<p>Hi, Regarding the Musical Theater audition, I have a a couple of questions and was hoping those who may have already auditioned might be able to help.</p>
<p>In regards to the singing portion, I know there are lot’s of students they need to see, do the students get a chance at all to work with the accompanist, or do they just walk in and hand them the music. For instance, if they wanted the music played a little more up tempo or they wanted to add a tag, can they suggest this. </p>
<p>Any additional info on the dance portion and acting portion would be much appreciated as well. Thanks everyone. :)</p>
<p>Yes! You absolutely will get a chance to show your music to the accompanist and talk through it with them before you enter the room. In general, for the singing portion of your audition, your songs should communicate a specific situation in a clear context. Your situation/objective/goal should be honest and specific. </p>
<p>For the dance audition, start warming up as soon as you come into the room. Most importantly, though, don’t forget to have fun and enjoy the dance portion! And, for the acting portion, don’t get nervous if you are asked to stop and make adjustments to your monologues. It’s a good thing!! They want to see if you can take direction and apply it to your performance. Auditioning can be stressful, but just remember to have fun and be yourself! Break a leg! :-)</p>
<p>Thank you so much. I know you said sometimes they may ask you to change up your monologue and do it a different way, and this could be a good thing, I know all auditions are different and we don’t know what to expect from each one but what would be a reason that they may not ask you to do it with redirection. Has anyone had any experiences doing the monologues once and could this be a good thing as well. This is such a great site so informative.</p>
<p>Hi Donna- I just responded to your first post on the theater forum and will repost here in case you are no longer checking that one:</p>
<p>"I just saw this and am not sure when the audition is- I agree you should repost in the MT forum for more responses. My D auditioned for UCLA as a transfer 4 years ago, so it may have changed in that time. We live about an hour from UCLA (w/ no traffic) so opted to just drive in that morning and it worked just fine (I think the audition was on a weekend). If you are from outside the area, I would probably arrive the night before to make it less stressful.</p>
<p>4 years ago, the audition length was about 5 hours long. At that time, once you arrived and signed in, both kids and parents went into the auditorium for a presentation by the department. I really liked the presentation in that I felt it was very realistic as to what to expect out of the program. They were very blunt about what they offer, and that it is definitely not the program for everyone. They included a Q&A session where both instructors and current students answered questions. It was very informative. At the end of this, parents were dismissed (and I believe were able to to take a quick tour of the facilities).</p>
<p>The kids were put into groups and were then rotated through their vocal audition, their dance auditions, their monologues, and an interview with staff. There are facilities for them to change clothes from regular to dance stuff. In the dance audition, they were taught a dance as a group and then 3 or 4 at a time auditioned with that dance. There was a 30 second or so section where they had to come up with their own moves so tell your S to be prepared for that. Other than that, it was a pretty routine audition. My D had a really good time.</p>
<p>During that time, parents mostly wandered around the campus- there were a couple of cafeterias nearby, or you would have time to go off campus if you want to. Most parents stayed nearby. I believe the audition was on a weekend so the campus was pretty dead- also the weather was good as I remember sitting outside in the sun.</p>
<p>It’s been long enough now that I don’t remember a lot of details, but let me know if I can answer anything else. Good luck to your son! "</p>
<p>Yes she did!!! She had a great time at the audition and felt that it was run very professionally. There was access to current students and so she was able to ask a lot of questions. Just as an aside, during the dance portion, she went up for a high kick and landed on her rear end. She quickly got up and kept going and was eventually accepted to the program as a transfer. While UCLA was originally her first choice, she ended up attending Penn State’s MT program instead and graduated last May. I think she also would have been very happy at UCLA. One thing we were worried about was that the UC system had major budget problems at that time and UCLA’s MT program had already cut the number of performances per year as well as voice lessons for freshmen. That may have changed since she auditioned, but it might be something to ask about. Also I noticed that you asked about reviewing with the accompanist- My D was able to talk to the accompanist and go thru her music. Even if they don’t mention it, there is usually no problem with talking to the accompanist about your music (for a reasonable time) prior to singing at any audition, so she should be OK! Best of luck!</p>