Moonifieds includes both final auditions and live prescreens. Some of the extremely-high-demand programs, like Texas State, Oklahoma and Penn State, have traditionally done prescreens at Moonifieds. Other programs, like Viterbo and Central Oklahoma, have conducted final auditions. This may vary for any given school in any given year, however. Approximately 20-25 schools attend Moonifieds each year and it is actually possible to audition for every program if an applicant so desires. The format for individual auditions is similar to Unifieds.
Auditions are scheduled much more tightly than Unifieds (6-7 auditions per day is not uncommon). All scheduling is done by Mary Anna’s staff, so applicants only have to submit a list of schools and an individual schedule will be built for them. If any of the programs run off schedule, Mary Anna’s staff handles any conflicts that may arise to ensure that all applicants are able to attend their scheduled auditions. There is only one dance call, held on one evening, which all interested programs attend - this saves a bunch of time vs. Unifieds where applicants must attend separate dance calls for most programs.
Master Classes are conducted by faculty members from several programs each year at Moonifieds the evening before auditions begin, which is a nice feature. There are information sessions for parents, including a panel discussion with parents from previous years. A fun party is also held on one evening.
Most of Mary Anna’s students also attend Unifieds.
Master Class question: Are the MTCA and Collegeauditioncoach master classes still open to everyone? Or just to those who they coach? And can any age attend? ( HS sophomores and juniors?) Does anyone here have a preference/recommendation for which classes are most beneficial? The collegeauditioncoach option for “on the campus” classes look like a great chance to hit two birds with one stone to see a show on the campus and get a tour
We jumped onto the Collage Audition Coach masterclasses and school tours last August (great experience), but worked with My College Audtion, Chelsea Diehl.
My d who is a 3rd year BFA student now used MTCA and we were really happy! The mock auditions in San Diego were invaluable, as was the support at Unifieds and just in general.
@Notmath1 you must be a part of MTCA to attend their mock auditions. We used MTCA for my son and all of their services were invaluable. They are all a la carte so you pay for as much or as little as you want. We couldn’t have done it without them
@Notmath1 As several people have said, anyone can sign up for Mary Anna’s workshops/master classes. Both the MTCA mock auditions and the MTCA master classes require a coaching contract with MTCA. As @theatremom10 says, MTCA has an la carte approach once you have a contract with them, so you have a good amount of control over what you spend, especially if you plan your coaching budget in advance.
Also, people are sometimes confused about the difference between Moonifieds and mock auditions. As @EmsDad explained, Moonifieds are actual auditions with college auditors. MTCA’s mock auditions are “mock” – a chance to practice auditioning with your songs/monologues and doing a dance call. MTCA coaches are the “auditors” and provide feedback.
All of these services can be valuable, so you just want to figure out how much you are willing to spend, which services you think would be most helpful for your child, and which coaching team (or teams?!) seems like the best fit for your child (and you…).
When my S auditioned, we didn’t know coaches existed so he didn’t have one. This would have been great for monologues. He had some local directors select monologues for him but we recently found out that all of his monologues were on the do not use/overused list. Moving forward, it would be helpful if he had a coach to help him select monologues and rehearse to prepare for college auditions and summer stock auditions. Do any of these coaches help with monologues after you get into a college BFA acting program and, if so, who do you think would be the most helpful? Thanks!!
Mary Anna and Mark Christine are quite the team - excellent guidance in both monologue and song selection. I highly recommend Moonifieds. The master classes she offers are open to all (all grade levels too) and offer some great experiences at top notch programs.
@Griffilus MTCA does a great job at selecting monologues. My sons coach gave him several to look over to see which he connected with and worked with him extensively on them. They also make it a point to only allow one current MTCA student to use that monologue and are careful to avoid those which are overdone. I love that MTCA is ala carte and you can choose to only work in the areas you feel you need the most help.
Just a note on that “one student per one piece” rule - it’s a good one but there is some flexibiity. My D was discouraged from performing a particular audition vocal selection because someone else was also using it but she decided at the last minute she would use it anyway because she was having trouble with her alternate song. No harm done. On the other side of the coin at the CMU audition we heard that two (male) auditioners were trying to do the same Shakespeare piece at the same time in two different audition rooms and they could hear each other. What a total Nightmare situation for them! It’s worthwhile making an effort to find pieces that aren’t overused. The MTCA coaches were super useful in finding unique and appropriate material for auditions but I did want to say that ultimately, the client chooses what to perform.
We used MTCA, beginning spring of junior year. I can’t say enough about the coaching we received, and the one thing that stands out is that they really let the kids “drive the bus.” They present options and talk them through, but the kids decide what material they will present and the discussions they’ve had with their coaches really help them connect with their material. Ellen is wonderful - she really gets to know the kids and is able to zero in on a lot of vocal/emotional stuff. In my daughter’s initial evaluation session (via Skype) Ellen listened to her sing, and then said, “Does your vocal teacher have you singing a lot of legit soprano pieces?” and then went on to explain that while her technique was very good, her voice was really a mezzo with a lot of warmth in the lower registers and that she could hear the difficulty my daughter was having bridging between the two sets of vocal chords. They were also wonderful with college selection - my daughter really wanted a serious academic component to her college experience, so they guided us to both BFA and BA programs where she would get that.
Moving forward, it would be helpful if he had a coach to help him select monologues and rehearse to prepare for college auditions and summer stock auditions. Do any of these coaches help with monologues after you get into a college BFA acting program and, if so, who do you think would be the most helpful? Thanks!!