Audition Wear

College Majors Musical Theater Major
1

<p>As fall auditions approach, I'm collecting suggestions from seasoned MT parents about both dance-wear and the quick changes necessary into professional looking dress. So far it appears that these changes will be fast. ( similarly to what our kids experience back stage but this seems a bit different.)</p>

<p>What are your experiences with this for your daughters? Do most school give a changing room? how much time to regroup from dance to singing/acting or the reverse? What to bring to refresh make-up etc </p>

<p>What works best? pitfalls you found, etc?</p>

2

<p>Most auditions were quite organized about this issue -- but in some cases changing time was brief. For girls I would recommend a pretty dress that will slip easily over dance-wear -- you may not always have time to make a complete change. Some schools had locker rooms to change in -- others only a small bathroom. The order of events varied too -- some schools had dance first, some began with vocals or monologues. Be prepared for anything.</p>

<p>With girls, a big issue is often SHOES!! No clunky platforms or extremely high heels -- last year one of my students wore 4-inch heels to an audition. She thought they looked great, but one school made her take them off and audition barefoot. A character-type shoe is a safe bet if you prefer heels.</p>

<p>Here's a cute tip -- try to color coordinate dancewear and street clothing. My D wore a red leotard and a red dress, and received a number of favorable comments. In the sea of black leotards and dresses, the bright color really attracted attention.</p>

3

<p>Mamalu - at almost all of her auditions, my D wore her dance attire underneath her dress. It simply allowed her extra time (if there was any) to touch up her make up or focus on warming up, while the other girls were trying to change from one outfit into the next in, what sometimes was a really limited number, narrow stalls. </p>

<p>Style wise, what worked well for her was wearing a 'wrap dress', one of those that you tie at the waist, in a material that does not wrinkle (Forever21 or Express usually carry them at reasonable prices). </p>

<p>She generally changed into her tan colored character shoes for her audition (flattering and makes your legs look longer as opposed to black) and wore more comfortable shoes for tours etc. My heart went out to the girls who were walking these tours on high heels. Some schools will specify what they want you to wear too however, i.e. NYU insists on low heels, at CMU they asked her to take off her shoes altogether, and at Elon she took them of for her monologue)</p>

<p>Like onstage also suggests, her dress and leotard always matched (my D opted for solid teal, purple, or a black/white combo). </p>

<p>I would really steer clear from loud patterns, overly frilly dresses, and gold or silver numbers (we saw it all :D). </p>

<p>To refresh make up, depending on what your D usually wears, I would suggest just sticking to bringing a compact powder (if dance turns out to be before vocal/acting), a small pocket mirror, and some lipgloss. Having a hair brush does not hurt either :).</p>

<p>Remember to bring a snack (apple, banana or health bar) and a water bottle. Some places will have things to eat on hand, other won't, and the wait can be long.</p>

4

<p>I remember my kid worrying about this (not only what to wear, but how to change quickly and where that would happen, etc.) a lot before auditions. It's strange how it all works out. :) My D did not choose to wear her tights and leotards under her audition dress mainly because it wouldn't have worked under her dress, and she didn't like the way it felt to have to roll her tights up so they didn't peek out. :) Intead, she had her dance stuff ready in a bag with water, snacks, etc. etc. and was able to make quick changes in bathrooms or dressing rooms that were provided. In cases where she knew she was dancing first (PSU's NYC Unified audition, for instance), she wore her dance clothing to the audition and then when she came out, I helped her make a quick change in a nearby bathroom. Ditto her offsite Syracuse audition. (Ithaca has no dance audition.) The dance audition for BoCo is separate from the monologues and songs (you are given a specific time for your singing-acting audition and then you chose one of several dance calls) so again, she didn't have to go that rapidly from one to another. </p>

<p>Please keep in mind that the auditors understand that kids have to have a moment or two to change their clothing between their dance and singing/acting auditions, and make provisions for that. It's often somewhat rushed and crowded, but in my D's experience, was never impossible. </p>

<p>Do NOT spend stress and tension on this.</p>

5

<p>I liked NMR's post with school specific comments, and will add my thoughts. After thinking back, I think that the amount of time you have, if any, will greatly vary from school to school, and if you are auditioning at Unifieds or on-site. Just to be concise, all my D's auditions were "on-site":</p>

<p>Elon - after observing an acting class, their dance audition was first; she had received info on beforehand about this, but did not learn about the times of the vocal and acting audition until the morning of upon check in. It turned out that D's audition was really early. As soon as the dance auditions were done, there was an info session for all the parents and their kids. My D had to leave this info session early as there was a direct conflict with her vocal warm-up session with the accompanist (everyone gets a appointment time for this). As soon as the info session concluded, I saw my D come running down the stairs ready for her audition. The bathroom was very crowded with all the people just leaving the info session, so she was happy she only had to "throw her dress" on. Not sure how Elon organized the order of those auditioning (alphabetical, order they receive apps, order of sign in?), but D would have had little to no time for changing due to the time she was assigned. There must have been 54 girls wanting to change out of their dance clothes, in what I remember something like 8 stalls :D, even though many did not have to audition until much, much later. I am sure that D would have changed in the middle of the lobby if she would have had to ;), but still things worked out better for her that she did not need to.</p>

<p>Point Park - everyone did vocal and acting first; there was plenty of time in between to change into dance clothes or vice versa. </p>

<p>CMU - the group was split into two, one group danced first, the other did their songs/monologues first. D danced first. Typical example of badly over crowded bathroom here, with some girls taking a really long time to get out. D put on her dress over her dance attire and was fine.</p>

<p>Marymount Manhattan - another example of "too many people wanting to change at the same time". It appears they did allow plenty of time here, but D at this point was comfortable just putting on her dress, and sitting in a corner re-applying make-up, avoiding chaos.</p>

<p>Pace - no dance audition</p>

<p>NYU - no dance audition</p>

<p>CCM - dance call followed the info session. D was the first one to audition shortly thereafter. CCM schedules their audition slots first come first served, based on when they receive your online audition request. Apparently D submitted hers early for that session.</p>

<p>At the end of the day, I think it is most important that your D feels comfortable. My D felt fine "hiking up her tights", unlike, for example NMR's D. I think that my D actually even pulled some "magic acts" where she somehow managed to peel off some of her clothing, while appearing "fully dressed". If I remember correctly, she would drop her leotard and fold it down, if that makes any sense. Some of this is really personal too; in D's case, running from dance class to the theatre, and years of practice in the back of the car, paid off in this regard :).</p>

<p>I definitely agree to not stress over any of this. Totally not worth it. If anything, do not bring an iron (yes, actually saw someone bringing this in), leave the prom dress at home (we saw a bright blue one), and keep it simple (no need for a huge suitcase, even if it is on wheels).</p>

6

<p>I have to definitely agree with the wrap dress! My daughter wore the same wrap dress to every audition and it was the best fabric in that it could be actually thrown in her bag and would come out looking amazing! I saw so many girls carrying garment bags and I could not even imagine lugging that around. So that would really be my best suggestion. Find a dress that looks sharp with a great wrinkle free fabric....it makes life much easier!</p>

7

<p>Bring Static Guard and Febreeze. My D wore a sweet black knit swing dress (no wrinkles) and a string of pearls (the pearls were my idea). The dress was roomy enough to change under for modesty's sake, though by the second day of Unifieds, modesty was a scarce commodity.</p>

8

<p>Modesty is a scarce commodity in theater in general, due to the often limited amount of changing space in theaters and the often limited amount of time performers have to change.</p>

9

<p>I think it is important to represent yourself through what you wear.... They don't want to see people come all dressed to impress specifically. My friend wore sneakers jeans and a t-shirt to her carnegie audition and was accepted.</p>

10

<p>NYQ12 - although I agree that it is important that you represent yourself with what you wear, and congrats to your friend who was accepted at CMU (MT or acting?), I will still advise against wearing jeans and a t-shirt. </p>

<p>In a way, you should treat your MT audition as a "job interview". If you are more comfortable in pants than a dress or skirt, there are lots of nice slacks/shirt options that will show your adjudicator that you care about your appearance. </p>

<p>Also, I think it may be pertinent to point out that there definitely seems to be a "dress code" variance between kids auditioning for MT vs those applicants who are going for 'acting only' programs. During my D's audition trail last year we saw quite a few people who auditioned for acting only who were dressed in jeans and casual tops. All those auditioning for MT, without an exception, were more dressed up however.</p>

11

<p>NYQ, your friend was, in my opinion, the exception that proves the rule. I am sure your friend is very talented. But I still wouldn't wear jeans and a tee shirt to a college audition. A college audition is basically like a job interview: you want to show your best self. That doesn't mean dressing (as MTgrlsmom references above) a prom dress or draping onself in jewelry or slathering makeup on your face so you don't look like yourself. It means choosing something that looks good on you and is respectful of the auditors, that shows them you take this seriously.</p>

12

<p>Yes I agree I just wanted to point that out... She was MT by the way. Anyway, I personally do not think audition wear is something anyone should occupy themselves over... There are far more important things to worry about. Bottom Line -- Just dress respectfully do treat it like a job interview but not necessarily a business interview. It's more important to feel comfortable in what you are wearing while you perform your audition pieces than it is to make sure you look perfect. Don't look like you just rolled out of bed or came directly from the health club... But I do think a sense of casual-ism is somewhat important. They want to see something genuine and raw.</p>

13

<p>And exactly -- It means choosing something that is respectful to the auditors and shows them you are dedicated and serious about the school.</p>

14

<p>NYQ12, you definitely have the right idea. I am not sure I agree with you that the auditors want to see something "raw," though. :) I would say that they want to see your best self (whatever that is) and that means your choice of clothing, etc. should communicate your own sense of style and individuality, but also that you "get" that you are in a setting where professionals are making decisions about your future. Does that make sense? Also, as Mtgirlsmom said, there seems to be a difference in clothing/dress code between MT girls, in particular and acting girls. Thye MT girls, in general, wore makeup, heels and dresses (or dressy pants and blouses or sweaters). The acting girls, in general (as there are exceptions to every rule) wore more casual attire and often, messy stuff. (By the way, the girls I know who did best in acting BFA auditions wore nice pants and blouses or sweaters or even tailored dresses.)</p>

15

<p>During my D's audition cycle (2 yrs ago) she wore dressy slacks, nice shirt and heels to her first MT auditions. She looked great and was accepted with excellent scholarships. HOWEVER, one of the auditors was a friend of one of my D's teachers, and the teacher relayed this bit of info from the auditor: "she looked great, but tell her to always wear a dress or skirt with her heels to a MT audition -- we need to see a girl's legs and how they move in heels!" We went out the next day, bought a skirt which matched the top and she wore it to the rest of her auditions. Sometimes it's best to just "play the game" rather than "make a statement" :)</p>

16

<p>I have a question---</p>

<p>I'm 5'10". Should I embrace it and wear heels? Or should I wear flats? I don't want to appear TOO tall, but wearing heels would put me at about 6 feet. Suggestions? </p>

<p>Thanks a lot!</p>

17

<p>I'm a firm believer in playing up your physical attributes. If you're tall, BE TALL -- you can't hide it anyway! Seriously, though, a conservative heel, like a 2" character shoe, would be a reasonable choice. I don't recommend an extremely high heel for anyone, no matter how tall. Last year one of my students auditioned in a pair of 4-inch heels, and was told at one school to remove them for her monologues.</p>

18

<p>Getting ready for the big audition season and picking out audition-wear. My D found a great wrap dress that doesn't wrinkle and she loves it. Unfortunately it's black- she would have loved a colorful one but I think she'll add a colorful shirt underneath or something.
However, with several auditions at Unifieds we need to have alternatives since washing clothes will be difficult. She often wears nice dark pants and a vibrant solid fitted shirt with heels to events like Thespians or Vocal Associating adjudications. She found 3 great tops and was going to switch off. I read a few posts back that you should wear a dress or skirt with heels to show how you move in heels. Is it not a good idea to wear pants with your character shoes for your vocal and acting audition? Any comments would be helpful-</p>

19

<p>I personally feel dressy pants OR a skirt/dress will do. Just for the record, my D auditioned at 8 BFA programs on campus. At about half of them, she wore dressy pants and at half she wore a skirt. She was admitted wearing either outfit. She also wore heels with both, except at NYU where they asked them to remove their shoes.</p>

20

<p>Last year at Unifieds, I saw many lovely young women in both skirts/dresses and pants. </p>

<p>No one would call me an expert, but I honestly don't believe that wearing pants will cost your daughter an admission! The important thing is that she looks attractive and professional and is comfortable. </p>

<p>Re: not being able to wash clothing at Unifieds. My D did a whole raft of auditions at NYC Unifieds and didn't need to wash her audition dress at all. She wore it for the monologue and singing portions of her auditions and changed out of it (obviously) for the dance portion. </p>

<p>Unless your D spills food or drink on the dress, she can likely get through all her auditions with that one outfit (again, barring accidents ... so do have another outfit on hand, just in case ... don't tempt fate).</p>