I’ve poured through so many threads but still don’t totally have answers to my questions so forgive me if I’m missed this. D and I are attending Chicago Unifieds next week. She’s heading there with one BFA acceptance under her belt so far, has 4 scheduled auditions at Unified and has set aside an additional day for walk-ins. She has the requested materials for each school prepared, of course, and is bringing an audition book with a couple extra songs. Since most auditions are to recorded accompaniment, is it safe to say she won’t be asked “what else do you have?”. She auditioned for Marymount and was asked for another option from her book and was thankfully prepared with some other songs.
Regarding walk-ins, I’ve read on this forum that one tip is to walk the Palmer House early in the morning to see who has openings. What does “early” mean? We are staying at the Blackstone (deliberately wanted to be away from the hive), so would need to make a point to go over there. In addition, although many schools have pretty similar audition requirements, what if a walk-in school has something slightly different you don’t have prepared (example a comedic monologue)?
@minnmtmom you should have recorded tracks for additional songs in case she is asked to sing something else. It happened often in NY where most rooms did not have pianos.
@minnmtmom Last year my D went around Monday mid morning and was able to sign up for 7 walk ins over the next few days. I know a couple of more competitive schools posted each morning before 8 what they had available from cancellations etc. . There were fliers/signs for some of the walk-in schools at the benches by each floors elevators (those darned elevators) and some in hallways and waiting areas. But some were just on the doors of the rooms. My D had enough of a break to scout around to find the schools she was interested in and ask. Only missed out on one school she would have liked to audition for.
I would suggest being prepared with a some accompaniments for a couple of back up songs that are different from her book as well just in case. .Break a leg! We had lots of fun memories from Chicago Unifieds. And we didn’t stay at the Palmer House either.
@NeensMom We didn’t do NY Unifieds, but I can speak to Chicago and LA. I think they all follow a similar format to keep the audition experience as uniform as possible. Each city has its own personality, of course. Chicago is big and bustling (and cold!), but all the main sites are walkable. Monday and Tuesday are the most intense days. Things settle down by Wednesday. If you’re there on the shoulder days, Sunday and Thursday it’s a lot quieter to get the lay of the land (Sunday) and do walk-ins (Wed and Thursday.) By LA, everyone’s pretty tired and it’s the smallest of the three Unifieds events. The locations are hotels near LAX up and down a strip that’s not quite walkable, but easy by Uber/Lyft. Overall, at all the Unifieds, there’s a general nature of helpfulness with the hotel concierge, the program directors, the room monitors and camaraderie between the kids. Let that personality pop and have a great time. It’s really special.
My son is a sophomore BW’s BFA Acting program, with a minor in Applied Music (voice.) He LOVES it, and has had amazing performance opportunities. If I can help with questions, ask away!
@minnmtmom If she has time to prepare this, I would strongly recommend her bringing 16-bar, 32-bar and full song accompaniment tracks for each of her extra songs. If she has it, also suggest both a ballad and uptempo for Golden Age (pre-1965/1970) and a ballad and uptempo for Contemporary. If she has a comedic/character song (which could be one of the ones I just mentioned), that would be good as well. Also a pop song (could be from any decade). Have her add a Table of Contents page at the front of her binder so if someone wants to look through her book they can just scan that page. In the Table of Contents, they put info about the song (uptempo, comedic) and that helps them be able to quickly decide when they are put on the spot. I actually make my students put separate sheet music for each cut (when there is an accompanist) and separate their binder by 16-bar cuts, 32-bar cuts and full songs with dividers (instead of marking one piece of music). It’s cleaner and the accompanist appreciates it! For monologues, she should have 1-2 extra. I made sure my students had a contrasting monologue (comedic if they were doing a dramatic main choice) and a classical piece. The more organized you can make the binder, the better! A lot of students get their accompaniment tracks from www.PianoTrax.com. Tom is AMAZING and can do custom tracks pretty quickly (although he is probably swamped this week, so far, he has always been able to pull it out for us!). He has a ton of cuts already on his site from various auditions including different tempos and key changes.
Oh man, can I ever vouch for Tom!!! I swear I am not affiliated with him in any way, other than that I’ve been getting tracks from him for 4+ years now. He is absolutely amazing to work with…a total pro…and both his custom work and the tracks he already has on his website are always SPOT ON. We have an A+ experience with him every time!
@muttsandMT Yes!!! Tom is the BEST!! And he is sooooooo easy to work with! One of my students (after having numerous problems with audition accompanists just “stopping” the music about 10-20 seconds in) said they wish they could have Tom accompanying them for all the auditions!! LOL. However, I have heard that sometimes that “stopping” of the music is a curveball to see how they respond. No actual evidence to know if that’s true, but it has happened to both my students this year with different music. (And no Sondheim, Weber, Brown, etc.)
Sorry this is out-of-the blue, but wanted to ask. Just got an email from LIPA after walking in for them at New York Unifieds. They are directing me towards their Foundational Acting Certificate (1 year program) instead of their BA? Wasn’t super interested in the school to begin with, but I’m just curious: is the BA at LIPA a selective program? Kinda feeling down about it.
Personal Steamer - If you don’t already have a steamer, I HIGHLY recommend getting one. My D tries to use it nightly or every other night. It has been great for her voice. And she typically gets sick often, doing this has really helped keep the sick bugs away
Anyone auditioning this weekend, before Chicago Unifieds? I’m taking my S to SE Missouri St on Friday, Ohio Univ on Saturday, and Wright St on Sunday. Going to be long weekend in the car from Omaha, NE.
Has anyone that auditioned for CCM in NY heard anything at all (yes or no) or had their portal change? I thought I read somewhere that in the past their portals were updated to denial the Friday after auditions if you’re out and not changed if still in the running. Does anyone know if that’s true?
My S was initially were auditioning with Ohio in Chicago next week, but wouldn’t have been able to see the school without another trip. It made sense to me to schedule a bunch on a long trip like this to save money. My S had visited another school that was high on his list in the fall, but didn’t like the campus or program compared to another school he had visited. After visiting the school he didn’t like, we made it a point to try to make as many visits to schools he is interested in. We definitely can’t afford to drive or fly all over the country multiple times.
@depejohnson my D auditioned at Ohio U in the fall and was just accepted into the BFA - she loved the campus and the entire program! It is a beautiful campus! BAL
