Yes @MTDad2025 … didn’t think the entry fee was $15,000 lol . Perhaps that’s why I asked if someone could state the price…
Perhaps that’s the problem I see. That there IS an “entry fee” …to be seen early, in a venue where early offers are made and those kids paid to be seen by college admissions faculty. In a private setting
Alhough my D auditioned for straight acting programs and not MT, she did have a private coach helping with her monologues. I think it is confusing for the actor to have more than one person coaching a specific monologue. They can undo the work one is doing and it can be a less truthful performance (too many cooks…). That said, classical monologues might require a coach that is more versed in Shakespeare etc. which can be a whole other animal. That is where we added another coach to the mix. Good luck
@theaterwork, I’ll go ahead and answer as best I can as my daughter was part of Moo Crew 5 years ago. First,the name is based on Mary Anna’s nickname which is Moo.
A) Not everyone can attend. There was a fee that I’m sure covered administrative items and helped defray the cost of the conference rooms used.
B) I believe you had to purchase the online package for coaching as a minimum to attend. As I recall it was a lot of informative videos.
C) It’s held in Dallas which is where Moo is based. It’s great for people in that area as it’s far to get to other unified auditions from Texas
D) The scholarship is given for coaching, not to attend Moonifieds. I don’t believe there is a preset number of people who receive them. It depends on who shows up in the year, I’m sure.
@theaterwork The ability to take part in these private auditions is effectively open to all MT applicants since the cost/benefit is hard to ignore, especially if the site is within driving distance. The cost to take part in the group auditions can easily offset other costs in the process. That said, it is not the right way to go for all applicants (some may not be ready for live auditions in November, logistics may not work due to conflicts, etc.).
As to “early” offers many of the schools have started their on campus auditions and if they have rolling decisions (or early decisions are made through a specific date), there is no real difference between the two.
The only discernible difference is the live prescreen aspect, especially for kids that do better “in the room”. This and the logistical benefits are the main reasons we will most likely be sending our daughter to one of these events. If early acceptances come from it, that’s gravy.
@rbg2019 Regarding Jimmys, I was more speaking to equality of access, rather than a fee to participate. Many schools are not part of the NHSMA loop, and therefore do not have access to the awards/scholarships, publicity, networking, etc.
In this vein, access is also an issue with other fee/invite/awarded opportunities, such as masterclasses, intensives, mock auditions, camps, summer programs. And for those that occur on college campuses and/or taught by college faculty, you are faced with the same delimma mentioned in your post - colleges see which parents are willing to shell out big bucks. I don’t personally think that’s an issue, so I’m just addressing the point you mentioned.
Sidenote - congrats to your kid on the Jimmys!! We watch it each year, and it’s an amazing program with unbelievably talented kids in attendance! 
@theaterwork The year we did Moonifieds, I think it was around $400. That fee covered many of the prescreen (or similar) fees, workshops, QandAs, get-togethers for the kids, continental refreshments for parents, etc. My understanding (and I’m not affiliated with the organization, just a parent of an “alum”) is that the participants are either clients of CAC (she offers different levels of instruction, contact her for details as I don’t know them) or with other groups that CAC invites. The “payment” worry you mention, see my response to rbg above. Moo gives scholarships to many kids each year, and I have heard that other coaches do the same (as do some camps and intensives, who also sometimes make offers or passed prescreens after a session). I cannot speak to the private auditions hosted by CAP or MTCA or performing arts high schools personally, as my child did not work with them. But Moo scholarshipped at least 17 kids this audition cycle, and I believe she had around 100 attend Moonifieds in total.
This process is not equal. I wish it was, but it’s not. I also have a disabled child in my mix of children, and inequality is something we face and navigate every day.
If the arts try to follow athletics and NCAA regs, would that be more equitable? Do we really want college faculty travelling to see shows and recruit top talent? Do we want the business of athlete promotion to become arts promotion, with websites, stats, videos to promote the kids? I don’t know. Like @lojosmo said about Michigan, 2 girls in her daughter’s MT class had never even been in a musical. Let that sink in. My son and one of his classmates at CMU had very little training prior to college. Marketable, bookable talent is going to rise to the top during the college audition process, and marketable, bookable talent (regardless of college name) is going to rise to the top in the professional world, too.
So for now, the best thing we can all do is stay in our own lanes. Look at all the options, look at your budget, look at your goals, inquire about financial help if needed. And allocate and plan accordingly. Access and financial means will prevent this process from ever being equal, and honestly - that’s okay. Welcome to life.
It’s all good. I know my opinion is not going to change anything that happens nor did I think it would be a popular one.
I don’t mind master classes taught by college faculty etc etc as that’s training you’re paying for, not anything tied to a college admissions decision. That’s my gripe with the private auditions.
@theaterwork
Differing opinions, respectfully presented, are always welcome in my book. And yours was just that, as I hope you felt mine was, too.
You pulled the private masterclass piece out of my examples, and you are right - those are not technical auditions. But do you really think that faculty does not use any opportunity to interact with potential students and see their work as an audition of sorts? They know if they love what they see, they know if they want to see more. That’s just human nature. I’d guess that the names of kids of interest are not forgotten.
No worries @beachymom . I admit to being bullheaded on this issue.
I agree that when college Mt faculty visit high schools or summer programs they are surely looking for talent and making notes. Totally makes sense and that’s ok with me. That’s just doing intel.
Same as my nephew in college baseball. He played full ride for 4 years. The difference being coaches came to see him play. Or they went to travel team games he was already playing in. They recruited him. He never paid anyone in any group type “coaching game” where all the coaches came as as a group to evaluate the kids for possible college admission and offers after said baseball players paid a fee for being in this game. Seems like that is what the private auditions are like.
Plus on top of that he got admission and his tuition fully paid. Even if there WAS such as thing as a private group thing for sports where the coaches came and you had to pay an entry fee to participate then damn at least they’re giving you a full ride to school . Now of course you could never offer that to numerous MT applicants but still it at least would make more sense and would be more justifiable.
@theaterwork There absolutely are “exposure camps” for basketball players (and football too) where player pay to come and are put into teams or they go with their AAU teams. Nike, Under Armour, Adidas and others sponsor camps as well - and while many of the top kids get to come for free, most are parents paying for access.
https://proskillsbasketball.com/showcase-exposure-college-basketball-camps/
@beachymom Total agreement here on equality of access when it comes to the Jimmys. Our high school’s theater arts teacher does not believe in “competition” so none of our students/shows were ever entered for consideration. My S tried to get him to change about that and about chartering a National Thespian Club. It just would have been nice to know he would be at least under consideration at the local level.
Jimmy’s is a real sore subject for us. D is in a 5-year old performing arts magnet program that is a very small part of a very large high school. There is a drama club that has been participating for years that is separate from the performing arts magnet - and because they participate, the kids who are actually training in acting and want to make it a career cannot participate (Jimmy’s only allows one group per school, at least in our state).
^^^this is the first year our HS show is being considered. The new director believes in getting the kids exposure however and whenever possible. I am thrilled. It’s not like our theater kids have playoffs
@afterp89 I stand corrected then. I had no idea that you could pay to play in games that are held exclusively for college coaches for college admission. News to me. My nephew never did any of those things for baseball to my knowledge.
Again at least the kids paying for that are probably getting offered a scholarship to play and full rides or dang near
@theatrework - yup, pay-to-be-seen opportunities abound for college athletics. My d played competitive softball and every summer there are large travel team tournaments with many college coaches in attendance (this is the biggest marketing feature for these tournaments, most dub themselves, “college exposure” tournaments). These travel teams are (a) usually entirely private and in many cases “invitation only” to try out; (b) usually cost a lot to join; and © the teams have to pay (a lot) to play in these (mostly privately run, in some cases for-profit) tournaments.
I have a baseball player too. I can tell you we have spent much more $ on travel baseball than we ever did spend on anything to do with musical theater. If you feel MT is unfair, so is travel ball. There are many kids who cannot afford the costs of travel baseball. The fees to just be on the teams can be in the 4 figures. Then you have to add in all of the travel expenses (usually 6 - 8 weekends per summer - sometimes 5 days or longer at a time!). Costs for most travel sports are crazy.
And there are “private” events for ball players. They are called showcases and yes, parents pay hundreds of dollars for their child to run through a series of events where the college coaches who are there can observe and assess their abilities. There are hundreds of these events. And most are making money off of kids who will not even play ball in college. But they have a dream and they want to try. Some of these are by invitation only. Some are open to all. All of these coaches attend at least some of these showcases throughout the year. And they all have their own camps as well. And as you mentioned, they also watch the travel ball tournaments. But you have to be on a travel team to be seen there.
Lastly, it is very rare to get a full scholarship in baseball . Most college baseball teams only get 10 -15 scholarships to divide among 40 or so players. So it is quite rare to get a full ride. I would equate most of their scholarships to the “talent” scholarships seen in the MT world. Hopefully they are also a good student so they can get academic money as well. In college baseball recruiting, it helps to have good grades because coaches are thrilled when you qualify for academic $.
@UMiamiMTDad @afterp89 - we’ve spent several years sad about the inability to participate in the Jimmys, too. It is a marvelous opportunity on so many levels! But schools have to be part of a “feeder” system, and if youre not, then you’re outta luck.
@theaterwork - there are paid access opportunties for athletes, too. But can you imagine if performing arts kids were ranked and publicized like athletic prospects? “From Charlotte NC is tenor Tommy White, who measures at 6’1” and weighs 173 pounds. His castable type is leading man, and he one of the best triple turns we’ve seen. Tommy is ranked #17 in the nation in his category, and has led his drama troupe to several victories, including the 2016 and 2017 State Title In North Carolina, as well as first place at the 2017 SETC. Tommy also just won the Blumenthals and is headed to NYC for the National High School Musical Theater Awards next month. His showing their could alter his rank!" I’m picking on the Jimmys a bit, but just in jest.
In all seriousness, everyone is going to have opinions on all these things that kids can do to prepare them for the next level. I just want to make sure that the MT parents know their options.
@beachymom - LOL on MT stats!!! That sounds like the most entertaining read ever! =))
@theaterwork @MTDad2025 @beachymom you all make amazing points. I have a set of identical twins- one disabled. Nothing is fair at all. I don’t know how to fix it. We are definitely on a budget, and CAP in ATL was a godsend for us, because we couldn’t spend the money to audition in person. She did prescreens for all even though some weren’t officially required, and applied to about half the schools before the auditions. We had to pay for our hotel rooms and a very reasonable fee to audition for every school there. There is one dance call each day, and you see half the schools on the first day and half on the second. The people running the program were so helpful. We had enough budget to attend CAP and Unifieds and see about 4 schools in person once she was accepted. She will tell you she would have skipped Unifieds if she had known how much better CAP would be. She had several friends do Moonifieds and CAP with good results!
@4angels I’m not trying to make people feel guilty for using the private auditions. You do what you feel is right for your student in this process . I’m not out to be the judge & jury lol.
I brought back it up because I always remember reading and also getting info at a summer intensive my D attended in nyc. In the parent meeting they addressed this issue a bit, the coaching etc. they said that coaching wasn’t necessary & the colleges didn’t like coached applicants. They of course said we could use a coach and it might be helpful. But we got the impression it was discouraged. But it isn’t apparently looked down upon by the colleges as they are attending the private auditions and “recruiting “ kids from these events. Not so unlike sports as was eloquently referenced earlier. I mean obviously they are indeed doing the intel & “recruiting” the kids they want from the private audition events. The colleges , yes , budget these events in so they can see the top people as a lot of top kids are of course going to have a coach and be in attendance . I mean sometimes the theatre community ( which I have been a part of for many years) does purport itself to not be like the sports community but really it’s no different . It tends to be a little on the “we’re not like that “ mentality when at the end of the day it seems to be very similar. Maybe I’m just realizing this all now and am late to the game when it’s been like this for years.
I know no one on this forum agrees with me about not liking the private events and I’m ok with that. I obviously wouldn’t expect someone to agree who utilized the service.
And being a middle aged mom i also do indeed realize life isn’t fair.
@theaterwork - I think that it is perfectly logical that people who used coaches are fans - much like those of us who had kids who did summer programs, or camps are fans of those activities. These things cost $$, and anyone would want to think they were getting value for that $$. I also think it is perfectly natural for those who did NOT participate in any of those activities to wonder if they are “worth it” or to think of them in less than stellar terms… after all - no parent wants to think they didn’t do the “thing” that was the key to success…
But the raw truth is - there isn’t a “thing” that works. If there was - you can be DANG sure that the CC parents would be doing it!! Your kid can go to a million things, and hire every coach on the planet - and it won’t necessarily get them a spot where they want to be. And as documented elsewhere - sometimes lightning strikes, and a kid essentially wanders into a room who has barely even been in a show and gets a spot at a top program…