Unifieds and Audition travel tips

College Majors Musical Theater Major
1

I thought it might be helpful to share some experiences/tips about audition travel and Unifieds:

We attended Chicago Unifieds and had an amazing experience. The Palmer House Hilton was so fun!

-Exectutive Level- I read about this on CC and it was well worth it! They have a lounge with breakfast, snacks and drinks. all day, and hot snacks every evening. It was a great little getaway for me when my daughter wanted to stretch/warm up in the room or when we needed a little break.

  • Unifieds were scheduled for Monday-Thursday. When we made our travel plans (early) we decided to arrive Sunday morning and have the entire day to get acclimated. Well....she ended up doing her BoCo audition an hour after arriving on Sunday. Not all of the schools are there all week. There are also other schools not listed that are there over the weekend. I would have arrived Friday night or Saturday morning and left by Wednesday.

-The room really wasn’t available until 3. There is a large restroom not far from the registration area that she was able to change and get ready for her audition with plenty of room. Luckily, we packed what she needed separately from our other bags and checked our other bags while we waited.

  • There is a little dance store about a block away if you go out the Wabash exit. Yep, my daughter forgot something. It was a lifesaver....so was the Walgreens that sold wine, lol.
  • If you aren't a member yet, sign up for a hotel rewards program. Chances are that you will be staying in hotels not only for auditions, but also when visiting your child at college, so why not build points? I ended up with a couple free nights.
  • I had some fun trying to win Hamilton tickets every day in the lottery. Although I wasn't successful, it was a fun distraction for me while my daughter did her thing.
  • She had her music and lots of info on her phone. I did make a manilla file folder for each school and wrote important info on the front such as time/place/cuts/ monologue times for each school. Inside I had a copy printed from each school website about the program and their list of audition requirements- any important info particular to that school, as well as two copies of headshot/resumes. We placed them on the desk in the room in order so that she could simply grab the ones she needed for the day. She placed the folders in her bag and could review each on while waiting to audtion.
  • Allow plenty of time for travel. She ended up typing in a wrong digit and we ended up spending 45 minutes at the top of Mud Mountain in Ithaca..I know, who could get lost going to Ithaca! It happens!

Any other ideas that worked or didn’t??

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Bookmarked! Thank you.

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Lost in Ithaca… :)) Good thread, @Onourown . I second sticking with one or two hotel chains, and signing up for their members/rewards program.

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@owensfolks HaHa…I could start another whole thread on funny things that happened along the way. We had the best adventures. I would probably start that one off with the train trip. We had never taken the train before and thought it would be a great idea rather than drive or fly in the unpredictable snow in February. Great idea! We got a “roomette”…Hey, the story IS actually a travel tip. A “Roomette” on Amtrak is not a “Room”. It is a tin can with a sliding door that they usher you into in the middle of the night along with a weeks worth of luggage. You get about 30 seconds to figure things out and get that door shut because everyone else onboard is already sleeping. The toilet is also the “stairs” to the upper bunk. My D hopped right up there and thought it was great! Meanwhile, I am looking at my “bed” that is completely covered with 2 suitcases, 2 Vera Bradley weekenders, a backpack, a garment bag, and a couple of purses…and I can’t even turn around to find a light. We couldnt fall asleep because we were laughing so hard. We had fun, though.

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Here are two threads regarding Unifieds tips. One is from 2012, but still relevant information.

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/theater-drama-majors/1374475-please-coach-me-about-unifieds-p1.html

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/1924770-chicago-unifieds-audition-scheduling-advice-and-best-practices-p1.html

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@zebracocoa Thanks! I knew there were some out there somewhere!

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Do you have to have your own mic for unifieds?

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@MTmomSF I don’t believe I ever saw or heard of anyone using a mic and I doubt it would be a good idea. The rooms are small and the auditors are generally right in front of the person auditioning, so a mic shouldn’t be necessary. Just be sure that recorded music is at a volume that doesn’t drown out the person singing. It should support the singer, not overtake him or her. If there is an accompanist, as professionals, they should be able to play at an appropriate volume to support the singer. But practicing good projection is important when preparing audition songs.

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Also good to note that almost all campus auditions, and some Unified auditions, have live accompaniment so you don’t need recorded tracks. The schools website or their invitation to audition will usually spell all that out. I’ve never known anyone who used a mic at an audition.

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No need for a mic. I would recommend a small, portable blue tooth speaker, though. She had her cuts on her phone and had the speaker just in case, especially for walkins.