Hello! I am hoping to find some other parents and friends who are navigating for the first time or have had experience with Unifieds. Kind of terrified to be honest! Would love any and all advice, tips, and ways to stay calm during this! We are going to be at Palmer House that week and would like to meet some of you. I have a ton of questions and have learned a few things that I might be able to share too.
@Sarajanine - We will be there. I just sent you a pm.
We were at the Palmer House for 5 days last year (total of 9 auditions there plus 2 off campus). My D specifically did not want me waiting around the audition halls, so I mostly hung out in the room doing work on my laptop (free wifi in room through Hilton Honors) and was available to her by text for errands like replacing the one makeup item that got left out of the bag, buying food, and washing out dancewear. There were also a couple of meetings that parents were either requested or required to come to.
(Since we live far from all the schools she applied to, these were all of her in person auditions with the exception of one regional callback)
D made a binder with pocket folders for each school of what she needed to bring in for each audition, and did an excellent job of planning what she would wear to each. She packed a small bag for those 3 in a row afternoons, and changed in the restrooms downstairs. She had a good time meeting other applicants, and kept in touch with a few of them.
A few things I wish we’d done:
-Check in with each school when we got there Three of the schools had her down for a different time or had changed their dance call or had reconfigured their Q&A session. Both established and newer programs!
-Practice practice practice in advance with the technology your student is bringing for those auditions that require accompaniment. I don’t know why my D’s voice teacher delayed my request for her to use her iPod and speaker within lessons for the last few weeks before we left but the result was that in the stress of one of her auditions, she plugged the cord into the wrong jack.
-Similarly with any new clothing, shoes, and especially dancewear. The jazz pants she found that finally fit her small frame crept down during the dance call.
-Been prepared to write thank you notes (as in bring cards and stamps) to auditors who gave business cards and encouraging feedback.
BAL to all!
Looking for ideas for what to wear to Unifieds. We are just looking for examples for girls.
@jd5mom - when you say “what to wear” do you mean audition outfit? You need to look dressy- but be careful not to be uncomfortable, or wear something distracting. He “classic” MT audition look is a jewel toned A-line dress and nude heels. The idea is to give the body a long line, and the vibrant color is lively.
Now- with that said- if you look around on past threads you will find that there are LOTS of other ideas out there. And you will see girls in lots of things. My D wore the “classic” outfit to her 1st couple auditions (before xmas), but as she went further she decided it wasn’t “her” - and changed to wear a couple different dresses- both with small print, and tall boots rather than heels. She felt good in her outfits- which is the most important piece.
Hope this helps!
@jd5mom - last year my daughter wear dark jeans a solid color shirt that looked good for her skin complexion. It was what I call dressy casual.
Most MT girls will wear some sort of dress. Lots of jewel tones with nude heels LOL. Mine wore a tan felt jumper and black turtleneck, with black tights and Doc Martens. Jeans and pants were more common for straight acting. I agree with @toowonderful, it’s about feeling good in what you wear. Like her D, mine wasn’t the “classic” type of girl. The jumper and boots were still audition appropriate, but better expressed her own individual style.
In addition to lots of red and blue dresses that seem to emphasize height as much as possible (worn with tan stage shoes), we saw lots of cotton and wool dresses with tights and boots for girls at NYC unifieds. One of the best outfits IMHO was a 3/4 sleeve almost black A-line dress with some subtle but interesting embroidery on sleeves and a neckline that showed collar bones worn with boots. She actually stood out because her dress was classy, expensive looking and a bit dramatic (but not too dramatic). Anything nice and comfortable goes. Seems like the bad moves were the really short dresses, loud prints, and really uncomfortable shoes.
Agree with all the posters! Wear something that makes you feel fabulous, incredible and represents “you” but is also professional. Aline with booties was the dress of choice last year… I think I saw more booties than nude heels but perhaps not. ps; Prof. Wagner from Michigan at a seminar D and I went to last year said please please don’t wear super high heels! It is too hard to walk in them and distracts from your look…
Started with nude heals. Changed to black booties!
My daughter wore a beautiful dress and heels to her first audition. They had her sing her song doing jumping jacks backwards. Since then she hasn’t been that keen on dressing like that… says it isnt “her”. Last weekend she wore an adorable skirt, silk blouse, and the clunky short “theatrical” boots, but new shiny and designer( I am blanking on the style name). I thought she looked cute theatrical and could move. However, to be honest her legs and whole body look better with the longer line of heels. I think you should look like you, but you at your best. But maybe not wedding best…but I don’t really know. I have been surprized when I have seen young girls in sweats. Hair not fixed , et. This is a business of presenting yourself…
Many of the Acting majors wore pants (my D and her friends included), nice tops and comfortable shoes they could move in. It seemed you could tell the Acting majors from the MT majors on the floor by outfit :-). In one of my D’s monologues, she sits in a chair with a serious manspread so a dress would not have worked. I also saw some kids in sweats. I wondered if they were just scoping or if they seriously went to auditions in sweats. Maybe it’s a scthick?
The advice on clothing, though, is fairly universal; wear what you are comfortable performing and moving in. Makeup and hair neat. One of my D’s auditors mentioned they liked hair completely out of the face; my D kept a small makeup kit in her bag and quickly swept her hair into a pony tail. I really don’t know if they auditor really wanted girls to have their hair back or if she wanted to see what my D would do with a note!
I also noticed some very, very high heels and felt those were probably not the best choice! At the end of the day, presentation is important but I have not heard anyone say I got an offer from XXX school because of my awesome jewel-toned dress and nude dance shoes.
Last audition we were at literally every girl was wearing a solid jewel tone swing dress. Most were sleeveless. My D does wear a subtle print sometimes and has a striped dress in a subtle color also . Never bright prints but neutral tones like burgundy etc . Since it’s winter she’s been wearing opaque tights and boots low heeled low cut.
I wouldn’t have an issue with a girl wearing a nice dress pant and jacket combo . I think it might be a nice change for them to see someone not in a dress.
I do not like it when girls wear character shoes however and i continue to see girls in them.
I probably should have specified that I have a son coming to Unifieds; and was looking for advice pertaining to what guys should wear for auditions, although he will be happy to hear of all these attractive young ladies! He will probably be a bit distracted. Lol
@Sarajanine The boys tended to be in uniform, too! My S wore beige pants, a dark blue dress shirt, brown belt and brown casual dress shoes (Rockports - comfortable; not wing tip-types!). He also had a pair of boots and a jacket with him for the interview if the interview was separate from the audition. Other boys wore very close to the same thing in different colors. Same advice for the guys- look neat and put together!
I recently saw a very smartly dressed guy at last audition in a really nice dark pair of jeans, casual top like a v neck solid tee maybe? ,nice shoes like a short boot and a blazer style jacket. It kinda looked a little H&M style to me. It caught my attention nonetheless.
@Sarajanine Sooo, I had totally talked my S into taking the uniform because everyone here suggested it and I HAD to do what CC said (don’t judge me). He never wanted to wear it. I had no idea he had extra clothes and shoes until we got to Chicago. We arrived during blizzard so I dropped him and bags off at door and went to park. When our bags arrived at our room there were 2 additional ones. He said he wasn’t decided on clothes and needed variety. After walking around for an hour and seeing everyone in very similar looks, he ditched it for something he was more comfortable in. He likes dressing up, so he went with a red dress shirt, red and black bow tie, black slacks, and his favorite Stacey Adams! He unbuttoned the cuff and rolled the sleeves to make it less formal. He got a ton of compliments on his look, including from all the pretty girls there. An adjudicator from a school he wasn’t auditioning for stopped him in the elevator and asked if he was auditioning for their school. If he had said yes, she wanted his name to look out for him. Said he looked “jazzy.” For his auditions after unifieds, he mixed and match a combo of khaki’s, black slacks, bow ties, button ups and dress shirts. He wears bright colors well, so he decided to stick with those after the red shirt worked.
All of this to say, use the guidance here, but make sure your child is comfortable. They will shine their best that way. My child’s look fit his personality, so he was able to present his best self.
What I remember as the “uniform” for guys was the jewel tone dress shirt (some with ties, some not) and black pants
@toowonderful in 2015 it definitely seemed to be khaki’s and button ups. I saw very few ties.
Edit: I’ll actually say Docker style pants, mostly tan colored.
What was the standard uniform for the dance calls? My daughter groaned when I told her she needed to wear a leotard and tights. I thought that was the standard? I bought a black leo and black tights but now I’m second guessing not buying a jewel-toned leo. God, I hope I make it thorough this audition stuff! I know my D will. I may be a mangled wreck by the side of the road by the time this is over. lol