<p>before Unifieds. </p>
<p>Thought it would be fun (and informative) to have folks comment regarding things that might have caught you or your kiddo off-guard at Unifieds.</p>
<p>As I recall it’s always good to have more prepared than you are asked for. (Like if you are to do 2 monologues, have another 1 or 2 ready to go. Or an extra song, etc.)</p>
<p>even when it says there is no dance call (Penn St) he ended up getting called back for a dance call. luckily we didn’t have another audition scheduled for that time slot, and he brought his jazz shoes, but we were at Philene’s basement buying dance clothes in a panic!</p>
<p>Caught off guard by some of the dance auditions that were held in tiny rooms, like UArts - a kick to the chandelier and a trip over junk on the floor still allowed for an acceptance! But be ready to adapt a planned routine if necessary! Everything else in Chicago was wonderful!!! Except the cold! Highly advise prebooking rooms on the Executive floor using Palmer House website and nonrefundable prices - lowest you will get and the included breakfast bar and huge appetizers for everyone in the Executive tower will keep you from having to leave the hotel or mob the Starbucks and 1 closeby restaurant, not to mention the EXPENSIVE dining room!</p>
<p>Two things i wish we had done differently for Unifieds:</p>
<p>We were supposed to arrive Sunday at noon from Seattle, we were delayed because of Seattle weather (imagine that!) and didn’t get in until 5:00-ish…If i were doing it again and could afford it, i would go on Saturday. It would have been less stressful having an extra day’s “grace” in there…</p>
<p>We took the El from the airport to the hotel…its about a 2 block walk from the stop to the front door of the Palmer House, and about a 45 minute ride. When returning on Wednesday, her last audition went over an hour late (it was CMU and one of her faves), so i was starting to get nervous about our 8:00pm -ish flight and opted to take a cab at 5:30 on a Wednesday…huge mistake. It took well over an hour to get to the airport, but even worse was the stop-and-go-exhaust filled-trip…should have gone the El route!!</p>
<p>Otherwise, Unifieds was lovely in so many ways! I second the above about the Club level…really worth the extra money if its in your budget!</p>
<p>How early did you book reservations at Palmer House. (Need it next year)</p>
<p>I was glad we paid a bit extra for the refundable reservations at the Palmer House, since D wound up taking an ED admission to her top choice school and cancelled all Unified auditions. At the time we booked the reservations I had no idea that was a possibility but decided the flexibility might pay off. In our case it really did!</p>
<p>theatremomma, I would recommend making reservations ASAP. I know people who will be attending Unifieds in Feb. 2012 who have had their rooms reserved since last March.</p>
<p>We booked our Palmer House reservations mid-September. At that time there were no more double rooms available on the Executive level so we had to take a King bed. As of today there are plenty of double rooms, just not on the Executive level.</p>
<p>I also highly recommend booking an Executive floor room at The Palmer House early. Depending where you live, a vaporizer for the room could be a good idea. We live in a really humid climate, and the dry air of air travel and a Chicago winter could have really taken its toll. A portable steamer or a vaporizer can help immensely. D had some of her best auditions at Unifieds. Good luck to all!</p>
<p>There is an interesting old thread on this topic with hundreds of posts that stretched from 2005 to 2009:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/59074-reflection-i-wish-i-would-have-known-when-i-started-process.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/59074-reflection-i-wish-i-would-have-known-when-i-started-process.html</a></p>
<p>Something I wish I would have been more prepared for at Unifieds was knowing the rooms. Like Christie2 said, some of the rooms are very small for dance (and even are carpeted!). Also, because some are oddly shaped meeting rooms, there is the possibility for not having good acoustics and that can really throw you off when auditioning! Also, I would recommend preparing yourself for walking into a space you have never seen before, because that can be daunting–and no one wants a little thing like that to throw them off too much!</p>