<p>First post ever! I’ve been reading this forum for awhile now, and have learned SO much–which is good because I knew nothing about this process. My daughter has been involved in MT since 4th grade, and it soon became her passion. We decided to support this dream when it became apparent that she was truly serious and was not going to be fulfilled by walking a more traditional path. She’s our baby and the ONLY child who has had a passion for the arts. So, we are now “all in” for her college audition year! I am thankful to all who have laid out their experiences, both good and bad, and hope to form strong bonds with you all as we go through this together!</p>
<p>Support the biggest step @MTkellbell The rest will fall into place because unfortunately you are going to run into a lot of people that don’t understand the process or why they don’t have a backup plan. This whole board is very supportive. Best of luck to you and your D</p>
<p>Hey, thanks @soozievt ! I’m so excited to work with Alan at Circle this summer! I too have been amazed at how many Vermonters have gotten into competitive programs. I don’t know if your daughter trained at the Flynn at all but I have taken some great classes there as well. Last year they had a college audition information session which changed my life.
@addicted2MT Yeah, it just includes last year’s info so far, although BW has a row since I know they have said they’ll prescreen next year. Of course, I will have to check web sites through summer and fall! And spring because apparently Indiana says they will update their web site in May. I just wanted a sort of estimate so I can start picking material to work on over the summer.
And @calliene I can’t believe I don’t know your D! I always think I know every MT person in this state…but I actually don’t know anyone south of Middlebury.
Funny “Vermont is so small” story–there was a girl at my NYU Tisch info session whose mother went to high school with my dad. I’m pretty sure it’s a lot less than “6 degrees of separation” for this state! More like 2, maybe?</p>
<p>@MTVT2015 - I know what you mean! I have started my D’s spreadsheet with all of the current info. but I am going to have to highlight all the “old” info. and start “unhilighting” as I update or some other such strategy! Even starting early is not without its challenges!</p>
<p>Truth. I also started writing college essays/personal statements for a school project and I’m praying none of the topics change next year…ah well, it’s good to articulate exactly who I am and what I want and what got me into MT and all that. </p>
<p>MTVT…you sound very organized! You go girl! Calliene and her daughter are from southern Vermont. I’m excited for you to get to go to CITS this summer. My daughter never went to CITS, but we know others who have and thought it was great. But. as I think I mentioned here before, my daughter took voice with Bill for five years and then in her college audition year, she did monologue prep sessions with Alan, who she had worked with in the 3-day workshops Bill used to hold with CITS faculty in VT in June (which has since become a longer “camp”). No, my D never did any training at The Flynn. The explosion of arts classes there happened after her time living in VT (also we don’t live that near there, even though we did travel to Burlington for voice lessons and my D was in 3 shows at The Flynn with Lyric Theater and one at St. Michael’s College). In fact, my D never had any acting classes anywhere in Vermont and our high school did not have drama classes! In fact, I was shocked when she got Priority Waitlisted for ACTING at CMU because acting was the one area she had the LEAST training in compared to voice and dance! What I was trying to say in my earlier post is that there are quite a number of Vermont “kids” who fared well, but I didn’t just mean in terms of getting into BFA in MT or Acting programs (but that too!), but that are now doing well professionally in the field. So, go rural Vermonters! Yesterday, I saw a local girl from our high school, who graduated with a BFA in Acting from Ithaca (though she is a MT girl) last year, in her first professional production in Boston. My D’s close theater friend from VT (but different high school, though took voice lessons with my D and was in shows with her in VT for years) and were roomies together at Tisch, is now starring on Broadway. </p>
<p>Hi Everyone!
I have been reading CC for one year now and I have enjoyed reading and learning from the many experiences of the CCers. This is truly wonderful.
My S is high school junior and will be in the mix next year as well. He has been involved in music, dance and theater since he was about 6 years old. He has studied all forms of dance, began voice when he was 11 and been in musicals since he was 10 at school productions. When he was 11 he was offered a chance to go to a performing arts boarding school and we finally relented and let him go. It was a hard first year but now 5 years on, he is thriving in his environment and the school is a family of friends and supporting parents that we are happy we did not prevent him from the opportunity. Both my husband and I are in academic related fields and are worried about the life of people in the business. So we are pleased that the school has pretty high academics as well as artistic ones and the students are given a broad knowledge of things they can do if they are not on stage or in front of a camera.
My S in the last year has decided against a purely musical track and has concentrated on acting. After learning from the wonderful parents on CC, we began his list last November and have paid a great deal of attention to experiences from the ‘wise ones.’ I really look forward to this journey, to the sharing and support and also to just seeing how all of our thespians/MTs get on in this adventure!</p>
<p>Hi everyone! Just thought I’d introduce myself here since we’re all going to be going through this crazy process together! I’ve been stalking these pages for a couple years now and I can’t believe it’s finally our turn! Let the excitement (and major anxiety) begin! Basically, I’m a junior student (I’m a guy btw, 5’8", south asian, idk if that matters) at a PA school in Toronto, Canada. I’m primarily a dancer (I’m in the dance program at my school), I’ve been dancing for 13 years with solid training in ballet, jazz, modern/contemporary, tap, and hip hop, with a few years of competition experience, as well as performing and touring with a professional Toronto-based modern dance company. For the longest time I had my heart set on pursuing a degree in dance on its own, but after being the lead in my school’s production of The Drowsy Chaperone, I guess you could say I’ve had a change of heart. In terms of singing, I’ve been training privately for 8 years, specifically in musical theatre repertoire (as opposed to classical). I don’t have much acting training, but I’m looking to take some classes in the summer to also help me prep monologues. I’ve done several community theatre productions, most of my professional experience is in modern/contemporary dance. Academically I’m pretty strong, with a 4.0 GPA. I haven’t written the SATs yet, but I’m hoping I do well on those. So far I have a humongous list of schools I’m looking at: UofMichigan, CCM, NYU Tisch, Elon, Penn State, CCPA, Florida State, UofMiami, Pace, Point Park, and Rider. I think I’m also going to apply to a few dance schools, like SUNY Purchase, USC, and UofArizona, and then a bunch of academic safeties here in Canada.
I’m really excited to be starting this process, but being a Canadian, we don’t have too many resources to help us prep for auditions for American schools. So far, I plan on spending my summer solidifying my audition pieces (songs and monologues) and taking some dance classes. I’m doing a summer program for a week in NYC, as well as working as a lifeguard. In terms of coaching, I know many people here use services like MTCA or Mary Anna etc. Does anyone know if they have services for Canadian students, or can anyone offer some advice as to how I should go about seeking coaching? Thanks everyone, and I look forward to sharing in this experience with all of you!</p>
<p>Welcome @Roro101, and best of luck as you begin!! In terms of coaching, I am fairly certain that both MTCA and Moo are willing to work via skype - I have seen a number of posts that mention it. They get glowing reviews here on CC, you might want to check it out. </p>
<p>Moo has worked with students from Canada before; and yes, she works via Skype.</p>
<p>@Roro101 - – if you are a strong dancer, I would suggest you consider the dance performance major at Oklahoma City University. It is a top musical theater dance School. Students in that program wiill take voice and acting as part of their training. I saw a post just yesterday that 2 recent grads of this program are in 2 of the Tony nominated shows this year - one in Rocky and one in Bullets Over Broadway. Both were dance majors at OCU graduating in the last 2-3 years. OCU alum Kelli O’Hara is also nominated for a Tony this year. She was an MT major through the School of music. You may also want to consider the MT program. It is a Bachelor of Music degree so lots of Music classes. But dance is always leveled so you could take whatever dance classes you level into as long as they fit in your schedule as an MT major. There are a number of students from Canada that are a part of OCUs MT and dance programs. Check it out. Great school.
Moo definitely works via Skype if needed. She’s great!</p>
<p>Awesome, thanks so much for all of the info so far!</p>
<p>How does the skype coaching work? I read this here several times but feel at a loss! Can anyone share information or experience about this? Sorry if it’s a dumb question. </p>
<p>It has worked well for us with MTCA and we use the camera on our laptop. We set it up so that we can see them and thay can see us. Then I leave and D works with him just as if he were in the room. We have only skyped so far for monologue work. I imagine it will work the same for song coaching since that is not for technique primarily but for acting within the song. </p>
<p>It’s almost like having a lesson in person. We worked with Mary Anna Denard. Our D would set her laptop on our kitchen counter. Moo would be on her computer in Dallas. The 2 would connect via Skype online. Once the connection was made, we would see Moo on our computer screen and she could see us on hers. - Our D could sit and talk to her coach, she could stand up and do her monologues for her, etc… We also had a song coach Moo connected us with as well (who I must brag was just nominated for a Tony yesterday!). He is in NYC and our D worked with him the same way. He actually recorded piano tracks for her for her songs so she would sing to those - but he could see and hear her over Skype, play on his piano and sing back to her to demonstrate what he was looking for from her…it’s the next best thing to being there in person. We found it worked very well. We would set an appointment time just like you would any lesson. It’s just rather than meet at a physical location, you meet online.</p>
<p>My D has received coaching via Skype. Basically, you just act out your monologue or sing while sitting in front of a computer (or standing) and get feedback from your coach. They can see you and you can see them via the computer screen. All you need is a computer with a built-in or external camera and working speakers (built-in is fine too!) It feels rather awkward at first, but after the first few minutes you just get used to it and it is just like having that person in the room with you. For singing, my D would play instrumental tracks off of iTunes for the accompaniment while Skyping. Works great!</p>
<p>Son received coaching through Skype and it worked great. He even did it in his messy bedroom 
</p>
<p>@Gallant7, I posted about this on another thread dealing with MTCA, but to save time searching, here’s what I said about coaching via Skype:</p>
<p>“We also did most of my son’s coaching with his MTCA coaches (song and acting) via Skype, and since it wasn’t vocal technique that was being focused on but instead “acting the song”, the long-distance/online aspect wasn’t a negative at all. (Vocal technique was what he worked on in person with his voice teacher at his weekly lessons.) He was fortunate to be able to travel to NYC a couple of times throughout our 2 years of MTCA coaching for live dance classes, masterclasses, mock auditions, and one in-person session with his song coach, but Skyping the rest of the time worked just fine. In fact, he has yet to meet his acting coach in person but they’ve become fast friends over Skype and through emails!”</p>
<p>By the way, it’s still true that my S and his acting coach have yet to meet “live” but hope to rectify that this summer. We also worked on his dance prescreens with an MTCA dance coach completely via Skype and online – the coach choreographed a dance combo for him and taught it to him over Skype, supplemented by written beat-by-beat directions he emailed to my S! Also something to bear in mind is that MTCA has coaches who perform around the country and may be in a show in your area so that you could do some in-person coaching. For my S’ initial dance evaluation, we met up with an MTCA dance coach (not the one who choreo’ed his dance prescreen) who was performing near us shortly after we signed up with MTCA. In short, MTCA is VERY flexible and will figure out a way to make their coaching work for you.</p>
<p>Thanks for the responses. I had no idea how thorough the coach could be over skype. I’ve read about this many times and I just wondered whether there was genuine benefit. I will be discussing this with my S to see how he feels. This is really a big help!</p>
<p>Hi @roro101. Welcome. I’m surprised Sheridan isn’t on your list? We go to Stratford every year and it seems like a lot of the actors graduate from there. And yes, Skype is easier than you think. I teach Scottish Dancing and have done Skype lessons with my students. Sometimes we are more productive that way than in person! </p>