Heading to LA Unifieds this weekend…any input on the Emerson or Otterbein auditions? My S is also auditioning for Roosevelt. Comments or insight is MUCH appreciated!
My daughter did Emerson at LA Unifieds last year. It was well organized. First the students and parents are invited in for an info session. There were a few alums there helping out. Then they left to do the dance call and parents were invited to stay and continue to ask questions. Monologues and songs were after the dance call, the kids had time to change and freshen up and then they lined up for a turn in the room, just sort of first come, first serve. They were all quite polite about it. My daughter had her CMU audition at another hotel that day and time was starting to get tight, so they let her move ahead. Everyone was very nice.
Hard to know whether to post here or in the Theatre forum at times, but I know that a lot of us check in both places. D finished up in Chicago this am. She “only” had 5 auditions in Chicago: Penn State and Emerson MT, and UMinn, Rutgers, and Boston U Acting. All sounded like they went fine; but after >25 auditions over the past 2 years, she seems to divulge a lot less. She is ready to be at school, IN a program! I’d say that it sounded like the biggest challenge/lowest point was the Emerson dance call. She is accustomed to nailing dance calls, but had trouble turning on the carpet. And the high point was the UMinn stretch piece, which she apparently enjoyed so much that she decided to do it for her BU audition 
Wishing you all healthy kids and great auditions in this final stretch! Now comes the tedious part-the wait!
@owensfolks can’t wait to see where your daughter lands!!! Thanks for the update.
Love the stretch pieces @owensfolks! And BU probably loved it.
What day do the New York Unified auditions actually start? I know the official days are Saturday/Sunday, but are there auditions available on the Friday (or Thursday) before? Mom of junior D here who has to request vacation days for 2019 now. How about for Chicago and LA Unifieds?
@MTdreamin Yes, my D had auditions on the Friday before NYC Unifieds and the Monday after. She had Pace and Ithaca on Friday and Carnegie Mellon on Monday. We stayed in NYC from Thursday until Tuesday. She missed 4 days of school. We did not attend Chicago Unifieds. We were able to schedule 10 schools at NYC Unifieds. It wasn’t easy. We were literally running from building to building , across streets, to get to auditions and she wore her leotards under her audition dress for days. Luckily, it was a very mild weekend with temperatures in the high 40s. It’s great that you are planning ahead. Hope your D enjoys the experience!!
@mandidnam, Thank you- that helps a lot!
@MTdreamin We flew into NYC on Wednesday and she auditioned Thursday-Sunday and we went home on Sunday evening. My D was able to get in a total of 9 auditions. It was a mix of MT and Acting. If you have more MT auditions you will not be able to get as many in.
@MTdreamin My S had auditions Thursday & Friday, before NYC Unifieds. He got in 8 program auditions for 6 schools, 4 Acting, 4 MT, one campus tour, and 2 broadway shows! He auditioned Saturday at Unifieds with 3 schools, 2 of which had long dance calls. Comparatively, his day at Unifieds was probably less stressful than most kids’. No walki-ins and he managed his schedule such that he was prepared for his last slot to audition ahead of his scheduled time, and finished the day up early. He spent Sunday at Pace, auditioning for 3 programs. THAT was a long torturous day. I believe there were many folks who stayed to audition at NYC schools after the uni weekend.
Pace, maybe Molloy, Marymount, and others don’t participate in unis because they are in NYC anyway. Also some schools schedule auditions in NYC outside of the unified buildings, and may have other days in conjunction.
@MTdreamin We only went to Chicago Unifieds but I talked to a lot of people who also went to NY and LA. We loved Chicago. It was so convenient having so many of the auditions at the same place. If you go to Chicago, I highly recommend staying at the Palmer House. It relieved a lot of stress being able to go back to the room to change, rest and prepare. I heard that NY was more stressful because it’s spread out. For Chicago, the official unifieds started on Monday and ended Thursday, but many schools were interviewing on Sunday. If you are only doing Chicago for MT, I recommend staying through Thursday.
@MI3rdClosingAct ,@#booknerdmom,@0827NJ, Thank you all for the NY and Chicago info! @MI3rdClosingAct and @#booknerdmom: Do you happen to remember which schools you auditioned for in NYC on that Thursday?
@MTdreamin My D auditioned for Emerson and Rutgers. Emerson was a black of 9-12 however Rutgers was just an hour block 4-5pm and was acting only. We could have fit in another school if it had been acting.
@MTdreamin S auditioned for Emerson 9-1 on Thursday morning, Ithaca 9-1:30 on Friday morning, did campus tour at Pace on Friday afternoon. If you check out the schools’ current audition dates, you may be able to surmise approximate dates for next year.
The other recommendation I have is utilizing an audition coach - I heartily recommend, My College Audition, Chelsea Diehl. She worked with my S through the process of auditions, guided me on selection/scheduling of schools, etc. But most importantly for my husband and I, she provided feedback on expectations for success, and what that success might look like. My S did a week prep with her organization in the summer with a group, and the first comment she made was that it was a good final conference with us because she didn’t have to deliver distressing news. The student and parents before us were given honest feedback that this process was not for that student. I felt that it might be rare to find guidance that can truly and honestly evaluate the skills of and possibilities for my kid.
I don’t know what your circumstance are, but for any parents out there, I knew that this year would be grueling. It was important for our family to know that all the support and casual expectations locally meant something in the wider performing arts world. Besides MCA, my S also did workshops with Broadway Artists Alliance - more good prep for him and provided me with my first knowledge base.
That said I know that many folks aren’t always in a position to utilize these resources.
@MI3rdClosingAct ,@#booknerdmom- thanks so much for info. Really helpful! Best of luck to you and your D/S as you survive waiting/make decisions, etc.!