College students who want to attend the professional auditions at SETC in March must first pass a pre-screen in the state they attend school, are from, or (in the event that they neither go to school nor live in a southern state) the designated state for the state in which they do go to school or live. For example: the designated pre-screen state for New England, NJ, and NY is Virginia. A certain percentage is passed on from the screening auditions from each state (usually 33 - 37% depending on the total number of applicants screening each year).
A student would apply for the screening auditions directly on the SETC website.
Students who are passed on to the professional audition at SETC in March, go on and pay their SETC registration after they find out if they have been passed on. Students who are not passed on may register to attend the conference, but not the auditions.
Students who are passed on have the opportunity to audition for the companies attending the audition. The initial audition is for all companies in a large room. Callbacks are in individual company hotel rooms. There is also a dance call.
None if this information pertains to High School students attending SETC, only the College students who want to audition for professional work.
@exitstageleft - My S attended the prescreens and professional auditions as a college freshman last year. Neither his college program, nor his home residence is in an SETC conference state, so he had to go through the prescreen process in a nearby designated state. The process is time intensive, but well worth it. He was fortunate enough to land a terrific summer stock ensemble position for 10 weeks of the summer. This year, unfortunately, his school’s fall musical production runs all three weekends of the possible prescreen audition dates and he will not be able to attend. He is disappointed to say the least.
Do you mean for college students auditioning for professional companies? If so, the answer is no, that is not true.
When the students go through the screening audition in their designated states the adjudicators only know their names and numbers. They have no idea which school a particular student attends. A certain % of the students screening in each state are passed through to the SETC auditions… usually around 35% - 40% depending on how many apply to screen in a given year.
@theaterwork – I would suggest singing AND also doing a monologue. The programs attending the auditions are theatre/ musical programs, and all will expect both songs and monologues to be considered for the MT program. This is also an opportunity to get more comfortable doing a monologue.
@KatMT if we plan on arriving Wednesday (the SETC admin lady told me to come in that day and pick up materials, etc) for the audition and then audition on Thursday, would it be safe to say that we could leave Thursday evening without missing anything regarding call backs, etc?
I think that schools will have reps at their tables in the afternoon (after the auditions are finished) Thursday, through early evening when the expo hall closes. Some schools will have more than one rep with them, so you could hit some schools that called her back earlier if she has an early audition slot. The callbacks are really more quick conversations with program reps. So, depending on how many callbacks you could hit all of the schools before the expo hall closes Thursday night. Some students stay through Friday afternoon to follow up with any schools that they missed on Thursday.
@theaterwork - if at all possible I would suggest staying an extra day or two and having your D attend some of the workshops. I realize the time/money commitment can be a hardship, but many of the workshops are geared for HS and young college students - three years ago this included a very informative panel discussion by faculty/auditors from a well-regarded program mentioned on this forum. There is a wealth of information shared. When you register, you should receive a printed “newspaper” (at least in the past) that lists the MANY workshops and keynote speakers. Take advantage if you can. For convenience sake, try to get a hotel on-site, or close to the venue. They fill up fast.
@mom4bwayboy yes I saw there are workshops etc. I started registering her yesterday. We unfortunately cannot stay any more days then we are , mainly because of missing school & rehearsals for my D’s spring musical plus she’s already missing her chorus concert. It’s going to be in Wed & most likely out Thurs eve. I made a hotel reservation near the venue already as I know it will fill already.
@MTMHopeful you only need to register the student. I did the application but they have to get the emails back that you sent for the two references first, so you submit the application after they get the referrals back.
When my SETC application went through the confirmation email said they would let you know in several weeks if you were awarded an audition slot for the juniors. I wasn’t aware there was an “acceptance” stipulation
@limbo2019 - There is no “school limits”. I heard this MANY times over the years, but having adjudicated over time, I can assure you that screening judges do not even know the schools of their students.
I remember sending students at a time when about 30% of the schools had official “callbacks” in their hotel rooms or in various locations. SETC did eventually say no HS students in hotel rooms (I think), and it seems that almost no one does much beyond a quick conversation/sales pitch at their booth for callbacks.
Some of the schools call back 100+ students and there is no time to develop any sort of connection or real feedback.
Also, the past few years have been littered with “Your audition was great but we need to see you on campus.”
Some schools also ONLY callback Juniors and then connect with them a lot over the next five-six months.
Wow, $160? And didn’t we just pay around $50 for the prescreen and another $$ for the travel expenses? Yes, the conference sounds great, but for college kids who just come for the auditions (and have to leave soon after due to school responsibilities), I wish there was a fee for just the auditions. Oh my… Sounds like HS senior year all over again!
@TheaterHiringCo do you find that with the juniors that the callbacks are beneficial or is it just a sales pitch? That’s a bummer cause that’s not why we’re going. I know it’s a good opportunity to audition and so forth so that’s a reason to go but I thought perhaps a school might possibly show some interest in your child…or at least it could get them out of a prescreen etc
