<p>Regarding monologues, a former instructor at one of the universities told us to not to reject a monologue just because it might be overone. What they look at is how well the performer plays the part. Interestingly, she also said if you pick one that is not well known it might actually distract from the performer as the judges or whatever you call them are trying to figure out what the play is about; hence, distracting from the performer. I thought that was very interesting!</p>
<p>Briansteffy: I know nothing about the craft of acting and have not gotten involved in the audition process (you may recall that my S is applying to BA, not BFA, programs). However, in my limited experience, my S had to audition with a brief monologue to be admitted to his conservatory program last summer. My S is not your typical kid (are any of them?), so in his quirky way, he prepared and delivered a monologue as the character of Master Splinter of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle fame explaining how he became a karate master. He did this with a perfectly straight face, and the panel apparently loved it - it was a nice change from the intense or classic stuff they got from everyone else. So my suggestion is to find something that your S will have fun with, and he'll do a great job!</p>
<p>OK. This question takes it up a notch. For fun, my S just read 'Dog Sees God', the somewhat sarirical play of the Peanuts characters, as HS teenagers - its been criticized for being a bit 'cliche' (Lucy's an addict. etc.). Nevertheless, CB (Charlie Brown), the central character has a somewhat 'charlie brown' downer monologue about having to put Snooy down after contracting rabies and killing Woodstock - really, it's a dramatic monologue. Would this be comedy or drama? I am serious about the question; does it constitute a dramatic monologue? </p>
<p>hcss: glad to hear that: I like the O'Neil monologue; also, I like T. Williams (looking at Val in Orpheus descending' and Brick's piece. My S has the looks/physique of P. Newman and Matt Damon, the impulsivity of S. Penn, and the weirdness/manicness of J. Depp. </p>
<p>frenchlaw: I had one of the original Turtles in my class; he's very wealthy, and after getting his regular college degree (not in theater), he spends his time acting minor roles in minor plays. He has a continual income from the royalties; and his family was loaded to begin with.</p>
<p>We saw an amazing production of Orpheus Descending at Muhlenberg. It was as good, if not better, than anything we saw at various prestigious BFA programs we visited. Val is a very, very interesting character and will likely not be overdone.
I do think there are two schools of thought on the "overdone" thing. Some say it doesn't matter, and others say it does. In my opinion, it's best to avoid being the 10th kid who the panel has seen doing the same thing. That doesn't mean you have to search high and low for something absolutely obscure, of course. And the bottom line is that whatever you do, do it 100%.</p>
<p>A play can be a comedy and still have a dramatic monologue. Barbara Streisand's performance of "My Man" at the end of "Funny Girl" certainly wasn't a novelty song!</p>
<p>Brian, Dog Sees God is definitely a black comedy (and not a very good one, in in my opinion!). :) I'd be wary of choosing a dramatic monologue from that play. It's been a while since I saw a reading of it that a couple of my D's friends were in, but I don't think that even the bits that seem 'dramatic' are meant to be anything but black comedy.</p>
<p>Thanks for the opinion alwaysamom. I do not think that there was one posititve review when I 'googled' Dog Sees God; criticisms were the same as you indicate. My S ordered it after seeing that it was recently staged at Tulane U. My S liked it less than I did, but, then again, he did not grow up with Peanuts. He thought CB's monologue was too flat and monotonic.
In a couple of days, we will have a couple of mid-20th century (O'Neil. Williams) and a more contemporary (N. Wallace) plays to compare for a dramatic monologue.</p>
<p>One more question: say that a school's requirement is two contrasting contemporary pieces; then they ask you for a third piece. Would it be appropriate to do a Shakespeare monologue? I suggested to my S that he ask them, 'which of these two would you like to hear; XXXXXXXX or YYYYYYYY', but when they want two contemporaries, do you just give them a contemporary for the third?</p>
<p>Sorry, another question, following a suggestion by hcss: my S can also do Joe Ferguson from Wilder's comedic play, 'The Male Animal'. The monologue involves some physical movement, as Joe (though Joe is 30, the monologue works for a college-aged student), an ex-football star (my S was the starting running back before he had his head injury), is showing off to the young women by showing/telling them a football play that the coach has created. Somewhere I read to avoid too much movement, as the movement itself distracts from the audition. This piece requires continual movement, though within a relatively small space (could be confined to an 8 ft square). Anyone know whether this monologue might be inappropriate because of the movement, or because it is too 'high school'? It could be our third monologue response; 'do you want Shakespeare or Joe Ferguson'.</p>
<p>HAVE A VERY HAPPY HOLIDAY. BLESS YOU FOR YOUR HELP.</p>
<p>Brian, in my opinion, if after doing the required monologues, an auditor makes the request "do you have another?", you should be able to do a Shakespeare or one that might not exactly fit the parameters of the initial monologue requirements. If you have a Shakespeare and the Joe Ferguson monologues as your 'extras', I don't see a problem with that, at all. Although I agree that too much movement could present a distraction, if it's the third monologue you've performed, I doubt it would matter if he moved around a little during the course of it, especially if it is an essential part of performing the monologue well.</p>
<p>Best wishes to you and your family for a wonderful holiday week!</p>
<p>I agree! Brian's son will need a Shakespeare monologue at some point, so it can always be available as one that is offered! It is a good plan to have another "back-up" as well. It looks like there are lots of suggestions for monologues!</p>
<p>I also agree about the problems with using monologues that are particularly obscure. My daughter and a friend competed in a regional Shakespeare contest two years ago and used a scene from a piece that is not well-known. The judges looked confused at the beginning, and it seemed to take a while for them to settle in to watch the performance. By then, the scene was half over! In contrast, they won the contest another year by performing a nurse-Juilette scene from Romeo and Juilette--clearly a scene that is overdone! Anyway, some schools list the monologues that they DO NOT want to see. . .</p>
<p>Finding a Shakespeare monologue that is delivered by a 17-year-old is hard. It seems to me that the age-appropriate requirement can be "stretched" a little for Shakespeare.</p>
<p>Happy Holidays!</p>
<p>My S spent quite a bit of time at BU working on his Shakespeare monologue, one that BU recommends (web site) using for this year's auditions. He will use the Shakepeare monologue in all of his auditions, unless instructed that he has to draw from contemporary plays, but it sounds like it's a good choice for a third monologue, when the primary two are to be contemporary. 'Joe' is from his fall play.
Good news. A couple of hours ago, S got a letter from both Otterbein and Syracuse indicating that he got tuition exchange (makes it cheaper than going to an in-state college), pending (a BIG if) acceptance into the BFA program; a relief, because there is no way that he will get a tuition exchange grant from BU, as they only grant something like 5/year with probably a few hundred grant applicants. What a motivator! Since getting the letters he's been prepping his monologues.Nevertheless, he keeps asking, "but if I get into BU, can we afford it?" I just say that "I refuse to answer that question; we will cross that bridge if we get to it".</p>
<p>hi! this is my first post, and like many others i am a senior girl auditioning for musical theatre...i have auditioned at ithaca and ccm and have sadly been rejected, but i have 7 more to go so i am okay!</p>
<p>A question: i am looking for a good contemporary comedic monologue. I am short (5'1'') and blonde</p>
<p>if any immediate material comes to mind PLEASE PLEASE let me know, i want to get into college!!!</p>
<p>OOHH and also....im working with "perfect Relationship" for my standard uptempo, which i think really works for me...</p>
<p>anything else anyone can suggest is always great :)</p>
<p>Brian, congrats to S on letters saying he will get tuition exchange if accepted to BFA. Your post made me wonder: how do tuition-exchange colleges decide which kids get that benefit? It's confusing to us outsiders. (My university gives a tuition grant to all employees, no matter what that employee's position, of up to half of the university's current freshmen tuition each year for four years at any accredited four year college or university in the country. They basically write a check to the university or college that each employee's kid attends. Pretty nice, huh? It's one reason I came to work for my current employer.)</p>
<p>nic1089: a BFA student at Boston Univ. recommended to my S to look at neil Labute's stuff. He does some good comedic stuff, some of it good couple scenes.</p>
<p>NotMamaRose: Tuition Exchange makes this already stressful application process more stressful, as the schools differ substantially from one another, and from year to year, in the number of grants they offer. Unless the student has Ivy stats, it feels like a crap shoot. This means that, not only do we face the low odds of getting into any given BFA program, but also the uncertain odds of getting a grant. Fortunately, Syracuse, Otterbein, Hartt, Evansville and Webster have, historically, been generous. BU and USC are impossible, while DePaul grants about 1/5 requests. Most colleges select TE students based on grades and scores. At my school, the typical TE kid has stats that would get a student into an Ivy school, the parents opting for the cheaper TE school - the rational choice. But, for a parent with a child applying to BFA programs, I would prefer your benefits, as it would open the door to any program; expensive state schools, NYU, CMU, and Miami. The tuition exchange program, however, is perhaps better for a child looking to get into expensive, small LACs.</p>
<p>So, brian, the school doesn't automatically have to give accepted students who are eligible for tuition exchange the tuition exchange benefit? That's how I thought it worked. (In other words, I thought that if a kid was accepted to, say, Syracuse and Syracuse was a tuition exchange school, then the kid got it. Period.) Yes, this sounds like another stressful layer for yall. I am hypothesizing that, once all is said and done, your son is going to have a lot of good schools to choose from, so try not to stress too hard! :) (I mean, how many of us can say our kid resembles Paul Newman???? :))</p>
<p>Do both Ithaca and CCM BFA programs have "rolling" admissions? I have heard, on CC, that CCM accepts kids "along the way," but Ithaca, too?</p>
<p>I have heard the opposite from Ithaca. I have heard that they often wait until at least April 1 (which is the official date on which colleges let applicants know about the status of their applications) to notify applicants. In fact, I recall seeing posts from kids about their Ithaca results <em>after</em> 4/1 last year.</p>
<p>well i auditioned for ithaca in november and i heard from them about a month after my audition...so they do it somewhat on a rolling basis</p>
<p>It is hard to say with Ithaca as it seems to change a bit from year to year. In 2005, my D auditioned at the end of Jan. and was accepted a couple of weeks later and so they seemed to notify on a rolling basis then. I still have heard of similar situations since that year. However, I recall, as NMR does, that in the past year or two, Ithaca held onto some applicants until auditions were done and in fact, didn't notify some until AFTER April 1. April 1 is the common notification date for many colleges. It is reasonable for Ithaca, or any college, to wait until all auditions are done and notify on April 1. What I thought was NOT reasonable the last two cycles with Ithaca was that they made some students wait to get results past April 1, thus not allowing them to have all their cards on the table in a reasonable time frame since they have to commit to enroll some place by May 1. It seems once all auditions are completed, they could inform candidates one way or the other. They can also use a waitlist. Anyway, I can't say for sure what Ithaca is doing THIS year but it seems like they've been doing a combination of some rolling results and holding onto some until the end the past couple of years.</p>
<p>Hello! I've always admired and studied this forum but this is my first time posting. Well, my name is Travis and I am currently a junior eager awaiting applying/attending a drama conservatory/university. I want to know what i should be doing to prepare myself for these intense and demanding auditions. I already go to a performing arts magnet (not quite a performing arts high school because there is not an audition required and less conservatory based), where i have participated in several plays) and i have studied at the Lee Strasberg Institute. Because I don't go to a conservatory style high school I feel like I will be at a disadvantage. What can I do to make up for that? Also, I would LOVE to attend NYU. I visited it this summer and loved it. However, from what I've said of my experience, do you think I have a chance?</p>
<p>Thanks,
Travis</p>