<p>Wow. Who knew? I’m in the Northwest and I don’t “think” there is the equivalent thing here but I didn’t know that existed either. I really appreciate the info and have enjoyed learning. Thanks!</p>
<p>@KateMT - I do agree with that. I saw a TON of bad comedic monologues, too. I just think for a unified/cattle call setting a comedic monologue should be chosen every time.<br>
I also think that most of the skills that you mentioned are what I want to see in a callback setting where I can work with an actor. In the first 90 seconds I want to see a few things: 1) Can they sing? 2) Do they have stage presence? I can’t teach that. 3) Do they have an accurate idea of type? (I had an actress this year ask me at callbacks “Are you sure you don’t want me to sing for <role that=”" was="" completely="" inappropriate="" for="" her="" type="">? It annoyed me, and left me thinking that she had no idea where she fit professionally.</role></p>
<p>Other conferences like SETC are NETC - Northeastern Theater Conference, StrawHat, MWTC - Midwestern Theater Conference, OTA (Called something else now, but used to be OTA - Ohio Theater Alliance), UPTA (Unified Professional Theater Auditions) - UPTA is year round work only, so no summer stocks for Freshmen-Junior MTs. Outdoor drama has one, too - this year was in Asheville, I think - and they had it pretty early!</p>
<p>There are lots of local ones, too. Most cities have their own unifieds.</p>
<p>I think it’s still Ohio Theater Alliance, if this is to what you are referring: [Ohio</a> Theatre Alliance](<a href=“http://www.ohiotheatrealliance.org%5DOhio”>http://www.ohiotheatrealliance.org)</p>
<p>The outdoor drama one is IOD:
[IOD</a> Auditions | Institute of Outdoor Drama](<a href=“http://www.outdoordrama.org/iod-auditions/]IOD”>http://www.outdoordrama.org/iod-auditions/)</p>
<p>I teach and direct, and am also the artistic director of a theatre that attends combined audition conferences to hire company members. I do not necessarily prefer comedic monologues… just well acted monologues regardless of comedic or dramatic. I agree that I look for stage presence, but I am also looking for the best actor/ singers I can find… if I am doing a dance season the best actor/ singer/ dancers. I am annoyed by performers who screalt (scream+belt= screalt) for 16 - 32 bars and then try to “entertain” me with a funny monologue. I am much more likely to call back the performer who draws me in as an actor/ singer in 90-seconds (comedic, dramatic, legit, contemporary, whatever…) the performer who is able to take me on an honest journey within that time frame, sings healthily and dynamically (soft is also a dynamic level) AND is “right” for our season. We do plays and musicals, so we are looking for a variety of skill sets… we also look for non-singing actors for some of our shows. In a call back I can test vocal range, true suitability for the role, etc… I hate bad acting in a musical just like in a play, and look for singing actors and acting singers for musicals. I also interview performers and check references, because I do not care how talented someone is if they are a diva a$$h@!3… I have been burned in the past when I was not vigilant about checking references, and have learned my lesson 
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<p>Ultimately, performers have no control over if they are cast. They DO have control over presenting themselves well and being professional, and following up with companies in a professional manner. Performers need to present an audition that showcases their strengths, not their weaknesses. Also be professional, as flexible as possible (I mean as an actor/ singer, not as a contortionist ;-)), and be able to listen and make adjustments in a callback. Then they have done their best, whether or not they are cast is out of their hands.</p>
<p>In the end, all companies are looking for something different. Present the best you. Do not try to second guess what companies are looking for and be something you are not. You are the best you. Do work with your college faculty and other professional resources to understand the business and your current place in the industry in terms of skill set and type, be as versatile as possible, but do not loose yourself in the process. I have friends who were never particularly “successful” at summer stock conferences who work consistently as actors in professional theatre, and never sweat the fact that they did not do summer stock. No one path :)</p>
<p>KatMT, great advice. Thanks so much for your feedback!</p>
<p>Thanks. Very helpful observations!</p>
<p>Great info that I just now came across. Kat and Theatrehiring - can you tell us if colleges are steering students into these summer auditions or do the individual students have to seek them out?</p>
<p>I know that where I teach we encourage our students to apply and coach them pretty extensively for the conferences they will attend. However, that probably varies from school to school.</p>
<p>For those of you unfamiliar with SETC, (Southeastern Theatre Conference), the main part of the conference each spring is a “cattle call” style audition for summer stock primarily. While it is has been many years since I was last there and the OP has more recent experience, each auditioned has one or one and a half minutes to impress with a short song and monologue. It’s a pressure cooker for the kids, mostly college students who attend. Back in the day there would be around 70 companies or so in one large hotel conference room watching auditionees on a standard conference center platform in terrible lighting.</p>
<p>To the OP’s observations regarding Elon where my son was accepted - that matched our assessment as well. Very strong in vocal and dance - not so much in acting. In fact, we were told that the small talent scholarships they had went to kids who danced. “If” my son had been a strong dancer, he would have received a scholarship. Now we know he needs to continue his dance training, but he is a principal actor first and foremost. Seems to us they need to be recruiting some actors who sing to play leads. Son saw one of their productions and this matched his assessment. Great singing. Great dancing. Acting - ok. We liked Elon but it eventually fell off the list because of acting concerns and no scholarship - the only school that did not give him either an academic or talent scholarship out of list of CMU, PSU, TSU, TCU, Rider and Pace. Even waitlisted CCM gave him 5 k. </p>
<p>Anyway, SETC is a rite of passage for college students looking for summer stock jobs in the southeast.</p>
<p>Hi Folks - I initially responded to the first post in this thread privately - but I feel like I should share with the group - since this seems to be getting to be a thing about Elon somehow having deficient acting. First, I do not work at Elon, Second, I do know several of the faculty there, and have worked, professionally with several of their alumni.
SETC - I privately wrote, and now will share with the rest of you - SETC has become an event that is primarily attended by Elon’s freshmen and sophomores. This has been true for the last couple of years (previously a larger, more representative group, including seniors, used to attend) So, one would hope, if the training at a program is accomplishing anything, that the upperclassmen are a more fully developed commodity after having roughly two more years of training. I’ve been to SETC and I know this to be true. The reason is several regional and summer stock theater companies now come directly to the campus to hold auditions at Elon. Also, the seniors having the great advantage of having 8 or nine top casting directors and agents come to their campus, are very often cast/represented prior to graduation. These things have combined to make SETC less of a factor to the upperclassmen and result in very light, if any attending SETC.
Regarding acting, I imagine you can find some folks who are great singers/dancers that are not as great actors at any program. However, the reason I personally think of Elon as a top ten MT school is they have great mentoring and the fact that they really do produce an uncanny number of true triple threats. I know, as is the case, at all elite programs, that part of that success has to do with the filtering that takes place in the admissions process. Yet, I see productions down there about every other year, I see so many of their alums out in real world doing so well. Their training is excellent. Their success is equally well represented as actors, singers, and dancers.
Regarding greyhairedman’s inference that he heard the scholarship money went to dancers. I found this very intriguing. Well, I actually called two of my friends that teach dance at Elon. First - Elon does not have all that much money for scholarships - and yes - if there is any truth at all to what he heard it was because the money may have gone to triple threat type kids, who, yes, dance, but also sing and act.
This is not meant to be an advertisement for Elon. For those of you who have raed what I’ve posted over the past several years - you know I try to stay away from “ranking” and “tiers”. My reaction is only based in my aversion to seeing a less than accurate perception gain traction about one of the great MT programs out there. I would do the same for 4 or 5 other programs. Pax</p>
<p>Thanks mtdog71. The theatre industry desperately needs and uses triple threats. But the industry also needs actors who can really act and sing. And one slight correction from what you inferred from my post -I was told directly by Cathy that if my son had been a stronger dancer, he would have had a better shot at one of those small scholarships. So scholarships are going to kids who are already triples, not “dancers” as you inferred from my post. I probably was not clear enough and I was intentionally being a little vague, but I had the conversation with Cathy myself. Nothing wrong with what they are doing. It’s just where the focus of their program is which makes it not a great fit for my son and can explain why they may not be recruiting better actors if you have to be a triple already to get a little financial encouragement to go there. Their acting training may be fine for all I know. But the OP’s assessment was born out by my son and wife’s assessment after watching one of their shows which is admittedly a one moment snapshot of their program. My wife by the way spent 20 years as a working professional actor. My son is no novice in professional theater himself. Again. Good school. But their focus is different from what my son wanted ideally.</p>
<p>As I told mtdog71 - I knew that Elon had not sent any Seniors, and I should have mentioned that. </p>
<p>Please - I would never disparage a school on here - my observations were more about how Elon students seemed to be focused on voice. I regularly hire, and would hire an Elon grad again in a second. I think voice is their clear focus, though - and that is not a knock. Elon is EASILY a Top Ten program - and probably top 5.</p>
<p>I wanted to add one thing to this conversation - and that is, how friendly are the other students? I was recently talking with a few colleagues and we got talking about schools, and one mentioned a bad experience with an actor from a specific school and said, “I would have a hard time hiring any students from there again.” </p>
<p>A friend shared this experience about a callback at SETC 2012: They were in their callback room when an actor from a well established MT program came in, and seemed rushed through his callback songs. The callbacks were running on time (a rarity), but the actor was very panicked the whole time. The AD asked what was wrong. The student responded that “I have a callback after this one with a much better theater and I don’t want to miss it.” </p>
<p>This year, I received an email from an actor whom I had called back (and was very excited about) but never showed up for his callback slot. He told me how his callback was an incredible experience, and he loved meeting me, and he hoped that I was still considering him for our season. I got this call about three weeks after SETC - when most actors had taken jobs. I was an afterthought to this actor…until he didn’t have a job! I will remember this actor, and never call him back again.</p>
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<p>I think this honesty is refreshing, and based on experience as a hiring manager in another field I assume many casting folks feel this way (kind of like the old “no one was ever fired for choosing IBM” shopping mentality), but it also makes me a little sad for actors. </p>
<p>Kids end up at particular schools for such a wide variety of reasons, and individuals enter AND leave college with vastly differing skill sets (due to a combination training and natural gifts), that it is really tough to see them painted with a broad school-driven brush at auditions. </p>
<p>Some programs do seem drawn to particular types of performers/personalities, so maybe some broad generalizations fit certain schools, but ironically I’ve even heard generalizations made about D’s school, where the incoming freshman class is decidedly not hand picked by the MT department chair, and kids follow very individualized curriculum. EXTREME variety is the best way to describe both the incoming and graduating classes. The nearest I’ve come to a “defensible” generalization about her school was “those kids think they’re smarter than everyone else”, which is funny since in my experience few things make a kid more humble than being surrounded by lots of smart(er) people. Still, stereotypes impact hiring and actors are on an endless job hunt, so I suppose grads of any program might as well know what preconceptions may precede them into an audition room.</p>
<p>Thank goodness there are casting folks willing to look past preconceptions to see the specific gifts a performer might bring to a production, or we would be minus many of today’s brightest MT stars.</p>
<p>Interesting discussion and it’s always great to hear from folks on the other side of the table!</p>
<p>Bumping this for those like my freshman MT S who might be preparing for this year’s SETC and other unifieds. Lots of great insights here. Wondering if @TheaterHiringCo, @KatMT, and others with experience have anything new to add. S had a wonderful, enlightening, educational experience as HS junior at SETC 2013, and is looking forward to his first foray into auditioning for summer stock this year. If he learns as much as he did the first time around, the experience will be invaluable, regardless of outcome.</p>
<p>I am happy to answer any questions about SETC, NETC, or StrawHat. I have attended all three (NETC and StrawHat as both a producer and an actor [back in the dark ages]), and have many students attend these audition conferences each year. I also have students attend UPTA, Outdoor Drama Auditions, and NH Professional Theatre Auditions on a regular basis. If anyone has any questions. </p>
<p>This may be a silly question, but are there any type of auditions like these for non MT?</p>
<p>I know you can go to NETC as a straight actor but there are not as many jobs for non-singers. My son’s going to sing, even though he’s an acting major. (he’s taking private voice and a lot of dance electives.) Pretty sure MWTA is like this too. </p>