MT audition coach

This is not to discuss whether or not one is needed or should be used. The decision has already been made to use one. I am looking for opinions on MTCA vs Mary Ann Dennard. Have looked at both their websites and read many great things about both on this site. How to decide which one?

Do you have to pay for a consult to get to know them better to see if they are a right fit for your child? or can this be done via email without investing the $100 something dollars.
Skype vs In person. We live near Dallas so we could potentially meet in person with Mary Ann Dennard. Does that make her the better option or will Skype be just as good?
Any other insight into either is greatly appreciated.

I think both are good. It really is more of finding who you fit with personality wise. I would try to have a brief conversation with each. Be mindful that MTCA uses many different coaches so its not only important to mesh with whomever you have an initial conversation with, but also whomever you are assigned to work with. Full disclosure: we used MaryAnna and are big fan of hers. We can highly recommend her. But we’ve also had friends who were very happy with MTCA. I think you can be successful with either. Certainly your proximity to MaryAnna is a plus. Our D only worked with her once in person. And although Skype worked well, she would have loved to have had more opportunity to work with her in person but we lived across the country from her.

We are doing a little bit of a strange mixture this year. We are using MTCA ala carte. We’ve been happy so far with what we have used (all Skype at this point). My D is attending a weekend intensive and mock audition in a few weeks - Mary Anna Dennard is presenting and advising on the first day. D1 did the workshop two years ago and picked up some great pointers. D did not have to be using any other services (Dennard) to participate in the intensive and it’s in our hometown. We are not able to get to NY for the early mock auditions MTCA is hosting. I am really looking forward to having my D roll out her full audition package and have it critiqued. We are planning to shoot her prescreens later that weekend but can be flexible if something in her package does not resonate.

I have heard great things about both services - I really went back and forth since I thought Moonifieds would be really beneficial. A few local kids attended last year, though, to mixed reviews. They felt it was too early in the audition season. Good luck!

If you are near Dallas, then I think Mary Anna Dennard is the obvious choice. We are currently using her and my son did Skype for the first few sessions and then flew to her studio in Dallas for the last two sessions. She’s incredibly helpful and my son has loved working with her. You must do an initial Skype consult prior to the private coaching.

Yes, agreed with @Twoboysandadog. If you’re near Dallas, use Moo. But are amazing but she has her moonified auditions in Dallas every year and you could audition for a TON of schools then.

We are near Dallas and chose to use Moo. While it wasn’t the reason we chose her, Moonifieds are a big financial bonus - those are auditions we don’t (necessarily) have to travel to.

We’ve been very pleased so far. D still has to do her final session, but they have already helped her a ton.

@Boilermom Another popular coaching option you might want to consider is stagelighter.com. You can get coaching and feedback for a range of hourly rates all under $200 directly from college faculty online ( also big name casting directors and agents) The site is down at the moment. I assume they are still in business! But have heard great things and many of the most well known programs who are listed here on CC participate as coaches.

I have had many friends use Moo and many friends use MTCA, both with good results. My son used MTCA and we loved them! Out of the 19 in his class, 7 used MTCA and 3 used Moo. This year’s class had 4 that used MTCA and none used Moo. Check out if the school your S/D is interested in has a lot of kids who used one coach over the other over the past 4 years because they can be a great resource and give you the inside scoop. MTCA actually posts the results of where each class since 2014 have attended college. Moo has on her website a list of colleges with photos of the accepted kids, so you don’t know what specific year they are. Many of the MTCA coaches have performed on Broadway and have graduated from top MT programs. My son’s coaches graduated from CMU and Julliard.

College Audition Coach just published their 2018 scholarship students on their website. Congratulations to any of those families here on CC

@Troykat thanks for the insight. Unfortunately we are at a school were no one else has every gone for acting/musical theatre. I’ve also asked some people in the area who have kids in the other high schools in the district as well as the theatre teachers (there are 10 high schools in our district) I have only found 1 person who has gone through this process. Most kids in are district are encouraged to seek “real degrees” no matter how talented they are this includes kids we know in orchestra, band, dance, etc. So this is why I brought this up here. We do know someone who is a current MT major that used MTCA but that is it. Haven’t heard anything bad about MTCA or MOO so I guess I can’t go wrong.