<p>Quite an experience! My D had her CMU audition on Saturday morning, which was at studios near the corner of 37th and 8th Ave. as I recall. Her PSU audition was that afternoon at the AMA as were her Emerson and Otterbein auditions (Sunday morning and afternoon respectively). We were unable to work Ithaca into the schedule as they were holding their auditions off site and had scheduled them at the same time as Emerson's. </p>
<p>NYTheatermom has described the AMA set-up quite well but I would like to add that experiencing 3 floors of auditioning students and their parent(s) really brings home the realities of the numbers! The rooms weren't exactly 100% soundproofed and we often were able to hear songs, especially from the belters that were auditioning. </p>
<p>By some fortunate quirk of fate, while waiting for my D to do her monologue and songs for Emerson on Sunday morning, I wandered over to the small internet lounge on the 8th floor of the AMA and logged onto the CC site and lo and behold, there was Doctorjohn's post on the percentages...a breath of relief for me as the sheer number of students at the NYC Unifieds was daunting to say the least! The corridor where the BOCO and Emerson auditions were being held was almost standing room only.</p>
<p>I will state that each school handled its audition differently than the others. The best advice I can give to students and parents is to READ THE AUDITION INSTRUCTIONS for each program and call, email or write them if you have any questions. There is nothing like discovering a week or two before an audition that a certain school wants a monologue longer (or shorter) than the one your child has prepared or (as does CMU) wants one of the monologues to be from material before 1900. Same with needing CD or cassette players...we saved ourselves the trouble of having to carry a "boom box" with us on the plane to and from Tampa by simply reading the materials from Otterbein that clearly said that we didn't need to bring one.</p>
<p>I can agree wholeheartedly with MaryAnna that Otterbein (through doctorjohn) clearly seems to go out of its way to make the audition experience as positive as possible for the students, regardless of the ultimate outcome. </p>
<p>I did get to meet some of our fellow CC'ers and hope that we all can be posting good news for our kids in a month or so. </p>
<p>I'll be happy to answer specific questions but for now it's time to get out the U of Michigan file as that's our next stop this Friday.</p>
<p>Thanks, melsmom! I had a great time with my students and former students at UM this past Friday and wish I could be in Chicago with my students who are there now - but grad school keeps me here. But that's ok, because tomorrow I get to go to the Steelers' VICTORY PARADE :) - and our very own Mz. Samia went to and, to her surprise, really ENJOYED her first Superbowl party yesterday (where she communed with some of my former students and their families as well as my family)! ;)</p>
<p>scogor, i'm sorry i didn't get to meet you. we were in ny as well. we had penn state sunday afternoon and otterbein sunday at 12:00. i did get to meet nytheatremom. hope all went well for you and you get good news.</p>
<p>Doctor John, Add 1 more to your list of CC.Com readers. My son auditioned for you on Sunday in NY and said it was very enjoyable, relaxing almost and he felt he could really be himself. Thanks so much for caring about the kids!!</p>
<p>I've been getting great reports from my students at Chicago Unifieds (a lot of positive feedback given re: song and monologue choices and the acting of both songs and monologues, so I'm really proud of my students AND of my coaching team!) - and I wanted to share something one of my students said that made me laugh:</p>
<p>"It's so great to be able to do walk-ins in addition to my scheduled auditions - I just go through my book and pick appropriate cuts for that school and then, it's like MT Trick or Treat!" ;)</p>
<p>Great to hear the kids are having FUN with the process - it makes the stress along the way seem almost worthwhile!</p>
<p>oops - this is COACH C posting, not Samia - she is still at my house and she was signed on to CC on my computer under her name - sorry for the confusion! :)</p>
<p>I'm back home in Dallas. I left a couple of students in Chicago with "mom chaperones" for the last day of auditions.</p>
<p>All went well for my students. Really well. The proof will be in the acceptance letters, although simply giving your best audition is a lesson learned. UNIFIEDS can be a great experience if you are organized, well-prepared and don't over schedule yourself.</p>
<p>I had a nice breakfast this morning with Dr. John and good visits with many other college theatre/musical theatre heads. I am continuing to establishing personal contacts that will benefit my students.</p>
<p>I did some coaching in my suite with old and new students, but will make myself more available next year for those who want it. </p>
<p>My regret was not being able to meet with many of you CC parents, but time would not permit. I appologize for that. With so many students and so many auditions to keep track of, I had little time left for anything else. Although Interlochen and Idylwild had many more to keep track of than I did!</p>
<p>My fondest memory will be late night parlor performances in suite 11122 by some future greats, and the tender reunion of so many young artists displaced by Katrina. </p>
<p>Wow! Unifieds in NYC was such a great experience. Our S was really encouraged and felt that he was given the chance to do his best. I was so appreciative of the feedback he received from each auditor. Whether he is accepted or not, it had a very positive experience. AND I loved talking to other parents; just wish there had been more time for that! Razorback - my niece was so excited to hear about you and your D! Please keep in touch. Scoger - great to put a face with a name! I am so grateful for all the information found here...we felt well prepared b/c of such open generous folks on this board. I ditto the fact that you should also read the individual college info and and when in doubt, call. My S had six auditions and it went very smoothly b/c we sketched out an outline of what to prepare for each. We followed someone's advise and put the segments for each school on the separate CDs...very good move.</p>
<p>Okay, so I'm sick. I'm coughing about the same as usual, but my ears are back to being all plugged up, and my nose and throat are both completely congested. I'm taking mucinex, airborne, and this water/Braggs organic apple cider vinegar mixture my voice teacher told me to take. I have San Francisco Saturday and LA on Sunday! Someone help, please! Memorizing my monologues was going to be bad enough for this week, but now I need to get unsick - or at least back to the level of sickness I've been since November! Advice ASAP, please! I have nearly no voice....</p>
<p>be a star
bless your heart. Water, water and water. Don't talk or sing at all. I know this sounds weird but a doctor once told me that when your ears are clogged up wrap a wool scarf around your neck, it really does help my whole family has been doing it for years. Good luck!</p>
<p>Please get in touch with your doctor. It sounds like you have a classic sinus infection and you may need antibiotics. With just a few does it will clear up. If you've already gone that route, maybe the doctor can refer you to a good ENT specialist.</p>
<p>be<em>a</em>star,
Oh, man. That bites. This is kinda gross and probably nothing you don't already know, but if the mucus is yellow, green, and/or has blood in it, it's probably sinusitis. If so, go to your doctor now and request a "z pac." The last time I had it, I got one of those and it knocked it out in two days. Also, if there is a spa or gym nearby that has a steamroom, go there and spend as much time in it as you can stand. Long, hot showers will help, too. At any rate, go to your doctor ASAP! Get well soon and break a leg!</p>
<p>One more suggestion from my suitemate ... She's a track athlete and swears by Chinese medicine. She says that you should go to a real Chinese practitioner who trained in China or Korea and mixes his/her own teas. She has been to one when she had a cold before a meet and the combination of acupuncture and herbs was able to clear up her symptoms very quickly. In her case, she had to make sure there was no ephedra in the mix (drug testing), but in yours, it shouldn't matter.</p>
<p>Thank you guys so much for the fast replies. I'm staying home from school today, and taking dayquil, and possibly some mucinex later, and drinking lots and lots of water. We went to the doctor a couple weeks ago, and it's not a sinus infection, because they gave me the antibiotics (which didn't work). I'll try that wool scarf idea, and I'll get some steam, too. Thank you!</p>
<p>be<em>a</em>star and others auditioning in LA on Sunday: Let's hope the fires calm down by then. The air quality is bad and the newscasters are complaining about their sore throats. With new fires now, in Malibu and elsewhere, in addition to the original Anaheim fire, the air quality is bad in some of the most populated areas of southern California.</p>
<p>be<em>a</em>star: I'm so sorry you're sick. They've given you some great advice (my daughter is the steam and scarf around the neck and Airborne type). The doctor idea is good. Get lots of SLEEP, too. I feel for you. My d also started drinking airborne the other day and my heart dropped when I saw it. So far, she's ok, but Sunday is a long time away. Hopefully, long enough for you to get all better!!!</p>
<p>What I'm going to say next is very very hard to hear, I know. If it comes down to the end of the week and you're still this sick, you need to consider whether you should audition or not. Maybe others could add their opinions on this, but I'm not convinced that the faculty could properly evaluate you if you are sick and I believe that it will work against you. </p>
<p>Let's hear it from others from past years: did you audition sick and what were the results from those auditions???</p>
<p>I see you posted, be<em>a</em>star, when I was writing my post. Is Dayquil a good thing to be taking for the voice? Maybe somebody could address this. I thought Dayquil was a no-no for the voice. Or is it just a no-no because it's not a very healthy medication?</p>
<p>With all of the illness going around this year, and all of the auditions comming up, I give my S Airborn every morning and evening, because it helps to boost your immune system, so far, knock on wood, and also, I know they say it all of the time, "WASH YOUR HANDS", all of the time, I gave my S a little bottle of that instant hand cleaner, and he says he uses it alot at school. I know this doesn't help those that are already sick, but maybe it will help others to prevent illness.</p>
<p>have you tried zicam. it works well. shortens the life of a cold. we've also been told that gummy candies contain glycerine and are good to moisten the throat. this would not be to help right now, but when you get ready to sing and you need to moisten your throat at that time.</p>
<p>If you saw the MD a couple of weeks ago, this really be be a new infection, or has developed into an infection from the old one. You still must call him.</p>
<p>Get some Emer'gen-"C". It works miracles and all singers should keep in their medicine cabinets. It's a preformers best friend! My D swears by it. You can get at any CVS, Walgreens, etc. It comes in a box with 36 packets of 1000 mg of Vit. C and other minerals. You just mix with water.</p>