<p>If this is addressed elsewhere, please direct me, but I think it would be interesting and useful for those who have been accepted this year to share their song and monologue choices. I know that each applicant must find material that speaks to them but it would be a great resource for those starting to think about applying next year-my son is junior.</p>
<p>jacksdad:</p>
<p>My I make a suggestion? May I suggest that your son start reading a LOT of plays? They're easy to read. Usually, they can be read in no more than two hours or so, and some even less. Certainly, a play every two nights is within reach, which would mean that one could read 180 or so plays in a year. I will guarantee you that, by doing that, he will find many, many good monologues and will understand them all in the context of the play and the character. What's more, he'll be way ahead of his classmates in his knowledge and understanding of dramatic literature.</p>
<p>Next, get Shurtlef's book on auditioning and treat it like the Bible. Once he's an experienced, professional actor, he can break the rules, but he should follow the rules until then.</p>
<p>All that said, here were some plays with favorite monologues in them that I used when I was a young man:</p>
<p>The Line
Tea and Sympathy
Ring Round the Moon</p>
<p>As Tarhunt said, there is really no substitute for reading plays: A LOT of plays. My D is fortunate to studying acting at an arts hs, and the actors in training there not only read dozens of plays as part of the regular curriculum, but also are required to read several more each month and write papers on those. It's been a great experience for my kid, because it has exposed to work she would never have run across on her own and it has piqued her interest in both the playwrights that she has heard of and others she has not. I'm a former English major, so it is very gratifying to see my D curled up in a chair, reading Shakespeare and Chekhov and others. :)</p>
<p>Thanks for your advice-I will find him the audition book and continue to encourage him to read. I am still curious to hear from this year's class what they auditioned with.</p>
<p>you are ahead of the curve by having found this site well in advance. We didn't until after already starting auditions. So without realizing it we did some things that some consider risky or no-no. but...
for a sucessful audition in MT at OCU: Giants In The Sky from ITW, O Foggo Mio(?) for the classical piece and a monologue by Timmy from "Talley & Sons" by Langford Wilson. For a sucessful audition at Belmont in Nashville: Giants in the Sky and Tonight at 8 from an old show called "She Loves Me". I'll post for Elon when we find out if it was sucessful</p>
<p>S does have the Shurtliff book and read some of it.</p>
<p>I got into NYU/CAP 21 with,</p>
<p>I can't stand still from Footloose!, Different from Honk!</p>
<p>Monologue from Science Fair and The Chosen</p>
<p>Chris</p>
<p>thanks for the details. Congrats to your son. I would love to hear more about his experiences at the different schools.</p>
<p>WMonMTDad:</p>
<p>May I suggest that your son read all of Shurtleff's book and commit it to heart? If he doesn't, then may I suggest that he take the part about finding an active audition piece very, very seriously.</p>
<p>I sure wish I had had that book back when I started. One of my favorite pieces was Edmund from "Long Day's Journey." It's a great piece, but it's basically telling a story. Nothing is happening in the moment. Not surprisingly, that piece didn't impress a whole lot of people.</p>
<p>Really, I've sat in on many auditions, and Shurtleff has it absolutely right. It's hard to tell much from a passive audition.</p>
<p>Accepted to Point Park and Santa Fe with I'm Not Afraid of Anything (I know...), I Never Has Seen Snow from House of Flowers and monologues from Love of the Nightingale and Psycho Beach Party.</p>
<p>Absolutely!!! As I noted, we went into this process extremely naive. We're in a small community, no Arts HS, no theatre in the schools to speak of. His experience has all been with the youth portion of the local community theatre and while we've always felt he was special, clearly he's swimming in a small pond. There is so very much we've learned over the last three weeks. Quite honestly, after reading all this we've been on pins and needles. But God is good and having gotten through this hurdle there's clearly a roadmap for getting to the next level. We'll be hanging around this group for a long time learning from the experience of all those alreayd on the path.</p>
<p>I might add, when I said there were many things we did that might be considered wrong or no-nos. (1) a sondheim for a lead Bway song, (2) monologues pulled from Monologue books (although we did research for context), (3) no real coaching on the monologue prep. Aside from me giving him some critiques at a couple fo points in the process he blocked them himself. There was just no one locally who knew how this process worked or could tell us where to look.</p>
<p>That said, he has some real strengths that probably offset: he's been performing 1-2 shows annually at the YoungTroupe since he was 9 and they have a strong history of aggressive shows (they do 4-5 shows annually and typically one is a shakespear and one a musical) and he is totally at ease in his skin when he steps on the stage. He seems to have that magic "something" that connects with audiences at a gut level. I can't explain it, but you probably know what I mean.</p>
<p>WMonMTDad:</p>
<p>I came from a very small pond, and thought I was really a great actor until I got to college and realized that even my accent had to go if I wanted to play anything but Tennessee Williams. But, I learned.</p>
<p>Good luck to you and your son!</p>
<p>Aw c'mon guys. With all this wonderful news regarding your acceptances, share with us what you auditioned with.</p>
<p>jacksdad, I think that some actors are (with good reason, I may add!) somewhat proprietary about the material they use. They generally have combed through a lot of material to find just the right monologue and songs, which they may want to use again. Though people here generally are very generous when it comes to sharing information, they may not feel as open to sharing this particular kind of info. :) What's more, even if some kids were successful with certain monologues/songs does not mean that another kid would be successful using the same. So much depends on type, ability, etc.</p>
<p>I would highly suggest reading plays to find monologues. I went through the college audition process twice, as a senior in high school and then again as a transfer my freshmen year of college. My first time around, I used a monologue from a monologue book and although I did read up on the plays and everything, they never felt right. My second time around, I spent the whole summer before reading plays...any play I could find and found tons of great monolgues that I really had an excellent feel for because I understood the entire context of the play. So, that's a very good suggestion.</p>
<p>For songs, I think you really just have to find something you deeply connect with so you can show emotion and acting through it, not just impressive vocals.</p>
<p>My first year, I auditioned with "Life of The Party" (Wild Party), "My Bill" (Showboat) and monologues from "And Turning Stay" and "The Importance of Being Earnest"</p>
<p>My second year I auditioned with "Astonishing" (Little Women) "I've Never Been in Love Before" (Guys and Dolls) and monologues from "The Lives of The Great Waitresses" and "Acorns"</p>
<p>NotMamaRose:</p>
<p>Well, that made me laugh! Yep. I gave monologues I'm too old to do anymore, and one specialty monologue.</p>
<p>She has it right, jacksdad. I mean, if you've done a lot of work and found a particularly good monologue that few others have, and it works for you, why would you want to give it to your competition?</p>
<p>I hate to say it, but that's about it! As much as everyone here does his or her best to share and be helpful, in the end, the students <em>are</em> competing for places.</p>
<p>Allright notmamarose and tarhunt, your points are well taken but this is an information sharing network and most of the audition season is over!!! I apologoize if my request was too forward but i did see this an area where next year's class of applicants could learn from this year's acceptees. I appreciate those who PM'd me.</p>
<p>Oh, it's not too forward. I think NMR was just trying to explain why there aren't more replies.</p>
<p>As for auditioning season being over, believe me, for an actor, it is NEVER over.</p>
<p>I was wondering when this issue was going to float to the surface! And if you think about it, it's really not too different than asking for a copy of someones note cards for a term paper. Simply put, finding monologues and songs is a very time consuming, labor intensive process and it's kind of like asking someone to give another their work product. My daughter spent months and countless hours scouring plays and song books to find monologues and songs that were a good fit for her and that she thought she could present in a way that was uniquely hers. I can certainly understand a reluctance to simply "share" that with others on a public forum. Also, as others have mentioned, auditions are a competitive process (which is not to suggest that an atmosphere of congeniality and supportiveness should not prevail). But can you imagine what it feels like to show up at an audition and find that someone you shared your audition list with is there doing material that you had spent hours finding and practicing. Happened to my daughter. Shared her list with someone who showed up at an audition the person knew my daughter would be at, doing one of the songs my daughter had found and was doing. They were the only 2 doing that song that day and my daughter was not a happy camper.</p>
<p>So how do you find material? As others have said, and as my daughter did, sit in the drama section of your local library or book store and read plays. Listen to music from shows. Talk to local high school english, literature, drama and music teachers for suggestions of of plays and musicals, talk to a voice or acting coach - all people who know a student and can point the student in directions that match that student. Do it together and make it a fun process your kid shares with you. That way, a student can really "own" the material they come up with.</p>