style, based on operetta and opera, is still very much alive in works like Light in the Piazza. It's also the core of our vocal training, so one of your two songs should be in this style. There are many places to find this style, including current musicals. But another place to find this style is in musical theatre repertoire written between 1930 and 1980, including songs by George Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Kurt Weill, Rodgers & Hammerstein, Lerner & Loewe, Leonard Bernstein, or Kander & Ebb.

Some singers have character voices, required for most of the characters in Guys and Dolls. Some singers can rock it high. Some singers can belt or mix. If one of these is your best sound, let us hear it. Just make sure that you’re not straining or yelling or screaming.

from: http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/otterbein-university-mt/1035287-audition-advice.html

[toystorymom]

Thanks again, EmsDad! This is all incredibly helpful! I do also appreciate the perspective of TexasMTDad about resumes from the work-world perspective. We are new to the MT world, so of course I’m stressing about all the little details–especially since we had such a totally different experience with S1, where extracurriculars and the activities resume seemed to be a critical part of the application. It’s good to take a deep breath and realize that the best thing D can do is keep working on the things that will matter most in the audition room!