<p>Can someone truthfully tell me how important the "Senior Show Case" factor should be in the selection process? Recently, at an on campus audition, a current major university student told me that the Senior Show Case was not as important as it sounded. As she explained, the show cases have so many students at them that it becomes a huge cattle call.</p>
<p>I think that each person’s criteria for selecting a program and a college is going to differ. So, nobody can really say what criteria is important. One person may care more about location than another. One may care about size. One may care about the quality or levels of dance instruction. One may care about showcases. One may care about cut policies. One may care about how many or how little liberal arts courses are included. </p>
<p>That said, from my perspective, the availability of a senior showcase would not be a primary factor in my selection, but more of a secondary one. I would prefer it but it would not make or break where I applied as much as other criteria. Also, be aware that some schools allow everyone to be in the senior showcase and at other schools, one must be selected to be in it. </p>
<p>All that aside, I can share with you from the perspective of a parent of a recent BFA graduate. It simply is ONE experience and one viewpoint. This by the way, was all my own kid’s decision making but I’ll share it anyway. She went to NYU/Tisch. At Tisch, for a MT student, there are two showcase opportunities. One is in CAP21 studio (the MT studio). There, if you stay in that studio for the first three years, you automatically can be in the CAP21 showcase offered in fall or spring in senior year if you wish. The other showcase is through Tisch which has MT Industry Nights (showcase) and Acting Industry Nights (showcase) but these are by audition only and they take about 15 into each out of ALL of Tisch (all studio students from Tisch are eligible to audition for either the MT or Acting showcase). The odds are kinda difficult given how many students comprise ALL of Tisch. </p>
<p>My kid was in the CAP21 studio for five semesters. She wanted to do ETW studio for many reasons not germaine to this discussion for her last three semesters, which would mean giving up the guaranteed showcase at CAP21. She was told that she could return to CAP21 for the senior showcase semester but gave that up to pursue endeavors in the ETW studio. However, she knew that Tisch had a MT showcase but that it was very chancy to get in and she might not. She was willing to give up the sure thing showcase at CAP21 for other things she was going to gain in ETW studio. It was a gamble but the showcase was not the end all be all in the long run. As it turned out, she auditioned for and got into the Tisch MT showcase. </p>
<p>So, the showcase had a lot of plusses as she was called in by five agents for meetings and signed with one of them. There are many ways to get an agent and a showcase is not the only way. However, I must say it was a good way to be exposed to many agents. Not everyone in a showcase signs with an agent. But the opportunity is there in any case. Having an agent is a big plus when it comes to auditions in NYC as an agent can submit you for audition appointments and you are not limited to open calls. Further, if non-Equity, the agent can get you an audition for an Equity show, whereas it is harder to be seen at an Equity open call if non-Equity. As soon as my D graduated, she started auditioning and was cast that first week out of graduation, got a tour (her audition was via her agent for this), got her Equity card and so on. </p>
<p>There are many paths to being cast in NYC. Anyone can be. You don’t need a senior showcase. You don’t need an agent. You don’t need to be Equity. Any one of those things has some advantages though. A senior showcase gives you exposure to agents and a CHANCE to be signed with one. Having an agent gets you into some auditions you could not get into otherwise, and so forth. </p>
<p>A showcase is not a huge cattle call. Many showcases have 10-20 students in them. Hardly what I call a cattle call! (if you’ve been to a cattle call, you’d know what I mean). </p>
<p>That said, many schools have showcases and agents “shop around” at many of these and so they are not going to offer to represent everyone who is in a showcase. But the name of the game in this industry is that the more you are “seen”, the more opportunities that may open up. Also, casting directors attend showcases. My D had a casting agency call her into an audition for a show having seen her in the showcase, not realizing she had an agent. At an open call my D went to right before she signed with an agent (that’s why she did the open call), the casting director immediately remarked having liked her in the senior showcase he had seen her in . Exposure…it helps. A showcase can ease the transition from student to the professional theater world. It cannot guarantee that though. But it may help some to do that. </p>
<p>But there is so much more to selecting a college program than this one shot event of the senior showcase, and that is why for me, it would be a secondary selection criteria…important, but not the most important or deal breaker.</p>
<p>Let me also guess…let me know if I am wrong…that the current student who told you that a showcase is not that important or that it is a cattle call…attends a school that does not have a showcase.</p>
<p>When my daughter auditioned at Ithaca 3 years ago, a school that has a long history of senior showcases, the head of the theater program was asked about the showcases. She could have touted Ithaca’s showcase as an significant and important aspect of the MT program but candidly replied that the “importance” of show cases gets greatly inflated as a factor in choosing schools. She stated that only a minority of students see any direct benefit from showcases and that there are so many schools doing showcases that very often casting directors and agents send lower level representatives to observe. She also commented that there are many different ways to form connections and get exposure that are equally if not more effective than a showcase.</p>
<p>I wholeheartedly agree with soozie. While a showcase is a good way to get exposure and hopefully build some contacts, it would not be the determining factor, or even a significantly influential one for me, in deciding where to apply or attend. The balance of the program structure, opportunities to perform, location, connection with students and faculty and “fit” of the school are much more important. The existence of a showcase, in my view, is just some icing on the cake after you have found schools that meet other more important criteria.</p>
<p>That being said, my daughter also attends a school that has a senior showcase in NYC. My daughter, a junior, intends to audition for it next year and attend if selected. She wants the experience, feels it will be educational and you never know… However, the existence of the show case played no role in her process of selecting the school she attends.</p>
<p>When my kid applied to college, I don’t recall the existence of a showcase at each school as being a factor at all in her selection. I do see it as a nice benefit or plus and it was helpful to her but it just wasn’t the main consideration in choosing a college. In fact, at the time, CAP21 (the program she landed at) was JUST starting to offer a guaranteed MT showcase for its seniors, which they had NOT offered right before she entered. So, there was just the chancy Tisch MT Showcase which she knew she might not even get into. She still wanted to attend. CAP21 ended up having the guaranteed MT showcase and then she opted out of it! She ended up taking a chance of being in NO showcase even though she could have been in the CAP one but gave it up to do other things that semester and took a chance of auditioning for the Tisch MT showcase. She could have had NO showcase and said that would have been OK as she wanted to stage her own musical that she wrote which she could not really do in CAP but could do in ETW studio. Of course, she did audition for the Tisch MT Showcase and got in and the rest is history but she had no way to know if she would get in it when she made her decision. </p>
<p>Thinking over where she applied (8 BFA schools), I think they all had a showcase but Emerson. But ya know, my D’s long time friend graduated from Emerson in '08 and she has an agent and in fact, has been on tour with my D all fall and they’ve roomed together in the hotels and so they both got to the same place but a different way. So, there ya go!</p>
<p>I’ve heard similar to what you have heard. I’ve also been told that casting agents don’t ever show up, but send some intern (no matter how qualified) to do this for them. Or an assistant to the assistant kind of thing. That’s what I’ve heard.</p>
<p>It’s one thing if you’ve “heard” this or that and another if you’ve been there, done that. I can tell you that not only did my kid get agent representation from her showcase, but that quite a number of her friends have as well. Those are talent agents, not to be confused with casting agencies. However, casting agencies also had reps there. The idea is more to get the talent agent out of the showcase and sign with one. As far as casting people, I already related that one major theater casting agency directly called my kid up having seen her in showcase and called her in for a particular audition directly (at the time, her number was on her resume given out at showcase, as she had not yet signed with the agent, though now her agent’s number is on the resume). Another major casting agency remarked off the bat in the audition room at an open call about having talked about her back at the office having seen her in the showcase at her school, and recognized her off the bat when she walked into the audition room. So, whether it is the head person from the casting agency or not, it can still result in being known in these casting agencies’ files if they liked you in showcase. </p>
<p>Exposure can be beneficial. It is a one time event to be seen by many talent agents and also casting agencies. It surely can help and can’t hurt. Also, even IF an assistant who is not the head person in an agency watches the showcase, the point is that they scout for talent and then call you in to take it further. Then, you go to the interviews (this is for the talent agents). The thing is, if you get signed with an agent, they submit you for auditions and so it is not a big deal even if casting directors are not at a showcase. An agent will get you seen at auditions, which is very helpful. Some auditions are not open to just anyone and you get in via agent submission. So the talent agent is what one truly hopes to get from the showcase, really more so than being seen by casting agencies. If you have an agent, you eventually WILL be seen by casting agencies via submissions the agent sends you out on.</p>
<p>My thanks to all who commented. I am new to all of this, and had no idea what a Senior Show Case really was. The information that you provided, as always, is very helpful.</p>
<p>Breezer, I just want to mention that you state you heard that casting agents don’t ever show up at these showcases. I just remembered now, having read over your post again, that the agent my D signed with, personally attended her showcase, not an assistant or intern.</p>
<p>There are many FINE programs that don’t showcase for a variety of reasons. I wouldn’t make that a basis for your final decision. There are NO guarantees in this business and that truth is that the student who gets industry attention with a showcase will get attention in the industry without a showcase. There are no solid statistics that it has shortened students journey to Broadway or even representation for that matter. I am thinking of two students making their Broadway debuts in Ragtime just two years out of their BFA at Illinois Wesleyan University without a senior showcase. Of course IWU is starting a Chicago senior showcase in 2011.</p>
<p>I agree that there are many paths to obtaining representation, as well as many paths to being cast professionally. You don’t have to have an agent. You don’t have to have a showcase. </p>
<p>I wouldn’t pick a college program around this issue. </p>
<p>However, a showcase has the potential of being a nice transitional link from college to the professional world and exposure to many agents, a possible chance to be signed by one, and also being seen by others in the industry all at one time. It can only help. But it is not crucial in terms of success. Further, there are no guarantees even if you are in a showcase, that anything will come of it.</p>
<p>utepsong, why has IWU decided to add a showcase a year from now as you have not had one in the past? What is the rationale?</p>
<p>A showcase is more a move to build the BFA in Actings reputation than to improve the BFA in Music Theatre. Most, if not all, of the BFA MTs generally have already worked professionally during the summers, many have agents and a few are even AEA by graduation so there isnt as much a need for them. But like many BFA in Acting programs their numbers have suffered while the BFA in MT is soaring. Since they are going to showcase the BFA Acting, of course the MTs wont pass it up. It remains to be seen if it will change recruiting for the MTs at all.</p>
<p>A lot of schools hold their showcase in NYC because when students go to school elsewhere, they have not had as much opportunity to be exposed to the agents and other industry people in NYC. They may have done professional summer stock and may have obtained agents regionally, but one plus of the NYC showcase is exposure to those in the industry in that city.</p>
<p>Most good programs bring casting directors and agents to their campuses as guest artist nowadays for this exact purpose. Still don’t buy that it really makes that much difference to have a showcase. It cost a lot of $$ for little return to the student. It is harder to get into EPAs lately, but they can always submit and there is no guarantee that it isn’t just an assistant or intern showing up to the showcase anyway.</p>
<p>The nice thing with an agent is that if there are agent submitted auditions, you can avoid the EPA open call. Those without an agent must go to the open call. And if one is non-Equity, it is hard to be seen at an Equity open call. With an agent, you don’t have to be Equity to get an audition for an Equity show. </p>
<p>Yes, many programs bring in casting directors and agents to campus. That’s great. At a showcase, many more are in attendance though and also the student is more “ready” to seek professional work, and no longer going to be in school. </p>
<p>Many actual agents do attend the showcases. I know of the five agents that asked my daughter to come into their office, four were the actual agent who watched the showcase, and one was the agent’s assistant. Also, her friends were offered representation by actual agents in attendance. But even in the case of the one assistant from one agency, my daughter was brought into the agent’s office and had her interview with the agent and a follow up “audition” with the agent. My daughter cancelled the second appointment with that agent after choosing to sign with the agent she signed with and that agent truly was AT the showcase. </p>
<p>I don’t really feel there is “little return for the student”. Some students won’t get agent offers, that’s true. But many do. And for those who do, I think you’d be hard pressed to hear them say, “there was little return.” My kid is freshly out of school. She started auditioning right after graduation. The agent sent her to an audition and she was cast. It was a private audition appointment, not the open call. As mentioned previously, a casting agency called her in for a major part having seen her at the showcase. Another casting agency recognized her at an open call audition and brought that up having seen her in the Tisch showcase. Her friends who signed with agents…some are already cast on Broadway, National Tours, and well known regional theaters, all auditions they got via their agent. All this can happen for sure WITHOUT a showcase!!! But I have to say, that the showcase was worth it for those who had these things happen. It is not so easy to get representation in NYC. To be seen by many agents at once can be beneficial to getting your foot in the door, I think. Having an agent can be beneficial to getting auditions, some of which are not even available through open calls. That’s been my observation having a kid in this industry.</p>
<p>You are basing this on your daughter and her friends but, my experience as a professional actor and then director for twenty years and now a decade training is that the stats dont bare it out. I can have a student who is AEA and has representation upon graduation and doesnt make it to Broadway, television or film for a decade, if ever, and another who is non-AEA and on Broadway in a year and now has sitcom offers. I think showcases are great for those institutions that are set up to do them cheaply (east coast schools) but, for schools in the Midwest or on the west coast to go to NYC and pass that expense on to the students seem unfair. Likewise an MT showcase in LA doesnt seem like anything other than a recruiting tool. NoHo has a growing music theatre scene but is way too small to support MT careers and the NEW movie musical is still celebrity driven and not a place where most students coming out of BFA MT programs will find immediate work.</p>
<p>I totally agree that someone who is AEA and has an agent upon graduation may never make it in the field and that someone who is not AEA and has no agent may be very successful. </p>
<p>A showcase is NO guarantee of success. An agent is NO guarantee of success. Being AEA is no guarantee of success. You can have those things and not be successful and you can not have them and be quite successful. </p>
<p>A showcase is not necessary. But it CAN help as a transition to obtaining representation and exposure to many in the industry in NYC in a one shot deal that might be harder to obtain on one’s own.</p>
<p>I don’t think a showcase is a make or break thing at all. It has benefits for many. But it is not crucial at all. It can help with the transition, that’s all. </p>
<p>Agree about a MT showcase in LA. Most MT showcases that I know of tend to be in NYC. </p>
<p>Those whom I know who landed agents and were cast which were direct results of showcase simply do feel it was WORTH it. But again, that is not the only avenue to having that happen. But when it does, those who have had it happen, are glad. And I’ve seen that happen with a LOT of recent graduates. Of course, it happens for those who never do a showcase or have an agent too!!</p>
<p>Very well put, we agree!</p>
<p>In my daughter’s case, a school having a showcase was not a determining factor for her. She applied to schools both with and without showcases. The school she is attending though, does have a showcase and she is excited about being a part of it next year. She has seen fellow classmates have a great response from showcase and get cast right into productions and she has seen some who did not get much interest and now are working in the business because of things they did on their own. </p>
<p>Her school has a NY and an LA showcase but both are very different. I agree, there is no need for an MT showcase in LA. Even though my daughter is an MT, when they go to LA the showcase is acting focused…no music or dancing. It is geared more towards film and tv which takes on a very different dynamic from trying to get Broadway stage work. </p>
<p>My d’s school also makes a huge effort to have casting people, directors and agents come to campus to work with the seniors. I think if your school offers that and not a showcase, that is still great exposure. But in all actuality, there are many different ways to get that job opportunity…so do you HAVE to go to a school with a showcase??? Of course not.</p>