While I’m not applying to be a musical theatre major, I am applying to be a directing major, and apparently some schools (namely, NYU) still require you to audition with a monologue in addition to your portfolio review.
Now, I’m kind of at a loss. I know many, many shows, but for the life of me I cannot think of a single contemporary play with a solid monologue for a teenage girl. The closest I could think of is one of Molly’s monologues from Peter and the Starcatcher, but I’m hesitant to use it for a number of reasons (one, it’s a modern, popular play, two, she’s technically thirteen, not seventeen, and three, she’s British).
If more information about me would help: Physically, the most important things I could think of are that I’m white (as a ghost, really) and noticeably short (~5ft). Obviously, acting isn’t my strong suit. While I am arguably one of the better performers in my school, that really doesn’t say much on this scale. On that vein, I don’t think anything extremely dramatic or extremely comedic would be preferable, because I don’t have the proper training/practice for it. I’m also definitely not a ingenue type (in every other thread I’ve stalked that question has come up, so I figured I’d get it out of the way).
If anyone could help me out, that would be wonderful.
It is really, really important that you read and read and read contemporary plays until you find something that speaks to you. If someone on CC tosses you a monologue, not only will your delivery almost certainly be inauthentic-but the auditors will know it. IMHO, one of the biggest traits that makes a great directing major would be a high “Theatre IQ”: Who is YOUR favorite playwright? Why? Why did you choose that play? That monologue/scene? Good luck!
Btw, it’s fine to do a monologue of a 13-year-old character, especially if you’re short and young-looking. Basically you want a character that’s within 5 years of your age (in either direction) and that you could theoretically play right now. I’m sure the actress who played Molly on Broadway was 18+ to play younger.
But as others have pointed out, be sure if you find a monologue that speaks to you be sure you read the entire play. That context is very important and you may be asked questions about your character that can only be addressed by having a thorough understanding of the play.
My D was asked how her character related to a character in another play. Now to be fair, that was with her Shakespeare -but still, they expected her to know more than those specific lines