GuitarMamma - I would hazard a guess that there is still plenty of work up for grabs in mid-March. I think your question applies towards a mid-April timeframe, and even then there’s the game of musical chairs that theaters must endure. Lots of antidotal stories about places like New London Barn extending an offer last year to a freshman male in early May, and my son received a phone call from a theater in early June.
Thank you MyPenny!
FWIW, my kid went to NETC last year in mid-March and it seemed like a LOT of the theaters advertised were not, in fact, there. I think the jobs do get picked over after late February/early March.
FWIW, my kid went to NETC last year in mid-March and it seemed like a LOT of the theaters advertised were not, in fact, there. I think the jobs do get picked over after late February/early March.
@Jkellynh17 … My S went to NETC this year and it appeared that a few of the theaters did not attend and my S informed me of the same issue, that a lot of theaters had already cast the majority of their roles and were only looking for a few specific unfilled rolls.
This was his first year auditioning for summer theatre stock and certainly learned a lot this year… obviously things he would do differently next year too.
All in all, it was a very productive few months… he auditioned for OTA, MWTA and NETC, along with a few select individual theaters and was accepted to audition for Strawhat, but notified them he would not be attending due to a scheduling conflict. He was offered a few jobs and turned down a few jobs, and my S felt that MWTA, the most successful of his auditions.
He finally accepted a job offer from Ozark Actors Theatre, which he auditioned for at MWTA. They offered him very diverse roles in 3 different shows (Including a lead in 1 of the shows), for a 10 week contract and since they are an equity theatre, he will start accumulating his weeks and become an EMC Member. He is very excited and thrilled 
That’s fantastic, congratulations @Inspired59!
After having navigated the entire audition process for college last year, it’s hard to fathom that now we have to figure out the summer stock process! I’ve heard about Straw Hat and other organizations in New England(NETC). IF my daughter is lucky enough to score an audition-does she have the option of picking specific theaters she would like to be considered for… We live in Massachusetts and I would love for her to be considered for only Massachusetts or New England theaters … ideally said theaters would provide housing and meals. Daughter is only a freshman but she’s heard through the grapevine that once you have been accepted to a theater you have no choice but to go… that doesn’t make any sense to me! What if the theater that you get accepted for doesn’t have a good reputation or for whatever reason it just doesn’t seem like a good fit ? Can anyone provide any guidance on this…or general advice about the summer stock experience in general? Is it really necessary???
Hi @duxellen - these are my two cents about your questions (take them for what you will, some people may agree or disagree):
Can your D choose what theatres to audition for: Not really. If she’s interested in specific theatres in MA or New England, then your best is to travel to those theatres and audition on their local days, as opposed to at a mass audition (i.e.: Strawhats, NETC, etc). There isn’t a spot on the forms to indicate what theatres you are interested in, although most of these places give you the options to opt out of children’s theatre contracts, theme parks, or being considered for outdoor theatre. Personally, I think all 3 are valuable, however, and never opted out of anything myself. And I’ve made a living over the past 2 years doing Theatre for Young Audiences, so I certainly think that experience would be helpful.
How the days usually work: after your general audition, you’ll wait about 30 minutes to an hour and then a list of callbacks for each theatre in attendance will be posted. Your D could then decide not to attend a specific theatre’s callbacks if they do indeed call her back and she is not interested. But I think any callback is worth attending. A callback of any kind is great experience.
Almost all of these theatres in attendance will provide housing. The only time a theatre wouldn’t is if you do choose to audition locally and they specifically say they are looking for actors with local housing. Sometimes this happens in NYC auditions too. But- again, in my experience- summer stock theatres are prepared to house all of these actors they are hiring. It’s part of the gig. In terms of meals, I don’t know many theatres that are going to feed you, but the hotel you stay in might have breakfast, you may get a per diem… but usually, you’ll just buy your own food with the money you’re making there. There’ll be restaurants or grocery stores in walking distance, a canteen of sorts at the theatre, or access to a company van for transportation and shopping runs.
I do not think that’s true about not accepting an offer. Theatres, for the most part, should be understanding that a person may not end up being able to work with them for a particular contract. I would hope that most theatres would not be offended if a person turned down an offer in a formal, professional, kind, and sincere manner. Don’t bust out of a contract without saying anything, not turn up on the first day, show up for a day and quit, etc. But most theatres will say “Please let us know within x amount of time, so that we can move on to our next actor if you cannot accept the offer”. Those reasons are personal. You can tell them you have a family thing, you can tell them you booked elsewhere (preferably if you DID work elsewhere), you can tell them nothing for all I care. But do it in a nice way, and they will understand. Your D would make another actor very happy to take her spot.
But I do think all of these things are worth researching before attending these big conferences. If she is only interested in New England, then don’t do SETC or Strawhats- those theatres are everwhere. Stick to NETC and don’t waste your time and money auditioning if she’s not interested or ready in spending the summer doing stock. It’s not a make or break in your career- many people don’t do it for various reasons while in college- but it’s an introduction into this Gypsy life you are about to undertake, and summer stock introduced me to so many amazing people who I’ve stayed friends with to this day. So I think it’s beyond worth it. But it is competitive, so don’t let your D (or anyone) beat herself up if she doesn’t book as a freshman. It’s tough out there.
@AlexaMT has given some great advice and overview of the unified professional audition process. My S, a current MT junior, went to SETC his freshman year. He had the opportunity to go to several callbacks and gained some valuable experience just from that aspect alone. He was fortunate enough to land an ensemble position with a well regarded summer theater that produced four shows over the course of ten weeks. It was located a long day’s drive from our home. He shared a college dorm room with another actor, had to pay for his own food (no kitchen privileges) and had a bicycle to get around. A stipend covered the cost of the dorm room. Half of his summer pay went to his food/living expenses.
The summer was exhausting but he got a very good idea of what it means to be in an MT chorus. He gained valuable knowledge and worked with some terrific people (and some he’d rather not work with again). That summer experience led him to think that perhaps staying home and waiting tables after his sophomore year would be a good idea. It was not. This March he is returning to SETC. As a “wisened” MT junior, his definition of a preferred summer stock job has expanded a bit. There is something to be learned from every experience. My S has learned much from his SETC/summer stock experiences. He knows he’s in the right field, but his idea of “success” in MT - and how to get there - has evolved. I think his early summer stock experience played a pivotal role in developing his “plot”.
But there are other plots. And alternate endings.
@duxellen I used to be the Artistic Director for a company that cast at NETC, Strawhat, etc…
At the combined auditions you cannot indicate that you only want to be considered for certain theatre, and I would encourage going to all callbacks for the theatres that call you back. You never know when a theatre that you may not have been excited about becomes a first (or only) choice. However, you are not required to take any job offered. Some performers are offered more than one job and have to dexude which offer to take.
One thing to note. There is no “universal” reply date like in college admissions. Sometimes a theatre may only give you a few days to make a decision, and you will not know about all offers before you do. In this case it is acceptable to ask the theatre making the offer if you can have an additional day or two to make a decision. It is also okay to inquire with other theatre that called you back if you are still in consideration, letting them know you have another offer that you need to decide on by X date. Usually you would only do this if you have an offer from a choice lower on your list, and are contacting a theatre where you would likely except an offer if one is made.
Professional performing experience in the summers can be a good thing to do because of resume building, professional connections, and the opportunity to put into practice outside of the educational environment the skills you are learning at school.
@KatMT Thank you for this helpful insight!
My D is considering going to Strawhat but has only 1 semester of college training (she’s in the process of transferring to another program in the fall.) Would theaters be interested in seeing an 18 – almost 19 year old with less than a year of post secondary training?
Here is the selection criteria for StrawHat Auditions:
http://www.strawhat-auditions.com/2016%20Criteria4Selection.pdf
@daughtersdreams – i do not think the companies will necessarily care one way or another. Her experience may influence whether or not she gets an audition slot, but if she does, the companies will be calling her back based on he audition.
@daughtersdreams it cannot hurt to apply. I know we sometimes hired 18/ 19 year olds for our summer company.
StrawHats does offer audition slots to some current college freshmen. My daughter only chose to do summer stock one summer, and it was the one after freshman year of college. She got cast through StrawHats, as did a number of her peers from college who were freshmen too. She was only 17 years old.
PS, her freshman roommate who was also a friend from her youth, got cast that summer in Kat’s company in fact! 
@vvnstar Thank you for that link.
@KatMT and @soozievt or anyone else . . . . What is the range of pay for summer stock? I’m assuming it’s a lot less than a good summer job.
@daughtersdreams I have seen the pay range vary from as low as $75 plus housing and meals for an internship to about $350 per week, normally with housing. It seems that most are in the $125 -$250 range with housing, but it really varies from theare to theatre. Theme park tends to pay on the higher side… sometimes up to $400 or $450 per week, but often does not provide housing, rather they help employees find housing that the employee pays for. There are also some auditioned programs that charge tuition and/ or room and board. Some of these are strong training/ performing opportunities, like Williamstown and Berkshire Theatre Festival, for example.
PowerHouse Theater at Vassar wants $5000 a summer, just FYI.
I think Williamstown is $4000
@KatMT This is very helpful. Nice to know that she could possibly earn some $$ while getting experience.