<p>I am very familiar with Elon and only live a couple of hours from the school, my D has a friend there in his sophomore year in MT, and I am not aware of any frontal nudity and don't see any warning on their website. I am not saying it is not so, as many theatre depts. do try to do some avant garde type material from time to time, but don't count them out. Theri program is fast becoming one the tops for MT. They are very nice there; I am sure if you called or e-mailed, they would be glad to address your concerns.</p>
<p>Re: Elon, my D has a couple of friends there, who spent quite a bit of time with us this past summer. I don't recall any mention in any of our discussions of the shows at Elon of any show including nudity. What play was it? In any case, one thing you have to remember is that no student would ever be required to participate in such a role. Having said that, I don't think most students who are interested in drama would be bothered by such a show being performed at their college. Of the hundreds of shows our family has seen over the years, some have contained nudity and I can't say that I've ever seen an audience member bothered by it, let alone a castmember. Plays with nudity, frontal or otherwise, do not have to be avant garde at all. The cast of the Tony winning play on Broadway two years ago spent most of the show sans clothes. :)</p>
<p>I feel for all of you seniors and parents of seniors who are going through audition year angst. It is a very difficult time. My stomach felt tied in knots for weeks last fall and due to the stress I managed to gain five pounds. I'm still trying to get rid of the extra weight. I agree with Theatermom that the best thing we parents can do is to cut our kids some slack and handle as many of the secretarial duties as we can. I felt guilty for awhile about playing application secretary last year. There were quite a few threads here at CC last year regarding overinvolved parents who "helped" too much. After hearing from other MT parents on this thread, I decided that my decision to help with the paperwork was the right thing to do. I think that the advice to set aside days to not talk about college is also a good one. My D pointed out to me near the end of her junior year that college was the only thing I talked about with her. She definitely got tired of it! I would suggest to all the parent readers that you stay upbeat and positive with your teenager. They need to know that you believe in them and that you are confident that the application/audition process will yield a happy ending. </p>
<p>I can attest to the fact that it is actually possible to enjoy the process some of the time. After the applications were all mailed in and the audition material had been chosen and polished, D and I relaxed a bit. I was able to enjoy most of the audition trips. It was exciting to see the schools and fun to spend some quality time with my D in the car. My D was pretty calm and confident walking into her first college audition last year. In fact, she says that audition is the best one she has ever had anywhere. (I was a nervous wreck for that audition, but I pulled it together after that.) </p>
<p>D's vocal coach advised her not to worry. He said that the right program would reveal itself. He believes that if you audition for enough schools you will find one that is right for you. I was skeptical at 1st, but I now believe in that bit of wisdom. Somewhere out there are people who will appreciate what you bring to the table. They are eager to help you become the best performer you can be. These are the people you want to work with. As my D's coach says, Why would you want to work with people who don't like you? Go where you are wanted and appreciated. Seniors, if you work hard and prepare well good things will happen for you. Go out there and break a leg at those auditions!</p>
<p>I thought I'd mention that my H and I just returned from Tallahassee. We just saw our D's 1st college production. We found out Thursday afternoon that D would be performing in "Oklahoma". You may recall that she had been cast as the understudy/swing for the 8 member women's ensemble. In rehearsal, she has stepped in for all but one of the women. The director and choreographer have been very vocal in their praise for her work. As it turns out, the girl playing Laurey injured a rib last week and is unable to dance. Her understudy stepped in for the dream ballet sequence leaving an open spot in the ensemble. My D gets to dance in two scenes in every performance now and gets a two measure vocal solo. She doesn't get much stage time, but she wasn't expecting to get any at all! My H and I were impressed with the production. The boy who plays Curly is amazing. The other leads were also very good. The caliber of the ensemble work, the scenic design, the costumes, and the orchestra made a positive impression. </p>
<p>The best part of our visit was seeing how happy our D is at Florida State. She's working hard and has made a lot of new friends. She seems to be very comfortable in her new environment. Her only real complaint is the endless summer weather. She misses the cool weather and the pretty fall foliage back home. (I don't think she'll miss winter too much though.) </p>
<p>Seniors, keep working on those essays, songs, and monologues. Keep your chins up! The nitty-gritty stuff will soon be done. Before too long you'll be able to post where you'll be heading next year. I'm looking forward to hearing about your audition trips.</p>
<p>For those of you in Southern California-</p>
<p>If you are going to the CMU presentation "The Da Vinci Effect" Nov.3rd at the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel it would be nice to link up.</p>
<p>Can I try again on this question? We are coming up on the start of college auditions and I just want to make sure we have everything under control. Besides what is specifically required by each school, can you think of anything additional we should bring. We have music in a binder (marked photocopies and the original - just in case), theatrical resume and photo, additional music which D is prepared to sing if asked. Are we missing anything?? :)</p>
<p>Dancersmom..
THANKS for the pep talk! We senior parents appreciate all the support you parents-who've-been-down-the-road give us! So glad your daughter was able to get a little stage time in Oklahoma! It's no fun being swing when you never get your chance to show off your work. Glad she's had the opportunity! </p>
<p>The warmth of Tallahassee will sound great when we're headed there in January to audition!</p>
<p>Make sure you (your daughter) has read and know author of work from which the monologue was drawn and the composer of your music. Also, you may want to have tape/CD and personal player for warm-up.</p>
<p>momfirst, I'll just mention something that happened to one of my D's friends at an audition, so that your D and the others can be prepared. She took a couple of bottles of water with her (which I highly recommend), but ended up spilling one on her blouse JUST before it was time for her to go in. She really wished she had another top with her but hadn't planned for that. Another girl who was there happened to have an extra which fit her so she borrowed it. I know it's unlikely for this to happen to most kids but all of her friends then packed a back-up outfit, just in case.</p>
<p>As jasmom says, it's important that the student is familiar with the song, the show it's from, and the composer, in addition to having read the play from which the monologue comes. These are things which the auditors will often discuss with the student following the audition.</p>
<p>Lastly, I, too, will echo the good wishes for all of you students and Moms out there. I can't believe it's been two years since we were going through this combination of fun and agony. :) You will get through it, trust me. I hope all of you and your children end up as happily as my D has. I'm constantly thankful of that and also that she got into her first choice E.D. so that her senior year was truly one she could enjoy without the pressure of waiting for decisions until April.</p>
<p>I attended the Cap21 6 week summer program and had a great time. It was really fun living in New York on your own, but the training wasn't worth the money. So if your looking for a REALLY fun summer I would recommend it, but if it's for college training then I wouldn't. I know friends that attended the TISCH 3 week program and said it was okay. Since its just an application process, the talent level is just low. You have to stay together with the group and can only go about a mile away from your dorm by yourself. So I would recommend the CMU summer program, you'll get the most training out of there.</p>
<p>MTcoolguy- Thanks for your feedback! It looks to me like both the CMU summer program and the NYU/Tisch-CAP21 summer program are based on applications and recs., rather than an audition or audition tape. Yet, from the feedback among those participating in this forum, it looks like the quality of the students at CMU is pretty outstanding. How selective is the CMU program? Was there a "mix" of talent/dedication there, or was everyone pretty committed to their craft? I noticed that the website says that it's a rolling admission. When is the best time to apply? (i.e., in February after 1st semester grades are on the transcript?) Thanks so much!</p>
<p>CalifMom, the CMU program does accept applications on a rolling basis; I think the deadline was June 1, but they accept them after, space permitting. I am also curious as to how selective they are. I had my application in on June 1 or a day or two later (I called to check on the status) and was accepted, but then I couldn't attend (my family found out we had to move). I don't know about the talent of the kids as a whole; I do know that some of them drop out of the program after a week or two. You can probably apply anytime, whenever is best for both of you.</p>
<p>CalifMom - My daughter went to CMU pre-college last summer. We didn't even know about it until about one week before final application could be sent in, around the end of April, beginning of May! I don't believe they are extremely selective in the Theatre/MT section. (Much more so for those who attend pre-college for the educational college courses.) There was a wide range of talent. My D said that many were serious, and some found that this is something they like to do for fun, but don't care to pursue further in college. It's well worth the money and my D really feels that she's much, much more prepared to start these auditions, after having gone to CMU.</p>
<p>AUDITION PREP</p>
<p>Momfirst,</p>
<p>It sounds like you are well prepared. Alwaysamom has a good suggestion regarding backup attire. A backup audition outfit including stockings is a good idea. If you are flying to the audition site I would recommend that your child take all audition paraphenalia in a carry-on bag. Then you won't have a problem with lost luggage. Seems like Theatermom's D had her makeup take a wrong turn on a flight last year. </p>
<p>Has your D acquired dance attire? If she is auditioning for a school that has a dance audition she needs professional looking dancewear. It does not necessarily have to be a leotard and tights, though that is what I would suggest unless your D has serious figure flaws. Your D will be expected to wear appropriate dancewear once she's in college, so she might as well acquire some now. A good pair of dance shoes is a must for her auditions. She should have a pair of ballet slippers or jazz shoes. I wouldn't suggest character shoes unless she is used to dancing in them. If your D is a skilled dancer she might want to wear something that stands out a bit, i.e., a colorful ponytail holder, a pretty dance skirt, a brightly colored leotard. My D wore a deep red leotard to some of her auditions, a periwinkle blue leotard to one, and a black leotard with colored cord down the front seams for others. They were definitely not blend-into-the crowd, basic black leotards.</p>
<p>Have your D give some consideration to her hairstyle. If she has to do a dance audition before she sings or does her monologue, she will need to pull her hair off her face. Think about how this will affct her hair for the rest of the day. Will she need a curling iron for touchups? She may want to wash her face and reapply her makeup if she has time. At the least she'll want to take the shine off her face and reapply her lipstick.</p>
<p>I would suggest taking some light snacks to the auditions. My D does not like to eat anything heavy before she sings or dances. She knew that at some schools she would have very little time between her dance and acting/singing audition segments. We didn't have time to search for restaurants that offered lighter fare. Even at schools where the audition took very little time we chose not to try to search for a restaurant that offered something my D would consider acceptable. Instead, we stopped at a grocery store the night before each audition and let D choose food that she considered audition friendly. She usually picked things like yogurt, bagels, fruit, and raw veggies. If the audition were early she ate her food in the motel room. If the audition was to last much of the day, she brought her food with her to eat during her break. Don't forget to pack a spoon if you are a yogurt fan.</p>
<p>I'm probably forgetting some little detail. Many of these pointers were discussed last year if anyone cares to go back and look. If I think of anything else, I'll let you know. Right now I must be off.......</p>
<p>I start feeling anxious all over again just reading about this year's applications- it is such a difficult time because these students have worked so hard not only academically but at also their craft and it all comes down to 5-10 minutes. It is also difficult because it is the start of the process of saying good-bye. Because my d had decided to apply ED, she did start on her essay during the summer- but it was very painful for her to cut down her "masterpiece" when she learned how many words\pages they wanted. It was not too difficult for her to decide on a song to sing, but the monologue selection took forever. She read dozens of monologue books and we bought or borrowed the plays from which interesting monologue came - finally deciding on 2 which were age appropriate and contemporary. We then hired a coach for several sessions to work with her on these- she's never had drama coaching as such- I think this made a huge difference in both her confidence and in her actual performance. Definitely bring tape recorder and warm-up tape. The way we worked out our relationship during the audition trip: I said nothing- or tried at least- I acted as an escort only. As I said earlier, she assumed she wouldn't get in, so we didn't discuss much about how it went and actually sort of forgot about it getting ready for the next auditions. I also agree that there is no way we can help too much- there are sooo many details to attend to that it does take the family to get it done. My daughter is doing well at school without my help, so the assistance is only a temporary thing.</p>
<p>MTCoolGuy-</p>
<p>I am thinking about auditioning for the Cap21 Pre-College Program. If you could email me at <a href="mailto:greyhoundtoNYC@yahoo.com">greyhoundtoNYC@yahoo.com</a> that would be great. I have a lot of questions and would really appreciate your input.</p>
<p>-Nick</p>
<p>Hello everyone,</p>
<p>I appreciated the comments regarding CAP 21 summer program. Doe anyone know of a good program that is about 3/4 weeks long that helps prepare for the audition process. Seems like 6 weeks is such a long time with all the summer prep you have to do for sr. year. Would apprfeciate any help. </p>
<p>Good luck to all you seniors starting the audition process. I know it is very difficult. My daughter just finished Bye Bye Birdie and had a difficult time keeping up her AP classes as she now goes into her performing group rehearsals for the holidays. She is concerned about keeping up her grades an getting time to look over SAT preps. </p>
<p>I would love for her to have some summer of beach or play time!!!</p>
<p>lexismom</p>
<p>Lexismom</p>
<p>Check out the summer MT program at UMich. I believe it is 3 weeks long and is no longer being held in conjunction with the Michigan All-States program. It will be on the Michigan cammpus and is directed by Brent Wagner, the MT Chair at UMich. Couldn't hurt to be seen by him before college auditions. A few kids in the UMich program attended this summer program in advance of their acceptance at UMich. I know almost nothing about the substance of the program but know they are trying to make it more national in scope and recognition. Check with the School of Music at UM for more info. Hope this helps!</p>
<p>I assume that all of these pre-college programs mentioned would not take a graduating senior, only a rising senior. Does anyone know if that's true? I can always contact each program to find out, but thought I'd throw the question out here.</p>
<p>chrism, the Tisch CAP21 summer program is strictly for rising seniors and occasionally they'll accept a rising junior of 'exceptional maturity'. CAP21's own program does accept graduated seniors into theirs.</p>
<p>The UMich website is really confusing regarding the summer program. On this page it gives dates of July 17-30, 2005: <a href="http://www.music.umich.edu/resources/myo/index.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.music.umich.edu/resources/myo/index.html</a> </p>
<p>Is that the right program--two (not three) weeks, in Ann Arbor, and for rising seniors from around the country?</p>