Thank you @myloves and @monkey13@toowonderful - great advice as always – trying to recalibrate myself now after mind-gaming myself even though I swore I wouldn’t. In fact even now seeing what flipping the “they loved her” and “they hated her” schools would pan out to if the opposite results took place!
Trying to figure out how to string out the next two months. Handily there are two more auditions, one involving a plane trip, the school musical, a Young Arts regional week (just after notifications), a school service trip, keeping up with AP-studying nagging, oh and yeah - My life, job, etc.! And my other two kids…
I hate to mention this, but, not only do you have the wait for an initial decision, you may also face the dreaded **Waitlist/b, which can prolong a final decision until late April or early May. April was a very difficult month last year around our house. One of d’s actor friends was accepted off a Waitlist in July for Minnesota/Guthrie (and promptly accepted).
I had the head of a program tell me that you cannot go by the reaction in the room…if he is smiling he may be thinking about lunch…if he is writing he may be taking notes or may be making a grocery list – do not read anything into it! I also heard a story of a reviewer literally barely speaknig/looking up and the boy got in…no rhyme or reason.
I’m with all the people saying not to read too much into what is said in the audition room. My D was not accepted at the school where she thought she had her best audition, and was accepted at the school where she thought she had her worst audition. Trying to figure it out will drive you crazy! 8-}
You might want to pose that question elsewhere MTheatreKid.
However, from their website CCM says that enthusiasm and energy can make up for dance training. Past year people have not noted it as the hardest, some have said it’s fun and you just have to sell it. This is all just from what I’ve heard, I haven’t auditioned for CCM yet.
@MTheatrekid
The question is also, has any GIRL gotten into CCM without having professional credits, being an awards winner, or coming from a prestigious arts high school, or otherwise connected? That is the million dollar question!
I know a girl who is at CCM currently and did nothing but HS shows (she went to the HS where I teach). No summer theater, no college programs, no national coaches, and not a dancer. She does have a REALLY strong voice, and is a VERY pretty girl
There is one person in the class of 2020 acceptances thread that said she was accepted to CCM already.
Looks do count for a lot. It’s interesting to look at freshman class pictures of dchools to see the make up of the class. Are they all very good looking and fit. Some schools it seems all their musical theatre kids are models. I like to see how diverse different schools classes are in everything. There is a need for all sorts of people. And who says you can’t put on a show like Cinderella or Beauty and the Beast, and have your female lead be a bigger girl that is non-white.
Definitely! My drama teacher always made a point to blind cast every show she directed and I was super thankful for that because there are some roles I’ve played as a black male that I never would’ve played in real life. I think it helped me a lot as an actor tbh
I think be repeating myself from another thread, but I think looks, height and build count A LOT for certain top schools. My theory (and I could easily be wrong, as my evidence is purely anecdotal) is that the brand-name schools are ever-protective of their image and their statistics. They care very much and work very hard to make sure that every new graduate is placed with an agent, on a Broadway show, or in other high-profile positions. The best way (again, my theory) of ensuring this happens is to draft in the types of freshmen most likely to hire out well during that critical first year after graduation. And I mean that year is just as critical for the school as it is for the graduate, as a strong placement is another notch on the brand school’s belt, making the school even more attractive to the next auditioning class of tuition-and-fee-paying students. A school hits gold if it gets a large number of its graduating class into the chorus of the next big thing on Broadway (note CMU’s success with Newsies). To meet broad-scale demand like this, the school wants types that fit a “dancing/singing chorus member” mold–a specific height range, a certain build (petite for women; bulked out for men), and photogenic across the board. As I said, my theory is anecdotal, gathered from years of collecting, reading, and studying Playbills in multiple cities. Still, I truly believe it plays into the decisions the brand name schools make, in terms of who to audition. Those pre-screens are as much about looks as they are about voice or talent.
@toowonderful do you know of any schools in particular that do that? There have been tumors about certain schools that do things like that but I don’t think any of them are true. Having regular weigh ins seems a bit overboard to be honest.
One more thought on this topic–at a recent campus audition (I won’t name the school this time, so as not to offend anyone or any program), the faculty touted that rather than invite successful actors/singers for masterclasses, they tended to invite agents and casting directors, instead. The aim was to get their students “seen” by as many pros as possible over all four years, rather than just in the final showcase. This school has been remarkably successful in initial placements during the first year after graduation, boasting 100 percent of students are on Broadway, with regional tours, on notable cruises, or with agents. I wonder though–are those students really learning how to be stronger performers, or are they learning to be better auditioners and networkers? For those who say that it’s always the audition that matters and the focus should be on that, let me respond with the words of a director with a strong regional reputation after her Broadway career–the biggest job of the director is to fix the mistakes she made in casting. Moreover, if she casts the wrong person once (prima donna, difficult to work with, won’t take direction, lacks commitment), she will never look at them again for another show.
Hmm this is interesting info. I hadn’t even considered my daughters looks in the equation. Like whether she would be considered by others to be attractive, thereby maybe something that helps in admittance… She is attractive… of course moms are biased but she truly is a very pretty girl. I thought that would work against her actually since she is that typical Caucasian attractive brunette with petite features and no ethnic qualities that stand out… Well if that helps , so be it! Lol . She sure takes a great headshot!
@toowonderful, Josh Gad was an Acting major, not MT. And, he’s a boy character actor. I have never seen a CMU MT girl who was not model pretty. Ever. I think the looks thing is more true for the girls, but never underestimate the power of a tall, good-looking boy in good shape who can play straight. A lot (e.g., lack of dance skills) can be forgiven for those boys in the top schools.
Hi guys! I was accepted to CCM last month and I’m a girl. I’ve never done any large professional shows really… I do a lot of community theatre. I was in the children’s ensemble at the Muny and was a Muny Kid when I was 11 and 12, but it’s a 2 hour drive to St. Louis and it was kind of hard to swing that, so I haven’t done that since I was young. I’ve been attending Stagedoor Manor since I was 11 as well. But basically what I’m trying to say is that I’ve never been in a big professional show or received lots of awards, and to top it off my high school doesn’t even have an arts program. So I don’t think those credentials are AS important as we think they are. I hope this is somewhat helpful!!!
