The Class of 2024 -- Sharing, venting, discussing! MT

College Majors Musical Theater Major
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@NYYFanNowMTdad I think being ready to/wanting to audition in the fall really depends on the student. Some feel ready to go, and others want a little more time to prepare. The pros of fall auditions are probably spreading out the auditions over a longer period of time, possibly getting an early acceptance or two that can relieve the pressure and maybe adjust the overall list, getting some of the audition nerves out early before the bulk of auditions in the spring… the cons probably are auditioning before the student really feels 100% ready, getting nos to fall auditions that rock confidence.

I am sure there are other pros and cons that are individual to each student and family.

I can only speak for where I teach… we attend Moonifieds and Virginia Theatre Auditions (VTA), and have a November on campus audition date in the fall. Moonifieds and on campus auditions are full auditions, and we accept, deny, and defer the decision until we have completed auditions in February from those two auditions. So, it can be a great way for a student to know where they stand.

VTA is a combined audition, and this gives students a chance to test audition material, receive feedback, and talk to us (and other schools). We still require an on campus, NYC, or video full audition/interview for those we see at VTA. I think other schools use VTA similarly, and I think some use the Mid-Atlantic auditions that way, so it could be an opportunity to try material without the stakes being as high? Although, I have not attended, so I am not 100% sure. I have not attended CAP, so I am not sure of that format.

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Are audition fees a standard thing? I have only seen them mentioned on a few school’s websites. I don’t know if I am missing something, but I would like to be aware if there is going to be even more money being put into a potential school.

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@KatMT super helpful always- thank you!

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@crazytheatregoer Yes, there are frequently audition/artistic supplemental application fees on top of the college application fees. They vary quite a bit. Some are $25 and some are as much as $100 dollars. You have to look at each school’s website. If you do walk in auditions at Unifieds, there are many schools that offer free auditions, but, of course, not all schools do walk ins or may not have a walk in audition available when your student is free to do it (and you’ll often have to pay an application fee after the fact if you decide to apply.) Also, many schools do offer fee waivers for the audition/artistic fees if the student has qualified for a waiver for the Common Ap or Coalition Ap.

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@MTdreamin Thank you so much for that information! It is really good to know that going into the process.

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FWIT, my D did not apply to any school early decision/early action to maintain flexibility of audition scheduling. She was able to fit in 4 auditions before NYC unifieds; 2 in November and 2 in December. UArts, Hartt, Marymount Manhattan and Catholic. IDK if that is the case again this year, but we did find that very helpful to spread out the season as much as possible. I was also concerned about weather, illness, etc. and didn’t want to put too many auditions close together.

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@NYart15, those November and December auditions WERE Early Action: you audition on those early dates and get an acceptance or rejection within a few weeks, instead of having to wait til February or March to find out. But unlike Early Decision, it’s non-binding, and you don’t have to decide until May 1st.

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When applying to MT programs, is there any opinion on whether or not to write about musical theatre experiences in the initial common app essay? Should other topics be discussed at this point in the process in order to show a range of interests or should you just dive right in? I know there are supplemental writing requirements that get more specific.

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@GeddyMcNutty i dont think theres a right or wrong, but my daughter had a MT theme in her common app essay originally ,then felt like she was repeating alot in the supplementals so she scratched the common app essay and went with another topic.
hope that helps?

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@GeddyMcNutty D’s essay started with a “bombed” audition when she was very young. The gist of her essay was not about musical theatre/drama, but bits of her experiences were woven into the essay. Best of luck.

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I am planning on auditioning in November at one school - maybe two - Can anyone share do you get a acceptance/rejection within weeks or do you have to wait until April/May when all the auditions are done? So basically, if I auditioned in November and it went well , would it be possible to have an acceptance early ? Or do you have to wait until they see all of their auditions before they decide?

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@DramaLove2020 my understanding is that it varies by school, some accept early, some defer to march…the best thing I can say is to look through the old venting posts of 22,23 etc…seems like some schools give early responses but it also seems to change each year, frustrating for sure.

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RE: Early auditions… I agree with @NYYFanNowMTdad , it depends on the school, and it can also change year to year. Last year, my D auditioned in November for Wright State, who, in the past, did early acceptances. But, last year they offered only 1 or 2 early acceptances and deferred all decisions until March. She also auditioned for Marymount in November and received an acceptance in early January.

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@actorparent1 I’m not sure they call Nov./Dec. audition early action, but my D only submitted applications to schools regular decision even if it was prior to an early action date. You can schedule auditions without even completing an application in some instances. We researched all the costs/benefits of early decision/early action/regular decision. Many MT programs do not offer early decision applications at any rate. In general, if you can apply early decision, there is a competitive advantage to it, but with early action the advantage goes to the school…they can take the very best candidates early action but defer the remaining into the regular pool of applicants. My D. had good grades and was a fine match for most of her schools, but didn’t want to take the chance.

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Video help ! - Can someone give me some advice on how “professional” my prescreen videos need to be.? Everything I have read says not to waste money on that - but I have seen some on youtube when I was looking for examples that look REALLY professional and now I am second guessing my plan to film them myself with my dance/voice teachers in their studios? Please help!

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@DramaLove2020 Here’s how we did prescreens:

Monologues and slates: D filmed in her (not large) bedroom standing in front of a blank wall. I helped her move lamps from other rooms and adjust blinds until the lighting was right. We set up a $10 iPhone tripod, and used painters tape to mark the ground, so she knew where to stand and where she could move and still be in frame. She did the rest on her own, and that was definitely the better situation for us. We got along great during the whole audition season, but I think it would have made her self conscious to film in front of me. She would turn camera on, walk to her spot, take a beat and go. Everything was edited on iMovie (free) from her phone. It was easy edits, where she just clipped out the part before she started and the end when she turned off the camera. In general she filmed each piece individually, and slates for all the schools separately. Some schools wanted everything submitted as one piece, with all the slates together up front. Some wanted the slate before each piece, and all separate videos. So after filming, the most time consuming part was creating the final edited videos to send each school. It’s very easy to join multiple clips (adding a slate to a monologue, or joining all the requirements to one video, for example) in iMovie, but it is time consuming if you have a lot of schools who want different things. Allot more time for that than you think you need.

Songs: Filmed at voice teachers house. All natural lighting, because her house has amazing light. Voice teacher provided live accompaniment. Rest was basically the same. All recordings were done in one hour and a half session but they had prepared for it over several of their regular weekly sessions.

Dance: At dance studio, existing light, and dance studios music system. Dance instructor held phone to record (worked better to follow movement than tripod).

Costs: $20 to rent a room at the dance studio. $50 for private dance session to learn routine, with prescreen filmed at end of the same session. Regular vocal coaching sessions. $10 phone tripod.

They all definitely looked home shot, but D paid close attention and followed the directions, slated as directed by the school, shot according to frame they asked for (head and shoulders, waist up, or full body), kept to the time limits, could be heard and seen clearly, and put in a lot of work to prepare her material. I think that matters far more than a professional studio look. In the end she passed all 10 of her 11 her prescreens, including UMich, Elon, Texas State, Carnegie, Otterbein and more I forget right now. (Rider was the no, they offered a redirect to acting.)

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I agree with all the advice from @CharacterShoes and will add a few things that worked for us. (We also used an iPhone and & tripod and edited ourselves)

  1. We did a test shoot more than a week before she felt really ready to record to test how the outfit looked on camera. Did it show her personality the way she hoped? How was the lighting? Too harsh? Too many weird shadows?
  2. We hung a pretty curtain (a translucent white) in front of a blue wall because we couldn’t find a blank wall we liked enough, and the curtain helped soften the intense shadows caused by the extra lighting.
  3. We tripled checked everything regarding what schools wanted which types of songs, monologues, and if they wanted full body view, 3/4, or whatever, before we called it a day. We did not want to have to go back and film another day. (Have a spreadsheet!)
  4. Dance was the trickiest. My D had been to a couple college audition workshops and she was told that it was better to film from a tripod. So that required borrowing a dance studio and setting up the camera so that you could see her and her reflection (without seeing the camera).
  5. For the song tracks, she had an accompanist record the tracks (with her cuts) for her and we used a bluetooth speaker to play the music.
    I have no idea if this is the “right” way or not (especially about how we filmed the dance). We never got any definitive feedback, except that she passed all her prescreens. We also sent prescreens in as soon as they opened up for submission. Early submission is super important… they only have so many slots for auditions. Never, ever go by their deadline, even if they love you, they might already be full.
    Also: always do a fun Wild Card Video if they allow it! My D got so much great feedback on hers.
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Thanks this is mostly what I am planning. I am not sure how to video in the dance studio without getting myself and the camera in the video with the mirrors??

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Thank you - this makes me feel better!

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Do most people shoot their slates separately and then just merge them together with their actual videos via iMovie?