I know there is the list of summer programs and I’m going over them but what program would you recommend, for those of you that did them, for an upcoming senior who wants college audition practice and help with her material? Not a $4000 price tag please…something more manageable price wise perhaps $1000 and under? Maybe $1500…
There are several audition intensive camps - I’ve heard good things about Interlochen’s summer intensive. I believe it’s audition only.
If you want to go to camp to work on audition material, I think one of the best is Baldwin Wallace’s Music Theatre Overtures. It is very limited, and by audition. I think she takes 15 students. It lasts one week and costs under $1500. (you will have to google it to get exact costs). But you spend a week with Vicky Bussert working on audition material.
Our D spent summer between junior and senior year working with Mary Anna Dennard, a college audition coach. Honestly, if preparing audition material is what you are wanting, I would take that $1000 - $1500 and find a respected college audition coach that can help you with selecting material, preparing material, picking out schools to audition for, etc… You will get individualized attention based on what you need to spend the most time on. There are all sorts of audition coaches and services around the country from which you can choose. And most will be able to give you quite a bit of consultation for that amount of money.
artsbridge is a good program for that- idk costs (I think it is over $1500).BUT What is nice is that you have exposure to multiple programs rather than say BW (which is an excellent program) which is for one school. D has a number of friends who did Overtures, and all thought it was great- and really helped them with their BW audition. (In fact, every kid but one I know personally who did Overtures is now at BW).
@toowonderful - I think it’s wonderful that you know people who are attending BW who went to Overtures. However, we know several students who attended Overtures in the past who were not accepted there for school. It by no means is a guarantee for getting in their program. Just don’t want people to assume if they spend the time and money to go to Overtures that they will automatically get in BW. But I do think it’s a great place to work on audition material. For those who don’t know, it is competitive to participate. They only take 15 students each summer.
@vvnstar - you are absolutely right- I am sorry, I did not phrase what I said well. I meant that the kids I know who attended fell in love with Vicky Bussert and BW - it became their top choice school (I know 5 kids who have attended in the last 2 years. 4 are at BW, 1 ended up choosing Ithaca). No summer program is a guarantee of acceptance- but I think having worked with faculty can make you more relaxed in the audition, which could make a difference 
I agree with @toowonderful. If you are only going to do one summer program, it is worth the extra money to do ArtsBridge. Mpulse is also very good, but it is also a very difficult admit and ArtsBridge exposes the kids to several programs. By the end of the program they should be audition ready
Artsbridge is too much cash. Keep ideas coming though!
I agree with @vvnstar, given your budget, I would spend the money on a college audition coach ahead of a summer program. You could begin work in say, the spring, and have all summer to fine-tune monologue and song selections. At D’s PA HS (and all the PA HS I know about), the students spend most of their Junior year sifting through plays for monologues and many scores for songs - a coach can greatly aid in this process (frankly speaking, d’s coach pointed her at better material than she found in weeks/months of research and trial and error through her high school). Most national coaches hold Mock Auditions, which is time very well spent, even if travel is required. A summer program, by its nature, cannot include several weeks/months of research support in finding material. With a coach, like Mary Anna or MTCA, you can go back-and-forth many times over a several month period, refining material, approach, dramatic choices, resume format, audition outfit choices, dance combinations for prescreens, etc.
I would definitely do the audition coach if you are not going to do something like ArtsBridge. you get a lot more bang for your buck in private vs group settings.
Well I’ll have to look into Baldwin W cause my D wants to audition there anyway. I need something closer to us too as we are in MD. I am not into the skype thing for that coaching service so I would have to utilize someone locally. I want her to meet with someone in person.
MTCA is on the East Coast, and has several workshops out there. I would do that.
I definitely agree; spend the $ on a good coach.
I understand your concern. I had similar reservations. Here is what we did:
Our D actually spent a few days the summer between her junior and senior year in Dallas. She was able to stay with a friend she had met at mPulse the summer before who was also a student of Mary Anna’s - so she had a free place to stay. I just paid for her plane ticket. Both girls worked with Mary Anna several days for a couple of hours each day in person. We then continued working with Mary Anna (Moo is what the kids call her) via Skype the rest of the summer and throughout audition season.
D also worked with her vocal coach (whom she was connected with by Moo) via Skype. He was in NYC. We did visit the city towards the end of the summer and she was able to have a lesson with him in person. And she attended a master class that had been organized by Mary Anna. She then had a few more Skype sessions with the vocal coach after returning home as well. It worked tremendously well. He helped select all her material, helped her polish her presentations, recorded all her piano accompaniments for all her cuts and provided her with both marked sheet music and digital files for everything. So well worth the $ spent for his coaching. (D still continued to work with her regular voice teacher on technique).
Anyway, just wanted to reassure you and anyone else who was hesitant about long distance coaching that the combination of Skype and limited in-person coaching worked well for us. I really would not discount skyping. It enables students to work with truly fantastic coaches.
I also might suggest you check with people like @KatMT and @VoiceTeacher who are based out of Virginia. They may be able to recommend in-person coaching closer to your home if you are searching for in person coaching. I really think you will get way more bang for your buck with individual coaching than you will with any camp you can attend for the budget your mentioned.
If camps are still what you are most interested in - In addition to Baldwin Wallace I would recommend you also consider CCM’s 2 week camp and Indiana University’s one week MT camp. There are people on CC who have attended them and been pleased. However, please be aware at any of these camps, most likely you will get a limited amount of time to work on your personal audition material. I would really check with each camp to find out what their curriculum consists of to make sure you will be getting the training you want.
OCU is a fantastic summer program our D attended after her freshman year in HS- they do have a 2 week option but it is around $2500 - so still a good bit more than you wish to spend.
There are some one week programs you could look into like Broadway Dreams Foundation, Destination Broadway, Broadway Artists Alliance and others - which are usually a week in NYC (Broadway Dreams is offered in several cities). But by the time you pay for staying in the city, the costs are going to be well above what you hope to spend. And most likely the focus of the workshop will not be on preparing for auditions. So really research them all well to make sure you are getting what you want and need.
D also attended a camp in DC through US Performing Arts. It was one week as well. It was ok. But I think there are better choices for what you are hoping to do.
I hate to sound like a broken record, but besides Overtures at Baldwin Wallace, I still think individual coaching of some sort will give you the best and most targeted training at the lowest cost .
If you have questions about any of the camps or coaches we had experience with, feel free to ask! Always happy to try and help.
Let me chime in as well and say - we are located in Michigan - and my D used MTCA - with her coaches in NYC - and the skype coaching worked brilliantly. I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. (Thankfully - unlike some of my friends on here with younger sibs taking the same path - I don’t have to do it all over again - but if I had to, MTCA would be part of my plan) Oh - and D did not do BW Overtures… but she is now a very happy BW sophomore - and if the summer program is anything like the program,it would be money well spent! (We didn’t really know about it.)
My D actually did the Destination Broadway camp summer before last. We did it so she could get in the city and experience being around other talented kids and we made a vacation out of it so it was fine plus she got to meet Sutton Foster her idol for years so the money was worth that alone if you just knew how long my D has loved her. She came for a master class. Michael Rafter owns part of that program and teaches the voice aspect of it. It was one of those exciting fun camps for her to get the “star struck” aspect out of the way and meet some famous people which may sound ridiculous but it really helped my D understand that they are people too and the staff really were interested in getting the kids grounded about the realities of a career in theatre. Lots of college info for parents etc. we went to see Violet that yr and after the show which Mr Rafter played piano in we waited at the stage door for Sutton & he came out and talked to us again and wished us a good trip home and my D loved that he “knew” us from camp and chatted after the show. It was over the top and my D loved every minute of it. Of course he forgot our names right afterward but that’s ok lol
Our D did Destination Broadway too! We loved Michael Rafter and everyone involved there. But D was a lot younger when she did it (middle school age). I do think its a great introduction to theater as a profession and life as a theater professional in NYC. So glad it was such a great experience for you all too.
As far as camps go, I do think Overtures is most like what you are seeking for audition training.
But for that same amount of money - you could get at least 10-15 individual lessons with a coach or coaches.
Lots of choices in this crazy process! I’m sure you’ll make great ones. I admire all of your hard work and research to seek out just the right path for your family.
If you decide to go the coaching route, I recommend checking out My College Audition with Chelsea Diehl. We live far from Boston, where she and the other coaches are based, but Skype really did work well for monologue and general advising/coaching. (MCA Skypes vocal coaching, as well, but we chose not to use it because D’s local vocal support was terrific.) We discovered Chelsea because we happened upon a few articles or blog entries by her online, and she seemed like a wonderful, warm, down-to-earth, knowledgeable person. She is. She’s terrific. And, I believe she’s a bit less expensive than others. Plus, she was always great about emailing answers to questions, advice, encouragement, and support–for free. She graduated from Emerson (MT) and acts professionally as well as coaches.
IMO, coaching with a “national” college audition coach is the way to go if you don’t have a group of local monologue and vocal coaches that are proven (by more than a few people), super strong college audition coaches and if you can “only” (ha ha–a bit of sarcasm because of the high expense of this whole process) afford one. (We only wanted D to do one because we knew how very expensive this process was going to be even without an audition coach or a camp. We ended up spending a lot less on coaching with Chelsea than we would’ve for a camp.)
I think that lady was at destination Broadway for a parent meeting. I think I have one of her books . She was very nice at camp. She was very realistic about the college process and not to get hung up on school names etc
What does a college audition coach cost? (i’m sure it varies, but just wondering what the “average” cost is)