<p>Brian, I am confused. You say son is a decent singer and you would be fine tracking down and paying for sheet music for his songs, yet he doesn't want an accompanist? Why would he prefer not to sing along with music? I think most people who sing find the notion of doing so without accompaniment a little more intimidating than singing a cappella. In any case, I think if the school says to bring sheet music, not bringing it would look (in my opinion) as if he did not follow the requirements for the audition.</p>
<p>NMR: He plans to sing Margaritte (sp.?) from the Scarlett Pimpernel. There have been 3 musical variations of the Pimpernel over the last four decades. Neither of us reads music, so we are not sure which version he sings unaccompanied. I am scared that the pianist will play a version (using the sheet music) that is inconsistent with what he is sings unaccompanied. But, I think you are right. Application fatigue has set-in, and I should try to figure out what version he is singing and find the sheet music. I go thru French to order plays. Anyone know of a good place to find sheet music from MT?</p>
<p>Try sheetmusicplus.com.</p>
<p>Order the various versions or whatever you can find. Have him meet with a music teacher at his high school or at your college to determine if the version you obtained is in the right key. If not, and you can't obtain another version, see if someone can transpose the music for you to your son's key. </p>
<p>If a college requests accompaniment, you should do that as he would look more amateurish, as well as not following directions, by not doing so. Actually, accompaniment should make him sing better than a capella. Have him practice with an acompanist a couple times before he goes. A local piano teacher or music teacher should be able to run it through with him so he is familiar with doing it with accompaniment. The accompanist follows the singer, not the other way around.</p>
<p>Thanks soozievt. I admire the MT kids/parents that have to not only worry about the monologue, but a few vocals, and dance. Our road looks less rough.</p>
<p>Also, on musicnotes.com, you can often hear a digital audio file of the song you are buying. It might be of some help. But I agree with Susie: get someone such as a music teacher or a friend who can play the piano to work with him a few times to make sure the sheet music is in the right key and so on. Your son sounds very talented. Best of luck to him. I am excited to hear when you begin posting his acceptances ... :)</p>
<p>USC: 4 hrs
NYU: 4 Hrs
Juilliard: 4 hrs
DePaul: 4hrs
BU: 3 hours (not sure if continuous)
Webster: 20 minutes
NCARTS: 30 minute info session (ours is at 10AM) w/ 10 minute audition the same day
Otterbein: 15 minutes
Guthrie:15 minutes
Purchase: 15 miutes</p>
<p>Does anyone know the scheduling times for other programs present at Unifieds (i.e., Emerson, Oklahoma, Utah). Keep adding/correcting list, as it may be useful for those trying to schedule a lot of schools.</p>
<p>Rutgers: 15 minutes at Unifieds
Ithaca: 4-hr. block for info, warm-up, monologue, interview</p>
<p>Clarification on NCARTS. They assign a specific time for the intro and a specific time for the audition. Our times are 3 hours apart, so you can scedule other auditions in-between. NCARTS and Purchase do not require that all materials are in first; just the application and fees. Rutgers, on the other hand, wants everything before they schedule the audition. I noticed that, for Chicago, the slots are filling up. When my S tried to change a time for Evanville, there were few available on their automated scheduling page.</p>
<p>This topic has been discussed, but we need clarification. Are the headshots you are submitting just of the head, or shoulders up, or, for example, waist-up? We do not want to spend a lot of money getting a bunch of different poses, but want to do what most everyone else is doing. Thanks.</p>
<p>We are by no means necessarily the ones to follow, but my D's headshots are of shoulders up.</p>
<p>As far as the Emerson audition at unifieds, she was just able to get hers scheduled as you have to have your application and supplement in and then they will send you an id via snail mail where you may then sign up for an audition. She is auditioning for MT at the NY unifieds and her time slot is from 9 am to 1. It is probably less for straight acting.</p>
<p>It seems a bit like the calm before the storm - her auditions start 1/12 with CCM and then every weekend thereafter but one through Feb. Gulp!!!</p>
<p>Brian, if you are paying a professional photog to do your son's headshots, you may want to also ask if he/she can do a few 3/4 views. From what I can ascertain, though traditional acting headshots are mostly shoulders up, having a few 3/4 portraits done is a good idea, in case your son ever wants to submit for film work. You may want to take some time to browse through various schools/'conservatories' web sites of their senior actors/showcases, where they post the senior class headshots and resumes. That will give you and your son a good idea of the trends, as well as (more importantly), what headshot styles your son likes and thinks would work for him. Check out Juilliard's, as well as Carnegie Mellon University's, for instance. And color is definitely the trend now. Best of luck!</p>
<p>also possibly go to Reproductions</a> - Directory Index - 2007 to look at the gallery of headshot photographers that they have on line -- it gives an idea of the different styles in headshots.</p>
<p>I've noticed at the auditions my son has gone to so far that the headshots submitted are, indeed, HEAD shots. Also, while most look to be "professional" shots, some are Kinkos copies of these photographs, and a few I've seen look to be simply photographs taken by friends or family. At one school EVERY student had a polaroid picture taken at the audition regardless of whether they had a headshot to present. So. . .these photographs may not be very important in the long run. Take the pose you like, put it on your desk or wall, and use it for college auditions! I'll bet you'll be fine!</p>
<p>Thanks. Took the 'low key' approach; $12 for sitting and pay per 8'' by 10''; there's enough to worry about at this point. Poor kid took SATs (second time) last week and is now taking the ACT (first and last time). Tonight we will burn all of the SAT and ACT study guides.</p>
<p>My son has a so-so singing voice, but he goes to a private HS where the talented musicians go. He never gets a lead role in the musicals; cannot sustain pitch - cannot handle the tenor role, nor the baratone role, though he sounds good if he sings within a narrow range in-between. Unlike the other musicals that he did, Carousel does not have many decent non-singing acting roles, so he is likely to get a third tier role (starkeeper or heavenly guide). Should he even put this on his resume, since it makes him look marginal? I know that a lot of kids do not even do the spring musical because of the intensity of the auditioning schedule. He (we) felt like he had to; not participating would have angered those who will write his references; its a Catholic HS that at times feels like a military HS. He got a decent role in a regional theater production a few months back, but he had to cancel - not a pleasant phone call - because he would have missed the Christmas concert (he's just part of the big chorale). His teacher told him that he woould flunk him for the year if he missed the concert! Wow, and we were paying this guy's wife weekly for vocal lessons, just to improve his voice, just in case he has to sing 16 bars in his acting auditions.</p>
<p>My daughter put everything on her resume even when it was Marginal roles and she got into NYU Tisch and Depaul theatre. They are looking for potential and raw talent. They will judge you on your own talent not what you did in highschool Actressmom</p>
<p>Brian, I also would put it on the resume. My D put all her roles on.....some leads, some supporting, some ensemble. In your son's case, he is trying to enter an acting program, not a MT one and so why would someone expect or care if he was the lead in a musical? If anything, it will show experience in another genre. They are not going to make judgments on what part he got and in fact, I think it looks good to show he has experience on stage and has been involved that way. I also would not necessarily expect someone who trains in acting and wants to be an actor as always also being qualified to be a lead in a musical. Some who want to pursue acting, are also excellent singers. But there are tons of people pursuing acting who mostly just act. So, they aren't going to be expecting great singers or leads in musicals when applying to acting programs, necessarily. In any case, I suggest noting all experience, unless the resume gets too long and you have to trim off the least significant experiences (which as your son gets older, he will be doing). For the purposes of college auditions, he likely should list all his experience, however.</p>
<p>OK, guys, now I am confused: I thought that for college auditions, kids were supposed to boil their resumes down to selected roles, so that everything fit on one page, to be stapled on the back of the headshot. My D has been in a lot of musicals and plays (in school and out) and her resume would be four pages long (in 11 point type). So did she do the wrong thing by condensing her resume to one page of important roles and training? Now I am thinking she should have just handed the resume in separately from the headshot ...</p>
<p>NMR.....There really is no right or wrong. Generally speaking, as one obtains better roles or more significant experiences, older or lesser roles come off the resume. For theater auditions in the real world, it should be a ONE page resume that can attach to the back of a head shot. My D is in college, as you know, and she continually has to keep taking credits off her resume to make room for new ones. Not nearly all her roles are on her current resume. </p>
<p>HOWEVER, for college auditions, we treated it differently. She had a two page theater resume that time. I am not saying that was RIGHT or the thing to do necessarily. But that resume had more experiences on it and also had more AWARDS on it, than she can fit on her current one page resume. For example, the resume for college auditions, would have that she was in All States, but her one pager doesn't have all those awards. She was a finalist for another state award for music and that was on the resume for college but not now. The resume for college included some CDs she had sang on but those since came off. And so on and so forth. </p>
<p>I don't think there are any "shoulds" for this but I think it is OK for a college applicant's theater resume to be longer than a page, but it is not OK for any other type of theater auditions. At this point in my D's life (age 19, college junior), she has even cut off lead roles she has played in the past as they don't all fit and it is time to take younger roles and such off her resume. To get INTO college, she didn't shave much off, as the theater resume was more as an applicant than for casting purposes. I think if your D was able to shave things to get it to one page, she just is in good shape to have her resume be more proper in the long run. Your D did a good thing. My D's theater resume to get into college was on two pages but she has never done that since then. And things like awards and achievements in the field were relevant to get into college but almost all of them but like two have gone off her resume once she got into college. Another example is that my D's theater resume to get into college had shows she had musically directed and produced, choreographed, etc. and now none of those are on her theater resume. She wanted to include that stuff to get into college, but it is not important in terms of theater casting jobs now. Now, she has two one page resumes.....one as a MT performer and one is a music resume and has more of her jobs related to music and directing and so forth on it. For college admissions, they were on one resume, which went to two pages.</p>
<p>At least one college to which my son applied specifically stated that they ONLY wanted a 1-page theater resume. There may have been more; I'm not remembering exactly. At the CMU summer program (where they specifically train you to audition for BFA programs) my son was told ONE PAGE ONLY. Figure out what best represents what you have done; leave the rest out. My son labeled his acting experience as "REPRESENTATIVE THEATER PRODUCTIONS" to indicate that everything is not listed. Oh--and at Otterbein, they specifically ask that the photo and resume NOT BE STAPLED TOGETHER OR ATTACHED IN ANY WAY. So, hold off on that.</p>
<p>A longer resume may be submitted to the college as part of the application.</p>