<p>I’m surprised at how few of the colleges on my daughter’s long list are going to be at the Unifieds. But it seems, from the conversation below, that many schools do hold regional auditions around the same time as the Unifieds. In our case, we live 2 hours from NYC, so I am hoping we can do as many auditions there as possible, on day-trips. I’m all for on-campus auditions if practical, but traveling around to more than a dozen schools is not only expensive, it’s really hard to schedule around work and school obligations. One of my kids did music conservatory auditions in winter 2010 and it was stressful for all of us to travel all over the country. Two of the auditions occurred immediately after blizzards, making travel hellacious for all auditioners. Twice, she was assigned for auditions at two different schools on the same day, and we had to request rescheduling. (Ironically, after all that, she ended up at the school that is closest to where we live.) </p>
<p>I do have a question about regional auditions. For music conservatories, there is a definite downside to doing a regional audition: you do not perform for the same faculty panel, but rather do a taped audition in front of an administrator. Often, the taped auditions are much longer. (Musicians prepare programs that can be up to 45 minutes but are typically only asked to play 7-10 minutes in a live audition, at the discretion of the faculty judges; an administrator will, understandably, tape a much longer portion of the program to make sure the panel will be able to see all it needs, even though in reality they may review only a few minutes of the tape.) So the regional auditions are draining, and you don’t get the same audience vibe as you do in a room with live judges. Musicians avoid regional auditions when possible.</p>
<p>Are there similar reasons for actors to avoid regional auditions? My impression, reading this board, is that the acting faculty does travel to auditions. Are there some schools that merely tape auditions for on-site review by faculty at a later time?</p>