<p>Break a leg! Best of luck to all of the cc kids out there auditioning at the unifieds!</p>
<p>Ditto.</p>
<p>vocaldad</p>
<p>I leave tomorrow night for New York. I have a full day of auditions on Sunday, then three days in Chicago, home for a day, then Saturday afternoon in San Francisco and Sunday afternoon in Los Angeles. I always enjoy this time, and I look forward to meeting many of you. Please don't hesitate to let me know that you read cc.com. I'd like to get a sense of how many people do. And even if you're not auditioning for us, drop by and say hello.</p>
<p>My best advice to y'all: Be more interested in finding out something about the people you're auditioning for than in what they think about you, smile, and have a good time. And when you find yourself not breathing, release, allow your breath to drop in, and sigh. Works wonders.</p>
<p>Best wishes to all of you!</p>
<p>Good luck to all the Unified auditioners this weekend and the coming week. Have a blast!</p>
<p>Well, we're here in the windy city.</p>
<p>The hotel is beautiful. Granted historical landmark status by the Gov. some years back. The staff is friendly and helpful. </p>
<p>Full day ahead for my group.
More later...</p>
<p>xxx,Mary Anna</p>
<p>We spent the weekend at NY unfiieds and I thought I would post some description for NEXT year's batch of kids. </p>
<p>First of all, to my surprise the place -- the American Management building -- is VERY nice, located in the heart of the theater district, a part of the Crown Plaza Hotel. But keep in mind that some of the schools (e.g. CMU, SUNY Purchase) use a different place about 1/2 mile away. So check this out when you set auditions up. </p>
<p>My daughter did 2 auditions on Saturday and 3 on Sunday. She had no problems scheduling this number. Some people said they had been encouraged to only schedule one a day. That is not true. </p>
<p>The building we were at drew about 18 schools, I think. Some of them only on Sunday or Saturday. There were plenty of waiting areas, all with a high-tech (free) coffee machines and unlimited juice and sodas. There were computers as well with free hook up to the Internet. </p>
<p>As far as warm up space, one could find it by looking around. The place was very accommodating in opening up an empty room. Lots of other people warmed up in the bathrooms. It was fun hearing all the voices echoing around. </p>
<p>Some schools had formal dance auditions; others did not. Unfortunately, the place is carpeted. Not ideal. </p>
<p>I would say at least 6 schools invited walkins. Generally, they asked you to sign up for a time, as opposed to taking you on the spot at that moment. </p>
<p>Of course, I don't want to neglect to say that we were delighted to meet doctorjohn. </p>
<p>There were lots of people there in the course of the 2 days, but I have to say I did not feel like the place was overcrowded. Three floors were used, which you could access by central stairs, with plenty of lounge space. </p>
<p>Unlike us, who commuted in by train both mornings, many people stayed at local hotels. I suspect lots of people took in a show Saturday night. (The TKS booth is just a block away). We met people from many many states, as well as from my daughter's various summer programs (CMU, Interlochen) and various other auditions. </p>
<p>We heard several stories of people whose kid didn't realize until the last minute that one had to bring taped music. So people scrambled the day before to get this. Most people lugged their own boom box around, but some schools had one. Only one of my daughter's 5 schools had live accompanist. </p>
<p>(My daughter has a small portable DVD player; instead of lugging a large boom box, we bought inexpensive speakers for the DVD player and this worked perfectly.) </p>
<p>I hope this will help people next year -- or even some of you who are going to other locations this year. Bear in mind, that at other locations things may not work the same way. I believe, for example, that in Chicago there are more schools and perhaps more schools with live music. </p>
<p>-- NYtheatermom</p>
<p>Just a note of thanks, doctorjohn, for having a calming affect on a very anxious time! I auditioned for you bright and somewhat early Sunday morning. I was in New York for the three days with my family. We decided to spread three auditions out over three days only because we did not know what to expect!!! I scheduled Otterbein for Sunday thinking by then I would be somewhat more relaxed!! I was still nervous, but your kindness definately helped to calm my nerves! Thank you for ending an absolutely wonderful weekend on a postitive note! We (my family and I) will always sing the praises of Otterbein!</p>
<p>I agree with everything you said about the NY auditions! It was a very good experience! All of my auditions were in the same building, but I did schedule only one a day. My mom, dad and sister came also, so we had some family fun there too!! We live only two hours from the city, so we normally come up only for the day. I do agree that it would have been fine to schedule more than one audition per day, but we were not sure how the dance calls would work out with some schools. No matter what the out come will be from these auditions, I had a very positve experience!! Only one more to go...then we wait!</p>
<p>Can anyone tell me what it is like to do a walk in? do you just sort of go up there ask if they have any open audition spots and then they say whatever and you either do it or don't?</p>
<p>also if anyone has any idea when they tend to stop auditioning people or what the latest time anyone had was i would appreciate it. I am a student in the theatre school at depaul and i am trying to get to the unified auditions i do have some scheduled, but i also want to do some walkins, but i cant get down to the palmer house until 1 each day so if u know anything about this please let me know</p>
<p>i agree with nytheatremom, whom I got to meet. What fun it was to get to meet a few of you. And you lurkers out there, too!!! We met several who read and don't post. Hello!!! Yes, the building was either new or newly remodeled. Very, very nice. very large and spacious. And those free drinks were great. All the schools were so kind and friendly. Dr. John, of course, was everything he seems to be online. We easily did 6 auditions. If you schedule them well, that's very do-able. In fact, I believe we could have done 1 or 2 more. Yes, it would have been a bit more stressful, but easily done. I felt that ours was a pretty easy schedule. I'll try to be around next year when people are getting ready for NY and post more detail at that time. The Boom Box situation is a problem. We carried one on the plane which meant heavy carry-on luggage for 4 legs of a trip. It does seem all the schools might bring one since so many of us are flying across the country and it's just hard to travel with that. But, all went well and d was pleased with each audition. My only prayer was for her to stay healthy and then feel good about her performance and that was answered. That's really all you can ask for. Now the wait begins. We have one really great situation all lined up so that relieves the pressure. But, it will be interesting to see what happens. I send blessings to all those going through this this week and to those just home from ny, may you all receive the news that you want and need.</p>
<p>At New York, there were signs posted as we walked in saying certain schools were accepting walkins. It was very easy to know. Some schools put the signs on their doors as well. In one case a person from a lesser known school walked around trying to drum up interest in "his" school. </p>
<p>I know some auditions ran past 5. It really depends on the school, I think. Some other schools had packed it in by then and were on their way to Chicago, </p>
<p>Bring extra headshots and resumes. Not sure if you had to pay any money up front. Some schools noted that you would not be considered if you did not (ultimately? already?) have a fully submitted application (and presumably all fees paid).</p>
<p>A funny thing we found. Last year at Unifieds, all the schools seemed to have cassettes, but not all had CD's. People were scrambling for CD players. This year, we didn't bother bringing a boombox because my D used a cassette and, low and behold 15 minutes before audition, we found out that neither of the schools had cassette players! So I ran downstairs and asked the doormen where I could pick one up quickly. They said there was one place less than a block away but it was a ripoff, or I could go about 5 blocks and get a cheap one at a convenience/drug store. I said I had to go for the more expensive, just to save time. I WAS SORELY RIPPED OFF! But, I knew that going in. What can you do? Just another $65.00 after all the $'s for lessons, applications, etc. Too bad these weren't all tax write-offs!!!!</p>
<p>I'm wondering why the schools don't provide the CD/cassette players? As it is, they don't provide a pianist but it would seem having the player would make logical sense, and then, of course, the applicants are traveling a great distance. It would seem that whatever "materials" were required to hold an audition, they'd have available. We never went to Unifieds, so didn't have this "experience". All my daughter's schools had live pianists but one, NYU, which did provide a boombox. I already thought that wasn't so great compared to providing a live accompanist, but I guess I shouldn't complain, upon hearing stories of providing your own electronics. And Lynn, your story takes the cake on this end of things! The things we do for our kids! :D
Susan</p>
<p>Susan - After my D did U of Arts, the next person (who was a friend of my D's) told them she only had a cassette. The man said, well bring in the sheet music because he had a keyboard. So I guess they accommodate when they can.</p>
<p>i agree that these schools should bring boom boxes (and some of them had them even though they told you to bring your own). The reason that they did, which people explained to me, was because if your accompianment is burned from another CD, it is quite possible it will not work on any stereo. so i guess better safe than sorry. hehe</p>
<p>did anyone respond to these questions because i am wondering the same thing. </p>
<p>i am in chicago now and would like to walk in but dont know the proper way to go about this.</p>
<p>I would suggest you simply go to that school and see if you can walk in and what their procedure would be. It will be different at different schools.</p>
<p>Most schools are well organized, with the exception of UCLA. A total disaster.</p>
<p>Some schools have no CD players</p>
<p>Walk-ins seem to be possible pretty much anywhere there are cancelations, and some schools are advertising walk-ins</p>
<p>Some of the most wonderful audition experiences are at Otterbein, SMU, USC, BU and Northwestern (vocal on-campus) </p>
<p>My students are having a great time. Our hotel room has been party central with NOCCA kids, my students, Interlochen, and others from all over. They have been performing songs and monologues for one another and giving support.</p>
<p>This is great stuff.</p>
<p>xxx,Mary Anna</p>
<p>Mary Anna,
I just think it is wonderful and amazing how much you and CoachC are invested in your kids. They (and their parents) are so lucky to have such knowlegable, caring people in their corner! Bravo to you both for your hard work and dedication throughout this process.</p>