Summer work auditions pay to audition?

My daughter is a freshman musical theatre major and she received an email from the director of the theater Department about auditions from a company that’s coming to a school nearby for summer work and they want the kids to go audition but it cost $125. Is this normal? Is this a scam? They say that they work with several theatres including MUNY and Papermill. Any of you parents out there whose kids have gone through this process or have kids in BFA programs who have worked in the summer will you please weigh in?

I’ve never heard of paying to audition.

What kind of “company” is this?

If I recall, D did have to pay a registration fee to both MWTA’s and StrawHats. I don’t know how much, as she handled all that… but I do remember a fee.

@kategrizz …oh, yes, you are right…I forgot about things like StrawHats. Oops.

But still, the OP mentioned a “company,” and so I am wondering what sort of company she means.

I heard of one called A1. They have quite a list of theater cos, theme parks and cruise lines. No idea how legit it is…

I remember a registration fee for NETC too… but it was NOWHERE near $125

We paid registration fees for the regional auditions. UPTA also requires payment of a fee (they have professional and pre-professional unified auditions) but it is less than $50.

The ONLY people who are making money in this business are the ones who are ripping off the kids.

It sounds like the A1 Auditions, which are combined auditions for in NY in January. Students can either apply with a video pre-screen, or attend attend one of the live pre-screens in NY, MIami, or on 1 of 25 a college campuses. If a student does not receive a slot at the A1 their money is refunded. The fee is a registration fee to cover administrative costs. http://www.a1auditions.com/

Combined auditions often have application costs… for example SETC requires students to do a live pre-screen in one of the member states, and students pay a fee to do the pre-screen. If they pass through the pre-screen they also pay a registration fee to attend the audition conference. The cost for the pre-screens varies by state from around $65 - $95, I believe. It is not refundable, even if you are not passed through the SETC. The SETC conference cost for the auditions for companies in March is over $100.

Yes, A1. My daughter applied and paid the fee last year, wasn’t chosen, and the fee was returned after some confusion. Last year was their first year; I’m sure they’ve got things together this year.

One other perspective, my D just finished her MM in VP. A fee to audition for opera is common…unfortunately…and she has just paid some for upcoming fall auditions. BUT this year she has a contract in theater outreach with a company that also runs a regional theater audition. They asked her about availability during that time for extra hours to assist with the audition (some of her work is administrative). There is a $30 fee and refundable (I just checked) for this audition. So…maybe some day, your kid will be PAID through those fees lol! I still don’t like the idea of paying for an audition…but if there is a lot of administration involved, it may make sense.

@KatMT do you know anyone that has booked through A1. My S is on one of the campuses they are auditioning, but I’m trying to understand if the audition in January (if he is accepted from campus?) will be the final audition for Muny, CLO, etc? My concern is paying $125 (plus hotel and travel) for an audition, but still needing to travel to theaters for a final audition. Especially considering many of these theaters are free/open auditions with no prescreen needed.

My D did participate in the A1 auditions last year. They are legit. Some good companies are there. However, look at the list of who will be there. If you are also participating in things like UPTAs, SETC, MWTA later in the Spring etc… you may find many of the same companies represented both places. Last year it seemed as if many of the immediate A1 job offers were for immediate placement, so our D, still a college student at that time, could not fill those jobs (immediate cruise ship replacements, etc…) As far as the actual theaters went, it seemed that not as many offers went out from that particular audition, perhaps because it was early in their audition process (January). So if you will be seeing those same theatres at another audition later in the spring, that is something to consider. It is not the only audition for MUNY or anyone else, although if they see someone they want, they could extend an offer.

@ifyouonlyknew – This is the first year we have students screening to participate in A1s, so I cannot answer the question of booking work directly from A1s.

I will say that it is not a bad thing to be seen multiple times by the same companies at different auditions over the course of the season (if you can afford the fees [in the case of combined auditions], and/ or the travel costs). Sometimes you may be called back multiple times. Sometimes you may have “slipped through the cracks” at the first audition, and are called back at the next audition, etc…

Having cast for a professional summer theatre company, people who I saw and called back at early auditions were kept in consideration throughput the audition season. Sometimes an offer was made from only seeing them at that audition, sometimes I had the opportunity to see them again at later auditions. Sometimes I would make an offer right away to someone I saw early, but often I waited until I saw more auditions.

Auditioning professionally is (of course) about booking jobs, but it is also about creating relationships with theatres and casting directors that will lead to booking jobs in the future. Sometime I would see someone one year that I could not use that season, but kept in my files, and when I saw them again next year, and they were right for the season I could use them.

Most combined audition conferences have a fee to cover the administrative costs of the organization that is organizing the conference. For a college student the benefit is that you can be seen by a lot of theatres at once, the downside is the fee. Many theatres that attend combined auditions do also have individual auditions, but the downside for a student can be having to travel a lot or miss too much school to attend them.

In terms of if people seen at auditions will have to travel to attend a later audition or not, that will vary. I know one student last year who was called back at OTAs for a theatre, and then had to travel to a callback at a later date. Most of my students who booked work from combined auditions did not have to do that, however. The audition and callback at the conference was the final audition (although sometimes they had to submit additional video callback material).

Hope this is helpful!

The above posters are correct. This is the A1 auditions. Its a requirement for the MTs at my son’s school. Dept will scholarship it if students cant afford.

Thank you so much @KatMT and everyone else. It is A1 auditions. I didn’t want to sound negative about a company that could be legit so I didn’t put the name out there to start. This board and the people here have helped immensely. Here we are in the beginning of freshman year and I am still learning so much. I feel so much better about writing the check and sending her to the pre screen. I CANNOT thank you all enough. The advice about getting her in front of casting directors as much as possible makes the fee that much less painful. Thank You! Thank You! Thank you!

Thank you @KatMT , your response was helpful! Hopefully you will be able to update us on your students experience with them this year?

This will be our company’s first year with A1. It seems legit, and I love that people who don’t get audition slots will be refunded the cost of auditioning.

One of the things that drew us to A1 was the quality of other companies, as well as going TO the colleges and universities to find the best talent.

It is legit, and if $100ish bucks gets you in front of The Muny, Ogunquit and Papermill without traveling its worth it. That isn’t counting the other 30+ companies that will be there in January. I know we aren’t the only group passing on SETC and/or UPTA to do this.

How much do summer stock auditions weight dance compared to college auditions themselves? Seems like it is a primary skill in summer stock

Does anyone know whether A1’s Sept. 15 deadline to apply for one of the on-campus prescreens means by midnight tonight (Sept. 14), or midnight tomorrow (Sept. 15)? My S has emailed A1 but hasn’t heard back yet, and he’s in rehearsal tonight!