Unified Auditions

<p>The NYU auditions include weekdays. My D happened to have hers on a Saturday, however, because two Saturdays are set aside as advanced dance audition days but otherwise, auditions take place on other days as well throughout the month of Feb. (for RD). So, if your D auditions ON campus, for RD at NYU, call right on Nov.1 to get your very first choice as close as possible. Usually if you are on top of the audition dates and appointment making procedures and call, send in, etc. whatever method they use as early as they make it possible, you can get the dates you want. It is a bit crazy as you have to map out about six months of your life. </p>

<p>I hear ya about missing rehearsals of some sort as being more problematic than missing academic classes! It's true. However, my D told all directors or teachers of her dates she'd be out ahead of time. I feel that unless it is an actual performance or dress rehearsal, then a kid HAS to miss because after all, ONE reason they do these performing arts activities is to work toward studying these fields in college and so in order to study in college, they have to get in and in order to get in, they have to audition and so I feel that performing arts teachers/directors, of ALL people, ought to undertand that college auditions can't be skipped. Obviously trying to work around performance dates at home works best but in the end, college auditions take precedence. We were able to work it all out though my D did not have any actual performances that coincided with her audition dates. Mapping it all out as you seem to be doing, is the way to go. Try to work around shows, etc. at home but there is only so much you can do. And frankly, if your child can only attend a college audition on a date that her show choir has something, so be it. I am all for being commited to an activity but one can't miss college auditions and if there are only certain dates you can do them, you gotta do them as you gotta look at the BIGGER picture in the scheme of things. I think letting a teacher or director know far in advance is certainly in order but it should be understood by that person too, who should be a supporter of this endeavor, after all.</p>

<p>Is the San Francisco Unified Audition location set yet?</p>

<p>sasha1:</p>

<p>Yes, it is. We'll be here:</p>

<p>Clarion Hotel-San Francisco Airport
401 E. Millbrae Ave.
Millbrae, CA
650-692-6363</p>

<p>I hadn't realized that the website hadn't been updated. The site is now managed by a colleague at another school. I've written and asked him to make the change. </p>

<p>Thanks for catching this!</p>

<p>Anybody have any suggestions on hotels to stay at in NY? What is the hotel that is next to the Unifieds site - is it the Crowne Plaza? I don't want to spend a fortune since we are going to be there from the lst to the 5th to get in NYU, but I don't want to be too far away either. We usually stay in the Times Square area when we visit New York, and I don't the city that well otherwise. Anyone bought any tickets to plays yet? I need to start getting my act together after my D's audition this weekend at Elon.</p>

<p>Dancermom,</p>

<p>We didn't buy any tickets yet...let us know what you are getting and maybe we can get a big group together! Good luck to your d this Friday...we will be thinking about her on our flight to Emerson! As far as the hotel I am no help..I think we are staying with my parents in NJ in taking the train in.</p>

<p>kaysmom</p>

<p>We stayed at the Doubletree in Times Square last year. Not cheap, but all rooms have suites and it was VERY convenient.</p>

<p>Thats interesting how the auditions are in "San Francisco" yet they are in Milbrae...they are a considerable distance from one another</p>

<p>About 15 miles from downtown, according to Mapquest. </p>

<p>We would have preferred a downtown hotel, but they all wanted guarantees of a large number of sleeping room rentals. We can't meet that requirement, since we're not a "convention" in the usual sense. Here's part of the memo we received from our travel agent:</p>

<p>"All of your venues remain the same as last year with the exception of San Francisco. This year you will be at The Clarion, a 240 room hotel at the airport... Please know that it has taken six weeks of continuing effort in that area to find a responsive group sales office. Our ratio of guest rooms to meeting rooms continues to be a problem. Hotels would prefer to have 500 guests using 20 meeting rooms."</p>

<p>The advantage of The Clarion is that it is at the airport, which will at least make it convenient for those who are flying in.</p>

<p>dancermom, when I was in NYC last April, we stayed at the Marriot Midtown East (I believe). I'm not sure how expensive it is, but it's cheap enough that EF tours uses it (that's who I was with). And it's nice, though in a more standard sort of way. It's about a 5-10 minute walk from Times Square, and a couple blocks from the subway, too. It's within walking or subway distance of just about everything.</p>

<p>We stayed at the Hampton Inn Manhattan - Times Square, 851 Eighth Avenue @ 51st Street on our last couple trips to New York. The rates are reasonable for the location, the rooms are recently refurbished and relatively large by NYC standards, and it's right in the thick of musical theatre nirvana.</p>

<p>Phone: 212-581-4100
Web: click</a> here</p>

<p>The Crowne Plaza, Marriott Marquis, Renaissance, Doubletree, Sheraton, and Hotel Edison are the closest hotels to that location. All are within sight, literally, of where you'll need to be. The least expensive of those is the Edison and rooms there are usually around $200-225/night which is inexpensive for Manhattan hotels. Others that are further away, are the Milford Plaza, Hampton Inn (mentioned above is about $230/night according to a friend who has a reservation for Feb.), Sofitel, Hotel 41, Millenium, Hilton, Westin. There are many hotels in the theatre district. Finding one that is reasonably priced is difficult. The Marriott Midtown East is a Courtyard Marriott and the base rate for a standard room is probably around $260 (don't forget the exorbitant hotel taxes in the city when calculating your budget), and is way over on 3rd Avenue, not right in the theatre district if that's what you're looking at. I'm surprised that the Unifieds doesn't recommend a hotel and arrange for a group rate somewhere close to the location where the auditions are held. Dancermom, if you're staying in the theatre district, you can easily get a cab outside your hotel to take you down to the Tisch audition. It's about a 10-15 minute ride.</p>

<p>dancermom,
We are staying at:
Sheraton Manhattan Hotel
790 7th Avenue at 51st Street, New York, New York 10019 United States
Phone: (212) 581-3300
$239/night but I wanted to be close to the auditions.
Harriet</p>

<p>dancermom,
We stayed at the Marriott last year, a block away from the auditions right at Times Square. It was nice being so close. We went back and forth to the hotel between auditions. About tickets...we did not buy tickets until we were there. There were tickets available to most top shows, and at discounted prices. We go to NYC to see shows often and never buy tickets in advance. My d goes and gets in the lottery, or last seat in the house. Her and her friends usually get the orchestra level...usually great seats. Unless you have your heart set on seeing a particular show, I would not worry about buying your tickets in advance. Husband and younger d went around scouting for shows while I took d to auditions. Best of luck, we had a great time that weekend! I wish all of you the same!</p>

<p>Thanks everyone for all the info! Thank goodness I asked, because now I know that the auditions are right in the area in which I most comfortable there. We usually stay at the Doubletree when we are there, so I may just opt for that, but now I have some good options to check into! Thanks again - and good luck to all of us!</p>

<p>I have a question, so If I am scheduled for a(n) vocal/monlogue appointment at one school at 11:10 AM, how long do you think the wait would be? How far after should I schedule my next school if its regional?</p>

<p>I know that there are schools that are not part olf the Unifieds that show up and hold auditions. Does any know how to find out what these schools are? Is there a website?
Thanks.</p>

<p>The thing to do is look at the websites of the individual schools you are interested in. Almost ALL schools offering BFAs in MT or Acting will try to have auditions in the major cities, usually for two days with all of them available around the time of the Unifieds over a 5 day period (starting the Thursday before the weekend and going into the following Monday) My s had 7 auditions over a 4 day period during the Unifieds in NY last year and only 2 of them were technically Unifieds.</p>

<p>trill: Go to post #31 in this thread for a list of the schools which were at the Palmer House Hotel in Chicago in 2005.</p>

<p>Hi Babar - do you remember what the 5 other non- Unified schools were that also had auditions in NY during that period? We only know of CMU. Thanks!</p>

<p>Yes - These were for acting BFA programs, not MT - CMU, NCSA, Rutgers, NYU and USC were all auditioning in NY in days before, after, or overlapping with those of the Unifieds (which were held at AMA while the others were in studios or hotels). DePaul was also auditioning then (I am not sure if it was one of the Unifieds or not) but my s. decided it wasn't a good fit and didn't end up doing that one. Obviously NYU is actually in NY so it has many other dates possible to audition there. We live locally and my s. had audtioned for SUNY Purchase and Fordham on earlier weekends - though both schools did have auditions that weekend - it just seemed like having a concentrated period to focus on auditions worked well. Good luck!</p>