@mthldy - I totally agree. If a kid wants parent there to help negotiate travel (and remember, not all schools help with this stuff) - and the parent has time/ability to go - I think that’s great.
We live within driving distance of St. Louis. My daughter wanted to drive herself to MWTA, but we felt more comfortable having Dad drive. Dad dropped her off and then spent the day in the city by himself – he knows where all the Bass Pro shops are! Some of her friends drove up the day before and stayed over, and he brought a crew of students back with him. Dad has also taken a carload to SETC when it was within driving distance. Some students don’t have cars at school - and it can be hard to carpool when classmates audition on different days. Students do get good at carpooling and splitting hotel costs for these audition trips.
S school did not help with travel to MWTA. It was a great experience to have the students get a group together to navigate. @kategrizz is correct - S did not accept any of the offers from MWTA - he ended up working with one of his former Stagedoor directors - who happened to reach out right after MWTA; you absolutely never know where future work will come from!
D2 is trying to get to NETC this year with a few of her classmates. So far, she’s been navigating on her own; we will see if she and/or her classmates are offered a slot.
I suppose schools don’t help with the actual “travel” (though they may facilitate in organizing carpools, sharing rooms etc)- but there are some that are more/less involved summer stock assistance. Some ensure the class schedule has the kids available to apply exactly when Strawhats/MWTA etc opens, or would be fine with kids missing Monday classes. Or have direct connections TO summerstock - (like BW does with Idaho). There is nothing wrong with any of that, nor is there anything wrong with schools that don’t get super involved with it - which is where parents may step in - esp for freshmen etc. It’s just yet another piece of the puzzle.
One of the nice bits of school in NYC is that there are lots of opportunities to audition THERE for jobs that take place outside the city. Doesn’t fully offset the hassle of moving in and out of dorms in the city (as compared to a traditional campus) - but you have to take your advantages where you find them 
Another thing to check with your school about related to summer stock is the school calendar and your school’s policy for missing school. D had to turn down a nice summer job because her school would not allow her to miss the first few weeks of the semester. Conversely, she had a friend at Baldwin Wallace who was allowed to return to school late so they could take a summer contract. School start dates vary. Some of the Northeastern schools don’t even start back until after Labor Day so these types of conflicts may not be an issue for them. However, some of the more MidWestern and Southern schools start back mid-August which can conflict with the end of a summer season depending on the job. So just make sure you know what your availability is as you may be asked.
^^^My S (BW) missed the first 2 or 3 weeks the year he took a regional contract. I think the kids this year on that contract similarly missed the first few weeks of school. No WAY could D1 miss that much and stay out of hot water at Purchase! It is a serious bear making up 3 weeks’ of missed work, though!
I think the question of are you allowed to miss school for summerstock plays into the training/performance mentality that can be really important to understand as part of various school’s ideology
Thank you all for the wonderful information! I will pass it along to my D. I am planning on going to St. Louis as my
nephew plays basketball for Wash U and will go to his game and explore the area while she is auditioning.
Awesome @MI3rdClosingAct! Have a great time and report back! Always good to hear how these go from year to year.
Just as a side note of something to keep in kind with the college students traveling to the summer stock auditions… we have already ran into a problem with my D and two classmates trying to get a hotel rental near one audition site and not being able to get the room as they are not 21. Hampton inn normally will not budge on this policy. No check in of anyone under 21. . Some hotels are more flex then others and an Airbnb is always an option too but FYI.
We ended up finding a hotel that would make an exception & let me put the room in my name under the assumption of course that any damages or problems would be covered by me.
They’re adults… until they’re not … lol
When my daughter traveled for SETC prescreens they stayed at the Fairfield and I called and had the room put on my card and there was no issue. It may be by hotel brand.
The age thing seems to be by location. Large metropolitan areas seem to be mostly 21 and up. I learned to check the hotel info section of the hotel website for the age limit. If it wasn’t listed, I called the hotel. I learned that for the most part if the age wasn’t listed on the website, it was usually 18 to check in.
For anyone going to MWTA, Sutton Foster is performing at the St. Louis Symphony on that Saturday night Feb 23. I think it will be a fun outing for my D and me.
For those parents who have had kids that have experienced SETC or MWTA: If your student has got a callback, what has been their typical experience? Do they bring their binder and they have an accompanist? Is it typically additional bar cuts? Trying to understand what happens in the room if a theatre asks for a callback.
@loribelle It will vary from company to company… some will have you sing from your book, some will have you sing from the show or cold read, some will just talk to you one-on-one or in a small group, some may have you improvise… really depends on what the company thinks they need to see. Generally if they want to hear someone sing again they will have an accompanist, but some companies do not and will ask you to sing something acapella. We tell our students to be prepared for just about anything.
@KatMT Thank you! Super helpful. Screenshotted your info and sent to my D.
Our Ds experience is similar to what @KatMT just described. I don’t think there was any pattern to what was done during a callback. It really depended on the theater or organization. I know D had to sing a pop/rock song acapella as part of a few different callbacks.
@loribelle my D and I were just talking about callbacks and what to expect this morning! Thanks for asking the question! @KatMT and @vvnstar thanks for the valuable info! I too sent it to my D.
Y’all are following the FB page, yes? Something about dance callbacks was posted there recently. My D is attending, and doing just about all of this on her own many states away from me, but I love getting glimpses of what is going on. Your posts help, too!
D is trying to decide how many extra headshots she should bring with her. 10? 20? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!