Hello!
I recently heard about the State Thespian Auditions in Seattle for colleges- does anyone know about this? How to register and when is the deadline? I would like to find out more! Thank you!
@halflokum- have you heard of this? That’s your neck of the woods. 
@toowonderful yes. I think I am probably the source of where @BeccaW444 got the heads up about the Washington State Thespians event as I have reached out to her privately and did give her the link to the info on that in a private exchange. To participate in those auditions, you do not have to be a member of Thespians.
Not meaning to speak for BeccaW444 but I believe her question may be more about the Nebraska Thespian event which is coming up in July. For that I think you have to be a member of Thespians which I assume means you need to go to a school that is a member or find a way around it??? @Momcares do you know? Info about Nebraska event is here: https://app.getacceptd.com/thespianfestival. I do not have any personal experience with what goes on in Nebraska. My daughter was never a member of Thespians and didn’t go to a school that participated in Thespians and I didn’t even know there was such a thing until well after the Nebraska week was over the year it counted for her.
Full circle historical reflection. Back in 2011 (you know… when CC MT dinosaurs roamed the planet) I started a thread about “on the spot acceptances.” From that I got a number of PMs from people telling me their stories as well as some accounts in the thread itself. One of these PMs came from a former CC participant who mentioned something about an on the spot acceptance or two at a state thespian event in 2010 and also included enough other info for me to realize she was not only talking about the state that I lived in and a location 3 miles as the crow flies from my house, but an event that was about to happen again in less than a month with an application deadline two days away. And as luck would have it, she was the parent volunteer Grand Poobah overseeing that event who very kindly guided my daughter to the right place to register. We had never heard of Thespians until that random CC happenstance. The take away is that you never know who can help you in this forum. My daughter ended up with several early acceptances with next to zero effort (relatively speaking) and cost thanks in part to this very helpful CC contact.
Don’t know if this is still the case, but a student needed to be a Thespian member to attend in Nebraska in 2013. Son, whose school was not a member, was invited to perform in Nebraska following the NE conference. I read the rules and it appeared he could attend with another school’s group, but the headquarters were very resistant. He attended a pre-college program that summer instead.
@halflokum- I knew you would know (source of all wisdom etc…) BTW- I think dinosaurs are still roaming the planet- they ate a bunch of people in a movie I saw recently
I am assuming my daughters high school is not a member of the thespian Society, otherwise I would have heard of it. is there a way to join independently if your high school is not a member???
Side note: I didn’t mean I’ve never heard of the Thespian Society…I meant I haven’t heard of it at my daughters school…lol…
^ DVCmember, I hadn’t heard of it until my son attended the conference. Very few schools in our state are members. Go to the site and sift through to find the rules for membership, etc. Though it I perceived the rules to allow a student who attended a school that was not a member to attend as a guest of a school that was a member, the powers that be put the pressure for son’s school to join. An English teacher doubles as the Drama Club director and it was January/February. It was ridiculous to expect all that work and organization to happen so one kid could attend at the end of the year. When son received superior ratings and named “Best of Fest” at the NE conference, that led him to want to pursue an MT major. He had no formal voice lessons, acting lessons, etc at that point, so it probably would have been unwise for him to have gone to the International conference to audition anyway… a blessing in disguise! His high school joined this past year.
@BeccaW444 if you are indeed looking for the Washington Thespians event, here is the link for the event from last year: http://www.washingtonthespians.org/events.php under the “College Auditions” section.
My daughter attended these auditions (Oct 2011) thanks to the connection to @mybroadwaybaby here on CC! I cannot say enough of about how much these auditions were a game-changer for my daughter! Since they were held in October, we looked at them as a great rehearsal for her upcoming auditions that winter . . . little did we know that she’d get some on-the-spot acceptances! That was a HUGE confidence builder for her and a relief to know that she would be able to attend college as an MT major!
Here are the programs that were in attendance LAST year:
AMDA (American Musical and Dramatic Academy) CAP21
Central Washington University
Cornish College of the Arts
New School For Drama, The
New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts
Northern Arizona University
Roosevelt University
Savannah College of Art and Design
Santa Fe University of Art and Design
Theatre of Arts, Hollywood
University of Arizona
University of the Arts
University of Evansville
University of Minnesota - The Guthrie BFA
University of Northern Colorado
University of Oklahoma – BOTH the musical theatre school and the school of Drama University of Washington (New Musical Theatre program)
Webster University
Western Washington University
Willamette University
Ok so I’m confused. Have people gotten on site acceptances for MT programs at the Nebraska festival?
I don’t know how much variation there is between state festivals run through Thespians, but, at least for Georgia’s (called Thescon here), onsite acceptances weren’t offered. Even a “callback” really just meant an invitation to talk with a rep from the school in question and receive information about the program/audition dates - kind of like a prescreen.
One thing that was great, though, were scholarship auditions. Very competitive, at least in Georgia, and the amount of money offered isn’t tremendous, but I was awarded a $2000 Thespian Achievement Scholarship at this year’s Thescon. The interview portion included a lot of questions about my troupe involvement, however, so, if you’re joining Thespians specifically for college auditions, I don’t know if scholarships would be available.
Oh! Nebraska’s festival is International, though, right? Things could very well be conducted differently there.
@theatrework: students do sometimes receive verbal offers of acceptance for MT, Acting, Design/Tech, etc. at the Nebraska Festival and at various regional auditions during their callback sessions. I am sure this year in Lincoln was no exception. The students still have to go through the application process and receive a written offer of acceptance, and, sad to say, I have heard stories that sometimes these do not appear and the student has to go through the regular audition process.
My d received one offer last year at Nebraska which was confirmed after her school application was submitted and three offers at our regional auditions which were confirmed via email immediately following the auditions. Across her PA HS class last year there were probably several dozen offers total between Nebraska and our regional auditions, especially among Tech/Design students. Two of my d’s offers were for Acting and two were for MT.
Ooops . . . I posted this on the wrong thread earlier today:
@mybroadwaybaby has been to the International Thespian Festival … hopefully she can weigh in. I’ll zip her an email and see if she can share her knowledge.
We just returned from International thespians – many call backs, lots of invitations to apply – one acceptance, in writing with money – AMDA, that’s all. It was an AWESOME experience, confidence booster for D.
I am mostly just looking at the Seattle Thespians Auditions and how to register.
I also plan on going to Unifieds in Chicago.
Hi @BeccaW444 ! The high school that my daughter and son both attended (Webster MT '15 and USC Acting '19) hosts the Washington State Thespian Auditions in October and has for the last 8 or so years!
They are held on a Saturday, this year it is October 10th. Generally the details come out in later summer/early fall on the Washington State Thespian Website, and include an application and a small fee. I believe the application is now through ACCEPTD.
There are 20+ schools that come each year……they have varied over the years……but have included these, as listed by kksmom5 above:
AMDA (American Musical and Dramatic Academy) CAP21
Central Washington University
Cornish College of the Arts
New School For Drama, The
New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts
Northern Arizona University
Roosevelt University
Savannah College of Art and Design
Santa Fe University of Art and Design
Theatre of Arts, Hollywood
University of Arizona
University of the Arts
University of Evansville
University of Minnesota - The Guthrie BFA
University of Northern Colorado
University of Oklahoma – BOTH the musical theatre school and the school of Drama University of Washington (New Musical Theatre program)
Webster University
Western Washington University
Willamette University
USC
and others……
It is a very friendly setting!
This has been the basic information for the last few years, but do note that it could change at any time, so it is best to wait for the information from Thespians to come out for specific details:
Thespians provide the rubric for auditioning……usually something along the lines of 90 seconds to do 2 monologues, a song and a monologue, etc. Live accompaniment has even provided in the past.
Participants audition in a nice sized black box theatre in front of all of the school folks at the same time. After the auditions, “Call=backs” are posted. Those CB’s take the form of any one of these three options: An interview type meeting at a table in the Commons area, an interview in a private space at the school, or a legitimate call-back in a private room. All three can and do happen.
The event lasts most of the day on Saturday, as the callbacks are usually posted after lunch, with the meetings happening from 2-ish to wish. Parents can hang out in the very nice Commons area with their kids, and many do.
Insofar as on the spot acceptances go, they ABSOLUTELY happen every year. I know many students who have had the experience, including my own. So what does that mean? It usually means that the program is offering you a spot….but you still have to officially apply to the University/College/Etc………so, although acceptances to the program itself came in writing a couple of weeks later, the full university acceptance doesn’t come until you have completed applications in general.
Do all schools offer on-the-spot acceptances? Absolutely not…….many schools use these events as screenings……some use them as official pre-screens,Oklahoma’s MT program did. They offered invitations to the call back weekend from the Washington State Thespian Events. But you’d be surprised by some of the great schools that do accept on the spot.
Scholarship money? Yes! Many students have received acceptances and scholarship money based on the auditions at Washington State Thespians.
Does your school need to have a Thespian Troupe to attend? I don’t think so. I believe the fee is higher for non-Thespian members…….but i believe you can attend whether there is a troupe at your school. Again, this could change, but i believe has been the policy of late. Just a note, i believe you must be an inducted Thespian to attend the Nebraska Interntional Thespian Auditions, which just happened last week. They are quite a lot bigger, but the format is very similar, as are the results.
I am a big fan of International Thespians….so many things to offer, well beyond the college auditions.
hope that helps!
@BeccaW444 Just keep an eye on this link to register for the upcoming 2015-2016 auditions. That’s what we did. http://www.washingtonthespians.org/events.php