The A1 Auditions 2020 (waitlist question)

Have any of your college students had any luck coming off of the waitlist for the A1 Auditions? I know they have had tons of people send in prescreens and attend the prescreens… Just wondering how the wait list works, if it’s depending on people registering or if it’s depending on how much other talent they see at prescreens.

The past 2 years were not great experiences for us with A1 and it took forever to refund the audition fee. My junior decided against auditioning for them this year.

My son auditioned at his school and was notified of his acceptance 3 days later. This will be his 4th year attending and he did book work through A1’s this past summer. I believe his friends last year that were waitlisted did not hear until after A1’s finished all of their college campus auditions. That being said, several did get off the waitlist.

Does anyone have any idea how long it takes to hear after submitting a video prescreen? also do they notify you if you don’t pass?

@127mocha I have read varying times for response to video auditions. I’m pretty sure they will contact you if you don’t pass through to auditions also.
@Troykat and @brightstaral thanks for replying!

Thank u CMB625. Did u get an email saying you are waitlisted? I would say that is positive! Sending good vibes you way!

@127mocha my daughter auditioned and heard back within a couple days that she was waitlisted but she did audition in person so not sure how the video audition communication is running. Thanks for the good vibes! In any case, she is not counting on it and is already submitting to other conferences and also directly to theatres for summer work. It’s a crazy process but she has been successful the past 2 summers in finding work (she is a junior MT major).

hi does anyone know if A1 has sent out acceptances, waitlist, or rejection for those who submitted video pre-screen?

they posted on their Facebook page that they received over 500 videos in the past 72 hrs & working on getting responses out as quickly as possible.

anyone get a response yet from a video prescreen??

@127mocha not yet. They did email us on the 14th asking for proof of our Venmo payment. Our videos and payment were sent back on Nov 1st! Makes me wonder what they have been doing all that time! This is our first experience with A1 and right now they don’t seem very organized to me!

@nomeansnext. So. First my DD signed up to do a live prescreen at her school. She paid got confirmation and never heard back. She emailed to ask what status was for live prescreen and they informed her they were no longer coming to her school for live prescreens (so nice of them to tell her). Had she not reached out she would not have known. They then said she could send a video prescreen which she did. She figured she already paid fee . Sent video immediately figuring the sooner the better. Weeks went by the got an email saying that they need proof of payment (which was sent months prior). Payment was sent via my venmo so different name which apparently confused them even though payment stated her name and what it was for as they had instructed to do. And video has yet to be viewed. so at this point I am just curious to see when they complete the process so we can work on getting our money back. They also had said in email that video would not be viewed without payment. Even after confirmed payment has not been viewed. Now I know they have a lot to view and that takes time but basically she is now at bottom of the pile when should have been viewed long time ago. Unless they wait until all are received to view. Anyway no longer care about the outcome but sharing so others are aware so they can make an informed decision when deciding wether or not to attempt to do this.

@127mocha I am waiting so I can book the hotel. My son has college auditions on the 18/19 in the city and if A1 accepts him, his audition would be on the 16. Hotels in NYC are costly enough without adding a few extra unnecessary days! LOL

Live pre-screens did not require pre-payment. At least that’s what it stayed on the form (not to pay).

My D did a live pre screen and was waitlisted and they said she would hear back by mid November but has not. We are not expecting an answer until December because she is probably contingent on someone turning down an audition offer. I’ve heard waitlists get cleared but we are not holding our breath. They accepted mostly seniors and males and she is a sophomore.

We inquired as to when we should expect to hear about audition approval, they replied and said all decisions will be out by 12/1 at the absolute latest.

thank you for sharing that info !

@loribelle let us know if you hear anything. My D is a junior and she was waitlisted from a live prescreen also. 2 of her male classmates passed and one of her (VERY talented) girlfriends sent a video but hasn’t heard anything yet either. It will be interesting to see if A! does get back to everyone by Dec 1st. Not holding our breath though. My D has started sending in video auditions to any summer theatres that are accepting them. And plans on driving to as many “local” auditions as possible.

Emails apparently have started going out today. My daughters boyfriend who was waitlisted got a rejection email today from A1. D who is also on waitlist didn’t get anything today though. Just an FYI.

Hello!

Thank you for your continued patience. We received over 3,500 applications this year. We are only able to accept 450 college students to audition for summer stock work and nearly 100 more to attend the conference and work with Broadway creatives and creatives from the attending companies. All decisions will be out by December 1st.

We had 5 adjudicating teams this year. Video submissions are viewed as the are received, but we are often unable to offer an admissions decision until we have many of theatres’ seasons available to us.

We have to meet a certain quota based on the theatres’ needs. For example, this year we are looking for a ton of men who can dance in heels as Kinky Boots is being produced at many many attending houses. Last year we needed many young women under 5’5 for Mamma Mia, etc. If a student is placed on the wait list, it means our team thinks their skill level is high and we’re hoping to find a place for them. There are only 100 actors on the wait list at any given time. Roughly 1/3 of the wait list is accepted every year.

We are the only conference who returns fees in full and appreciate your patience as we process thousands of refunds.

We do not monitor this site. If questions arise, please contact us at info@thea1s.com and a team member will be in touch shortly.

-The A1 Team

@TheA1Conference Thanks for your response! Hoping for good news for my daughter and all the others on the waitlist!