<p>Wow! Exactly the information I was seeking. Thank you @KatMT!</p>
<p>Even with only one offer it is useful to ask these questions. Sometimes it makes sense to turn down an offer that does not meet personal criteria in order to spend the summer earning money, taking lessons, working repertory, reading plays, working out, auditioning, being a human being, etc… </p>
<p>Most professional artists go through periods where they are not working, and developing the skills to keep growing as a person and artist (and saving money) are essential to maintaining a career as an artist. </p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>:) </p>
<p>All are important considerations, and there is something to be learned at every step on the path, every crossroad. Thanks again.</p>
<p>@KatMT - Love your responses, and it seems that much of what you suggest may apply equally to post-college professional choices. It seems the time between callbacks and final contract offers (sometimes months) is often filled with other auditions/offers/options and it can be difficult to decide when to wait for a promised or potential contract versus when to make other plans. It seems to this outsider like a complex and often not very actor-friendly process.</p>
<p>I was thinking specifically about a couple of things my S is auditioning for, one he’ll find out in January, the other in February, so your point about politely emailing about the second opportunity is really helpful. Hate to get ahead of things though. Honestly, if he got a yes on either, it would be brilliant.</p>
<p>–deleted-- duplicate info. Didn’t read through to end of thread. Sorry. </p>
<p>–deleted-- duplicate info</p>
<p>Can college students who are not in a college mt program audition?</p>
<p>My D and other classmates went to the SETC. Several of them were told they need to perform the audition more, that they neede to act the song or monologue. But in her program one of the things they get told by many faculty when they are auditioning or in master class or whatever is that they are acting too much, and they are not just being the character. So the impression of at least some of the kids I know is that the SETC audition was looking for a certain type of approach and the kids from their program may not match that very well. As one who knows nothing about theater, this seems very confusing. But it seems they all rolled with it and are gearing up for more auditions coming up.</p>
<p>@Sguti40, MWTA and NETC require a recommendation from a college professor or theater professional, but there doesn’t seem to be any requirement that the student be in a BFA program. IDK about SETC or Straw Hats. MTWA is already full for this year. </p>
<p>There are a lot of specific questions asked here, and I want to address as much as possible:</p>
<p>1) I have screened SETC before (actually, I screened a state this year). Screening is difficult, because the “middle” is very broad. We had sixteen or seventeen students on our cut-off score and had to select three, so just because one student made it and another didn’t - there isn’t much of a difference. </p>
<p>On the screening rubric, someone mentioned attire (Or presentation). We all hate that part of the rubric. I feel stupid grading it. I generally give a 4/5 and just leave it alone. </p>
<p>When I screened this year I was accompanied by a company’s artistic associate and a very reputable talent management agent. </p>
<p>The thing that drives me nuts about screenings is how few students stay for the talk back. We go over our scoring there, and it can be really helpful. </p>
<p>ALSO (to dispel any myths, share with your children) - We do not know the SCHOOL, YEAR, AGE, etc of anyone auditioning. Its all the audition.</p>
<p>2) All of the unified auditions are different. They have different strengths. I love SETC because it is the best place to find Musical Theatre students to play small roles and be in the chorus. If I ran a children’s theatre I would probably attend NETC. If I needed dancers I would go to StrawHat. </p>
<p>3) I know Jkelly thought it was just me being sour, but there are schools that I know are harder to work with than others. It just is what it is. No ax to grind. That being said I worked with two students last summer from two schools that I normally don’t like working with and they were both wonderful, so perceptions can change over time. </p>
<p>I have worked with a few JMU students (KatMT’s school) over the past few years and they were great. I make no shame of how much I love working with Elon and Belmont students, also love Coastal Carolina students. </p>
<p>My theatre’s NYC call is coming up in February, and truth be told, the different because SETC and NYC is the age of those auditioning. The talent level is similar (with a deeper bottom at SETC).</p>
<p>Thank you for the information @TheaterHiringCo!</p>
@KatMT for UPTA Do you think it is better to do 2 contrasting songs (belt/legit/different time periods) with a short monologue in 90 seconds or just 1 song 1 monologue?
Thanks!
I work in the industry as both college faculty and a professional director and hire at SETC and UPTA. I strongly suggest engaging your material and not just throwing everything into 90 seconds and auditioning AT us. Be authentic to who you are as a performer and don’t get all “let me show you all my circus tricks”. A good song can show the potential of both genres and voice types. Same for monologue. Break legs! See you there.
I agree with @artsmanag3… as someone who works in the industry both as college faculty, and as a professional director who has cast at combined auditions, I have seen a few packages that really expertly and effectively weave together 3 pieces in 90 seconds, many times it feels crammed in, everything feels rushed, and it is too hard to get a sense of the person and performer in 90 seconds.
The goal of the combined audition is to share a bit of who you are as a performing artist. There is no way to show everything you can do in 90-seconds. Be authentic to you, be grounded and confident in your material, think of it as a 90-second performance for an audience. If a company thinks you could work in their season they will call you back, and you will have an opportunity to share more of what you can do, and other sides if yourself. 
Just tripling up @artsmanag3 and @KatMT - I don’t know that I have ever seen someone do a third piece that changed my mind after the first two. At our NYC call we only see one 32 bar (or less) cut, to put it in perspective.
just getting back on here after a wonderful audition season last year with my daughter trying to help her with SETC info- delighted to see your post @theaterhiringco about Coastal Carolina! That staff is really pouring into their students!
@TheaterHiringCo were you at SETC 2017? Just wondering if you had any professional observations to share from this year’s auditions . . . would love to hear some insight from the other side of the table!
@janne006 - Yes! I was there. After a year away, we spent time at SETC in Lexington…our T.D. sat in Job Contact while my Associate AD and I sat in the Auditions.
The observations are similar. New schools send students every year, and that is inspiring and helpful. New Jersey City College sent some really engaging and hirable performers…and TCU sent some really talented young artists, too.
Overall - Florida State was the strongest overall. Shenandoah, Coastal, Elon (and a few others) were relatively close behind…
Some songs got very overdone: “Right Hand Man” from Something Rotten got done a lot. The two regulars from the past few years: “Screw Loose” and “I Can Cook, Too” got done a TON. “Screw Loose” is just a terrible audition song…don’t do it. Monologues in general were very weak. We got alot of the monologue about the girl who eats her mothers ashes, a TON of stuff from The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, a lot of Fences from young actors of color.
The worst trend I saw was useless chair-ography in monologues. If you are using a chair in your monologue - you don’t need it 99% of the time. Chairs are laborious, and when you are sitting through auditions all day for a few days (and for most of us, we are in the middle of audition SEASON - so we are seeing a few thousand over a couple weeks) - it can be frustrating - we just wanna see your PIECE.
That can be said double for two other awful audition habits - if your piece requires more than 5 seconds with the accompanist it is too complex for a unified audition. Jose (who has done UPTA and SETC for decades) is one of the best…some kids had to explain their music for 20+ seconds to him.
The WORST habit though, is watching you spend 5+ seconds “getting into character” before you start. First, it just looks silly from those of us watching. Second, it makes us expect more. Third - and this relates to all of the last three notes - we.just.want.to.see.your.work! We are away from home, tired and more than likely hungry.
As far as training goes…I still wish there were more dancers who could sing and singers who can dance. We probably only saw 25 or 30 CLEAN double pirouettes over the course of the three days.
Lastly - the difference between the Top 5-7 schools at SETC and the lower level schools is canyonesque. I am sure it is a mix of many things…but it exists. And the same thoughts exist from our New York City auditions…Michigan, Ithaca, Shenandoah, FSU, CCM, BW, etc. those were the people at our final callbacks. There is a reason these schools are the top ones!
Glad to see Coastal is still representing! Thanks for the input/advice. Very helpful for those attending SETC in the future.