<p>Triple Sensation from Canada (a CBC show that actually gave people scholarships if they won to study musical theatre) definitely contributed to competitiveness here north of the border. So it could be worse for you guys with that too (or maybe it already is, if you lived close enough to pick CBC up). And of course there’s all the shows like The Search for the Next Elle Woods and You’re the One That I Want.</p>
<p>Wicked and Rent added to the passion for my D. She HATED High School Musical, but then ended up playing Taylor in a local community theater production!</p>
<p>HA! But tho these shows make it more difficult for aspiring artists, they also help to increase future audiences which just makes their jobs more necessary!!! A vicious circle!</p>
<p>HMMM thinking a little more… the moment I first saw Beauty and the Beast, I KNEW it was bound for Broadway… the cartoon just had all the requisite parts for good musical theater. (Some make disagree!!!) Most of our kids were raised with Disney and their musical cartoons. I think that influenced many youngsters as well…</p>
<p>Oh, the influence of “Glee” on people auditioning for MT colleges is ASTOUNDING! I was recently at International Thespian Festival and sat in on 90% of the high school auditions. If I could only count the number of times:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Young women sang songs (usually out of their range) that were popularized by Ms. Lea Michele/Rachel Berry on Glee.</p></li>
<li><p>Young men dressed EXACTLY like Chris Colfer. The identical purple button up under a black/gray vest with a snazzy tie and black pants combo showed up at least 30 times.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Not downing on any of the kids who made these choices or even on Glee for being popular, but it’s crazy to me how big of a phenomenon it has turned into. Kudos to them for turning so many people on to the concept of Musical Theatre, but I’d love to keep exact clones out of the audition room! ;)</p>
<p>^But are these kids <em>truly</em> competing for the limited slots available in a highly selective auditioned MT program? I agree, the “Glee Effect” has its pros and cons, but one thing kiddo noticed as she auditioned last year was there were sort of two groups in an audition setting – the serious contenders – prepared, well-studied students who knew what they were getting into, had fully researched the school, its program offerings, the most appropriate audition material, etc. (and we saw these same faces at many of the stops on d’s audition tour) and the ones who thought MT would be “a lot of fun to do”. These were the kids who looked around the room at the large number of people and said “But I got accepted (academically) to the school – I thought this was a formality!” (Sadly, heard that more than once.) “XYZ [with a 2% artistic admit ratio] school is my dream school – it’s the only place I’m audiitioning.” As d looked at this same large group of auditionees for so few slots, she realized that some of her peers seemed more competition than others. NOT saying that the other people were any less talented, and she most likely will find herself in class with some folks with many different paths of preparation…but I trust the auditors too, to be able to know (through interview, listening and watching) who is the right “fit” for their particular program, and some of that comes through putting in the time in preparation…choosing the right music, following the school’s rules and procedures, knowing about the program and why it is a fit (she got asked a lot of lovely, thoughtful questions by auditors along the way…they really are working to meet as much of a student as they can in such a short window of time). </p>
<p>And MichaelNKat, I could not agree more about limiting applications/auditions to a doable amount on a very well-thought out list. Kiddo, in the end, did 9 auditions. She received 2 deferral/holds (they did not turn into acceptances), 4 outright artistic acceptances. She also missed a heck of a lot of school (turned doing homework in airports into an artform!), out of town during fall AND winter homecoming of her Senior year (for an audition) and spent many hours writing the supplemental essays for schools and scholarship competitions. Add the real costs (application fees, some over $100! for each school), travel expenses (let’s just say my hotal affinity card now is a “silver”…) and wear and tear on the people… We calculated…and we travelled 3,142 miles for auditions last year (one way I kept my brain busy was with fun family trivia…) Remember – your kid is also being a student their senior year (mine did 4 AP classes…just call her a glutton for punishment…see reference to in-flight studying!!). They are taking their regular dance/voice/piano/[insert class here] and some are also involved in local/high school theatre programs. (And part of figuring out that audition calendar for d included working around her performance weekends…) I think you can get to a point of diminishing returns, where you burn out – I know she had 4 weekends straight of auditions in the fall, including 2 “double whammy” auditions (do one school, travel 2-4 hours to the next locale and repeat the next day). She then had a break for a few weeks before her winter auditions picked up. Walking out the hotel to the final one before her “break” she said, “I am going to do this one, and it will be fine (it was…she was accepted)…but I am REALLY glad to have a break for a while.” When she hit the road again in February, she was energized, and ready to go again. We definitely had an “end of audition” party in the final hotel!!!</p>
<p>This is very true! I was told that a lot of the kids who audition at ITF and at other mass auditions don’t ever actually apply for college theatre programs. And you’re right about serious vs. not serious at auditions in general, but I still am amazed by the general affect of the phenomenon! And a lot of those young men especially were actually really talented and could get into some good programs if they worked at it, just found their choice in apparel amusing. :)</p>
<p>@ Mommafrog. You are so right! I felt the same way everytime we went to an audition. I felt really bad for the students who really had no idea what they were getting themselves into. I felt my D was very prepared (thanks to MTCA). Obviously you don’t need MTCA to get you there but for us it was a lifesaver! I also think auditioning for too many programs can possibly lead to illness. If you are constantly traveling you may have a great chance of getting sick. My D was pretty sick for her Syracuse and Ithaca auditions but go figure she got in to SU! And to close, we had a huge blowout celebration after her final audition and then again for her first acceptance. I felt I deserved it as much as she did! ;)</p>
<p>I want to echo some things mommafrog said earlier…</p>
<p>+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++</p>
<p>“Too, although Muhlenberg and Northwestern are (correct me if I’m wrong, or things have changed!!!) nonaudition for admittance, they are pretty competitive academically, and again have more applicants than the school has spaces. Do finances come into play at all? A financial safety can be a good thing, too.”</p>
<p>+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++</p>
<p>It’s been said before, but not all non-audition BA programs are safeties, either academically, artistically (some programs do a bit of ‘audition-by-resume’) OR financially – all of which are critical aspects of a true safety. I can’t speak to Muhlenberg, but we know a woman who was class president, 3.92 unweighted GPA, 33 ACT with professional experience who was accepted to Yale but wasn’t accepted to NU’s theatre program this year, so even for academically strong kids it’s a crap shoot. Heck, we know two Valedictorians locally who were not admitted to our state school, so finding a true safety can be tricky these days. </p>
<p>Do include a couple non-audition real safeties on your final list, and before considering a school an academic safety be sure to recognize that some theatre programs get many more applicants than other departments in the school and so may require higher-than-average stats.</p>
<p>Best of luck to you!!</p>
<p>I agree with Michael that a well-constructed list of 8-10 schools is sufficient for any applicant. Leaping ahead to 12 or 15 or, heaven forbid, 20, is a recipe for disaster, with stress/audition/application/travel/information overload. </p>
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<p>Exactly, and that newly developing MT admissions services industry is very self-serving, and, in my opinion, largely responsible for the frantic feelings of many applicants (and parents!) in the past few cycles.</p>