Attended Unified in Chicago this year. Friend booked room in June of 2015. We took the train , Amtrak to avoid parking,
and possible inclement weather. We ate breakfast a few time at the Corner Bakery. We were there from Sunday to Wednesday. Great experience. Only drawback was the girls warming up in the room next to us each day.
Great advice. I think that’s what we’ll do: Stay somewhat close by, but not at The Palmer.
Hi! Does anyone know which schools will be at the 2017 unifieds LA and when the audition in LA for NYU, Syracuse, and/or Carnegie Mellon will be? Also, what should we wear for the Musical Theater dance audition? (Yes, I’m already thinking about this haha). Can we wear black tights? Can our ballet tights be over our leotard or is that too informal?
Wouldn’t do tights over leo. D is a dancer and always wears her tights that way in dance class, if she is wearing them. But went old school in the MT dance call. Also would choose tights and shoes that lengthen your leg. D is short and muscular. She wore light tan tights and same colored jazz shoes. D intensely dislikes jazz shoes (she dances in bare feet almost always) but she wore them for the audition because that was what her coach recommended. She felt the recommendations were right on. The schools will publish their audition times on their websites. Those go live about August 1. Maybe earlier?? Good luck!
@lgallybroadway - My D wore black tights and black shoes with a bright colored Leo. At most schools she wore black dance “booty” shorts as well. I think the important piece is to match the tights and shoes so you don’t break the visual line of the leg.
Darn it! BroadwayCon announced their dates and it’s different than NY unifieds this year. Was hoping to hit both in one trip but not gonna happen this time.
Some schools are very particular about what they want you to wear in the dance calls, some specify ballet black leo and pink tights (elon) – however others are more flexible. I did see girls wearing jazz pants, but most wore leo’s, tights a small dance skirt and shoes.
Thank you! I"ll check my schools specify anything!
Palmer House is open for reservations, BUT not through their website. You need to call them, and say that you will be attending the Unified Auditions. I just called them to find out when February dates will be available for booking, and they asked me if I am attending any particular event. When they heard “Unifieds”, they said that they have the block of rooms available for booking already, and I was able to book a room with no problem. Apparently, Executive floor is not available for Unifieds, but that is the only “problem”. The rate is $169 plus tax for 2 double beds, refundable, up to 24 hours cancellation…
Not knowing yet whether we will choose to attend NYC or Chicago Unifieds, I just went ahead and booked hotels in both cities. With easy cancellation I have nothing to loose, right? If you are thinking about attending NYC Unifieds, I will recommend booking TRYP by Hilton on W 35th street between 8th and 9th ave. It is less than a block away from both Pearl and Ripley Grier studios. Closest location you can find, and a billion food places around. With no snow, it is also a fairly short walk to any of the theaters (between 8 and 12 blocks or so)…
And I’d recommend the Homewood Suites - literally around the corner from Pearl and RG. My D and I were camped out there from Wednesday to Sunday (she had non Unified auditions all over the city starting on Thursday) and having a suite with a kitchen was a God send - particularly when the 2 feet of snow hit.
@theaterwork we did NYC and know many friends who did LA and a few Chicago. I agree it didn’t make a difference as to who got In or didn’t. Many people we know who have done 2 locations say LA is the way to go. No weather hassle. We picked NYC as more of my daughters schools were east coast and she could do some
On campus auditions around Unifieds. Although NYC is only 2 days, many of the “other” schools that audition on the same weekend started a couple days early. There were auditions going for 4 good days (CMU, guthrie, UNCSA, Ithaca, plus NYC schools like Juilliard, new school, etc, had audition slots the Thursday and Friday before. CMU actually started weds I believe). Just not officially unified schools. All official unified schools auditioned in the same location (pearl studios) on Saturday and Sunday. Many others were less than a block away at Ripley Greer (CMU, DePaul, UNCSA). And another group were a quick train ride away at another studio about a mile north (guthrie, Ithaca). Several hotels were right near pearl studios and ripely Greer. Just walked across the street. We met lots of other people there for the same thing. And walk ins happened at NYC and I know people who did many walk ins in LA and Chicago too.
One pro I hear about Chicago is that most of the schools audition at the same
Hotel many stay in - Palmer house. And a few other schools are nearby. A con I hear is that bus-loads of kids from PA boarding schools (interlochen, NCSA, etc) all come together to Chicago Unifieds. We were told to consider a different location due to that. Again it probably makes no difference. Pearl studios was pretty crowded in NYC even without bus loads coming in
Good luck. Have fun! I loved the experience and time with my daughter.
One more thing- unsolicited advice - apply somewhat early. Try to apply by October vs waiting for a later deadline. You have to schedule each audition with each school after applying. Slots do fill up. U arts, CCM, CMU, etc, filled up fast this year
If* ops
I agree 100% with @bfahopeful - slots fill up quickly! I would take that one step further and do some early action auditions if possible. Takes some pressure off if accepted- lets you refine things if not. That is my opinion.
Does anyone know what schools will be there next year?
If you look on the unified website there is a list of unified schools. And many others will be in the same cities at the same time. Any school you are interested in will post dates for auditions on their website. There are LOTS of schools at each regional site (NYC, Chicago, LA). Many more
Than listed as a “unified” school. Examples: NYU, Pace, MINN/guthrie, UNCSA, CMU, DePaul, Ithaca, cal arts, Juilliard (Chicago and NYC), etc.
It is actually cheaper to book the Palmer through Hilton.com, for some reason – the same room is $155 (vs. $169 directly on the Palmer site and $159 on sites like Hotwire.) If you have or sign up for Hilton Honors you get free wi-fi. And the Executive Floor is available, also at $15 cheaper than through the Palmer site.
I would recommend going to unifieds … it saves money on the travel. Also, my Daughter did much better in that environment than she did at the schools where she auditioned on campus. There is a lot of nervousness built up when you travel across the country, tour a campus … basically fall in love and then the audition. It became too important in her mind and she didn’t do as well with the anxiety/pressure she put on herself. We went to the LA unifieds. My daughter was accepted into 3 of the 7 schools she auditioned for there. Then we traveled to visit the schools where she was accepted. All in all, she was accepted into 4 of the 10 schools she auditioned for. Finances were a large factor in the school she chose. Many of these programs do not need to provide a lot of scholarship money because there are so many people who want to go them. If you go out of state, and don’t qualify for needs based financial aid, be prepare for it to be really, really expensive.
what schools did your D get into? We are just starting this crazy web
We did the same as @japbmom - except in NYC unifieds. Had several acceptances and visited based on that list. Worked well for our family.