Sick for auditions

College Majors Musical Theater Major
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<p>I know we've heard several people say over the years that their kids were ill for Unifieds or other important auditions.</p>

<p>D has been at college for over a week now, and has been quite ill with bronchitis/laryngitis since arriving, courtesy of her dad and I who were both sick before she left. In addition, the school's (awesome) welcome has involved official activities that have kept her awake until oh-dark-thirty every night, so she doesn't seem to be getting any better. </p>

<p>Unfortunately, she has a string of upcoming auditions in addition to those she's already survived last week. She is a kid who virtually never gets ill, in spite of being constantly under high stress, but of course the folks at her new school don't know that so I'm sure she won't get much sympathy from the adjudicators.</p>

<p>I'm curious to hear how auditions-while-sick have turned out for people over the years. We know one fellow who got into a top school in spite of auditioning while he was sick, and I know D has done some amazing performances while ill, so I know it can be done, though presumably not if one's voice is altogether gone. ;-D</p>

<p>Any anecdotes (encouraging or otherwise) to share about auditioning while ill?</p>

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<p>Oh, bummer!!! My d also got the dubious privilege of finding the student health center (and managed the whole process quite well, including remembering to take her health insurance info for her prescription!) with bronchitis the first week of her college adventures. She didn’t have auditions (her program does not allow first semester freshmen to do productions) but was concerned about her sightsinging test and meeting her voice teacher…so yeah, TONS of empathy coming your way…and a few consoling stories.</p>

<p>A couple of the more…memorable…auditions for d were her weekend in New York last February. Now, she had her voice for these…but that was about it. A week prior to the trip, she was working on choreography for her senior ballet piece, fell…and heard an ominous snap. Yup…grade 2 ankle sprain, walking cast…wretched timing. Her doc cleared her to dance “gently” with a brace at auditions. The day before we are set to fly out, she got the stomach flu from h*ll. (This is a kid who has ended up in the hospital w/dehydration from similar…). Her doc prescribed some serious anti-nausea drugs and wished us the best. Somewhat terrified, I checked us into our flight the next morning at her insistence, and drove the two hours to the airport…in the end of an ice storm. So I’m walking through the city with a kid in one heel and a walking boot…on icy sidewalks, with about zero calories in her, as she still can’t keep food down… The outcome? D was accepted to Pace’s commercial dance major and given an on-campus callback to U of Oklahoma. She also did Otterbein’s audition the day (and several hours of travel) after she had a wretched migraine, complete with the only meds that work…and usually make her a zombie. Accepted into dance there, with a nice talent scholarship. Her takeaway from last year? “I now know I can do ANYTHING.” </p>

<p>As for a laryngitis story…d was Narrator in Joseph last year (I’m not sure exactly when she slept…) and got a wretched cold (no surprise). I think she freebased Singer’s Saving Grace, lived on tea and vocal rest. She did (to her non-biased momma’s ears) a fantastic job in the run of shows. Silence outside of the show was a biggie for her. She told the story of getting a dinner between matinee/night show on the final day, and thanking one of the mom volunteers for the food. This mom looked at her, after hearing her froggy voice, and said, “Oh, honey – you aren’t getting sick, are you?” Actually, by that point, she was on her way to better. </p>

<p>These kids do pull it out of somewhere…some hidden reserves. Send your girl some hugs and best wishes from her invisible support team here (and a hug for you, too mom – it’s so hard on us when we can’t be right there to “fix” it!!!). Please let us know how it goes.</p>

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<p>@mommafrog - Goodness, your stories DO lead one to think your D can do anything!! I guess performers learn that the “the show must go on” at an early age. ;-D</p>

<p>Hearing about your D’s bad sprain just prior to auditions reminds me of soozievt’s story about her daughter’s auto accident which, IIRC, also happened before college auditions. It’s good to remember that there are many things worse than bronchitis.</p>

<p>Thanks so much for sending your good vibes toward D and also for those encouraging anecdotes! I know she’ll ride this out and heck, she has 4 years to impress them if she can’t do it this week. And this way maybe her new profs can later think they’ve taught her everything she knows - including how to speak! ;-D</p>

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<p>^^Hey,
Just want to clarify that my daughter’s car accident was not prior to college auditions THANKFULLY (or she would not have been able to audition that year). She was badly injured in the accident right after her final college audition that spring and recovered in time to attend college that fall. :D</p>

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<p>@soozievt - Good to know your D has impeccable timing in addition to incredible talent and oh-so-much charm!! ;-D</p>

<p>I still remember hers being an amazing story that demonstrates the tenacity that these kids have in pursuing their goals. I’m sure students in every field overcome similar obstacles, but the stakes seem much higher when one’s “product” is their body and voice.</p>

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<p>MomCares,</p>

<p>If your daughter can still sing, she should go for it and do the audition. They will be able to tell that she is sick, so she should definitely not qualify her voice or if she is more tired than usual and not completely on the ball. Everyone gets sick now and again and they know there is bound to be someone whose immune system has really bad timing. Also-if she auditioned to get into the program, the faculty will know what she’s capable of. </p>

<p>Break a leg to your daughter and if you have anymore questions I’d be happy to try to help!</p>

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<p>FWIW, using a neti pot frequently has helped D ward off colds, and Airborne seems to help with swollen glands. Only rest seems to help the migraines. She has a jar of salt for home and packets for travel. I may buy a plastic neti pot for carrying around since I am concerned the ceramic one will chip; however, ceramic strikes me as more sanitary.</p>

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<p>@taylor11 - I’m sure she’ll give her very best. She’s already survived 12 hours (?) of a cappella auditions and dance placement auditions last week, so assuming she can still croak out a sound she’ll do something resembling singing. </p>

<p>I’m guessing she’s not as concerned about being sick as mom is from a distance. I’m not actually certain which auditions are left – I think voice placement and maybe auditions for the fall shows, which I think are largely pre-cast the prior year.</p>

<p>@CCsiteObsessed – Thanks for the tips!! I’ve been wanting to try a neti pot myself but I’ve been scared. Sounds like I need to try it. </p>

<p>I’d love to hear everyone’s tricks for recovering from laryngitis. Vocal rest, gargling with salt water and hot tea with lemon and honey are about all I know to do.</p>

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<p>I don’t have any helpful remedies but I do have a horror story. D was a competitive gymnast for 11 years at the same time she was doing MT. (Yes, she knows how to manage her time!) She had always snagged dancer roles and featured lines and had just begun to get lead singing roles after about 7 years of doing theatre.</p>

<p>So Peter Pan auditions came around and of course, Peter was the dream of a lifetime for a singer and gymnast. She was PASSIONATE about going for that role! I think she was channeling Cathy Rigby on audition day. Well, this group that ALWAYS double or triple casts lead roles ended up single casting her as Peter because according to the director, it wouldn’t have been fair to ask anyone else to try to compete with her. She was ecstatic! It was SUCH a boost to her self-esteem because up until then she really didn’t know if she was any good.</p>

<p>They did cast an understudy because D’s competition schedule was going to force her to miss several rehearsals and they wanted someone there for that and it was also a developmental opportunity for another girl. They even scheduled an “understudy performance” (invited dress) so that this girl would get a chance to fly and do the whole show for her friends and family.</p>

<p>We showed up for the first “fly rehearsal” on day 1 of Tech week and D had the time of her life flying, doing gymnastics in the air and everything. But as the evening progressed, she started complaining of feeling wretched.</p>

<p>By the next morning she was deathly ill, her voice was COMPLETELY gone and to cut this short, she didn’t recover for 3 weeks. So there she was after 6 months of rehearsal, and she never got to play Peter at all. We still refer to it as “The Great Peter Pan Disaster of 2009.” </p>

<p>BUT by Friday, she was recovered enough that she was at every performance, helping the U/S Peter with knowing where to be when, costume changes and just generally being as helpful as she could be. </p>

<p>I have never been so proud of her in my life and the one thing SHE (and I) learned from that is that you can survive tragedy and still go on with your life. Granted, in the great scheme of things, it wasn’t a TRAGEDY in the truest sense, but for a performer who had dreamed of playing Peter Pan since she was 5, it was a nightmare of monumental proportions. </p>

<p>And for me, I learned just how painful it can be to watch your kid suffer and not be able to do a single thing to help. Something tells me I’ll be reliving that feeling over and over in my lifetime!! But I know that both she and I will survive it!</p>

<p>BTW, what is “Singer’s Saving Grace?”</p>

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<p>@tracyvp - Well that sounds like your D was truly heroic during the Great Peter Pan Disaster, and I can see why you were so proud of her. I know these experiences build character, but it surely sucks when you’re in the midst of them! </p>

<p>I’m glad you asked about Singer’s Saving Grace, as I’ve never heard of it either, though maybe D has.</p>

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<p>MomCares - I am posting this link which has suggestions I received a couple of years ago when my D lost her voice while in a production of Les Miz.</p>

<p>D has used ginger several times when her throat was sore with great success. She also uses a personal steam and swears by it.</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/656396-help-asap-losing-voice.html?highlight=vocal+cords[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/656396-help-asap-losing-voice.html?highlight=vocal+cords&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>@showmom858 – THANK YOU so much for that link! That thread has some great ideas and I’ve forwarded it to D. I tried searching for something like that, but I guess “sick for auditions” weren’t the best terms to search with. ;-D</p>

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<p>“Singers Saving Grace” a.k.a. known as “that vile tree roots stuff” is a herb-based throat spray. D swears by it when she’s sick – says it helps soothe and smooth things out to get through. [Singer’s</a> Saving Grace](<a href=“http://singerssavinggrace.com/]Singer’s”>http://singerssavinggrace.com/) I get it for her at Whole Foods. I’m not a big homeopathic medicine person, but her voice teacher recommended it in a desperate moment (showcase day + allergies = trouble!) and she says it really does help. I have no endorsement, other than my kid’s…and it does taste dreadful (she dared me to take a squirt…ewww…but my throat did feel lubricated).</p>

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<p>MomCares, you might want to send a PM to CoachC. She’s very knowledgable about these issues and our resident expert on all things voice related.</p>

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<p>@alwaysamom – great tip, and I noticed CoachC gave a lot of great advice in this thread…</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/406350-vocal-health-tips-auditioneess.html?highlight=Coach[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/406350-vocal-health-tips-auditioneess.html?highlight=Coach&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Wish I’d found this for D last week!</p>

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<p>Well my D has terrible allergies and was sick with a sinus infection for her SU/Ithaca auds. Luckily the adjudicator at SU realized this and asked her. Needless to say she’s going to Cuse for MT. She has learned to sing through her allergies so it helped her out. Good luck!</p>

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<p>Have you ever tried Throat Coat? It’s a great tea that has lots of herbs in it to help soothe and numb the throat; it’s very good for getting over sickness and even just for general throat health. I also swear by original Ricola’s, they are so good for singers, and I know that the first Broadway touring cast of Spring Awakening always had a huge jar backstage! </p>

<p>Hope this works! :)</p>

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<p>Yes, we practically own stock in Throat Coat! Both my kids are performers (S decided not to pursue it in college, though) and we have always just routinely taken a hot pot and a box of Throat Coat to the theatre for every show. If not my kids, there’s always someone who needs it! (The kids started to call it “throat crack” because pretty much everyone drinks it now!)</p>

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<p>Love that! Throat Crack. Pretty funny. Yes, my D took boxes of it with her to school. Steamer is essential too!</p>

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<p>Thanks for all the great suggestions! I’m pretty sure D uses Throat Coat as well, but she’s never had a personal steamer.</p>

<p>Does anyone own a personal steamer that isn’t made of plastic? I have a friend at the NIH who is very adamant that humans shouldn’t ingest anything that’s been in contact with hot plastic, so we try to avoid it if possible.</p>

<p>I think D’s final auditions (for now) are today, and she says her voice is finally getting better, which will be a relief for mom-at-a-distance. ;-D</p>