<p>Hi! I've been lurking on this site for a few months, and have only been brave enough to start posting recently. I'm hugely intimidated by a lot of you here, or by your talented children. I feel as if every highschool senior auditioning for MT is going to not only be enormously talented, but come from a huge city and have trained for a decade with renowned vocal and dance teachers and acting coaches. I'm a rising senior who comes from a tiny dot on the map in Michigan. I've been in over 17 shows, and I've had a lead in many of them; I've also been taking voice, dance, and piano lessons for a while. I've never done a show anywhere but my little community theatre or my highschool, however. I just feel as if I'm lacking in experience that it seems a lot of other MT hopefuls have. </p>
<p>Are there a lot of others in my position, or am I totally out of my league, and in for a huge wake-up call at auditions?</p>
<p>In my opinion, you have significant experience…many shows in both school and community theater and training in voice, dance and piano. My kid grew up in a rural town of 1700 people. Sure, there are kids who attend performing arts high schools and so on and so forth. Yes, it is easy to wonder if one may match up! I recall thinking about that a bit. But you should be fine. One thing is to see if you can either attend a summer program that draws talented kids from a much larger pool of talent and you can self assess in that wider talent pool beyond your local community, or else perhaps audition for adjudicated things on a state or regional level and get a sense of your competitiveness that way. Still, it sounds to me that you are doing the “right things” in terms of preparing for this field. You don’t have to be from a city or have training with renown coaches. My own child, as well as others we know from our rural region, have fared well in BFA admissions by doing many things you are doing.</p>
<p>However, I won’t deny that when auditioning for BFA in MT programs, you’re up against all the kids who stand out in their own local communities and there are a lot of talented kids like you who are vying for these limited slots.</p>
<p>My S had a very similar background to yours (school and community theatre, and plenty of it), and did just fine in college auditions. He felt the same way you did, very intimidated. I mean…what IS a summer program…we don’t really have those here. Never did it, although it seems like a great idea if it’s available to you. </p>
<p>He did, however, have coaching from a former BFA student (this person also had lived in NYC and had some broadway success). This was invaluable for choice of solos and monologues (we would never have come up with those particular selections on our own, and they were perfect for the judges tastes and for showcasing my Ss talents). He also was very helpful in guiding us through which college programs to audition for, headshots, etc. I would advise you to seek out someone who has been there/done that. It is so important to your ultimate success. Time and money well spent.</p>
<p>Good luck…here on the other side of the audition process is fun and exciting…and worth all the worry.</p>
<p>All those suggestions are right on target. The other big thing I would recommend has been mentioned many times before on other threads. Don’t audition for your most desired/closest matched programs in the beginning of the audition process. Try to “practice audition” with some schools that aren’t as high on your list. The art of college auditioning can be as important as the talent, itself, initially!</p>
<p>You’ll be fine. Be comfortable. Rehearse your audition pieces until you can’t get them wrong (the difference between an amateur and a professional? An amateur rehearses until they get it right, a professional rehearses until they can’t get it wrong.) Pick pieces that are right for you. Be honest and sincere. Approach the auditions not with trepidation, but with hope and zeal. Bring energy and passion. You’ll do fine. Doesn’t matter how much experience the others have had. We are used to seeing students with a ton of experience and students with almost no experience. Normally one right after the other. Trust that we can separate the wheat from the chaff. If we can’t, then you didn’t want to train with that group anyway.</p>
<p>One more…
Try to shake off that feeling of intimidation. Show us why you love this. Take your 10…or 15…or 20 minutes and own it. Sometimes a bit of confidence can make all the difference in the world.</p>
<p>I feel the same way. I’m a junior this year and reading all of these posts makes me a little nervous. I’m from nh and have only been performing since my freshman year but am happy to see that other people are in the same situation. :)</p>
<p>theinvisiblegirl… I am from NH… now live in VA and coordinate the MT program at James Madison University. Used to teach at Plymouth State. Still spend my summers in NH as the artistic director of a summer theatre… “live free or die :)” </p>
<p>There are lots of kids from smaller states and towns ho pursue performance… I earned my BFA from Syracuse and my MFA from Penn State… growing up in a smaller tow or state does not mean you will be “out of your league” in college auditions.</p>
<p>Try to get involved with as much as is possible… if you can, do a summer program… volunteer as a community performer with a professional summer stock company… take advantage of any and all opportunities in your area.</p>
<p>Don’t be intimidated… or “invisible” :)</p>
<p>PM me if you have any questions about NH schools for MT.</p>
<p>Try not to be intimidated; I know it’s easier said then done. Continue getting experience where you can be it your high school or community theater. If you access to any summer programs, go for it but they can be expensive and out of your area, so don’t feel like you have to do something like that to be competetive. There are a lot of kids in current college programs who have come from backgrounds like yours and are very talented and did very well in the college audition process. Take advantage of any opportunity you can find to audition to get experience. When it is your turn to audition for college, go in there and wow them with your confidence!</p>
<p>I want to encourage both (and all) young people to follow your dreams. Do not concern yourself with the mass of auditioners - your audition is between you and the audition panel. Further, (accept for academics at some programs) your audition is truly what matters most. Resumes and experience are fine - but the decision is 90% based on what you bring to the table at your audition. So, prepare to do your personal best - and you may be pleasantly surprised. I am so old, I come from a time when MT performers did not have all the training and opportunity available these days - so I cannot comment on that from personal experience. I will share with you that my parents worked extra jobs to afford to send me to a very good college prep high school. I was a bit of a fish out of water. When I was going out for the football team in my freshmen year, I felt really disadvantaged. Nearly everyone else had played organized football in little leagues (no such thing in my neighborhood) - I had never played a down except in pickup games at the play ground, never wore spikes, never had a uniform. But I did love the game. I did well. I played, and on a good team! Perhaps I ramble, but I will leave with this from the “Desiderata” which is a prayer - The whole thing is pretty good, maybe you might google it…
“If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain or bitter,
for there will always be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.”</p>
<p>Try to enjoy your adventure and I wish you great success.</p>
<p>I was recently seated at a dinner next to a young woman who is currently appearing in a huge national tour. We started talking about MT programs (she is a graduate of Ithaca) and her background story sounded much like yours – from a very small town, etc. She had no real experience going into the auditions, yet felt that all for whom she auditioned were able to evaluate her potential as a professional.</p>
<p>wow–thank you all so much for your words of encouragement and wisdom! I’m still feeling nervous, of course, but I’m beginning to accept the fact that all I can do is my best (and to trust God with the rest! haha). mtdog, thank you especially for sharing the ‘desiderata’–I’m going to print it out and read it as often as I can. it’s so beautiful and inspiring. (:</p>
<p>Don’t let it worry you…I am an actor with over 30 years of performing behind me (professional and community)…I never tell my kids what they should do, and in this particular case, I chose to let my daughter “find” theatre on her own…once she did, I let her go through the ups and downs, as I once had to. She was a top performer in school, but only in the last year or so, did I let her get out into the “community”…Her community/professional resume’ was small, but she has a lot of raw talent. I helped her through the college audition process, as it can be daunting, and though she never had any private instruction (other than an occasional “note” from me) and had only a few random years of dance…she was accepted into the MT program at Elon University, and had been accepted into some other nice programs…If you are talented, and work hard you will end up where you need to be. It is a highly competitive field…find your strengths and work on those. My D is a gifted comic actress, and has a very strong belt. I encouraged her to play to her strength, as it is foolish to spend your time trying to be something you are not…too many people know where their strength lies, and will be maximizing every opportunity to show those strengths. You obviously have skills…someone will see that. Don’t be intimidated…the rest of your performing life you will be in a constant state of “audition”, and the sooner you get past your nervousness, and gain confidence, the better. Break a leg!</p>
<p>A good MT program director is looking for RAW Talent all the time!!! Let your love of MT be the calming influences in your life and never be intimidated.</p>
<p>The support and generosity of the people in this particular forum never ceases to amaze me. Kindness is alive and well. I wish I could send everyone a “I can’t, I have rehearsal” t shirt out of appreciation because not only have I been encouraged and helped, but when I see other people with worries being advised it helps me too.</p>
<p>I’m not speaking from experience (after this year I will be!) but I think a lot of it might just boil down to fit, and I think if you do your homework in researching schools and then follow your instincts when you visit and get to know them better, and put your heart into your auditions, you and the right school will find each other. That’s where I’m putting my faith with my daughter; gotta have some faith or it certainly is intimidating!!</p>
<p>To Snapdragon…the hard part is for your D/S to not get it into their head that they are not good enough (and that is hard to remember after a few rejection letters)…it is all about fit and what they need in their ensemble. At one of my D’s auditions last year, the Director of MT spoke to the entire group and explained to us that building a class is much like casting a show…they know what they will need for the upcoming year and what they don’t need. Hard to understand but that is the reality of the profession they are entering. So keep your chin up and have fun and there is light at the end of the tunnel, believe me. Good luck!</p>