<p>Can anyone tell me about the Senior Showcase at Shen? What casting agents, etc. tend to come from NYC? Is there a large turnout?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>They don't do an NYC showcase.
Hopefully everyone knows that before make a decesion.
It's pointless. You build yourself and work yourself up for 4 years and they don't do a showcase for you. Kind of sad really.
It's probably due to the fact that they take like 40 some kids.</p>
<p>Actually, my question was about the showcase AT Shenandoah. I am very aware that they don't do a NY showcase. They do however do one on campus AND, as one student answered me when I posed the question, they actually invite agents and casting directors from NYC, Chicago and LA to come to the school throughout the ENTIRE Spring semester. It seems that works well for them. Many come. And many students walk away from the school with agents. Also, there is nothing pointless about a quality education.</p>
<p>Here again, I have to use my wife and I as examples - no senior showcase - just hard work and auditioning our butts off and pounding the pavement = long and vital careers for us.</p>
<p>Fierce - are you a student there?</p>
<p>no.
I'm not a student. However, I did audition at Shenandoah. I'm aware of the showcase in Winchester.
As far as the agents, I wonder how many actually come.
I'm not saying the education is pointless, I'm saying no NYC showcase is pointless. In the real world, you go the the agents, they don't come to you.</p>
<p>Fierce - I live in the real world of theatre. Agents come to a performer in many ways - by you going to them and by them coming to you. By the way, I've never had an agent and I got to the point in my performing career where I no longer auditioned for shows. I was just asked to do them. And, I cast performers on a regular basis (for Disney and in the theatre world), and the vast majority of them are not with an agent. They come to an audition and if they're good enough and they are what the role requires they get the job.</p>
<p>I think it's great to know exactly what you like and what you don't like but you must be careful in making broad statements that might influence people on a site like this that are truly just generalizations and not based in fact.</p>
<p>I can sense your passion. Channel that away from negativity and you will do well.</p>
<p>Well put.
Any job openings for the summer?
Haha.
Sorry if this is seeming like an arguing match, it really wasn't meant to be.
We just view things differently.
Good Luck to you and your daughter with choosing a school!</p>
<p>DisneyDirector-You appear to have an understanding of this business. What do you think of Shenandoah's program as far as the training they provide for an aspiring actor in MT?</p>
<p>NY Showcases rarely net much. Agents get invited to dozens each season, so they usually send their assistants to view them, in which case, some students may be asked to come in and audition for the agent once they move to NYC. But it's not the norm to expect to walk out of one with an agent. Furthermore, the showcases are no longer than one hour in length, so everyone gets to do one piece, maybe two, and then it's over.</p>
<p>At Shenandoah, we bring in pairs of agents and casting directors for an intensive weekend of workshops. They get to see the students individually, respond directly to the students' presentations, make adjustments, ask for other song and monologue selections, etc. So it's much more hands on.</p>
<p>Agents & Casting Directors who are "regulars" on our circuit are: Gary Krasny, Dave Clemmons, Pat McCorkle, Geoffrey Soffer, Diane Riley, Bob Kale, Margi Roundtree...</p>
<p>I realize I'm joining an old post on this topic. I'm looking for feedback for my son who is a high school junior on the options for a school with a good theatre programs, preferably on the east coast. I've read about NYU, Hunter, Yale, Fordham, etc. and two of the schools mention the NY showcase as a marketing point. From the discussion, I see not a lot of weight is placed on the aforementioned.</p>
<p>Had a very nice campus tour this weekend. The student tour guides and the admissions counselor were all wonderful and very candidly informative. No salesmanship or sugar coating of anything regarding MT. They have wonderful and fairly new dance, voice, music, and theatre facilities. I was expecting a lot less and instead came away very impressed.</p>
<p>The counselor mentioned that, for the Senior Showcase, many directors, producers, agents, etc., come to the campus, not vice versa.</p>
<p>Regarding the surrounding area, this is Winchester, VA. It is not a bustling urban area. I compared SU to Elon in size, campus feel, and surrounding area. Elon had a nicer campus but not as nice facilities. SU I think has the edge in surrounding area because Winchester is nicer than Burlington.</p>
<p>SU now has prescreening of recorded auditions, whick I think is a GREAT idea. It is for the MT auditioners ONLY, not straight theatre, voice, dance or music. A student records 2 16-bar songs and a monologue and emails the video. If they like it, you are then invited to the actual audition in person. I wish all the MT schools would do this.</p>
<p>I agree bookshaw. An early “no” after a DVD submission is a much kinder response than a “no” after plane tickets (times 2), taxis, hotels, etc.</p>
<p>I hope the other schools adopt this prescreening. So much time, effort, and money will be saved on both sides. The schools would need only audition a small fraction of the kids they audition now. Everyone benefits.</p>
<p>It’s because the huge unknown in all of this auditoning is, "is my child good enough for, say, NYU, or CMU, or MICHIGAN. "
With prescreening, the minimum cost and effort is expended to achieve the answer to that question. Like you said, a quick no goes down better than a long painful expensive no. Then you are freed-up to pursue other schools.</p>
<p>This is only my opinion but my D does not audition well on a DVD. She is much better in person. If this was the route we had to take it would have been horrible for her. She did well because of her interviews at the auditions and just her personality in person. I know it’s good for some but not for us.</p>
<p>by the way, Shenandoah states that they don’t want DVDs or anything on youtube. I am not sure how they will do this, because as of 8/1/11 their web site has not been updated yet to include the details, but I am guessing it will involve emailing a suitable MPG or some other type of file, something they can watch on their computers by just clicking on the file.</p>
<p>Open the floodgates.</p>
<p>now U of Michigan is doing it.</p>
<p>[UM</a> School of Music, Theatre & Dance - Department of Musical Theatre - Auditions & Interviews](<a href=“http://www.music.umich.edu/departments/mustheatre/auditions.htm]UM”>http://www.music.umich.edu/departments/mustheatre/auditions.htm)</p>
<p>Soon all the musical theatre schools will wise up and have prescreening video requirements.</p>
<p>Where is the audition information on the shenandoah website? Sorry, I’m just not seeing where you guys are finding the video pre audition thing. Thanks!</p>
<p>during the campus tour we took a couple weeks ago, they distributed some handouts that described the prescreening along with the statement "for more info, see such and such wev site. The counselor even talked about prescreening in her presentation. But when I went to the web site, there was absolutely no info whatsoever on prescreening. I suppose the web site has not been updated to include this info. I suspect that all this info will be online by 9/1.</p>
<p>bookshaw - Would you mind sharing the information about Shenandoah’s prescreening that was on the handout? Does the sheet or did the woman who gave the tour tell you what should be included in the prescreen? Thanks!</p>
<p>Larkmom,</p>
<p>I just recently got the following email from SU.</p>
<p>My name is Holly and I work in admissions for the Conservatory at Shenandoah University. I was forwarded your email regarding the pre-screening for Musical Theatre auditions. The information is not on the website yet because the application for 2012 is not on the website yet, and we are still getting final details ironed out with Citizen Groove. </p>
<p>Essentially what will happen is all music theatre applicants will be required to go through a pre-screening which includes the vocal and monologue portions of the audition. So the two sixteen measure excerpts (one from a Golden-Age or pre Golden-Age, the other can be from a Golden-Age or pre-Golden-Age or more contemporary musical theatre repertoire) and the one minute or less monologue (age-appropriate and chosen from a contemporary play - Shaw or later) will need to be recorded and uploaded onto this website we are working with called Citizen Groove. CG then organizes everything for us, puts it in the best quality it can, and notifies admissions and faculty when there is an audition ready for review. Then the faculty will give admissions the yay or nay and we will let the applicant know whether or not they are invited to come on to campus to audition. </p>
<p>If you know which date you would like to come audition on, plan on having you pre-screening submitted at least a month before that date. For example, if you would like to audition December 3rd, have your pre-screening submitted by November 1st. I will put the audition dates at the end of this email.</p>
<p>I hope this helps give you a little more clarification into what is meant by a pre-screening. If there is anything else I can do to help you, please don’t hesitate to reply directly to this email or call me at the number below.</p>
<p>Audition Dates 2011-2012
Musical Theatre</p>
<p>Saturday, December 3, 2011
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Saturday, February 25, 2012</p>
<p>Holly Standard
Conservatory Admissions Counselor
Shenandoah University
1460 University Drive, Winchester VA 22601
(540) 665-4577
<a href=“mailto:hstandar@su.edu”>hstandar@su.edu</a></p>