<p>Did anyone here attend the MT auditions at OU last Sunday?</p>
<p>Is anyone planning on auditioning?</p>
<p>I had a student there last weekend and wanted to compare notes.</p>
<p>xxx,Mary Anna</p>
<p>I'm bumping this thread for MaryAnna, hoping our hard working moderator can merge the two!</p>
<p>Mary Anna--I bumped the old OU thread up for you. Let's hope CollegeMom can merge the two together. My daughter attended the audition, as you know, but she's asked me not to post speciic information about her auditions this fall. I am allowed to make general comments about programs, though, and she was impressed with the program and thought it was a great school.</p>
<p>Thank you MTMommy for noticing this new thread on OU and suggesting the merging with an old thread on this school. It is helpful to keep everything about each school on one thread when possible. </p>
<p>A suggestion about sharing about current auditions is to do as others have in the past which is to share about the auditions in general.....how the day was set up, what was involved, impressions of the school, and so on. This is quite possible to do without actually discussing your child's specific audition. Then others can learn some first hand accounts about a school or the audition day but nobody has to divulge their child's personal experience there if the child understandably does not wish you to do that. Just an idea!
CollegeMom</p>
<p>CollegeMom--Yes, I really appreciated those descriptions of auditions to help my daughte prepare for her own. The problem is, I wasn't able to attend the audition and anything I know is so secondhand I am wary of making an error. The things I know are that the campus is a lovely large university campus, the MT in a beautiful older building, and my daughter and her escort were made to feel welcome from the moment they walked in. There were about 16 students because OU does pre-auditions and pares the students down to 5 audition dates of 16 students each for a total of 80. From these they choose 12. The students were divided into two groups. I THINK one group rehearsed and auditioned while the other went on a tour and then they switched, but I am not positive how this worked. I THINK the accompanist was the musical director who my daughter said was wonderful. About 5-6 faculty were in the audition, and she said she thought they were all nice. The dance audition was later in the day. Students who had four or more years of dance were allowed to bring a prepared solo. All students learned a combination, but the actual dancers learned a different combination from the others. She said the combination was very fast and fun and she demonstrated it for me. The solos were performed after the combinations were performed. They came home with a thick packet with information, including bios of this year's freshmen. If they wanted it, they were given letters for school to excuse their absence. The parents had a tour, too, and the faculty spoke with the parents. My d's escort said it was very informative. She doesn't know anything about MT and got interested in it and really liked the school, too. All in all, they both felt the whole process was very professional.</p>
<p>One more thing I remembered: the vocal audition includes one pre-1960 song and a contrasting song, both about one minute long. The monologue is about one minute also, I believe.</p>
<p>Thank you MTMommy for providing that information about the OU audition and about the school itself. That is exactly the kind of information that is helpful to others who are contemplating applying or even auditioning at these same schools. It is informative, yet does not reveal the student's personal audition experience. It is OK to share that too, but some kids do not wish for that to be shared. All this other information is valuable and can be shared without divulging the personal end of it. Thank you for taking the time to do this. Also, thank you as some readers are not aware of all these fine college options, and so it helps for exposure of what else is out there for those who have not looked into some of these schools.
CollegeMom</p>
<p>I guess I know more than I thought I did LOL. I just remembered something else. The tappers were asked to put on their tap shoes and tap in the dance audition, too.</p>
<p>My D auditioned at OU on the 24th. They were split into two groups, some who auditioned while the others went on the campus tour and then vice versa. She said that they were all allowed several minutes with the accompianist before hand to practice. She said they were very warm, friendly and "laid back" but professional. She said everyone in her group had great voices. The dance audition was done as a group. She is a fairly good dancer and she thought it not easy but not overly difficult. She attended their performance of "Urinetown" the night before which she said was great. As it turns out there was a girl she went to NOCCA with who was cast in a lead role as a freshmen. She got to tour the department and dorms with her. She ended up more impressed than she expected to be.</p>
<p>Another word about Urinetown. </p>
<p>It was directed by Jeff Macarthy of the original production. I believe he received a Drama Desk nomination. It was a thrill for the actors to work with him. I was told by a couple of students, one being NOCCA mom's D, that it was a very impressive production.</p>
<p>It is nice to hear such great things about OU and how well they handled the audition process. Sounds like there was no personal interview, but I guess after being together most all day, the faculty felt like they got to know the students.</p>
<p>Thanks for the additional feed back.</p>
<p>xxx,Mary Anna</p>
<p>Another way the faculty got to know the students was through the essay/letter they submitted with their audition date request. It was sent in with detailed form, resume, and headshot. That way the faculty seemed to know a lot about the individual students when they got there.</p>
<p>my d auditioned at ou yesterday. It was a terrific experience. The people there are very warm and welcoming. The program head is a charming and humorous man who cares greatly about this program. They shared many interesting positives regarding the program and the potential for employment that they provide. They seem to be looking for true triple threats, or students that they can train into that. They look for at least one real strength and then potential for the others. My d is a tumbler and they asked her to do a tumbling pass for them. So, without any notice, she went flying across the floor with a series of flip-flops. That was fun for her to get to demonstrate a unique skill. The dance was divided into "movers" and "dancers." They made the decision based on your resume. She was in the dancers and said the routine was fairly advanced. The dance audition does count but, they really consider potential and not where you happen to be at this point. I really think it's a good thing that they pre-audition. You go into it knowing that they believe you have real potential for their program and that brings with it, some confidence. OU does have an old beautiful campus. Very strong college atmosphere, yet their theatre world is very self-contained. so you get both. We were extremely impressed with this school and program.</p>
<p>I am continuing to be impressed with everything about this program</p>
<p>xxx,Mary Anna</p>
<p>Re OU: They travel to screen students they would like to audition. We saw them at both the Georgia Thespian Convention and at the Unifieds. At both places, my D was invited to an on-campus audition. It is from the on-campus auditions that they make their final selections. We enjoyed everything about the visit to Norman, and my personal take is that they are doing everything right for a fairly new program. Rather than haul everybody to NY for a showcase, they invite a casting director to the campus for an in-depth look at the kids. Additionally, they hire a Broadway professional to direct a show each year. They are spending a lot of money and seemingly in the right places.
As it turns out, my D blew her audition there - I think the moon was in the wrong phase or something - and will be attending OCU, which has an exciting vocal program. Had she been offered a spot at OU, though, the decision would have been pretty hard to make.
Good luck!</p>
<p>I posted information about my daughter arriving this month at OU as a freshman @ <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=231354%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=231354</a>.</p>
<p>I really like everything about this program... except for one thing, the videotape. I have 2 questions about that:</p>
<p>1) I know that a video is not necessary if they've seen you at unifieds/thespian convention, but does anyone know if the North Texas Drama Auditions are included in that? I'm not sure if they're the same thing.</p>
<p>2) Can anyone tell me the requirements for the video, or direct me to a site that can? I couldn't find them on the OU site, although I may not have looked thoroughly enough.</p>
<p>Of course I would prefer not to make a video since none of my other schools are requiring one, but this does look like a very worthwhile program.</p>
<p>Bakerswife,
For information on the videotape, I would definitely call Shanda Cloud and ask her what is required on the videotape. She is very sweet and helpful and will give you any information you need. I'm sure they aren't looking for a professional video, probably just a tape of one or two songs and a monologue, would be my guess. A friend or family member could tape you. Here's the contact info for the department:</p>
<p><a href="mailto:musicaltheatre@ou.edu">musicaltheatre@ou.edu</a><a href="405">/email</a> 325-0538 Tel
(405) 325-7663 Fax
Weitzenhoffer Department of Musical Theatre<br>
Carpenter Hall
840 Asp Avenue, Room 203
Norman OK 73019-4091</p>
<p>My daughter didn't send a video as she had her pre-audition the previous year at the unifieds. We happen to live 2-3 hours from the LA unifieds. I think it is highly likely that they do pre-audition at the North Texas Drama Auditions, but Shanda can tell you that right away.</p>
<p>I just posted an update on my d's experience at OU at <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?p=3044978#post3044978%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?p=3044978#post3044978</a>.</p>
<p>I've been reading about OU and its wonderful vocal music program.</p>
<p>We visited and what a total disappointment. Rude teachers plus a head of the department that won't see potential students and families does not make for a good or even decent program. I don't need to go on.</p>
<p>But more important...I'd like to know. If OU has such a wonderful and amazing program, why are they hiring a student from Oklahoma City University to play the "Queen of the Night" in their production of "The Magic Flute"? They claim to have a nationally acclaimed program, but have to hire a student from another university to play a major role in their show? Where are their wonderful students?</p>
<p>That told me all I needed to know about OU.</p>
<p>I can't speak to the casting as I know nothing about it. </p>
<p>However, the fact that the DIRECTOR of the program did not meet with prospective students and their parents who were visiting is not unusual at all and is understandable. I have visited about 18 colleges with my kids. It is not common to meet with the Dept. Head on a regular visit though one of my kids did 3 times (these were not BFA programs). If you think about it, hundreds of kids and parents come to visit and the director's schedule could easily be filled by these appointments. Instead, many departments or schools have a spokesperson who can meet with you for this purpose or you can line up a meeting in advance with a faculty member or observe a class, etc. We've done all those things many times. Usually in the case of a BFA program, the Dept. Head is someone who attens the audition dates and addresses prospective students and their parents or I imagine that also would happen at an open house event. But for regular visits, we lined up info. sessions, tours, meetings with someone in the department - often a faculty member, observed classes (always lined up in advance), met with students, and so on. I would not necessarily expect to meet one on one with the dept. head....maybe, but not always. I would expect or hope to meet that person on the audition day or at an official open house type event. Usually a department will have someone whose job it is to meet with prospective students who come to visit and ask questions. As well, a student, as is the case of my own kids, can write a professor in advance and ask if they can meet up to talk and/or observe their class. All these things, we lined up ahead of time and didn't just show up hoping this or that one would meet with us. My chlld wrote each person on her own well in advance.</p>