Tips for HS senior with limited experience?

College Majors Musical Theater Major
1

<p>Hello! I'm a senior in the middle of the application process. My college interests are creative writing, French Horn performance... and MT. I'm sort of late to the party - I fell in love with acting sophomore year, when I was Penny Sycamore in You Can't Take it With You. I've always wanted to be involved with MT, but I do not have the resources. My school is VERY new (I'm in the first graduating class), so our arts programs are just starting out. This includes theatre.</p>

<p>We have no budget given to us - virtually none of the "parent support group" that many established MT programs seem to have. We also have a middle school-sized cafetorium stage with faulty lights and curtain to perform on. The program itself is virtually student-run. I'm the president this year, and I'm hoping that will count for something - I've had a big leadership role in the program from the start of my freshman year.</p>

<p>However, no budget = no musicals, and my school is extremely rigorous (IB), leaving me no time to pursue outside theatre. So I don't have a lot of what many other potential auditionees seem to have: I haven't taken dance since I was 7, no voice lessons (before tonight - I just had my first!). I have acting experience from two lead roles in straight plays as well as Forensics (I made state semi-finals!). I've been in choirs before and have a good knowledge of music - I know that I have what I consider a good (but probably un-refined by professional standards) voice. But I have no experience with putting it all together.</p>

<p>Anyway, moving forward I'm going to continue with my new voice lessons and try and take up enough jazz to at least familiarize myself with all the dance lingo. I'm a pretty quick learner, especially in groups.</p>

<p>In short - how afraid should I be when it comes to auditions? Am I doing the right things? What are the "obvious" things I should know? (I know: no Les Mis, no Wicked, cut 16-bar excerpts, don't stare down the judges.)</p>

<p>Thank you!</p>

2

<p>Not trying to plug. But Mary Anna Denard’s book “I Got In” is a very good resource and will answer a lot of your questions. The book I believe is about $15. I would also say to you to think about what you are really looking for in a school. Do you really want to major MT? Is a conservatory the way to go for you? Or do you want a liberal arts education where you will be able to minor, double major, or simply broaden your experiences. NYU’s Gallatin program allows you to basically “customize” your degree. You are able to study across multiple programs. There are some schools that do allow non-MT and theater majors to audition for their musicals and plays. There are some schools that have MT programs that you don’t have to audition for. There is so much out there. You don’t have to stress yourself out with trying to go to the “top” school. At a talk back for the broadway musical “Big Fish”, one of the cast members told the students that were in attendance: “Just find a school that will give you good training.” There are so many schools that do and they all don’t have “top” names and reputations. So in the meantime just figure out what you want and work hard. You will find the school that is right for you.</p>

3

<p>@sillyslytherin - don’t despair. Having researched a LOT of information about various schools something that comes up consistently is that they are looking for talent- which training certainly helps, but doesn’t create. Think of it this way, someone without true talent could take dance from age 2, a voice lesson every week, and be in 100 shows (b/c if you have time/resources, you can always find a show to be in) and it wouldn’t make a difference. You’d have polish, but it wouldn’t necessarily outshine someone who didn’t have all that experience but had greater depth of talent. If you read threads here (which I strongly recommend) you will find Cinderella stories, and horror stories- to be completely honest, there is no way to predict results.</p>

<p>With that said, and looking at your range of interests above- I agree with mtjones1 that you need to spend some time researching schools and try to figure out what you want. Again, CC has lots of great info (look at the threads for individual schools) but you need to spend time on websites, go for visits etc… And think about what you want. I would think the 1st question for you is BFA or BA? (if you don’t know the difference, maybe THAT should be your 1st research) Given the relatively tiny bit of info I have to go on (from your original post) I would say that a BA in a liberal arts atmosphere that allowed you to explore many options might be a good start. After all, if I am reading correctly- have you ever been in a musical? How would you know if you would like studying theater? (which is different than being in a show)</p>

<p>So don’t give up- but know that you may have some work ahead of you. </p>

<p>Best of luck to you!</p>

4

<p>Thank you for your comments! Yes, the main school I’m considering has a BA program, and their Acting degree doesn’t require an audition so if I’m not accepted I have a “fallback” as well as the ability to still audition/participate in their MT shows.</p>

<p>I’m definitely not seriously looking at any of the schools with a huge MT reputation… because going from being a big fish in a small pond to a small fish in an ocean doesn’t seem like a fun transition. And yes, I’m definitely going to double major, either in English or horn performance. If I had it my way I’d triple major… but I suppose that’s almost impossible to do in any reasonable length of time.</p>

<p>Yep, I have never been in a musical - unless you count a fourth grade musical where everyone in the cast was cast and we all sang in a chorus except for maybe one spoken line each! However I am trying to make some opportunities for myself - my school requires an internship to graduate, and I’m going to be working with and assisting the backstage crew of a college musical this fall to fulfill that requirement. Also the IB requires a research essay and I’m doing mine in the “theatre” subject area. I may be doing vocal coaching for a Forensics multiple, which is some strange cousin of MT. And I’m reading lots of books (thanks for the rec! I’ll be sure to check it out). So not much practical experience in terms of being /in/ a show… but I’m trying to do some things so prepare.</p>

5

<p>Definitely recommend “I Got In!” </p>

<p>I’m a student who hasn’t gone through the MT process yet (due to financial reasons and the fact that I’m a lower-division pre-music performance transfer student, I’m waiting a year to apply to get more credits) but I’ve been doing research on MT schools since junior high school. </p>

<p>I would say look into schools that have a lot of student run theatre, so you have opportunities even if you choose not to major in MT. Many schools have fantastic student run or advised theatre troupes, but no theatre majors! Depending on your stats, you could also look into schools like Northwestern or Yale - academic reaches for almost everyone (mostly Yale there), but with awesome theatre stuff going on. </p>

<p>I want to advise you that depending on the program you’re looking at, it will be almost impossible to double major with a music performance major, assuming it’s a Bachelor of Music. A minor, often yes, but at my school they discouraged minors and double majors for the B.M. students. However, some schools have Vocal Studies (singing) minors or MT minors for students already within the music program, and if you finagled a little bit you might be able to major in Horn Perf. with a vocal or MT minor and an English minor. Music stuff REALLY depends on the school! If you’re serious about pursuing horn along with another interest, make sure you know what you’re getting into, so to speak!</p>

<p>Outside of Fr. Horn stuff, though, have you considered schools with Theatre Studies programs? Those programs are almost always Bachelor of Arts, and they usually leave room for another major - at some schools, English and Theatre departments have overlap in courses things like in classical theatre studies or play reading/analysis.</p>

<p>Here are some schools that have what you’re interested in in some format:</p>

<p>-American University (well established English and Theatre departments with student run theatre, Music major and minor, Musical theatre major as well)
-Oberlin College & Conservatory (great LAC with a music conservatory and a dual degree BA/BM program)
-University of Richmond (English/Theatre combined major, music minor and music opportunities for non majors)
-University of Rochester (not sure about music here because it’s Eastman, but they have an English major with a Theatre concentration)
-Kenyon College (amazing theatre program from what I’ve heard, great English department and looks like lots of music opportunities)</p>

<p>Do you have a location preference for colleges?</p>

<p>I hope this helps! It’s super long, sorry.</p>