Moo’s assistant emailed us when doing the audition schedule to see if Sunday auditions were ok. We also agreed to late Sunday (just after noon) auditions so that others could leave Dallas earlier. Moo does every thing she can to make the auditions run smoothly for everyone. It was a lot easier than scheduling auditions at Unifieds.
@weski - thanks for the dance call info - that makes me feel better about it. So sorry about ur kiddo having to be the first one to go after a school realized they needed to switch up what they were doing with callbacks! That must have been super stressful being the first to not get one and then really frustrating when you found out the deal later and got the callback. Thanks for sharing that story. It’s a great example of how things happen that have nothing to do with your talent level. Obviously your kiddo rocked it - got the callback - but the fact that it wasn’t instant like the previous ones would shake anyone up. Yikes! One more example of how crazy this process can be! Glad you both survived it and hope ur kiddo found their perfect fit:)
About how many kids attend “Moonifieds” as compared to Unifieds?
A much, much smaller group at Moonifieds.
I would say at least an order of magnitude smaller at Moonifieds, say, something like 150 at Moonifieds and something well over 1,000 at Unifieds (just guessing, I have no idea how many attend either event).
I was going to guess.100 at Moonifieds to 1000 at Chicago Unifieds. But don’t know for sure. Definitely considerably smaller.
How many auditions did you/your S/your D do per day or would recommend?
Don’t know how many typically per day but saw this on the Pace website for November 18th. If you have more than one that day and one of them is Pace, you might want to only add one more in case of a dance call.
I know that you can sign up for at least 6 auditions per day, it may be possible to do more. I seem to recall that Mary Anna said you could sign up for more than 20 over the three days if you wanted to, and they would work the schedule out for you. The Dance Call at Moonifieds does not conflict with any auditions, it is held in the evening.
Doing 6 or more auditions per day for 2-3 days plus an evening dance call, party, and Master Classes late into the first evening is a lot. Most schools that are doing prescreens instead of final auditions will let you know on the spot or shortly thereafter by lists posted in the hallway or by a text message (or lack of text message, some schools only text if you pass). It can be hard on some students to get negative news from one or maybe several prescreens while they still have more auditions to do that day. Something to consider and be prepared for. Also consider that the level of competition will be quite high - higher than you will normally see in the mix at a typical on-campus or Unifieds auditions, so the experience overall can be quite intense for some students. My d was pretty drained after 12 auditions over two days. She found it much harder than Unifieds, where she had a blast.
Thanks @EmsDad always great information.
I posted awhile ago about this, and don’t want to discourage anyone but do want everyone to think long and hard about Moonifieds. It is a wonderful early opportunity to get your feet wet at auditions. However there are some disadvantages. First, everyone there has a coach, so they are more prepared and ready than what you see in Chicago and LA. The competition is steeper, it just is. We went, and I truly believe that (a) my kid was not ready even though we thought she was as she did significantly better in February, and many things changed including material (b) moonifieds are very very early in this process, and in my opinion that can be a disadvantage. Also, my D had an excellent audition with one school, but in February/March when decisions were made, the director was on sabbatical and therefore the staff had to go over her notes from Moonifieds – as a result I don’t think anyone, or perhaps 1 boy was admitted to this school, again a lot changes between Nov and Feb. We did walk away with 2 admits, and passed several prescreens at Moonifieds, but I think she would have had the same result elsewhere, in Chicago. If you go, my advice would be to audition for the schools that are not top priority on your list, it is a good first start, get your feet wet, you may think you are ready, but your child will grow a lot before February. Also, remember that even though you don’t have to apply to these schools to audition, you will be required to pay the application fee and apply later if you want to pursue the school. Results are not given until later. This is just my opinion, Moonifieds are a good opportunity to jump in an early audition, but if we had it all to do over again (which thank goodness we don’t have to) both my child and me would vote no for moonifieds. ps – I just read Ems dad’s post and I agree! Unifieds were easier for my child than moonifieds. We squeezed too many in, and she just was plain nervous and not as prepared as she was in Feb.
Moonifieds was a wonderful experience for us and we did receive an offer- the one we wanted and were done- In November! I do not believe you need to be READY because they want to see YOU. I really think these auditors have seen so many kids for so many years that they can tell in nearly an instant if that is what they are looking for. And that can change from year to year. They already have MT kids back at school and they are rounding out that class. They do not need 10 of the same type. If they think you have what they want, they will add you to their talent pool and take a look at the big picture when it is over. You could be the perfect leading lady but they may already have 6. Or you may get lucky like we did and save a lot of time and money. Your child is ready with all their flaws and mistakes. Coaching does not make you perfect. It makes you comfortable. The kids I saw at Moonifieds were having a blast. They wanted to audition all day long. Let’s face it, some schools take so few it is easier to get them off your list early and move on. And some schools have 6 of what you are. You didn’t blow the audition. Your child will thrive at any program they make their own. Good luck to all!
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Hi mtmamma2020, regarding comment in post #50 about school with director on sabbatical, I think you’re speaking of one of the schools my boys attended and FYI, I just confirmed with Mary Anna Dennard that FOUR bonafide offers were made to Moonifieds students for MT, plus quite a few offers for Acting. (FOUR out of about 35 students is pretty great odds, in my book.)
So to everyone here, I say this with peace and love, I’m just encouraging everyone to beware of what may be well-intended information, but essentially hearsay, here on College Confidential.
As for being prepared or not being prepared, that is a judgment call for each student or family. But for one of my boys who ended up quite sick at National Unifieds, I think he regrets not doing some favorite programs earlier in the season. 20-20 hindsight, am I right? 
Also for families looking to save money, especially if you’re already in the Southwest, Moonifieds is a great way to get a lot of auditions out of the way with one trip.
Just my two cents – Break legs! 
That is what I am hoping for @theatremomma my daughter has been auditioning since she was 8 she is so ready. We are also going into it with realistic expectations. It would be great if she gets some acceptances and she can enjoy her Senior year. I know we will be auditioning as late as February 26th (Wagner) she spent two weeks there over the summer. But it would be great to relax in January and most of February. Time will tell. We will report afterwards to let you all know how it went. Thanks!
Best of luck Mel2421 but have a conversation we didn’t have BEFORE Moonifieds. We didn’t talk about what we would do if we got that offer we actually wanted. Did we want to take a shot a the 2 BIGGIES later just in case? We had an agonizing evening thinking about it. Know what schools you want and WHY. Your child is spending 4 years with these people and our reason actually came down to location and ease of getting home for holidays and long weekends. It also came down to weather. No school is any good if your child doesn’t stay there for 4 years.
What do you mean @theatremomma ? Do you not have time to think about the offer? I thought you had until May 1st. What am I missing? If she gets an offer does she only have a short time to think about it. Thanks!
I think all she means is if you get “the offer” you have hoped for early in the season (perhaps at Moonifieds), the choice you need to make is whether you continue to spend time and money auditioning for other schools or do you call it quits and take the offer you have in hand when it is time to accept? Some people continue to audition just to leave no stone unturned. Others would rather enjoy the rest of senior year and cancel the rest of their auditions. There is no right or wrong. Just whatever makes you most confident with your final decision.
Ok Thanks for the clarification. We are prepared to do a unified as well. Just would love to have at least 1 acceptance the rest of the process is not as scary.
We did not get any offers directly at Moonifieds. S only auditioned for 7 schools I beleive. We did get some acceptances later, the first of which came in early January. So we kept auditioning until the end (last week of February). And of course, we passed some in person pre-screens at Moonifieds too. If I recall correctly, our Moonified total was 3 acceptances, 1 rejection, and 3 passed prescreens. We had done one on-campus audition the week before Moonifieds and ended up doing 4 more on-campus auditions and 7 auditions at Chicago Unifieds. I would still highly recommend Moonifieds
@MTDadandProud so your Moonifieds acceptances came after Moonifieds? Wow! So it is really a waiting game. I think it will be super helpful for the prescreens as well. This is exciting and terrifying at the same time.